Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 46
by Little PandaVolume 2: The Captivating Splendor of Jingdu
Su Yi felt it was absolutely necessary to salvage her image in the female protagonist’s heart. She chose her words carefully and defended herself, “To be honest with Your Highness, actually… this commoner2 was just seeing this kind of scene for the first time and couldn’t resist looking out of curiosity. But this commoner personally has no such peculiar tastes…”
However, the person holding her didn’t seem to hear her words. With her right hand, she gently undid the clasp of the pig mask and took it off.
Revealing Su Yi’s pale and beautiful face.
Her gaze slowly looked over Su Yi’s skin inch by inch, Ji Qingchi smiled faintly, “So it really is Miss Su.”
Su Yi: “…”
I suspect you’re engaging in entrapment!3
“Ahem… Yes… it is this commoner. This commoner… To make a living, this commoner specifically came to the First Prince’s residence.” After explaining her actions, and to maintain her persona, Su Yi swallowed and pointed at the pixelated mess below, “Your Highness, should we… save him?”
“With so many hounds going mad, just the two of us probably can’t save him right now.”
Besides, Su Tianci had splashed cold water on Su Yi last time, nearly killing her. She wasn’t some kind soul who repaid grievances with kindness; she wouldn’t forgive him easily.
Ji Qingchi put the mask back on for her, held her tighter, and braced herself mid-air. “Shush, don’t make a sound. People will be coming soon. Don’t let anyone see us.”
With Su Tianci in such a miserable state here, the two of them watching instead of saving him would easily arouse suspicion. If seen, they wouldn’t be able to explain it clearly.
Su Yi had no choice but to remain silent. But Su Tianci’s cries grew increasingly intense, and she couldn’t help wanting to peek, her eyes constantly darting that way. Yet, mindful of Ji Qingchi, she was practically scratching her ears and cheeks4 with impatience.
Seeing her like this, Ji Qingchi pursed her lips and smiled, “If Miss Su wants to watch, then watch.”
Su Yi quickly retorted, “Your Highness must be joking. This commoner is a respectable person…”
Despite saying that, she couldn’t resist glancing down.
Aiyo, wo cao5, Su Tianci’s waist is truly impressive! That undulating wave line… even the ocean would have to willingly concede defeat.6
Another glance.
Wo cao, Su Tianci really has great capacity7! It’d be unreasonable not to try stuffing a mallet8 in there, right?
One more peek.
Aiya, Su Tianci is truly awesome9, handling seven or eight hounds simultaneously! He really… I’m crying!
Su Yi wanted to look again, but her eyes were covered once more.
Su Yi protested, “Your Highness, I can’t see.”
“If you watch too much, you’ll easily get a sty. Doesn’t Miss Su know?”
Su Yi turned into an emo emoji. She didn’t dare resist Ji Qingchi and could only say aggrievedly, “Alright then.”
With her eyes covered, her hearing became sharper. Su Yi perked up her little ears, a new joy igniting in her heart. Although she couldn’t see, she could hear!
This time, Ji Qingchi couldn’t stop her. Pursing her lips, she pulled Su Yi tighter into her embrace.
Su Yi thought Ji Qingchi was uncomfortable holding someone while suspended mid-air and wanted to change position, so she didn’t think much of it, letting herself be held while stretching her ears out a bit more.
While she was listening, thrilled and stimulated, Su Tianci’s high-pitched and intense cries finally attracted people. Seeing the scene, they were utterly horrified and quickly sent someone to notify the masters of the residence. Soon, the imperial daughters, young ladies, and young masters from the pavilion arrived. Even the First Prince rushed over after receiving the news.
Looking at Su Tianci on the ground, the young masters gloated10, while the young ladies pointed and whispered. The Third Imperial Daughter quickly covered her own eyes and also covered the eyes of the curious Seventh Imperial Daughter.
The Fifth Imperial Daughter, however, turned her head to look around, searching for suspicious individuals. Su Tianci wouldn’t end up like this for no reason; someone must have tampered with things.
The Second Imperial Daughter was inwardly pleased, thinking that her Eldest Imperial Brother would have a hard time explaining this to the Marquis of Pingyang. Last time, he caused Su Yi to lose her fulang and managed to evade responsibility. Let’s see how he dodges it this time.
Thinking this, she put on a solemn expression and called to the guards, “Hurry up and save him!”
