CH 8

“This doesn’t seem right.”

“I don’t think it’s right either.”

The father and son of the Ban family looked at each other and then turned their heads simultaneously to look at Yin shi, waiting for her to answer.

“What are you looking at me for?” Yin shi froze for a moment. “I don’t know what the hell is going on.” She thought about it for a while and finally couldn’t tell what was fishy. So with no better option, she turned towards Ban Hua and asked, “Hua Hua, you think about it again. Was there really no such thing as being promoted to Jun Princess in your dream? ” “

“No,” Ban Hua shook her head with certainty,”I wouldn’t have forgotten such a good thing.”

“Then … Is it possible that your dreams are fake?” Ban Heng suddenly thought of another possibility. “What if Xie Qilin’s accident was just a coincidence and in fact our family’s title and wealth won’t be confiscated. What if all this was just your imagination? “

It was common knowledge that it has always been difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood when it comes to prophetic dreams and warning signs. Even he knew that when the founding Emperor started his rebellion, he had liked to create some hints of supernatural relationships. The Founding Emperor of this Da Ye Dynasty had also played such tricks. Was it really true that there was some relationship with the gods? It was clear among the influential families that it was all just rumours used to sway the hearts of the common people.

When questioned by Ban Heng, Ban Hua was also a little uncertain. She got up unhurriedly and rummaged through a wooden box from the display shelf which contained a stack of paper. The calligraphy on the paper was like a bunch of completely indecipherable scribbles. Probably, no one else in the country except for Ban Hua herself could understand what she had written.

“The other day, I was afraid that I’d forget the details of the dream over time. So, I wrote down everything that I could remember.” Ban Hua said, patting the stack of papers on the table. “You take a look at this to see what else is likely to happen. An event happening as per the dream once or twice can be a coincidence. But can thrice or four times still be a coincidence? ”

Ban Huai picked up the stack of paper and after staring at it for a long while, he looked at Ban Hua with dull eyes, “Daughter, what have you written here?”

Ban Hua took the paper from him and looked at it, “Xie Wanyu is going to marry the Second Prince, but the Second Prince likes Shi Feixian.”

“How do you remember all these chicken feather, garlic skin* matters?” Ban Heng knew that he couldn’t understand Ban Hua’s ghostly handwriting and he didn’t even look at the paper. “Weren’t there any major Imperial issues that happened in your dream?”

“I’m so lazy. How could I possibly dream about Imperial and political affairs?” Ban Hua answered reasonably. “Besides, I was so busy every day in my dream. How could I have had time to care about those boring political affairs? If it had been you, you couldn’t remember such things either.”

Ban Heng thought about it seriously. If this dream had come to him, he might just have woken up and forgotten all about it. It was definitely better that his sister was the one who had had the dream.

“Then how do you remember so clearly about who other families’ daughters were married off to?” Ban Heng wondered.

“Who told her not to get along with me?”

Ban Heng suddenly understood the root of the matter and nodded. According to his older sister’s nature of holding a grudge, she would indeed record down such things in her mind.

Now, the Eldest Prince and the Second Prince were both borne by the Empress. Perhaps, His Majesty had gone through enough bitterness before ascending the throne due to the previous Emperor favouring an Imperial Concubine over his Empress Mother. Therefore, he deeply respected the Empress and gave the most importance to the Eldest Prince who was also birthed by the Empress.

It was a pity that His Majesty’s favoritism towards his Di** sons had allowed them both to get used to the days of smooth sailing*** when they were young. So, the Crown Prince’s character was too indecisive, credulous and impulsive. The Second Prince had an arrogant and haughty nature. Usually, the Emperor was first in importance followed by the Crown Prince. The Second Prince was eternally in third place and there were terribly few courtiers who paid any attention to him.

The relationship between the Second Prince and Jingting Hou Fu was not very good. So Ban Hua did not have much affection for him either.

