The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 1

Ascending to the Capital​¹

In the twelfth year of the Baoguang reign of the Tiancheng Kingdom​², floods were incessant across the land. In order to suppress the incursions of neighboring countries, the Son of Heaven​³, disregarding the lives of the common people, increased taxes. Hundreds of thousands starved to death, and the people’s grievances accumulated and swelled, leading to continuous uprisings of various scales.

To pacify the situation, the Son of Heaven issued an imperial edict, ordering the various vassal kings​⁴ and feudal lords​⁵ to come to the capital to pay tribute and present silver and money, to be used to appease the common people.

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The other vassal kings could all be commanded with a single edict, but for Marquis Zhengyi​⁶, who held significant military power in the southeast of Tiancheng, the Son of Heaven had no choice but to go personally.

The Qu Family of Marquis Zhengyi had once risked life and limb for the founding of the Tiancheng Kingdom. At the very beginning of the nation’s establishment, they were the first to be enfeoffed as a Marquis​⁷, possessing absolute autonomous rights over their fiefdom. Thus, they were a marquisate of immense wealth, making others both envious and jealous.

Three years later, at the Nanting Courtyard​⁸ in the Marquis Zhengyi’s estate.

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On a cool autumn day, the chirping of insects gradually faded as night descended upon the land. A guard, carrying a small burlap sack, hurriedly walked towards the courtyard of the Young Miss​⁹ of the Marquis Zhengyi’s estate.

“Young Miss, I have brought the person for you.” The guard of the Marquis Zhengyi’s estate held a small child, drool covering the corners of its mouth.

The small child didn’t cry or fuss, holding some food given by who-knows-who in its hand, energetically stuffing it into its mouth.

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Dressed in a light green, small cross-collared jacket​¹⁰ and a white skirt, Qu Sheng​¹¹ heard the words and stopped the ink brush she was writing with at her desk. When she lifted her head and saw a child of the same size as her, she frowned slightly.

“Are you sure this is the person I wanted?” Qu Sheng’s voice was childish, yet it could be thrown to the ground and make a sound​¹²; it was not hard to tell she was a master with her own opinions.

The guard nodded and replied, “Yes, it’s Old Liang’s own nephew from our estate. There’s no mistake.” As the guard spoke, he lifted the child in his hand a little and added, “He can’t speak yet.”

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Hearing this, Qu Sheng nodded her small head, set down her ink brush, and her expression returned to its previous calm. She said, “Put him down.”

The guard heard this, his face looking somewhat troubled.

“What is it?” Qu Sheng asked, seeing the guard remain motionless for a long while.

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Hearing her voice, the guard replied respectfully, “This child has sheep madness​¹³. This subordinate is afraid he might injure you.”

Two shichen​¹⁴ later, Qu Sheng opened the door. With one hand behind her back, she summoned the same guard from before and said, “Send him back.”

The guard hesitated for a moment, glanced at the child lying on the floor inside, then looked at Qu Sheng’s slightly pale face. Not daring to ask more, he turned sideways, entered the room, and carried the child away.

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Qu Sheng watched the person leave, then brought out her hand that had been bitten, was still bleeding, and was trembling slightly.

“Someone, bring some water,” Qu Sheng said, then turned and entered the room again.

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“I swear, you child, you get injured and don’t make a peep. If something bad were to happen, how could your mother ever be at ease?” The First Madam​¹⁵ of the Marquis Zhengyi’s estate, Qu Sheng’s birth mother, had hurried over to check on Qu Sheng’s injury after being informed by the guard.

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Qu Sheng listened to her mother’s worries but did not respond. She had always been unwilling to trouble her mother, and right now her gaze was fixed on the talkative guard beside them.

“Alright, Feng Qi was also doing it for your own good.” Looking at her young yet mature daughter, Jin Yunfei​¹⁶ felt gloomy in her heart. How did she give birth to such a dull oil bottle​¹⁷?

“This subordinate deserves death. This subordinate will go receive punishment now.” Qu Sheng’s personal guard, seeing her staring at him, knew he had crossed one of Qu Sheng’s taboos. Even the matriarch pleading for him would be useless. If he didn’t go receive punishment himself now, he was afraid the punishment would be even more severe later.

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Qu Sheng did not speak, but she did retract her gaze. Seeing this, the guard hurriedly retreated, found the person in charge of punishments, and went to receive his punishment himself.