The guards, suppressing their laughter, used wooden sticks and swords to beat and kill the hounds off Su Tianci. By the time they rescued him, his body was already a bloody pulp.11
The Second Imperial Daughter waved her hand, “Quickly summon a doctor12.”
When the Imperial Physician arrived, seeing the tragic scene before him, even he, despite his extensive experience, was startled.
After carefully examining him, he stated euphemistically, “This Young Master… the damage below is severe, and his flesh has been pierced by the hounds… I’m afraid… I’m afraid this lower half… From now on, I’m afraid… he will need someone constantly by his side to care for him.”
The Second Imperial Daughter indicated her understanding, “This Palace understands. Attendants, carry Young Master Su away and notify the Pingyang Marquis Residence to come pick him up.”
Only after everyone had left did Ji Qingchi land, still holding Su Yi.
Su Yi breathed a sigh of relief, looked around to ensure no one was there, and said, “Good thing no one discovered us. It smells awful here. Your Highness, shall we go?”
“Didn’t Miss Su say she was going to get rouge for This Palace?”
Su Yi was eager to get the gossip13 about Su Tianci. “To tell you the truth, Ninth Highness, the rouge this commoner brought today has some itching powder applied to it; it can’t be used. If Your Highness wants some, this commoner will give it to Your Highness next time.”
Seeing her sincere expression, which didn’t seem fake, Ji Qingchi reluctantly agreed, “Alright then. Miss Su must not forget.”
Su Yi quickly urged, “This commoner won’t. Your Highness, let’s hurry up and leave.”
The two returned to the banquet pavilion, which was already mostly empty. After such a major incident today, everyone wanted to avoid bringing trouble upon themselves and had thus taken their leave one after another.
Only Su Tianci still lay on a board, his young male servants kneeling beside him, all trembling.
Several imperial daughters were either sitting or standing, watching the First Prince pace back and forth, mad with anger, threatening the servants with a whip, “What exactly happened? Weren’t you following the Young Master?”
Such a huge scandal had occurred at his residence, and twice now. Although his Imperial Mother hadn’t pursued the matter last time, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t this time.
Therefore, he needed to promptly find a scapegoat.
“Speak! Who was it! Who harmed the Young Master?”
The Second Imperial Daughter said mockingly, “Eldest Imperial Brother, don’t be so angry. Sit down, have some tea, cool off.”
Since she wasn’t the one who landed in trouble, of course she wasn’t anxious.
The First Prince glared at her angrily. Just as he was about to continue the interrogation, he saw Ji Qingchi approaching with an attendant merchant. Curious, he asked, “Little Nine, why are you with an attendant merchant?”
“This Palace needed her for something just now,” Ji Qingchi replied evasively14.
The First Prince knew her temperament and didn’t ask further. He turned back to the trembling servants, “Are you going to talk or not?”
Su Yi, altering her voice, said, “Your Highness, this commoner recognizes someone who might know the reason.”
“Oh?” The First Prince looked at her, half-believing, half-doubting. “Who is it?”
Around dusk, a battered Su Tianci was taken back home by people from the Marquis Residence.
He had gone out a perfectly fine person and returned half-paralyzed. Su Cheng and Su Wang were both furious and angry. Just as they were about to investigate who had harmed Su Tianci, the First Prince, to avoid being implicated, sent the culprit over to their residence.
Su Yi identified the servant who had administered the drug. Under questioning, the terrified servant confessed everything. With this, Su Tianci’s reputation within the circle of nobles and dignitaries was utterly ruined.
His dream of marrying an imperial daughter was also completely shattered.
He had intended to drug the Ninth Imperial Daughter, but ended up harming himself through his own actions—it could certainly be called swift retribution.
Su Cheng had originally thought that if she found out who harmed her son, she would definitely subject that person to death by a thousand cuts. Unexpectedly, it was her own son who had erred. Not only could she not execute the culprit by a thousand cuts, but she also had to bring gifts to the Ninth Imperial Daughter’s residence to apologize.
Ji Qingchi couldn’t be bothered to see her and ordered the residence gates kept tightly shut.
Su Cheng was frantic. Even Su Ban was extremely respectful towards the Imperial Daughter; how could they dare to offend her?
She knelt and begged at the Ninth Imperial Daughter’s residence every day. When the Ninth Imperial Daughter wouldn’t see her, she went to the residences of the other imperial daughters, even visiting the residences of the Princes one by one.
After half a month, she had lost a circle of weight, yet not a single member of the imperial family was willing to pay her any mind.
