Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 79
by Little PandaVolume 3: Courtly Winds and Clouds, Each Finds Their Place
Whose gift was the most valuable?
After kneeling for a very long time, when their legs were about to break, they finally received the Emperor’s edict of pardon.
After hearing the palace maids relay the message, the few of them stood up with the support of people from their respective manors.
“We truly have Miss Su to thank for this, ah,” the Second Imperial Daughter said with a smile, rubbing her own knees. “This Palace will go back to the manor and think about what to get to thank her.”
The Third Imperial Daughter and Seventh Imperial Daughter smiled and nodded in agreement. The Eldest Imperial Son was overwhelmed with shame. Previously, Su Yi’s fulang had died in his manor, and he had remained silent to protect himself. Now that she had disregarded past grievances to plead for him, he also immediately expressed his intention to give something to thank Su Yi.
The Fifth Imperial Daughter lowered her eyes and said nothing, standing up with the support of her steward, her gaze sweeping towards the entrance of the Emperor’s bedchamber.
Not far away, the sickly Su Yi was slowly walking over, supported by palace maids.
She stood up, limping, turned to leave, and as she passed by Ji Qingchi, she suddenly spoke coldly, “This Palace sometimes envies you so much I wish I could kill you. A person like you… what right do you have?”
Who Su Yi was pleading to the Mother Emperor for, one would understand with a little thought.
How could one not be jealous that a dog-like thing such as Ji Qingchi actually had someone willing to disregard their own sickly body to come and plead for her?
Ji Qingchi smiled faintly, looking at Su Yi in the distance, and said meaningfully, “Then I must very much thank Fifth Imperial Sister’s jealousy, for letting This Palace know what kind of peerless treasure This Palace possesses.”
The Fifth Imperial Daughter didn’t spare her another glance and left the imperial palace with a livid face.
The Fifth Imperial Daughter was a person with a fiery temper, yet surprisingly, she didn’t make any commotion when she left.
The Second Imperial Daughter said strangely, “What’s wrong with Fifth Imperial Younger Sister? Why does she look… so downcast?”
The Third Imperial Daughter said, “I don’t know, maybe she was punished by Mother Emperor and is in a bad mood ba.”
The Seventh Imperial Daughter agreed, “Possibly.”
Ji Qingchi didn’t join their conversation, her eyes fixed on Su Yi who was walking towards them, the smile on her lips never fading.
No one knew better than her who Su Yi had entered the palace for this time.
Now that her elder brothers and sisters were speaking words of thanks to Su Yi, it made her feel as if they were praising and thanking herself, a sweetness like honey filling her heart.
When Su Yi drew near, she limped forward to meet her, resisting the urge to hug her, and smiled, “We owe Miss Su a debt of gratitude.”
“Yes, ah.” Before Su Yi could reply, the several Imperial Daughters and the Eldest Imperial Son surrounded her, each saying a word or two to express their understanding and gratitude towards Su Yi.
Su Yi was described as if she were a goddess descended from heaven, feeling so praised that she became embarrassed, quickly saying it was nothing. After some pleasantries, the group finally let her go, each returning to their manors by horse-drawn carriage.
Once she was in the same carriage as Su Yi, Ji Qingchi finally couldn’t hold back anymore. Disregarding her already bruised knees, she moved forward and pulled Su Yi into her embrace.
Su Yi was startled, and fearing that struggling might touch her injured knees, she could only half-lean into her embrace, raising a hand to tap her chest, “Your Highness, are you trying to become a cripple?”
“If This Palace becomes a cripple, then you will be a cripple’s wife in the future.” Ji Qingchi smiled, hugging her tighter, resting her head in the crook of Su Yi’s neck, and chuckled, “Don’t worry, This Palace used zhenqi1 to protect my meridians2. It’s just bruising, it will be fine after a while.”
Hearing this, Su Yi lightly slapped her knee, “Is that so?”
“Ahsi3…” Ji Qingchi immediately begged for mercy, “This Palace was wrong… However, This Palace fought with Fifth Imperial Sister because of your words, and was even punished by Mother Emperor for it… Tell me, shouldn’t This Palace ask you for a reward.”
Su Yi poked her chest, “I pleaded for Your Highness and haven’t even asked Your Highness for compensation, and now you’re asking me for one instead?”
“Alright then, what compensation do you want?”
“I haven’t thought of it yet.”
“But This Palace has.”
Su Yi raised an eyebrow at her, “What does Your Highness want?”
Ji Qingchi pointed to her own cheek, saying smugly, “You kiss This Palace once.”
“Then I’ve thought of it too,” Su Yi said slowly, “No matter what Your Highness’s request is, my request is to cancel out all of Your Highness’s requests.”
Unexpectedly, she was so cunning. Ji Qingchi deflated, looking at her resentfully.
Under her resentful gaze, Su Yi smiled, leaned forward, and kissed the corner of her lips.
Ji Qingchi took the opportunity to hug her tightly, her warm lips stirring restlessly, wanting to move from the corner to the center, even her soft tongue was very restless.
Before they could touch, Su Yi timely extended a finger to press between their lips.