“Tsk, you child. You’re just like your elder brother​¹⁸, you’re the same way. You both make your mother worry.” In fact, Jin Yunfei should have said it the other way around; Qu Sheng, like her late elder brother, never gave Jin Yunfei anything to worry about.

By saying this, Jin Yunfei was clearly implying that the siblings never told her anything, and it was precisely because of this that she was constantly worried and frightened.

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“Your child is fine, Mother should not worry.” Qu Sheng spoke, her childish voice firm with every word.

The Marquis’s First Madam, Jin Yunfei, sighed. Thinking about how they would have to go to the capital the day after tomorrow, she began to worry again, saying, “The day after tomorrow, we must go to the capital city. Your father still hasn’t met you…” Jin Yunfei lowered her somewhat sorrowful eyes and muttered to herself in a low voice, “If only your elder brother were here.”

Qu Sheng’s elder brother had died in battle several years ago while on a campaign with Marquis Zhengyi under imperial orders.

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Qu Sheng looked at her mother’s worried expression, recalling what her mother had told her the day before: when His Majesty the Emperor came three years ago, he had said he would betroth her, who was still in her mother’s womb, to the Crown Prince.

Although it was only a verbal promise, the emperor’s words were golden mouth, jade words​¹⁹, so how could they dare to disobey? It was just that entering the palace gates​²⁰ was easy, but getting out was not. If her elder brother had not died, then it would have been a princess marrying down to their family.

Now, Marquis Zhengyi had been summoned to the capital three years ago, granted a civil post, and had not returned to his fiefdom for three years.

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During these three years, the members of the Qu family, big and small, were summoned to the capital one by one and given official positions, leaving only a lame Second Uncle​²¹, Qu Jixian​²², to manage affairs. Many officials from the capital also arrived below him; the fiefdom was no longer solely under the Qu Marquis’s estate’s control.

If the Old Marquis hadn’t passed away three years ago, it’s likely that even Second Uncle Qu Jixian and the mother-daughter pair of Qu Sheng would have been summoned to the capital. Now that the mourning period was over, His Majesty issued a decree for Qu Jixian to bring Jin Yunfei and Qu Sheng to the capital to receive a reward.

The reward was false; wanting them in the capital was the true goal. Although Qu Jixian’s legs were not nimble, the Qu family’s prestige was still present. If his attitude was firm, those officials from the capital would still have to eat his facial expression​²³.

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It was also because of the Qu family’s prestige that the Son of Heaven had to find a way to summon them to the capital, to dismantle the Marquis Zhengyi estate’s control over the fiefdom, in order to take it over in the future.

However, while the Qu family could allow people from the capital to get involved in finances and find some excuse to transfer people to the capital, they would not allow them to interfere in military affairs.

The funds and provisions required by the Qu family’s army were completely separate from their financial income, which was why the Son of Heaven was still wary of the Qu family to this day.

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Qu Sheng watched her mother grieve by herself, raised her delicate little hand, and wiped away the tear from the corner of her mother’s eye.

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One month later, at the Qu Marquis’s estate in the capital.

Qu Sheng was carried down from the carriage by her personal guard. She turned back to look at her mother, who was being helped down by a maidservant​²⁴.

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When Qu Sheng turned around, several strange yet familiar faces were standing at the estate’s entrance.

Qu Sheng sized them up for a few moments but did not recognize which one was her father. The tiny little person stood with her back straight, as if waiting for her mother to tell her.

“First Sister-in-law​²⁵.”

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“First Sister-in-law, was the journey here smooth?” The two who spoke addressed Jin Yunfei as First Sister-in-law, so naturally, they were Qu Sheng’s uncles.

There were four brothers in the Qu Marquis’s generation. Second Brother Qu Jixian was delayed by matters in the fiefdom and would come later, so that left only the Third and Fourth.

Jin Yunfei disembarked from the carriage. Not seeing her husband, the Marquis Qu, she nodded, a smile in her eyes, and replied, “Smooth.” Jin Yunfei paused for a moment, turned to look at her daughter beside her, and gestured, “Sheng’er, come and greet your Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle​²⁶.”

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Qu Sheng glanced at her mother Jin Yunfei, then looked towards her two uncles, bowed, and said, “Sheng’er pays respects to Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle.”

“Good, good. So this is Sheng’er. You’ve grown so much in the few years we haven’t seen you,” said the Qu family’s Third Uncle, Qu Jiqin​²⁷.