That wasn’t all. After Su Tianci woke up and learned of his fate, he suddenly went mad. He spent his days in the residence shouting kill, kill. When his mind was clear, he used a dagger to stab to death over a dozen servants and maidservants who came near him. Gradually, no one dared to serve him anymore.
Su Cheng had no choice but to personally care for her son. However, one time after helping him bathe, she was exhausted and fell asleep leaning against the bathtub. Su Tianci mistook her for someone trying to harm him and killed her by smashing a nearby vase over her head.
Her blood and brain matter froze; she was only discovered the next morning by a maidservant who came to clean.
With Su Tianci having killed his own mother, no one was willing to serve him. As he struggled in his wheelchair, trying to get up to eat, the wheelchair tipped over. He hit his head on the cold ground and stopped breathing.
Su Wang seemed unaffected; perhaps her feelings for her daughter and grandson were weak. She continued living perfectly fine. However, with such a major scandal occurring in the Pingyang Marquis Residence, the entire household became fodder for leisure time gossip15. As bookshops increased, the news spread widely, turning them into the laughingstock of the entire Yanxue Kingdom.
The events that unfolded in the Su residence in just one short month were enough to make people sigh.
Su Yi also felt quite emotional upon hearing about these matters.
Originally, she had only planned to go to the First Prince’s residence, lure Su Tianci out, sell him problematic rouge to make his face break out, teach him a small lesson, and incidentally induce him to curse her in front of all the imperial daughters. This would let the imperial daughters understand his unreasonable nature and cause his potential marriage to an imperial daughter to fall through.
She hadn’t expected him to court disaster himself and bring about such a turn of events.
Perhaps this was a case of evil begetting evil.
Meanwhile, the assassin sent to kill Su Ban did not succeed. The Shadow Guards dispatched by Ji Qingchi promptly subdued the assassin and rescued Su Ban.
Having been the Marquis of Pingyang for so many years, Su Ban was no pushover16. Despite being in Linchuan, she still quickly investigated who had tried to harm her.
When she returned to the capital, fuming and ready to settle scores, she heard the news that her two grandchildren who had harmed her were already deceased.
She fell silent for a moment, then ordered their bodies removed from the ancestral tomb and buried casually somewhere else. She requested an imperial decree to abolish Su Wang’s position as Heir Apparent, demoting her to a commoner, gave her a piece of land, and left her to fend for herself17.
With the Heir Apparent position suddenly vacant, many daughters of secondary wives still in the capital began to get ideas. Su Ban gave no opportunity to the other secondary daughters. She had people bring Su Yi back to the residence, selected an auspicious date, and had Su Yi’s grandmother Su Jie and her mother Su Ming re-enshrined in the ancestral rites, recasting their names onto the family register and elevating their status within the residence.
Her actions essentially reconstituted the direct lineage. Su Yi’s family became the main branch, while her Eldest Aunt and other ‘mothers’ became part of the collateral branches.
Her grandmother Su Jie also showed considerable boldness. On the first day she became the Heir Apparent, she divided the family property according to the system of enfeoffment18. Su Daniang, being considered the eldest daughter of her generation19, was enfeoffed to Liucheng20, receiving 500 mu21 of land there. Her primary husband22 no longer needed to complain about the unfairness of land distribution.
However, that place was even more desolate than Fengcheng. Su Daniang’s primary husband, Xiao Long, became dissatisfied again and threw tantrums at home.
Su Daniang ignored him, packing her things for Liucheng by herself. Angered, he took their young daughter Su Zhi23 and returned to his maternal family’s home again.
His mother was an Elder24 in the clan; even the Chancellor25 had to show her some respect. When he went home crying about his grievances, he happened to encounter Chancellor Xiao Quan26 visiting his home with Xiao Zhengyun27.
Hearing her son’s complaints, his mother was furious, but now that Su Yi was part of the direct lineage, there was nothing they could do. Mother and son hugged and cried together. Xiao Long aggrievedly returned to Su Daniang’s side and, at dawn, followed her to Liucheng.
He didn’t know that it wasn’t just him; Xiao Zhengyun was also plotting against Su Yi.
Last time, he had tried to use the bookshop incident to strike at her, but soon after, she opened a clothing store and earned even more than before. He was so angry he went home and smashed all the movable type printing blocks.
Her annoying fulang had finally died, yet she managed to stage a comeback28 and live well again.
