Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven Damsel-In-Distress is a Liar

Because it was a snowy day,and even though the sedan carriers walked very carefully, Qu Qing Ju still felt that the sedan underneath her swayed heavily. She wanted to raise the curtain to look outside but thinking that He Heng was still sitting beside her, she only smiled and asked: “Why did wang ye come?”

“I had to attend to some matters in the morning and I coincidentally passed so I thought that since you were on san di‘s fu, I would wait for you to go home together,” He Heng raised a hand to pull back the curtain to look outside. The snow was falling heavily and not many people were on the streets, “This snow is getting worse. In the future, if the weather is like this, then you shouldn’t leave home.”

“Who is willing to bother in this kind of weather,” Qu Qing Ju smiled and glanced at him, “But it was san dimei‘s first time sending an invitation. It wouldn’t be good to reject her, so I had to come.”

He Heng saw her expression held hints of unwillingness and laughed. He patted the back of her hand: “Did something make you unhappy at the banquet?” He Yuan’s wang fei Qin shi, didn’t she come from a well-educated family?

Telling you to make you happy? Qu Qing Ju turned and patted his hand: “Don’t even mention it. Our good dimei, she criticized qie for not being filial to my step-mother.”

He was a bit surprised by the pat that Qu Qing Ju gave. He Heng looked at the back of his hand that had suffered a blow and felt that that place felt a bit tickled. He curled his finger and raised an eyebrow before stating: “She, as your dimei, to say such things, don’t pay any attention. That Liang shi, she isn’t deserving of any of your filial piety. As your step-mother, she wasn’t loving, yet she still wants others to respect and love her. She should take a look in the mirror.” He looked down on the entire family of Chang De Gong Fu. And for Liang shi, he had an even worse impression. At present, Qu Qing Ju was his wife, was this dynasty’s wang fei. The other was a little duchess. Did she think she could posture in front of wang fei?

The fact that Chang De Gong Fu was rude to Qu Qing Ju, that was not taking him seriously. He, as a wang ye, how could he be overlooked by this family, they weren’t anything!

Detecting the other’s emotions, Qu Qing Ju’s smile became even prettier: “Wang ye, don’t be angry. You care for me, I know.”

Hearing Qu Qing Ju changed her way of speech in front of him to call herself “I”, He Heng didn’t feel as though he wasn’t respected. Quite the opposite, he felt that this was Qu Qing Ju becoming closer with him. He raised his head and saw the other’s eyes shining like the stars and the thankfulness on her face.

His heart moved slightly and he suddenly felt that this was good between husband and wife. This woman was his wife, she was the woman that was going to accompany him together down the road. If they always maintained the respect and distance, it wouldn’t be interesting.

“This is caring for you?” He Heng smiled even more warmly, “I know you don’t like going to Chang De Gong Fu. In the future, you don’t have to bother with those people. For everything, I’m behind you.”

Qu Qing Ju turned her head to look at him and right as he stared in a daze, suddenly pushed her head into his chest: “Wang ye, the way you are would make me change into a bad person.”

“Ben wang’s woman, she only needs to be good to me. To others, being bad is fine.” The corners of He Heng’s lips raised lightly and he unconsciously reached out with his hand to carefully wrap around her waist to prevent Qu Qing Ju from accidentally falling off.

Lying on He Heng’s chest, Qu Qing Ju thought that it was lucky she had seen many men comfort women. Otherwise, with how skilled He Heng’s tactics were, she would have fell in early on. Look at this conduct, the words, it was the epitome of deep love.

At this time, the sedan abruptly swayed. He Heng quickly reached with both hands to protect Qu Qing Ju, their bodies moving backwards and avoiding the window which would be an easy avenue of attack. He then manipulated the other to lie on his knees before asking harshly: “What is it?”

“Wang ye, there’s someone blocking the road ahead,” Outside the curtain, Qian Chang Xin looked at the “ruffians chasing a beauty” act and bowed before answering, “There’s some people chasing after a woman ahead.” His voice was relaxed but the place he was standing perfectly blocked the entrance to the sedan. The other guards placed their hands on their swords.

Hearing this, Qu Qing Ju moved her body and in response, He Heng reached with two fingers to tap on her head.

Seeing Qu Qing Ju stare with two big eyes at him, He Heng smiled at her before commanding: “Clear the road.”

When the rough men in pursuit saw the procession, they had quickly stopped and retreated to one side. They only hated that they didn’t have good luck, that they would, in this kind of weather, encounter nobility sitting in an eight-person sedan.

Hearing the noble speak, the men obediently knelt to one side, afraid the noble would blame them for their offense.

The young woman kneeling at the front saw the situation and her eyes brightened. She knelt with a bang about six meters from the sedan, “Daren, please daren, save this girl. These criminals want to capture this girl to become a concubine for a landlord. Please, daren, save this girl.”

They could even encounter such a thing as kidnapping a citizen? Qu Qing Ju crisply moved herself into a comfortable position leaning against He Heng’s legs. She teased with a laugh: “Such a cold and wintry place, a helpless and pitiful girl asking for help. Wang ye, do you want to be a hero and rescue the damsel?”

He Heng saw the mischief in her smile and pressed against the corner of her lips with his index finger: “The beauty is already here, I don’t see a beauty anywhere else.”

Opening her mouth and biting down on that finger, Qu Qing Ju used her teeth and ground against it before whining: “Who knows if that little beauty’s pitiful state would move someone?”

