Vol 2 Chapter 16 (1/2)

Chapter 32: Poisoned

After sending Huo Qu Bing off in the morning, I move back to Hong Gu’s residence. Without him around, I can’t stand living at the Huo Estate. I’m a wife yet not a wife, I’m a guest yet not a guest. It’s just awkward for me to live there.

With a large estate filled with many residents, there is too much gossiping and I am not in the mood to deal with people’s finger pointing. Uncle Chen is very considerate of me and didn’t say anything, just ordering some maids, the chef, and some guards to go with me to Hong Gu’s place. When I walk in with everyone trailing me, she laughs in surprise.

I walk around the courtyard once and then stretch my back “It really is more comfortable in my own home.” Hong Gu softly sighed “What about the Huo Estate?” I smiled “If Qu Bing is there, then that is home. If he’s not, then it’s not home.”

Hong Gu moved some fallen branches in front of me “I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing that you met General Huo.” I make a huge smiling face and stick it in front of Hong Gu “See! Do you see this? What is this? I don’t want to hear you saying that ever.”

Hong Gu quickly laughed “I see it, I see it.” She looked at my stomach “I wonder who that child will resemble? Regardless it’s bound to be a demon like you two. It will inherit both of your talents at tormenting people. I wonder if it’ll go easy on anyone in the future.”

When I was in the Huo Estate, the maids couldn’t read, but with Hong Gu keeping me company it’s much more entertaining. We read, play the zither, play chess, or talk about the gossip in Chang An. My days pa.s.s in calm comfort. When conversation strays to the past, I don’t have any nostalgia, but Hong Gu does.

She mentions Fang Ru “I thought she wasn’t such a cold person, but now when she sees me all she does is avoid me. Sometimes she sees me walking directly towards her and she pretends she doesn’t see me.” I laugh “Marry a chicken, follow a chicken, marry a dog, follow a dog. Li Yan Nian was already holding a grudge towards me years ago, which was fine when I was still close with Li Yan. Now that we’re now longer on good terms, Fang Gu can’t disobey her husband’s side of the family.”

Hong Gu swiftly covered my mouth “Oh my lord! You watch your mouth, how can you still refer to her by her name.” I coldly huff “Whether or not I call her Li Yan has no bearing on the way she will behave towards me.”

Because I felt sorry for her, I tried to back off. But she keeps pressuring me and our friends.h.i.+p of the past has gradually disappeared. There is still the oath she made me swear. Even though I hold her life in my hands, but I can’t do anything about it. Her life isn’t important enough to outweigh the potential risk towards Qu Bing and Jiu Ye.

Even though I will keep my promise, but she can never feel at ease about me. In the beginning she just wanted to force me to leave Qu Bing and leave Chang An. But now she likely doesn’t even care about my life and death anymore, and the sooner she can get rid of me for good, the sooner she can rest easy. Qu Bing isn’t in Chang An right now and I’m pregnant, so my best approach is to avoid her during this time.

But life is just that way. The more you try to avoid something, the more it comes towards you. I want to avoid Li Yan, and she promptly comes to find me. Li Yan sent an invitation order for me to attend her birthday bash in the Palace. No matter how much the Emperor adores her, she’s still just a concubine and can’t have a banquet where the entire court will fete her. So she’s having a small party with just the ladies attending. But it’s exactly this type of small gathering that worries me more.

Hong Gu said “This is not a good banquet, how about we ask the Empress to help decline it.” I shake my head and give a sad smile while Uncle Chen sighs “Even though it’s not clear whether the Empress knows Ms. Yu is pregnant, but the Empress has always taken care of Ms. Yu. Right now the General isn’t in Chang An and surely the Empress will not be at ease knowing Ms. Yu is going to the Palace by herself. If she could have declined it she would have. It’s clear the Emperor agreed to this so the Empress cannot say anything about it.”

I looked at my figure “I’m showing now and I can’t hide it anymore. Chances are Li Yan probably heard something so wants to check me out. The doctor said the first trimester is the most risky for a miscarriage, but now it’s way past that. At least I got a few months peace and that’s good enough for me.”

Uncle Chen got on his kneels and bowed to me “Ms. Yu, please listen to this old servant and take good care of yourself. No matter what happens, you must endure it for the sake of the child. No matter what insults befall you, you must wait until the General returns.”

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry “I’m the child’s mother, I’m even more nervous than you. I don’t need you to remind me. Has my behavior been that rash and impetuous?” Uncle Chen said nothing and I sighed. Just because I did not try to convince Qu Bing to marry a princess, everyone know thinks I’m someone who doesn’t see the big picture.

