Translator: LishaChan
Editor: Dom
“Haa…”
Gong Zhuoliang already lost count on how many times he sighed today. He sat in front of the dressing table and stared at his face shown in the mirror while thinking, how could a boy resemble a…. girl?
Looking at the white tender melon face, the delicate eyebrows and nose, the phoenix eyes that are slightly raised at the corners of his eyes, and the small pink mouth – no matter how you look at it, he definitely looked like a girl!
Oh how Gong Zhuoliang missed his original height of 186cm and his previously handsome and sunny face, also thinking that he was certainly also a good young man with both good literary and dance (street dance) skills unlike the cowardly and feeble temperament he had now. Just because his own written novels had also gone through ambiguously gay plots to attract fujoshis and that he also used to masturbate to those photos of crossdressers before, it didn’t mean that that he wanted to become one of them ah!
Standing up and looking around in this women’s chamber that belonged to the original young miss, Gong Zhuoliang really hoped to find something valuable in order to increase his chances of escape. But this well built room had been carefully designed and had a clear artistic expression. After contemplating, he tried to move the tall vase from the corner, but found that he couldn’t. Gong Zhuoliang only sat back in front of his dresser and continued to play dead while he laid on the table.
Based on the memory fragments that Gong Zhuoliang managed to gather together, he knew that this dynasty was perhaps too peaceful and prosperous. This explained the management of household registration, and somewhat explained the very sound and strict and great power that families and the local authorities had. Meaning that even if you had money and planned to escape―buying real estate or land, creating any business or applying for a part-time job―it would be impossible to leave or enter the city if you had no household registration and identity certificate with you. You might also face the danger of being beaten to death by the law once you are caught.
“Don’t say anything about becoming an aristocrat or a prince, I’d rather become a farmer ah…”
With a bitter face, Gong Zhuoliang pinched his little face in front of the mirror, thinking: The little kid is now probably dead, and now you have turned into the little kid yourself so what choice do you have but accept this new life? But how could I live like this in the future, ah? I just can’t look feminine forever, right? Just please let me die…..
“Young Lady, it’s time to take the medicine.”
The sudden sound of the door opening made Gong Zhuoliang startle for a moment before he quickly restrained his emotions and changed from the timid sitting posture on the stool into an orderly manner. Looking sideways at the door, he saw a little girl who looked much more delicate than Ruo Lan. The girl then walked in with a hint of impatience in her expression.
Gong Zhuoliang remembered that her name was Ruo Zi, and like Ruo Lan, she was also the favored girl by the Madam, and was also an another dowry of 'him'.
“…”
He frowned slightly and looked at the bowl of medicine that was put on the table. Just smelling the scent of it already made Gong Zhuoliang’s mouth feel bitter. In his previous lifetime, he was a super healthy baby who has never even taken cold medicine before. And now they’re letting him drink the bowl of black soup in front of him… it’s better for him to die…
“Young Lady, it’s time to take the medicine.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Seeing that Gong Zhuoliang did not move but only staring at the medicine bowl, Ruo Zi pushed the bowl towards him impatiently. In her heart there still existed her hatred. If she had to follow after the knockoff bride all the time, it’s hard to say what sort of life she will live in the future.
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She had also ordered them to be the concubines in order to cover up for the second young master, so thinking that she will have to spend her whole life with a sickly kid whose lifespan is even unknown, Ruo Zi, who has a fire in her heart yet unsure to whom or where she should vent it out could only choose to let out all of her grievances to Gong Zhuoliang.
Anyway, no one in the manor even seriously considered him as the young master and the Madam never cared about him at all.
“En…”
Seeing the undisguised contempt in Ruo Zi’s expression, Gong Zhuoliang couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze this girl’s face as he accepted the bowl from her. But his good upbringing prevented him from hitting girls, and he also doesn’t have the energy to lose his temper with others, so Gong Zhuoliang could only lower his eyes to hide the coldness in his eyes and took the medicine bowl to his mouth in one breath.
“Young Lady, Ruo Lan has brought you food.”
There was a polite knock on the door. Gong Zhuoliang quickly placed down the medicine bowl and opened the door for the person to come in. He took advantage of the fact Ruo Zi was ignoring him and turned away from the medicine bowl and took a deep breath. At the same time, he also sighed in his heart, because although he really hated to admit it, this little beauty was also kind of cute.
“Ruo Zi is also here, ah. Madam will be attending a banquet to watch a certain play. Why don’t you join in the fun today?”
As she glanced over the medicine bowl, Ruo Lan hung a friendly smile on her lips and looked at Ruo Zi who was not in any hurry to open the food box in her hand.
“I’ll go right after the Young Lady has finished his medicine. What kind of food did you bring?”
Ruo Lan was smiling at her and Ruo Zi couldn’t maintain her indifferent face any longer and rolled her eyes as she looked at the food box. With a sneer, Ruo Zi pretended to be nonchalant and casually lifted the lid of the food box.
