The Noble Woman’s Guide On How to Tease One’s Husband

The Noble Woman’s Guide On How to Tease One’s Husband – Chapter 74

Translated by: Oinkoink

Proofread by: Silkscreen

Chapter 74 – Debate

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The incident at the tea party soon reached the Emperor and the atmosphere in Yuntai Hall was seriously stagnant where the three families of Wang, Xie and Ye gathered.

“His Highness King Lu, please give this minister a reasonable explanation.”

As soon as Ye Huaili said that, Chu Luze’s face turned unsightly at once.

He is originally a prince entrusted with the care of the Queen Mother and has always had little sense of existence but favorable circumstance became finally available to him after Chu Sanghuai ascended the throne, where he can roughshod others in Wangdu for a period of time; yet ultimately he is still an idle Wangye with no power nor influences. Therefore, he dare not speak out in anger when confronted by the interrogation of Ye Huaili, who holds military power as well as the head of a family.

However, it was originally the Queen Mother’s idea for him to marry Wang Wanting in the first place. He knew he had no say on his own marriage and agreed once he saw the delicately beautiful Wang Wanting. Who knew he would only realize how stupid and willful she is after marriage. Not only did she stir chaos in King Lu mansion but also let him lose face completely outside and in just six months, he already deeply detested her.

He actually did not want to come after the incident today but Wang Wanting still holds the title of Wangfei Lu after all, so he could only resign himself to his own bad luck today. Now that Ye Huaili was so overbearing and did not give him the slightest bit of face, he hated that troublemaker even more. He could not help but ponder, even the Empress did not appear using the pretext of experiencing fetus stress. So why should he be the one to clear up Wang Wanting’s mess? He might as well take this opportunity to solve all these troubles by divorcing her and be free in the future!

Thinking of this, a glint flashed in his eyes as he spoke slowly, “This is not the first time Wangfei misbehaved. This King has repeatedly admonished to no avail and is now powerless to do anything. If General Ye is bent on making this King explain, this King can only divorce my wife to show impartiality.”

As soon as his voice faltered, the cold gaze of Wang Ying pried over that he felt dread and quickly turned away to look at the one in the seat of honor, pretending to wait for the ruling.

At the end of the long white marble stairs, Chu Sanghuai dressed in a vermilion red ceremonial robe sat reclined on the glorious pure gold throne; as he leisurely stroked his chin and teemed with excitement as if watching a good show.

Wang Ying, who no one dares to offend, was forced to stand here to be criticized this time because of his daughter’s trouble that the chief minister’s prestige was almost completely lost. And Xie Yuan, who did not hesitate to throw his nephew under the bus a few days ago, now ran over to verbally attack the Wang family seeking righteous justice for his niece while the situation of the Ye family was even more interesting. The younger sister who had married out was now injured, but to date, Chu Jinglan–as the husband–was nowhere to be seen instead it was her elder brother, Ye Huaili, who stood out to back her up, which was truly perplexing. Oh, there is still the restless King Lu who is taking this opportunity to divorce his wife and look for another love.

Interesting, it was indeed interesting.

Chu Sanghuai did not want to interrupt them but it was time to say something after squabbling for so long. He glanced at the expressions of the people present and smiled out of the blue, “Don’t be anxious, We[1] will certainly handle this matter impartially.”

Wang Ying immediately cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, although my daughter is somewhat unruly and willful, she could never do such a thing as hurting others. Perhaps there was some verbal dispute that took place at that time where she did not pay attention to her surroundings and accidentally knocked over a teapot. This minister will make her apologize to Wangfei Lan and Miss Xie, and make up for all their losses. Please give this minister and my daughter a chance, Your Majesty.”

“Accidentally?” Ye Huaili turned his head suddenly. His gaze was as swift and fierce as a sword that striked straight at Wang Ying, “Does Minister Wang think that those womenfolk present were all blind and did not see the scene of your daughter deliberately acting with murderous intent?”

The corners of Wang Ying’s eyes slightly twitched while his wrinkles obviously deepened, revealing a bit of intense fury yet his tone still remained indifferent and even with a bold implication of dominance.

“The accusation of deliberate act with murderous intent is really too serious. General Ye had better find a few more witnesses first, otherwise it’s simply slandering the royal kinsmen in front of the Emperor. Dare to ask what this offence should be?”

