Chapter Forty-Nine
Princess Heya, who had been married for only six months, was pregnant, a cause for great joy. The Empress took her to her courtyard, where the Emperor and Empress Dowager showered her with gifts, and the various concubines kept sending presents. In contrast, the Bamboo Courtyard was much quieter. Aside from the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress sending some gifts to help He Rui recover, the young princes and princesses who lived in the Bamboo Courtyard had all been taken back to their own courtyard by the Empress.
The concubines were unaware of the situation there. The Empress had instructed Consort Chun and Consort Yu not to disturb He Rui's recovery; the two had only sent some small gifts via maids, without informing anyone else. The concubines all assumed that He Rui had been punished by the Emperor for neglecting He Ya. They all kept their distance from He Rui, fearing they might be implicated.
He Rui was too lazy to guess what the concubines were thinking, content with his leisurely life. He didn't have to attend his teacher's lessons anymore, and he lived like a pig every day. What the concubines didn't know was that the Emperor was very concerned about He Rui's illness, and the Empress and Empress Dowager inquired about it daily. The imperial physician examining He Rui's pulse was no longer the original one, but rather Physician Li, who specialized in examining the Empress.
An illness made the Empress and the two Imperial Concubines realize He Rui's importance in the Emperor's heart, and it also benefited He Rui. Three days after falling ill, He Rui still had a low-grade fever. He Rui herself felt it was nothing serious, but the imperial physician disagreed. When reporting He Rui's condition to the Emperor, the physician described it as extremely serious. Upon hearing this, the Emperor immediately summoned He Rui's servants. A group of servants knelt on the ground, recounting their mistress's daily schedule. The days of recuperation were quite monotonous, so He Rui insisted on embroidering for several hours each day. Hearing the servants' reports that He Rui spent most of her time embroidering, the Emperor immediately ordered that all of He Rui's embroidery work be handed over to embroiderers. Thus, He Rui completely became like a pig, eating and sleeping all day long.
Harichagai spent more time patrolling the Bamboo Garden, a move intentionally arranged by the Emperor. That day, the Emperor noticed Harichagai's demeanor outside the Bamboo Garden and was quite pleased with his performance. Although the two could not meet.
Rui and Harichai were unaware that Harichai had built the house outside the courtyard. Their convalescence lasted until the last day of the year. Wearing court robes, they stood in the procession of princesses, first offering incense and prayers to heaven, earth, the four directions, and the gods and ancestors. Then they bid farewell to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, performing the "three kneelings and nine kowtows" ceremony. The Emperor knelt before the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine Dowager, holding a jade-inlaid "ruyi" (a scepter symbolizing good fortune) aloft, reciting "May you have peace year after year." Li Yu, standing nearby, took the ruyi and presented it to the Empress Dowager. The Emperor then performed the grand ceremony of "three kneelings and nine kowtows" to the Imperial Concubine Dowager. Just as the nine kowtows were completed, Li Yu took the ruyi from the Imperial Concubine Dowager, shouting "Returning the ruyi!" The Emperor then kowtowed three more times as a gesture of gratitude for the returned ruyi. After completing the ceremony, the Emperor returned to his office in the Yuanmingyuan Garden to receive the greetings of princes and ministers. The emperor would bestow upon each person a purse, which contained gold ingots, silver ingots, or silver coins according to the recipient's status and rank.
He Rui had little expectation of getting the money; the afternoon's activities had left her quite tired.
At the family dinner, He Ya looked at her older sister with endless envy. Recently, her sister had gained a lot of weight from taking nutritional supplements. He Ya had heard that her sister in the bamboo courtyard ate and slept all day long and also took a lot of nutritional supplements. He Ya used to think that her sister would be as fat as her, but her sister's figure was the same as before.
In response to her sister's envy, He Rui calmly said, "You're supplementing for two people, so of course you'll eat a lot. I'm eating alone, so I'm only supplementing for one person. Even if I supplement, there's a limit."
After the family banquet, it was time to stay up all night to welcome the New Year. He Ya and He Rui chatted about life outside the palace. "Before entering the palace, I wondered what my home was like and what my father, the Emperor, was like. After entering the palace, I thought about the carefree life I used to have. Now that I'm out of the palace and managing the household, sometimes I think how wonderful it would be if I were still in the palace."