Ji Qingchi was very resentful, “Why…”
Su Yi said seriously, “Let’s attend to proper business first.”
“This is proper business.”
“Alright then, I’ll go find the Fifth Imperial Daughter.”
Ji Qingchi abruptly sat up straight, released her, and put on a business-like demeanor, “This Palace will go ask about the situation with the spies at Xiao Manor.”
Su Yi’s eyes held a smile. As Ji Qingchi turned to contact her shadow guards, the smile in her eyes faded.
Actually, the Emperor was right. In the original novel, Ji Qingchi indeed had a suspicious and domineering personality. With such a person, she was very afraid that after giving her what she wanted, she would end up with nothing. Being with her still carried some reservations.
Ji Qingchi didn’t know Su Yi’s worries. She summoned her shadow guards and asked them for news from the Chancellor’s Manor.
“After this incident with Xiao Zhengyun, she has locked herself in her room and allows no one to enter. Chancellor Xiao is also very angry and has had her protégés gather much information about the usual derelictions of duty of the several Highnesses, intending to report it to Her Majesty the Emperor, for Her Majesty to deal with the several Highnesses.”
The shadow guard spoke, then took out a letter, “By the way, Your Highness, this is a letter from the border, sent by Chancellor Xiao’s protégés, those army supervisors.”
“Xiao Quan’s protégés would send This Palace a letter?” Ji Qingchi frowned, took the letter, opened it, and her face immediately clouded over.
“Alright, you may leave. Continue to keep an eye on Xiao Quan. If she makes even the slightest move, you must report back to This Palace.”
“Yes.”
The shadow guard left. Su Yi turned her face and saw Ji Qingchi’s unpleasant expression, her gaze sweeping to the letter in her hand, “What did Xiao Quan’s protégés say?”
“They said she is preparing to collude with Huachen Kingdom and Dongli Kingdom, to stage a mutiny, kill Mother Emperor, and then install Fifth Imperial Sister on the throne.”
Su Yi smiled, “Aiya aiya, this is truly like receiving a pillow when one is sleepy4. Let’s just turn the tables on them5, let them do as Chancellor Xiao says, we’ll plan ahead and let her jump into the trap herself.”
They were just worrying about not finding a way to make Xiao Quan reveal her true colors, and now it had become easy.
Ji Qingchi also thought of this, but she was more concerned about why Xiao Quan’s protégés would send her such important intelligence. She feared the letter might be a trick, thought for a moment, and said, “This Palace will first have someone investigate whether this letter is genuine. If it is, then we will implement the plan.”
Su Yi nodded, “That makes sense.”
Before Ji Qingchi could seek further verification, a second, delayed letter arrived.
Having navigated officialdom for over a dozen years, the several army supervisors at the border were all quick-witted. They easily guessed that even if they wrote a letter telling Ji Qingchi the true situation, she might not necessarily believe it. Therefore, they sent their official seals6 along with the letter to Ji Qingchi, and also had several generals at the border provide guarantees.
Those generals were all personally cultivated by Ji Qingchi; she still trusted them. With their guarantees, the credibility was greatly increased.
However, most of the generals hadn’t read many books, and the content of the letter was written in a muddled way, the gist of the entire paper expressing: “What my wife says is all correct, I hope Your Highness believes her.”
After Ji Qingchi opened the letter and read it, her brow twitched several times. Looking at the signal soldier7 below who delivered the letter, she slowly asked, “Your generals… are together with the army supervisors?”
“Yes.” The signal soldier scratched her head, saying embarrassedly, “The Lord Generals said that the Lord Surpervisors are good-looking, refined and gentle, and soft to hold, even better than men.”
Veins throbbed on Ji Qingchi’s forehead a few times. She had wondered why that bunch of boors8, who hated being supervised the most, were always writing letters asking her if the imperial court had sent army supervisors over. It turned out that in their eyes, the imperial court sending army supervisors wasn’t to monitor them, but to provide them with wives.
“Alright, This Palace understands.” Ji Qingchi wrote a reply, telling them she already knew and instructing them to await orders.
While Ji Qingchi was slowly preparing to lure the prey into the trap9, Su Yi wasn’t idle either; she was busy receiving all sorts of gifts.
The several Highnesses indeed kept their word; having said they would send her things to thank her, they truly presented valuable gifts.
The Eldest Imperial Son sent her five thousand liang of silver and some gold and silver jewelry. The Second Imperial Daughter sent several night-luminescent pearls10 and other gemstones. The Third Imperial Daughter sent rare antiques and calligraphy paintings. The Seventh Imperial Daughter sent her many valuable medicinal herbs. The most valuable gift surprisingly came from the Fifth Imperial Daughter, who actually gave her shops in the most prosperous district, and a full five of them at that.
Upon receiving the land deeds, Su Yi felt her eyes were playing tricks on her. She looked at the land deeds in her hand in disbelief, then at the steward from the Fifth Imperial Daughter’s manor standing beside her.
“This… Is Fifth Highness sure there’s no mistake?”