“Who else do you need to bear witness? My niece who was nearby saw it clearly. It was obviously Wangfei Lu who acted discourteously first then committed physical assault afterwards and even with such sinister vicious method, so could it be buried by such a word as ‘accidentally’? Reckoning that Wangfei Lan is her sister-in-law yet she still dared to use such a vicious attack, won’t the Empress have to be cautious in the future?”

The Empress is Wang Jian’s daughter who basically has unrelated blood ties with Wang Wanting. By purposely delving this out, Xie Yuan had hit the nail on the head, as well as unintentionally sowed discord between brothers of the Wang family while also jabbed the heart of Chu Sanghuai since everyone knew that the Empress is now pregnant with the royal offspring. This incident today even stressed the fetus and should this result to miscarriage or death, Wang Ying probably would not dare to justifiably distort the facts.

Sure enough, Chu Sanghuai narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard those words. With an acute sense, Wang Ying hastily knelt down and said, “Your Majesty, my daughter and the Empress have always been close like sisters. So how could she do such a treasonable thing? What’s more, it was an accident today, which absolutely was not my daughter’s intention!”

“This King does not think so.” Chu Luze opened his mouth leisurely. The previous misgivings had vanished in the wake of Wang Ying’s unfavorable situation. “As the saying goes, family scandals should not be publicized, but Minister Wang has abetted your daughter to the point of confusing truth and falsehood. This King also has no choice but to say something. Since Wang Shi married and entered the mansion’s door, she has repeatedly taken advantage of this King’s absence to order the household servants and torture the concubines in the mansion. The methods were so diabolic that no ordinary human could tolerate, which compared to this splashed tea is considered mere trifle. To say that she is virtuous in nature, this King is the first person who does not believe!”

“You — “

When was Wang Ying ever been taunted by someone in the face like this? He was so angry that his face turned ghastly blue where the aura of harsh malevolence expressed in his eyes as if he wanted to skin and tear Chu Luze apart. Although Chu Luze was afraid of his power and influence, he still straightened his neck and looked like he would fight him to the end when he thought of gaining his freedom in the future.

Ye Huaili naturally disdained the covert fight between them. He has been worried about Ye Huaiyang’s injury since entering the door and merely hoped to get this anger out then hurry back to see her. So at this critical moment, he just simply knelt down and spoke solemnly, “This minister earnestly requests Your Majesty to give a fair judgement for my younger sister!”

“To date, this minister’s niece is still unconscious and her life is at stake, so earnestly requesting Your Majesty to do her justice!” Xie Yuan also knelt down in the wake of this.

The keen eyes of Chu Sanghuai swept over the people in the hall and spoke, “All right, everyone gets up.”

Wang Ying did not move and wanted to plead his case once again, “Your Majesty, this minister …”

“Minister Wang, it is indeed your fault for not teaching your daughter properly this time.” Chu Sanghuai had changed the form of addressing him and no longer called him maternal uncle. At once, he dared not make anymore sound but clenched his fists and lay prostrated.

While Ye Huaili and Xie Yuan each got up with their eyes lowered looking at the smooth mirror-like floor and pursing their lips.

“No matter if it’s intentional or accidental, it has indeed wounded someone. If this goes unpunished, others will say We are partial.” Chu Sanghuai paused while his keen eyes swept over the people present with hidden probing intent but seeing there was no anomaly, he continued, “As Wang Shi has misconduct, her title will be rescinded and relegated as commoner from now on. For the time being, she will receive percepts in Qing Yun Temple for half a year to pray blessings for the Empress.”

The implication is divorce from King Lu and submission to Buddhism, which seemed perfunctory but a devastating blow for a noble lady of a prominent family. Wang Ying was silent for a moment after hearing this then merely kowtowed to express his gratitude without saying half a word. After all, this involves the Empress. If he showed the slightest bit of unwillingness, the nature of this matter would change.

Ye Huaili was obviously not very satisfied with this final judgement but it did not reveal on his face. After feigning adequate courtesy, he retreated from Yuntai Hall and no longer maintained the previous sense of calmness as he rushed all the way to Yulan Hall.

The sky is high while the clouds are low and the sun hangs inclined above the upturned eaves. Amidst the wooded paths were full of sparse shadows and occasional birds’ cries while what remained was unbroken stillness.

