Concubine Qiu?
For a moment, Li Yu couldn’t recall who that was. The original novel didn’t actually mention many of the Emperor’s palace concubines. He only had an impression of a few of them.
Li Yu couldn’t keep up with the thought process, but Jing-wang knew who this was. Qiu-shi, Qiu-guifei who fell in the ranking not long ago. Now that the 2nd Prince– Marquis An, definitely had no chance at obtaining the throne, Qiu-shi wasn’t sent to the Cold Palace, but instead, had her ranking lowered. This was the last sense of respect the Emperor left for Marquis An.
But now it looked like Qiu-shi didn’t actually want to give up. It’s been a long time since there was a fire inside the Imperial Palace. Now was also not the season for fire. For her to be injured because Zhongcui Palace caught on fire was probably because of some ulterior motives.
Jing-wang discovered the fish’s bewilderment and tapped three times on the table with a certain cadence. Wang Xi was startled for a moment. This meant that he was supposed to explain thoroughly and with details. His highness rarely requested this after growing up. Normally, Wang Xi only needed to mention a sentence or two for his highness to understand. Why tap today?
Although bewildered, Wang Xi still stated dutifully: “Concubine Qiu is the 2nd Prince’s birth mother, also the formerly known Guifei-niangniang. She usually lives in Zhongcui Palace. Yesterday night, Zhongcui Palace caught fire, which was discovered by the servant on night duty. Qiu-shi was burned by the fire. Fortunately, although the fire burned down most of Zhongcui Palace, it didn’t spread anywhere else. The Emperor is fine. The other palaces are also unharmed.”
So Concubine Qiu was the former Qiu-Guifei?
Li Yu’s eyes shone brightly. Lately he’s been eating his fill and fattening up; he almost forgot about Guifei-niangniang!
With Wang-gonggong’s explanation, he now understood that Qiu-shi’s residence caught on fire; Qiu-shi got injured as a result.
However, the imperial palace was heavily-guarded, why was there suddenly a fire?
Li Yu recalled a plot that happened in the original novel. In the book, Qiu-shi wasn’t disliked this early by the Emperor. Instead, she became a cannon fodder during the struggle between the 2nd and 3rd Prince. After losing power and influence, in order to help the 2nd Prince regain favor from the Emperor, Qiu-shi once burned herself in order to gain the Emperor’s pity. Unfortunately, this scheme was exposed by the 3rd Prince and his followers. As a result, Qiu-shi and the 2nd Prince completely lost the Emperor’s favor.
Presently the ChengEn Palace Estate was well protected. Both Qiu-shi and the 2nd Prince were sent to solitary confinement by the Emperor. The Emperor pretty much stripped the 2nd Prince of his likelihood to succeed the throne. Was Qiu-shi still unwilling to give up and wanted to use this scheme of injuring herself to gain the Emperor’s pity?
This wasn’t completely impossible. However, in the book, only a certain room in the Imperial Palace was burned. The fire was very quickly extinguished. This was different from Wang Xi’s report that most of Zhongcui Palace was burned. Can this be because the previous plot has been changed beyond recognition that Qiu-shi has become even more deranged?
Jing-wang pondered for a moment and picked up the paper and brush on the table to ask Wang Xi: “Where is Qiu-shi injured? How are the other people who lived inside Zhongcui palace? What caused the fire?”
Wang Xi hit himself once and said apologetically: “Apologies for not explaining clearly just now. Qiu-shi was injured on the arm. Those responsible for putting out the fire received some injuries, other than that, all of the servants in Zhongcui Palace were pretty much fine. As for the reason for the fire, the Emperor already investigated. At the moment, there’s no result yet. However, a rumour is circulating all over the palace that someone inside the servant’s quarters of Zhongcui Palace accidentally knocked over an oil lamp, which spread to the bed curtains and caused the fire.”
Jing-wang scoffed. The servant’s quarters were normally very far from the master’s room. How could she get injured like this?
Also, even though Qiu-shi fell in rank and no longer had her previous status and position, she was still in a master position as the palace concubine. If the head of Zhongcui Palace was injured, why were the other servants inside the palace still unharmed? What kind of logic was this?
Wang Xi said in agreement: “This old servant thinks this issue can’t be simple. All of those servants were fine and dandy, but they couldn’t even protect their master. Logically, this shouldn’t be possible. Don’t tell me, it’s Guifei– puupuupuu, this old servant spoke wrongly, it should be Concubine Qiu. Don’t tell me, it was Concubine Qiu who injured herself?”
