Chapter 2

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Yan Shi and Minister Zhang were discussing

the things that had to be completed tomorrow when Lian Gui GongGong suddenly

interrupted, “I wonder what tea is this? It doesn’t seem like it’s tea from the

tributes to the palace? The taste is not bad, not bad.”

Yan Shi smiled, “Last year’s tributary tea

has already been consumed, and this year’s supply hasn’t arrived. This tea is

but merely an inferior quality from outside, I hope that GongGong wouldn’t

mind.”

“How can you say that, Wangye,” Lian Gui

GongGong took another sip of tea and placed the cup on the the table. “This

servant[1]

just thinks that the taste wasn’t bad and casually asked about it.”

“If GongGong likes it, then I will gift

some to GongGong.” So saying, he instructed a servant[2]

to prepare some tea leaves, including a portion for Minister Zhang.

The tea leaves were soon ready. Though on

the surface Lian Gui GongGong refused, however his actions belied his words.

Conversely, Minister Zhang truly didn’t want it and it was Yan Shi who had to

stuff the wrapped tea leaves into his hands.

The time passed by quickly and it was soon

the time to light the candles, Yan Shi watched the moon as he headed back to

his chambers.

The servants in the house were all busy

preparing for his marriage tomorrow, yet this made it seem as if it had nothing

to with him, the main character.

After tomorrow, what kind of changes would

there be in this courtyard?

No, nothing would change. The whole

courtyard would remain as it was, even if there was an additional person, the

world wouldn’t be overturned.

Just as he said to Jiang Qingyue during the

day, he, Yan Shi, wasn’t a person just anyone could bully.

Regarding the Duke of Kang Le’s few sons

and daughters, he was more or less aware of their activities. The Duke of Kang

Le has three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Hua Ling, and also the one

he would marry tomorrow, had just turned eighteen this year. The second son,

Hua Xu, was sixteen, while the youngest son, Hua Wei was only eight years old.

The miss[3]

of the family, Hua Lu Yao was fourteen this year.

There wasn’t much to say about the miss Hua

Lu Yao and the youngest son Hua Wei, then there were the oldest son Hua Ling

and the second son Hua Yu. These two people were typical aristocratic children,

and both of them weren’t very young. A typical highborn child at their age

would have already build a list of accomplishments, let alone becoming a

scholar[4].

If one really couldn’t pass the examinations, then they would still rely on

their family’s power and influence to become a small official in a random

department. If even that wasn’t possible, then at the very least, they should

also focus on making friends everywhere, to pave the way for their future

careers.

But these two siblings seem to have no

ambitions. Hua Xu was slightly better, he would still go out to have some fun,

but Hua Ling is like a sheltered lady who has been deeply hidden, he has never

left home and had little contact with the outside world. It seemed as if no one

has ever seen him except for those working within the residence.

Incidentally, the current Madam living

within the duke’s residence, Yang Shi, is the duke’s second wife, and Hua Ling

wasn’t birthed by her.

However, Yang Shi’s treatment of her

stepson was famous for being exceptionally good, even better than that of her

own children. If one wasn’t aware, they would even think that Hua Ling was her

flesh and blood. Yang Shi’s virtous reputation has already spread throughout

the imperial city, and there wasn’t anyone who hadn’t heard about it.

All these things Yan Shi already knew about

it long ago, the Duke of Kang Le is also Prince Zhao’s confidant. Yan Shi had

already sent someone to monitor the situation within his residence when he had

yet to leave the palace. It was for this reason that he even shadowed Hua Ling

and Hua Xu for nearly half a year, yet it yielded no results.

Yan Shi caressed his jaw, he always felt

that these sons of the Hua family weren’t as simple as they seemed on the

surface, but yet he had already vigilantly tracked them for half a year, if

this wasn’t their true selves, then these unfathomable people from the Hua

family were really too scary.

But no matter what he wouldn’t touch the

Hua family’s people, this Golden Sun Pavillion,[5]

he would leave it for his future Wang Fei[6]

to reside in it alone.

The sky had yet to brighten, but Yan Shi

had already finished dressing. A prince getting married, according to

etiquette, he should go visit the Emperor and the Empress. When Yan Shi left

the palace, it was already late.

He followed after the people from the

Ministry of Rites and rushed to the Duke of Kang Le’s residence, luckily when

they reached, they hadn’t missed the auspicious period.

Yan Shi brought his close friends with him

into the residence, passing through the pavillions to arrive outside the main

hall. Yan Shi stood outside the tightly-shut doors and shouted, “Yan Shi is

here to receive the bride!”

