Mu Xi Yao blinked her dark and shiny eyes and fanned her eyelashes, her little brows frowning. Wei Zhen hurriedly lowered his head. Mistress Yao looked like this, no wonder His Highness couldn’t resist her. Fortunately, the Master was not here now, otherwise, he should be thrown a cold eye.
“He Lian-shi can’t birth children, and the He Lian family wants to make the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree [1]?” Mu Xi Yao murmured in a low voice, her jade fingers plucking at will the strings. “Tsk, tsk, it’s really vicious to spread such a rumour. Could it be that the He Lian family is clashing with Tai Sui [2] this year?” There was a little gloating in her words.
[1] 李代桃僵 Lǐdàitáojiāng. lit. the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree / to substitute one thing for another / to carry the can for sb.
[2] Wikipedia: Tai Sui. “In Taoism, those whose birth sign or other features clash with the Tai Sui of the year will face misfortunes or disturbances for the whole current year. Each year, this applies to people born under four out of the twelve animal zodiac signs”.
“To say this, it’s the same as ending one’s life…” Mu Xi Yao curled her small mouth, unhappy. This fisherman's profit [3] was in front of her but she could only see and not move. She found it unpleasant.
But if she really took this pie that fell from the sky, she might be wronged and end up paying the debt of others. Before, she had planned to borrow somebody’s hand to pass a famous allusion to the Jin Dynasty to Empress Dowager’s ears and let He Lian Wei Rui wake up from her daydream all this without forgetting to slap the faces of the group of women who spoke for He Lian Wei Rui. It’s just that she hadn’t made a move yet and such a “surprise” fell from the sky.
Well, there was no need to be busy with anything now. The He Lian family had been beaten down. It turned out that although she had accepted He Lian Min Min’s errand, someone else ended up working extra hours for her instead. However, He Lian Min Min might be extremely annoyed by this overdoing, and she might break into her Danruo Courtyard to question her any minute now.
Mu Xi Yao was extremely curious about this mysterious person who intervened. Perhaps the setting of this scheme was too big? To be able to predict He Lian Zhang’s actions in advance, was there a third party who knew about the Phoenix Sign?
Wan Jing Wen’s strange rebirth was beyond Mu Xi Yao’s expectations. What was even more unexpected was that, by mere coincidence, Wan Jing Wen seized such an excellent opportunity and like this, Mu Xi Yao was off-track.
In the deep of the palace, Consort Shu was furious. Since hearing the gossip that spread all over the harem, every time she heard the three words “He Lian family” she felt a needle-like pain in her forehead.
Now she couldn’t care less about that family’s help to Zhong Zheng Lin’s official career, instead, she cared more about whether He Lian-shi had a hidden illness or not. She had been looking forward to a grandson for a long time, and she couldn’t tolerate an infertile woman.
“Momo, send someone to ask the Emperor to investigate this matter. If it’s someone slandering others, that’s fine, if it's not..." Consort Shu stroked her forehead, “it’s useless to keep such a woman.” The implication was that the status of He Lian Min Min’s Princess Consort will be determined after the diagnosis.
When Emperor Yuancheng heard about this, the hand holding the pen paused for a moment, and neither joy nor anger could be seen in his expression. Picking up He Lian Zhang’s memorials from the past few days, the Emperor closed his eyes for a long time and only asked Gu Chang De to go to the Imperial Hospital to announce his decree. After that, he continued to write and criticize memorials.
“Is this the He Lian Wei Rui you were all talking about?” Empress Dowager Jin plucked one Buddhist bead after another.
Everyone was talking in such a good spirit, yet this talk that was so beautiful before, no one was willing to say anything about it now.
Zhong Zheng Ying sat stiffly, still unable to believe how the wind direction had changed overnight.
The Noble Consort had already restrained herself so now she was able to vanish from the picture, but inside, she was thinking that the He Lian family might be fetching water from a bamboo basket [4] this time. Even if she could escape from this matter, to avoid suspicion, it would be difficult for He Lian Wei Rui to enter the Sixth Prince’s Mansion.
