Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 29
by Little PandaVolume 2: The Captivating Splendor of Jingdu
Jade Hairpin for the Young Lady
By the time Su Yi and the others arrived at the main hall, quite a few people were already there — they were considered late.
After all, it was a rare honor for the Emperor to bestow such a grand reward. It had been many years since anything like this had happened in the Marquis Manor.
Seeing Su Yi arrive so late, Su Tianci was the first to sneer. “Oh? Do you really think you’re someone important now? Even Great-Grandmother is here already, yet some people dare to show up this late.”
Before Su Yi could respond, Su Ban immediately scolded him with a cold face. “You’re all family — what nonsense are you spouting? Your younger sister isn’t well; that’s why she came late. If you dare speak like this again, you’ll be punished according to the family rules.”
Su Yi was seventeen this year, counting by virtual age1, and Su Tianci was also seventeen, but he was born ten months earlier, so he could technically be considered her older brother.
Su Yi had no desire to acknowledge such a brother. Hearing his words made her feel utterly disgusted. Su Tianci was equally annoyed. His face turned pale, and he tugged at his mother’s sleeve. “Mother…”
“It’s alright. Your grandmother is right. Your younger sister is still young and in poor health. As her older brother, you ought to be more understanding.” Su Cheng2 hurriedly comforted him, carefully observing Su Ban’s expression while pulling him into her arms. “You’re all part of the Su family. How could there be any division among us?”
Su Tianci was fuming, but since it was obvious that Great-Grandmother was favoring Su Yi, and neither his grandmother nor his mother dared to object, he had no choice but to swallow his anger and turn his head away, refusing to look at Su Yi.
Su Yi wasn’t interested in looking at him either. In her mind, the less she had to deal with him, the better.
Ji Qingchi pushed her wheelchair forward, and the two of them bowed to Su Ban. “Great-Grandmother.”
“Mm.” Su Ban nodded at them. Everything Su Yi had been up to in her small courtyard lately had already reached Su Ban’s ears through her network of informants.
This illegitimate great-granddaughter of hers was quite clever. If it weren’t for her frail health, Su Ban had genuinely considered having her adopted under Su Cheng’s name.
Su Ban smiled and said, “The Emperor bestowed many fine gifts. Yi’er, come take a look and pick out what you like to bring back to your room.”
In court, when Su Ban presented Su Yi’s movable type printing to the Emperor, it had been met with unanimous praise.
If they wanted to read books, they had no choice but to have them copied by hand. Not only was it time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the price of books was also extremely high. Because of this, many families couldn’t afford to educate their daughters. Although the current dynasty selected officials through the imperial examination system3, few actually passed and entered court service.
The previous Emperors placed great importance on cultivating talent. After all, without far-sighted and capable individuals, a dynasty would surely fall. The current Emperor wanted the nation’s prosperity to endure, so she shared the same attitude as her ancestors when it came to nurturing scholars.
With this invention, books could be mass-produced, making them much cheaper and more accessible to the common people.
This was a remarkable innovation that benefited the nation and its citizens. The Emperor immediately ordered its widespread adoption and rewarded Su Ban handsomely, even increasing her stipend.
Su Ban had never received such imperial favor before. She felt her status rise significantly among her peers, and her fondness for Su Yi grew even more.
The last time Su Yi presented her invention, Su Ban had only given her a jade ruyi as a reward. Su Yi had been quietly holding a grudge about that. This time, with so many gifts bestowed by the Emperor, it made up for her previous dissatisfaction.
Su Yi didn’t hold back. She carefully examined the pile of treasures and quickly selected a large chest filled with silver.
Pointing at the gleaming chest, her eyes sparkled. “Great-Grandmother, I want this one.”
Su Ban’s smile froze. Her great-granddaughter was indeed different from others. Among all the beautiful jade artifacts and silk fabrics, how did she end up choosing the most vulgar option? “This is a reward from the Emperor. Yi’er, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider and pick something else?”
“I only want this.”
What use were jade artifacts and silk fabrics? They all bore the imperial insignia and couldn’t be sold. Only a fool would pick those. Money, on the other hand, was far more practical.
