Chapter 44: No One Can Save Her from the Crisis (Supporting Character's Perspective)
Chen Wanqiu was originally from Qu County, Qingzhou. His father was the local county magistrate. Although he was a low-ranking official, he was diligent and honest, aiming to be a good "parent official." He was honest and incorruptible for many years and was a good official in the eyes of the people in the county.
Because of her mother's early death, coupled with her father's love and indulgence, Chen Wanqiu enjoyed a level of freedom that most women didn't have.
She disliked being confined to the inner chambers of her home. From a young age, she wrapped her chest, dressed in men's clothing, and accompanied her father in judging cases. She also learned the skill of autopsy from the old coroner in the county, all so that she could share some of her father's burdens in the future.
Chen Wanqiu thought her life would continue like this, but last spring, a wealthy and leisurely young master came to Qu County. He was handsome and gentle, and seemed to be an important figure in the capital. When her father received him as the county magistrate, Chen Wanqiu unexpectedly bumped into the young master.
The young girl, not yet twenty, already harbored a certain longing for the love stories in the book. The young man's eyes were full of affection, and the naive girl boldly and passionately gave him her heart, making a promise to the man she admired that they would never betray each other.
That man even held Chen Wanqiu's hand and firmly promised that he would only marry her.
Chen Wanqiu believed it.
Young people are sincere and open; if they like someone, they like them, and they are always open and uninhibited.
After she parted ways with her worried father and went to the capital with the young master, she learned that he was actually the eldest son of Prince Rui, a member of the imperial family and of noble status.
Initially, Chen Wanqiu was very worried. She was afraid that she would not be able to adapt to life in the capital, that she would embarrass the young master, and that she would not be as outstanding as those noble ladies. She even had the idea of returning to Qu County because of her fear.
But the young master held her hand and said he would accompany her, that she could learn what she didn't know, and that she could definitely become as elegant as a noble lady for him.
So, Chen Wanqiu temporarily moved into Prince Rui's mansion. Her former light clothing was deemed unsuitable for formal occasions by the strict nanny, and the autopsy tools that had accompanied her since childhood were discarded outside the mansion by the maids. She could not laugh loudly, eat meat and drink tea to her heart's content, take big steps, jump around, or go out on the street at will...
The nanny demanded that she be obedient and docile, made her copy "Women's Instructions" and "Women's Precepts", made her learn needlework, forced her to change her previous walking posture, and made her behave elegantly, speak softly, and be gentle and considerate.
Chen Wanqiu was studying very hard. She thought it was nothing to suffer a little for the sake of her beloved young master. After all, the noble ladies in the capital were all so elegant, and she couldn't let her young master lose face in the future.
However, the longer time went on, the more confused Chen Wanqiu felt. Her past, which had grown like a weed for more than ten years, was completely negated by the rules of Prince Rui's mansion.
She was never favored by the Princess Consort Rui, who looked at her as if she were a clump of mud on the hem of her skirt, and always found ways to punish her—kneeling in the Buddhist hall, hitting her hands with a ruler, copying scriptures...
Chen Wanqiu once tried to explain to the young master that she had never offended the princess, but the young master only told her to be more obedient and careful, and not to anger his mother.
The young master always said, "Mother values rules, but she's not targeting you on purpose. If you learn these rules well, she'll gradually come to like you. You should be more obedient. It's not easy for Mother to manage the entire palace. Since you like me, you should learn to understand Mother..."
Chen Wanqiu thought that she had tried her best to adapt and understand, but the princess still scolded her for being unruly, the nanny said she was unruly and difficult to teach, and the maids and servants in the mansion also openly laughed at her for trying to climb the social ladder.
Sometimes she really wished the young master would speak up for her, but he never did. Even if he heard the maids mocking her, he would just laugh and say that they didn't mean it, they just didn't understand her yet.
All the malice directed at her within Prince Gong's Mansion was described by her beloved as "not intentional," and Chen Wanqiu suddenly began to question whether her initial choice was truly right.
Thus, amidst self-doubt, Chen Wanqiu fell into a state of confusion.
This situation continued until recently. The royal family had a tradition of visiting Lingyun Temple to worship Buddha. For some reason, Princess Rui, who had always disliked Chen Wanqiu, actually brought her along on this trip.
Chen Wanqiu did not think that the princess was about to approve of her, and that was indeed the case—in Lingyun Temple, Princess Rui showed her that the young master was walking side by side with a noble lady. They were chatting and laughing as they strolled, the man's eyes were full of affection, and the woman's cheeks were flushed.
Princess Consort Rui said that Chen Wanqiu, with such a lowly status, was not worthy of the legitimate son of the Prince's mansion. Giving her the position of a concubine would be the best she could hope for.