Li Yu hastily flopped a few times: Wang-gonggong makes sense. He also agreed with this thought.
At first, Li Yu wasn’t too sure if Qiu-shi was purposely causing trouble, but Wang Xi really brought up a good contradiction. Also according to Wang-gonggong’s words, the fire should have been very big. So why after being burned, the only place Qiu-shi got injured was the arm? The more Li Yu thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
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.
Qjcu-ubcuubcu rjlv: “Ktlr atlcu bglulcjiis tjr cbatlcu ab vb klat er. Lbkfnfg, rlcmf atfgf kjr j olgf lc atf Pwqfglji Ujijmf, sbeg tlutcfrr rtbeiv ralii ub nlrla atf Swqfgbg ab mtfmx tlr kfii yflcu. Ktlr biv rfgnjca gfmflnfv cfkr. Ktf 3gv Uglcmf jcv 6at Uglcmf ybat fcafgfv atf Ujijmf. Ktf 2cv…. Zjgdelr Cc jirb lwwfvljafis gfdefrafv jqqgbnji ab qjs gfrqfma……”
Jing-wang understood his meaning and nodded his head.
Wang Xi said: “This servant will go make the arrangements right now. Also Master Xiao Yu……”
Wang Xi looked at the little carp, not knowing what Jing-wang planned to do.
Li Yu also wanted to go out. He’s been shut indoors inside the estate for a long time. Lately, he hasn’t even caused trouble and has been very well-behaved.
Jing-wang saw the carp demon raise its tail way high, almost creating a gust of wind. He looked at Wang Xi with a smile: The same as before.
The same as before meant bringing the fish along. Wang Xi hurriedly went to grab the crystal bottle.
The crystal bottle was currently made into the size of a bird cage. It was still carried by wrapping a chain around the hand to prevent it from sliding and falling.
Jing-wang placed the fish inside the crystal bottle himself. Afraid the fish would get hungry, he gave the fish plenty of snacks. If it weren’t for Wang Xi’s quiet persuasion, Jing-wang might have stuffed the crystal bottle full.
Wang-gonggong sighed. Now that Master Xiao Yu has doubled in size, why did it feel like his highness’s pampering towards Master Xiao Yu has also doubled in size?
Ganqing Palace.
All of the concubines and Princes were present. The Emperor already ordered an Imperial Physician to check out Concubine Qiu. The Imperial Physician returned to report her prognosis, stating that Concubine Qiu’s arm wasn’t very well and had been burned badly in the fire. In the future, it was unlikely to recover.
The Emperor was stunned. He originally felt extremely disappointed towards Qiu-shi. The Imperial Physician’s description made him reminisce. Back then, Concubine Qiu had only entered the palace for one year. She often wore dance outfits and entertained him to make him happy. At that time, Qiu-shi was only 28. When she extended her arm, it was shining white like the moon. All of these years have passed in an instant.
The Emperor became aware of the passage of time and felt inevitable sorrows. After this, he received Marquis An’s request. Mu TianZhao(2) wrote in blood to apologize for his mistakes to the Emperor, stating that he didn’t dare to ask the Emperor for his forgiveness, but since Qiu-shi was unwell, Mu TianZhao(2) was extremely concerned and begged the Emperor to allow him to fulfill his filial duties and take care of her by the bedside.
Mu TianZhao(2)’s attitude was sincere, displaying impressive respect and filial piety towards Qiu-shi. The Emperor, who had originally hardened his heart towards Marquis An, now felt somewhat swayed.
All of the concubines to the side knew how to discern one’s thoughts from their body language and detected that the Emperor felt heartache right now. Other than agreeing, no one dared to utter a word. The 3rd Prince couldn’t watch and do nothing as Marquis An attempted to regain his footing again. Several times he attempted to say something, but was always persuaded to stop by the 6th Prince’s quiet words.
Currently, the Emperor only remembered Qiu-shi and Marquis An’s good in his heart; if anyone dared to directly speak ill of them, it would only make the Emperor unhappy.
The 3rd Prince was extremely resentful. Was Marquis An going to continue suppressing him even while in solitary confinement?
The 6th Prince lightly pushed the 3rd Prince, wanting the 3rd Prince to calm down and stop distressing.