Humans are inherently greedy. He Rui didn't respond to He Ya's words, changing the subject instead. They talked about the palace flowers and plants this year; after midnight, the two sisters went to sleep. They still had work to do when it got light. Before going to sleep, He Rui was overwhelmed by the various etiquettes and taboos.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, after paying respects to the elders at the Yuanmingyuan Garden, Heya was to return to the Princess's residence to receive the homage of the E family. He Rui did not participate in the farewell, and Heya returned on the second day. There's an old saying that the days leading up to the fifteenth of the first lunar month are all festivals. In the courtyard, the Seventh Princess and the Thirteenth Prince recited: "Dumplings on the first day, noodles on the second, dumplings on the third, returning home on the fourth, pancakes and fried eggs on the fifth and sixth, kneading dough on the fifth and eighth, frying New Year's cakes on the seventh and eighth, white rice on the ninth and tenth, eight-treasure porridge on the eleventh and twelfth, glutinous rice balls on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and round dumplings on the fifteenth." As they recited, the fifteenth of the first lunar month arrived in the blink of an eye, and the New Year celebrations were considered over.
After the first month of the lunar calendar, the Emperor received a memorial from the Imperial Clan Court reporting that the wife of Prince Shuo had been beaten to death by Prince Shuo. Enraged, Qianlong imprisoned Prince Shuo in the Imperial Clan Court without investigating the matter. At this time, Qianlong was already considering stripping all the princes of their titles, and Prince Shuo had unwittingly become the target. The Emperor entrusted the investigation to Yongzhang and E'yue. Yongzhang disliked Xinyue and had no good impression of Prince Shuo either. He meticulously investigated all matters, large and small, within Prince Shuo's residence.
Soon, a memorial detailing Prince Shuo's crimes appeared on the Emperor's desk. The more Qianlong read it, the angrier he became. Before even interrogating Prince Shuo, he ordered the confiscation of his property. The Third Prince, Yongzhang, led the raid. Rumors began to circulate in the court about the Emperor's recent frequent favoritism towards the Third Prince, and various sycophants nearly razed the Xun Prince's residence to the ground. Having completed the Emperor's task, Yongzhang immediately requested leave and, with his primary wife and secondary wives, hid in the Xinghua Chun Pavilion of the Yuanmingyuan Garden, planning to move back home after things calmed down.
Consort Chun gritted her teeth at her son's behavior. She had finally gotten a chance to shine, only to have it all wasted by him. Unable to discipline her son, Consort Chun summoned the Third Prince's wife to her every day for a lecture.
Every day, an urgent memorial arrived at the Emperor's desk from Mount Wutai, all asking the same question: When would Father Emperor summon his son back to the palace? Holding the memorial, Qianlong's eyes blazed with anger. "What a fine son!" he thought. "My urgent messengers are for the battlefield, sent to protect you, not for asking these pointless questions." The Emperor hadn't approved a single one of the Fifth Prince's memorials. And those urgent messengers never returned; the Fifth Prince's guards on Mount Wutai dwindled day by day, until only ten remained. The Fifth Prince dared not send anyone back.
Emperor Qianlong, already disappointed in the Fifth Prince, felt a mix of emotions. The thought that his son, whom he had doted on for so many years, had turned out this way chilled him, yet a tiny glimmer of hope lingered within him.
~~~
The Imperial Household Department was busy with the wedding preparations for the Fourth Princess. The Mongols were very pleased to be able to marry the Fourth Princess and sent a large dowry. After verifying the dowry sent by the Mongols, the Imperial Household Department immediately reported to the Emperor. The Emperor promptly decreed that the imperial dowry must be twice as valuable as the Mongol dowry. The Imperial Household Department immediately began comparing the dowry and quickly drafted a list for the Emperor's approval.
Baozhu, having overheard the rumor, reported it to Herui. Herui inwardly scoffed, thinking, "This is just like Bifu."
Three months later, the Emperor issued an edict to execute Prince Shuo. In court, the first charge against Prince Shuo was killing a royal princess. The second charge was embezzlement. The items confiscated from Prince Shuo's residence were enough to cover four years' worth of taxes, and that only included the silver stored in the residence, not including other valuable items.