Chen Wanqiu didn't believe it.
But she didn't expect that the young master would also find her, and once again hold her hand with that affectionate and gentle manner, begging her to bear with it this time, saying that his wife would be generous and virtuous in the future and would not make things too difficult for her.
...If it was just to watch her beloved marry someone else, why did she dare to travel alone from Qu County, Qingzhou, to the capital with such a passionate and daring heart?
Chen Wanqiu slapped the young master, saying she would never become a concubine and that she wanted to return to Qingzhou.
The young master said she was stubborn and incorrigible, like a shrew, and asked his mother, Princess Rui, to give her a good "lesson".
And so, this whole situation came to be—
The slap Chen Wanqiu delivered to the young master's face was returned with even greater force by the nanny beside the princess. Her cheek went numb, her ears rang, and she even felt like she couldn't hear clearly.
In her hazy state, she seemed to hear the princess say to keep hitting her until she admitted her mistake.
Chen Wanqiu did not think she had done anything wrong.
She bit her lip hard, trying to endure it all, thinking of the scenery of Qu County in Qingzhou in the past, her father's indulgence and love for her, and the autopsy skills her master taught her...
She had prepared herself for humiliation, but unexpectedly, another voice suddenly caught her buzzing ears—
What are you doing?
Gentle yet with a touch of sharpness, her voice is very pleasant to hear, like a spring of water falling on a bluestone surface.
Chen Wanqiu stared blankly at it, feeling as if she were seeing a fairy from heaven.
That was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life.
Chen Wanqiu had thought that the Princess Consort of Rui was already rich and beautiful enough, but she didn't expect that the lady standing on the stone steps in the nearby mountains, surrounded by servants and guards, was even more elegant. Even though the lady's clothes were only simple compared to the Princess Consort, but... but...
Chen Wanqiu couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt that the lady was like the bright moon.
The fierce and mean-spirited Princess Rui, who had been in front of her before, suddenly knelt down with her servants like a mouse seeing a cat, shouting "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress." Chen Wanqiu, whose ears were ringing and face was hurting from the beating, was still stunned on the spot. She had fallen to the ground due to her previous struggle to break free, and was covered in dust.
Extremely embarrassed.
For some reason, she hadn't cried when she was scolded, beaten, or nearly had her clothes torn off, but when she saw the gentle concern in the beautiful lady's eyes from afar, Chen Wanqiu suddenly couldn't hold back her tears.
Wen Miao frowned slightly as she looked at the little girl who had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time. Her expression was not pleasant.
The other person looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with a swollen face and a disheveled appearance. Because he had been restrained earlier, his clothes were torn open halfway, revealing one shoulder, which was shivering in the autumn wind.
Even before she spoke up to stop the violence, Luo, who was accompanying her, had already whispered the identities of the people involved—
The woman kneeling on the ground with her head bowed is Consort Zhao, the wife of Prince Rui. She used to come from a prestigious family and had a spoiled and domineering personality. After marrying Prince Rui, she could not control her philandering husband and her temper became increasingly strange and mean.
Wen Miao had also heard of Prince Rui's reputation. If Emperor Qian Yuan was a model of self-discipline, then Prince Rui was unbelievably promiscuous.
Besides his wife, Lady Zhao, there were two concubines and more than twenty other women in the inner quarters of his mansion. All the expenses of the entire mansion were spent on his wives, concubines, and children. Even so, Prince Rui never stopped. He often frequented brothels and went out for leisure from time to time. When he returned to the capital, he would definitely be able to marry several new concubines.
As for the woman who had fallen to the other side, she was a commoner woman from Qingzhou. Last year, she was taken into the mansion of the Prince Rui's son. This news was kept very secret by the Princess Zhao, and no one outside the mansion knew about it. However, Luo knew everything about it and revealed the sordid details in just a few words.
Wen Miao pursed her lips, responded with "Get up," and walked directly past Princess Rui, taking off the half-shawl draped over Chen Wanqiu's sleeve and draping it over Chen Wanqiu's shoulder where a section of her clothes had been torn open.
The warm fragrance warmed Chen Wanqiu's fingertips. She stammered a thank you before suddenly realizing that the lady kneeling beside her was the current Empress.
She hurriedly tried to get up and bow, but Wen Miao pressed her arm down.
Wen Miao tilted her head and said, "Wanbi, help her up first."
Princess Consort Zhao, who had already gotten up, was somewhat indignant and couldn't help but speak up: "Your Highness, this is just a disobedient and lowly maid in our household who seduced her master..."
"I...I didn't seduce anyone!" Chen Wanqiu, who had just been helped up by Wanbi, couldn't help but choke out, a layer of humiliation floating on her swollen cheeks.