Based on the rules of etiquette, the Duke

of Kang Le and his wife should be sitting in the main hall waiting to receive

their son-in-law’s greetings. After hearing Yan Shi’s call, the people inside

should have responded and opened the doors to let Hua Ling leave.

But as Yan Shi’s voice died down, there was

no response from inside.

Jiang Qingyue furrowed his brows and looked

at Yan Shi, was this the Duke of Kang Le’s show of strength? He actually dared

to do this?

At this moment, there was a noise inside,

seeming as if it was the sound of someone crying.

Yan Shi also looked at Jiang Qingyue with a

face filled with suspicion, was the young master unwilling to marry him? Or was

it just a show?

Yan Shi raised his voice once more and

shouted, “Yan Shi is here to receive the bride!”

The sound of movements inside suddenly

ceased, and a few moments later, the faint crying sounds drifted out, followed

closely by the sound of footsteps coming towards the door, and then the door

finally opened.

“My prince, please come in.” That person

who opened the door bowed and stood to one side.

Yan Shi headed inside, but he was greeted

with the chaotic sight of a group of people standing about all over the main

hall. The Duke of Kang Le, Hua QianCheng and his Lady, Yang Shi, were seated on

the platform wearing anxious expressions, and kneeling in front of them was a

person dressed in marriage attire,[7]

his head covered by a veil.

Needless to say, this person was the young

master that Yan Shi was about to marry, and the crying sounds from before had

come from him.

“What has happened?” In the blink of an

eye, Yan Shi appeared behind Hua Ling.

Seeing that someone had come in, Hua

QianCheng wore an ugly expression, like he had been keeping something in for a

long time and wanted to let it out, “My-My Prince.”

He was just about to stand up when Yan Shi cut in, “Father-in-law[8] does not have to bother with the formalities[9], please sit.”

“Mother…… I want my mother……” a pitiful

crying voice drifted from below. When Yan Shi looked down, he saw his Wang

Fei’s back tremble and the veil shook, as if he was wiping away his tears.

Yan Shi lightly furrowed his brows, even

though Hua Ling was about to be married off,[10]

but as a man, he did not have to wear the head veil, but he……

Right now wasn’t the time to scrutinize

this, when Yan Shi heard him cry, he looked toward Hua QianCheng, “This is……”

“Mother…… They lost my mother’s tablet[11].”

Hua Ling spoke haltingly. This voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for all the

people present to clearly hear it.

There were no shortage of officials and

servants from the Ministry of Rites who had followed Yan Shi into the hall.

When everyone heard this, they couldn’t help but to begin murmuring amongst

themselves.

Even if the current Lady of the Kang family

was Yang Shi, but Hua Ling’s birth mother was the first lady. According to the

rules of etiquette, after marrying in, the successor must first pay her

respects to the first lady’s tablet and call her older sister[12].

On specific occasions it was necessary to sincerely offer worship[13],

but now that the Duke of Kang Le had managed to lose the tablet, and it was

even exposed in front of so many people, it wasn’t as simple a matter as

maintaining face.[14]

Yan Shi didn’t expect that he would say

this in front of so many people, after all he is the young master of the Kang

Le residence, and they were inextricably tied to him. His glory was their glory,

and his losses were their losses.[15]

Even if his heart was filled with dissatisfaction, he also shouldn’t have done

what he did.

Doing this wasn’t beneficial for the Kang

Le household, nor did it bring any personal advantage to himself. Leaving aside

what others will think, even the people working within the Kang Le household

would certainly hate him because of this. So what if he was the eldest son? Now

that he was about to be married off, no matter how the sky changed within this

residence, it was all no longer within his grasp. Then, why did he say all that

just now? What was his purpose? Yan Shi thought, there is no person in this

world foolish enough to betray his own people. The corner of his mouth hooked

up by a fraction, this Hua Ling seems to be an interesting person.

Yang Shi saw that the Kang Le residence was

about to be made into a laughingstock in the eyes of others, and her expression

became anxious, “I clearly instructed someone to bring out my sister’s tablet

early yesterday. How could it have disappeared! Servants, quickly go and find

it. Make sure you find it!”

“Mother…… your son is going to marry

someone today, but I can’t even bid you goodbye!” Hua Ling’s crying sounds grew

louder. Perhaps it was because he was crying too hard, his breath stuttered,

“How can your son be married with a peace of mind! Mother……”

“Quickly, send someone to find it.” Hua

QianCheng was so anxious that he had begun to perspire, and pushed a little

servant girl who was waiting on the side, “You go look for it as well!”

