Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 70
by Little PandaVolume 3: Courtly Winds and Clouds, Each Finds Their Place
The Fourth Princess Has Fled Her Marriage
Before she could recover, the slender woman, choosing her words carefully, recounted the ins and outs of the matter, selecting aspects that wouldn’t reveal any secrets.
“It is very troublesome.” After listening, the woman with a fierce and menacing appearance frowned deeply. “That Old Dog Xiao is a despicable person. In my opinion, whether you agree or not, you might all incur Her Majesty’s suspicion. This matter cannot be told to Her Majesty.”
The slender woman said worriedly, “If we don’t tell Her Majesty, who can we tell?”
The woman who had entered last had been sitting in silence, listening to them speak. Now, hearing their conversation, she deliberated before saying, “How about we tell the Ninth Highness?”
Hearing her words, everyone felt as if they had awakened from a dream.
That was right. Currently, the Ninth Highness was their commander-in-chief. There were no battles at the moment, and she had merely returned to the capital, but the military authority was still in her hands.
The Emperor was willing to hand over the border’s military authority to her, which showed she deeply trusted this daughter. Furthermore, the Ninth Highness had no connection whatsoever with Xiao Quan and particularly disliked treacherous officials. With her formidable martial skills, she was definitely the best person to handle this hot potato.
The fierce-looking woman smiled, stepped forward, and clapped her heavily on the shoulder. “Not bad! Though you’re a woman from the Dongli Kingdom, you are brave and resourceful, truly possessing the style of us great women of the Yanxue Kingdom!”
The gentle-looking woman chuckled. “Lin Yue’s1 constitution is delicate, not like yours. Go a bit easier on her, don’t break her with your pats.”
The fierce-looking woman quickly apologized, “My apologies, my apologies.”
The woman with snow-white skin shook her head. “She’s not that fragile. Have you forgotten when the Huachen Kingdom invaded last time? She alone killed several hundred of their soldiers, looking as if she were dyed in blood.”
“That’s right,” the slender woman also smiled. “Lin Yue may look delicate, but her physique is much better than those of us in clerical roles.”
Cold sweat trickled down Yue Ling’s2 back. She had been in this Yanxue Kingdom military camp for over three months. Most of the generals in the camp were forthright and magnanimous, but these military supervisors and strategists were difficult to deal with. Each one seemed to have a hundred schemes up their sleeves, their words always laced with barbs, secretly probing her background and origins.
She believed the life story she had fabricated was flawless, yet several times she had nearly been exposed, walking a knife’s edge—truly startling to behold.
“Then let’s report this matter to the Ninth Highness, and while we’re at it, ask Her Highness for some better-looking military uniforms.” The fierce-looking woman chuckled foolishly, feeling the clothes on her body. “The style of these clothes is even prettier than what commoners in the Dongli Kingdom wear. When I wear them out, I feel like I stand up straighter. I wonder where Her Highness found such a tailor.”
The slender woman said, “I heard they were made by someone from Marquis Su’s household, her granddaughter, that is.”
The fierce-looking woman immediately said, “From Marquis Su’s household? I’ve seen her portrait, she’s truly as beautiful as a celes— Ahem, I mean, she’s as beautiful as the Ninth Highness.”
The gentle-looking woman retracted the hand she had secretly used to pinch her. “Speaking of the Dongli Kingdom, I heard that their Fourth Princess has fled her marriage.”
Yue Ling calmly poured herself a cup of tea and unhurriedly interjected, “But no news has come from the Dongli Kingdom.”
The woman with slightly darker skin said, “A princess fleeing her marriage is such a critical matter, of course it wouldn’t be spread externally. That Fourth Princess is brave and resourceful. I’ve seen her on the battlefield; the Ninth Highness has crossed swords with her. Though her martial arts are somewhat inferior to the Ninth Highness’s, she is still among the best. How could such an outstanding person be willing to become an alliance marriage princess3?”
The tall woman also said, “If she were born in the Yanxue Kingdom, she too would be an imperial daughter as outstanding as the Ninth Highness, perhaps even able to inherit the throne. Unfortunately, born in the Dongli Kingdom, she can only be a princess.”
The slender woman sighed, “Speaking of which, that Fourth Princess is a pitiful person. Her civil and military skills4 are no less than our country’s imperial daughters. It’s a pity she was born in the wrong place, destined to marry someone inferior to her, paving the way for her despicable and insidious imperial brothers.”
Yue Ling silently sipped her tea, saying nothing.
When the few of them had finished their idle chat, she stood up and smiled, “It’s getting late. I’ll go check on how those warhorses we captured earlier are being raised.”
The women all smiled in unison, “We’ll trouble you then.”
Once she lifted the tent flap and walked out, after a good while, confirming no one was listening, the smiles vanished from the women’s faces.
The slender woman said, “What she said earlier made sense. We must inform the Ninth Highness about this.”
The gentle-looking woman frowned. “Are we being too excessive in guarding against her like this? I find her words and actions very natural. What if she isn’t that Fourth Princess?”
