Transmigrating into the Female Supporting Character with a Good Life in a Laid-Back Novel

Ten years later. 

Mu Qing Ci polished off the roasted honey wings made by the imperial kitchen with much relish before she drank the tea to get rid of the greasiness in contentment.

“The roasted honey wings are very delicious, it would be great if [I] could eat the best braised duck underneath the heavens.”

A year ago, Emperor Shengde had collapsed, and the Fourth Prince Xiao Rui ascended the throne as Emperor, with Mu Qing Ci being conferred as Mu pin.

嫔 (pinyin: pin) — In the imperial harem, the ranks go as such: one Empress, one Huang Guifei, two Guifei, four Fei, six Pin, then innumerable guiren, meiren, cairen, zhong cairen, liangren.

With a year of observing the mourning period, and keeping to a vegetarian diet for a year, Mu Qing Ci’s entire body became a lot more meagre.

Now that the mourning period had ended, Mu Qing Ci did not dare to eat big fishes and meats immediately, and she could only make do by eating honey roasted wings first to satisfy her cravings.

Mei Hua: “……”

“Mei Hua, did Ruan taifei cause a disturbance today?” Mu Qing Ci asked with much interest as she put down the teacup.

As her maidservant Mei Hua looked at her zhuzi’s vested interest in gossip, her expression conveyed that she had nothing to live for. 

主子 (pinyin: zhu zi) — Master (term used by a servant).

“Zhuzi, the previous emperor’s mourning people has passed, yõu should be placing [your] thoughts on the Emperor’s heart, working hard to obtain the Emperor’s favour, and striving for the chance to serve for the night to become pregnant with a dragon’s descendant.”

Mu Qing Ci smiled without the slightest care: “Mei Hua, this matter can’t be rushed. The Emperor is handling national affairs with due diligence, and he scarcely enters the back palace. Furthermore, your family’s zhuzi is not a favoured one, it’s better to let nature take its course.”

The Mu Family had fallen, and Mu taifei passed away half a year after she entered the imperial family’s temple. As a Mu Family daughter without reliance or backing in the new Emperor’s imperial harem, she was not eye-catching. If it were not for Ruan taifei summoning her from time to time to find a sense of existence, the eunuchs, palace maids, and Mamas inside the imperial palace would probably have started neglecting her, since it was in their nature to step on those below and flatter those higher up. 

And vying for favour? Mu Qing Ci laughed bitterly in her heart; how could she possibly win against the noble daughters from the ancient era?

Ever since she had a miscarriage years ago, she had been pregnant twice afterwards, but she did not manage to protect a single one.

The imperial sons that the Emperor had were borne by the Empress Li Xiang Xiang and the two imperial concubines with illustrious backgrounds who were correspondingly titled Fei. As for the women beneath the rank of Fei, apart from the one who was conferred Pin because she had given birth to a princess, she was the only other Pin who had gained her title through accumulated time served, whilst the other women had even lower rankings. 

Mu Qing Ci no longer harboured any hopes. 

Since her current days were quite decent, she might as well treat the ancient era as her retirement. 

When Mei Hua saw her zhuzi’s unconcerned and blasé attitude, her heart was saddened. Forget it, since her zhuzi did not have that mind, it was better if she refrained from bringing it up again.

Hence, Mei Hua changed the topic and spoke about the gossip that her zhuzi loved hearing the most.

“Zhuzi, Ruan taifei has bestowed two palace maids – who are as delicate as flowers and refined like precious jade – to Qi daren again.”

Mu Qing Ci’s eyes curved. 

“Ruan taifei is still using the same tactics. The palace maids that she bestows Qi daren are all decorations. Who doesn’t know that Qi daren and the Minister of the Board of Punishments are good men that pamper their wives?”

Now that they were speaking about that young and handsome Minister of the Board Punishments with excellent and sharp skills, Mu Qing Ci’s thoughts veered towards his Furen, that Ruan si xiaojie Ruan Xi whose magnificent style was unmatched in her generation. She had been doted on by Minister Wen for more than ten years, gave birth to three sons and one daughter, and if it were not for Minister Wen feeling distressed for his Furen later and secretly ingesting infertility medicine, it was more than likely that his Furen Ruan Xi would continue to give birth to more children.