Besides, she didn’t hold an official position. Those fancy items wouldn’t enhance her status. Leaving them all to Su Ban would make her seem more magnanimous as the illegitimate great-granddaughter.
“…Very well.” Seeing how persistent she was, Su Ban could only relent. “Take another look at the rest. Is there anything else you’d like?”
Su Yi inspected the pile carefully and spotted a uniquely crafted hairpin adorned with carved orchids, meant to hold one’s hair in place. Pointing at the hairpin, she said, “This one too.”
Aside from that, she didn’t pick anything valuable. Unlike her pampered great-grandson, who always aimed for the most expensive items whenever rewards were given, Su Yi’s modesty left a much better impression on Su Ban. Beaming, she said, “Alright, alright. Pack everything up and send it to the Nineteenth Miss’s room.”
After Su Yi finished picking her items, she used her poor health as an excuse to leave, and Su Ban had someone escort her back.
While Su Yi was making her selections, Ji Qingchi remained silent the entire time, and even on the way back, as she pushed Su Yi’s wheelchair, she didn’t say a word.
Once they returned to their courtyard, Su Yi suddenly spoke, “Fulang, this hairpin suits you perfectly. I’d like to give it to you — what do you think?”
After a moment of silence, Ji Qingchi still hadn’t responded. Su Yi turned her head, puzzled. “Fulang?”
Ji Qingchi seemed lost in thought. Only when Su Yi called out did she snap back to reality. “What… Did Qizhu call for me?”
Su Yi placed the box containing the hairpin into Ji Qingchi’s hands. “Here, this is for you.”
Ji Qingchi opened the lid and saw a hairpin of translucent green jade. It looked as if she were seeing it for the first time, and she exclaimed in surprise, “This… Qizhu wants to give this to me?”
In Yanxue Kingdom, there was a saying: “Flowers for a beautiful man, jade hairpins for noble women.”
If a young man fancied a young lady, he would gift her a hairpin.
Why was Su Yi giving her this? Had Su Yi discovered that she was disguised as a man? But if she had found out, why not expose her? Why give her a hairpin instead?
“Yes,” Su Yi replied, not understanding Ji Qingchi’s strong reaction. Earlier, when they were choosing gifts together, Ji Qingchi had clearly seen the hairpin. From what Su Yi remembered, in her own past life, hairpins were typically gifted to women. So in Yanxue Kingdom, wouldn’t it be the other way around — given to men?
Now that Ji Qingchi was her fulang, wasn’t it only natural for her to give this to her?
Ji Qingchi looked at her with a complicated expression. “Then… thank you, Qizhu.”
Ever since earlier, Ji Qingchi had been reflecting on her behavior. Back on the battlefield, she’d never hesitated or shown fear, yet just now, when speaking with Su Yi, she actually stammered.
It wasn’t as if she’d never told a lie before. In the past, deceiving others came as easily as breathing. So why did it feel like her mouth was glued shut with sugar earlier, refusing to open no matter what?
This realization left her deeply frustrated. As she pushed Su Yi’s wheelchair to the main hall earlier, she had been carefully examining herself, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
Even now, her mind was still elsewhere. She hadn’t even noticed what Su Yi chose or what her Mother Emperor had bestowed upon them.
Now, holding the hairpin Su Yi had given her, Ji Qingchi felt as if it were burning her hands. Not only her hands but even her heart seemed to be brushed by a feather, itchy and uncomfortable.
It took her a long while before she squeezed out a simple word of thanks.
Su Yi smiled and said, “Fulang, as you said, you and I are wife and husband — there’s no need to say such things.”
This one sentence made Ji Qingchi hesitate once more. It seemed that Su Yi didn’t understand the meaning behind gifting a jade hairpin. Perhaps because of her frail health, she rarely encountered such matters between women and men. Was she just overthinking things?
Ji Qingchi pinched the hairpin, deep in thought. Su Yi noticed her silence but didn’t pry. After all, Ji Qingchi was the protagonist — how could a mere cannon fodder like her dare to question what the female protagonist was thinking?
Lowering her head, Ji Qingchi pushed Su Yi into the courtyard. Soon, a maid stepped forward to take over, wheeling Su Yi into her room.
“Fulang, I’ll head back to my room now,” Su Yi said.
