Concealed by Brocaded Clouds, Frost on the Roads: Extra 02
Extra 2: Love As If Brilliancy
translator: Oyen
Sixth Prince’s Mansion, dining room.
Wet nurse Liu was busy directing a group of cooks to prepare the lunch as well as the evening celebration feast. This was the job that she was familiar with. This Sixth Prince’s Mansion had always held a small feast in three days and a big feast for five days. But this year was a bit more special, because it was the sixth prince’s birthday, plus this year, the sixth prince married a consort, and there would be the wife to manage the family. So, compared to the past feast, it was even more grand to some degree.
It was precisely because the wife who managed the family would be coming that there was no room for error. This was the imperial household ah, it was always the new lords brought new aides, and this mansion was also like this. When the one who managed the house was changed, and so the servants below them. Therefore, if she didn’t perform well on this kind of occasion, why should she stay ah!
Wet nurse Liu said with a calm face. “You all give me one hundred percent consciousness. Today is the sixth prince’s birthday and everyone who comes is a relative of the Emperor, if there is the slightest mistake…” She stopped talking, and her stern eyes slowly swept over everyone present.
Suddenly, a little kitchen girl ran in with hurried steps and interrupted her urgently. “Wet nurse Liu, wet nurse Liu… The consort is here…” Wet nurse Liu turned her head in surprise, “What?! The consort is here?”
The little kitchen girl was running very quickly, her face flushed, and she was breathless. “Yes, I just… see the consort… coming towards… our dining room this way…”
Wet nurse Liu hurriedly walked out of the dining room, only to see the consort wearing a crimson wide-sleeved dress, and the plain gauze draped over around her arms, all the way to the front, followed by her was only her close maid, Mu Qing.
Wet nurse Liu and the others knelt down and saluted, “Good bless the consort.” Only to see the consort smile delicately, her boundlessly voluptuous color aggressively forcing her way, her tone was soft and gentle. “All of you may rise.”
Wet nurse Liu didn’t know what happened, she was anxious, and replied with a slight trepidation. “For the consort to be here, this slave didn’t know if there is an instruction?” The consort smiled and didn’t say a word, with a vague kind of shyness. It was Mu Qing who spoke up smartly, “The consort has nothing to instruct in particular. Wet nurse Liu, you should let all of them withdraw, only you remain.”
Wet nurse Liu hurriedly answered ‘Yes’ and waved her hand lightly, and then all the kitchen ladies bowed out.
Mu Qing’s voice was clear and crisp as she said, “Wet nurse Liu, for the sixth prince’s birthday today, has the kitchen prepared longevity noodles?” And Wet nurse Liu was nodding her head, “Yes, yes, yes.”
Then, she only heard Mu Qin’s instructions. “The consort wants to cook a bowl of longevity noodles for the sixth prince herself. You can go and prepare all the ingredients.” Wet nurse Liu quickly responded and turned away.
In a few moments, a food box of ingredients came over, including silver noodles, and various ingredients such as shredded meat and vegetables.
Ruan Yujin glanced at it a few times and asked in a whisper, “Is there chicken stock?” Then, wet nurse Liu answered, “Yes, yes..” She went to bring over the casserole in which the chicken stock was simmering, which was steaming hot because it had been simmering on a low heat.
The consort first washed her hands and then put water in a clean small iron pot, which was boiling in a few moments because of the high charcoal fire. Only then did the consort put the long silver noodles into the water.
When wet nurse Liu looked at this, she found that although the movements weren’t skilled, it was also good. It just seemed like a little too much noodles down here.
Soon, the consort picked the cooked noodles out of the pot and put them into a large white jade bowl. As wet nurse Liu expected, it was simply not fitted in one bowl.
And then the consort paused and looked at Mu Qing, only to see Mu Qing smiling, “Young Miss, there are also green onions…” and her finger pointed towards the direction where the green onions were placed.
The consort then suddenly looked like she understood, took a large handful of green onions and scattered them on the surface. It seemed that she felt that it was a bit too much, so she grabbed some more and sprinkled some bamboo salt, and finally poured a spoonful of fragrant chicken stock on it.
A bowl of fragrant chicken noodle soup appeared in front of the three people. Mu Qing clapped her hands and smiled, “Young Miss, you actually did this well the first time you made it.”
The consort smiled lightly, and the pearl tassel swayed on her sideburns. Her eyes turned, inexpressible charming moving as she ordered softly. “Okay, bring it back.” After she said it, she walked out slowly.
Wet nurse Liu busily saluted. “This slave respect the consort.” This consort was very attentive to the sixth prince. Looking at the consort’s departing back, wet nurse Liu couldn’t help but sigh lightly.
Ruan Yujin had just changed out of all her clothes and was pinning a flower hairpin in front of the mirror when she heard the sound of a maid saluting from outside the curtain, “Greeting the consort.”
She smiled shyly and turned around, only to see that he had lifted the curtain and entered, there was a smile in his eyes.
She gave a slight blessing, “Greeting the prince.” Sixth prince Baili Junxiu stepped forward and spoke in a very soft voice, “No need to be so polite,” He turned his head and said, “What is this smell?”
Ruan Yujin lowered her head, “Today is the Prince’s birthday, this consort… this consort personally cooked a bowl of longevity noodles…” Only to feel his body seemed stunned, his eyes staring deeply at her for a moment before he laughed softly, “In that case, this prince must have a good taste of our Jin’er handiwork.”
Ruan Yujin’s face was crimson red and she was overwhelmed with shame. “It’s the first time this consort makes it, if it is unpalatable, ask the prince to forgive.”
Baili Junxiu looked at it and squinted slightly, “I have already smelled the fragrance before I eat it.” Saying that, the prince picked up the noodles with a chopstick, put it in his mouth extremely fast. Ruan Yujin covered her mouth with her sleeves, admonished with a delicate smile. “Prince, this is the lifespan, don’t bite it off!”
The maids outside the curtain were far away, and only heard the prince and his consort whisper in a low voice. In the far distance was the blue sky, white clouds drifting by, the afternoon sun glowing warmly, through the windows and doors, on the white jade bricks, with magpies’ noise in spring, long day silence, flowers and trees were silent, peaceful and quiet.
Five years later.
A full moon in the sky, like a silver mirror at the beginning of the day, flooding the sky with clear waves of silver.
Ruan Yujin pushed open the window, only to see that the leaves of the Wutong three in the garden were sparse, imprinted with a cold full moon. There was silence all around, and it was extremely quiet.
Turning her head to look at the longevity noodles on the table, it was still chicken soup noodles, sprinkled with chopped green onions. The noodles had risen and dried up because they had been left for a long time, and the golden chicken soup had dried up, so there was no trace of its freshly cooked appearance.
Her eyes seemed to be covered by something, and gradually she couldn’t see clearly. Once her eyes were closed, her tears fell silently.
After a long time, she opened her mouth, and with a kind of discouraged sadness. She asked very slowly, “Where is he?”
After a long time, she opened her mouth, and with a kind of discouraged sadness. She asked very slowly, “Where is he?”
Mu Qing stepped forward and said softly, “The prince… is now at concubine Ou’s…”
Ruan Yujin took a few steps forward and swept her hand violently towards the rosewood table, a crisp sound came from the white jade bricks, and the noodles stained the bricks.
Mu Qing grabbed her hand, and her eyes were red and the tears fell, “Young Miss, why are you suffering ah?”
Ruan Yujin closed her eyes, said in a daze, “Mu Qing, you should withdraw.” Mu Qing didn’t comply and called out, “Young Miss…”
Ruan Yujin closed her eyes, as if seriously injured, as if she was very tired. “Withdraw!”
She sat dazedly on the brocade couch, watching the bowl of longevity noodles cool down little by little… her heart was also dying, minute by minute.
He didn’t love her, and never loved her.
He married her for another reason. She was already vaguely aware of it. But she still refused to believe it, and always that he was still happy with her. But now, she finally knew.
She was sitting in the hall that day, and he took the hand of the person. That person was also dressed in an exquisite palace dress, and the long skirt brushed through the thick rug of Lanzhou’s tribute, only rustling a little. The two of them came together like a pair of figures coming out of the painting.
With a smile in his eyes, he said to that person, “Jing’er, this is your elder sister.”
To the east of the hall was a column of windows, and the sun was so bright that it was dazzling. Her hand was hidden in the wide silk sleeve, pinching her palm fiercely, but with that kind of force, she couldn’t feel the slightest pain.
She didn’t know how long she had been sitting on the couch, but she knew that she had been sitting upright, and even her body was stiff. She smiled miserably, slowly got up, took the teapot in her hand and poured herself a cup of tea, sipping silently. The tea was cold, bitter and astringent. But this kind of bitterness wasn’t as good as one in ten thousand of the pain in the heart.
