Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 6

Hello palace visitors! I am so sorry for the late update! I hope that the translated chapters being released this week will be able to make up for the time I disappeared.

Now, I know chapter 6 has been translated at Random Translations already, but it felt weird having chapter 6 missing from the contents page so I decided to translate it too. You can choose to skip this chapter and start at chapter 7 in the next update if you want 😁 (it will be uploaded by midnight AEDT on the 11th of Jan, 2020)

Just taking this opportunity as well… For those who keep up with news around the world, you might have heard of the bushfire crisis happening right now in Australia. Half a billion of animals have estimated to be wiped out and there have been people killed from the fires, homes destroyed and smoke can be seen spreading to cities. The last few weeks has been a living nightmare, especially for the areas most affected by the bushfire.

To my fellow Aussie palace visitors, please stay safe and stay indoors if you have health problems! If you need to go outside for work and such, use a P2 mask to protect yourself!

To those from other parts of the world, your prayers would kindly be appreciated or even a small donation to the Australian Red Cross or GoFundMe pages (or to other related charities and funds) to help the Australian communities get through this time of disaster and to recover and rebuild in the following months to come.

To all the firefighters (local and overseas), volunteers and emergency services and crews, thank you for all that you have done to save people, property and wildlife. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the work that you have done; YOU ARE OUR HEROES.

Back to the translation, thanks again for your patience!

Happy reading! Again, my apologies for the late update!

---

New Glossary:
→ jiě jie ≪姐姐≫ — older sister / or used when a female is older than you.

→ nèigōng ≪內功≫ — a term used to refer to Chinese martial arts (internal) training, it focuses on breathing and can help the person who practices it use their internal energy to use more force in the arms, legs, spine and even head. It can be seen as a spiritual practice and is a form of meditation. 

→ běn wáng ≪本王≫ — used by princes to refer to themselves in third person to lower or equal ranks people they talk to (illeism).

---

Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 6^{Slightly edited.}

The wine party has not ended, but there was still a line of people in the guest room waiting for more news from the wedding chamber. They would even glance at the Imperial Chancellor several times.

The people present were mainly officials who see each other every day. Whether they were on good terms as colleagues or were rivals, they were all very aware of each other’s thoughts and feelings, especially on this eventful night. They could only bury their heads and secretly laugh. The Imperial Chancellor Lu’s gestures became stiff as he gave in to the sympathetic gaze given by his colleagues —his heart feeling unease.

He does not believe that Ah Nan could easily die just like that.

In the Imperial Chancellor’s heart, Ah Nan was a special child.

Ah Nan was born through a difficult birth and was weak as a kitten, as if she could be ready to settle down at a cemetery any moment. But she slowly grew up without causing any troubles and became the most obedient young lady in the Lu family. Ah Nan was also very considerate and filial. With her round face that resembled a red apple, her smile and laughter could be very sweet to the point that it could soften people’s heart. When she opens her big eyes which is similar to a loveable kitten’s eyes, she looked no different to a dreamy kitten who has just been awakened from her sleep; it was hard for anyone not to love her.

Since childhood, Imperial Chancellor Lu’s three eldest daughters have their subjective perspectives on things. When they are unhappy, they would retort their father and Imperial Chancellor Lu would have no methods to properly control or guide them. For this, Imperial Chancellor Lu would often say that his children were unfilial and did not know how to love him as a father. It was only Ah Nan who was docile and was willing to obey in the family so that Imperial Chancellor Lu could savour the joy of being a father.

It was a difficult journey for Ah Nan to grow up and he is still worried about her low birth. He was determined to choose a good household for Ah Nan to be married off to live a peaceful and comfortable life. Who would’ve thought that the Empress Dowager decided to appear and had her eyes on Ah Nan to be betrothed to Su Wang —a man who was cursed wifeless. This made Imperial Chancellor Lu very disheartened.

Ah Nan’s face is round like a dumpling, her personality is gentle and kind. Moreover, she is always naive and does not have any bad intentions to anyone or anything. So, how was she going to face the imperial family members who are experts at using cunning tricks and schemes? Just the thought of it makes one want to rot to death!

Imperial Chancellor Lu straightened his face, eyes wide open as he stared at his colleagues who were carrying the looks of being entertained by the current situation. At the same time, they were all impatiently waiting for news from the wedding chamber.

When Ah Nan was woken up by someone’s touch, she could smell the heavy aroma of food which made her instantly drool.

So hungry. So, so hungry…

“Xiao jie, wang ye have ordered for the kitchen to make some food. You should wake up to eat,” Ru Cui gently said while helping Ah Nan step down from the bed.

The imperial physician came to take Ah Nan’s pulse. He later took out ink and paper to make a prescription before making a polite farewell gesture and hurriedly left the room. As he left, the expression in his eyes were seen by those standing nearby…they all understood.