The group exchanged a few pleasantries outside the gate before entering the estate. The Qu family’s Third Uncle then said to Jin Yunfei, “Elder Brother was kept in the imperial court​²⁸ today. He probably won’t be able to leave the palace until high noon​²⁹.”

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Qu Sheng, walking behind, heard her third uncle’s words clearly. Her fair little face held a depth that did not belong to her age.

At high noon, Marquis Zhengyi, Qu Jinian​³⁰, returned.

When Qu Sheng heard a servant report his arrival, she stood up from her seat, her small frame craning her neck to look outside. When Marquis Qu entered the main hall, the first thing that met his eyes was his wife.

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Jin Yunfei looked at her husband. Having not seen him for three years, she couldn’t help but shed tears the moment she saw him. Seeing this, Marquis Qu didn’t even say a word, quickly raising a hand to pull his wife into his embrace, gently patting her back to let her have a good cry and release the bitterness of their years of separation.

Qu Sheng watched her father and mother embrace, standing to the side and just watching quietly, not making a sound to disturb them.

She had never seen her father. The likeness in the portrait was of Qu Jinian in his youth. He had aged considerably now, and his black hair was streaked with many silver strands.

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Counting his age, Qu Jinian was already near the age of no longer having doubts​³¹. If Qu Sheng’s elder brother were still alive, he would have long since married and had children.

Qu Sheng could be considered a late-born child​³².

As Qu Jinian gently patted his wife, his peripheral vision caught sight of the dazzling little person standing to the side. Qu Sheng just stood there, doing nothing, yet she was someone you would notice at a single glance.

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Qu Jinian turned his head, staring blankly at his young daughter, his heart filled with surprise and, at the same time, immense guilt. He had left the fiefdom before Qu Sheng was even born, and she was already over three years old, yet this was the first time he had ever seen her.

Seeing her father look towards her, Qu Sheng’s rosy little lips opened and closed, as if practicing the two words for “father.” But how could words she had never spoken since birth be uttered so easily?

“Sheng’er, is that Sheng’er?” Qu Jinian spoke first.

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Jin Yunfei emerged from her husband’s embrace, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and quickly looked at Qu Sheng, saying, “Sheng’er, quickly, come and greet your father.”

Hearing this, Qu Sheng glanced at her mother, then looked at her father. Her thin little lips moved, but she just couldn’t call out.

“It’s alright. Sheng’er, come here, let your father​³³ hold you.” After Qu Jinian spoke and saw Qu Sheng standing still, he exchanged a look with his wife and then proactively walked over.

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Qu Jinian’s build was burly and tall, making Qu Sheng seem tiny in comparison. The next moment, Qu Sheng saw her father squat down.

Father and daughter were now at eye level. Qu Sheng still did not move, but Qu Jinian reached out, gathered her into his arms, and picked her up.

“This child is just like her elder brother, so mature,” Jin Yunfei said, feeling very guilty in her heart as she watched Qu Sheng being held by her father, still pressing her lips together without a word.

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Though young in age, Qu Sheng had the demeanor of a little adult. She had very strong opinions about matters and things, so much so that sometimes even she, her mother, felt inadequate in comparison.

Back then, Qu Sheng’s elder brother had been the same. But at that time, although Qu Jinian didn’t see him often, he had not left the fiefdom. She thought it was probably because her father was not often by her side.

“Sheng’er, call him Father,” Jin Yunfei said, her voice gentle, watching her daughter stare at her father, trying to coax Qu Sheng to speak.

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Qu Sheng heard Jin Yunfei’s words and glanced at her, then looked at Qu Jinian’s face, which was so much larger than her hand. After a few moments, she slowly raised her porcelain-white, delicate little hand and placed it on Qu Jinian’s slightly stubbled cheek.

Qu Jinian felt his daughter’s cautiousness. When he smiled, some wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. Seeing her father’s smiling eyes, Qu Sheng’s own eyes began to sparkle. Her delicate, rosy lips moved slightly as she glanced at her mother.

Jin Yunfei nodded at her. When Qu Sheng looked back at her father again, she called out, “Father.” The childish voice made Qu Jinian unable to stop his eyes from stinging with tears.

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The author has something to say:

Qu Sheng: “Next chapter, meeting the wife.”

The novel is starting~ Darlings who like it, please add it to your collection.

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LP: So this is our little “fool”.

First chapter isn’t so bad!

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