RATMOFANF: Chapter 47

 Character Glossary

· Shen Jingxiu (沈静姝): The female protagonist, Li Ling's wife. The new matriarch of the Zhenguo Duke Manor.

· Li Ling (李陵): The Heir of Zhenguo Duke Manor. Shen Jingxiu's husband, a cold and stern general.

· Xu Wanning (徐婉宁): Li Xian's wife.

· Li Xian (李显): Li Ling's cousin, the eldest grandson. A high-ranking official.

· Zhao Yuan'er (赵媛儿): The youngest daughter of the Jian Jun Prince. Sharp-tongued and envious of Jingxiu.

· Guo Shi (郭氏): Xu Wanning's elder sister-in-law (her brother's wife).

· Xu Feng (徐奉): Xu Wanning's elder brother.

· Zhou Yi (周毅): A general, Zhao Yuan'er's new husband.

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Chapter 47: Then I Will Simply Cast You Out from My Heart

On the eighth, Li Ling still accompanied Jingxiu to the Yongyi (Marquis) residence to attend the ceremony. The two of them waited at the main gate for quite a while after leaving the inner courtyard before they saw the figures of Li Xian and Xu Wanning. The two were a long distance apart, coming from the West Courtyard one after the other.

Xu Wanning reached them first and said with a smile, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Jingxiu replied, "It wasn't long. Let's get in the carriage."

Xu Wanning assented and was about to board the carriage when she turned her head and noticed Li Ling looking at her. She said with a smile, "Second Brother, will you ride a horse? Lend me your wife for a while, alright?"

Li Ling smiled.

Li Xian walked over at that moment, pointed to another carriage, and said, "You go take that one." Then, he shot a sidelong glance at Xu Wanning. "So tactless!"

Xu Wanning glared fiercely at him but finally got into the other carriage.

Just as Li Xian was about to follow her in, she "swished" the carriage door shut and instructed the driver outside, "Go get a horse for him."

The driver took a good moment to process that the "him" Xu Wanning referred to was Li Xian.

After this minor commotion, Li Ling and Jingxiu shared one carriage, Xu Wanning rode alone in another, and Li Xian rode his own horse. The four of them set out.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Li Ling glanced at Li Xian riding outside the carriage and asked Jingxiu, "Have Elder Brother and his wife had a falling out?"

Jingxiu replied, "They've been quarreling for a while now."

Li Ling asked, "What about?"

Jingxiu glanced at Li Xian riding ahead of the carriage and said in a low voice, "They haven't had a moment's peace since that palace courtesan entered the household."

Li Ling gave a cold laugh, a slightly disdainful expression appearing on his face. "Over a mere concubine? Is it worth it?"

Hearing his words, Jingxiu shot Li Ling a glare.

Li Ling caught his young wife's unfriendly look from beside him. He turned his head and said, "If she's troublesome, just send her away. Even though she was bestowed by the palace, it's not like there's no way to get rid of her."

Jingxiu sneered, "Such a delicate, charming little beauty. I'm afraid Elder Brother can't bear to part with her."

As she spoke, she glanced at Li Ling and said meaningfully, "Do men all like that delicate, vulnerable type?"

Li Ling didn't respond. He stretched out his arm to pull the person beside him closer, looked down at Jingxiu, and said, "So you need to treat me better. That way you can keep me close."

Jingxiu made a dismissive sound. "Who cares about keeping you close? If you truly fall for someone else, I won't stop you, and I certainly won't make a scene with you."

Li Ling turned her body to face him. "Then what would you do?"

Jingxiu looked at him and said, "If that happens, I'll simply cast you out from my heart."

Li Ling's face darkened. Gnashing his teeth, he said to her hatefully, "You wouldn't dare!"

Jingxiu gave a mocking laugh. "So only you are allowed to betray me, and I'm not allowed to stop caring about you?"

Li Ling pulled her into his embrace in one motion. The force wasn't gentle. Jingxiu crashed into his chest and struggled angrily. "What are you doing?"

