CH 57

When Ming Jingzhou returned home, it was already dark. He pushed open the door and saw his daughter sitting in the yard wearing a thick cloak, waiting for him.

“Father.” Seeing him return, the tired Jiuzhu raised her head and gave him a bright smile. “You’re back? I asked the kitchen to heat up some soup. You should have a bowl to warm yourself.”

“Why didn’t you go to bed?” Ming Jingzhou’s body still carried the chill outside. He didn’t dare to get too close to his daughter. “Where is your mother?”

“Mother spent the whole day doing calculations so she went to rest first.” Jiuzhu took out a hand warmer and handed it to her father with a smile. “The soup will be ready soon. Father, use this to warm your hands first.”

Ming Jingzhou smiled and held the hand warmer, which was somewhat small for a grown man’s hands. “Waiting here for me… is there something you want to tell?”

Jiuzhu touched her face and began to doubt herself. Was she that obvious?

Seeing his daughter like this, he shook his head with a soft chuckle and went to sit with her in the main room. Chunfen came in with a warm bowl of soup. “Master, Young Miss specially instructed the kitchen to simmer this soup for you. You must have it more.”

After draining the bowl in one gulp, he nodded at his daughter with a smile. “Very delicious.”

Jiuzhu immediately beamed. “Before simmering, I added a few wolfberries to it. I was worried that Father wouldn’t like it, but I’m glad you do.”

Placing the empty bowl on the table, Ming Jingzhou asked, “Jiuzhu, what did you do during the New Year in Lingzhou?”

“I cleaned the Daoist temple with Masters and copied the scriptures. We also prayed in front of the Sanqing grandpas’ statues.” Jiuzhu rested her chin on one hand, reminiscing about her life in Lingzhou. “Master said that other Daoist temples have multiple rules, but ours had fewer people and fewer tasks, so we didn’t need to be so particular. Sincerity matters the most.”

“Every year on New Year’s Day, when offering the first incense to Sanqing grandpas, Daughter secretly prayed to them to bless the family with peace and safety.” Jiuzhu chuckled. “After all, it’d be the first incense of the new year. Sanqing grandpas should be able to remember my wishes more clearly.”

“And, and, every year during the New Year, Masters would make new clothes for me. First Master always said that Second Master’s craftsmanship was poor and the clothes she made were ugly, but I felt they were pretty. She would even embroider cute little puppies on the sleeves for me.” Jiuzhu recalled some interesting anecdotes from her childhood, her eyes brimming with vigor.

She talked about the time when she misbehaved and was punished by her two masters, but in the end, they bought a roasted goose to coax her. When she heard her Father laugh, she looked at him seriously. “Although life in the Daoist temple was tough, Masters provided Daughter with everything they could.”

“Daughter learned how to read, write and be a good person.” Her clear eyes were very gentle, as if she was coaxing someone who wanted to weep. “From childhood to now, Daughter did not suffer much. Daughter had had filling meals and carefree sleep. So Dad, please don’t be sad about my past.”

At this moment, Ming Jingzhou felt like his heart was being pricked by thousands of needles; it was painful and itchy.

This child was comforting him.

“Dad knows.” Ming Jingzhou’s voice was hoarse as he raised his head and smiled at his daughter. “Dad knows. You… be good and go to bed. When Dad comes back from the Ministry of Rites tomorrow, Dad will bring you a roasted goose.”

Usually, Jiuzhu addressed him as ‘Father’ according to the rules in the capital, but he preferred to hear the slightly pampered and affectionate ‘dad’ from his daughter.

Whenever Jiuzhu wanted to cheer him up, she would call him like this.

“Then you can’t be sad anymore.” Jiuzhu tugged at his sleeve. “Go to sleep early. Tomorrow noon, I will bring you lunch.”

“Alright.” With his hands that were heated up by the hand warmer, he gently patted his daughter’s head. “Go to sleep, Dad is not sad.”

“Dad is the best.” Jiuzhu smiled sweetly at him, then turned and left the room with Chunfen.

Ming Jingzhou sat at the table quietly, covering his eyes with his hands.

