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 88

Translated by: Oinkoink

Chapter 88 – Inform

This novel is only hosted on Foxaholic, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized.

Summer is rainy and the pouring for the past few days drizzled over the entire Imperial City. The air became extremely humid yet the temperature did not drop much. One would be drenched in sweat and becoming uncomfortably sticky with just a simple movement.

In such weather, there was still someone entering the palace through the Southern Gate in an emblemless airtight sedan chair which was adorned with plain dark blue-green cloth and birch-wood wheels. There was not the slightest gap between the curtains, hence nothing could be seen even if the light passed through it, let alone knowing who was sitting inside.

But it was perfectly obvious to all that this sedan chair bore the imperial favor as it was carried directly without stopping to the East Phoenix Palace and the person who came out from inside the sedan chair at the threshold was undoubtedly a willow-like graceful girl. As she was wearing a big veil hat, not her face or the hair ornaments could be seen nor could one determine which family she belonged to.

The guards were not surprised seeing her as there were always noble ladies from the prominent family who would sharpen their heads* to cram towards the Empress, merely hoping to get acquainted and to rely on this Wang family’s big tree, so that their fathers and brothers who are in the royal court will have a better life in the future. It’s just that not many of them have such special privilege as most of these delicate noble ladies have to walk over from the palace gate themselves with their lips and faces turned pale when they reach halfway, unlike this person whose chin was raised high and walked with the wind.

[T/N: 削尖脑袋 (Xuè jiān nǎodai) – Describes the ugly state of a person disguising, whitewashing, and desperately drilling the camp/going backward to secure a personal gain]

Jinxiu personally invited her into the hall before ordering someone to serve her some good tea and snacks. After thanking her with a faint smile, she did not touch any of it.

The Empress only slowly stepped out from the inner hall after a wait of an hour. Supporting her round belly, she took the seat of honor while the swaying bright radiance from the golden wings on the phoenix coronet set off her wealth and nobility. She raised her eyes lazily and swept over the untouched food on the long table then couldn’t help but laughed out disdainfully.

“Miss Meng is afraid that Bengong[1] will poison you?”

Meng Chen made a curtsy and sat back in her seat before saying, “This subject is after all a newcomer, so it is better to be prudent.”

The Empress sneered, “In that case, aren’t you afraid that Bengong will just detain you in the palace and make you gone forever?”

“There is nothing this subject can do if Niang-niang wants to do so.” The corners of Meng Chen’s mouth hooked up slightly as she spoke breezily, “It’s just that if this subject dies, it will not only bring the Meng family even more closer to Wangye but also make you miss out many significant secrets which will do you more harm than good. Hence, you should think thrice before you act.”

“Presumptuous! How dare you be disrespectful to Niang-niang[2]!”

Jinxiu scowled fiercely and rebuked her angrily while Meng Chen was like hearing nothing with no fear showing on her face. The Empress gazed at her for a long time before she asked all of a sudden, “What secrets do you have to tell Bengong?”

“There are many and merely see what you can give in exchange.”

The Empress snorted lightly, “Don’t you forget the matters you wrote on the first two letters which caused Bengong going through a lot of trouble yet returned empty-handed. Why should Bengong trust you this time?”

Meng Chen’s face darkened slightly. When she thought of Chu Jinglan and Ye Huaiyang pretending so tacitly, the anger that she suppressed with great difficulty started to blaze up again.

“The matter of pregnancy was the misjudgment of this subject but they did really go down the mountain to have fun on the day of the Ghost Festival. You did not catch them in action because your people are too useless. When Zhang Chi came, they obviously had not returned yet, but he actually let Lu Heng delayed for so long while this subject watched them walk across the backyard and returned to the room before coming out to play act after changing their clothes. That good-for-nothing Zhang Chi was to be blamed as he got so frightened that he ran away dejectedly by a few words of Wangye and did not even see this subject’s hinted glance.”

“You are actually quite glib.” The Empress was neither angry nor penalizing her. She only whisked the tea cup and asked lightly, “If so, why do you still come to find Bengong? Aren’t you able to handle Ye Huaiyang yourself?”

The comment was just spot on.

The sore spot of Meng Chen seemed to have been hit that her delicate face flushed up as if she was flying into a rage out of humiliation.

