Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 36
by Little PandaVolume 2: The Captivating Splendor of Jingdu
Hatred
Crying at the grave before so many people was especially effective; the next day, her image as a deeply devoted widow spread throughout their area.
Her mother heard this rumor and hurried over to find her. “Yi’er, you went to the desolate outskirts yesterday?”
“Yes.” Su Yi had cried so hard yesterday that her eyes were red and swollen, and her voice was hoarse. “I went to see my fulang.”
Su Ming had wanted to scold Su Yi a bit—after all, she was frail, hadn’t recovered from her injuries, and was still running around outside—but seeing her daughter like this, she couldn’t bear it. She sighed, hugged her daughter, hesitated for a moment, and tentatively asked, “Yi’er, how about Mother finds you another fulang?”
Here it comes, here it comes. This was exactly the move she’d been guarding against from her mother.
Alarm bells instantly went off in Su Yi’s head, and she quickly feigned pitifulness. “Mother, your daughter only loved her fulang. Anyone else, I don’t want them.”
Su Ming spoke earnestly1, “But you are frail and often ill. If you don’t have a fulang to take care of you, what will you do after Mother passes away?”
“Mother, don’t worry, your daughter will take good care of herself.” Su Yi quickly tried to persuade her mother. “If Mother finds me another fulang, and if he were to unfortunately pass away too, wouldn’t your daughter just be heartbroken again? Having lost a fulang once, your daughter is already utterly heartbroken2 and doesn’t want to lose another one. Besides, your daughter truly loved and respected her fulang. Now that he has left, your daughter wants no one else.”
After speaking, she lowered her head and started sobbing and sniffling pretentiously again. Seeing her daughter like this, Su Ming sighed heavily. She hadn’t expected her daughter to be so devoted. “Alright, alright, we won’t mention finding you a fulang for now. Let’s focus on getting your health back first.”
“Okay,” Su Yi replied weakly. After her mother left, she peeked towards the door and chuckled silently. Hahahahaha, she really was a clever little imp3!
Because Su Yi didn’t want to marry again, Su Ming couldn’t force her. She planned to wait some time until Su Yi had forgotten her deceased fulang, and then arrange another marriage for her.
With her worries gone and without the major threat of the female protagonist, Su Yi couldn’t have been happier. She spent her days finding amusement for herself in the courtyard; she could watch ants moving house with great interest for two hours.
After recuperating like this for another half month, word came that Su Yi’s injuries had healed, and the Pingyang Marquis sent people to bring her back to the estate.
Su Ming was very surprised. Since when had this grandmother cared so much about those of them from collateral lines?
Su Ming felt uneasy, but her daughter would be safer in the Marquis Estate than staying with her. She currently needed to save money for Su Yi to marry another fulang and couldn’t spare the effort to care for her, so she had no choice but to agree to let Su Yi be taken back.
While recovering, Su Yi had heard about her mother’s hardships during this time. She said to the maidservant who came to fetch her, “My mother is out there alone, enduring the wind and sleeping in the dew4. I can’t bear it. I want to go with my mother.”
“Nineteenth Miss, please rest assured. The Master said that for convenience in caring for you, the Sixth Miss, if willing, may also enter the estate with you. Knowing that Sixth Miss wishes to do business, the Marquis said that you both will have freedom of entry and exit, and the guards will not obstruct you much.”
Only then did Su Yi feel relieved, and she returned to the Marquis Estate with her mother.
On the way, Su Ming strangely pulled Su Yi aside, “Yi’er, what did you do at the estate? How come Grandmother is being so lenient towards you?”
The Marquis Estate was heavily guarded, yet they were allowed free entry and exit? Even the direct descendants probably didn’t have this privilege.
“Maybe Great-grandmother dotes on her grandchildren’s generation. I have a sweet mouth and can coax her into being happy.”
Su Ming believed everything her child said. She rubbed her daughter’s face, “Yes, my Yi’er is the most capable.”
While mother and daughter shared a harmonious and warm moment here, another courtyard in the Marquis Estate presented a completely different scene.
Su Tianci, holding a vase with both hands, knelt in the main hall, being furiously scolded by his grandmother, Su Wang. “How did I end up with a brainless5 grandson like you!”
