Saving Oneself from a Desperate Situation
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Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz
Time flew quickly. Before Bai Shiqi even got up in the morning, Shu Changfeng had already rushed over to knock on the door. The two trained together during the day and she was still dragged by Zhao Wujiu until midnight. It was similar to the experience when he was asking for advice in suppressing the pirates, or when studying the map in front of an oil lamp. Except for when sleeping in a bed, they were almost inseparable.
Zhao Ziheng couldn’t catch the opportunity to persuade his cousin, so he took advantage of the time when his cousin brother hadn’t come over to eat, and hinted to Bai Shiqi: “I heard that you and Cousin Brother are in the same place every night. A single man and a single woman should pay attention to their reputation.”
Bai Shiqi looked at him dumbfoundedly: “You mean don’t let your cousin lose his reputation?” Sure enough, the nobles liked to save their faces and build a positive image, but she didn’t care about these.
“Pffft!” Zhao Ziheng almost spurted out the soup all over her face. He wanted to shake her shoulders and asked: Brother, do you have any self-awareness that you’re a daughter in your family?
But thinking about her actions in the past, if her identity was exposed, even Zhao Ziheng himself still had not treated her as a girl anyways. Not to mention the label “Young Leader” on her head, her behaviors were more extraordinary than men. The two often went to listen to songs together with arms around each other, and now he’s telling Young Leader Bai to pay attention to her reputation? Isn’t this a huge joke?
Zhao Ziheng immediately changed his direction: “That’s right. You know your preposterous reputation outside, don’t damage Cousin Brother’s innocent reputation. He still needs to marry a wife and have children in the future.”
Bai Shiqi: “You make sense. I’ll pay more attention next time.” She still understands the difficulty of being born in the Imperial family. There must be a lot of unnecessary things in the process of raising this kind of reserved and self-disciplined Prince Zhou, right?
Zhao Wujiu who just stepped into the room by coincidence: “… …” Why am I hearing this kid undermining my plans?
Shu Changfeng simply laughed in secret, pretending not to know anything.
So Zhao Wujiu called on Bai Shiqi again tonight, however, she refused: “This is… inappropriate, right?”
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Zhao Wujiu thought secretly: So it is appropriate for you and Ziheng to go out to listen to songs and drink in the middle of the night, but it’s inappropriate to talk to me in the same room?
However, the righteous face that Prince Zhou had attained after cultivating it for several years was able to make the matter into a business affair: “If you find it inappropriate, it happens that Lord Luo is also good at water warfare, but he’s bad at weaponry. We can also talk about improving tactics and the training methods. Why not call him to discuss it together?”
And so, Luo Dajue was squeezed in between the two. Bai Shiqi’s crooked mind made her think that she was saving a gentleman’s dignity with a villain’s heart. In the course of time, she became really enthusiastic in training the soldiers. But at the crucial time, Suan Pan came running while crying.
The guard at the door said: “The little brother cried and refused to leave, saying that he must see Young Leader Bai.“
Bai Shiqi went out, and the two Zhao brothers and Shu Changfeng also followed.
In front of everyone, Suan Pan stood at the door and cried and said to Bai Shiqi: “Young Sir has been ill for the past few days. These few days, he can’t eat anything. He just lies in bed without saying anything every day, and he keeps staring at the door. I know that Young Sir must be looking forward to Young Leader’s visit, but he never said anything. He only said don’t come to disturb Young Leader, and that Young Leader must have something important to do, and will definitely visit when Young Leader is free. This little one can’t stand it anymore, so I secretly came to find Young Leader. What else can I do if this continues?”
“How could it be so serious?” Bai Shiqi was taken aback: “It was not so serious when I left that day.” She wanted to take Qiu Ying to see Old Man Huang for examination, but Zhao Wujiu held her back. She couldn’t go away for a while.
After hearing Suan Pan’s tearful lament, Bai Shiqi was put in an awkward position: “Why don’t I…”
Seeing that she was about to drop her responsibilities, Zhao Wujiu quickly prevented it: “Out of the question. Don’t you know how important the things under your hands are? It hasn’t been long since you picked up the responsibility, but now you want to make a mistake!”
Bai Shiqi: “But what about Ah Ying?”
