CH 67

T/N: Thank you so much for the ko-fi, d47! I’m glad you like my translation hehe :3 With this, I owe you guys two chapters (one on behalf of Ivy, I haven’t forgotten your support dearie T^T) which idk when I’ll be able to upload coz life’s been a b*tch *cries in a corner*

“You don’t need to open your mouths again. Ben Wang knows what you all are thinking.” Chen Wang lifted his chin slightly. “Go back. Study hard and do some meaningful work to benefit the common people. Do you understand?”

The imperial dandies nodded dazedly. They understood the words but couldn’t quite grasp the meaning when they were placed together.

Study hard and do meaningful work… Did Chen Wang actually say that?

Or was His Highness actually implying something?

Although they were idle young masters, they were still members of the imperial family. Suspicion naturally ran in their blood. After exchanging a glance, they bowed to Chen Wang: “Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. We understand.”

“It’s good that you understand. Stay at home and refrain from wandering around the streets.” Chen Wang thought for a moment and added: “If you’re really bored, you can go to Hongwen Academy and donate some books or plant some vegetables.”

Hongwen Academy?

The imperial dandies suddenly seemed to see the light. After the fifth month, Hongwen Academy would officially start recruiting students. Although they didn’t have the qualifications to study there, they were still capable of donating books and grains to show their support for the academy established by His Majesty.

“Your Highness?” They arrived and hastily departed. But Jiuzhu noticed a look of enlightenment on their faces when they left. She asked in confusion, “Why do their expressions seem a bit off?”

“Do you know that the imperial bloodline has a problem?”

“What problem?”

“Suspicion. Along with a natural tendency to speculate on the will of their superiors.” Chen Wang smiled. “When your status is higher than theirs, every sentence and every word you say will be carefully analyzed by them. They will try their best to do things that please you in order to seek peace of mind.”

“What if it was just an ordinary statement without any deep meaning?”

“They don’t dare to gamble.” Chen Wang’s tone was indifferent. “Because they don’t know which sentence is true and which is false.”

Jiuzhu fell silent for a long time before sighing ruefully: “That must be tiring ah.”

“Don’t worry,” Chen Wang stopped walking and looked at her. “I won’t let you be so tired.”

Jiuzhu was first taken aback, then smiled and nodded, “En! “

His Highness’ words always came true, so she never doubted him.

Seeing the complete trust in Jiuzhu’s eyes, Chen Wang smiled and looked at the heavily guarded palace gates. “Go back, no need to accompany me further.”

Jiuzhu stopped in her tracks. “Your Highness, tomorrow is niangniang’s coronation ceremony. Mother said that both you and niangniang will be busy so I cannot look for you.”

“Niangniang will be the most honored woman in the world and possess everything under the Heavens.” Jiuzhu took out a peach wood carving. “This carving is made from peach wood1T/N: In Chinese culture, it is believed that peach wood wards off evil and prolongs life as a result. Thus, amulets are carved and worn for protection and well-being. Please accept it and give it to niangniang on my behalf, Your Highness.”

“Alright.” Chen Wang tucked the peach wood carving into his pocket. “The capital is very lively during the Lantern Festival. You can ask your elder brother to accompany you to the carnival.”

Jiuzhu nodded and looked up at him. “Will Your Highness be coming?”

Chen Wang shook his head. “Tomorrow is Mother Consort’s Coronation ceremony. Moreover, I cannot leave the Palace at night.”

“Oh.” Jiuzhu’s eyes dimmed slightly, but then she smiled. “It’s fine. I will go with you next year, Your Highness.”

He smiled and mounted his horse. “Alright. From now on, I will accompany you to the Lantern Festival every year.”

After bidding farewell to Jiuzhu, Chen Wang returned to the Palace and went directly to Mingyue Palace. He gave the peach wood amulet that Jiuzhu asked him to deliver to Su Guifei. “Mother Consort, this is what Jiuzhu asked Son to give to you in advance.”

Su Guifei took it. It was a small ornament carved into the shape of a gourd2T/N: Gourd (葫芦 or húlu) is popular as a charm to ward off evil spirits and disease because of a number of reasons. 1) Its first character (葫 or hú) has the same pronunciation as the word which translates to ‘protect’ or ‘guard’ (护 or hù) and also the word for ‘blessing’ (祜 or hù). 2) In some dialects, the character ‘葫’ (hú) has a similar pronunciation to ‘福’ (fú) which means ‘happiness’ or ‘good fortune’. Therefore, saying 葫芦 (húlu) for gourd would sound similar to 福禄 (fúlù) which means ‘happiness and high post’. 3) The Chinese consider the number ‘8’ to be auspicious and an omen for good luck. A gourd resembles the number ‘8’. . Auspicious clouds and a ruyi pattern were carved on the top and bottom of the gourd was inscribed with the words ‘Brilliant light3T/N: Here, the word is ‘曜曦’ (yào xī) which individually means brilliant/glorious and sunlight respectively. Since using sunlight felt awkward in English, I simply wrote it as ‘light’.‘.