Hong Gu grabbed my hand and smiled to Uncle Chen “Yu Er can sometimes be obstinate and extreme in her ways, but she’s not someone who doesn’t know what is important.” I give Hong Gu an exasperated look. Was she trying to compliment me? If so, she likely made me even more flighty in the eyes of Uncle Chen.

It’s the middle of Summer and the trip to the Palace was unbearably hot. Before I even arrive at the party location, a cool breeze blows over and I can hear the sound of rus.h.i.+ng water, which immediately invigorates me.

Li Yan knows how to enjoy life. She’s ordered a water wheel brought in, and mixed with ice, the water is carried to a high point and pours over a tarp constructed over a bamboo pavilion. It feels like it’s raining and the banquet is situated right in the middle of a blanket of rain. The ice rain chases away the humidity of the Summer and adds a layer of fun to the proceedings. Some ladies are sitting there admiring the flowers, some are playing with the water, and others are eating fruit placed under the rain curtains to keep cool. It really is a comfortable and relaxing event.

The unmarried maidens see my figure and then notice that I have the same hairstyle as them, indicating I am unmarried. They grow curious and keep checking me out. Some of the married ladies look shocked and hurry their daughters away and order them not to look towards me, as if they would also become an unwed mother if they just took one look at me.

Some of the ladies with more grace, or are afraid to be rude to me because of their husbands, give me a small smile or a quick greeting before avoiding me. It’s like I have the plague and wherever I go, people immediately disperse.

I scoop some grapes up from under the water to eat. Li Yan ought to be pleased to witness what just happened. But I’m really sorry to her, because if she could see how much I could care less about being snubbed, she’d probably be disappointed again. I grew up in the desert without a lot of modesty, so these kinds of snubs can’t hurt me.

In the middle of happily eating, I notice a familiar figure standing alone in the corner. Li Yan must hate this woman who betrayed her, so why was she invited? What was Li Yan planning? I eat my grapes and walk towards her. When she sees me, she looks slightly shy and I hand her some grapes “You look very beautiful wearing the Han style attire.”

She bowed towards me “I’ve heard so much about you from Ri Chan and have been wanting to see you again. But it’s not convenient for us to visit. We heard General Huo takes very good care of you, and even the average servant in the Huo Estate doesn’t get to meet you. I didn’t know it was because you were expecting. When Ri Chan finds out, he’ll be so happy.”

I smile at her, feeling a twinge of happiness “You call him Ri Chan, he allows you to call him that? Then I ought to call you sister-in-law now.” Her cheeks were red but she was proud “You can just call me Wei Ji.” “Fine, you can call me Yu Er, or Xiao Yu.”

I noticed the jade ring on her finger and my heart shook. I grabbed her hand and stared at it. She asked me “As I was leaving today, Ri Chan took it off his hand and put it on mine. I didn’t know why, but now……..” this normally aloof girl suddenly grew misty-eyed.

This ring was left for Ri Chan from his grandfather and it’s never left his hand since he was a child. He purposely made Wei Ji wear it to this party. He’s telling me that he’s leaving this lonely girl in a foreign place in my hands. I let go of her hand “He was worried about you.”

I rubbed my lower back and Wei Ji quickly asked “Do you want to sit?” There was nowhere to sit since all the good spots were already taken and the few remaining ones are in random spots but doesn’t seat two. Wei Ji pointed to a good spot “Let’s go over there, I don’t want to sit, let’s just talk.”

I made a face at her and dragged her to the best spot in the pavilion where some ladies were chatting. They immediately turned quiet and looked at me. When I walked right up to them, they suddenly stood up and gave me a dirty look before walking away.

I smiled at Wei Ji and gave her a victory gesture. I fixed my skirts and blithely sat down. Wei Ji sat down next to me and tried to cover her smile. Those ladies finally figured out what I did and gave me a hateful look. They can’t be too obvious so they purpose talk in a low but loud enough voice “I heard she used to run the dancing houses in Chang An! She plies in the male trade, so of course her behavior is without shame.”

I turn towards the Madam Jiang and smile “This Madam hasn’t heard it all! Don’t you know that Consort Li came out of my very own dancing house?” Her face turned ashen white. The dancing houses of Chang An, in the history of this city, the most successful male trade ever conducted was producing a country toppling beauty that is Consort Li. This Madam Jiang wanted to insult me and forgot about this.