“Master.” Shen-shi came out with an outer robe draped over her shoulders and sat down beside him, gently patting his back.

“I’m fine.” His hoarse voice couldn’t hide his emotions anymore.

Shen-shi leaned her head on his shoulder. “That child waited for you all day long. She didn’t say anything about your outburst yesterday, but she was worried. If it were any other day, she would have already gone back to her room to sleep. Why would she still be up, simmering soup in the kitchen?”

She didn’t stop Jiuzhu because she knew that on this cold night, what this pair of father and daughter might need, was a bowl of hot soup and a peaceful conversation.

She gently patted his shoulder. After a long while, she said softly: “Stop crying and go to sleep.”

“I’m not crying.” Ming Jingzhou lowered his head, unwilling to look at her. It was just that his voice sounded hoarse.

“I prepared the New Year’s gifts and sent them to Jiuzhu’s two masters.” Shen-shi didn’t expose this man shedding tears. “Unfortunately, the two masters still refuse to come to the capital. Otherwise, we could have let them stay nearby and taken better care of them.”

“Daoists would probably rather be free cranes in the mountains than be pampered and wealthy cats in the capital.” Ming Jingzhou sighed. “If we force such dignified people to stay in the capital, how can we even think of repaying their kindness?”

But they owed Jiuzhu’s two masters their entire lives. This was a debt that could never be fully repaid.

He avoided Shen-shi’s gaze, wiped away the moisture at the corners of his eyes, and turned to her. “Go lie down in bed quickly. It’s cold outside, don’t get sick.”

After taking a glance at his red eyes, Shen-shi called for a maid to help him wash up. Once both of them were lying in bed, she spoke slowly, “The Imperial Palace is holding an annual banquet this year. Should we bring Jiuzhu too?”

“Bring her.” Ming Jingzhou buried his head in the quilt, his voice low and muffled: “When I met His Majesty today, he specifically instructed us to take Jiuzhu along with us.”

“Okay.” Shen-shi remained silent for a moment, then reached out and patted the bulge on the quilt, “Even if she’s married, she’ll still be right under our noses. That is better than…”

Better than not knowing if our child is alive or dead, as we did before.

That was what her reason told her, but as parents, how could they truly be happy?

“Hang the lanterns higher, don’t tilt them.”

“Gugu, where should we hang this glazed eight-treasure lantern?”

“Niangniang prepared this lantern for Ming Xianzhu. Put it in the room where she stayed a few days ago. Be careful not to break it.”

“Gugu, the Department of the Palace has sent over some popular fabrics. Would you like to take a look?”

“Put them aside for now, I’ll look later. Have all the rewards been sent to the imperial concubines?”

“All sent, all sent. However, the servants at Qianyi Pavilion said that Zheng Meiren is sick.”

“Sick?” Xiangjuan pondered for a moment, and said, “Wait here, I’ll go speak with niangniang.”

Su Guifei was trying on the dress she would wear to the Palace banquet tonight. The eight-tailed phoenix hairpin lay quietly in the jewelry box, emitting a captivating and resplendent light.

“Zheng Lanyin is sick?” Su Guifei’s smile faded slightly. “Send someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau to fetch an imperial physician for her.”

“Niangniang, tonight is New Year’s Eve. This slave fears it is not auspicious to invite an imperial physician.”

“What auspicious-inauspicious. Ben Gong does not believe in such things.” Su Guifei snorted. “Moreover, His Majesty is a brilliant ruler. With his dragon energy protecting us, nothing inauspicious would dare to come close.”

“So, in the eyes of Beloved Consort, zhen also has the power to exorcise evil spirits?” Emperor Longfeng entered the chamber in large strides, wearing the dragon robe he had worn to court. “Do you like the new jewelry that zhen had the Department of the Palace make for you?”

“Heard that Your Majesty personally designed the pattern on this bracelet?” Su Guifei took out a sardonyx bracelet from the jewelry box. “Your Majesty said you were busy the whole day. Were you busy making this for me?”