As for the guests waiting outside the wedding chamber —let’s not even mention it.

The first thing that Ah Nan did was set her eyes on the table which was filled with all of these fragrant and delicious dishes; it made her stomach feel a little upset. In her previous life, in order to get good grades she would often use her eating time to study. By the time she managed to successfully start university, she had already developed gastric problems. When she doesn’t eat or drink on time, her stomach would start to hurt again. Unfortunately, this bad habit has accompanied her as she transmigrated into this era.

Initially, Ah Nan was thrilled to have become the daughter of the Imperial Chancellor’s household. She would not have to worry about her meals, clothes and transportation. Plus no one mistreated her. Who would’ve thought that on her wedding day, the Imperial Chancellor’s wife wouldn’t allow for Ah Nan to consume anything for “auspicious” purposes. As a result, Ah Nan fainted due to hunger.

Ah Nan secretly wanted to eat immediately as she was feeling dizzy and could not even properly stand up straight. Ru Cui, only being a loyal maid, helped Ah Nan walked to be seated at the table. It wasn’t until a dry cough was heard, reminding the mistress and her maid that the groom was still in the room.

Startled, Ah Nan made a gestured for Ru Cui to help her stand up to pay respect to the man present in the room. When her knees were slightly bent, a pair of big hands immediately supported her back up, causing her to be free from Ru Cui’s support. Afterwards, she was led by the arms of a strong male to the table.

Ah Nan felt a little embarrassed. Although she was feeling weak, there was no need for someone to carefully support her like they were supporting a cat!

Su Wang silently gave her a pair of chopsticks. Then, he watched that certain someone, who seemed extremely hungry, being served food by her maid as she efficiently wasted no time and dug in her food, leaving the man to only get the view of her head. As Su Wang observed Ah Nan enjoying her food, somehow he began to have an appetite to eat as well. When he was given a bowl of rice, he too, began to eat.

It has been a busy day. Whether it was the groom or the bride, it was hard not to feel hungry.

The so-called marriage ceremony was nothing like the ones illustrated and described in novels: once the groom steps into the wedding chamber, he would gently lift the bride’s wedding veil and then they would drink the cross-cupped wine before blowing out the candles to sit on the bed. Skipping the routine of brushing their teeth, removing their makeup, taking off their jewellery or even getting to know each other —they jump straight into consummating their marriage.

To Ah Nan, the wedding day seemed like any other ordinary days.

As they waited for the maids and mo mo to tidy up the room, there were other maids and mo mo who were helping the groom and bride to rinse their mouth and wash their face. Ah Nan was still wearing her bright crimson red wedding dress as she sat by the edge of the bed, once in a while taking a peep at Su Wang, who is now her husband.

The genes of the imperial family are exceptional. Appearance-wise, Su Wang did not look bad and looked rather handsome and poised, the perfect character of a man from ancient times. The only downside is that his facial expression was too serious. His figure sparked nobility and the importance of his status in the imperial clan, causing other people to feel a little bit of fear. Although his gentleman appearance was strong, the aura and inner feelings he gave to those around him was unpredictable.

Hopefully, he is not a Bluebeard devil…^[1]

Ah Nan was too concentrated in her own thoughts and so whatever happened next caused her to panic a little. She did not know when the mo mo had all left the room. Even when her personal maid Ru Cui was quickly dragged out of the room by another maid —Ah Nan did not notice at all.

“Ru Lan jie jie, without me xiao jie won’t be able to fall asleep…”

“This fool, what trouble do you think you’re creating? It should be: with you, xiao jie won’t be able to fall asleep!”

“Ah, Ru Lan jie jie, I am speaking the truth. The way xiao jie sleep is not good. When she sleeps, she likes to have someone to cuddle. Without me to warm the bed…”

“Ah shush! You’re such a fool. I don’t allow you to ruin wang fei’s reputation! Today is the wedding day of wang fei. Do you understand?”

“Ah…”

The other dowry maids did not have the patience for the stupidity of Ru Cui. They hurriedly covered her mouth and dragged her elsewhere to avoid trouble.

Ah Na had her head hung low. Very low. Her round face that resembled a red apple appeared to look embarrassed to face anyone.

With such a foolish servant, she wasn’t sure whether it was a blessing or a disaster.

Su Wang pursed his lips, making an effort to suppress his smile as he thought about the unusual and interesting relationship between the mistress and maid. In the moment, he looked at his new bride sitting on the bed, seemingly trying to slowly shrink herself to hide her own existence in the room. Seeing how much more red her face has become, like a very ripe apple, and then her bottom anxiously shifting from side to side —with such liveliness and his wang fei’s funny behaviour, he could only imagine the number of people who might be disappointed for losing their bet.

