Chapter 24: Your servant is a Chinese Cabbage
Xia Yuqing stayed expressionless for a while. Speechless and dumbfounded, tears began to flow. As expected, she had thought this world was too simple. These days of tranquility as it turns out was the legendary calm before the storm.
To go as far as to dispatch his own personal men to the State of Xia to investigate her. Wahhh, Ultra Seme Lord, why do you have to be so treacherous and cunning, making your people do this?
*Cough cough* Without showing anything, she placed her hand above her heart, feigning her unperturbed state. “Your Majesty, Chen Qie has something to say about this matter. In fact, there is an ulterior motive that Chen Qie can explain, if you are willing….”
Xia Yuqing closed in on Feng Tingye to flatter him, clutching the front of his clothing.
Feng Tingye saw the little kitten tightly clutching his gown, two eyes constantly looking all over the place, not daring to look straight into his eyes. Thinking she was acting cool-headed, but in fact negligently revealing her anxious appearance.
The corner of his mouth rose a bit. Deliberately lowering his body to lean close to her ear’s most sensitive location, satisfyingly ** retorted: “Zhen feels that taking a nap like this is very good, Ai Fei no matter what you say, Zhen is also able to specially clarify it. Ai Fei can say whatever she likes.”
“…” Xia Yuqing didn’t even have enough time to blush from Feng Tingye’s actions before she was shaken by Feng Tingye’s words.
Within her heart, she silently shed tears for a moment. Xia Yuqing then lightly coughed, solemnly turning towards him. “Your Majesty, this is a discouraging and sorrowful tale. If Your Majesty wants Chen Qie to speak, it is possible. Just be aware that I will be very emotional when speaking of it, tears and snot will be rushing out… Your Majesty, it might be better to be a bit further from Chen Qie. Chen Qie might accidentally defile Your Majesty’s precious dragon robe. So…”
After this implication, Xia Yuqing only felt a light flash across her eyes. Looking once again, Feng Tingye was already at the side of the bed standing upright. With a serious face, he patted down his clothes fixing up the disorder. “Now are you able to speak?”
“…” Xia Yuqing resolutely looked down upon that person. Rolling her eyes then tidying up her clothing, she made a vigorous leap off the bed and walked towards Feng Tingye.
Feng Tingye stared blankly, eyes squinting a bit. Just when his raised right hand was about to drop, Xia Yuqing’s sudden bawling caused his hand to stiffen unable to move.
“Your Majesty, Chen Qie didn’t lie to you on purpose. I had no other choice! Your Majesty…” Weeping and howling loudly, the rigid servant girls and palace eunuchs standing outside the palace hall was shaken and something from the tree fell out with a thwap.
“Huh? What was that sound?” Hearing some sounds outside, her weeping stopped. But upon seeing Feng Tingye’s petrified expression, slyly, she pinched her own thigh and proceeded to bawl again. “Your Majesty, Chen Qie was also acting involuntarily! Chen Qie was born from the royal family but the palace harem is so vicious. Chen Qie does not have any illustrious reputation because of my mother’s background. In addition to the birthmark I have, from childhood I have suffered all kinds of humiliation. Chen Qie has suffered so much!”
Xia Yuqing pouted her lips, excellent in both her voice and expression, she began to weave up her mournful history, frightening heaven and earth and sobbing to all spirits!
“Wahh, when Chen Qie was just two years old, my eldest royal brother tied me to a kite and almost flew me to the skies with the birds. When I was four, my second eldest royal brother treated me as if I was a koi and attached me to the fishing rod so I had to bathe in the river with man-eating fishes. When I was five, it was even worse. Chen Qie was going out of the palace to play but accidentally collided into my crafty third royal sister. She bound my upper body, arms tied behind my back and hung me from the tip of a tree to attract bees and butterflies. Being surrounded by poisonous bees, I was stung until my body swelled up like a balloon. Then I fell sick with a high fever that won’t recede, it was not easy for me to survive that. My mother and I relied only on each other and she couldn’t bear to see this continue. To save Chen Qie’s life, she permitted Chen Qie to play the fool and feign madness. It really wasn’t Chen Qie’s intentions to lie to you.”