The Empress knew all of her purposes and had been going in circles with her for so long, all for the sake of insulting first and then to control! She is indeed the woman at the top of the imperial harem, whose tactics in controlling people’s will is so skillful which is simply detestable!

The ironic smile on the side of Jinxiu’s mouth became more pronounced. Subjecting to provocation, Meng Chen could not help gritting her teeth, “Although you have guessed the reason why this subject wanted to deal with Ye Huaiyang, you do not know how extensive Ye Huaiyang’s relationship with Wangye is? Not to mention the many accomplices. This subject will offer all their names which will ensure that you attain great merits in front of the Emperor.”

“There is no guarantee for verbal statements. What Bengong wants is evidence and on what basis can you prove that Ye Huaiyang conspired with Chu Jinglan? You must know that after she married him, she, however, has entered the Imperial Palace every month to report the state of affairs to Bengong while the Emperor had even met her once in person. If you do not have a definite proof, it will be difficult for Bengong to stand up to the Emperor. Ye family is after all not a family of limited means nor without powerful connection. Any action is a major event that will shake the royal court and the common people.”

Meng Chen smiled faintly hearing these words.

“I do not know if Niang-niang has been told that the late Emperor had previously left a testamentary edict which clearly states that the throne is to be passed to Wangye and not the reigning Emperor.”

The complexion of the Empress changed immediately.

When Chu Sanghuai ascended the throne, he had heard about the confidential testamentary edict of the late Emperor. Regrettably, he could not find it after turning the entire Imperial City upside down. Who knew it suddenly emerged six years later and it actually came out from Meng Chen’s mouth. So, how could she not panic? If that thing is to be made public, Chu Sanghuai will not be able to sit firm on the throne!

Straightening her body, she asked hurriedly, “You have that thing?”

Meng Chen curled up her lips, seemingly satisfied with her expression and felt like getting the game back.

“It naturally is not with this subject. Someone personally handed it over to Ye Huaiyang a few days ago and it is now hidden in a secret compartment in the study room of the King mansion. As long as you send someone to search, this subject guarantees that you will definitely find it.”

“Who gave it to Ye Huaiyang?”

“Niang-niang really doesn’t make a deficit business.” Meng Chen snorted, then lightly spat out two words, “Xie Yun.”

Hearing this, the Empress’ eyes sharpened with a hint of ruthlessness amidst her astoundment while her ten fingers kept clenching tightly that the long cherished fingernails embedded into the soft palms, leaving behind several sharp-pointed marks.

What a good Xie family. After consuming the Imperial’s provision for so many years, you still dare to secretly do this kind of thing. Indeed has raised an ill-bred wolf!

Seeing her concurrent shock and anger which she obviously had misunderstood something, Meng Chen explained kindly, “This testamentary edict was secretly hidden by Xie Yuan yet he was killed by Xie Miao who then rummaged for more than a month before he finally found this thing. It was immediately given to Xie Yun to be handed over to Ye Huaiyang. No one in the family knew about it, you tell me, was he loyal?”

The Empress’ face was somber yet she did not speak for a long while.

It could be seen from the conflicts of the Wang-Xie family for many years that Xie Yuan was definitely not disloyal. At most, it was just for survival that he hid the testamentary edict but Xie Miao is different. He perhaps has already found out that Chu Sanghuai and Xie Yuan conspired to kill his father, so he wants to lead and turn the Xie family’s allegiance to the opposition now. Hence, he must be eliminated as soon as possible, else trouble will arise.

No, not only Xie Miao, but the entire Xie family must be uprooted too which is also a great thing for their Wang family. From then on, her father will be unrivalled in the royal court.

Thinking of such, the Empress spoke indifferently, “You can retreat as Bengong agrees to help you get rid of Ye Huaiyang.”

Seeing that her goal had already been achieved, Meng Chen did not speak anymore. She was about to leave the hall after curtsying but who knew, an unexpected sentence came from behind when she reached the threshold.

“Miss Meng, don’t you end up losing more than what you gain by destroying the thing that your beloved has wholeheartedly desire in order to strive for favor ah.”

Meng Cheng was silent for a moment, seemingly a little remorseful but forcibly suppressed the emotion just as it emerged as she turned to mock, “In the matter of striving for favor, I think Niang-niang is more unscrupulous than I am. Moreover, who says Wangye will definitely lose? It has yet to be seen who will be living in this East Phoenix Palace in the future.”