Su Wang awkwardly made a cough, “Wang fei, it’s time to sleep.”

Ah Nan almost jumped off the bed. She eventually raised her head and looked at the man in front of her, who was spreading his arms as a gesture for her to help undress his outer robe for him. Ah Nan cursed at the unfairness in this patriarchal society. Still, she slowly stood up, slowly walked to the man and slowly helped him undress his belt with her hands trembling uncontrollably.

Ah Nan was really scared! She has heard that doing that-that is very painful! Moreover, this man was someone completely strange to her! Does he even know how to do it properly?! Apparently, there’s a rumour that he is a homosexual. Would it be because of this that he would enter through the wrong place and then she would just die in vain like that?! Or will he…

Right. You did not read wrong. This lady here was truly scared, to the point where it seemed like there was no more blood circulating in her body as she had become so pale.

Su Wang’s face was full of seriousness, showing no other feelings as he looked at the female in front of him trembling. Her appearance could be seen as cute and her height was only up to his chest. It made him wondered and felt sceptical as to whether she has truly had her coming-of-age ceremony done. He has heard that she has, and that she has already reached the age of fifteen. But looking at her petite and round figure with the face that used to be as red as a ripe apple, that has now turned white, one could not help but feel a little of regret for her.

Ah Nan did not stop trembling even a little as she helped her husband take off his belt and his outer robe until there were only his white inner clothings. The oversized silk clothings on the tall body of the male didn’t hide his firm chest. Together with the scent of a man continuously in her face, Ah Nan became even more scared than before.

No matter in which of her lifetimes, past or present, Ah Nan has seen erotic films and have read Shunga. Therefore, she knows exactly how wedding nights are supposed to work and what they were going to be doing. However, understanding how things work is one thing and putting it into practice is another thing! She is currently only fifteen years old, which means that her body is still developing. If she were to do that-that, then the possibility of her being destroyed…

A pair of hands took hold of Ah Nan’s uncontrollably trembling hands. She fearfully lifted her head under the faint candlelight and looked at the handsome face of the man in front of her. His eyes were gloomy so she couldn’t help but felt her heart jumped —ah, ah, ahh, so scary. She really has not tried doing that-that ever before!!!

Not giving a chance for Ah Nan to scream aloud, the man frowned and took a step forward, directly embracing Ah Nan into his chest. Then, he lifted her face and went straight for a kiss on her soft red lips.

His kisses were a bit uneven and messy and all he could do was use his instinct to bite and randomly nibble on her lips. For Ah Nan, who has no experience in anything like this, she dared not to move. By the time Ah Nan became fully aware of what was happening, the curtains —which has a pair of phoenix embroidered on them —were released from the bedside by ‘someone’. Even the candlelights were blown out by that ‘someone’ using his neigong. All clothes were taken off and the next thing that happened were two naked bodies close together in bed.

The male’s broad and firm chest pressed against the female’s soft breasts. Under the moonlight shone his deep black eyes, which were gazing at her blushing apple face.

“Benwang‘s birth name is Chu Ba Ning,” as if he was trying to suppress something from his voice, the male’s voice was a little husky. “What’s your name?”

The moment Ah Nan heard his voice, she felt a little dismal. They have already reached this stage and yet he still does not know her name. It really hurt her feelings. Perhaps this was an implicit rule of this patriarchal society?

It is really unfair!

“Lu Shao Qi, nick…nickname is Ah Nan…” Ah Nan completely relied on her instinct to reply. Even her voice trembled when she was saying her nickname.

“Ah Nan…” Su Wang whispered. Afterwards, he lowered his head to kiss the sparkling eyes of the girl in his embrace.

---

Translator’s notes:
One of the annoying parts of the original author’s writing is that some of the character descriptions can be very repetitive. Such as the mentions of Ah Nan being born weak as a kitten or her face resembling an apple. I’m not sure why, but it’s a bit less annoying when you listen to the audiobook (in my case, I listened to the Vietnamese translation. Not sure if there’s a Chinese one).

Trivia:
→ [1] “The Bluebeard” is a French folktale. It tells the story of a wealthy man who married all of these beautiful women but they all somehow vanished mysteriously (…he murdered them, obviously). According to Wikipedia, “The notoriety of the tale is such that Merriam-Webster [an American publishing company] gives the word “Bluebeard” the definition of “a man who marries and kills one wife after another.”

In Rebirth of a Virtuous Wife, our ML is known for unsuccessful marriages due to the “curse”, therefore none of his brides-to-be ever survived. When Ah Nan hoped that he was not a Bluebeard; rather than thinking about the “curse”, she worries that it wasn’t the curse that was the problem. But it was him. This was why she referred to him as Bluebeard. Can’t really blame her since Su Wang is always so serious-looking haha :’)