Chapter 55: CH 55

As someone who was raised with melodramas on repeat on the TV, his mind was jumbled up with thoughts of crazy schemes and plots. Chen Miao Ping discreetly leaned against Xie Yu Zhi and said, 

“Ah, that Ye Lu Jun Qi looks like he’s secretly in love with Second Master.”

“Who?” 

Xie Yu Zhi’s eyes narrowed slightly and he had a moment where he thought he was hearing things.

“The fifth prince of the Liao Empire. He keeps looking over at you, sending you secret electrically charged signals.” 

Chen Miao Ping was very confident in his assessment.

“Huh,” 

Xie Yu Zhi was unexpectedly calm. He knocked his head back to take a swig of his wine. The corners of his mouth hooked up and he asked with a meaningful look on his face, 

“You know why he’s looking at me?”

“I don’t know.”

“His two blood-related brothers were killed by me.”

The Liao Empire and Da Jin has been fighting nonstop, year after year, day after day. The eldest prince and the third prince had both led armies onto the battlefield, only to be beheaded by Xie Yu Zhi. When the king passed away, the fourth prince, born from a concubine, fought for his right to inherit the throne and became victorious. This Ye Lu Jun Qi, however, was born from the queen and most likely had suffered under the new king’s rule. Otherwise, why would the terrible job of being an emissary fall on him, when there were better candidates?

Chen Miao Ping stroked his chin, contemplating, 

“No wonder why he keeps looking at you so strangely. This could be dangerous then. What if he wants to get revenge on Second Master?”

Xie Yu Zhi was disinterested in the conversation topic and said uncaringly, 

“If he wants to get his revenge on me, you will be a target too.”

The Emperor did not seem to be in the best state of health and only said a few words to officially start the banquet before taking his leave. Because his sons were still not mature enough, it was hard for them to take up the responsibility, and so Li Qin Wang acted as the overseer of the banquet. 

Most of the officials’ attitudes towards the emissaries could only be described as a passable politeness, but Li Qin Wang was a very well rounded person. So in contrast to the majority, he was laughing and joking with Ye Lu Jun Qi, even exchanging and toasting with alcohol, seemingly having the time of their life.

There was a flash of something in Xie Yu Zhi’s eyes as he looked upon this scene, and he subconsciously looked towards Chang Guo Gong Xie Yan Ping. His father’s eyes were slightly lowered, paying no mind to the surroundings around him. Spotting him like this, a few old ministers could sense that something unusual was going on, and their eyebrows furrowed, thinking over what could be going on.

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Li Qin Wang was the direct uncle of the Emperor. Although he was of direct lineage to the Imperial Family, he was always dressed very plainly and had maintained a very low profile. To the public, all he had was a generous name and a reputation of being well trusted by the Emperor. Even Chen Miao Ping had heard of the good reputation of this Li Qin Wang. But for someone to be a perfect package like this, it did seem a little too perfect, in a strange kind of way.

Chen Miao Ping looked left and right and then concluded, 

“Li Qin Wang’s family is certainly a wealthy family.”

Xie Yu Zhi paused for a moment and then raised his eyebrows, 

“Why do you say that? Li Qin Wang has always kept on the down low. Even his horse carriage does not have enough room for two people to sit in.”

Chen Miao Ping didn’t respond, but he thought, just considering that Zhao Si Xian, a fifteen or sixteen year old child, who could only be living under his family’s thumb, carelessly tossing out 6000 guan to buy a crystal pendant for fun. Being able to throw around that kind of money was not normal. Especially when compared to Liu Zhen Hu, who lost 7000 guan last time. Look at where he is now, still lying in bed from Wu An Hou’s punishment. 

But Chen Miao Ping would definitely not tell Xie Yu Zhi this. If the other knew that he sold a crystal pendant to someone else, he’d never hear the end of it. So he only shook his head, 

“I can guess it.”

Xie Yu Zhi said, 

Qian Tong sighed upon hearing him, 

“Da-Ren, you don’t know. She bears a criminal sentence from her ancestry, being labeled as an untouchable1. She can’t be released.”

Chen Miao Ping hummed an acknowledgement, 

“So it was like that……”

Drifting slowly on the lake, entertainment ships were setting sail in a signal of the coming night. Singers and musicians were singing and playing their music at the head of the ships, lightly calling to the desires and dreams of people as the sounds spread their gentle and sweet tunes to far away. But what should be a normal boisterous night at Chun Xiao House was filled with tension and frigidness instead.

“Just a prostitute from a brothel. What is the point of labelling different tiers between prostitutes? As the royal fifth prince of the Liao Empire, can I not even have a woman?”

Notes:

*1 untouchable: For most of the dynasties (as always, lots of differences between dynasties) those called untouchables are not considered as normal citizens. They’re considered to be of a lower status than a normal citizen, and usually cannot marry a normal citizen or anyone higher, almost like a servant but even less than a servant. They have many restrictions, such as the categorization/title is transferred down the generations and cannot be changed. They cannot join examinations, can’t be an official, can’t own land, are never able to turn over a new leaf. Usually this status is given to those who supported the wrong side before an emperor inherited the throne (so as in an enemy) or those who opposed the Emperor/committed heinous crimes against the Emperor (and the state) (but again, depends on the dynasty).

Hmm… I’m translating near the very end of the volume now, and except for some particular moments for a minor cliffhanger like this one, this volume seems to be resolving most of the conflict within one chapter. So perhaps, no warnings will be issued, but we’ll see what Plum thinks as that’s what I always based this of off (Can’t ever trust my own judgment (●′▾‵●)⁺ )

Hope you had a great weekend, and a good start to your week!

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