Ruo Lan was the most reliable maid to the Madam, and Ruo Zi couldn’t put up with her because she always thought that her every act of kindness and humbleness were just a sham. She’s a hypocrite!
“What Young Lady was taking was the anticonvulsant pills. The chef is currently making some light dishes and it’s better to take the medicine after having your meal. I’ll be the one to deal things here so you (Ruo Zi) can go now.”
Ruo Lan didn’t bother to be polite and looked over Ruo Zi, her eyes meeting Gong Zhuoliang who was also looking over her anxiously. Ruo Lan almost couldn’t help but giggle but quickly lowered the corners of her mouth to pretend that she didn’t care.
“Oh, then I will have to trouble Sister Ruo Lan.”
Seeing that there was only a bowl of white porridge, a pancake and a plate of pickles in the box, it held no interest for Ruo Zi. She let go of the bowl and without saying anything to Gong Zhuoliang, she turned around and left.
“Hmph!”
Wrinkling his nose as he looked at the closed door, Gong Zhuoliang secretly planned to get rid of that annoying girl Ruo Zi as soon as possible otherwise it would only bother him to keep someone like her around. He is not that type of person who swallows their anger for a long time without doing anything at all.
“You can’t be angry with her. Come look at what I brought you.”
Ruo Lan, who walked back from the entrance door, saw Gong Zhuoliang’s grimace. She then covered the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and chuckled, thinking that the second master who had just committed suicide seemed to have a lively personality now. Knowing his usual temperament, the second master would normally be depressed and sad right after being ignored by Ruo Zi.
“Is it bacon?”
Ruo Lan took out an oil paper bag from inside her sleeve and opened it. As soon as he saw the dried bacon, Gong Zhuoliang happily swiped a few pieces of it and put it into his own bowl.
He only ate a small piece of scallion pancake yesterday and it was almost noon today. He was only given such a meager amount of food, it was why he was so hungry that his chest was showing on his back. He suddenly remembered that when he was twelve years old, he wasn’t as short as the owner of this body was. It seemed that this was all caused by everyone starving the kid.
Imagining his previous height of 186 cm, Gong Zhuoliang instantly bit the cake. It was a surprisingly hard cake, something which he’d never experienced before, so he had to force himself to think that every whole grain of this cake was healthy!
“Please drink this tonic. I’ve checked the recipes used in this before and they’re all mild and could help nourish your health. There’s no harm at all.”
Ruo Lan started skimming off the floating dregs over the herbal medicine soup before pushing the bowl in front of Gong Zhuoliang, then she reached into her waistband and grabbed a purse containing wrapped candy cubes. She handed two candies to Gong Zhuoliang.
“This… tastes fine!”
Gong Zhuoliang was bitter when he heard his own lie, but he couldn’t bear to go against Ruo Lan’s good intentions so he could only squeeze his nose and was forced himself to drink all of the soup. Sweating all over, he then quickly drank the water and placed it down. Then he took the candy that Ruo Lan gave him and threw it into his mouth.
“Please save the other candy pieces for your medicine tomorrow.”
Looking at Gong Zhuoliang’s unhappy appearance, Ruo Lan suppressed the urge to pat his hair and shoved the other piece of candy into his hand as she held back a smile.
“No, Ruo Lan, you can have it.”
Gong Zhuoliang’s face turned red when looking at Ruo Lan’s doting gaze towards him so he quickly took the rest of the candy from his palms and fed it to Ruo Lan’s mouth. Thinking about the fact that he really had let a little girl take care of him and coax him to drink the medicine… This really made him completely lose all his dignity as a man!
“Then take this medicine with you and have a good rest. I will have to go out with the Madam and will be coming back at night.”
The sweetness of the candy in her mouth seemed to flow within her heart. Ruo Lan smiled and glanced at the cute boy in front of her as she packed things up. She hopes that this second young master who she loves like his own brother can live a good life.
“Well, you have to go then! Don’t let Madam wait!”
After pushing Ruo Lan out to his door, Gong Zhuoliang took deep breaths and poured himself a cup of water. I don’t want to take any more tonics, it’s really too bitter…
He finally suppressed the bitter taste that was lingering in his tongue. Now bored, he continued to rummage through boxes and cabinets to find some certain things. Of course, after shuffling around almost turning the house upside down, he carefully turned the place to its original appearance and took back all of the things he took out. Yes, he was afraid of being discovered.
Looking at the paintings in the porcelain vase, Gong Zhuoliang paused after opening one of them. After restoring all the other paintings to its original place, he spread a certain portrait he found on a table.
Gong Zhuoliang handled the painting carefully, not because he discovered any valuable authentic work in it, but because he saw that it was a portrait of a person. A portrait with the words ‘Qiao Yingze’ written on it.
“So this is my future husband?”
Gong Zhuoliang leaned on the table to stare at the portrait, thinking that this wasn’t done by photoshop, right?