Enjoying Qu Qing Ju’s pretty state very much, He Heng smiled and scorned, “This vinegar[1] is unreasonable. A strange common woman, I won’t even want her to be a servant girl on the wang fu. How would I let her serve me?”

Standing outside, Qian Chang Xin silently turned his head in the other direction and pretended he didn’t hear anything from the sedan. He looked at the girl kneeling. She was about sixteen or seventeen, her hair tangled from running. But with that pale and fine face, there was a hint of a delicate beauty that would provoke pity. She was wearing a water-blue tight girdled cotton dress which wasn’t very sturdy and did have some hints of beauty. But when his gaze swept across the hand that was half hidden in her sleeve, his face darkened and he ordered: “Retreat, in front of wang ye‘s procession, there cannot be any infractions.” Finishing, he gave a look to the two guardsmen beside him. The two guardsmen walked forward and dragged the woman to throw to one side.

Not looking at the woman covered in snow due to being dragged, Qian Chang Xin shook his sleeve: “Onward!”

They even had shamelessness to use such an old scheme. The clothing was normal, but the craftsmanship wasn’t average. And the fingers like water onions. Which girl in a normal family didn’t do any household chores and could protect her hand to be that tender? Did they think that he, Qian yeye, was blind?

After the sedan had continued forward for a distance, He Heng finally allowed Qu Qing Ju to straighten. He said with a faint smile: “I wonder who would send me such a good gift, but it’s just that the presentation needs some work.”

Hearing the meaning in He Heng’s words, Qu Qing Ju asked in return: “Why so confident it is somebody sending a gift, not this woman wanting to send herself??

“The preparation was too good. There could be no such coincidence in this world. If it was a normal person, they would have already hid to one side, not come close to the sedan,” He Heng’s smile was slightly cold.

“This person is underestimating wang ye.” Qu Qing Ju understood that there wasn’t many “hero rescuing the damsel-in-distress” in this world. This wasn’t a novel or a TV show. No wonder He Heng was so wary. He wasn’t a lustful person. A person suddenly rushing out in front, he would naturally be careful.

“Oh?” Seeing the distain on Qu Qing Ju’s face, He Heng smiled again. He turned to open the window. Looking at the snow floating outside, he suddenly felt that the snowflakes were somewhat beautiful.

The two returned to the wang fu and after eating, they slept early. As to this little interruption, Qu Qing Ju was too lazy to think about it and He Heng didn’t mention it again.

On the second morning, the snow had stopped but the snow on the ground hadn’t melted so it was colder than when it was actually snowing. He Heng stood in the Great Hall and listened to the officials of the court argue over the examinations for next spring, his face expressionless.

Both He Qi and He Yuan’s people wanted to recommend a person from their side to be Chief Examiner. The spit flew and the words flowed without pause. The verbal skills of the literati could be seen clearly.

Qing De Emperor, sitting at the top felt a headache come on due to the argument under him. Seeing He Heng standing and maintaining his silence, he said: “Duan Wang, what do you think?”

Picked out by the Emperor, He Heng stepped forward, and raising his hands in a greeting he said, “Fuhuang, what the daren here have said all are reasonable, but er chen feels there are two others that could fulfill such an important duty.”

“Speak further.” Qing De Emperor looked at his eldest son and then his third son before returning to He Heng.

“According to er chen‘s thinking, the Minister of Defence, Luo daren and Great Scholar Lu could fill such a position. Both daren, in their year, were of first rank for their examination and they are just in their conduct, and steadfast. If the two daren could be examiners, it would be the best fit.” He Heng wasn’t dumb enough to try to compete for the position of examiner at this time. Fuhuang was old now, he was wary of his young sons. It would be less troublesome if he recommended two of fuhuang‘s old subordinates.

He Qi and He Yuan hear this and stared at He Heng. What was lao er thinking?

Qing De Emperor’s face softened as though he had heard the answer he wanted. His finger tapped on the armrest of the dragon chair: “This matter will be discussed upon later. Let’s break up now.”

Everybody knew that the Emperor had made his decision and gave three calls of “Ten Thousand Years” while kneeling to bid farewell. After the Emperor had left, each slowly stood and left in small groups.

“Er ge, that was a good idea,” He Yuan already understood He Heng’s motivation and walked to He Heng’s side with a mirthless smile to walk with him, “But didi heard that Luo daren‘s daughter is er sao‘s aunt. Er sao and this aunt have a great love for each other, is that the truth?”

He Heng’s steps slightly paused and he smiled as he looked at He Yuan: “Yuxiong[2] didn’t know when didi started to be interested in the matters of other families. This matter between womenfolk, it’s a matter for women to pay attention to. Yuxiong doesn’t control these things.”

Hearing the sarcasm in He Heng’s words, He Yuan’s face didn’t look very good. He never really cared for He Heng’s conduct of insincere smiles and coldly smirked before retorting: “Er ge‘s words are in error. Husband and wife are one being. Mutually paying attention is right, why distinguish between man and woman.”

“Yuxiong naturally knows this,” He Heng’s smile became even softer, “But it’s probably didi who doesn’t know.”

He Yuan snorted. When he turned, he saw laoda heading towards them and his face instantly darkened.

[1] Vinegar is a metaphor for jealousy

[2] 愚兄: 愚 means stupid, dumb. this is referring to oneself as a stupid elder brother.