In her dream, there was a scene which she remembered especially clearly where Xie Wanyu, who had married the Second Prince, had slapped Shi Feixian. The second prince had not only berated Xie Wanyu in front of many people but also gone further and personally accompanied Shi Feixian to see a doctor.

In the Imperial family, neither men nor women were truly sincere people, but they still tried to preserve dignity and an illusion of mutual affection. To act like the Second Prince without giving his Princess the slightest face was indeed too much.

Now, Xie Wanyu and Shi Feixian seemed as if they were as good as flesh and blood sisters. Who would have thought that this kind of thing would happen in the future?

No, that was wrong. Wasn’t Shi Feixian interested in Rong Xia? However, in the future, there was an ambiguous relationship between her and the second prince, indicating that she did not marry Rong Xia at all. So the question is, who was the woman who finally married Rong Xia?

“Alas.” Ban Hua sighed with one hand on her cheek. Unfortunately, she was not familiar with Rong Xia, and had never seen him in her dreams. So she really didn’t know who the woman was who could snatch Shi Feixian’s beloved.

“Then let’s just wait for a while.” Yin shi touched her daughter’s head. “If the Xie family really marries the Second Prince, we will …”

In fact, what could they do? Theirs was an empty title with no real power. If there was someone who rebelled against the emperor, all they could do was to obediently become fish on the chopping board* with no ability to resist.

“Sister, it would be good if you knew who the rebellious person is.” Ban Heng said gloomily, “At least we can choose whether to kill him or hug his thigh.”

If all the things in your sister’s dream come true, it means that this person is the destined son of God. Do you think that killing him would be as easy as just speaking the words?” Ban Huai said in a displeased tone, “Just properly be a wastrel and don’t embarrass yourself by thinking.”

On an auspicious day in the autumn of the 21st year of the Emperor Yun Qing’s reign, the Emperor asked a titled lady to act as matchmaker for the Second Prince and offer betrothal gifts to Miss Xie Wanyu, the daughter of the Zhongping Bo Fu.

Zhongping Bo Fu can only be regarded as a nouveau riche household. It is reasonable to say that the daughter of this family couldn’t reach high enough to be married into the Prince’s Household. The Emperor made the decision for the Second Prince to marry such a Princess with little influence carelessly because though he could dote on his second son, he had no intention of allowing the Seccond Prince to replace the Crown Prince.

For Zhongping Bo Fu, this is not a very good marriage, but the Emperor had asked a first ranked official’s titled lady wife to matchmake in person. So, he couldn’t say anything and he didn’t dare to refuse.

After learning that Xie Wanyu was actually going to marry the second prince, the four members of the Ban family acted as though they were mourning their deceased parents and hid at home to weep disconsolately on each other’s shoulders.

The Da Yue Palace is the place where successive generations of emperors of the Daye Dynasty have lived and it was also the place where many princes have dreamed of living.

The Second Prince, Jiang Luo, knelt in front of the Emperor Yun Qing with his face full of resentment and unwillingness, “Fu Huang*, the Xie family girl is not your son’s favourite person. Why do you want to force your son to marry her?”

“I have seen that this Xie family’s girl has a pretty appearance, has good deportment, and more importantly, has a very gentle temperament that can match you well.” Emperor Yun Qing lowered his head and avoided looking at Jiang Luo, “If you can’t get over it now, go back and think about it slowly. When you come around to the idea, I will let you out of the palace again.”

“Fu Huang!” Jiang Luo looked at Emperor Yun Qing in disbelief. “Both my brother and I are your sons, but why do you treat me this way? What good is that Xie Wanyu? In terms of talent and knowledge, she is not as good as the Shi family’s young lady. Her bearing and deportment is not as good as Kangning Junzhu from Imperial Uncle’s** family and as for her appearance…” Jiang Luo sneered, “Even Ban Hua, that straw bag***, looks better than her. Why should I marry such a woman? “

“Since you think that Ban Hua looks better than her, then you should marry Ban Hua!” Emperor Yun Qing said a little impatiently “In this world, where are there so many perfect women? Why can’t you be content with your situation?”