“Brilliant light- radiating everlasting light.” 

“This slave has heard that people from Lingzhou believe that those who are illuminated by light will have good luck and be free from diseases.” Xiangjuan sighed. “Ming Xianzhu has sent her best wishes to niangniang ah.”

“Did she carve this peach wood gourd herself?” Su Guifei gently stroked the gourd with a warm expression.

“Erchen didn’t ask,” Chen Wang leaned over to see how the gourd was carved, but Su Guifei pushed him away.

“If you didn’t ask, then don’t look.” She looked at him with disdain. “You don’t know anything. Go away.”

“Although erchen didn’t ask, erchen can still guess ah.” He poured himself a cup of tea and sat down next to her. “Peach wood is something that Daoists like to use often; ordinary people generally don’t use this kind of wood. Ming Xiaozhu was raised in a Daoist temple since she was young. If it wasn’t something she carved herself, why would she have me bring it to you?”

“That’s true ah.” Su Guifei found a red string and tied it around the gourd. “I have a peach wood gourd carved by Jiuzhu herself. Do you have one?”

The smile on Chen Wang’s face stiffened for a moment. He lowered his head and touched the pouch hanging from his waist, inside of which was the talisman Jiuzhu had given him. He then regained his usual expression. “How can erchen compete with you? She is your future daughter-in-law, so it is only right for her to make something for you with her own hands.”

“Xiangjuan.” Su Guifei ignored him and turned her head toward Xiangjuan. “Something seems to have gone bad. Why is Bengong getting a sour smell?”

Chen Wang silently stood up and walked a few steps to the door before raising his voice and speaking, “Mother Consort, you’re overthinking. I have the talisman she personally gave me.”

After speaking, he fled as if he was afraid that she would snatch away his talisman from him.

Su Guifei looked at his retreating figure, which looked as if he was a dog that had thrown off its leash, and chuckled softly. She lowered her head and touched the chubby belly of the gourd in her palm.

“Niangniang, should this servant put it in a box for you?”

“No,” Su Guifei smiled. “Bengong will wear it tomorrow.”

When Emperor Longfeng conferred the title of Empress upon Su Guifei, it was not the civil and military officials who were most stimulated, but some of those from major noble households.

“His Majesty first established the Hongwen Academy, accepting students from poor families from all over, and then conferred the low-born Su Guifei as the Empress. What exactly is his intention?”

“Could it be that His Majesty cannot tolerate us noble clans anymore?”

“Don’t think too much about it. None of the concubines in the Palace are from noble clans.” One of them lazily took a sip of wine. “In recent years, regardless of their backgrounds, if someone has talent, they never failed to receive His Majesty’s favor. Don’t keep pointing at Su Guifei. There are only a few women in the harem. Everyone here is a man. As men, which one of us doesn’t want to dote on our favorite woman?”

“I suspect you are a mole sent by His Majesty into our noble circle.” Another noble family head couldn’t help but say: “We are discussing important matters; not some trivial relationship between a man and a woman.”

“But the conferral of Su Guifei as Empress is ultimately a matter of that category. If you didn’t come forward to oppose it during the New Year’s Eve banquet, what’s the use of talking about it now?” The noble family head who was drinking put down his cup and stood up indifferently. “Everyone, it is already the fourteenth year of Longfeng. Those good old days of noble families maintaining a balance with the Emperor have long since gone. So let’s all give it a rest.”

“Du Qingke4T/N: Though his name and surname joined together sound the same as ML’s, the characters for it, and therefore the meanings, are different. This person’s name is ‘杜青珂’ (dù qīngkē) where ‘杜’ (dù) is his surname and ‘青珂’ (qīngkē) means ‘green/blue jade-like stone’. The ML’s name, on the contrary, is ‘云渡卿’ (yún dùqīng) where ‘云’  (yún) is his surname and ‘渡卿’ (dùqīng) means ‘the noble guide’. I’ve already explained his name in detail in the footnotes of chp 53. You can take a look at it again., you are simply the  disgrace of noble clans!”

Du Qingke replied calmly, “Let’s talk nicely. Why resort to insults? If you really don’t want His Majesty to favor students from humble backgrounds, then you should solve the problem from its root.”

“How do we solve it?”