“Mother, please calm down.” Su Cheng, afraid her son’s knees would be ruined from kneeling, quickly tried to persuade her. “Tianci has been kneeling for almost half a shichen6. What if his knees get damaged? Let him get up quickly, alright?”
“Get up? What get up? Let him kneel longer, until he understands his mistake!” Su Wang sat angrily in her chair, slamming the table with a thudding sound. “It’s precisely because you usually spoil him that he’s become so lawless7! He has utterly disgraced me8!”
Su Tianci defiantly straightened his back, “A talented woman and a handsome man—I did nothing wrong!”
“You still dare to talk back! You, you, you, you’re angering me to death! Those few Imperial Daughters, which one of them is easy to deal with9? Especially the Ninth Princess, she holds military power! Right now, both she and the Fifth Princess are under the Emperor’s watch. The Fifth Princess is the legitimate daughter, the Emperor favors her and won’t do anything to her. It would be one thing if you set your sights on her, but how could you target the Ninth Princess! The Ninth Princess was born of a concubine, yet she holds military power. The Emperor is wary of her; who knows, maybe one day disaster might strike, and you just had to provoke her!”
Looking at her disappointing10 grandson before her, Su Wang was about to go mad with anger.
A few days ago, the Ninth Princess, having finally recovered from her illness, paid a visit to the Eldest Imperial Prince’s estate. Coincidentally, her disappointing grandson and several friends were at the Prince’s estate reciting poetry and composing couplets. It’s said that the moment he saw the Ninth Princess, his eyes were fixed on her. Upon returning to the estate, he wrote several love letters to her.
He even had someone deliver a box of hairpins to the Princess’s estate, but she completely ignored him. The gift sent in the morning was sent back by the Ninth Princess’s people in the afternoon.
Still not giving up, he even wanted to go to the Ninth Princess’s estate himself at night.
As a man, acting so immodestly was one thing, but how could he dare go to a woman’s residence at night? An unmarried woman and a man alone—if word got out, wouldn’t his reputation be ruined? Wouldn’t the Su family’s face be lost?
If she hadn’t happened to see him just after leaving the court session and stopped him, probably all her colleagues would have died laughing the next day.
Su Tianci retorted, “The Ninth Princess is beautiful and has a gentle temperament. So what if the Emperor is wary of her? She excels in both literary and martial arts, and she doesn’t even have an Attendant Lord11 in her estate. Grandson believes she is a suitable match.”
He still remembered how the Ninth Princess had reached out and pulled him when he almost fell into the lake. He thought he himself was already outstandingly handsome, but he hadn’t expected the Ninth Princess to be even more remarkable. He was instantly smitten. Then, finding out she didn’t even have an Attendant Lord and was a pure and self-disciplined12 person, he liked her even more. Looking across the entire Jingdu, only the Ninth Princess was worthy of him.
“You, you, you—” Su Wang’s hands trembled with anger. Just as she was about to reprimand him further, a maidservant came to report, “Eldest Miss, the Marquis has brought that Nineteenth Miss back again.”
Su Tianci was the first to speak, “Su Yi is actually still alive?”
The men he had sent out that day had all died cleanly. Afterwards, fearing the investigation would lead back to him, he didn’t dare ask too many questions about Su Yi’s fate. Later, he heard that Su Yi was injured and her fulang had died. He couldn’t have been happier and just hoped Su Yi would die quickly too. He hadn’t expected her to be so lucky as to survive.
Su Cheng also frowned upon hearing this, “Why does Grandmother favor that girl from the collateral line so much?”
Su Wang sneered, “Whose fault is it that your son is so disappointing? Her daughter is a hundred times better than him. And she’s a woman; she doesn’t need to marry into another family, she can directly inherit the family estate. Sooner or later, this estate will be handed over to her!”
With that said, she flung her sleeves and left, leaving Su Tianci and his mother staring blankly at each other13.
Su Cheng went over to help her son up. “Get up quickly. Have your legs gone numb from kneeling so long?”