After the charges against the Prince of Shuo were read out, the ministers immediately began to express their opinions, and they were all in agreement—he should be executed.
The imperial edict was issued quickly. The man, still contemplating how to meet the emperor in the Imperial Clan Court, received the decree ordering his execution in the autumn. He fainted on the spot. Once an official is dismissed, who will treat you with respect, especially one destined for execution? The edict was placed in the hands of the already dismissed Prince Shuo, and the eunuch who delivered it flicked his sleeves and left.
The imperial edict did not order the extermination of Prince Shuo's entire family. Prince Shuo's son, Fucha Haoxiang, was with the army at the time suppressing cholera. Emperor Qianlong also sought to improve his own reputation, only punishing Prince Shuo. Prince Shuo's wife, Xinyue, was posthumously granted the titles of Heshuo Gege and Lady of the Imperial Decree.
Back in the palace, He Rui listened to Rong Momo's report to the Empress, saying that Xin Yue's death was worthwhile. He continued reading his book, preparing for his master's questions tomorrow.
~~~
As summer approached, shocking news arrived from Mount Wutai: an assassin had appeared at the Buddhist hall frequented by the Fifth Prince, and the Fifth Prince had been injured. Emperor Qianlong looked at the memorial in his hand with suspicion, doubting its authenticity, and immediately summoned E Yue to take the imperial physician to Mount Wutai.
E Yue, who was packing his things to prepare for his departure, told He Ya to go back to the palace for a few days, and he would try to return before the baby was due.
He Ya hated the Fifth Prince to the core in her heart. While instructing the servants to prepare things for the prince consort, she gave him her instructions.
Despite his haste, E Yue missed his first child's delivery. By the time he returned to the capital, the little princess had already been born. After sending the Fifth Prince to the Southern Third Palace, E Yue first reported the whole story to the Emperor. The Fifth Prince had indeed been injured, but not by an assassin; he had been knocked against a Buddha statue. The assassin had been apprehended by the guards, and two guards, both relatives of the Empress Dowager, had been injured while protecting the Fifth Prince. After a thorough report, E Yue awaited his reprimand.
Emperor Qianlong remained silent for a long time. "Go to the Cining Palace and see Heya."
After bowing, E Yue immediately rushed towards Cining Palace, completely forgetting about etiquette. Only when he arrived outside Cining Palace did he remember to ask a eunuch to go in and deliver a message, presenting a large gold ingot.
The eunuch who took the gold ingot went in happily, and ran out a moment later, saying, "The Empress Dowager summons the Imperial Son-in-Law to an audience."
E Yue straightened his clothes and entered respectfully with his head bowed. He bowed deeply to the Empress Dowager and waited for her to summon him.
"How is the Fifth Prince's injury?" The Empress Dowager did not immediately call him up; she valued her grandson more than her granddaughter.
E Yue repeated what he had reported to the Emperor to the Empress Dowager. After he finished speaking, the room was quiet and there was no sound at all.
Author's Note: Continuing from yesterday... I've started a new story, so there probably won't be any pairings, right?! I'll also be posting it here, so if you don't want to jump into another story, just wait here!
"Damn Ryoga, you stinky Ryoga, you actually kicked me back to Tokyo, that's outrageous!" In a temple, a girl sat opposite a slovenly old man. "Dad!" The girl looked up and saw that the slovenly old man was looking at a photo book of an AV actress. The girl's lips twitched, and she roared, "I'm going to tell Mom that you're looking at AV actress photos again, and I want Mom to take me to find Ryoga."
The slovenly middle-aged man remained unmoved, yawned, and continued flipping through the book.
"Dad!" the girl roared angrily at the slovenly old man, snatching the book from his hands.
"Oh dear! Oh dear!" The slovenly uncle finally looked at the girl properly. "Mariko, don't you need to adjust to the time difference? You've been following Ryoga for over two years, it's time to settle down. You should take the entrance exam with Ryoma next week."
"I don't want to study!" Mariko yelled at the slovenly old man.
The slovenly middle-aged man picked at his ear. "Young lady, you should be gentler. Why are you so short-tempered?"