Consort Qi and Fu Zhaoyi were both silent. Things changed. Currently, to say more words would be unwise. Empress Dowager had already expressed her disapproval, and she didn’t blame them, like this, it was already lenient.
“The Noble Consort is already busy watching over the matter of choosing a cefei for the eighth son. For everyone else, it’s not too late to see.” The Empress Dowager Jin was now wholeheartedly waiting for news from the sixth prince’s family. To be a Principal Consort was not a joke.
When He Lian Min Min rushed to Danruo Courtyard with her people in an aggressive manner, she saw Mu Xi Yao’s long skirt dragging on the floor, her body dressed in a dark blue, looking fresh and elegant.
Sat in the hall with burning incense, and she looked to be waiting for her, leisurely making tea. There was only Zhao momo serving her at her side.
“The Principal Consort came just in time. This concubine has prepared this year’s new seven-scented flower dew, so you might as well take a drink.”
After setting up the tea sets one by one, Mu Xi Yao picked up the small silica sand pot and poured the scented tea for He Lian Min to drink.
The crimson tea in the white jade porcelain cup looked attractive, alongside the soft aroma of apricot white jasmine on it, you could tell that this tea was made attentively.
Mu Xi Yao picked up the teacup, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes to enjoy the sweetness of the flower dew.
He Lian Min Min was originally full of anger, but she had calmed down a lot with her actions.
“If the Principal Consort came to condemn me for this crime, she would have found the wrong person.” Seeing that He Lian Min Min’s complexion was dark when she entered the room, one didn’t need to be a genius to know this woman was enraged and carefully thought carefully about the matter at hand.
“As soon as this incident happened, from the outsider’s perspective, this concubine would be the most suspicious person because this concubine would be the one who benefited the most. Now, does the Principal Consort feel that this concubine would be so stupid to spend so much effort to set up a situation where I got no benefit at all? Doesn’t the Principal Consort get a bit of a fishy smell?”
If she was so diligent and self-motivated, Lord Boss would not always grit his teeth in hatred.
Mu Xi Yao’s explanation ended there. She found it superfluous. Those who could figure it out would naturally understand it. If one couldn’t figure it out, any explanation will be in vain.
He Lian Min Min observed Mu Xi Yao silently for a while, and finally brought the tea to her lips and drank it slowly.
Fishy... Mu-shi was right. Not only was the He Lian family plotted against, but even she was not able to stay out of it. If this matter was investigated, Mu-shi will be the most suspected person. If she was to be interrogated in isolation, she will not feel comfortable in such a situation.
“This time I really didn't think about it. Cefei doesn’t have to worry about this.” He Lian Min Min stepped back first.
“This matter really needs to be cautious. From this concubine’s point of view, the Principal Consort should be inspected by the Imperial Physician, and she needs to know how her body is.” Mu Xi Yao said this sincerely.
Afraid He Lian-shi’s body really had something wrong.
“Thanking cefei for her kindness but my body is very healthy. The health nurse takes care of me every day and checks my pulse every now and then. I have never heard her say that anything’s wrong with my body. So there is no need to seek medical advice now, it would only be a joke for others to see. Rumours are rumours after all, and the facts will be known when the time comes.”
As soon as the rumours started, she rushed to summon the Imperial Physician. Wasn’t this just giving others a good show?
“You’re thinking it wrong”. Mu Xi Yao shook her head slowly. “The Imperial Physician should already be on his way. It’s better for the Principal Consort to be prepared.”
The news spread so fast; the palace should have known of this early. Mu Xi Yao didn’t know whether Emperor Yuancheng would send someone over immediately, but it was a no-brainer that Consort Shu couldn’t wait to hear the exact news, maybe He Lian Min Min would see a bunch of medical officers as soon as she went back to her courtyard.
The corners of He Lian Min Min’s lips tightened. She was not afraid as she was very clear about her body. How could there be hidden diseases? It was clearly written in the medical books that the syndrome of a cold body will be accompanied by abdominal pain, cold limbs, and palpitations at night. She didn’t have any of these symptoms, how could it be that she couldn’t pass on the incense to future generations?