My eyes brushed coldly over everyone of them and they had no choice but to lower their heads. Wei Ji whispered “They are afraid of you?” I shook my head “They are all afraid of Qu Bing. And maybe…..Consort Li. You must’ve heard about Qu Bing’s temper. These ladies might be the wives of the scholarly officials, and their husbands don’t report to Qu Bing, but right now the Emperor favors the military officials over the scholars. They wouldn’t dare use their husband’s lives or livelihood as a gamble to get even with me. And I…..” I coldly huffed “Today this will surely be a Hong Men Banquet (referring to the famous Xiang Yu/Liu Bang banquet in the Chu-Han Contention). Even if I concede defeat I might nut get out alive. Then I should stop laying down and scare these little villains away first.”

As we’re talking, Li Yan and the Empress arrive hand-in-hand. Followed behind him is Liu Che’s newest concubine Yi Jie Shu. Li Yan and the Empress immediately looked at my stomach and then pretended they saw nothing. They both averted their eyes to receive greetings. It was instead Yi Jie Shu who smiled at me and softly said “Congratulations.”

Li Yan was very solicitous and yielded to the Empress on everything, whether it was the dance performed or the games played. Empress Wei laughed and demurred “You are the birthday girl today, you decide everything and I am just a guest.” After Li Yan, Yi Jie Shu, and a few of the other concubines conferred, they decided to pick flower sticks as the game. Li Yan’s maid held all the sticks and all the guest were very into the game to make Li Yan happy. The party became very lively.

Right when everyone was having fun, the Emperor’s delivery arrived. On top of a wooden plank was an intricate nine-leveled jade tower carved with a phoenix design. It was already rare to see such a large piece of jade, and paired with the detailed carving, it truly is one of the priceless wonders of the world.

Lui Che must have went out of his way to come up with this extravagant gift and everyone is just stunned by it. Eyes turn towards Li Yan with awe and she just smiled and had the tower placed in the middle of the party so everyone could admire it.

Liu Bo, who was still unsteady on his feet, wobbled up to his mother to present her with a birthday peach. He looked like a little adult person, saying a very proper birthday greeting to his mom while bowing his head. It was all great until he forget his lines in the middle of his speech and end up sucking on his thumb and looking towards the Crown Prince Liu Ju for help. Liu Ju lowered his head and reminded his younger brother, who got even more nervous with all the eyes trained on him, and end up diving into his older brother’s arms to hide his head so none of us could see him.

What a pair of adorable siblings, and I couldn’t help myself but laugh. Empress Wei shook her head while Li Yan smiled but her eyes were cold. Her maid immediately took Liu Bo away from Liu Ju. I silently sighed. In the Imperial household, there is no such thing as regular brothers. Even if they are innocent now, their mothers will not allow it.

The flower stick arrived in the hands of Madam Jiang who had that run in with us earlier. She plucked a stick and it was read aloud “The holder of the stick can ask anyone at this party to do anything” and then she quickly put the stick back in the can.

Empress Wei looked at Madam Jiang, who acted like she was deep in thought and then turned to look at Wei Ji “I have not been able to forget the dance performance you put on for us, can Madam perform it for us again today?” Even though Wei Ji is of low birth and is not a Han person, but she is still the wife of Sir Guang Lu. There are many dancers here but Madam Jiang specifically asked for Wei Ji in order to insult the scene that day when we fought over Huo Qu Bing, and also to insult Wei Ji even more.

I stare at the person holding the flower sticks and she looked back at me before averting her eyes with some fear. It’s clear they still somewhat fear me, but to Wei Ji…… Wei Ji’s face was bright red but she slowly regained her composure. She grabbed my hand once and then stood up to dance.

Li Yan smiled at me and then picked up her wine to drink. Empress Wei heard that Madam Jiang wanted Wei Ji to perform and she didn’t show any emotion. She just turned her head to converse with Liu Ju. I suddenly remembered this saying, the person who knows you the best is your enemy,

Wei Ji’s dance is beautiful and moving, but no one is watching her, purposely ignoring her or ridiculing her. Only Liu Bo was very into it, clapping and struggling out of his nanny’s arms so he could stand closer to watch. Wei Ji was turning in her dance when I saw three round jewels roll in front of her from an unknown place. Before I can call out “be careful”, she had stepped on the jewels and her body fell backwards. To stop her fall, she reached out and happened to grab the red cloth on the table holding the jade tower. The moment her body hit the floor, the entire jade tower tumbled on the ground and broke into pieces.

Liu Bo saw Wei Ji fall and moved forward to help her. Thank heavens a nearby woman pulled him back quickly, but even then a piece of broken jade glanced over him and drew blood. The nanny started screaming for the royal physician.

It was already a great crime to have broken the jade tower, but to harm a Prince is an even graver crime. Li Yan had her head lowered and relaxed after she saw he was just cut in two small areas. She looked upset still and had tears in her eyes as she berated the nanny and the maids.