“None.” The steward smiled, “Our Highness said she is very grateful to Miss Su for helping her, so she is gifting this to Miss.”
Su Yi didn’t dare to accept it at all, “Ah this… Fifth Highness wouldn’t have knelt for long even without my help in pleading. One does not accept rewards without merit. I didn’t do much, yet Her Highness gives me such a valuable thing… I cannot accept it.”
“Her Highness knew Miss Su would say that. Our Highness said, this gift is, on one hand, to thank Miss Su for her kindness, and on the other hand, to make friends with Miss Su.”
She hadn’t expected the imperial daughters of Yanxue Kingdom to be so fond of making friends.
Gaining a local tyrant11 friend, who also had power and influence, seemed like a win-win situation no matter how she thought about it.
Although she was her girlfriend’s rival, between biological sisters… there was still room for discussion.
Su Yi thought for a moment and still accepted, “Then please, Steward, thank Fifth Highness for me.”
The matter of the Fifth Imperial Daughter gifting Su Yi shops soon reached Ji Qingchi’s ears.
Su Yi hadn’t yet figured out how to explain to Ji Qingchi that the Fifth Imperial Daughter was her rival, yet she had accepted her things… No matter how she thought about it, it wasn’t something a girlfriend should do.
While she was struggling, Ji Qingchi came looking for her.
In the dead of night, she climbed over the wall to enter, giving Su Yi a huge fright. Before Su Yi could speak, Ji Qingchi picked her up and, using qinggong, ran off.
“Your Highness…” Several meters off the ground, Su Yi was too scared to open her eyes, quickly clutching her clothes, tears streaming, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have accepted Fifth Highness’s things.”
Ji Qingchi didn’t speak, carrying her and speeding along with qinggong. In a few leaps, she flew into her own manor, stopping before a quiet room. By its appearance, it somewhat resembled those storerooms for treasures seen in television dramas.
Su Yi was set down, the tears at the corners of her eyes not yet dry.
Ji Qingchi carefully wiped her tears with a handkerchief, then helped her tidy her messy hair.
She carefully took something out from her sleeve and handed it to her, “Here.”
“What?”
Su Yi felt something placed in her palm. Looking down, it was actually a key.
Ji Qingchi pointed to the door behind her, “Go open it.”
Su Yi was very curious about what she intended, but Ji Qingchi refused to say another word, only urging her with her eyes, “Quick, go open it ah.”
Su Yi had no choice but to slowly step forward. After inserting the key into the bronze lock, with a kada sound, the door opened a crack.
The dazzling brilliance of jewels and treasures from within almost blinded her.
Su Yi gently pushed the door open. After the door was fully open, the entire interior of the room was revealed.
Neatly stacked gold ingots, night-luminescent pearls, agate, jade artifacts, brocade12, antique calligraphy and paintings, medicinal herbs, and a chest of farmland deeds.
Su Yi’s mouth formed an “o” shape.
“These are some of the assets This Palace has accumulated over these many years.” Ji Qingchi walked up, hugged her waist from behind, rested her chin on her shoulder, and said, “From now on, all of these will be yours.”
Su Yi was immersed in the joy of her impending transformation into a little rich woman, not yet reacting.
Seeing she didn’t react, Ji Qingchi paused, then hugged her tighter, asking insistently, “Well? These things of This Palace, aren’t they much more valuable than Fifth Imperial Sister’s things?”
Footnotes
- 真气 | zhēnqì | True Qi; vital energy, internal energy cultivated in martial arts or spiritual practices.
- 经脉 | jīngmài | Meridians; channels in the body through which Qi is believed to flow in traditional Chinese medicine and cultivation practices.
- 啊嘶 | ā sī | Sound of hissing or a sharp intake of breath, often due to pain or surprise.
- 瞌睡来了送枕头 | kēshuì lái le sòng zhěntou | Lit. “to send a pillow when one is sleepy” | Fig. to provide exactly what is needed at the right moment; a timely help.
- 将计就计 | jiāngjìjiùjì | Lit. “take the enemy’s plan and make it one’s own” | Fig. to beat someone at their own game; to turn an enemy’s plot to one’s own advantage.
- 官印 | guānyìn | Official seal; a stamp used by officials to authenticate documents, signifying their authority.
- 通信兵 | tōngxìnbīng | Signal soldier, communications soldier, or military messenger.
- 大老粗 | dàlǎocū | Uncouth fellow, rough and uncultured person, boor.
- 请君入瓮 | qǐngjūnrùwèng | Lit. “invite the gentleman into the urn” (referring to a historical anecdote where a cruel official was tricked into confessing by being subjected to a torture method he himself devised) | Fig. to lure someone into a trap of their own making; to give someone a taste of their own medicine.
- 夜明珠 | yèmíngzhū | Night-luminescent pearl; a legendary pearl that glows in the dark, considered a rare treasure.
- 土豪 | tǔháo | “Local tyrant” or “nouveau riche”; often refers to someone wealthy, sometimes uncultured, but powerful locally.
- 锦缎 | jǐnduàn | Brocade; a rich, patterned fabric, typically woven with silk and often with gold or silver threads.
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