...Mariko was powerless. She had to study! In her past life, she was a bookworm, knowing only how to study from a young age, all the way to graduate school. She was oblivious to everything else, focusing solely on her studies. She had no friends, her introverted nature was unparalleled, and she was plagued by bad luck—no one was as unlucky as her in her past life; anemia took her life. Unexpectedly, in this life, her inner rebelliousness was awakened, and she even knew how to yell.
The slovenly middle-aged man felt uneasy about the girl's sudden silence. "Girl, let's play a game!"
Mariko glared resentfully at the disheveled uncle, her face gloomy. "Dear Dad, haven't you bullied my older and younger brothers enough? Now you have to bully me, your daughter who can only serve and hit the ball over the net!" Mariko's voice was full of gloom.
“Those who don’t practice have no right to complain. Starting today, I will train you.”
"Ah!" A mournful cry echoed from a temple. It is said that a shrill scream was heard one afternoon, some distance from the temple.
~~~~
"MaDaMaDaDane!" Beside the small tennis court marked out in the temple, the boy stared smugly at a girl standing motionless on the court. The only thing that could make his father so angry was probably this "lazy" older sister who could only serve tennis. The boy was puzzled as to why there was this oddball in his family. His father was quite famous; his older brother had won awards early on, his mother and father had met through tennis, and he himself had been playing tennis since he was two. Why could his sister only play the net? His brother said it was just serving, and his sister had been taught by their father ever since she could stand up straight. He couldn't remember his brother saying that a few years ago, and to this day, his sister only knew how to play tennis.
“Mariko, if you don’t catch the ball today, I’ll…” The slovenly uncle was about to say that he would pack up his daughter and send her to Ryoga, but after meeting his daughter’s bright eyes, he quickly stopped himself. “I’ll throw away all the collections in your room.”
"Tch, go ahead and throw it away! I was just thinking of getting a new batch anyway." Mariko didn't care at all. Those so-called collections were the trash she picked up while she was wandering with her brother. She didn't know how her brother mailed them back. They were piled up all over her room, and she didn't even know where to start cleaning them up. If her "father" was willing to take them over, she would be overjoyed.
The slovenly middle-aged man curled his lip. "Longya said you really treasure those things."
"Really?" Mariko thought about it again and again, but it seemed that she didn't really care that much!
The boy watching from the side adjusted his hat, turned, and walked out. He wouldn't be fighting with his "dad" today.
Having lost his leverage, the slovenly middle-aged man had no choice but to give up and resort to arguing. Mariko ignored him completely, only to notice the boy leaving. She shouted, "Echizen Ryoma, you saw your sister come back, and you didn't even say hello?"
"Is it really necessary to greet my silly older sister?" The boy walked forward arrogantly, a smile playing on his lips. His brother and sister had been gone for so long; he seemed to genuinely miss them a little. He wondered where his brother had gone and why he hadn't returned.
"Little brat, how dare you talk to your older sister like that? Are you looking for a beating?"
"cut……"
"Hey! Hey!" The girl chased after the boy, and the slovenly middle-aged man chased after the girl, muttering, "Come back and keep playing ball."
~~~
Lying comfortably in her large bed, Mariko snuggled closer to the blankets. Having been a homeless wanderer, she and her brother often spent the night in places without beds, which was very uncomfortable. Recently, her brother had started participating in various competitions, giving her a permanent place to stay. However, staying in one place made Mariko feel less like a wanderer, and her habit of losing things resurfaced. As Mariko rolled around in bed, footsteps echoed in the second-floor hallway, stopping at her bedroom door.
"Sister, Dad told me to tell you that you're going to tutoring tomorrow because there's an entrance exam next week." Ryoma looked at the tightly closed door. He had just heard from his father that his sister had lost all of his money. Thinking about it, Ryoma's lips twitched involuntarily. It must be very hard for his brother to take his sister out like this! Just as Ryoma was about to turn around, he heard the door slam shut with a "bang," as if something heavy had hit it. Ryoma stared at the door for a moment, then turned and walked towards his room. His sister was getting increasingly violent.