Ji Qingchi didn’t look at her. “Mm… Qizhu, sweet dreams.”
After parting with Ji Qingchi, Su Yi returned to her room and couldn’t wait to carefully count her silver.
All in all, she had earned over three hundred taels4 herself. The Emperor had also bestowed her with one thousand taels5. Adding in her usual pocket money, she had nearly one thousand five hundred taels6 in total — enough to buy quite a lot of things.
“I never thought that in just a short time here, I’d become a little rich lady,” Su Yi said, holding the silver with uncontrollable excitement. She called for Yan Can, “Yan Can, tomorrow, send someone to find out the rental prices for shops in the capital.”
Yan Can agreed and left. Su Yi locked up her money chest, and that night, she even dreamed of making a fortune, smiling in her sleep.
Because of her good rest, she felt full of energy the next day. She happily headed out, planning to look at some shops, but as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she caught sight of Ji Qingchi — with dark circles under her eyes.
Su Yi was startled. She hadn’t asked the female protagonist to draw yesterday, so why did she look so exhausted?
“Fulang… what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I have Miss Feng take a look at you?”
“This slave is fine.” Ji Qingchi turned slightly to the side, avoiding Su Yi’s gaze so she wouldn’t see her worn-out appearance. “There were too many mosquitoes in the room last night… This slave was disturbed and couldn’t sleep well.”
The moment Su Yi heard this, she knew it was a lie, but she didn’t expose her. She simply nodded and said, “Oh? Then I’ll have Gancao get some mugwort to help drive the insects out of your room.”
Ji Qingchi raised her sleeve to cover her face. “Thank you, Qizhu.”
“No need to thank—”
“Miss! Miss!”
Before Su Yi could finish her sentence, Gancao came running in, panting heavily with a piece of paper in hand. “Miss, something bad has happened!”
When she reached Su Yi, Su Yi wiped her sweat and scolded her softly, “What’s wrong? You’re running around all sweaty.”
Ji Qingchi turned around just in time to see this scene.
Oh… so she treats everyone around her like this.
She’s this way even with the maidservants who serve her. Then for her so-called fulang… it’s only natural for her to act that way.
And to think she had overthought things so much.
Gancao caught her breath and said, “Miss, the streets are now full of paintings like ours. Business today is terrible — the whole morning, we only sold three paintings.”
After saying that, she handed over the paper in her hand. “There’s a bookstore selling paintings and calligraphy at thirty wen cheaper than ours. All the customers have gone there!”
Ever since Su Yi decided to share the technique of movable type printing, she had expected this outcome. She wasn’t surprised at all. “If it doesn’t sell well, then so be it. It’s not like we rely on that to make money.”
Gancao was unwilling to accept it. “But this method was Miss’s idea!”
“Forget it, forget it. The Emperor rewarded me with things already. Let’s just treat it as earning a copyright fee.”
Gancao didn’t understand what a “copyright fee” was, but since Su Yi had said so, she could only drop the matter. Lowering her head, she said dejectedly, “Alright then…”
She was still young, with chubby cheeks from baby fat. Her sulky expression looked adorably pitiful.
Su Yi chuckled and rubbed her face. “Such a childish temper. Are you hungry? There are pastries on the table over there. Go grab some to eat.”
“Okay!” Hearing there was food, Gancao instantly brightened up and happily scurried behind Su Yi.
Before she could even reach the table, two plates of Bazhen Cake7 had already appeared before her.
Surprised, she looked up and saw her master [Ji Qingchi] smiling at her strangely. “Hungry, aren’t you? These two plates were freshly made in the kitchen, at your Miss’s request. Go ahead and eat.”
Footnotes
- 虚岁 | xū suì | Traditional East Asian age reckoning, where a person is considered one year old at birth and gains a year with each Lunar New Year
- 苏承 | Sū Chéng
- 科举 | kējǔ | The imperial examination system used to select government officials based on merit
- 11,250 grams of silver
- 37,500 grams of silver
- 56,250 grams of silver
- 八珍糕 | Bāzhēn Gāo | “Eight-Treasure Cake,” a traditional Chinese pastry made with various grains, nuts, and dried fruits
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