Mu Xi Yao saw that she was full of confidence, so she didn’t continue to persuade her lest she became resentful. But she felt the matter was not that simple and the result might catch He Lian Min Min by surprise. It’s just that right now the Imperial Physician was most likely coming their way and it was too late to find out beforehand. After all, how could someone who could set up this kind of situation leave behind a flaw that could be easily exposed?
A cold body... Mu Xi Yao frowned slightly.
Also frowning were the father and daughter of the He Lian family.
“Father, the other party also has arrangements in the palace. This matter may be very serious.”
The ruckus had reached the palace, it could be seen that the people behind have been plotting for a long time.
He Lian Wei Rui suppressed her anger, feeling extremely annoyed. Her road to success was indeed cut off by someone. Even if the He Lian family had good luck and got rid of this fault, she still would not be able to enter the Sixth Highness’s Mansion. At this crucial time, the He Lian family must not collapse, and she also needed to plan a way out for herself.
Among all the choices, it seemed that being the eighth prince’s cefei was the only worthy way out.
He Lian Zhang had a stern face and gloomy eyes. Until now, he never put it into his mind that He Lian Min Min had problems and he was only worried about how to gain the trust of Emperor Yuancheng. As for the slandered daughter, He Lian Zhang couldn’t keep his mind off and tried to find a way out for her.
Lord He Lian filtered through a series of lists repeatedly but still failed to find any suspicious people. The handwriting of this matter did not match the previous political opponents. Who in the world, under the eyes of He Lian family all over Shengjing, could come out of nowhere and give the family such a huge blow?
In Danruo Courtyard, Mu Xi Yao unfolded Zhong Zheng Lin’s letter, with a smile on her face.
Lord Boss will return to Beijing in a few days, and the timing was just right. When the man in the family came back, it was natural to find something for him to do. The first thing she did was to write a few strokes, and in order to let the pretentious sixth Highness willingly condescend to cooperate with her, Mu Xi Yao promised a lot of benefits. The letter was so coy and pleasing that she herself felt ashamed to read it a second time.
After sealing the envelope, she still painted a smiley face on the lower right corner. Then she nodded in satisfaction and handed it to Tian Fu Shan who had been waiting all along.
As for that, she herself had already been very obediently answering letters all this time, so how come the Sixth Highness still had the big steward come over to monitor her day in and day out?
Mu Xi Yao complained, and Tian Fu Shan was even more helpless. He didn’t dare to disobey His Highness’s orders, but every day Mistress Yao rolled her eyes, and this indeed was not a pleasant feeling...
After finishing her homework, Mu Xi Yao’s mind began to wander.
“Want to kill two birds with one stone?” Her slender fingers tapped the table, and the jade plaques piled up on the table immediately fell.
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Wei Zhen looked at the valuable jade plaques and was really distressed at seeing them being fiddled with by the Mistress so unreasonably. His Highness was willing to cut a large piece of jade into such small pieces according to what Mistress Yao said and take it out to play and show off when there was nothing to do.
Mu Xi Yao looked at Wei Zhen’s stressed face, and it was rare for her to show embarrassment.
She originally wanted to get a set of bamboo cards and teach Cheng Qing’s little bun how to play mah-jong [5] to exercise his hands-on ability. As a result, His Sixth Royal Highness’ extravagant temperament did not change, and he had replaced the materials secretly and got a pair of invaluable jade plaques, which scared her into a beating heart. Like this, she had to keep the tiles for herself and return them to the little bun when he became more sensible as he was the original owner.
Seeing Wei Zhen’s posture of ‘wanting to stop her but being unable to do so’, Mu Xi Yao put aside her amused thoughts, packed up all the tiles, and handed them to Mo Lan to put them in one place.
Picking up the palace fan from the basket, Mu Xi Yao smiled slyly.
“Sir Wei, do you think that the person who worked so hard to plan would die of rage in broad daylight if he finds out that the final fruit has been stolen?”
Boss left the capital, and all kinds of ghosts and monsters came out and jumped around. He Lian Wei Rui was no longer a threat and Zhong Zheng Ying had no eyesight, she moved so indiscriminately and had finally aroused the strict discipline of the Empress Dowager, recently she did not dare to make trouble easily.