Looking at the face, the eyebrows, he seems to pity this guy… ah, well he really didn’t mean anything bad! He had a gentle and elegant temperament. This person is definitely much more beautiful in person where flowers would instantly flourish upon his arrival, but it’s just that, his body is too thin. He heard that this person has been deathly ill since childhood to the point that he couldn’t live without daily medication, however he’s still a very talented young man at fourteen years old…… Anyway, with Gong Zhuoliang’s overactive imagination, he made up an image of this magnificent yet passionate gifted scholar in his mind, and concluded with a line of verse― Why does it feel like I seem to have turned into the green leaf??
But thinking about it again, his own portrait that the Gong family sent to the Qiao Mansion should not be bad. Gong Zhuoliang narcissistically thought that his own appearance was quite charming and had a heroic temperament. Well, his original appearance couldn’t be on par with this kid’s, but it might have some resemblances!
Ink paintings produced from this era used to lack its lifelike temperament compared to oil paintings, but still, its contour details were not that bad, and the paintings made by the artisan-painters from this era were already considered as vivid for them.
The Qiao Family had invited an expert painter to paint an exact portrait of these two younger generations from both family, so as a result, the Gong Family did not dare to mess around and started looking for a female offspring from their generation to marry off, but since there are none left, they had no choice but to choose this kid as the substitute bride who fortunately resembles the Eldest Lady.
“What kind of person would he be? Please be a reasonable person. It would be better if we could communicate well and be thoughtful of my situation. The most important thing is to set me free…”
Laying on the bed as he stared at the portrait, Gong Zhuoliang looked at the beauty in front of him as he thought about the possibilities and how to prepare…. This youth is definitely a passer from the imperial examination, so don’t tell me, would he be like those bitter scholars who only know how to read books and study to death? With such a good family background, more importantly the eldest son, would he be arrogant? I pray that he would not turn out as a scum with a belly of bad water ah.
But he has been weak since childhood, had he ever thought how bitter the fate is treating him for bestowing him a lifespan that is thinner than a paper? Well it’s best not to think about this ah! This kind of conversation shouldn’t be brought up!
While thinking about a lot of things, Gong Zhuoliang slowly fell asleep with his arms still embracing the rolled up portrait as he was still muttering and repeating the name ‘Qiao Yingze’ in his dreams.
……
“Young Master, please take this medicine bowl. Regardless of your unwillingness, it’s for the sake of your future wife, so please you need to take care of yourself.” The scholarly boy who had an innocent temperament no longer had his clever and pleasing smile from before. He only stood beside the bed with red eyes as he held a medicine bowl, looking ahead and hoping for the person behind the curtain bed to become strong.
“….. Just why are you bothering other people again?”
After a while, a low sigh came from the other side of the bed curtain. Although the sound was a little sickly and hoarse, it did not detract the gentle and pleasant sound of the voice itself. Then the person got up and sat up on the bed. Noticing the movements, the charming maids standing beside him hurriedly helped him up, and the boy carefully guided him as well so that he could drink the tonic.
“Tomorrow will be your big day. We are still looking forward to seeing the young master worship on his wedding day”
After the person sat down, the boy wanted to take a look at the picture scroll from his hand but the other raised his hand slightly and avoided him. The boy couldn’t help revealing a smile. After smiling a little, he happily tucked the man with the quilt beside him. He let the maids take their leave and get a rest before he himself retreated and went outside to gaze at the night sky.
“Young Lady Gong…. I wonder what kind of person she will be.”
After a long time, a low sigh came from behind the curtain of the bed. However this time, there seemed to be a trace of hope in those sentences that were being said…
Oh, young love
Thank you for your translation 🤍
If you’re talking about how both of the characters were underage, yes it is~
MC was 12 whilst ML was 16-17 when they got married~
And your welcome! 💖
Didn’t it say in this chapter that ML is 14 years old? When MC remembered information about ML
Oh im sorry if the way how I explained here was confusing XD
It meant that he had been a talented kid since the age of 14. I could edit chapter later on~
Oh!! I see, thank you 🤍
thank you for the translation.
and
i don’t think that we can stand an absolute moral when reading stories about ancient times. i know that because of censorship, physical relations between minors are not supposed to be portrayed, but gosh, not long ago, an adult man marrying with a 14-15-yo girl was normalised in many parts of the world, and let’s not forget, this is fiction. [why am i writting this, you may ask. i really tired of reading rewiews in NU in which the rewiewer forgets to relativize his/her own moral standarts, and put a very low rate on novels that are very good written.]
As a reader, we can’t avoid being mentally involve to the story we read, especially if it’s really good that you can’t help but empathize with it. When I was reading the raws before, I was astonished for a moment when I learned that even the ML was underage, but I only ended up having this mindset that… as long as it involved reputation and money, their family would be unsympathetic with their own blood related child. Because I think that should be normal during ancient times.
Other than this type of stories being only a fiction, it’s pretty normal for abnormal things to occur during ancient times so we should be really understanding.
Besides, sometimes the more abnormal it is, the more interesting~ 💖
thanks for the chapter <3
Our ML entered the stage! o((^▽^))o
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