Baili Junxiu, did you really marry her for something else? So if that was the case, whatever she did, he wouldn’t leave her!
Alright. Baili Junxiu, since she was in such pain, and her body was in Prince’s Mansion, but her heart was in hell. So, he’d better accompany her to hell!
Twenty-five years later.
She held the white jade bowl to the food basket and said faintly, “Mu Qing, you deliver it.”
Looking at the clear afternoon light, she sighed quietly. In a blink of an eye, the years were like water, and it had been so many years. She slowly reached out and stroked her still dark sideburns, and the tassels were shook and luxurious.
He gave her the name of a mother from all over the world, and all the treasure of heaven and earth… But gave the favor she wanted the most all the time to someone else. Was this treating her well?
She sighed in a daze…
She remembered it all her life. When that person died, he rushed up to her like a madman, ruthlessly choking her neck so hard that it seemed he was going to strangle her to death.
However, he still let her go by pushing her away hard, letting her crash into the glass screen…
She just laughed, laughed and laughed delicately, and laughed tremblingly. “You can kill me, kill me… Baili Junxiu, you kill me!” There was infinite hatred in his eyes, and he turned and swung his sleeves away.
She stared at his back, dumbfounded. After a long time, she lowered her head, and tears flowed down. “It is better to kill me…”
Since he had never loved her, why did he pretend to be in love at first sight and loved her deeply before?
Since he loved someone else, why did he bother to use her?
However, she was so stupid that she was still covered it up for him… She never went to her father and brothers to talk about his wrongdoings.
He wanted to be an Emperor, he wanted to reign… Good, it was all good. She could help him…
It was just… it was just that he couldn’t have anyone else around him but her…
But.. but he couldn’t do it. Since he couldn’t do it, she would help him do it!
But in the end, what was the point of doing this? That person was gone, but someone else had made up for it. There were so many women in this world, how could she get rid of them all? Even if she did, what could she do?
It took Ruan Yujin a long time before she withdrew from her memories and took the Sutra on the golden couch. “When the Bodhisattva Guanzai performs the deep Prajna Paramita, he sees that all the five aggregates are empty, and he tries to overcome all sufferings. Color is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from color, color is emptiness, emptiness is color, and so is suffering, thought, action, and consciousness. It is the emptiness of all dharmas, not born, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, not increased, not reduced…”*
*I don’t really know how to translate the Sutra..
*I don’t really know how to translate the Sutra..
Everything is empty, maybe it’s better to forget!
Forget that day was a good day, the scenery was good scenery, she had been obsessed with him was like a watery time.
Forget that all the good he did to her was just to lure her into a trap.
Forget that she had used all her strength just to have only her by his side.
Forget it, forget it! Forget everything!
Chengqian Hall. Chai Yi looked at Emperor Jingren, who was hiding in the shadows. “Emperor, it is late at night, it is time to go to bed. There’s an early morning court tomorrow!”
Emperor Jingren was silent for a long time. Chai Yi stood with his hands down, no longer making a sound.
After a long, long time, only the Emperor’s voice sounded in the empty hall, “I’m hungry, bring the noodles over,” Chai Yi paused and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Reply to the Emperor, the longevity noodles have long since been soggy, this slave will pass it to the Imperital kitchen to remake it.”
Emperor Jing Ren’s voice was extremely soft, “No need, bring it up!”
He picked up the noodles that had already been soggy and finished them. What flashed in his mind was her shy and enchanting face. That year, it was her first marriage to him, a young girl’s heart, gentle and soft.
She frowned and smiled, “My mother said, longevity noodles should be eaten one to the end, never bite it off, so as to live a long life…” That kind of shallow smile made people’s minds shaken, and they couldn't look straight.
At the ‘Hundred Flowers Feast’ that year, when she lifted her face after kneeling, stunning to a thousand dusts. He had never been so startled before, and he was momentarily in a trance.
Such a delicate and lovely woman, but she had such a fierce heart…
If he didn’t have to rely on her… Back then, he might have really strangled her alive. But looking at her stubborn look and the vague pain in her eyes, his heart was pumping and his hands softened, and he couldn’t go on any longer.
Who dragged her to this point? It was him! It was him who reached out with a smile and lured her into this hell.
He couldn’t kill her, he just never went close to her again. Unbeknownst to others, he had ignored her for so many years.
