Edited by Larkspur

Chapter 30: A Long Discussion in Confidence (Part 2)

Chu Jin Yao talked for a long time that she became thirsty in the end. She picked the teacup and took a sip. However, during this process, Qin Yi unexpectedly kept quiet and did not interrupt her.

After Chu Jin Yao moistened her throat, she looked carefully at his expression and asked softly, “Do you understand my meaning? How about we be quietly rebellious for once and use the Crown Prince as an example? You see that he has been sent to the border and it is rather tragic but because of this, all the officials in TaiYuan carefully protected him fearing that he would suffer from the slightest mishap. Moreover, I have heard from Father that there are numerous officials in the capital that offended the Emperor to speak for the Crown Prince and pled for him to be summoned back to the capital. See. even if the Crown Prince was unjustly sent away, behind the scenes, there are a lot of people that are silently good to him. We do not have a complicated identity like the Crown Prince and also do not have a tangled and intricate background like him, so the people that treat us well would only be more and purer!”

Qin Yi listened calmly and upon hearing the end of it chuckled lightly, “Your logic… It is really simple and straightforward.”

“I did not speak wrongly.” Chu Jin Yao did not concede to that, “The Crown Prince has that kind of complicated background and yet there are people who treat him well willingly. We, the commoners, would only have even more sincere people! Don’t worry. We will at least be better than the Crown Prince.”

Qin Yi glanced at Chu Jin Yao coolly. She felt guilty after being looked at and her voice suddenly softened even more, “I used the Crown Prince as a negative example and did not use you. Why glare at me…”

Seeing that Qin Yi did not speak, Chu Jin Yao quickly flattered with a sentence, “You have to believe me. You are smart, rational, quick learner and have a good heart. People like you should live very very well. You should not restrict yourself!”

Qin Yi felt very complicated. Since five years old, he had not been able to trust others but now was taught a lesson by a little girl that he had heavy thoughts, always considered the negative side of people and would be restrained by himself in the future. He thought to himself that Chu Jin Yao’s words were all over the place but this sentence hit successfully by a lucky stroke. He was indeed restricting himself.

He was sent to the dangerous frontier by his father and did not care about his life and death at all. The reason was only that he killed a favoured maid of the Younger Qi Empress and the Emperor and Empress lost face. He left the capital and arrived at DaTong where swords have no eyes, and even the officials, that he had never known before, were protecting him carefully, while his JiuJiu and WaiZuMu complained about his bad temperament and did not give the Younger Qi Empress face.

Post detailing more on family titles

Empress Wen Xiao of the Yuan dynasty was the Di daughter of the Marquis of Zhen Bei and the succeeding Empress was also from the residence of the Marquis of Zhen Bei and the biological younger sister of Empress Wen Xiao. The Empress sisters were named Eldest Empress Qi and Younger Empress Qi by the common folk. For the residence of the Marquis of Zhen Bei to produce two Empresses, it was especially honourable. How would they be bothered about the life and death of him, a son of the previous Empress, even though he was the Crown Prince? Anyways, Younger Empress Qi also gave birth to a son, so it would be the same if it was changed to another Prince. Maybe it was even better since the younger daughter was even more favoured.

On the eighth year of Jian Xing, when he was only five years old, his mother was lingering on the sickbed and his younger YiMu came to visit but in the end hooked up with the noble brother-in-law. When the incident was exposed, his seriously ill Mother was angered to death, while the two initiators did not even bother to pretend. After two months, the young Madam Qi entered the Palace and was titled as the succeeding Empress. Six months after the Younger Qi Empress entered the Palace, the Third Prince was born. Qin Yi felt the irony. It turned out that the two of them had long colluded before his mother fell sick.

This was simply a gigantic joke. He, as a Crown Prince, lived in the Eastern Palace and all civil and military officers had to kneel and bow when they met him. However, his Father, YiMu, JiuJiu and WaiZuMu were all standing on the opposite side of him. The Crown Prince refers to oneself as ‘孤 Gu’ (literal translation: alone) and this was not wrong at all. Qin Yi was really all alone by himself*. Whether it was his Father’s or Mother’s clan, no one stood at his side to think as he thought and hurt as he felt pain.

*孤家寡人 (Gu Jia Gua Ren) refers to a person who is all alone by oneself, without any real backing

In the end, it turned out to be a young little girl, who did not even know him, that said, “People like you should live very very well. You should not restrict yourself!”

There was no indication on Qin Yi’s face, but there were ten thousand shocking waves in his eyes. However, he still did not speak. Qin Yi glanced down at Chu Jin Yao’s brush and said, “You perhaps might need to change to another paper. The ink at the tip of your brush has dripped on it.”

Chu Jin Yao’s eyes widened and she quickly lowered her head, “I am about to finish writing on this piece of paper, so how can it be ruined! When I was talking just now, I actually forgot about this!”

Qin Yi smiled lightly as he lowered his head to read, while Chu Jin Yao stood opposite him scrambling to tidy things up.

Chu Jin Yao heartbrokenly changed to another paper and when she thought about enduring the pain in her head to write another sheet of calligraphy, she felt that her future was all gloom and her life was hopeless. She scowled miserably and wrote pitifully. It was obviously a pitiful matter but Qin Yi always wanted to laugh when he saw it, “Forget about it if you don’t want to write.”

“You are just making cynical remarks.” Chu Jin Yao glanced at him indistinctly, “I have a feeling that you had long seen the ink at the tip of the brush but had to wait for the ink to drip onto the paper before reminding me of it.”

Finally Qin Yi could no longer control and burst out laughing, “Yes. I just wanted to see if you, a foolish goose-head, would realise what stupid things you are doing. Afterwards, you really did not have any awareness…”

Chu Jin Yao watched Qin Yi laugh silently and the more she watched, the angrier she became. How could there be such a loathsome person in this world? She advised him sincerely so that he would not push himself too hard, but this person actually quietly watched and waited to see her become a laughingstock!

Chu Jin Yao really wanted to throw the brush at Qin Yi. Who asked him to still laugh! However, the maids outside stopped her from performing such an indecent behaviour. Ding Xiang spoke from the outside, “Young Lady, Eldest Young Lady sent someone over to ask you to make a trip to Rong Ning Tang.”

“Alright. I will be right there!” Chu Jin Yao answered loudly before standing up and glaring at Qin Yi harshly, “Wait till I return and settle the bill with you!”

There was a faint smile hanging on Qin Yi’s face. He did not think that Chu Jin Yao was capable of realising such words.

After Chu Jin Yao packed up, she hurried over to Rong Ning Tang as one should not neglect the elders’ summons. When she arrived, she saw Old Chu Furen smiling and said to her upon her arrival, “You have arrived at the right time. I have just spoken to the other young ladies that after your GuGu returned, she spoke to the Prince Consort about you sisters. The Prince Consort likes lively young ladies and invited you all to the residence of Prince Huai Ling as guests in a few days time!”

Chu Jin Yao was startled. The Prince Consort wants to see them? Does it mean that the matter of the study companion has been finalised?

It was unexpectedly fast!