The new behind-the-scenes person caused her some troubles but in fact, brought her a good deal. The agreement with He Lian Min Min had come to an end without needing to exchange words, but if her new comrade was Lord He Lian, she was still willing to help.
Did that someone want to be the oriole [6]? It just so happened that she was most optimistic about a word now, which was “plot twist”! [7]
___________________
▲ Footnotes
> To explain the last bit, Mu Xi Yao is intending to take advantage of the situation with Zhong Zheng Lin’s help, “the final fruit” refers to the effort’s result and reward.
[1] 李代桃僵 Lǐdàitáojiāng. lit. the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree / to substitute one thing for another / to carry the can for sb.
[2] Wikipedia: Tai Sui. “In Taoism, those whose birth sign or other features clash with the Tai Sui of the year will face misfortunes or disturbances for the whole current year. Each year, this applies to people born under four out of the twelve animal zodiac signs”.
[3] 渔翁之利 yúwēng zhī lì. Sit back and reap the benefits; the fisherman’s profit is a metaphor when two parties quarrel and make a third-party profit.
[4] 竹篮打水 zhúlándǎshuǐ - using a wicker basket to draw water (idiom); wasted effort
[5] The raws said: 青石玉牌. 青石 means bluestone/limestone, 玉 means jade and 牌 means mah-jong tile / playing card / game pieces / signboard / plate / tablet / medal. Google Translate translated as dominoes, but I left it as mah-jong as that is a traditional Chinese game. You can see here a short match of mah-jong.
[6] “The mantis stalking the locust, unaware of the oriole behind it”. This is a very famous Chinese idiom. There’s a very good explanation here (http://history.cultural-china.com/en/233History3285.html) but the general gist is that the players are all focused on who they want to defeat, to the point they cannot see the enemy behind them. (As explained by Dreams of Jianghu).
[7] 波澜迭起 Bōlán diéqǐ. 波澜 means “billows / great waves (fig. of a story with great momentum)” and 迭起 “continuously arising / to arise repeatedly”. Baidu says: “waves rising everywhere, it is often used figuratively to refer to the plot twists and turns of literary works.”
Mu Xi Yao blinked her dark and shiny eyes and fanned her eyelashes, her little brows frowning. Wei Zhen hurriedly lowered his head. Mistress Yao looked like this, no wonder His Highness couldn’t resist her. Fortunately, the Master was not here now, otherwise, he should be thrown a cold eye.
“He Lian-shi can’t birth children, and the He Lian family wants to make the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree [1]?” Mu Xi Yao murmured in a low voice, her jade fingers plucking at will the strings. “Tsk, tsk, it’s really vicious to spread such a rumour. Could it be that the He Lian family is clashing with Tai Sui [2] this year?” There was a little gloating in her words.
[1] 李代桃僵 Lǐdàitáojiāng. lit. the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree / to substitute one thing for another / to carry the can for sb.
[2] Wikipedia: Tai Sui. “In Taoism, those whose birth sign or other features clash with the Tai Sui of the year will face misfortunes or disturbances for the whole current year. Each year, this applies to people born under four out of the twelve animal zodiac signs”.
“To say this, it’s the same as ending one’s life…” Mu Xi Yao curled her small mouth, unhappy. This fisherman's profit [3] was in front of her but she could only see and not move. She found it unpleasant.
But if she really took this pie that fell from the sky, she might be wronged and end up paying the debt of others. Before, she had planned to borrow somebody’s hand to pass a famous allusion to the Jin Dynasty to Empress Dowager’s ears and let He Lian Wei Rui wake up from her daydream all this without forgetting to slap the faces of the group of women who spoke for He Lian Wei Rui. It’s just that she hadn’t made a move yet and such a “surprise” fell from the sky.
Well, there was no need to be busy with anything now. The He Lian family had been beaten down. It turned out that although she had accepted He Lian Min Min’s errand, someone else ended up working extra hours for her instead. However, He Lian Min Min might be extremely annoyed by this overdoing, and she might break into her Danruo Courtyard to question her any minute now.
Mu Xi Yao was extremely curious about this mysterious person who intervened. Perhaps the setting of this scheme was too big? To be able to predict He Lian Zhang’s actions in advance, was there a third party who knew about the Phoenix Sign?