“It’s alright.” Su Tianci stood up and moved around a bit. Then, remembering what his grandmother had said, he felt both resentful and afraid. “Mother, what if what Grandmother said is true? Great-grandmother really seems to like Su Yi strangely. I heard that for Su Yi’s sake, she even impeached the Eldest Imperial Prince in a memorial.”
The Eldest Imperial Prince was the Emperor’s own son. For Su Ban to slap the imperial family’s face for Su Yi’s sake was enough to show how much she valued Su Yi.
“That little mongrel14, who knows what tricks she used to win Grandmother’s favor,” Su Cheng said hatefully. “Now that she’s back in the Marquis Estate and has been injured once, we temporarily can’t easily make a move against her. Mother will find a suitable opportunity and arrange for someone to kill her.”
“Mother, that method is useless, I’ve tried it too.” In front of his own mother, Su Tianci didn’t hold back and directly confessed about having sent people to harm Su Yi.
Hearing this, Su Cheng didn’t blame her son, merely shaking her head. “You were too reckless. Sending our Marquis Estate’s guards to pursue and kill her—what if someone investigated and found out?”
“They won’t.” Su Tianci was full of confidence. “I already had them prepare beforehand. They changed clothes, removed their waist tokens15. Besides, everyone died, how could anyone trace it back to us?”
“That’s good.” Su Cheng believed her son’s words. “But using our Marquis Estate’s guards is still too risky. We need to find a reliable method that can both kill Su Yi and prevent others from suspecting us. Mother will go ask some friends and see if there’s a good way.”
“Master, this was retrieved from a corpse on the cliff.”
Ji Qingchi put down the book in her hand and took the object handed over by the Shadow Guard.
It was a waist token, made of ordinary yellow wood, engraved with the character “Su” (苏). On the back of the wooden token, there was also an intaglio16 character “Hou” (侯), but the inscription was so small it required careful examination to discern.
Among the current Marquises surnamed Su, there was only the Pingyang Marquis. But Su Ban seemed to dote on Su Yi very much; why would she send people to pursue and kill her?
If it wasn’t Su Ban, then within the Su Estate, only her descendants from the direct line remained. Someone malicious enough to want Su Yi’s life probably hated Su Yi to the bone. Currently, the Pingyang Marquis favored Su Yi, making Su Yi a threat to the direct line. In that case, Su Wang, Su Cheng, and Su Tianci likely couldn’t escape involvement.
She had originally thought only Ji Qingxuan was pursuing them; now it turned out there were others as well.
They certainly had quite a few enemies, huh.
As she was lost in thought staring at the wooden token, a maidservant entered to report, “Your Highness, that Young Master Su from the Pingyang Marquis Estate has come to deliver gifts again.”
Ji Qingchi’s face remained cold, and she didn’t answer. The Shadow Guard hidden in the darkness twitched his lips, thinking that this male descendant of the Marquis Su family was truly shameless. She had already clearly rejected him, yet he still so persistently comes knocking.
Ji Qingchi said in a deep voice, “Send the things back.”
“Yes.”
“Wait—”
The maidservant quickly turned back, “Your Highness, what is it?”
“Never mind, just send the things back.”
“Yes.”
The sound of the maidservant’s footsteps faded away. Ji Qingchi rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
This Su Tianci was really like a stubborn plaster17, always trying to stick to her. She had several Imperial Elder Sisters; they were so interested in him, why didn’t he go find them?
Both surnamed Su, how come Su Yi was nothing like him?
No, wait, Su Yi was a woman. Why did she randomly compare her to him? Even if she had once been her nominal qizhu, that was just an act, not real.
Ji Qingchi calmed her mind, trying hard to compose herself and push the name Su Yi out of her thoughts.
Once her mind was steady, she summoned the Shadow Guard. “The Second Princess’s investigation into Su Yi’s case, how is it progressing?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, the Second Princess has remained within her estate these past few days and has not visited the Dali Temple18… It seems she does not wish to continue the investigation.”
“Heh, I knew it.” Ji Qingchi sneered. Her Emperor Mother knew this matter was related to Ji Qingxuan. She probably also knew about Ji Qingxuan’s act of substitution19 after her disappearance. That’s why she assigned her Second Imperial Elder Sister to investigate. It was predictable that this matter would lead nowhere.
She and Su Yi were injured for nothing.