Two shadow guards stood at the tightly closed vermilion door of Yulan Hall, they silently moved to give way when they saw the arrival of Ye Huaili which evidently had been instructed in advance. Ye Huaili paid no heed as he went through the half-moon threshold and strode directly to the bedroom. Once he pushed open the door of the inner room, the lighting dimmed abruptly while a faint halo of light entered through the slit of the bamboo and rattan roller blinds on both sides of the room which vaguely illuminated the person sitting behind the milk-white gauze curtain whose elbow swung slightly and stirred up a gust of gentle breeze.

Ye Huaili walked over with light footsteps. Once the bed curtains were lifted, the balled up little person sleeping on the coral beddings appeared just as such in front of his eyes. Skin fairer than snow and black hair scattered on the pillow that under such circumstance, she looked particularly comfortable and cute but the occasionally slight trembling of the eyebrows and eyelashes indicates poor sleep. Casting a sidelong glance, he saw the arm covered with blisters, which instantly constricted his heart.

Damn,  that bitch had truly been let off too lightly!

Worried Ye Huaili might lose control and wake Ye Huaiyang up seeing his anger and forbearance, Chu Jinglan handed the folding fan to Yue’ya then went out to the outer room.

“Wasn’t it said earlier that she was only splashed by a little water? How could she be injured so badly?”

“If Xie Yun had not pushed her away, the aftermath would have been even more inconceivable.” Thinking of that possibility, Chu Jinglan’s heart still fluttered with fear that his voice could not help sink, “Yang’er said that this incident was absolutely not coincidence and the Empress had a hand in it.”

“The Empress?” Ye Huaili’s cold face suddenly turned harsh.

This was indeed somewhat strange. The Empress should have pleaded for Wang Wanting or perhaps covered it up. It was after all her tea party, which was also not impossible to completely cover up yet she claimed to have experienced fetal stress and did not even reveal her face evidently wanting to stay out of this matter. If this matter had nothing to do with her, then why was she so anxious to disclaim herself of it?

“I’ll find someone to check it out.” Saying that, Ye Huaili was about to leave but halted his steps suddenly and frowned at Chu Jinglan, “Aren’t you afraid of arousing suspicion staying in the hall for so long?”

Hearing what was said, Chu Jinglan revealed a bitter smile, “There is no need for you to say that, Yang’er kicked me out several times already.”

Ye Huaili understood immediately. He most likely had returned to keep watch once Yang’er had fallen asleep. Thinking about the way he held the fan to disperse the heat for her, Ye Huaili seemed somewhat touched but it was just a slight hesitation and in a blink of an eye, he resumed his previous indifference and stepped out.

Late in the evening, Yuntai Hall.

Specks of fuzzy silver spilled in through the window panes from the crescent moon and indistinctly reflected the outline of the bed. The purple silk curtains hanging by the side were quietly drawn back where a figure stepped out from the opened gap with the floor-length skirt sliding slowly like a snake across the floor tiles and threshold then finally stopped in the corridor.

“What did the imperial physician say?”

“Reporting back to Niang-niang[2], the imperial physician took Wangfei Lan’s pulse and said that she is not pregnant.”

“Not pregnant?” The Empress snorted coldly with a trace of faint anger emanated on her face, “Go tell them to let Bengong[3] go through all the secret reports they received in the future and if such a situation arises again, they can dig out their own eyeballs and send them here!”

The palace maid seemed to tremble as she spoke with a barely stabilized voice, “Yes, Nubi[4] has borne it in mind.”

After saying that, the palace maid curtsied and about to retreat but was again stopped by the Empress. She inadvertently glanced upwards and merely saw a trace of acute light flashed through those phoenix eyes that startled her and bent down immediately, not daring to breathe heavily.

“Go check who sent the letter and send more people to keep an eye on Yulan Hall. Report immediately to Bengong as soon as there’s any slightest rustle of leaves in the wind*.”

[T/N: 风吹草动 (Fēngchuīcǎodòng) – a sign of disturbance or trouble]

“Nubi obeys the order.”

[1] – 朕 (Zhèn) – used by an Emperor in proclamations instead of I

[2] 娘娘 (Niáng niáng) – a kind of respect for women in Chinese . It is generally used to address queens , concubines , princesses and other royal and aristocratic women.

[3] 本宮 (Běngōng) – the self-proclaimed master of the palace in ancient times

[4] 奴婢 (Núbì)  – this servant / self-address of female maidservant

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