When Minister Wen’s act of eating infertility medicine was later exposed, it shocked the entire capital. 

It was unknown how many people were inwardly envious and jealous of Ruan Xi, with Mu Qing Ci being one of the members. Those that wanted to set their intentions on Minister Wen disappeared overnight. 

Whenever Ruan taifei mentioned Ruan Xi, her expression would be completely black, and her teeth would be gnashed. 

Mei Hua grinned, “Indeed. Nubi remembers that years ago, there were even a few instances where Ruan taifei would give her own younger sister, Minister Wen’s furen, some palace maids, and she would send them every time Wen furen became pregnant. However, Minister Wen is not Qi daren; after Ruan taifei ate a few depressing losses, she no longer dared to do anything, and then she started focusing her attention on Qi daren and Qi furen.”

Of course, there was her zhuzi too.

Ruan taifei’s thought processes were a genuine mystery to her.

Mu Qing Ci laughed. 

“That certainly is the case. Wen furen is Minister Wen’s reverse scale. Since Ruan taifei wants to disgust and repulse Wen furen, it would be stranger if it didn’t invoke Minister Wen’s anger.”

“It isn’t strange that Ruan taifei is staring at Qi daren now, honestly. Back then, Ruan taifei and Qi daren had a marriage contract, except it was cancelled afterwards. Ruan taifei probably didn’t expect that Qi daren would soar to the sky with one flight, and that he would be a good man that cherishes his wife.”

Whilst she had to be a grass widow at a young age.

In truth, Mu Qing Ci could genuinely understand her fellow transmigrator’s state of mind. 

Even she, a laissez-faire person would feel a bit of envy and jealousy once in a while, to say nothing of the proud and arrogant Ruan taifei. 

Currently, Ruan taifei was barely thirty, and because of the late emperor’s parting decree, she had no choice but to stay in the deep palace to spend the rest of her life in loneliness. She could only send palace maids to Qi daren to add troubles for Qi furen, and summon her to alleviate her boredom, both of which did not count for much. 

Even if she tormented the imperial concubines of the new Emperor and Empress, the Emperor would not say anything as long as she refrained from harming the dragon descendants.

    ……

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Wen Residence.

This was the Wen Residence ten years later. The current Wen Residence, was the Wen Family’s second branch with two Ministers in one door, which was an existence that people discussed enthusiastically. 

Today was Wen Ting Zhou’s resting day. Clad in a luxurious robe, he was seated on the rattan chair with Ruan Xi in the courtyard as they watched their four children laughing and playing around in the distance.

“Ruan Ruan, when Ah Yu turns fifteen in a few years, I will retire from my government post, and explore the different sceneries in various places with you then.”

Wen Ting Zhou slanted his head and smiled as he looked at Ruan Xi, his gaze warm and soft. 

The current Wen Ting Zhou had been overseeing the Board of Punishment for more than a year, and his temperament was deep and unfathomable, even harbouring a faint shred of sharp severity. It was only in front of Ruan Xi that he would restrain all of his imposing manners, becoming as mild as jade, like the noble and benevolent Wen gongzi of the past. 

Ruan Xi was startled. 

In a few years, Wen Ting Zhou would just be thirty-six or seven, and he was actually thinking about retiring from his government post like those old ministers in the seventies and eighties, simply for the sake of viewing the scenery in various places with her. 

It should be because Wen Ting Zhou overheard what she was telling Ah Yu a few days ago. 

Ruan Xi felt elated and emotionally moved in her heart, since Wen Ting Zhou made her his first priority.

But she was not willing to let Wen Ting Zhou give up on his bright career prospects for her. 

“Ting Zhou, you don’t need to accommodate me like this, you’ll spoil me if you keep doing this. Let’s wait for our sons and daughter to grow up and get married before you resign from your government post. We can explore all kinds of beautiful sceneries then.”

Wen Ting Zhou extended his long arm to pull Ruan Xi into his embrace gently before he kissed her cheek, just like he had always done. 

“Ruan Ruan, the truth is that I don’t feel strongly about, nor do I have a voracious desire for power and influence. Entering the officialdom was just to fulfil zu mu’s heartfelt wish, and to make Mother happy. I’m already the Minister of the Board of Punishment; I don’t intend on pursuing higher promotions, to say nothing of becoming the Emperor’s teacher, and allowing our beloved daughter to become a daughter-in-law in the imperial family.”

