Leaving the Changmen Palace - LTCP 14: Trouble

Only when Jin Su was given the title of Xianjun did the grand empress dowager lose her temper.

“It’s fine if she’s found,” in spite of her advanced age, the elderly woman’s tone was slow and gentle, with a faint smile, as though she were speaking to someone.

“Those who were unaware would believe she was making a joke. She was granted a fief and made the Xiucheng Jun. She received princess-like treatment. When did A’ Qi have a daughter like that who was lost in society? I had no idea. You ought to at least bring her to my palace now that she’s been located so I can examine her.”

The grand princess was a little schadenfreude. At last, when her daughter was looking at her, she refrained from adding to the empress dowager’s fault.

She grudgingly uttered a few sarcastic words, “In addition, she is the emperor’s half-sister.”

A xianjun is still deserving of the Tangmuyi, even though it is a bit excessive.

Chen Jiao let out a deep sigh.

Liu Che was quite rude and honest.

Having just been promised that he would do everything in his power to care for her, he had already given Jin Su the title of xianju and the treatment of a princess without uttering a word.
Her anger would persist even if she were a saint.

Still, the voice in her head would not go away. It laughed with schadenfreude, as if sensing her discontent.

It uttered, “He’s thick-skinned and black-hearted,” in a tone that was almost musical. “I’ve been deceived numerous times. Since you’ve only been duped once, it doesn’t matter.”

Being ‘thick-skinned and black-hearted’ must have caused it to endure innumerable hardships.

Chen Jiao was genuinely curious as to how the voice was incapable of becoming intelligent. She wouldn’t ever help Liu Che again if she had no idea what would happen later and had suffered this loss.

His ruthlessness in exploiting others is a result of his youth. He should lose badly the following year.

“Grandmother, harmony brings wealth, and there are some things that A’ Che doesn’t want to take care of everyone’s face,” she said slowly after letting out another deep breath. “The street rumors must be unpleasant now. The honorable emperor’s sister is pleading for financial support. To be considered filial pious, filial piety is always taking care of the elders’ faces.”

The word ‘face’ was used twice, but its meanings were different each time. It was alluding to the imperial family’s face the first time. It was already inevitable that the imperial family’s face would be swept away since the Jin Su issue had been made public. It was alluding to Empress Dowager Wang’s face the second time.

While the empress dowager herself lived in luxury and prestige in the imperial palace, she would allow her own daughter to beg for food on the street, appearing to be a vagrant. Such an amazing mother!

She left her husband and daughter behind in order to pursue a position in the palace. Such an excellent wife!

Chen Jiao’s only option was to attempt to limit the harm to the empress dowager and start by attempting to win back the old lady’s affection for Liu Che.

Nevertheless, the grand empress dowager is now, understandably, as unhappy as she can be with this daughter-in-law.

The grand empress dowager groaned softly and resentfully remarked, “A’ Che is good in every way, but he has been implicated by his family a lot.”

She paused as though she had not said enough, then confidently said, “Just wait and see.” Pointing toward Chen Jiao, “If his nephew and niece have a little worse character, they will undoubtedly ruin things since they have suddenly gone from poverty to wealth. Just keep this sentence in mind. The future is full of opportunities for embarrassment.”

The grand empress dowager had lived all her life in the imperial palace, after all. Her eyesight was still very vicious, even though she had been blind for a long time and occasionally made people laugh and cry.

Chen Jiao thought back to the time when the grand empress dowager wanted to make the Prince of Liang the heir, and she tasted something profound: if it had been possible, the Prince of Liang would have inherited the throne, and the glory of the Dou family and the honor of the grand empress dowager would have been greater than this.

When Emperor Xiaojing was still in the middle of the 16th year of his reign, the uncles of the emperor were already restless. Only Dou Ying of the Dou family, though, was having difficulty defending the family in court and was not particularly proud of it. The rest of the family was wealthy and aristocratic, but the majority lacked actual authority.

After a century, the decline of the Dou family was evident to the unaided eye, despite the continued power of the grand empress dowager.

“Just enjoy your peace and quiet,” Chen Jiao whispered after giving the grand princess another quick glance.

“If someone makes a joke, you won’t be the one embarrassed. Someone will feel uneasy.”

The grand princess added a few words to assist her daughter after realizing what she was saying. She managed to convince the elderly woman to take a nap, but only after much effort did she snag a moment to walk with her daughter in the imperial garden.

After being run by a number of Han Dynasty emperors, the Changle and Weiyang Palaces were genuinely opulent and exquisite.

Changshou Hall was close to a little garden with few trees and flowers. Along with the quiet, there was a little rockery amidst the trees and lush grass.

