Translator: ayszhang
Editor: Marcia
Beta reader: Dairytea
Spring Once More chapter 22
(Traditional Chinese cover scanned by Dairytea)
Chapter Twenty-two
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Spring Once More by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The next time I come across Fu is in the largest restaurant in the capital. I’m tasting the number one dish of the establishment, crystal pig’s feet. And this Fu guy, lemme tell you, is he an interesting character. Seeing that I’m frowning and don’t want to socialize, he still comes over to greet me for the sake of politesse.
Very
absentmindedly, I say hello to Master Fu before ducking back to demolishing
those delicious feet. However, his little lackey with an attitude apparently
has a problem with this.
“This
gentleman, how could you speak to my young master like that?”
I look up
from the feet, and Fu Qingshu reprimands him. The lackey decides to try again.
“Do you know who my young master is?”
Hah! “Your
young master is Fu Qingshu, that much I know.”
The lackey
eyeballs me as if he were shopping for a bokchoy. “Are you a new arrival in the
capital?”
I look back
at the feet. Is it because I ate the feet with too much enthusiasm that the
minion has seen through to my poor nature?
He scoffs
through the nose. “Even if you had come from elsewhere, it’s unfathomable that
you don’t know the identity of my young master. Who under heaven doesn’t know
Marquess Anguo and the House of Fu?”
Oh, no wonder
even a lackey dares act so brashly. It’s because Fu Qingshu is a li’l marquess.
But lemme tell you, honey. I’m a
motherfucking prince, two levels higher than you!
I give a cold
chuckle. “Forgive my limited knowledge. I have never heard of a marquess named
Fu, only that Fuliji[1] has
excellent roast chicken.”
Fu Qingshu’s
face immediately turns sour, and he commands the lackey to back off. “The lowly
servant has no manners. I ask for your kind pardon.”
Being the big
man I am, I tell him it is of no concern.
The lackey,
probably worried that his li’l marquess is going to contract something dirty
from the outside, whispers to his master, “Young Master, perhaps it’s best that
we return. The auspicious hour for Cousin Zhou’s silk ball toss is upon us.”
Digging into
the pig feet, I can’t help but perk my ears. Silk ball toss?
Fu Qingshu
makes to say goodbye, but I crack a smile at him.
“Master Fu,
your cousin is seeking a husband? That sounds very interesting.”
His lips jerk.
His lackey takes the mic. “Who do you think milady is? It’s called a free toss,
but the space before the embroidery tower on Yongchang Gate has been cleared
since last night. If you’re not nobility, don’t even think about setting foot
there!”
You little shit! Who the fuck are you to be so damn
cocky? My fighting spirit has been activated.
Now, I’d be down to see if this cousin of Li’l Marquess is really such a big
deal and if anybody would dare stop me from setting foot.
Right after
Fu Qingshu leaves, I wipe my mouth, pay the bill and charge over to Yongchang
Gate. Unsurprisingly, there are a few men keeping guard, but my fierce aura and
powerful gaze make them hesitantly but ultimately let me in.
Below the
tower is a gaggle of young men – silk robes, jade belts and all. I ram my way
through the crowd to see for myself the looks of this tosser. I get to the base
of the tower and look up – goddamn! It’s completely surrounded by pink mesh,
and the only things I see are a few silhouettes shuffling around. After the
explosion of a string of firecrackers, some guy shouts that the hour is here. A
pale hand reaches out from the mesh holding a silk ball, and the little boys
around me all start clamouring. Eyes wide open, I’m trying to discern what is
behind all that mesh when someone up in the tower screams:
“The one in
blue, isn’t that Prince Tai?!”
And then shit
hits the fan.
Some chick
yelps, and the ball falls from the hand straight down onto my head.
Another girl
shrieks:
“Oh no!
Master! Milady hit Prince Tai!!!”
I hide my
face with my fan and take flight. The screaming then changes.
“Oh no!
Prince Tai is running away!!!”
I run like a goddamn
madman through the roads and into the alleyways, up and down, left and right,
until I finally arrive at the back door of the manor. I order the guards to
bolt the gates tight and not open them even if it is the emperor himself
knocking.
It’s almost
twilight when Xiao-Shun comes with a report:
the gatekeeper has a message.
“Didn’t I say
not to open even if the emperor came?!” I spit angrily.
The gatekeeper
is shaking all over. “It is not His Majesty. It’s Wang-gonggong from the palace with a direct message from His Majesty
summoning Your Highness’s presence.”
I arrive at
the palace. The empress dowager holds onto me, both crying and laughing, while
the emperor gives me a scolding.
She wipes her
eyes with a smile. “You have finally reached an epiphany, my son! I was so
anxious about your age and your lack of a wife, no, even a concubine, who would
give you a child! This will solve all my painful worries. That little sister of
the empress, I have had an eye on her for quite some time now. I would have
talked to His Majesty for you, but it’s funny how destiny works. It made sure
you would seek her yourself… Oh, how happy I am…”
The emperor
slaps the arm of his throne, scolding, “Look at what you’ve done! What in the
world were you doing at the silk ball toss of the empress’s sister?! We know
well what your little plan was, but which young master in the capital have you
not already seen? Of all places, why did you have to show up there? The imperial father-in-law came earlier, and the empress wept before us for the whole
afternoon. We can’t take it. The whole city is talking about this like a big joke.
If the heavens mandated this, then so be it. We shall release an edict granting
your marriage with the imperial sister-in-law. You go home and clean up that
mess of a harem and wait to get married!”
I didn’t know
until the end was nigh. Fu Qingshu’s cousin turns out to be the empress’s blood
sister, Imperial Sister Zhou. I’ve seen the empress – so hot she’s bubbling –
and rumour has it that the imperial sister is only more attractive than her
older sister. The only problem is her age. I could never put my claws on a
sixteen-year-old. Not to mention, a man’s grand ambitions cannot be so easily
confined by a woman. The colourful world is full of beautiful flowers, and I
haven’t even stepped past the garden gate yet!
Late at
night, I leave my room and stride into the courtyard, heaving long sighs. The
emperor didn’t seem like he was joking. The cold moonlight washes over my
desolate heart. Oh, why does life treat me so! Before I know it, I find a
glimmering long sword against my neck. A sinister voice demands from behind:
“Speak! Where is Chai Rong?!”
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Spring Once More by ayszhang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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