Zhao Ziheng muttered in a low voice: “He’s just pretending to be sick. Ignore him!” Zhao Wujiu heard it, and hit his forehead with the back of his hand. His movement was very smooth, like slapping a fly on his forehead.
Zhao Wujiu: “Is it impossible to send someone to pick up Mister Huang and Zhu Shoumei? In any case, Mister Huang’s hometown is not far from here. Two days should be enough.”
Bai Shiqi was anxious: “Even if you send someone to Old Man Huang, he may not agree to come.” But then, she thought of a suitable candidate: “My father will be very happy to hear that Ah Ying is still alive. I can send him a letter and ask the old man to pick up Old Man Huang.”
Even though Huang Youbi had complaints towards Bai family’s father and daughter for tricking him into treating Zhao Wujiu, Bai Shiqi knew that he had no hard feelings towards Bai Zhenting.
This opportunity can also be good to repair the relationship between the old brothers.
Bai Shiqi wrote the letter and sent someone to the shipping group’s contact point, telling them to quickly send it to Suzhou by water. Meanwhile, over here, she was negotiating with Zhao Wujiu: “Ah Ying doesn’t like to trouble others. Suan Pan must have looked for me because the situation is not good. I will go there and take a look, it will not delay today’s training. Lord Luo can guide them first, I will be back soon.”
Zhao Wujiu: “I’ll give you a half day vacation. Come back as soon as possible.”
Suan Pan’s tears stopped and his face bloomed into a smile: “Young Leader, since you’re going to see Young Sir, he will definitely get better soon!”
Bai Shiqi: “Let’s go quickly. I’ve never seen you so eager to let us meet before.” Otherwise, why did they have to be separated for four years and she even cleaned up the pirates like crazy?
***
For several days, Zhao Ziheng had been waiting for an opportunity to persuade his cousin. As he watched Bai Shiqi and Suan Pan leave, he pushed Zhao Wujiu’s wheelchair to the front hall.
When Shu Changfeng saw that he suddenly became diligent and snatched his duty, he couldn’t help being surprised: “Thirteenth lang, what are you doing?”
“Don’t come over. Do you think I didn’t know that you’re an accomplice to the tiger?”
[to act as an accomplice to the tiger 为虎作伥; to help a villain do evil]
Shu Changfeng was at a loss: “Why am I an accomplice to the tiger?”
Zhao Wujiu said earnestly: “Ziheng, you are not too young anymore. Don’t just spend the whole day having fun. You should read more to avoid shame when you say something wrong.”
Zhao Ziheng was fully aware that he was doing a proper business today, so he was confident: “I didn’t say the wrong thing, it is Cousin Brother who did the wrong thing.”
Zhao Wujiu had never seen this amount of unreasonableness before and argued: “Are you going to rebel?”
“I don’t dare to rebel!”Zhao Ziheng pushed the person into the hall, closed the door with a “bang” in front of Shu Changfeng who was following them, and persuaded him with all his heart: “I noticed that Cousin Brother is acting more and more improperly recently, so I want to ask regarding your intention. In the end, are you just teasing Shiqi, or do you seriously want to be together with her?”
Shu Changfeng had said that his cousin planned to marry her, but no matter how he thought about it, it sounded unreliable.
He still had a clear understanding of the strength of his brother. If Zhao Wujiu was only teasing, Bai Shiqi was also not a vegetarian, so it was not clear who would suffer from losses in the end. But when talking about marriage, it was another matter.
Zhao Wujiu: “Why? Can’t I marry Shiqi?”
Zhao Ziheng felt a toothache coming: “Of course not!” He hadn’t heard of any sister-in-law of any family who went outside to listen to songs with their brother-in-law. Does his cousin want to destroy their unbreakable brotherhood?
“Do you even… suit each other?”Zhao Ziheng still had some understanding of his cousin’s staid personality.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Wujiu‘s stubbornness was very maddening: “How come Shiqi and I are not suitable?”
In order to protect his like-minded brother, Zhao Ziheng desperately discredited Bai Shiqi: “Cousin Brother, have you ever considered that Shiqi is best at fishing in the river, fighting with people, catching mice at the cellar, listening to songs and teasing young ladies… Which one of these is a virtue of a princess consort?”
Zhao Wujiu: “Anything else?”
Zhao Ziheng apologized to Bai Shiqi: Good brother, I really tried my best to save you!