Li Ling didn't let go. Instead, he held her tighter and said resentfully, "Getting a nice word out of your mouth is truly difficult."

As soon as they arrived at the Yongyi Marquis residence, Xu Wanning couldn't wait to get out of the carriage and headed towards her elder brother and sister-in-law, who were greeting guests at the entrance.

Xu Wanning's elder sister-in-law, Guo Shi, hadn't seen her young sister-in-law for a long time. Holding her hands, she looked her over for a long moment and said, "I think you've lost weight?" She knew Xu Wanning's mother-in-law was difficult. With so many people coming and going, she couldn't ask too much, only hinting with her eyes as she said, "Is there something troubling you in the household again?"

Her brother, Xu Feng, said with a laugh, "The children are still young. How could she not have worries?"

Xu Wanning replied, "Yes, Kun Ge'er has just started his early education, and Zhuang Jie'er has just learned to walk. It's a tiring time."

Guo Shi said in surprise, "Kun Ge'er has started his education so early?"

Xu Feng replied, "Zidu achieved the third highest score in the imperial exams at eighteen. His son is naturally also cut out for studying."

[Zidu was Li Xian's style name (字)]

Just as they were speaking, Li Xian also dismounted and walked over, bowing respectfully to his elder brother-in-law.

Xu Feng exchanged pleasantries, "Zidu, you just returned from managing the floods in the south. I thought you'd be too busy to come these days."

Li Xian said with a smile, "My father-in-law's household is holding a joyous event. No matter how busy I am, I must come to show my support, mustn't I?"

Xu Feng laughed and exchanged more pleasantries with Li Ling before leading the two men into the residence.

Jingxiu and Xu Wanning were also warmly ushered into the residence by Guo Shi.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

The Yongyi Marquis residence belonged to a family of generals for generations and was also a prominent and illustrious clan in Great Qi. Holding a joyous event today, it was naturally filled with distinguished guests and extremely lively.

Although all were distinguished guests, there were distinctions of rank. Wives like Jingxiu and Xu Wanning from the Zhenguo Duke Manor naturally were seated at the head table.

The two were led by attending maids into the banquet hall and had just sat down when Zhao Yuan'er was also led in, coincidentally seated at the same table as Jingxiu and Xu Wanning.

Seeing Zhao Yuan'er, Xu Wanning's expression turned ugly. She subtly tugged at Jingxiu's sleeve under the table, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Should we change tables?"

Jingxiu shot her a look that said, "It's not necessary."

Although Zhao Yuan'er was annoying, the seating for distinguished guests was pre-arranged according to the status and rank of the women from each household. Changing seats arbitrarily would be disrespectful to the hosts.

Not worth it for such a foolish woman!

When Zhao Yuan'er saw Jingxiu and Xu Wanning,her face also darkened.

Last time at the Zhenguo Duke Manor, these two had caused her to lose face greatly in front of the noblewomen circle. That little matter of her previously wanting to marry Li Ling had also been spread through rumors and speculation because of that incident, causing her to be mocked indirectly by noble young ladies whenever she went out socializing.

Once, at a tea and flower party, Meng Guifei's niece, Meng Zhenzhen, led other noble young ladies in teasing her about this again. She got so angry she argued with Meng Zhenzhen on the spot. Unable to win the argument, she pushed her into a pond in a fit of anger.

Cao Zhenzhen was furious and went to the palace to cry to her Guifei aunt. Meng Guifei then went to cry before Emperor Ming. Not many days later, the imperial decree of marriage arrived at the Jian Jun Prince's residence.

Zhao Yuan'er was betrothed to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was a widower, nearly twice Zhao Yuan'er's age, old enough to be her father. How could Zhao Yuan'er be willing?

The problem was, Zhou Yi was the foremost brave general of Great Qi, in charge of the empire's military forces. In terms of family status, he was a match for the Jian Jun Prince's residence, and he was highly regarded by Emperor Ming.