Wan Jing Wen’s strange rebirth was beyond Mu Xi Yao’s expectations. What was even more unexpected was that, by mere coincidence, Wan Jing Wen seized such an excellent opportunity and like this, Mu Xi Yao was off-track.
In the deep of the palace, Consort Shu was furious. Since hearing the gossip that spread all over the harem, every time she heard the three words “He Lian family” she felt a needle-like pain in her forehead.
Now she couldn’t care less about that family’s help to Zhong Zheng Lin’s official career, instead, she cared more about whether He Lian-shi had a hidden illness or not. She had been looking forward to a grandson for a long time, and she couldn’t tolerate an infertile woman.
“Momo, send someone to ask the Emperor to investigate this matter. If it’s someone slandering others, that’s fine, if it's not..." Consort Shu stroked her forehead, “it’s useless to keep such a woman.” The implication was that the status of He Lian Min Min’s Princess Consort will be determined after the diagnosis.
When Emperor Yuancheng heard about this, the hand holding the pen paused for a moment, and neither joy nor anger could be seen in his expression. Picking up He Lian Zhang’s memorials from the past few days, the Emperor closed his eyes for a long time and only asked Gu Chang De to go to the Imperial Hospital to announce his decree. After that, he continued to write and criticize memorials.
“Is this the He Lian Wei Rui you were all talking about?” Empress Dowager Jin plucked one Buddhist bead after another.
Everyone was talking in such a good spirit, yet this talk that was so beautiful before, no one was willing to say anything about it now.
Zhong Zheng Ying sat stiffly, still unable to believe how the wind direction had changed overnight.
The Noble Consort had already restrained herself so now she was able to vanish from the picture, but inside, she was thinking that the He Lian family might be fetching water from a bamboo basket [4] this time. Even if she could escape from this matter, to avoid suspicion, it would be difficult for He Lian Wei Rui to enter the Sixth Prince’s Mansion.
Consort Qi and Fu Zhaoyi were both silent. Things changed. Currently, to say more words would be unwise. Empress Dowager had already expressed her disapproval, and she didn’t blame them, like this, it was already lenient.
“The Noble Consort is already busy watching over the matter of choosing a cefei for the eighth son. For everyone else, it’s not too late to see.” The Empress Dowager Jin was now wholeheartedly waiting for news from the sixth prince’s family. To be a Principal Consort was not a joke.
When He Lian Min Min rushed to Danruo Courtyard with her people in an aggressive manner, she saw Mu Xi Yao’s long skirt dragging on the floor, her body dressed in a dark blue, looking fresh and elegant.
Sat in the hall with burning incense, and she looked to be waiting for her, leisurely making tea. There was only Zhao momo serving her at her side.
“The Principal Consort came just in time. This concubine has prepared this year’s new seven-scented flower dew, so you might as well take a drink.”
After setting up the tea sets one by one, Mu Xi Yao picked up the small silica sand pot and poured the scented tea for He Lian Min to drink.
The crimson tea in the white jade porcelain cup looked attractive, alongside the soft aroma of apricot white jasmine on it, you could tell that this tea was made attentively.
Mu Xi Yao picked up the teacup, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes to enjoy the sweetness of the flower dew.
He Lian Min Min was originally full of anger, but she had calmed down a lot with her actions.
“If the Principal Consort came to condemn me for this crime, she would have found the wrong person.” Seeing that He Lian Min Min’s complexion was dark when she entered the room, one didn’t need to be a genius to know this woman was enraged and carefully thought carefully about the matter at hand.
“As soon as this incident happened, from the outsider’s perspective, this concubine would be the most suspicious person because this concubine would be the one who benefited the most. Now, does the Principal Consort feel that this concubine would be so stupid to spend so much effort to set up a situation where I got no benefit at all? Doesn’t the Principal Consort get a bit of a fishy smell?”
If she was so diligent and self-motivated, Lord Boss would not always grit his teeth in hatred.
Mu Xi Yao’s explanation ended there. She found it superfluous. Those who could figure it out would naturally understand it. If one couldn’t figure it out, any explanation will be in vain.