“Cousin Brother, you must have known this. Until this age, Shiqi has never once lived like a woman. All year round she goes outside with those coarse guys of the shipping group drifting on the river. She even fights head on with the pirates, killing each other and shedding blood. In case you guys fight in the future… How embarrassing would it be if you lose?”
Zhao Wujiu: “… How do you know that I can’t beat her?”
“No, that won’t do!” Zhao Ziheng, who was trying to discredit Bai Shiqi immediately stood by his good brother’s side: “Cousin Brother, how can you beat Shiqi?”
Zhao Wujiu: “Didn’t you say that in the future we may fight? Are you telling me to not retaliate and just stand there accepting her beatings?”
Zhao Ziheng: “Of course I didn’t mean that.” His good brother fights fiercely, if one doesn’t retaliate, perhaps they’d be beaten to tears.
“Then what are you worried about?” He thought about the things that might appear in the future, and he couldn’t help imagining the scene where Leader Bai jumped about in anger in his mind. He didn’t know if he was brainwashed by the way the father and daughter get along, but he couldn’t help showing a hint of a smile.
Zhao Ziheng was very angry at his cousin’s non-cooperative behavior. He raised his stance and said in earnest: “Cousin Brother, I’m telling you seriously, don’t joke around! Even if you want to marry Shiqi, have you asked His Majesty and the Empress?”
Zhao Wujiu: “The last time His Majesty sent me the secret degree, I have already written a letter to be sent back. Imperial Father and Mother must have already received the news. Besides, the Imperial family has never married with the house of nobles or prominent figures in the court. Even Imperial Father’s concubines are from the family of ordinary people. Do you think my parents are going force me to marry a noble lady?”
Zhao Ziheng: “But Shiqi is not an ordinary lady from a respectable family ah. She’s… the young leader of a shipping group, a lot of people have to rely on her to eat and survive. It is impossible for her to follow you back to the capital to be trapped inside your Zhou Palace as a princess consort. Perhaps Cousin Brother has been very careful, but have you ever asked about Shiqi’s wishes? Does she wish to stay on the canal and live a cheerful life, or follow you to Jing to be a confined Princess Consort Zhou?”
Zhao Wujiu: “… …”
Saving Oneself from a Desperate Situation
Sponsored Content
Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz
Time flew quickly. Before Bai Shiqi even got up in the morning, Shu Changfeng had already rushed over to knock on the door. The two trained together during the day and she was still dragged by Zhao Wujiu until midnight. It was similar to the experience when he was asking for advice in suppressing the pirates, or when studying the map in front of an oil lamp. Except for when sleeping in a bed, they were almost inseparable.
Zhao Ziheng couldn’t catch the opportunity to persuade his cousin, so he took advantage of the time when his cousin brother hadn’t come over to eat, and hinted to Bai Shiqi: “I heard that you and Cousin Brother are in the same place every night. A single man and a single woman should pay attention to their reputation.”
Bai Shiqi looked at him dumbfoundedly: “You mean don’t let your cousin lose his reputation?” Sure enough, the nobles liked to save their faces and build a positive image, but she didn’t care about these.
“Pffft!” Zhao Ziheng almost spurted out the soup all over her face. He wanted to shake her shoulders and asked: Brother, do you have any self-awareness that you’re a daughter in your family?
But thinking about her actions in the past, if her identity was exposed, even Zhao Ziheng himself still had not treated her as a girl anyways. Not to mention the label “Young Leader” on her head, her behaviors were more extraordinary than men. The two often went to listen to songs together with arms around each other, and now he’s telling Young Leader Bai to pay attention to her reputation? Isn’t this a huge joke?
Zhao Ziheng immediately changed his direction: “That’s right. You know your preposterous reputation outside, don’t damage Cousin Brother’s innocent reputation. He still needs to marry a wife and have children in the future.”
Bai Shiqi: “You make sense. I’ll pay more attention next time.” She still understands the difficulty of being born in the Imperial family. There must be a lot of unnecessary things in the process of raising this kind of reserved and self-disciplined Prince Zhou, right?
Zhao Wujiu who just stepped into the room by coincidence: “… …” Why am I hearing this kid undermining my plans?
Shu Changfeng simply laughed in secret, pretending not to know anything.
So Zhao Wujiu called on Bai Shiqi again tonight, however, she refused: “This is… inappropriate, right?”