The Taiye Pool outside the palace was visible from a distance, and a pavilion atop the mountain was higher than any of the residences. On the Double Ninth Festival, the emperor ascended to the summit of the mountain.

As a child, Chen Jiao reportedly enjoyed climbing on the rockery. She had always been steady and slow in this life, and the climbing saying had been untraceable, but maybe she was influenced by something. She enjoyed playing with the small eunuchs surrounding the overthrown crown prince here when someone else was occupying the position.

Eventually, the grand princess made it a habit to speak with her daughter in private here.

Since the empress dowager learned of the grievances in the Jiaofang Hall, she has been extremely circumspect in both her words and deeds, rarely saying anything significant there other than to flaunt her authority.

“Still no news from your belly?” Chen Jiao’s hidden pain was mentioned in the first sentence.

She came to the realization that it was the grand princess, not Liu Che, who could make her feel the most powerless person in the world.

“Not yet.” Chen Jiao scowled, unwilling to deceive her in any way. “We’ve checked the food again, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

After a lengthy “hmm,” the grand princess said, “You say that the cooks haven’t been replaced, but they’ve all been inspected. From buying to serving, they are all elderly individuals from the grand empress dowager’s palace. They are aware of the bottom and the roots. Since many of them are related to those in the Changshou Hall, others will not be able to touch them.”

The work still needed to be done, but Chen Jiao herself could not imagine who would want her to be unable to have children, even though she had never heard of any food or medicinal herb that could sterilize a person without their knowledge, and the grand princess, grandmother, and even the Chen family were all ignorant of such a thing.

If not, there would be a glimmer of doubt in her heart that would be hard to get rid of.

“Maybe it’s my physique. It’s not easy to get pregnant…” she admitted, admitting that she was still a little reluctant to accept the fact that the surrounding environment was correct.

“How does Liu Che treat you?” The grand princess’ inquiries were always spot-on, despite their frequent vulgarity.

She whispered, “He has been favoring me exclusively. During my period last month, he went to Jia Ji’s place once and spent two days with Han Yan. He didn’t let anyone know that he secretly preferred a little palace servant. In addition, he remained at the Jiaofang Hall.”

Liu Che was already regarded as being extremely loyal to his wife, in keeping with the fashion of the young men in Chang’an at the time.

Not even the grand princess could criticize him.

“You are still young, you are only sixteen this year,” she said, nodding contentedly while continuing to support her.

“If it takes some time for you to have a baby, don’t worry. It is up to fate. Take your time. The most crucial thing is to win the emperor’s affection. Keep your lead from being taken by other wild women. There will be issues if you have a son all at once.”

Because of his mother, the son is honored, and because of her son, the mother is honored. In this case, the mother is quite sensible.

With a lowered head, Chen Jiao said quietly, “Yes.”

“How is the matter of Jia Ji being handled?”

Chen Jiao’s promotion of Jia Ji initially infuriated the grand princess, but she changed her mind and praised Chen Jiao’s wisdom after witnessing Jia Ji being used as a living prop to silence the empress dowager.

A few more passionate words were exchanged between the two. Chen Jiao couldn’t help but feel a little schadenfreude when the grand princess brought up the mother and son of Xiucheng Jun.

“To cleanse, the empress dowager will undoubtedly feel uncomfortable around your grandmother. Do not dare to speak up when the time comes. The elderly woman wanted to let out her frustration, which kept her from sleeping well all night.”

Chen Jiao was already quite pleased with the clean extraction of Liu Che.

“It doesn’t matter what we say in private,” she said quietly, letting out a little weary sigh. “We still need to be courteous when we meet Xiucheng Jun’s family. A’ Che holds them in high regard.”

“After all, she is A’ Che’s sister and has endured a great deal of suffering,” she had to emphasize when she realized the grand princess was not convinced. “A’ Che regrets the situation. I’m the one who is upset because you and them had a falling out.”

With a raised voice, the grand princess asked, “How have you been making things difficult for her again? Is it possible that she and her son are mistreating you? Horrible! Had it not been for our mother-daughter influence, we can only imagine the grand empress dowager’s angry treatment of her. It might have even resulted in a medication dose! She should bow her head and pay attention to us if she has a clear vision. That’s how it ought to be.”

Her remarks were incredibly powerful and authoritative, especially since she had the support of the grand empress dowager and had always been respected by Liu Che.

The voice, which carried a great deal of helplessness and nostalgia, suddenly let out a deep sigh in Chen Jiao’s mind.

It stated, “You would have most likely been corrupted long ago if it weren’t for me,” with a mixture of relief and fear.

Being different from the grand princess is something Chen Jiao herself is very thankful for.

“Common folks who can’t read a single big character. How can you expect them to see things clearly?” She murmured helplessly.