“You –.”

Flying into a rage, the Empress felt an unbearable burst of sharp pain in her abdomen that she bent down and the people around her swarmed forward while Meng Cheng walked out of the main hall without looking back amidst the chaos.

“Niang-niang, are you alright? Should Nubi go ask the Imperial Physician to take a look at you?”

“No need, Bengong is fine.” Looking at the distant view of Meng Chen’s back, the Empress uttered in a cold voice, “When this is over, there is no need to keep her alive.”

Jinxiu hung her head and said, “Yes, Nubi[3] understands.”

Holding the veil hat, Meng Chen walked quickly towards the sedan chair that was still parked at the threshold but who knew she would run into someone at the corner.  Gazing steadily it turned out to be an elderly Momo[4] with a pile of neatly clean clothes in her hands who evidently was someone from the laundry department. As Meng Chen was in a bad mood and seeing her lowly status, she immediately scolded without mercy, “Old Nucai[5], can it be that you are blind!”

The Momo kneeled down to apologize without even dared raising her head, “Please spare my life, Noble Lady. Nubi did not mean to do that!”

Meng Chen snorted heavily and got into the sedan chair after brushing her aside. She was almost knocked over to the ground but able to stabilize herself and relieved to see that the clothes in her hands were not dirty. Standing up slowly, she walked to the front of the hall and handed the clothes to a little palace maid of the East Phoenix Palace before turning around to leave. But the path was different from when she came from. Looking carefully, the swaying sedan chair was still not very far away as it had only passed the entrance of the alley in front.

This Momo is precisely Qu Fang.

When the woman scolded her just now, she had inadvertently raised her veil hat while Qu Fang vaguely felt that the face was familiar and on top of that, she had a little of the Northern Land’s accent that she felt even weirder the more she thought about it.

Had she seen this person somewhere before?

She tailed all the way to the Imperial Palace’s gate and found that the woman did not immediately take the carriage back home after she got off the sedan chair but went into the alley of the outer Imperial City. Such a strange behavior made her feel even more suspicious. After pondering for a moment, a flash of revelation suddenly flashed in her mind.

Oh no, that person could not be …

Qu Fang was startled at first then suddenly realized that she just came out of the East Phoenix Palace. Her heart sank immediately while an inexplicable sense of fear wrapped tightly around her. Just when she thought of informing Ye Huaiyang, she did not know that King Lan mansion had dispatched all the guards to look for this person.

Leaning on the head of the bed, Ye Huaiyang frowned as she kept thinking about Meng Chen’s behavior but she seemed to be walking in the dense fog without finding the crux direction when a shadow suddenly flashed by the corner of her eyes. Straightening her body, she lifted the gauze curtain only to see Ci Yuan walk over with vigorous strides. She asked urgently before he even reached her, “Has the person been found?”

Ci Yuan shook his head solemnly, “Not yet.”

Her face condensed gradually but she only spoke coldly without any superfluous words, “Go and look again.”

Ci Yuan left King Lan mansion sternly once he received the order.

Ye Huaiyang then got out of bed. Her waterfall-like long hair slid over her shoulders and lightly covered half of her small face while the black pupils embedded within were even more chilling and intimidating. Yue’ya came over to help her. Though she was obviously still weak, her posture was perfectly upright as she waved her hand to let Yue’ya changed her clothes with a non-interference manner.

Yue’ya’s heart was tightly seized but she dared not urge her anymore and merely asked softly, “Where do you want to go?”

“To the reception room.” Ye Huaiyang’s eyes were cold. Her sense of presence was still strong even though she was sick, “Call all the servants of the King mansion over, I want to know all the movements of Meng Chen in the past half month.”

Feeling slightly apprehensive, Yue’ya promptly complied and left the room quickly.

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

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

[4] 嬷嬷 (mó mó) – elderly servant/wet nurse

[5] 奴才 (Núcái) – bondservant, your humble servant, referring to oneself when addressing the royalty or one’s master / slaves

If you like my translation, do leave a comment or

Thank you for your support!

*Note: Update might delay as I will be slightly busy these coming weeks. Do bear with me and I will make it up as soon as I am able to do so.  Thank you for your patience and patronage… ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