Head Manager Luo RuiSheng arrived to report that Jing-wang arrived. Thus, the Emperor put down Marquis An’s request letter and ordered Jing-wang to enter the hall.
Jing-wang liked to raise fish. This wasn’t a surprise to the people in the imperial palace. Last time, when he entered the palace, he brought his fish. The Emperor had a deep impression of Jing-wang’s fish and even rewarded it specifically several times before. Remembering how Jing-wang raised the fish, the Emperor’s mood showed signs of recovering.
Jing-wang first performed his courtesy greeting. The massive crystal bottle was no longer able to be stuffed into his sleeve so he held it in his hands. The Emperor immediately saw clearly this time the larger sized crystal bottle and also larger sized little carp inside the bottle.
The Emperor: “……”
Li Yu was a very sensible fish. He specifically spun around twice to pay his respect to the Emperor.
Because of this, the Emperor also caught a glimpse of the flash of gold on the carp’s stomach and tail. He said in surprise: “TianChi, your fish?”
The Emperor was just like Ye-shizi. With this quick glance, he thought Jing-wang was raising a different fish.
Wang Xi has been following Jing-wang. Jing-wang gave a look at Wang Xi. Wang Xi immediately stepped forward and bowed, answering for Jing-wang: “My Emperor, his highness’s fish changed scales and grew bigger.”
Fish can also change scales?
The Emperor never heard of this before. For a second, he became rather curious and stopped thinking about the pitiful Qiu-shi and Marquis An. Immediately, he ordered Jing-wang to bring the fish closer so he could have a look.
Jing-wang agreed. The Emperor examined it closely and saw that this fish was really the original one, but only had some scales changed to gold.
The Emperor looked repeatedly at the gold scales on the fish’s body for quite awhile.
“Luo RuiSheng, what do you think?” The Emperor looked at Head manager Luo.
Head Manager Luo, who understood the Emperor very well, said with a smile: “This servant is uneducated. It’s hard to say. I only feel that for a fish to grow gold scales, it’s a pretty good sign.”
The Emperor laughed heartily: “I also feel the same. Who knows, this could be a sign that the nation is at peace and prosperous.”
Originally, the Emperor wasn’t in a good mood. Not only because of Qiu-shi and her son, but also because, if the reason for the fire inside the Imperial Palace couldn’t be found, it would be viewed as an ominous warning from the Heavens by many. Then the Emperor would have to take the blame himself. Now seeing a regular carp grow gold scales, the Emperor felt like he could sigh a breath of relief. If there was this auspicious sign, who would dare to criticize?
When Li Yu heard this, he was all dumbstruck. Wasn’t it just growing some new scales on his stomach? How did the Emperor explain this away as a sign that the nation is at peace and prosperous?
The Emperor was really the best at making up nonsense.
With Jing-wang’s arrival, the Emperor immediately recalled the stupid stuff Marquis An did before. Just now, he really did felt soft hearted for a moment because of Qiu-shi’s injury. But if he removed Marquis An’s punishment over this, he’d be a really foolish ruler. In the future, when he passed away and went down to see Empress Xiao Hui, how was he supposed to explain this to her?
It’s true that Qiu-shi accompanied him for many years, but didn’t Empress Xiao Hui also sacrifice her life for him and their children?
How to deal with Qiu-shi actually didn’t need to be anything too complicated. Since Qiu-shi was injured, her family may enter the imperial palace to visit her. However, this didn’t mean that Marquis An’s mistake can be written off with one stroke. If Marquis An wanted to show filial piety, he didn’t actually need to come serve her personally inside the Imperial Palace. He can fast and pray to Buddha for her inside his estate and let his wife and children come look after her. If he was sincere, there were plenty of ways. Plus, Qiu-shi only injured an arm, yet Marquis An was making it seem like Qiu-shi was close to death by randomly writing a letter in blood just because he was afraid Qiu-shi couldn’t endure it.
The Emperor extricated himself from his pity towards Qiu-shi. Looking back at Marquis An’s letter, he felt like the other might have intended to seize this opportunity here to shed his crimes. The request that he originally planned to permit was now set to the side.
An imperial guard entered the palace to report the investigation related to the fire. They stated that the fire burned the worst in a servant’s quarter inside Zhongcui Palace, therefore, they deduced that this was the point of origin of the fire. This room originally belonged to Qiu-shi’s personal maid, Huan Hua. However, after the fire was extinguished, Huan Hua disappeared. No one has seen Huan Hua; at the moment, the guards still haven’t found her.