Mariko threw down her pillow and sullenly curled up in bed, hating reading. Sometimes, Mariko couldn't understand herself. Why was she such a bookworm in the past, almost always with a book in her hand? Now, she didn't even have the thought of reading, let alone reading. The difference was too great.
She rolled over, lay on her back, and closed her eyes. Suddenly, Mariko sat up again, quickly got out of bed, grabbed her pillow, and threw herself onto the bed. It was so annoying not having a pillow! Unable to sleep, Mariko stared at the ceiling. Weren't people supposed to sleep a lot when they were jet-lagged? Why wasn't she sleepy at all? The more Mariko tried to sleep, the less she could. The more she counted sheep, the more energetic she became. From counting sheep to eliminating Ryoga, Mariko tossed and turned countless times.
After an unknown amount of time, Mariko finally fell asleep. The door to Mariko's room was pushed open, and a couple stood in the doorway. "She's asleep. Mariko is still the same as before; she can't fall asleep easily in a different place. I really don't know how much suffering they've endured outside."
"With Ryoga here, how could Mariko possibly suffer? Go to sleep early!" Nanjiro embraced his wife and left their daughter's room.
Mariko slept for a whole day and night. When she woke up, it was already the start of a new week. She hadn't even had a chance to attend her cram school before her younger brother dragged her to school.
Mariko arrived at school on time. While munching on her hamburger, she looked around the school grounds. It was quite nice; there were flowers, grass, and trees, and the grounds were rather spacious. Mariko had always felt that Japan was quite small. Although Japan's population wasn't as large as China's, with no one-child policy, each family naturally had a considerable number of children. A large urban population meant less land per capita, so she was surprised to find such a large school in the city. Thinking about the size of the playgrounds in Chinese city primary and secondary schools, Mariko shook her head. This wasn't something she should be concerned about.
"Ryoma, have you been here before?" Mariko, having finished worrying about the old man, turned to look at her younger brother after finishing a hamburger.
"No." Ryoma stared at the hamburger on the chair. His sister was still as fast as ever, having already finished two. She couldn't possibly have her eye on the last one.
Mariko didn't say anything more, but checked if the certificates and other documents were still there. After flipping through them, Mariko looked at Ryoma. "Have you seen my wallet?"
...Ryoma looked into the same eyes as him, and after a long while, he sighed helplessly, "See you here after the exam, let's go home together." Ryoma was increasingly impressed by his sister's skill at losing her wallet. On the way from home to school, they only stopped at a hamburger shop, and his sister lost her wallet. He really didn't know what to say.
Mariko was also helpless; she didn't want to lose her wallet either. With her head down, Mariko caught a glimpse of the remaining hamburger out of the corner of her eye, picked it up, and swallowed the hamburger as if it were a way to vent her resentment.
Ryoma looked at his sister who was eating voraciously, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
As Ryoma finished his third hamburger, the school's loudspeaker announced that students taking the entrance exam should enter the examination hall. Mariko clapped her hands, stood up, and smiled at Ryoma. "Ryoma, good luck on the exam! Lend me your pen," Mariko said in a very gentle voice.
Ryoma shivered, his heart screaming, "Brother, come back! I can't handle this alone!" He obediently handed over the pen. "Things will be better after I enroll in school. My sister's in the advanced department," Ryoma kept reassuring himself.
Mariko walked confidently toward the examination hall with her pen in hand.
It's hard to say whether the proctoring was lax or Mariko's absent-minded personality was too strong. Even after the exam was over and she walked out of the exam room, Mariko didn't notice that the words "Elementary School Entrance Examination" were written in large characters on the door.
After the exam, Mariko waited for her younger brother at the agreed-upon place. During her wait, she met a few other children, one of whom boasted about his two years of "internet experience." At first, Mariko didn't understand what "internet experience" meant. She knew it referred to the number of years she had been online, but the boaster wasn't talking about anything online; he was talking about things like serving in a ball. After listening for a while, Mariko finally understood: "internet experience" meant the number of years she had played online.
"Is playing tennis for two years something to brag about?" Mariko asked her younger brother on the way home.
"Maybe it'll be okay with other people! But it's best not to tell my sister." Ryoma couldn't help but complain.
Mariko really wanted to take her younger brother's head off the white hat and kick it like a ball.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