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Zhao Wujiu thought secretly: So it is appropriate for you and Ziheng to go out to listen to songs and drink in the middle of the night, but it’s inappropriate to talk to me in the same room?
However, the righteous face that Prince Zhou had attained after cultivating it for several years was able to make the matter into a business affair: “If you find it inappropriate, it happens that Lord Luo is also good at water warfare, but he’s bad at weaponry. We can also talk about improving tactics and the training methods. Why not call him to discuss it together?”
And so, Luo Dajue was squeezed in between the two. Bai Shiqi’s crooked mind made her think that she was saving a gentleman’s dignity with a villain’s heart. In the course of time, she became really enthusiastic in training the soldiers. But at the crucial time, Suan Pan came running while crying.
The guard at the door said: “The little brother cried and refused to leave, saying that he must see Young Leader Bai.“
Bai Shiqi went out, and the two Zhao brothers and Shu Changfeng also followed.
In front of everyone, Suan Pan stood at the door and cried and said to Bai Shiqi: “Young Sir has been ill for the past few days. These few days, he can’t eat anything. He just lies in bed without saying anything every day, and he keeps staring at the door. I know that Young Sir must be looking forward to Young Leader’s visit, but he never said anything. He only said don’t come to disturb Young Leader, and that Young Leader must have something important to do, and will definitely visit when Young Leader is free. This little one can’t stand it anymore, so I secretly came to find Young Leader. What else can I do if this continues?”
“How could it be so serious?” Bai Shiqi was taken aback: “It was not so serious when I left that day.” She wanted to take Qiu Ying to see Old Man Huang for examination, but Zhao Wujiu held her back. She couldn’t go away for a while.
After hearing Suan Pan’s tearful lament, Bai Shiqi was put in an awkward position: “Why don’t I…”
Seeing that she was about to drop her responsibilities, Zhao Wujiu quickly prevented it: “Out of the question. Don’t you know how important the things under your hands are? It hasn’t been long since you picked up the responsibility, but now you want to make a mistake!”
Bai Shiqi: “But what about Ah Ying?”
Zhao Ziheng muttered in a low voice: “He’s just pretending to be sick. Ignore him!” Zhao Wujiu heard it, and hit his forehead with the back of his hand. His movement was very smooth, like slapping a fly on his forehead.
Zhao Wujiu: “Is it impossible to send someone to pick up Mister Huang and Zhu Shoumei? In any case, Mister Huang’s hometown is not far from here. Two days should be enough.”
Bai Shiqi was anxious: “Even if you send someone to Old Man Huang, he may not agree to come.” But then, she thought of a suitable candidate: “My father will be very happy to hear that Ah Ying is still alive. I can send him a letter and ask the old man to pick up Old Man Huang.”
Even though Huang Youbi had complaints towards Bai family’s father and daughter for tricking him into treating Zhao Wujiu, Bai Shiqi knew that he had no hard feelings towards Bai Zhenting.
This opportunity can also be good to repair the relationship between the old brothers.
Bai Shiqi wrote the letter and sent someone to the shipping group’s contact point, telling them to quickly send it to Suzhou by water. Meanwhile, over here, she was negotiating with Zhao Wujiu: “Ah Ying doesn’t like to trouble others. Suan Pan must have looked for me because the situation is not good. I will go there and take a look, it will not delay today’s training. Lord Luo can guide them first, I will be back soon.”
Zhao Wujiu: “I’ll give you a half day vacation. Come back as soon as possible.”
Suan Pan’s tears stopped and his face bloomed into a smile: “Young Leader, since you’re going to see Young Sir, he will definitely get better soon!”
Bai Shiqi: “Let’s go quickly. I’ve never seen you so eager to let us meet before.” Otherwise, why did they have to be separated for four years and she even cleaned up the pirates like crazy?
***
For several days, Zhao Ziheng had been waiting for an opportunity to persuade his cousin. As he watched Bai Shiqi and Suan Pan leave, he pushed Zhao Wujiu’s wheelchair to the front hall.
When Shu Changfeng saw that he suddenly became diligent and snatched his duty, he couldn’t help being surprised: “Thirteenth lang, what are you doing?”
“Don’t come over. Do you think I didn’t know that you’re an accomplice to the tiger?”