Looking at the person kneeling in front of

him, Yan Shi thought should he say something to comfort him, seeing that there

were so many people here, it was still necessary to give some face.[16]

He was just about to speak when he heard the sounds of hurried footsteps

running in, a servant girl carrying a tablet came rushing in, “Found…… Found

it…… the…… the tablet…… has been found……” Because she was so flustered, she

didn’t even address the Master[17]

but at this time no one was bothered by it.

After hastily completing the farewell

ceremony to the bride’s parents,[18]

they could finally leave. Yan Shi stretched out a hand toward Hua Ling, Hua

Ling hesitated for a while before placing his hand atop Yan Shi’s own.

Yan Shi exerted some force, intending to

pull him up from the ground, but perhaps it was because Hua Ling had been

kneeling for a long time, thus he couldn’t get up. Yan Shi murmured an excuse

me, then extended both hands and scooped him up from the ground.

Hua Ling let out a startled cry but did not

struggle, and quickly hooked his arms around Yan Shi’s neck, so that no one

knew that he was actually smiling beneath the veil.

As the rites officer sang in the back, Yan

Shi carried Hua Ling out of the residence and placed him into the wedding

sedan.

After that, things proceeded smoothly. After

completing the tedious ceremony and worshipping the heavens and the earth,[19]

Hua Ling waited in the Golden Sun Pavillion while Yan Shi went to entertain the

guests.

Yan Shi swept his gaze across the

residence, his eyes narrowing slightly, those good ‘brothers’ of his, not a

single one of them had turned up.

What kind of status a prince has in front

of the emperor is reflected in the eyes of the vast majority of the people. Soon

after the ceremony began, a large number of people began to retire.

Those who did not leave fell into two

categories, the first is the kind of righteous person like Rites Minister Zhang,

and the other type was made up of people who had been sent to monitor him.

Like the jade rabbit rising in the east,[20]

Yan Shi walked into the Golden Sun Pavillion under the scrutiny of many gazes, before

the people outside completely dispersed.

As he walked, Yan Shi laughed coldly to

himself, so what if you saw me walk into the bridal chamber? Could you ensure

that the marriage was actually consummated?

Translator’s Notes:

[1] 奴婢 (Nu Bi) = ‘this servant’ (a way of referencing oneself when speaking)

[2] 下人 (Xia Ren) = servant (generic term). Also just to note in Ancient China, servants have very different ranks just like how there are scullery maids, personal attendants and retainers.

[3] 大小姐 = ‘Miss’ which is what genteel ladies are typically referred to.

[4] This is in reference to the imperial examination which is how people are granted official posts if they do well.

[5] Even though it’s named ‘pavillion’ it actually refers to a smaller residence within the Prince’s courtyard.

[6] 王妃 (Wang Fei) = ‘Princess’ (Specifically one that marries into the royal family, to a prince). I would probably use these titles interchangeably in the future.

[7] 喜服 (Xi Fu) = Marriage Attire (the red outfit from head to toe)

[8] 岳丈大人 (Yue Zhang Da Ren) = Father-in-law (previously, I thought that this was one of his titles, I have since corrected it).

[9] Used here, ‘formalities’ has the same meaning as ‘greetings’ (as explained in the previous chapter)

[10] In China, girls are seen as the party that is being ‘married off’, meaning that they are in a way, given to the male’s family, adopting his surname etc.

[11] Refers to the ancestral tablet that is retained for praying purposes after one’s kin has passed on.

[12] It was kind of difficult to translate this so I’ll explain it here: basically a man can have only one wife and many concubines. The wife has the highest position in the household amongst the females, and all the concubines would have to defer to her and call her ‘older sister’. Even if the wife passes away and the man remarries, the deceased first wife (and her offspring) still has the highest status, and the succeeding wife has to continue to pay respects to her (the point of the ancestral tablet).

[13] Basically to pray to her.

[14] 颜面 (Yan Mian) or 面子 (Mian Zi): The concept of ‘face’ is kind of linked to one’s pride, dignity and reputation. To lose face is equivalent to losing all that, so many Chinese people pay attention/ care a lot about face.

[15] Basically the entire household’s reputation is tied to their master/ young master’s reputation/status/social standing.

[16] To give face is like… a gesture done out of politeness and out of respect for others’ reputation.

[17] Another etiquette, basically every time servants see their Mistress or Master, they have to greet/call them.

[18] I think I’ve mentioned this before, the wife/bride is being “married out” of the family, meaning she becomes part of the guy’s family after marriage, so on the day of marriage, she has to bid her parents farewell.

[19] Worshipping the heavens and the earth (拜了天地): the three bows in the marriage ceremony

[20] A mythical creature from Chinese legends.

dreamxx: Next is the wedding night~! (*≧▽≦)

Thank you for your support! ( ˘ ³˘)♥

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