Jiang Luo gritted his teeth. Fearing that if he continued to act stubborn, Fu Huang would really make him marry Ban Hua, he bowed his head to Emperor Yun Qing and silently retreated.

This time, it was not that there was no perfect woman for him, but just that Fu Huang was not willing to let him have her.

In the palace of the eldest princess, a few witty remarks from Ban Hua made the elder princess smile from ear to ear, looking at her with her fondness showing in full light.

Ban Heng ate a snack while complaining: “Grandmother, do n’t believe my sister. When she whipped that Shen Yu, she was merciless, swinging that whip like a veritable tiger. Even I was scared by her posture. “

“Our family’s girl needs to be more strong-willed” the eldest princess clapped her classmates. “People from our kind of family don’t have to imitate other women’s behaviour of ingratiating themselves unwillingly. If anyone provokes you, don’t hesitate to come and tell your grandmother and I’ll get justice for you.”

Ban Hua, holding Princess Dening ’s hand, smiled cleverly: “You don’t have to worry about me. Both my brother and I are doing well. As long as you are in good health, I won’t be afraid of anything.”

“Good, good, good!” Princess Dening embraced Ban Hua with a kind and gentle smile, “If it’s for the sake of our family’s Hua Hua, this Princess wil live for a hundred years.”

“And also stay young forever, getting younger with each year.”

“Well then, I’ll stay young forever.” Princess Dening responded with a laugh.

When the two siblings left the princess palace, Princess Dening stuffed a lot of gifts into their arms as though she was afraid that her useless son had deprived the two children.

“Cough.. cough, cough” Seeing the siblings riding their horses further and further away, Princess Dening took out a handkerchief to cover the corner of her mouth and supported herself by holding the hand of the mómo beside her, letting out a long sigh.

“This doesn’t seem right.”

“I don’t think it’s right either.”

The father and son of the Ban family looked at each other and then turned their heads simultaneously to look at Yin shi, waiting for her to answer.

“What are you looking at me for?” Yin shi froze for a moment. “I don’t know what the hell is going on.” She thought about it for a while and finally couldn’t tell what was fishy. So with no better option, she turned towards Ban Hua and asked, “Hua Hua, you think about it again. Was there really no such thing as being promoted to Jun Princess in your dream? ” “

“No,” Ban Hua shook her head with certainty,”I wouldn’t have forgotten such a good thing.”

“Then … Is it possible that your dreams are fake?” Ban Heng suddenly thought of another possibility. “What if Xie Qilin’s accident was just a coincidence and in fact our family’s title and wealth won’t be confiscated. What if all this was just your imagination? “

It was common knowledge that it has always been difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood when it comes to prophetic dreams and warning signs. Even he knew that when the founding Emperor started his rebellion, he had liked to create some hints of supernatural relationships. The Founding Emperor of this Da Ye Dynasty had also played such tricks. Was it really true that there was some relationship with the gods? It was clear among the influential families that it was all just rumours used to sway the hearts of the common people.

When questioned by Ban Heng, Ban Hua was also a little uncertain. She got up unhurriedly and rummaged through a wooden box from the display shelf which contained a stack of paper. The calligraphy on the paper was like a bunch of completely indecipherable scribbles. Probably, no one else in the country except for Ban Hua herself could understand what she had written.

“The other day, I was afraid that I’d forget the details of the dream over time. So, I wrote down everything that I could remember.” Ban Hua said, patting the stack of papers on the table. “You take a look at this to see what else is likely to happen. An event happening as per the dream once or twice can be a coincidence. But can thrice or four times still be a coincidence? ”

Ban Huai picked up the stack of paper and after staring at it for a long while, he looked at Ban Hua with dull eyes, “Daughter, what have you written here?”