“Being busy doesn’t equal forgetting your preferences.” Emperor Longfeng took the bracelet and put it on her wrist, nodding in satisfaction. “Beloved Consort’s wrist is delicate, boneless, and as fair as the moon’s splendor. This bracelet looks good on its own, but when worn on your wrist, it becomes like the tiny star next to the bright moon, not worth mentioning1T/N: Interestingly, the Palace where Su Guifei resides is the Mingyue Palace [明月宫], the name of which translates to ‘bright moon’ in English..”

“Where did Your Majesty learn to be so glib?” Laughing, Su Guifei gave him a teasing glance as she touched the bracelet lightly. “Did you mention bringing Jiuzhu into the palace for the banquet to Ming Jingzhou?”

“Zhen did mention it, but zhen worried that if things continue like this, the camaraderie of a ruler and his minister between zhen and Beloved Official Ming will be affected.” Emperor Longfeng’s remaining conscience reproached himself a little. “Their family finally found their daughter with great difficulty, but before she could enjoy the warmth, our family’s child took her away via marriage. How can he, as a dad, be happy about this?”

“Found?” Su Guifei was surprised. “Wasn’t Ming family’s little guniang fostered in Lingzhou?”

She clearly remembered that when His Majesty talked to her about Duqing’s marriage, he spoke of Ming guniang’s origins. He said that when the three brothers of the Ming family were exiled to the bitter cold frontier, fearing that their newborn daughter would pass away on the way, they sent her to be fostered in Lingzhou.

How come she was ‘found’ now?

“They couldn’t meet or see her during the multiple years she was fostered in Lingzhou. Isn’t it the same as finding her?” Emperor Longfeng was a bit regretful. He shouldn’t have hidden the truth of Ming Jiuzhu’s past from his beloved consort just because he was worried that she would think too much.

If Beloved Consort discovers the truth now…

Fortunately, Su Guifei didn’t dwell on it any longer. She complained while picking her jewelry: “I don’t know what the Ming family was thinking. How could they feel reassured to foster their daughter in a Daoist temple all these years? But it is not that do not care about their daughter. On the day of my birthday banquet, I saw the way Shen-shi looked at her. It was as if she was looking at a precious pearl.”

“I truly don’t understand. If they care so much, why didn’t they bring her back earlier? How difficult must it have been for the child to be raised outside?” She sighed. “No wonder some people in the capital privately say that the Ming family doesn’t care about this daughter. If I hadn’t witnessed how well Shen-shi treats Jiuzhu, I might have thought the same.”

Emperor Longfeng didn’t dare to say anything in response.

“Fortunately, our Jiuzhu has a good temperament and a good heart.” Su Guifei fiddled with the jewelry suitable for Jiuzhu. “She’s lovable in every aspect.”

Our Jiuzhu?

Emperor Longfeng really wanted to remind his Beloved Consort that Jiuzhu belonged to the Ming family, and was not hers. However, he didn’t dare.

He reached out and picked up the phoenix hairpin from the jewelry box on the table with a slight frown. This eight-tailed phoenix hairpin was not as good-looking as a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin. 

“Your Majesty, why are you looking at this hairpin?” Su Guifei turned to look at him.

Emperor Longfeng smiled. “I was thinking of preparing a new phoenix hairpin for you after the New Year.”

“I do not lack phoenix hairpins. Why would I need a new one?” Su Guifei casually glanced outside the window and caught sight of her son strolling toward them.

Emperor Longfeng smiled but didn’t say anything. He wanted to give his beloved woman a proper nine-tailed phoenix hairpin.

Nine-tailed phoenix hairpin could only be worn by the Empress and the Imperial Noble Consort.

“Erchen greets Father Emperor and Mother Consort.” Chen Wang turned his neck and saw the table packed with jewelry. His eyes brightened: “Are you choosing jewelry?”

“How about erchen help Mother Consort choose?” 

If there were any pieces that didn’t suit his Mother Consort but just happened to suit that little guniang, let him take them away.

Thanks for reading ٩(๑ᴗ๑)۶! If you found any typo or want to suggest some corrections, feel free to do so in the comment section or on our discord server. And if you like my translation, please consider rating it on NU and supporting me on: