The person being assisted out of the carriage was none other than the elder Wangfei, Shen Wanyu.
She was wearing a chang’ao1 with an auspicious light-green cloud pattern and a standing collar. A section of the navy-blue, gold-woven horse-faced skirt was exposed under the chang’ao. She also wore a black cloak that reached almost to her ankles, and only a simple wooden hairpin decorated her coiled-up white hair. The orange setting sun behind her highlighted her aloofness and remoteness.
Li Fengqi turned the wheelchair forward, stopped a step away from her, and called to her, “Mother”.
The elder Wangfei’s gaze paused for a moment as it landed on his legs, and she twisted the Buddha beads in her hand. “What’s wrong with your legs?”
“The residual poison has not been completely cleared yet. There is no major harm. Mother does not need to worry.” Li Fengqi directly used the words that Ye Yunting’s used to handle the crowd earlier.
“…You’ve been suffering.” The old Wangfei said as she lowered her eyes looked down at him for a moment.
“It’s a minor injury, I’m causing Mother trouble to worry about it.”
The mother and son kept going back and forth, but the conversation ended there. After a few breaths of silence, Li Fengqi said again, “Mother must be tired from traveling. If there are more things to discuss, we can go back to the house and talk about them there.”
The old Wangfei nodded her head, said nothing more, and got into the carriage with the assistance of the young woman.
The carriage slowly drove into the city gate. Accompanying the old Wangfei’s return to the capital were only two carriages, one for people and one for luggage. There were also four escorts on horseback: they were Li Fengqi’s men, all of them elite generals of the Xuanjia Army.
The danger was deemed to have passed once the old Wangfei’s carriage entered the city, so the four soldiers no longer escorted it but instead stayed with Li Fengqi.
They secretly glanced at Li Fengqi in the wheelchair, looking worried. Several times, one of them would want to speak, but none dared to poke at their prince’s wounds.
They knew how humiliating it must have been for the God of War, who had once galloped across the battlefield retrieving the heads of enemy generals like someone rummaging through a bag, to now have to submit to sitting in a wheelchair. If they were to ask again at this time, they’d only be rubbing salt into the prince’s wounds.
Without consciously realizing it, the four of them silently guarded him on both sides of the road.
Li Fengqi, on the other hand, glanced at them and said coldly: “If you have anything to say, just say it.”
Several people were startled, hesitated for a moment, and still couldn’t help asking, “Wangye, your legs…”
“This is just for the time being. I know what’s going on.” Li Fengqi glanced at them and saw that their expressions changed from grave to relaxed. He raised his chin and ordered, “Go get a sedan.”
Two generals immediately took orders to find the sedan chair.
Ye Yunting was puzzled when he heard this. “What do you need a sedan for?” They had just walked all the way here, and he had thought that they would have to walk back again on their return.
“Aren’t you tired from walking?” Li Fengqi looked at him.
Ye Yunting hesitated for a moment, then said honestly, “I’m tired.”
It was quite a long distance from Zhaohe Main Street to the city gate. Earlier, they had gone on foot all the way to let everyone in the capital know that Prince Yong’an had been cured of his poisoning and his life was not in danger. Now that their goal had been achieved, it would be better not to walk.
Li Fengqi’s lips curved slightly. “Then take the sedan chair back.”
Two generals came back quickly with a sedan chair that they had found. It was not big–it could be carried by four people, and two grown men sitting in it would be a tight fit.
Ye Yunting looked at Li Fengqi subconsciously.
“Go up, I’ll sit here.” Li Fengqi raised his eyebrows slightly and patted the armrest of the wheelchair.
Ye Yunting pursed his lips and sat on it without any pretense. When he was seated, the bearers lifted the sedan chair and walked forward steadily.
“Let’s go.” Li Fengqi said, and a general came up behind him and pushed him forward, side by side with the sedan.
Ji Lian, who was behind, looked between the sedan chair and Li Fengqi, and finally chose to walk at the back with a few others.
The sedan ride, carried by four people, was a little bumpy, but it was still much easier than walking on two legs. Ye Yunting secretly rubbed his sore legs, and couldn’t help but press against the wall of the sedan, secretly lifting a corner of the curtain to look out.
He happened to see Li Fengqi’s profile.
Everything has been going well in the past few days. Li Fengqi’s overly-thin cheeks had regained some flesh, and his complexion had improved a lot. His skin looked white and glowing under the dim sky. Generally, a man who was too fair-skinned would appear to be a little weak, but his profile looked too strong, with distinct brow bones, a straight nose, and a well-defined jaw line. Not only did he not appear weak, he also appeared rather cold.
Like the never-melting snow on the top of a mountain.
He consistently refrained from showing facial expressions, so he looked even more cold, arrogant and unapproachable.
Ye Yunting looked at him and thought of the old Wangfei who had exactly the same temperament as him.
The facial features of the mother and son were actually not too similar, but their cold and detached temperament seemed to be carved from the same mold.
Before meeting her, he worried about how to behave toward the old Wangfei. But when they actually met, he realized that the old Wangfei’s gaze did not fall on him at all.
Never mind him, not even Li Fengqi said more than a few words.
Ye Yunting’s biological mother died early, but his wet nurse treated him like her own son, so he had always thought that all mothers and children in the world should have a strong and close relationship. Madame Yin was an example: although she had a bad temper, she was still very patient with Ye Wang.
That was why blood was called thicker than water.
He had never seen a mother and son with such a cold and strange relationship. Watching them talk, it was as though they were were a pair of strangers wearing masks and pretending to be familiar. Or maybe even worse than strangers.
The questions in Ye Yunting’s heart grew and grew. A pair of dark eyes, hidden behind the curtain, stared at Li Fengqi without blinking, seemingly wanting to pierce through that cold skin into his innermost core.
However, Li Fengqi did not have a single flaw in his person.
He stared for a long time and then lowered the curtain in frustration.
He didn’t notice that when he lowered the curtain, Li Fengqi, who had been looking ahead, glanced sideways at the swaying sedan curtain, and the corners of his even lips curved slightly.
…
Two groups of people returned to the palace one after another.
The red lacquered main door of the palace was open, and two chamberlains were waiting on the left and right beside the main door, saying, “Welcome back to the palace, Wangye, Wangfei.”
Ye Yunting got off the sedan chair, and from the gate, he saw the brightly-lit and lively scene of people coming and going from the gate. His eyebrows twitched and he went to see Li Fengqi.
Li Fengqi remained unmoved and entered the house with Ye Yunting.
Prince Yong’an’s palace was very large, with five entrances and exits. However, due to years of neglect, the paint on the fine columns and corridors was mottled. In addition, all the previous servants had been dismissed. The mansion lost its vitality, making it seem very cold and deserted. In the evenings, the palace even had a gloomy moroseness to it.
But now, under the dusk sky, the palace had become lively and noisy, far from its usual grim and deserted atmosphere.
Under the eaves hung exquisite octagonal lanterns. The wildly growing flowers and plants had obviously been tended to. The withered and yellow leaves accumulated on the ground had long been cleared away. Fair maidservants in reds and greens were walking through the veranda with lanterns and, upon seeing their return, stopped to salute.
Sure enough, today was different from the past.
Ye Yunting sighed in his heart and pushed Li Fengqi through the corridor, bypassed the screen walls2, and arrived at the main hall.
Cui Xi was waiting with a few servants in front of the main hall door. When he saw them arrive, he came up to them with a smile and said, “Greetings to Wangye and Wangfei. The elder Wangfei is already in the hall.” Saying this, he stepped aside to welcome them in.
Ye Yunting pushed Li Fengqi through the door and glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. He thought that today’s Cui-Changshi was also very different from that of the days before.
All in all, the splendor of Prince Yong’an was back.
The two entered the hall and found the elder Wangfei already sitting on the main seat. An unfamiliar maid was pouring tea for her. When she saw the two coming in, she deftly poured another two cups of hot tea and served them.
Li Fengqi glanced coldly and didn’t accept it.
The maid glanced at him timidly, seemingly at a loss. “Wangye?”
“You just came in today, so you still don’t know that Wangye doesn’t like to drink leaf tea.” Ye Yunting picked up a cup from the tray, lightly brushed the tea foam with the cup lid, and casually gave an excuse. “Take it away.”