With confidence and a hint of slyness, the grand princess responded quickly, “It doesn’t matter if they don’t see things clearly; as long as A’ Che does, that’s enough.”

In fact, Liu Che was extremely filial and lavished the grand princess with attention throughout his life. She always led an extremely happy life, regardless of whether her daughter was an empress or not.

It was impossible for Chen Jiao to speak, and her heart felt a little colder.

She wasn’t ignorant, but each time she reiterated it, she felt a little hopeless because, as it turned out, nobody in this world would truly put themselves in another person’s position.

Not even if they were as close as mother and daughter.

Initially, Chen Jiao intended to turn around the Changle Palace after leaving.

She took a few steps and realized that she had just insulted the empress dowager, and it wasn’t just a question of keeping the six ears from hearing. In the event that the empress dowager heard about it later, she considered how she would conduct her duties today as though nothing had occurred.

The only option was to turn around.

“Let’s take the sedan. My back is a little sore.”

The imperial sedan chair was then raised by the palace servants

She closed her eyes and leaned sideways on the welcome pillow, nearly falling asleep.

After an indeterminate period of time, she heard the words, “Your Majesty, please rest.”

The wording was odd enough, and the tone was rigid.

In the imperial palace, the ladies were always called niangniang, and only at formal events was the term Your Majesty used.

Still a little perplexed, Chen Jiao opened her eyes.

When she realized it was Xiucheng Jun’s three-member family, she promptly gave the order, “Stop the sedan.”

“Did the eldest sister come to the palace to talk with the empress dowager?” She asked before getting up, bending down, and taking Xiucheng Jun’s hand before pulling her up with his own.

“We’re all family, so there’s no need to be so polite. Get up.” She nodded to Jin Zhong and Jin E, Xiucheng Jun’s son and daughter.

Chen Jiao had always been spoiled and, of course, exuded an imposing air of nobility.

She was charmingly lazy and had just been leaning against the sedan, acting as though she was sleeping. Her face was still flushed at this point, but she was acting elegantly.

Despite her gentleness and kindness, she still came across as patronizing to others. How could it be tolerated by Xiucheng Jun and her children?

Their inferiority made them all feel ashamed. Neither of the two kids dared to look up, and Xiucheng Jun herself was unable to speak; she could only nod and concur.

Han Yan had to get up and straighten things out after noticing that the scene was inappropriate.

He said to Xiucheng Jun, “Xianjun, young master, and the young lady, please stand up.”

It wasn’t until now that Chen Jiao realized Han Yan had entered the inner palace because she was also feeling a little drowsy.

It was inevitable that she was a little taken aback. She glanced at him and then exchanged glances.

She was such a sharp individual. She could not help but notice the faint awe that still lingered on his face.

This young man was standing in the courtyard, looking lovely in his deep robe, and in the warm sunlight, he resembled a jade tree with strands of love gently swaying on its tops, not yet blown away by the wind. With eyes as bright as icy stars, he smiled as he turned to face her. Something that could be understood but not verbalized was the place where he shone brightly.

A sudden movement shook Chen Jiao’s heart.

After turning her head and speaking to Xiucheng Jun for a short while, she remained motionless and observed the others before departing.

She couldn’t help but sigh again as she saw the expression in Han Yan’s eyes just before she got into the sedan.

“Please wait a moment, Han Sheren.” She said quietly.

At the side of the carriage, Han Yan paused and stood correctly, folding his hands.

Xiucheng Jun and the other two also glanced over with interest.

The market’s women are, after all, market women.

The good news is that Chen Jiao had nothing to say behind people’s backs.

“The imperial harem is a residence for women, even though the emperor’s court is headed by the sheren. Everything is good in Changle Palace, and naturally, one can come and go cautiously if an elder gives instructions.” Chen Jiao stated in a very informal manner.

“The sheren should avoid suspicion in the Weiyang Yongxiang area. To avoid any unclear things happening when you are in a melon patch or under a plum tree. That would be troublesome.”

Before the young man could respond, a voice rang in Chen Jiao’s mind, “You cannot touch him. Avoid falling in love with him, or you’ll end up in serious trouble.”

Her face remained unchanged, and she insisted on ignoring it while yelling softly, “Lift the sedan!”

She exhibits the mannerisms of a proud and imperious daughter of heaven at this moment, even though she was not aware of it.
…

T/N
“Niáng niang”— queen, empress, imperial concubine.
“Diàn xià or Your Majesty”— an honorific form of address of “Your Majesty”. Yes, there is more than one form of address of it in Imperial China.
“Xiànjūn”— county lord/lady.
“Xiucheng Jun”— an honorable title.
“In a melon patch or under a plum tree”— (瓜田李下) a Chinese idiom advising people should avoid suspicious situation even under innocuous circumstances.