He had thought that having offended Su Tianci, she would surely suffer. Unexpectedly, Su Tianci turned out to be an idiot29, completely useless, and died so stupidly quickly. Su Yi even derived gain from misfortune30, becoming part of the direct lineage, which made people even angrier.
Provoked by Xiao Long’s words, the flames of unwillingness in Xiao Zhengyun’s heart burned fiercely.
“It seems I’ll have to handle this personally,” he thought darkly, summoning a servant. “Prepare a horse for this Young Master. This Young Master is going to pay a visit to the son of the Minister of Revenue31.”
The author has something to say:
Ahhh, the romance plot is so slow! I’m frantically pushing the plot forward because if the plot doesn’t move, the romance can’t progress. Otherwise, I wouldn’t still be updating so late at night.
LP: Author isn’t holding back
Footnotes
- 会长针眼 | huì zhǎng zhēnyǎn | Lit. “will grow a needle eye”; Refers to the superstition that watching inappropriate things causes one to get a sty in the eye.
- 草民 | cǎomín | Lit. “grass person”; Humble self-address: “this commoner”
- 钓鱼执法 | diàoyú zhífǎ | Lit. “fishing law enforcement”; Refers to entrapment tactics used by authorities, often used humorously online for being caught in an awkward situation.
- 抓耳挠腮 | zhuā’ěrnáosāi | Lit. “scratch ears, scratch cheeks”; Describes a state of anxiety, impatience, or frustration.
- 哎呦卧槽 | āiyōu wòcáo | An exclamation of shock or surprise, similar to “Oh, damn!” or “Holy shit!”. 卧槽 (wòcáo) is a common, fairly vulgar internet slang term.
- 甘拜下风 | gānbàixiàfēng | Lit. “willingly bow to the lower wind”; To concede defeat or acknowledge inferiority.
- 有容乃大 | yǒuróngnǎidà | Lit. “having tolerance makes one great”; An idiom praising broad-mindedness.
- 棒槌 | bàngchuí | A wooden mallet or club, often used for laundry.
- 牛逼 | niúbī | Lit. “cow cunt”; Vulgar slang meaning awesome, badass, fucking great.
- 幸灾乐祸 | xìngzāilèhuò | Lit. “rejoice in calamity, delight in disaster”; Schadenfreude.
- 血肉模糊 | xièròu móhú | Lit. “blood and flesh blurred”; Mangled, a bloody mess.
- 大夫 | dàifu | Doctor (traditional term)
- 吃瓜 | chī guā | Lit. “eat melon”; Internet slang for watching drama unfold or gossiping like an onlooker.
- 避重就轻 | bìzhòngjiùqīng | Lit. “avoid the heavy and choose the light”; To evade important issues and focus on trivial ones.
- 茶前饭后 | cháqiánfànhòu | Lit. “before tea, after meal”; During leisure time.
- 不是吃素的 | bù shì chīsù de | Lit. “is not vegetarian”; An idiom meaning someone is not to be trifled with, not weak or easily dealt with.
- 自生自灭 | zìshēngzìmiè | Lit. “self-grow, self-extinguish”; To let someone manage on their own, sink or swim.
- 分封制 | fēnfēng zhì | System of enfeoffment, similar to feudalism, where land and titles are granted to relatives/subjects.
- 麻长女 | má zhǎngnǚ | Likely means ‘eldest daughter of the collateral branch’ or similar, indicating her seniority among those now considered secondary.
- 柳城 | Liǔ Chéng | Willow City
- 五百亩 | wǔbǎi mǔ | 500 mu; Traditional Chinese unit of area (approx. 1/6 acre or 667 sqm). 500 mu is about 82 acres or 331, 842 sqm.
- 正君 | zhèngjūn | Primary husband/consort.
- 苏致 | Sū Zhì
- 长老 | zhǎnglǎo | Elder; A position of authority within a clan or organization.
- 丞相 | chéngxiàng | Chancellor/Prime Minister
- 肖铨 | Xiāo Quán
- 肖正筠 | Xiāo Zhèngyún
- 东山再起 | dōngshānzàiqǐ | Lit. “rise again from East Mountain”; To stage a comeback after a setback.
- 草包 | cǎobāo | Lit. “straw bag”; An idiot, useless person, good-for-nothing.
- 因祸得福 | yīnhuòdéfú | Lit. “because of misfortune, gain fortune”; A blessing in disguise.
- 户部尚书 | Hùbù Shàngshū | Minister of the Board of Revenue.
Brutal 😣