The maid subconsciously glanced at Cui Xi behind her, bowed, and retreated.
Cui Xi saw the situation and laughed. “His Royal Highness heard that the elder Wangfei had returned to the capital. He was concerned that there might be too few servants in the mansion and their service might be inadequate, so he specially asked me to select the best servants from the royal palace to serve her. If Wangye doesn’t like the one just now, I can pick out a few more and send them to you when I return to the royal palace.”
“There’s no need.” Li Fengqi looked at him with a half-smile. “The Yong’an palace does not raise idlers.”
Cui Xi’s smile remained unchanged. “This is all His Majesty’s wish.”
Li Fengqi snorted. unwilling to fight with him anymore. He waved his hand and said, “Then they’ll stay. Please send a message on my behalf, say that I’ll go to the royal palace some other day.…Thank you.”
He pronounced the words “thank you” very seriously.
“Wangye’s words will be conveyed to His Majesty.” Cui Xi bowed, his fox-like eyes narrowing slightly. “Then I shall now return to the imperial palace to resume my duties.”
Cui Xi left with his men.
Aside from the servants waiting in the hall, there were only three people left.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment. The elder Wangfei was seated in the main seat, staring at the tea cup in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
Li Fengqi’s long eyebrows were slightly frowned. He didn’t look so well.
The servants who were attending him stood aside attentively, keeping even their breathing very quiet for fear of disturbing the master.
Seeing this, Ye Yunting coughed lightly and broke the strange atmosphere: “Mother… you must be tired from traveling from so far. Have you had your evening meal? If not, I will order my servants to prepare it.”
The elder Wangfei was Li Fengqi’s mother, and he was Li Fengqi’s consort in name. It was only proper for him to call her “mother”.
Only then did the elder Wangfei notice him. She glance at him and said, “Are you the one who married Hanzhang?” She seemed to recall: “Are you the eldest son of the Duke of Qi?”
Ye Yunting froze for a moment upon hearing her say “Hanzhang”, thinking that this must be Li Fengqi’s personal name or milk name, and then said: “Yes, my3 name is Yunting.”
“You’ve worked hard to take care of Hanzhang these days.” The old Wangfei nodded slightly, glanced at the young woman beside her, and called “Yiqiu”.
At the sound of her voice, Yi Qiu took out a palm-sized wooden box and handed it to Ye Yunting, saying with a smile, “This is what the elder Wangfei specially prepared for the Wangfei. It has been blessed in front of the Buddha. See if Wangfei likes it.” “
It would be disrespectful to decline a gift from an elder.
Ye Yunting did not refuse. He took the box with a smile, opened it, and saw a stunning icy-water lotus jadeite4 pendant lying on the red silk cloth.
===Author’s Notes===
77: Look again, look again and I will eat you.
Tingting:? ? ? (The old man on the subway looks at his mobile phone
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===Translator’s Notes===
I’ve said this before, but Ye Yunting & Li Fengqi are such a team I love them.
Complicated mother-son relationships??? They’re not too common in the danmei I’ve read so far (esp. compared to father-son relationship messes), so I look forward to seeing where this goes.
- 长袄, referring to this clothing. ↩︎
- 影壁 (“yingbi”), translated as “screen wall” or “shadow wall”, referring to these. According to here, they are walls decorated with various reliefs. “In the old days, people believed that ghosts were constantly visiting their homes. The soul of one’s ancestors returning home is allowed, but if a lonely ghost sneaks into the house, it will bring disaster to oneself. If there is a shadow wall, ghosts will be scared away when they see their own shadow. Of course, the screen wall also has its functional role, which is to block the view of outsiders. Even if the door is open, outsiders cannot see inside the house. Screen walls can also set off the atmosphere and increase the momentum of the residence”. ↩︎
- He’s using the érchén (兒臣) pronoun here. To quote: “a first person pronoun employed by a male sovereign when speaking to an empress mother, queen mother, empress dowager, queen dowager, or the like”. ↩︎
- Something like this, this or this. ↩︎
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This is brilliant thank you.
ReplyDeleteMIL seems good +_+
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