“The conferral of Su Guifei as the Empress is already a done deal. There’s no need to dwell on it anymore.” Du Qingke raised an eyebrow with a smile. “But the Hongwen Academy hasn’t started enrolling students yet. If something happens, for instance, a conflict between a student from a humble family and a descendant of the imperial family, and it becomes a big issue, the initiation of the academy will be delayed.”

“Trimming branches won’t help.” Du Qingke shook his head. “You have to cut it from the root, understand?”

After speaking, he flicked his sleeve and walked away lazily.

Being together with this group of fools trying to revive the glory of noble families, he often felt superior in terms of intelligence.

With such brains, are they still worried that His Majesty would suppress the noble families?

Does His Majesty really need to feel anxious over dealing with these idiots?

Truly like an old cat looking at itself in the mirror and thinking it was an unbeatable tiger.

The Lantern Festival in the fourteenth year of Longfeng was celebrated in a particularly grand and lively manner. Even before dawn, the city was filled with colorful lanterns. Some lantern stalls specifically hung phoenix lanterns at the door to celebrate the coronation ceremony of the new Empress.

They didn’t know what kind of person Su Guifei was, but since the Emperor was so good, the Empress he conferred must be good as well. Besides, she was the Overbearing Prince’s birth mother, so she must be wonderful.

The most important point was that this was a major festival celebrated by everyone. The merchants took the opportunity to engage in activities and sell their wares, hoping to earn a good amount of profit. Why would they be against it?

For the common people, as long as the Emperor could let them live a peaceful, stable and happy life, even if he wanted to confer the title of Empress upon a peach tree, they would come up with an incredible love story and find a way to make money from it.

Ordinary people gathered together to join in the festivities while the imperial relatives, court officials and mingfu dressed according to their ranks and hurried to the Jincheng Hall to attend the first coronation ceremony of the Longfeng era.

According to reason, Su Guifei, who was conferred the title of Empress from being an imperial concubine, couldn’t compare to a legitimate Empress carried into the Palace through the Zhuque Gate5T/N: The status of a lawfully wedded Empress (who is the main/principal wife from the start) is much higher than that of an Empress who used to be a concubine. During the wedding, she (lawfully wedded Empress) is dressed in nine-tailed phoenix robes, seated in a phoenix bridal sedan and brought directly into the Palace through the main gate. A concubine gets none of that, not even a wedding. Interestingly, the status of a second wife (who is wedded after the death of the former one or after the man divorces her, and not originally a concubine) is also lower than a first wife.. But the Emperor bestowed all of the honors of a legitimate Empress upon Su-shi.

Whether it was the phoenix sedan, phoenix robes or the ceremony, everything was done according to the highest standards of conferring an Empress.

This was also the first time Jiuzhu had witnessed the grandeur of imperial etiquette.

In the Jincheng Hall, men stood on the left and women stood on the right in an orderly and solemn manner, with no end in sight.

A red carpet was laid out, with fresh flowers scattered along the path. Jiuzhu stood at the forefront of the xianzhus. She saw His Highness Chen Wang supporting niangniang as she stepped slowly onto the flower-strewn red carpet.

As she passed by, Jiuzhu saw that niangniang’s footsteps pause for a moment as she turned her head to smile at herself.

This scene unfolded under the watchful eyes of the countless people present.

It seemed that Empress Su was immensely satisfied with this future daughter-in-law of hers. She didn’t forget to give her some face even at her coronation ceremony. 

Sun Caiyao stood at the end of the line of the Wangfei-s. Looking at Ming Jiuzhu, clad in her goose-yellow palace dress of a xianzhu, she reached out and caught a petal that drifted from somewhere in a daze.

None of what she saw in her dream had come true. The only thing that remained the same was the close relationship of Ming Jiuzhu and Su Guifei.

The official presiding over the ceremony on the elevated platform recited the praises written by the Emperor himself for Su Guifei. Every sentence was filled with a man’s favor towards a woman.

“Greetings to Your Majesty the Empress, who soars like a phoenix to the ninth Heaven. Long live Your Majesty. Long live, long live.”

Jiuzhu knelt down with the others and performed the full three bows and nine kowtows. A beautiful flower fell in front of her, and she picked it up and stuffed it in her pouch. 

What a waste it would be to let such a beautiful flower be trampled by so many people! 

Jiuzhu had barely taken a few steps after the coronation ceremony when some people crowded around her to praise her hairdo, her clothes and even her beautiful handkerchief.

“These… are all made by the Department of the Palace. If Madams like them, you can go there to get the patterns.” The clothes were made according to rank, there was nothing special about them.

The people complimenting Jiuzhu: “……”

What’s the matter with the future Chen Wangfei? Did she not know that this was a great method to worm their way into getting closer to her?

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