He Lian Min Min observed Mu Xi Yao silently for a while, and finally brought the tea to her lips and drank it slowly.
Fishy... Mu-shi was right. Not only was the He Lian family plotted against, but even she was not able to stay out of it. If this matter was investigated, Mu-shi will be the most suspected person. If she was to be interrogated in isolation, she will not feel comfortable in such a situation.
“This time I really didn't think about it. Cefei doesn’t have to worry about this.” He Lian Min Min stepped back first.
“This matter really needs to be cautious. From this concubine’s point of view, the Principal Consort should be inspected by the Imperial Physician, and she needs to know how her body is.” Mu Xi Yao said this sincerely.
Afraid He Lian-shi’s body really had something wrong.
“Thanking cefei for her kindness but my body is very healthy. The health nurse takes care of me every day and checks my pulse every now and then. I have never heard her say that anything’s wrong with my body. So there is no need to seek medical advice now, it would only be a joke for others to see. Rumours are rumours after all, and the facts will be known when the time comes.”
As soon as the rumours started, she rushed to summon the Imperial Physician. Wasn’t this just giving others a good show?
“You’re thinking it wrong”. Mu Xi Yao shook her head slowly. “The Imperial Physician should already be on his way. It’s better for the Principal Consort to be prepared.”
The news spread so fast; the palace should have known of this early. Mu Xi Yao didn’t know whether Emperor Yuancheng would send someone over immediately, but it was a no-brainer that Consort Shu couldn’t wait to hear the exact news, maybe He Lian Min Min would see a bunch of medical officers as soon as she went back to her courtyard.
The corners of He Lian Min Min’s lips tightened. She was not afraid as she was very clear about her body. How could there be hidden diseases? It was clearly written in the medical books that the syndrome of a cold body will be accompanied by abdominal pain, cold limbs, and palpitations at night. She didn’t have any of these symptoms, how could it be that she couldn’t pass on the incense to future generations?
Mu Xi Yao saw that she was full of confidence, so she didn’t continue to persuade her lest she became resentful. But she felt the matter was not that simple and the result might catch He Lian Min Min by surprise. It’s just that right now the Imperial Physician was most likely coming their way and it was too late to find out beforehand. After all, how could someone who could set up this kind of situation leave behind a flaw that could be easily exposed?
A cold body... Mu Xi Yao frowned slightly.
Also frowning were the father and daughter of the He Lian family.
“Father, the other party also has arrangements in the palace. This matter may be very serious.”
The ruckus had reached the palace, it could be seen that the people behind have been plotting for a long time.
He Lian Wei Rui suppressed her anger, feeling extremely annoyed. Her road to success was indeed cut off by someone. Even if the He Lian family had good luck and got rid of this fault, she still would not be able to enter the Sixth Highness’s Mansion. At this crucial time, the He Lian family must not collapse, and she also needed to plan a way out for herself.
Among all the choices, it seemed that being the eighth prince’s cefei was the only worthy way out.
He Lian Zhang had a stern face and gloomy eyes. Until now, he never put it into his mind that He Lian Min Min had problems and he was only worried about how to gain the trust of Emperor Yuancheng. As for the slandered daughter, He Lian Zhang couldn’t keep his mind off and tried to find a way out for her.
Lord He Lian filtered through a series of lists repeatedly but still failed to find any suspicious people. The handwriting of this matter did not match the previous political opponents. Who in the world, under the eyes of He Lian family all over Shengjing, could come out of nowhere and give the family such a huge blow?
In Danruo Courtyard, Mu Xi Yao unfolded Zhong Zheng Lin’s letter, with a smile on her face.
Lord Boss will return to Beijing in a few days, and the timing was just right. When the man in the family came back, it was natural to find something for him to do. The first thing she did was to write a few strokes, and in order to let the pretentious sixth Highness willingly condescend to cooperate with her, Mu Xi Yao promised a lot of benefits. The letter was so coy and pleasing that she herself felt ashamed to read it a second time.
After sealing the envelope, she still painted a smiley face on the lower right corner. Then she nodded in satisfaction and handed it to Tian Fu Shan who had been waiting all along.