Ban Hua took the paper from him and looked at it, “Xie Wanyu is going to marry the Second Prince, but the Second Prince likes Shi Feixian.”

“How do you remember all these chicken feather, garlic skin* matters?” Ban Heng knew that he couldn’t understand Ban Hua’s ghostly handwriting and he didn’t even look at the paper. “Weren’t there any major Imperial issues that happened in your dream?”

“I’m so lazy. How could I possibly dream about Imperial and political affairs?” Ban Hua answered reasonably. “Besides, I was so busy every day in my dream. How could I have had time to care about those boring political affairs? If it had been you, you couldn’t remember such things either.”

Ban Heng thought about it seriously. If this dream had come to him, he might just have woken up and forgotten all about it. It was definitely better that his sister was the one who had had the dream.

“Then how do you remember so clearly about who other families’ daughters were married off to?” Ban Heng wondered.

“Who told her not to get along with me?”

Ban Heng suddenly understood the root of the matter and nodded. According to his older sister’s nature of holding a grudge, she would indeed record down such things in her mind.

Now, the Eldest Prince and the Second Prince were both borne by the Empress. Perhaps, His Majesty had gone through enough bitterness before ascending the throne due to the previous Emperor favouring an Imperial Concubine over his Empress Mother. Therefore, he deeply respected the Empress and gave the most importance to the Eldest Prince who was also birthed by the Empress.

It was a pity that His Majesty’s favoritism towards his Di** sons had allowed them both to get used to the days of smooth sailing*** when they were young. So, the Crown Prince’s character was too indecisive, credulous and impulsive. The Second Prince had an arrogant and haughty nature. Usually, the Emperor was first in importance followed by the Crown Prince. The Second Prince was eternally in third place and there were terribly few courtiers who paid any attention to him.

The relationship between the Second Prince and Jingting Hou Fu was not very good. So Ban Hua did not have much affection for him either.

In her dream, there was a scene which she remembered especially clearly where Xie Wanyu, who had married the Second Prince, had slapped Shi Feixian. The second prince had not only berated Xie Wanyu in front of many people but also gone further and personally accompanied Shi Feixian to see a doctor.

In the Imperial family, neither men nor women were truly sincere people, but they still tried to preserve dignity and an illusion of mutual affection. To act like the Second Prince without giving his Princess the slightest face was indeed too much.

Now, Xie Wanyu and Shi Feixian seemed as if they were as good as flesh and blood sisters. Who would have thought that this kind of thing would happen in the future?

No, that was wrong. Wasn’t Shi Feixian interested in Rong Xia? However, in the future, there was an ambiguous relationship between her and the second prince, indicating that she did not marry Rong Xia at all. So the question is, who was the woman who finally married Rong Xia?

“Alas.” Ban Hua sighed with one hand on her cheek. Unfortunately, she was not familiar with Rong Xia, and had never seen him in her dreams. So she really didn’t know who the woman was who could snatch Shi Feixian’s beloved.

“Then let’s just wait for a while.” Yin shi touched her daughter’s head. “If the Xie family really marries the Second Prince, we will …”

In fact, what could they do? Theirs was an empty title with no real power. If there was someone who rebelled against the emperor, all they could do was to obediently become fish on the chopping board* with no ability to resist.

“Sister, it would be good if you knew who the rebellious person is.” Ban Heng said gloomily, “At least we can choose whether to kill him or hug his thigh.”

If all the things in your sister’s dream come true, it means that this person is the destined son of God. Do you think that killing him would be as easy as just speaking the words?” Ban Huai said in a displeased tone, “Just properly be a wastrel and don’t embarrass yourself by thinking.”

On an auspicious day in the autumn of the 21st year of the Emperor Yun Qing’s reign, the Emperor asked a titled lady to act as matchmaker for the Second Prince and offer betrothal gifts to Miss Xie Wanyu, the daughter of the Zhongping Bo Fu.