Even if the Jian Jun Prince and his wife were dissatisfied with this marriage, they didn't dare go before the Emperor to plead their grievance.

They could only swallow their bitterness.

If it weren't for Jingxiu and Xu Wanning that day, how could she have ended up like this? It was all their fault!

Zhao Yuan'er didn't have the courage to resent Meng Guifei. But seeing these two now, her eyes turned red with anger.

Seeing her hostile attitude, Xu Wanning spoke first before she could make trouble: "Isn't this Sister Yuan? What's wrong? Who upset you? You don't look well."

Zhao Yuan'er plopped down on a chair and replied sarcastically, "Who else but the ungrateful people from the Zhenguo Duke Manor would dare provoke me!"

She deliberately enunciated the words "Zhenguo Duke Manor" very clearly, attracting the attention of the noblewomen who had already arrived at the surrounding tables.

Xu Wanning replied with a mocking smile, "What do you mean by that, Sister? You are a noble princess, and now you've married General Zhou. How would we dare provoke you?"

Mentioning her marriage to Zhou Yi, Zhao Yuan'er slammed the table in anger. "Xu Wanning, you shrew! You harmed me like this, and you still have the face to say that?"

Xu Wanning was completely baffled by her words.

It was the Empress Dowager who betrothed her to Zhou Yi. Why blame her?

Jingxiu tugged at Xu Wanning's sleeve and said to Zhao Yuan'er with a smile,"We are here to attend a ceremony. Making a scene like this isn't good."

Zhao Yuan'er looked askance at Jingxiu and said sarcastically, "Stop pretending! Don't think you can act smug just because you climbed to a high branch. The shabby appearance of a lowly, impoverished family—Hmph! Even if you wear dragon robes, you won't look like the crown prince."

Before Jingxiu could react, Xu Wanning pointed at her and scolded, "A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory."

While the few of them were making a scene, small groups of noblewomen were being led towards them. Jingxiu said to Zhao Yuan'er with a smile, "Don't be angry, Sister. You are now married into the General Zhou residence. General Zhou and our Duke are sworn brothers. By that reckoning, we should address you as 'Aunt Zhou' (Zhou Yi was the third son in his family)." Then, she looked at Xu Wanning and said, "Eldest Sister-in-law, stop making a fuss. If the Old Madam finds out we were disrespectful to Sister, who knows how she'll punish us when we return."

Zhao Yuan'er's brain isn't the sharpest; she couldn't detect the sarcasm in Jingxiu's words and actually thought Jingxiu was truly intimidated by her status. She shot Jingxiu a glare, then gave Xu Wanning a fierce look, saying hatefully, "At least you know your place."

How could anyone be so foolish and dull-witted!

The noblewomen already seated at the table couldn't show it on their faces, but they secretly laughed at Zhao Yuan'er in their hearts.

Xu Wanning, harboring mischief, kept serving food to Zhao Yuan'er throughout the meal, saying warmly, "Aunt Zhou, try this." "Aunt Zhou, try this one too." "Aunt Zhou, how is Uncle Zhou's health lately?"

The women at this table were all young wives from various prominent families. Seeing this, they glanced sneakily at Zhao Yuan'er, nearly hurting themselves from holding in their laughter.

The second daughter-in-law of the Prime Minister's residence, Zhang Shi, was a close friend of Zhou Yi's eldest daughter from their maiden days. Seeing this, she asked Zhao Yuan'er, "Madam Zhou, I heard General Zhou's eldest daughter gave birth recently, is that right?"

Zhao Yuan'er glanced at her and said indifferently, "She did. A son."

Zhang Shi looked at her with a serious face, pretending to be surprised. "Oh! Then doesn't that make you a grandmother?"

The crowd could no longer hold back. They burst into laughter. The more reserved ones could still cover their smiles with handkerchiefs, but the more straightforward ones were already laughing so hard they couldn't straighten up.

Hearing Xu Shi's words, the mouthful of hot tea Xu Wanning was drinking sprayed all over Zhao Yuan'er's skirt.

(End of Chapter)