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Summary:As a virtuous wife, does it include tolerating his cousin, enduring his concubines, bearing his mother?
If you will not let me live freely, why would I let you live in satisfaction?
Did fate let women time-travel so she could learn the three morals and four virtues? [1]
Rather than act like a coward and live, it would be better to live in satisfaction and die.
[1] 三从四德: Three morals: obey the father in childhood, obey the husband in marriage and obey the son in widowhood. Four virtues: be moral, be proper in speech, have physical charm and skill in needlework.
There’s a lot of term in this chapter so they are all put at the end. Clicking on the number should take you down. Use the (which is in alphabetic order) if you find it easier to look up the definitions that way.
In the zhengyuan, a host of yahuan carefully waited upon the wang fei in her morning ablutions. A piece of first-rate silk brushed over fingertips that were as thin as green onions before being set to the side.
There wasn't a hint of anger on the face of Qu Qing Ju, unlike the past few days as her black silk flowing freely. She lazily took off her wrist a green jade bracelet before casually throwing it into a carved mahagony box: "This color is too old-fashioned."
Upon hearing this, Jin Zhan paused slightly before waving her hand at the female attendants behind her. Several other boxes were brought before Qu Qing Ju. Inside, there were pairs of different bracelets. Gold-wrought, pearl-encrusted, jade, of all colors and none of them were ordinary.
Her gaze swept across the rows of bracelets. In the end, her final choice was an exquisitely carved blood-red jade bracelet that, when contrasted against the pale wrist, was unspeakably beautiful.
Coming out of the main building, a slightly worried Jin Zhan said: "Wang fei doesn't seem normal today since waking up, I don't know why."
"This is called respect," Yin Liu snorted. Thinking about her mistress' warm and soft personality, she sighed in helplessness, "Whatever, Jin Zhan and I will go over to Feng and Jiang ce fei. The second-rank yahuans can go to the other shiqie."
Mu Jin had always been worried for wang fei but seeing that wang fei today had the desire to establish herself in the wang fu, she took a sigh of relief. She didn't worry that wang fei would fight, she would only worry if wang fei still had the personality of mud.
Seeing that all the yahuan had retreated out, Qu Qing Ju stood and walked in front of a very large copper mirror. The craftsmanship was excellent. Even if it wasn't as clear as the silvered-glass mirrors from before, it was still enough to distinguish a person's appearance.
The girl in the mirror was only about sixteen or seventeen. Her appearance was very beautiful. If she had lived in the era she did before, she would have been just a beautiful and proud high school student. Combing through the memories in her head, Qu Qing Ju sighed. Her father didn't care, her stepmother wasn't compassionate, her husband didn't have love and there was a crowd of troublesome qie. The original had had a soft personality. In this complicated wang fu, she had mysteriously gotten seriously ill and mysteriously became occupied by her, this woman who didn't know what warmth was. It could be said that she had gotten no justice even in her death.
"Start service." Playing with the strands dangling from the gold buyao, Qu Qing Ju turned to exit. Rui Xiang and Shu Kui, who had been waiting in the neighboring room, quickly opened the curtains, one person holding them aside while another came over to support her to welcome Qu Qing Ju out.
Both Rui Xiang and Shu Kui were originally from the wang fu. They understood that even though wang fei treated them with courtesy, but compared to Yin Liu, Mu Jin, Jin Zhan and Yu Zan, there was a difference in the amount of trust. The events that happened in the previous days would have magnified the difference. It was their luck that wang fei was weak, if she was just a bit stronger, they would have been thrown out. Who else would let them stay as first-rank yahuan?
Sitting down at a round pear-wood table carved with safflower, Qu Qing Ju's eyes swept across the table. A goblet of wine-stewed pork shoulder, a bowl of swallow's next porridge with strands of black chicken accompanied by a multitude of similar fatty sides. The only dish that looked light was a small dish of sautéed lettuce stems.
Waving away Shu Kui who had moved forward to serve her, Qu Qing Ju looked at the people bowing at the entrance with a smile on her face: "You are the ones that deliver food from the kitchen?"
"Such a good wang fu's kitchen," Qu Qing Ju nonchalantly leaned back on her seat. Under the confused gazes of the others, her face darkened and then her hand swept the goblet of wine-stewed pig shoulder to the floor. Very quickly, the room became saturated with the smell of meat, "Take them away and beat them."
Nobody managed to respond. They didn't know why wang fei, who had a personality as soft as mud, would suddenly act up and so nobody moved for a time.
"What is it? This I, a wang fei, cannot command you now?" Qui Qing Ju's large eyes narrowed. She stood and looked at the people in the room, "Or is it that you all feel that it is natural and proper for the kitchen to slight me?"
The servants that were dragged away didn't dare struggle and only begged for mercy. One servant even yelled slander, proclaiming that what they had served wang fei was the best food from the kitchen.
Flashing a look at the servant shouting slander, Qu Qing Ju's brow rose and she said quietyly: "What are you standing around for? Drag them down, administer the punishment here. I want to see you carry it out."
Upon hearing this, a quick-witted taijian took out a handkerchief and stuffed it in that servant's mouth. He immediately started to drag the person towards the yard, the strength in his not-so-considerable body wasn't small.
Seeing the situation, the others followed and dragged the others down. A few clever servants set up a table and chair before spreading out refreshments while waiting for wang fei to come see the punishment.
"What is that taijan called? I see that he has some strength," Qu Qing Ju asked Shu Kui who was supporting her as she stepped out.
"It doesn't look like he is very tall. Why don't we change his name to Huang Yang, to be an interior taijian." Qu Qing Ju smiled gently. When she walked out into the yard, the servants were already tied to the long benches and were under the long planks.
Sitting down on the prepared chair, Qu Qing Ju mentally counted to twenty. Then she slowly and calmly said: "Other than the one that talked back, stop on the other three."
Looking at the three who endured their pain as they knelt and thanked her, Qu Qing Ju raised her cup and took a sip, "A lot of people here are likely very confused as to why I punished you."
The heavy sound of flesh under blunt force rang in the ears of the three kneeling. They didn't dare wipe the sweat on their foreheads as they kowtowed and said they didn't dare.
"I'm a reasonable person, but it is just that you, as part of the kitchen, has become intolerable. I cannot do anything other than punish you." Setting down the cup in her hand, Qu Qing Ju's voice seemed slightly helpless.
Even if wang fei didn't hold the favor of wang ye, she was still the wang fei that the Emperor had personally decreed marriage on. Did a kitchen dare act intolerably to her? Even though everyone present felt something wrong, nobody dared argue. Didn't they see the person who had just been yelling slander was still getting a beating?
The three servants started to kowtowing again, wanting to explain but didn't dare to. They were afraid wang fei would say "disobedience against their zhuzi" and continue their beating.
Seeing that the kowtowing had gone on long enough, Qu Qing Ju waved her hand weakly as though she had been severely wounded emotionally, "That's fine, you can stop now and all leave." Finishing, she turned to Rui Xiang who was right behind her, "Give some ointment to them. These people must be essential in this fu, we can't let them not attend to their vital duties."
The four kneeling felt despair rise. Since wang fei said they were important and held vital duties, then tomorrow, even if they had to crawl, they had to be doing their jobs, unless they wanted to be thrown out of the fu. But they were servants that had signed a death contract, what good outcome would await them if they were thrown out?
Finished ordering everything, Qu Qing Ju slowly stood and turned to look at the ce fei and shiqie that had arrived at some unknown time. Her face made a surprised expression, "When did you all arrive? Since you are here now, then come in."
Done speaking, she didn't care to what their faces showed, she took Shu Kui's hand and walked into her rooms.