Zhongping Bo Fu can only be regarded as a nouveau riche household. It is reasonable to say that the daughter of this family couldn’t reach high enough to be married into the Prince’s Household. The Emperor made the decision for the Second Prince to marry such a Princess with little influence carelessly because though he could dote on his second son, he had no intention of allowing the Seccond Prince to replace the Crown Prince.

For Zhongping Bo Fu, this is not a very good marriage, but the Emperor had asked a first ranked official’s titled lady wife to matchmake in person. So, he couldn’t say anything and he didn’t dare to refuse.

After learning that Xie Wanyu was actually going to marry the second prince, the four members of the Ban family acted as though they were mourning their deceased parents and hid at home to weep disconsolately on each other’s shoulders.

The Da Yue Palace is the place where successive generations of emperors of the Daye Dynasty have lived and it was also the place where many princes have dreamed of living.

The Second Prince, Jiang Luo, knelt in front of the Emperor Yun Qing with his face full of resentment and unwillingness, “Fu Huang*, the Xie family girl is not your son’s favourite person. Why do you want to force your son to marry her?”

“I have seen that this Xie family’s girl has a pretty appearance, has good deportment, and more importantly, has a very gentle temperament that can match you well.” Emperor Yun Qing lowered his head and avoided looking at Jiang Luo, “If you can’t get over it now, go back and think about it slowly. When you come around to the idea, I will let you out of the palace again.”

“Fu Huang!” Jiang Luo looked at Emperor Yun Qing in disbelief. “Both my brother and I are your sons, but why do you treat me this way? What good is that Xie Wanyu? In terms of talent and knowledge, she is not as good as the Shi family’s young lady. Her bearing and deportment is not as good as Kangning Junzhu from Imperial Uncle’s** family and as for her appearance…” Jiang Luo sneered, “Even Ban Hua, that straw bag***, looks better than her. Why should I marry such a woman? “

“Since you think that Ban Hua looks better than her, then you should marry Ban Hua!” Emperor Yun Qing said a little impatiently “In this world, where are there so many perfect women? Why can’t you be content with your situation?”

Jiang Luo gritted his teeth. Fearing that if he continued to act stubborn, Fu Huang would really make him marry Ban Hua, he bowed his head to Emperor Yun Qing and silently retreated.

This time, it was not that there was no perfect woman for him, but just that Fu Huang was not willing to let him have her.

In the palace of the eldest princess, a few witty remarks from Ban Hua made the elder princess smile from ear to ear, looking at her with her fondness showing in full light.

Ban Heng ate a snack while complaining: “Grandmother, do n’t believe my sister. When she whipped that Shen Yu, she was merciless, swinging that whip like a veritable tiger. Even I was scared by her posture. “

“Our family’s girl needs to be more strong-willed” the eldest princess clapped her classmates. “People from our kind of family don’t have to imitate other women’s behaviour of ingratiating themselves unwillingly. If anyone provokes you, don’t hesitate to come and tell your grandmother and I’ll get justice for you.”

Ban Hua, holding Princess Dening ’s hand, smiled cleverly: “You don’t have to worry about me. Both my brother and I are doing well. As long as you are in good health, I won’t be afraid of anything.”

“Good, good, good!” Princess Dening embraced Ban Hua with a kind and gentle smile, “If it’s for the sake of our family’s Hua Hua, this Princess wil live for a hundred years.”

“And also stay young forever, getting younger with each year.”

“Well then, I’ll stay young forever.” Princess Dening responded with a laugh.

When the two siblings left the princess palace, Princess Dening stuffed a lot of gifts into their arms as though she was afraid that her useless son had deprived the two children.

“Cough.. cough, cough” Seeing the siblings riding their horses further and further away, Princess Dening took out a handkerchief to cover the corner of her mouth and supported herself by holding the hand of the mómo beside her, letting out a long sigh.