Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 16

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Hmmmm, funny to think that everyone seem to be very concern for Ah Nan and her future. Little did they know, she already has plans to just live her days peacefully by being a virtuous wife 😂 Poor Ah Nan, people are still thinking she will die soon… 🥺😢

New glossary:

→ cè fēi ≪侧妃≫ — means side concubine. A cè fēi is usually the secondary wife, so she is just a rank lower than the main wife.

→ dà jiě jiě ≪大姐姐≫ — oldest sister.

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Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 16^{Slightly edited.}

Ah Nan had no idea that she had been stamped with a question mark in the Empress’ eyes, like how she can “die at any time and is a woman who looks older than her age”. Ah Nan could only focus on the Empress Dowager’s attentiveness, which made her a little scared. Her intuition was telling her that there was something shady from the Empress Dowager. But right now, the place she was at is the palace. A very noble place. The most magnificent place in this world. Adding to all that nobleness, it’s also a place that one must be very careful with their words. Even if they want to take a dodge from someone’s attention or question, they cannot make it too obvious. 

As a result, Ah Nan could only show her ingenuous and pure nature. Whatever the Empress Dowager said, she would immediately show a reaction and not make any mistakes. With the addition of the Empress and shufei on the side to keep them entertained, this trip to visit her mother-in-law can be considered as quite smooth-running. 

Suddenly, the Empress Dowager’s eyes squinted a smile, “Su Wang Fei, you’re such a good child. Ai jia is not worry about leaving Su Wang in your care. It’s just, the Su Wang Manor seems very cold. These past years, Su Wang only focused on court matters. Ai jia really cannot understand what’s in his head. He was even afraid of being bothered by those working at the manor, so he directly dismissed all the maids and only kept a few old servants by his side. But since he now has a wang fei, as a wang fei you’ll need people attending by your side. We cannot let anyone take advantage and laugh at you because of this.”

Ah Nan closed her eyes and listened to the Empress Dowager talk in a voice that was not too fast nor too slow. Her palm was unknowingly sweating. She only had one thought in her mind: The main topic has finally been brought up!

The Empress was graciously smiling and did not say anything. Although she still has the right to voice herself as an Empress, the Empress Dowager was the mother of Emperor Chongde after all. Therefore, she has to respect the Empress Dowager and cannot cross any boundaries that might offend her. If the Empress Dowager has plans to do something or make something happen, the Empress can only watch from the sideline.

As for shufei, although she was smiling, her smile faded a little as she held tight onto her handkerchief.

“Su Wang Fei, how about this? There are a few palace maids here who seem quite good. They’re all very quick-witted and are all capable to brew tea and add water whenever demand. Su Wang Fei, what do you think?” The Empress Dowager’s friendly and gentle expression was like the Maitreya Buddha, as if she just wants the best for the person she was talking to. 

In the imperial palace, specifically those working as a maid or servant, who wouldn’t be quick-witted and clever? They are best at observing their master’s moods and needs. Explaining it in a modern mindset, they are people who were professionally trained at workshops in the field of domestic duties. But as everyone are aware, although female servants come from low-status families, this doesn’t mean that they cannot try to climb above the social hierarchy. In fact, in history, there was a super favoured concubine by an Emperor. She used this power to suppress the Empress’ position, who almost had her title as Empress stripped off. This made almost all the other consorts and concubines feel threatened. Of course, this was just a story from one of the late-Emperors. 

To summarise it, though, most palace maids only have one goal —to rise above and become a phoenix^[1]. 

For a moment, Ah Nan had a blank expression on her face. Right after that, she pasted a smile on her face, lowering her head a little before softly replying, “Those bestowed by mu hou, of course all are clever.”

The Empress Dowager broke out a small laugh. She lovingly patted Ah Nan’s hand, “As expected, ai jia made the right choice in choosing you. You’re a good child! Don’t worry about paying those maids much attention. They’re just maids after all. If they don’t do their job well, directly sentence them to death. Mu hou will definitely not stop you.”

On the surface, Ah Nan appeared very obedient. But deep down in her heart, she really wanted to reject this sort of arrangement by the Empress Dowager. But with her current status, what right did she have to give an opinion? And, as it seemed, the Empress Dowager didn’t need to know her opinions either. Although she was using a negotiating tone, the truth was she was just announcing it. 

In an instant, an old mo mo walked out from another room with five young maids. They do all seem quite quick-witted. No need to make any comments about their appearance since as palace maids, naturally they would all look presentable. 

The five palace maids walked forward and greeted the superiors in the room. 

The Empress Dowager took a sip of her tea, coldly speaking, “The Su Wang Manor currently lacks service. From now on, you all follow Su Wang Fei back to the manor to give them your service.”

The palace maids were terrified. They subconsciously turn to take a glance at the legendary Su Wang Fei. Then, they knelt on their knees to give thanks. They were obviously intrigued after seeing ‘the person’ in person. As for what was going in their mind about her, they’d rather keep it to themselves. The Empress Dowager understood Su Wang the most, so how could she just arbitrarily pick out people who don’t know their place, which might only make Su Wang loathe them.

