CH 100.1

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 100 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

The woman noticed Yaoniang’s gaze and looked over.

Yaoniang didn’t dare to look anymore, so she lowered her eyes.

At this time, Consort Jin walked forward, leading the three of them to bow down.

“Chenqie greets the empress. Wishing Your Majesty happiness and good fortune.”

Someone had taught Yaoniang the proper etiquette prior to entering the palace, and she followed everything step by step.

“Get up quickly.” 

A palace maid stepped forward to help Consort Jin up. Empress Wei smiled kindly and beckoned to Consort Jin, “Come closer to bengong. Bengong hasn’t seen you in a long time and you seem to have gotten thinner.”

“Chenqie thinks so too. Fifth sister-in-law, why did you become so thin?” Consort Yong said.

Why did you become so thin?

Following this sentence, the same voice echoed in Consort Jin’s mind. But her voice back then was a bit more hearty and a bit less lethargic than it was now.

She looked at the woman in front of her who was already a wife and a mother, at her bright eyes and slender brows, almost greedily. Empress Wei spoke again, “Is there something wrong with Consort Yong that you’re staring at her like so?” Then Empress Wei suddenly smiled, “Ah, bengong had forgotten that you two were really close friends back when you were in your boudoirs.”

Consort Jin hurriedly recovered and said, “Chenqie forgot her manners. Chenqie’s body failed to live up to expectations and chenqie fell ill right before entering the capital, making Mother Empress and fourth sister-in-law worried.”

Yes, she was already her fourth sister-in-law. They were no longer what they used to be.

Consort Jin let out a sigh, pushing away the disordered thoughts in her mind, and said to Consort Yong with a smile, “Fourth sister-in-law, after so many years, your demeanour hasn’t changed.” 

A strange light appeared in Consort Yong’s eyes. She smiled and said, “Fifth sister-in-law overpraised.”

“We all know that you two have a good relationship, but you can’t forget about us right?” said Consort An as she smiled at her other sisters-in-law.

The Consort Jin looked a little embarrassed as she hurriedly said, “Greetings to all my sisters-in-law.”

Consort An, Consort Dai and the Crown Princess all laughed. Consort Lu, Consort Qing, and Consort Wu, whose seniority¹ were lower than Consort Jin, also stood up one after another to salute this fifth sister-in-law of theirs. The atmosphere became very lively.

As for the side consorts like Side Consort Xu, they all followed the lead of their household’s main consort. No one paid attention to them anyway, they were just there to serve as a foil.

Once all the greetings were done and over with, Yaoniang realized that her status was the lowest. She was only a concubine, while all the others were at least a side consort. She shrunk to the back, hoping that the others would not notice her.

But how could that be possible?

First, she was the only one in this palace that was pregnant. Second, everyone had long heard how Jin Wang, who had always been pure-hearted and indifferent to the female sex, finally had a son. His eldest son was borne by a concubine and this favoured concubine of his was pregnant once again.

Jin Wang’s coldness and indifference were well-known in the capital.

All the feudal lords were ordered to enter the capital every one and a half years. Whenever they gathered together in the capital, everyone would talk about how Jin Wang had no heirs. This year the dry spell was broken, it would’ve been strange for others not to be curious.

Once the room was silent again, everyone’s gazes landed on Yaoniang.

Empress Wei took the lead in speaking, “Jin Wang’s family, this is that concubine of Jin Wang?” 

Consort Jin nodded and said, “Answering Mother Empress, exactly so. This woman is surnamed Su.”

Empress Wei nodded and waved to Yaoniang, “Come over so bengong can take a closer look.”

So Yaoniang walked towards her.

Empress Wei was very amiable. Once Yaoniang stood in front of her, she held her hand and asked some questions.

For example, how old was she? How many months had she been pregnant? Was her pregnancy smooth? Did she enjoy sweet or spicy foods?

Yaoniang was still a little nervous at first, but once she heard Empress Wei’s question, she didn’t feel nervous anymore.

She originally thought that the Empress, as the motherly model of the nation, was lofty and far removed from the masses. Who would’ve thought that she was no different from any other elderly woman? Whenever someone became pregnant, those older women would all ask these routine questions. Yaoniang answered these questions one by one accordingly.

Empress Wei smiled and said to everyone, “This is an honest one.”

Everyone laughed. They all knew that Empress Wei was only speaking superficial words. For this woman to successfully hook up with Jin Wang and get pregnant twice, it was clear that she wasn’t anyone simple or honest. They could all see how those two side consorts of Jin Wang suddenly had not so pretty complexions.

Although they did not belong to the same household, those seated were all mistresses of their manors. Which family didn’t have those dirty things, unworthy to be mentioned? Yes, one could say they were unworthy to be mentioned, similar to a random cat and dog. Yet it was these same cats and dogs who entered the inner chambers and fought for a living with the real masters.

Look, wasn’t this one a perfect example? Fortunately, the fifth sister-in-law could endure. She’d even brought her out!

“It’s not good for a pregnant woman to remain standing. Someone come! Bring Lady Su a seat.” 

Once Empress Wei spoke, a maid brought over a cotton-padded seat and placed it next to Consort Jin, albeit a bit lower. 

At this time, the various side consorts from the other manors, and even Side Consort Xu and Side Consort Liu, all cast admiring eyes at Yaoniang.

In this hall, apart from Empress Wei, only the various consorts had seats. Everyone else was standing.

Yaoniang also knew that she was too much in the limelight, but she couldn’t refuse the empress. With great respect and humility, she thanked Empress Wei and sat down next to Consort Jin.

All this took a lot of words to describe, but actually, it was only a moment. From Yaoniang’s arrival, based on her words and actions, everyone deemed her to be low class and unworthy of appearing before the masses.

After that, everyone chattered and conversed with each other. Empress Wei asked about the trivial matters of each manor, and the several consorts all answered respectfully.

When asking about Jin Wang Manor, quite a few people looked at Consort Jin with an interested gaze. Their eyes carried both amusement and pity, but it was because of this that it only made others feel more uncomfortable.

“I heard people say that Jin Wang Manor gained a shu eldest son. Was the child not brought into the palace today?”

“Answering Mother Empress, Xiaobao was taken to Qianqing Palace by His Highness.”

gingercat's notes:

¹Well actually, it refers to the birth order of their husbands Note: From now on a lot of self addresses will be romanized since a lot of the phrases don't have literal translations. I'll be keeping terms like your highness, your majesty, this prince, and this servant, etc. that were already used in the previous 99 chapters. Ngl, I'm a bit too lazy to go back and edit everything. Chenqie is how women of the imperial family address themselves before a superior Bengong is how women of the imperial harem with their own palaces address themselves Anyways happy 100 chapters! And who else thinks that the relationship between consort jin and consort yong is very suspicious?