From this, the Emperor can sense an irregularity. Even if this servant caused the fire to start, she shouldn’t be so hidden that even the imperial guards couldn’t find her. After all, dead or alive, there should be a body.
The Emperor asked clearly about the location of Huan Hua’s room. After learning that it was very far from the courtyard that Concubine Qiu lived in, the Emperor’s face immediately fell.
The 3rd Prince finally waited until an opportune time. He shot an eye gesture at his birth mother, Concubine Qian. Concubine Qian covered her mouth with her handkerchief and said with a laugh: “Concubine Qiu must really be very unlucky. Such a distance, others didn’t even get injured, yet she ended up suffering.”
The Emperor gave Concubine Qian a glare. Concubine Qian took the risk to speak out of turn. She secretly returned a look to the 3rd Prince and indignantly covered her mouth.
Although the Emperor was angry, he knew what Concubine Qian said was the truth; otherwise his face wouldn’t have gone cold.
Even his other concubines can tell that there was something fishy about Qiu-shi’s injury, that this wasn’t just getting burned despite being far away; rather, she knew that injuring her arm would make him feel distressed for her. The Emperor felt himself to be wise, yet now, he was almost played by a woman.
Now that Zhongcui Palace had mostly burned down, Qiu-shi was moved to the nearby Yuxiu Palace. The Emperor decided to visit Yuxiu Palace and ordered everyone to accompany him.
Qiu-shi laid on the bed facing the ceiling, moaning in pain nonstop. Someone reported that the Emperor arrived. Delighted, Qiu-shi threw on clothes and allowed a loyal servant to help her out of the bed to pay respect to the Emperor. The Emperor was already somewhat suspicious of Qiu-shi. Entering her bedroom directly, he carefully examined Qiu-shi. Seeing Qiu-shi still in exquisite make-up despite her illness, with hair brushed and worn in a bun, the same appearance as when she danced for him back in the old days……
This was clearly well planned ahead of time; she was waiting for him to come ‘comfort’ her.
The Emperor’s heart felt cold. He ordered the Imperial Physician to examine Qiu-shi’s injury right in front of him.
Qiu-shi was still a palace concubine. Although the crowd came with the Emperor, they couldn’t enter the room at the moment and were all waiting for the Emperor to come out.
Jing-wang was afraid of smothering Xiao Yu and opened the cover of the bottle. Xiao Yu immediately swam to the opening of the crystal bottle.
Li Yu observed for a while just now and felt although this situation had many changes– for example the small fire became a big fire, Jing-wang brought a fish into the Imperial Palace, for some reason the 3rd Prince and the 6th Prince hasn’t exposed Qiu-shi– all in all, Qiu-shi’s scheme here was still the same as in the original novel. She should be using the trick of harming herself to gain the Emperor’s pity. Therefore, examining her injury wasn’t enough. Qiu-shi’s arm really did have an injury so an examination won’t prove anything.
He had a gold finger and knew the answer to this problem. But how could he let Jing-wang know the answer in such a short time?
From Jing-wang’s perspective, although Jing-wang outwardly showed disdain towards Ye-shizi, he considered the other to be family in his heart. He definitely wouldn’t want Marquis An to regroup and make a comeback. If Marquis An couldn’t be completely beaten to the ground, he’d be detrimental to ChengEn Palace Estate and to Jing-wang after his return……
Li Yu leaned on the rather narrow opening of the bottle, doing his best to think of plans and fully concentrated. For a moment, he completely forgot that he got larger. With a splash, the crystal bottle flipped under the pressure of his weight.
Jing-wang: “……”
Jing-wang scooped up the little carp. Wang Xi stated to the people in the vicinity without any changes in his expression: “Apologies. His highness needs to change clothes again.”
Thank You for the chapter （*’∀’人）♥
thanks for the chapter!
He’s just gotten used to it
With a fish, you just have to change your clothes often… hahahaha!
Mischievious Yuyu is on the way to cuase trouble again!!😂
It’s almost like none of the former chapters happened? Why did Li Yu forget about Qiu?
bro got too lazy after smacking her in the face. with how he was getting pamperred and fed tasty food, he was bound to forget random cannon-fodders
Title change ge knew her by guifei now they r calling her concubine he like ??????
frfr , like that happend more then once why don’t you think it’s weird??? stupid king