He hated her so much that he had made up his mind that in the future, when his foundation was stable, he would abolish her Empress’ position, but, later, he didn’t want to…
For so many years, inside and outside the palace, in open and dark fights, she stood behind him and walked with him. He might have gotten used to having her. Although she was sitting next to him, she was no longer what she used to be!
Chai Yi watched as the Emperor ate the longevity noodles bit by bit. He sighed in his heart, vaguely understanding the Emperor’s thoughts. Although every time the Empress sent someone to send him longevity noodles, he waved his hand on the spot and said ‘Throw it’, but in the end it still ended up in his stomach without a single drop on the ground.
Thinking about that year, at a certain time, there was an errand boy whose name he couldn’t remember. He really went to pour out the longevity noodles, and the end result was that he was dragged out, never to be seen again.
The Empress was infected with wind chills that year, and it took several months to heal. The Emperor looked in the direction of the Zhaoyang Hall everyday, and also ordered the Imperial physician to report the Empress’ illness everyday and personally check the prescription.
However, for so many years, the Emperor had never set food in Zhaoyang Hall.
In the late night of the Shengjia 21st year in the 20th of the fifth month, the Chengqian Hall was dimly lit and extremely quiet, as if the change in the court was just a dream.
“Jin’er, things have… come to this point, everything… everything has… been as you… wished!”
In front of the dragon bed, there was a gilded candle holder, lit with a few thick red candles, reflecting his slim and lying silhouette.
Ruan Yujin looked at the face that was hidden behind a thick yellow quilt in a confused manner, asking word by word. “You say, you say, why did you lie to me? You clearly had your beloved Ou Jingzhi back then, why did you lie to me?”
His face was yellowish and his eyes were chaotic, perhaps… perhaps…
She thought her heart was dead a long time ago, but to this day it actually still hurts.
He was about to give up and go, leaving her all alone in this world.
The first time they met, he talked to her and pleased her with his words, making her think that there was really a ‘two hearts beating as one’ as they say in books. She liked everything he liked. The two were like the perfect match, as they said in the books.
But… but in the end, that everything was just one of his plays.
Whatever she said, he was silent. Would he never speak to her again? Because she took away his most important power? He succeeded because of her, and now he has lost because of her!
Haha, it was the Will of Heaven ah! Everything was the Will of Heaven ah!
She slowly fell to her knees, laughing, like crazy. After a long time, she said coldly, “Baili Junxiu, in a few days it will be your big birthday. Do you know why I still cook longevity noodles for you every year after all these years? Do you think I still love you and value you as foolishly as I did back then? Haha… Let me tell you, all I did was just to protect my Empress’ position and my Ruan family.”
Tears flowing, and trailed in varying shades across the corners of her eyes.
Tears flowing, and trailed in varying shades across the corners of her eyes.
The hall was extremely quiet, and only the sound of his breathing, one after another, whistled like a broken wind drum.
She sat on the ground and hugged her knees, not even half as noble and graceful as she used to be.
He suddenly said very gently and very softly, “I know… I know it… for a long time.”
Her tearful eyes blurred, she covered her face with her sleeve, and whimpered. “You know… What do you know?” He didn’t know anything. If he knew that she had been so heart-wrenching to him, how could he have replied to her like that? Hiding Ou Jingzhi in the mansion and meeting privately every day. It wasn’t until a year after she gave birth to Baili Haoting that he let her know about the existence of Ou Jingzhi…
He coughed and gasped, “I… knew it long ago. After ascending the throne, everything you did to me was just for you… yourself, for… your Ruan family only.”
He had given her everything except the favor that all women wanted, even the heart.
He coughed again for a while before he said, “Jin’er, over the years, you have been… in the harem… doing whatever you want…, do you… do you… really think that… I… don’t know anything?”
She was extremely fierce at that time, and Concubine Meng, who was above everyone under the harem, was only favored by him, and showed off in front of her, she would directly slap her, not to mention other concubines. Didn’t he just turn a blind eye and let it go?
“Jin’er, If I am not… not for you… Do you think I can tolerate you like this?”
Ruan Yujin’s body shook, she was in doubt, “You… What did you say?”
“Jin’er, you are so smart, have you never had the slightest doubt as to why I let you do whatever you want so freely?”
She stood dumbfounded, looking at him in a daze, as different as if a lifetime had passed!
There was silence all around, only the sound of insects outside the window.
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😩😩they really did not spent any good times together just pain and suffering prolly she was ignored and abandoned for decades what a piece of shit that scum.
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