As for that, she herself had already been very obediently answering letters all this time, so how come the Sixth Highness still had the big steward come over to monitor her day in and day out?
Mu Xi Yao complained, and Tian Fu Shan was even more helpless. He didn’t dare to disobey His Highness’s orders, but every day Mistress Yao rolled her eyes, and this indeed was not a pleasant feeling...
After finishing her homework, Mu Xi Yao’s mind began to wander.
“Want to kill two birds with one stone?” Her slender fingers tapped the table, and the jade plaques piled up on the table immediately fell.
Wei Zhen looked at the valuable jade plaques and was really distressed at seeing them being fiddled with by the Mistress so unreasonably. His Highness was willing to cut a large piece of jade into such small pieces according to what Mistress Yao said and take it out to play and show off when there was nothing to do.
Mu Xi Yao looked at Wei Zhen’s stressed face, and it was rare for her to show embarrassment.
She originally wanted to get a set of bamboo cards and teach Cheng Qing’s little bun how to play mah-jong [5] to exercise his hands-on ability. As a result, His Sixth Royal Highness’ extravagant temperament did not change, and he had replaced the materials secretly and got a pair of invaluable jade plaques, which scared her into a beating heart. Like this, she had to keep the tiles for herself and return them to the little bun when he became more sensible as he was the original owner.
Seeing Wei Zhen’s posture of ‘wanting to stop her but being unable to do so’, Mu Xi Yao put aside her amused thoughts, packed up all the tiles, and handed them to Mo Lan to put them in one place.
Picking up the palace fan from the basket, Mu Xi Yao smiled slyly.
“Sir Wei, do you think that the person who worked so hard to plan would die of rage in broad daylight if he finds out that the final fruit has been stolen?”
Boss left the capital, and all kinds of ghosts and monsters came out and jumped around. He Lian Wei Rui was no longer a threat and Zhong Zheng Ying had no eyesight, she moved so indiscriminately and had finally aroused the strict discipline of the Empress Dowager, recently she did not dare to make trouble easily.
The new behind-the-scenes person caused her some troubles but in fact, brought her a good deal. The agreement with He Lian Min Min had come to an end without needing to exchange words, but if her new comrade was Lord He Lian, she was still willing to help.
Did that someone want to be the oriole [6]? It just so happened that she was most optimistic about a word now, which was “plot twist”! [7]
___________________
▲ Footnotes
> To explain the last bit, Mu Xi Yao is intending to take advantage of the situation with Zhong Zheng Lin’s help, “the final fruit” refers to the effort’s result and reward.
[1] 李代桃僵 Lǐdàitáojiāng. lit. the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree / to substitute one thing for another / to carry the can for sb.
[2] Wikipedia: Tai Sui. “In Taoism, those whose birth sign or other features clash with the Tai Sui of the year will face misfortunes or disturbances for the whole current year. Each year, this applies to people born under four out of the twelve animal zodiac signs”.
[3] 渔翁之利 yúwēng zhī lì. Sit back and reap the benefits; the fisherman’s profit is a metaphor when two parties quarrel and make a third-party profit.
[4] 竹篮打水 zhúlándǎshuǐ - using a wicker basket to draw water (idiom); wasted effort
[5] The raws said: 青石玉牌. 青石 means bluestone/limestone, 玉 means jade and 牌 means mah-jong tile / playing card / game pieces / signboard / plate / tablet / medal. Google Translate translated as dominoes, but I left it as mah-jong as that is a traditional Chinese game. You can see here a short match of mah-jong.
[6] “The mantis stalking the locust, unaware of the oriole behind it”. This is a very famous Chinese idiom. There’s a very good explanation here (http://history.cultural-china.com/en/233History3285.html) but the general gist is that the players are all focused on who they want to defeat, to the point they cannot see the enemy behind them. (As explained by Dreams of Jianghu).
[7] 波澜迭起 Bōlán diéqǐ. 波澜 means “billows / great waves (fig. of a story with great momentum)” and 迭起 “continuously arising / to arise repeatedly”. Baidu says: “waves rising everywhere, it is often used figuratively to refer to the plot twists and turns of literary works.”