The five maids then approached Ah Nan, knelt on their knees and gave thanks again. Since Ah Nan is their new mistress, regardless of whether they have the talent to climb onto Su Wang’s bed or not, at least on the surface they’ll still have to serve the couple as maids. 

Ah Nan could only reluctantly smile at them. In front of the Empress Dowager, she tried her best to look like a generous person. 

The Empress watched the scene from the side, quite entertained and even thought that whatever happened has no relations to her. She even thought about how these five palace maids might not even be aware that Su Wang Fei seemed to be very blessed. She was the only one who was able to endure and stay alive after the wedding —compared to those who have entered the Su Wang Manor to only meet death……

Shufei was still smiling, but her smile was not reflected in her eyes. 

On the other hand, the Empress Dowager was very satisfied with Ah Nan for being very obedient. She waved for a mo mo to have the palace maids take their leave so that Ah Nan can later bring them back to the Su Wang Manor. Then, she continued to talk to Ah Nan.

For the time being, there was only harmony and joy at the Zhong Hua Palace.

People really have endless greed. The Empress Dowager’s initial intentions for Su Wang was very simple. She only wanted him to successfully get married and for the bride to make it alive after the wedding ceremony. This way, Su Wang won’t be ridiculed by outsiders anymore. However, since Su Wang Fei did not only survived the marriage, but she had also already consummated with Su Wang. This caused the Empress Dowager’s mind to liven up a little. 

In the past, the Empress Dowager has heard from a mo mo from the Su Wang Manor that Su Wang had always refused to touch women. Who would’ve thought that he actually consummated with his new wang fei? The Empress Dowager really did not believe at first. Even when a mo mo sneaked into the palace to show her a towel that has a red stain on it, she didn’t really buy it. Until today, when Ah Nan came into the palace to pay her respects, the Empress Dowager asked for a mo mo to help. The mo mo was said to be someone who can differentiate whether a girl has lost her innocence yet. Only after did the mo mo nodded her head after her examination did the Empress Dowager believed about the consummation. She then rested her mind from that issue.

Her son had an illness that was not very convenient to make public. How could the Empress Dowager not know? Thinking about her son not only being able to marry a wife, even getting to break his rule of touching other people and his cleanliness, the Empress Dowager feels a little regretful that she cannot bestow eight or ten women all at once to serve him. She only wants him to have offsprings now. So currently, she is the most concern about helping Su Wang have heirs.

Speaking of this, Ah Nan’s status is a little low. It makes the Empress Dowager feel sorry towards Su Wang. So now, she has to think of methods to improve the circumstances. Such as carefully choosing a girl of high status to become a ce fei. As for whether the high status of the ce fei will affect the position of the main wife or not, this was never within her scope of concern.

Of course, the Empress Dowager did not dare to select someone so fast. After all, Su Wang has just gotten married for about half a month. It wouldn’t look too good if a new person gets married into the Su Wang Manor. People in the city will only laugh about it. Since these palace maids have been specially trained to be very meticulous, she’ll just have them go to the Su Wang Manor first —see it as herself paving a way to see what Su Wang is thinking in his mind.

After talking for a while, the Empress Dowager began to feel a little tired. She was old now, after all.

The Empress and shufei were very understanding and initiated to take their leave. Shufei took the chance to invite Ah Nan back to her place, the Yong Ning Palace. After the maids offered them tea, shufei told them to take their leave.

“These are snacks from the palace. Take a look to see if they suit your taste,” shufei said in a gloomy voice before walking to the opium bed to lie down.

Ah Nan made her response and then took a piece of yun pian gao^[2] to nibble on.

Shufei took the opportunity to observe Ah Nan. She has entered palace for eight years, so it has been a while since she last saw her mei mei. Shufei is Imperial Chancellor Lu’s oldest daughter, naturally there is an age gap between her and Ah Nan. Due to their age gap, shufei never paid much attention to Ah Nan. But who would’ve thought that this weak as a kitten mei mei of hers was able to fly to the top of a branch? To be married to the Emperor’s most beloved brother, one can say that Ah Nan has risen to become a phoenix.

If Su Wang did not have a wifeless and childless fate, she believed that Ah Nan would be the luckiest girl in the world.

But such a pity……

Shufei shook her head and reached out to pour a cup of tea for Ah Nan.

Ah Nan was taken aback a little at shufei‘s action. She cautiously accepted shufei‘s tea, causing shufei to feel a little weary before speaking, “You’re now Su Wang Fei, so you should show the aura of a wang fei. Don’t let other people find fault to say that our Lu family does not know how to educate their daughters.”

Ah Nan remained silent for a bit before pursing her lips. She awkwardly chuckled, “Yes, da jie jie is right.”