Before Wen Miao could speak, Princess Zhao, with a look of disdain in her eyes, seemed to have found a reason to punish her: "If it weren't for seduction, why would my son bring such a lowly person like you into the house?"
She turned to look at Wen Miao, relying on the fact that she had concealed Chen Wanqiu's identity in advance and only intended to treat this daughter of a minor official as a lowly person, and said with righteous indignation: "Your Majesty, this lowly maid's food, clothing and daily necessities are all in my residence, and now she dares to offend her master. It is not too much for me to punish her with a few slaps, is it?"
Chen Wanqiu bit her lip, feeling both angry and annoyed, and forgot how to refute him.
Wen Miao raised her eyes. Perhaps because she had spent so much time with Emperor Qian Yuan, she had acquired a bit of the imposing aura of an emperor. When she looked at Princess Zhao, the latter suddenly fell silent, her heart tightening.
"You said she was a maid in your household?" Wen Miao slightly replaced the insulting words, her voice still calm, but lacking its usual gentleness.
Princess Zhao stammered, "Yes, yes."
Wen Miao: "Is there a contract of servitude?"
Princess Consort Rui: "Those things are naturally in the manor. If Your Highness is interested, I can send someone to fetch them for Your Highness to see."
Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. No matter what, Prince Rui is still a member of the imperial family, and many people fawn over him. If Zhao wants, she can even draft a non-existent indenture. From then on, Chen Wanqiu is no longer the daughter of the magistrate of Qu County, Qingzhou, but a maid in her household who has signed an indenture. How she deals with her is entirely up to her.
Princess Rui pondered. If her son really liked this lowly maid, he could simply poison her mute and make her a concubine in the inner quarters. As for the magistrate of Qu County, he could just give him a charge and dismiss him from his post. Once that was done, who would know about this incident?
After all, those insignificant people were no less than ants in her eyes; whether to crush them or let them go was just a matter of a thought, so why bother?
Wen Miao chuckled, her expression unreadable.
She is usually gentle and rarely has a cold face, but it is precisely because of this trait that when she harbors anger, she appears even more distant.
Wen Miao asked again, "Are you sure she's a maid in your household?"
Chen Wanqiu realized what was happening and was about to defend herself when Zhao Shi interrupted, "Your Highness, don't listen to her nonsense. This lowly servant is spouting rubbish and shouldn't be taken seriously! She's wearing clothes from my household, with the character 'Rui' sewn inside. If she weren't someone from my household, why would she have this mark?"
To distinguish their servants, many mansions would sew markings on the inside of their clothes, thus marking the servants as masters. This was a tradition among officials and aristocratic families of the Great Chu.
Princess Rui glanced at Chen Wanqiu with disdain, "If you're really not from my household, then you'll have to take off these clothes."
The status of women in the Great Chu Dynasty was much better than in the previous dynasty, but the overall system was still male-dominated. If a woman was seen naked in front of others, she would not be drowned in a pig cage, but her reputation would be ruined. In the future, she would not only be unable to get married, but would also be pointed at and gossiped about when she went out.
Zhao had calculated this point, which is why she spoke with such confidence; she didn't believe Chen Wanqiu would have the guts.
Chen Wanqiu trembled with anger. Her fingertips gripped the soiled cuffs, and the Empress's exquisite and fragrant shawl draped over her shoulders. Suddenly, she found courage from somewhere and broke free from Wanbi's arm, pulling at her own clothes, wanting to take off her clothes like Zhao Shi to prove her innocence.
She regretted it; she shouldn't have left Qu County, nor should she have come to this bustling yet cannibalistic capital city.
No one here can save her...
Just as the garment slipped off, a pair of hands caught the front of the garment and pulled the shawl forward.
Chen Wanqiu stared blankly at the Empress standing in front of her.
The other person soothingly straightened her crooked collar and then slowly and carefully tied the gold-threaded shawl into a beautiful knot, as if it were an adornment on her dress, thus concealing Chen Wanqiu's disheveled appearance.
The Empress, whose beauty was dazzling, whispered to her, "Don't treat yourself like this, okay?"
...So gentle.
Chen Wanqiu blinked, her vision already blurry.
Wen Miao turned her head and looked at Princess Rui again, but her face turned cold. For the first time, she displayed the aura of the Queen Mother of the Great Chu Kingdom. "How come I didn't know that the daughter of the magistrate of Qu County in Qingzhou had become a maid in Prince Rui's mansion? Does the Princess know what crime it is under the laws of the Great Chu Kingdom to force an innocent person to become a lowly person?"
Zhao shuddered, sensing a hint of fear in this usually gentle and approachable empress.
Wen Miao's palms were slightly damp as she said, word by word, "—She should be hanged."
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Author's Note: The Empress's team is about to be assembled! [Sunglasses]
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