“It’s better to believe it true than not to believe it at all.5 The timing of her appearance is too suspicious. Our spies had just found out the Fourth Princess fled her marriage, and she appeared shortly after. It’s too much of a coincidence. Moreover, her martial arts are formidable, and she is also well-versed in military strategy. As far as I know, the Dongli Kingdom does not permit women to study or practice martial arts, yet she is proficient in both civil and military skills. She is the most suspect.” After speaking, the slender woman stood up. “I must also report this matter to the Ninth Highness.”
After Feng Ruoqing finished performing acupuncture on the mentally unstable woman, the steward immediately came forward and asked with concern, “How is she? Is our mistress alright?”
“Excessive worry has agitated her heart meridian6.” Feng Ruoqing packed away her medicine kit. “I’ve given her acupuncture to temporarily calm her. If you want her to improve, she’ll need quiet recuperation and medication.”
She wrote out a prescription and handed it to her. “Have this filled for her according to what’s written. With about a year or a year and a half of recuperation, she should recover.”
The steward glanced at it, quickly tucked it into her sleeve, and thanked Feng Ruoqing profusely.
“You’re welcome. A healer’s heart is benevolent7; this is my duty.” Feng Ruoqing shook her head, carried her medicine kit out of the guest room, and went straight to Su Yi’s courtyard.
Ji Qingchi was sitting in the courtyard, unhurriedly sipping tea and slowly nibbling on half a tea snack, deliberately looking towards Su Yi in front of her. Chewing meticulously, she smiled, “Mm, delicious.”
Su Yi sat on the swing, swaying gently, her eyes filled with envy.
But that kind of tea snack was hard on her stomach, and she had been forbidden to eat it. Each time, she could only watch eagerly, unable to have any, staring resentfully at Ji Qingchi without a word.
Ji Qingchi dangled the snack in front of her eyes a couple of times, her smile charming, but the words she spoke were enough to break Su Yi’s heart completely: “The Marquis said, if you eat even half a piece more, you won’t be allowed to go out on the streets anymore.”
Su Yi bit her handkerchief in frustration. Fine, fine, she wouldn’t eat it now. When she had the chance in the future, she would definitely eat her fill!
“Miss Su, Ninth Highness.”
“Miss Feng.” Ji Qingchi put down the snack in her hand, wiped her fingers, and stepped forward to help Su Yi off the swing. The two walked over to greet her. “How is that woman?”
“Her internal pulse is chaotic. From what I can see, it looks like she was poisoned.”
“Poisoned again.” Su Yi coughed a few times. She had been too comfortable for too long recently; she felt that the poison sealed within her body was also about to break through its restraints and see the light of day again. “It couldn’t be poison from your Longevity Valley again, could it?”
“I haven’t identified the origin of the poison, but I have figured out what kind of poison it is. It’s an herb called Eight-Velvet Flower. It can cause hallucinations, and prolonged exposure will damage the mind, turning a person into a lunatic.”
Ji Qingchi said, “Perhaps this was done by a thief within the family. Her daughter being stolen is likely related to this as well.”
“What should we do then? Should we tell her?”
“Let’s find an excuse to have her stay and rest in the Marquis’s residence for a while. This Palace will first investigate whether she has any connection to the Chancellor. During this time, This Palace will have to trouble Miss Su to help look after her.”
“I’ve taken in so many people into my residence lately.” Su Yi feigned difficulty. “I’m not like Your Highness; I’m very poor right now. My shop can’t open for business, and a whole bunch of people are relying on me for their meals.”
Ji Qingchi hmphed and chuckled, “Then what does Miss Su want?”
“That shop of mine needs to open quickly, but I’m afraid it will be vandalized again. After all, it’s only been found that it seems to be related to the Chancellor’s son, and we don’t have concrete evidence. Besides, my Great-grandmother’s influence in court isn’t even one-tenth of the Chancellor’s…”
Su Yi waved her handkerchief, wiping away non-existent tears, appearing as if she wanted to say more but was holding back.
Ji Qingchi smiled and stopped her, “Alright, alright, stop pretending. This Palace understand. Go ahead and open that shop. This Palace, for one, would like to see if they are truly bold enough to directly oppose me!”
The author has something to say:
This office drudge8 is dead tired today, only managed to write a little.
Footnotes
- 林月 | Lín Yuè
- 月泠 | Yuè Líng
- 和亲公主 | héqīn gōngzhǔ | A princess sent by her home state to marry a ruler of a foreign state, typically to forge or maintain a political alliance. The practice was common in Chinese history.
- 文韬武略 | wéntāo wǔlüè | A set phrase referring to proficiency in both civil (literary, strategic, administrative) and military affairs.
- 宁可信其有,不可信其无 | Nìng kě xìn qí yǒu, bù kě xìn qí wú | A common saying meaning it’s safer to assume something is true (and take precautions) than to dismiss it and be caught unprepared.
- 心脉 | xīnmài | In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this refers to the functional system related to the heart, including aspects of blood circulation and mental-emotional state. Agitation can imply a disturbance in its normal function.
- 医者仁心 | yīzhě rénxīn | A common saying praising the compassionate nature expected of medical practitioners; ‘a doctor’s duty is to be humane.’
- 上班狗 | shàngbāngǒu | Lit. ‘office dog’ or ‘work dog.’ A self-deprecating slang term for an office worker, implying long hours and a somewhat menial or exhausting job, similar to ‘wage slave’ or ‘corporate drone.’
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