Shufei returned a smile, “What happened at Zhong Hua Palace before……you don’t have to take it to heart. Su Wang is the youngest son whom tai hou niang niang favours. Even huang shang trusts him the most. These kinds of things will be indispensable in the future. Su Wang cannot just have one woman in his life. You have to get used to it.”

Ah Nan obediently responded, but she was inwardly muttering in her heart: If Su Wang wants a woman, I won’t stop him. No big deal, I’ll just become a good and virtuous wife.

Shufei was satisfied with Ah Nan’s reply, but somehow also couldn’t help but sigh. More than a month ago, the Imperial Chancellor’s wife came into the palace to visit her. She even talked to her about Ah Nan’s marriage plans. Regardless, Ah Nan was only a secondary daughter. After raising her, she’d still be someone else’s daughter-in-law after getting married. But her low status wouldn’t make it that difficult for her to find a household which she can marry into to be the main wife, right? Who would’ve expected that a few days after that, the Emperor made an edict to bestow a marriage between Ah Nan and Su Wang…

Shufei wasn’t able to do anything to prevent it. Before she entered the place, her impression of her mei mei was —that she was only a cute loveable child. But since the wedding night when Ah Nan fell unconscious, fractured her ankle, and now, her small face looked haggard and withered. Shufei cannot imagine how her mei mei‘s days has gone by after marriage. If it weren’t the Empress Dowager who had to jump in to be Cheng Yaojin^[3], shufei believed that her mother would’ve found someone else better for Ah Nan to marry. Though she might not be as wealthy, at least her life would be much more comfortable than this. 

But it cannot be undone since her mei mei has now married Su Wang. The Empress Dowager even used her seniority to bestow palace maids. How could Ah Nan refuse? Sigh, for her to obediently bring back a bunch of beauties…what else could it be for? In fact, in the future, when the Empress Dowager bestows a ce fei into the Su Wang Manor, wouldn’t this be making things difficult for Ah Nan? But Ah Nan’s original low status cannot be erased, so one cannot say that the Empress Dowager is doing anything wrong. 

In this moment, shufei was sincerely feeling heartbroken for Ah Nan. 

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Translator’s notes:
HAHA, I don’t think it takes a dumb person know that it’s impossible to tell whether a person is a virgin or not by examining them from a distance (scientifically speaking). The author made up that info 🤪

And oh man, everyone made a mistake on Ah Nan’s pale state! She’s just tired and sleepy! 😪

Trivia: 
→ [1] “…to rise above and become a phoenix.” —it means to gain power or status. 

→ [2] yún piàn gāo ≪云片糕≫ is a traditional type of cake originated from Jiangsu province. 

→ [3] Cheng Yaojin ≪程知節≫ was a military general who served Emperors Gaozu ≪唐高祖≫, Taizong ≪唐太宗≫ and Gaozong ≪唐高宗≫ during the Tang Dynasty ≪唐朝≫. I think it’s due to his fearlessness (despite being depicted as an “inept and bumbling warrior”), he has been used in popular culture to, quoting from Wikipedia, “…to describe a situation where someone shows up unexpectedly and disrupts a plan…also…to describe an unwelcome busybody who shows up where he/she is not wanted.”

The phrase that represents this is “Cheng Yaojin shows up suddenly along the way.” In Chinese, it’s bàn lù shā chū gè Chéng Yǎo Jīn ≪半路杀出个程咬金≫. Shufei was basically saying that the Empress Dowager is a busybody, lol. 

→ (can skip this note if you want) I find it a little weird that the author used the name zhòng huá gōng ≪重华宫≫ for the Empress Dowager’s place. I find yǒng níng gōng ≪永宁宫≫ more suitable, but the author used that name for shufei‘s place instead. 

The reason why I think yǒng níng gōng ≪永宁宫≫ would be more suitable for the Empress Dowager is that: in real history, Empress Guo ≪郭皇后≫ from the Cao Wei State during the Three Kingdoms —her palace was actually called yǒng níng after she became an Empress Dowager. 

I guess the author gave shufei the palace name yǒng níng because she is a “pure consort” —Empress Guo was given the pure title too, or as people called her “the Ming Yuan Pure Empress Guo”. Note: míng yuán ≪明元≫ was her formal title as Empress, appointed posthumously since, before Emperor Cao Rui or Ming of Wei ≪魏明帝≫ passed away, Empress Guo was more of a de facto empress after Empress Mao ≪毛皇后≫ passed away. The guō ≪郭≫ in her name is her surname, I think. 

Fun fact: Empress Mao ≪毛皇后≫ is a historical figure who is the perfect example of “to rise above and become a phoenix.” She came from a low-status family (her father was a carpenter), but she was lucky because she won Cao Rui’s favour even though she was only a concubine at the time. After Cao Rui became Emperor, he made her Empress when a majority of people thought that he would give that position to his first wife, Lady Yu. Unfortunately, she fell out of favour with him after Empress Guo (who was a consort at the time) came into the picture. He eventually ordered Empress Mao to commit suicide…over a very stupid issue that I won’t even bother talking about.