[to act as an accomplice to the tiger 为虎作伥; to help a villain do evil]
Shu Changfeng was at a loss: “Why am I an accomplice to the tiger?”
Zhao Wujiu said earnestly: “Ziheng, you are not too young anymore. Don’t just spend the whole day having fun. You should read more to avoid shame when you say something wrong.”
Zhao Ziheng was fully aware that he was doing a proper business today, so he was confident: “I didn’t say the wrong thing, it is Cousin Brother who did the wrong thing.”
Zhao Wujiu had never seen this amount of unreasonableness before and argued: “Are you going to rebel?”
“I don’t dare to rebel!”Zhao Ziheng pushed the person into the hall, closed the door with a “bang” in front of Shu Changfeng who was following them, and persuaded him with all his heart: “I noticed that Cousin Brother is acting more and more improperly recently, so I want to ask regarding your intention. In the end, are you just teasing Shiqi, or do you seriously want to be together with her?”
Shu Changfeng had said that his cousin planned to marry her, but no matter how he thought about it, it sounded unreliable.
He still had a clear understanding of the strength of his brother. If Zhao Wujiu was only teasing, Bai Shiqi was also not a vegetarian, so it was not clear who would suffer from losses in the end. But when talking about marriage, it was another matter.
Zhao Wujiu: “Why? Can’t I marry Shiqi?”
Zhao Ziheng felt a toothache coming: “Of course not!” He hadn’t heard of any sister-in-law of any family who went outside to listen to songs with their brother-in-law. Does his cousin want to destroy their unbreakable brotherhood?
“Do you even… suit each other?”Zhao Ziheng still had some understanding of his cousin’s staid personality.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Wujiu‘s stubbornness was very maddening: “How come Shiqi and I are not suitable?”
In order to protect his like-minded brother, Zhao Ziheng desperately discredited Bai Shiqi: “Cousin Brother, have you ever considered that Shiqi is best at fishing in the river, fighting with people, catching mice at the cellar, listening to songs and teasing young ladies… Which one of these is a virtue of a princess consort?”
Zhao Wujiu: “Anything else?”
Zhao Ziheng apologized to Bai Shiqi: Good brother, I really tried my best to save you!
“Cousin Brother, you must have known this. Until this age, Shiqi has never once lived like a woman. All year round she goes outside with those coarse guys of the shipping group drifting on the river. She even fights head on with the pirates, killing each other and shedding blood. In case you guys fight in the future… How embarrassing would it be if you lose?”
Zhao Wujiu: “… How do you know that I can’t beat her?”
“No, that won’t do!” Zhao Ziheng, who was trying to discredit Bai Shiqi immediately stood by his good brother’s side: “Cousin Brother, how can you beat Shiqi?”
Zhao Wujiu: “Didn’t you say that in the future we may fight? Are you telling me to not retaliate and just stand there accepting her beatings?”
Zhao Ziheng: “Of course I didn’t mean that.” His good brother fights fiercely, if one doesn’t retaliate, perhaps they’d be beaten to tears.
“Then what are you worried about?” He thought about the things that might appear in the future, and he couldn’t help imagining the scene where Leader Bai jumped about in anger in his mind. He didn’t know if he was brainwashed by the way the father and daughter get along, but he couldn’t help showing a hint of a smile.
Zhao Ziheng was very angry at his cousin’s non-cooperative behavior. He raised his stance and said in earnest: “Cousin Brother, I’m telling you seriously, don’t joke around! Even if you want to marry Shiqi, have you asked His Majesty and the Empress?”
Zhao Wujiu: “The last time His Majesty sent me the secret degree, I have already written a letter to be sent back. Imperial Father and Mother must have already received the news. Besides, the Imperial family has never married with the house of nobles or prominent figures in the court. Even Imperial Father’s concubines are from the family of ordinary people. Do you think my parents are going force me to marry a noble lady?”
Zhao Ziheng: “But Shiqi is not an ordinary lady from a respectable family ah. She’s… the young leader of a shipping group, a lot of people have to rely on her to eat and survive. It is impossible for her to follow you back to the capital to be trapped inside your Zhou Palace as a princess consort. Perhaps Cousin Brother has been very careful, but have you ever asked about Shiqi’s wishes? Does she wish to stay on the canal and live a cheerful life, or follow you to Jing to be a confined Princess Consort Zhou?”
Zhao Wujiu: “… …”