Touching her left shoulder, the hatred in Ji Qingchi’s eyes intensified.
Both were Imperial Daughters, but just because she was born of a concubine and Ji Qingxuan was legitimate, she was treated like a weed, never cared for. No matter how outrageous Ji Qingxuan’s actions were, it only resulted in house arrest.
Even her father, her younger sister, were killed by Ji Qingxuan, yet her Emperor Mother only made her go practice Buddhism at a temple, claiming it was for repenting her sins. But anyone with discerning eyes20 could see it was to shield Ji Qingxuan from trouble.
Why, when both were Imperial Daughters, did the Emperor Mother treat them so vastly differently?
She was unwilling to accept it, and she never would be.
If she couldn’t obtain that imperial throne, then don’t blame her for seizing it herself.
This vengeance, she would definitely repay!
The author has something to say:
Next up is the career storyline interwoven with the romance storyline. Neither of these two are love brains, so there might be a period where the two don’t appear in the same frame.
Footnotes
- 语重心长 | yǔ zhòng xīn cháng | Lit. ‘words heavy, heart long’; Meaning: Said earnestly and sincerely, with deep meaning and feeling.
- 伤心欲绝 | shāng xīn yù jué | Lit. ‘heartbroken wanting to expire’.
- 小机灵鬼 | xiǎo jī líng guǐ | Lit. ‘little clever ghost’; An affectionate term for someone, often a child, who is witty, clever, or playfully mischievous.
- 风餐露宿 | fēng cān lù sù | Lit. ‘wind meal dew sleep’; Meaning: To endure the hardships of travel or living rough, exposed to the elements.
- 缺心眼 | quē xīn yǎn | Lit. ‘lacking heart-eye’; Meaning: Stupid, thoughtless, lacking sense.
- 时辰 | shíchen | A traditional Chinese unit of time equal to two hours. Half a shichen is one hour.
- 无法无天 | wú fǎ wú tiān | Lit. ‘no law no heaven’; Meaning: Lawless, unruly, completely disregarding rules and authority.
- 丢尽了脸 | diū jìn le liǎn | Lit. ‘lost face completely’.
- 善茬 | shàn chá | Lit. ‘good stubble/crop’; Meaning: Someone easy to handle or provoke (usually used in the negative, ‘不是善茬’ means ‘not someone to be trifled with’).
- 不争气 | bù zhēng qì | Lit. ‘not striving for breath/spirit’; Meaning: Failing to live up to expectations, being disappointing, lacking ambition or drive.
- 侍君 | shìjūn | Attendant Lord/Gentleman. Likely a term for a male consort or companion in this societal context, possibly implying a lower status than a primary husband (fulang).
- 洁身自好 | jié shēn zì hào | Lit. ‘clean body self good’; Meaning: To preserve one’s moral integrity, lead a pure and virtuous life, often specifically referring to chastity or proper conduct.
- 大眼对小眼 | dà yǎn duì xiǎo yǎn | Lit. ‘big eyes face small eyes’.
- 小杂种 | xiǎo zázhǒng | Lit. ‘little mixed breed/bastard’. A highly offensive and derogatory slur, implying impure lineage and expressing extreme contempt.
- 腰牌 | yāopái | Waist token/tablet, often carried as proof of identity, rank, or affiliation with a particular group or household.
- 阴刻 | yīnkè | Intaglio carving, where the design is cut into the surface.
- 狗皮膏药 | gǒu pí gāo yao | Lit. ‘dog skin plaster’; An old type of sticky medicinal plaster. Used metaphorically to describe something or someone annoyingly persistent and hard to get rid of.
- 大理寺 | Dàlǐ Sì | The Dali Temple; historically, one of the central judicial bodies in imperial China, akin to a supreme court or ministry of justice.
- 李代桃僵 | lǐ dài táo jiāng | Lit. ‘plum substitutes for peach becoming stiff’; An idiom originating from poetry, later becoming one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. It means to substitute one thing for another, often sacrificing a lesser element to protect a more important one, or to take the blame for someone else.
- 明眼人 | míng yǎn rén | Lit. ‘bright-eyed person’; Someone who can see the truth or understand the situation clearly.
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