Xia Yuqing’s eyes were thoroughly red, making a lovely pitiful face. She expectantly looked over at Feng Tingye. Remarkably, her story was basically the ancient form of ‘Xiao Bai Cai’.
[Had to search this one up, but it is a character/ song speaking of a poor girl LOL Video of the Chinese Cabbage (Xiao Bai Cai)]
Xiao Bai Cai, when she was growing up, she lost her mom when she was two or three. It truly was grieving. Viewers would shed tears, yet at this moment one of the spectators had a heart of stone and did not have any intentions to let her off.
Feng Tingye’s eyebrow stirred, then smiled with a face full of overflowing delight. “For your mother, the one in which both of you mutually depended on? If Zhen did not remember wrong, Ai Fei’s mom died early and it was from giving birth to you. Then how come you were able to hear your mother’s earnest repeated warnings and advice?”
Xia Yuqing’s wail as if she was at a funeral suddenly became stiff. Her heart started to race, oh no I’ve been found out! Hurriedly she tried to wrack her brain for an idea, she sniffled: “When I was five the one who repeatedly warned me was my wet nurse who brought me up from childhood.”
“Zhen has been alive for many years, but this is my first time hearing someone call her wet nurse… her mother! This is seriously shocking!”
Xia Yuqing having heard what was said, irrefutably spoke. “Your Majesty, those words are certainly not correct. As the proverb says: Once a teacher, always a teacher. Chen Qie grew up drinking her milk, her kindness is unforgettable. Moreover Chen Qie does not love her father or mother. As a child, I was brought up solely by my wet nurse. What’s wrong with calling her mother?”
“…” Feng Tingye lowered his head to look at Xia Yuqing. With a ‘you’re heartless, you’re immoral, you’re deliberately provocative’ expression of resentment, she inwardly started to grind her teeth. “Since it’s this way, Ai Fei has feigned madness for about ten years. Why is it that once you entered the State of Ye’s imperial palace you decided to unmask yourself and expose the entire truth? Is it really the case that you could pretend no longer? Or is it… for some other conspiracy?”
The natural reason was obviously because the interior of the shell has been exchanged for a different person, but Xia Yuqing was obviously not foolish enough to say that. She definitely does not want to become the feudal society’s emperor’s experiment or be dissected then hung on stage to be roasted like a pig as an offering to heaven!
“Chen Qie is wrongly accused” Chen Qie was originally going to pass my days content with my position, but who would have imagined that the heaven does not hope for this. Right when I married in, it was the first time that Chen Qie had gone to a foreign land. Not to mention that it was my first day in the palace, but I immediately got pushed into the lotus pond by Miss Liu. Later on in the day, I encountered Your Majesty and the Grand Tutor in the Sweet Spring Palace. *cough cough* Chen Qieat that time was really so shocked that I forgot to continue pretending.” It was too exciting and exhilarating, I couldn’t not reveal my natural instincts!
Xia Yuqing coughed lightly, then continued shedding tears while recounting her story. “After seeing Your Majesty’s wide generous vision to connect with others, Chen Qie took you and Grand Tutor to be homosexual, please don’t blame Chen Qie. Moreover, Yi Xiang Mei Mei came and removed the misunderstandings. This helped me understand Empress Dowager’s lenient kindness. Chen Qie was able to see clearly that this place and State of Xia is completely different. Chen Qie also risked her life, just now..”
Wiping her face a bit, in a flattering manner she hung down her eyes and stated. “Your Majesty, you are so broadminded and have such great countenance, surely you wouldn’t blame Chen Qie, right….?”
“…” Emotions, you have basically taken Zhen’s lenience as an arrow, making use of a secure knowledge as backing. Looking at what’s been said, if I don’t forgive her today then I will be seen as narrow minded and petty for the rest of my life.
The corner of his mouth trembled, looking at Xia Yuqing’s big teary eyes as well as the fact that she has unceasingly been using his long pao as a cleaning rag. Seeing her exert all her strength to do some petty maneuvers on the intricate designs, amazingly he found himself to be left… speechless.
Therefore, intending to ask for forgiveness and taking advantage of some emperor’s weakness, this emperor’s heart began to become incomparably frantic!