He and the Fourth Prince Xiao Rui were good friends in private before he ascended as the new Emperor, so he understood his temperament the most. After having to be a bull and horse for the new Emperor, he did not want to educate his imperial sons and imperial grandsons as well. 

The most despicable part was that the new Emperor had actually set his eyes on his five-year-old daughter. For the past few days, he incessantly promoted the idea of sending his beloved daughter into the palace to have a small staycation for a few days because he wanted his youngest daughter Yun’er to become his daughter-in-law.

Dream on.

Wen Ting Zhou did not want his family’s adorable and considerate little daughter to marry into the imperial family at all.

It just happened that he heard Ruan Xi telling their oldest son about her dream a few days ago. Wen Ting Zhou’s heart moved, promptly deciding to wait until their daughter was slightly older before he brought along Ruan Ruan and their daughter to go on a scenic tour.

“You’ve never mentioned this matter to me before, Yun’er definitely can’t marry an imperial son.” Once Ruan Xi heard that her daughter was being coveted, her agitation surged instantaneously, and she nearly jumped up from Wen Ting Zhou’s embrace. What kind of place was the imperial family? Entering the palace gates was like stepping into a deep sea, she did not want her only daughter to enter that dragon pond and tiger cave.

Moreover, her daughter was only five years old and she was already being coveted.

That would never come to pass!

Wen Ting Zhou patted Ruan Xi’s back gently to comfort her, his voice deep and resolute. 

“Ruan Ruan, set your heart at ease, I will never allow Yun’er to marry into the imperial family. I will act first and report later when that time comes around, let’s bring along Yun’er to go on a scenic tour together.”

“That’s right, bring along Yun’er!”

Right now, Ruan Xi was no longer against Wen Ting Zhou’s decision to resign from his government post before he was forty. 

With Wen Ting Zhou’s ability, it was highly probable that his official post could be raised even further. 

But their daughter would be older then. What were they going to do if an imperial edict bestowing the marriage suddenly arrived?

Ruan Xi did not dare to gamble. 

When Wen Ting Zhou saw Ruan Ruan’s reaction, his lip corners curved up. He knew that Ruan Ruan would agree. 

As he imagined the blissful scene of their family of three wandering the mountains and playing with the waters, Wen Ting Zhou could not help but hug Ruan Xi tighter, expectation brimming in his eyes.

As for his other three sons, they had been forgotten in the corner by Wen Ting Zhou in a very unkind and dishonest manner. 

After Ruan Xi’s agitation had passed and she obtained Wen Ting Zhou’s promise, she calmed down and peacefully nestled in Wen Ting Zhou’s embrace as they watched their sons and daughter from the distance. Her gaze carelessly glanced past the Osmanthus flower trees that Wen Ting Zhou personally planted for her, blissful joy overwhelming her heart. 

Ruan Xi felt that she was incredibly fortunate for being able to marry a good husband that devoted his whole heart and mind to her in the ancient era.

They had been married for more than ten years, and Wen Ting Zhou still treated her the same. 

And she had Wen Jing Ru, this paternal female cousin-in-law, as her bosom friend. 

As for Ruan san niang, she had been restricted to the confines of the deep palace as a taifei. Even if she would add a bit of small troubles that was neither painful nor itchy from time to time, Ruan Xi did not mind it. 

She reviewed the past half of her life. Love, family, friendship, she had everything. 

She would still have Wen Ting Zhou’s company for the latter half of her life, and it could be said that she did not have any regrets in this life.

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A short distance away, when the pair’s eldest legitimate son Ah Yu incidentally saw his parents in an intimate embrace, he could not resist raising his head to look at the sky. 

No matter how accustomed they were to their parents’ display of affection in front of him and his siblings, he still felt like his eyes were going to be blinded soon, though a faint hint of envy emerged in his heart. 

He wondered if he would have his father good luck?

……

The author has something to say: Some little ones have said that ending in the previous chapter was too abrupt, so another chapter has been written here to add a conclusion. The novel officially ends here. Extras will depend on the situation probably, it might not be written. Thanking all the little angels that have supported me, let us meet in the next book.