T/N: I am translating the Webnovel version from jjxwc. The previous translator was using a published version with less chapters. This chapter (chapter 4 in the webnovel) picks up from where chapter 1 of the published version leaves off (chapter 1 WN is the prologue, published chapter 1 is chapters 2-3 of the WN). So don’t worry, nothing is being skipped.
Warning: Primarily MTLed chapter. My first novel attempt. I am not picking this series up, so if anyone is actually interested, please feel free to pick up the project! (No need to let me know.)
“He looked at me with a slight smile, saying, ‘What a sweet scent…young lady, can I kiss you?’ I’d never think of it, even in my dreams! You say…you say there’s no way he would really take a fancy to this little yatou (1), right?”
Lying on a bed, Cui Ya Tang’s nose overflowed with blood as she repeated that line for the thirty-first time that night.
Qin Chuan said a few words, but she was busy looking for something. She couldn’t remember if she had brought the item in or not.
“He looked at me with a slight smile, saying…”
The fiftieth time Cui Ya repeated that line, Qin Chuan finally found what she was looking for—osmanthus essential oil for fragrance.
“He looked at me…huh? Wait a moment. Chuan-jie (2), what are you doing?!” Cui Ya Teng asked, jumping off the bed. Dumbstruck, she watched as Qin Chuan poured the entire bottle of osmanthus oil over her head.
“Y-you’re insane,” Cui Ya said, “osmanthus has such a strong scent!”
Qin Chuan laughed gently and said, “Yes, it’s fragrant this way. Cui Ya, would you like some as well?”
Then, without further warning, she poured the remaining osmanthus oil onto Cui Ya’s body. Cui Ya was scared, jumped up shouting, “You really have gone crazy! The lead steward (3) will scold us to death!”
“Don’t worry,” Qin Chuan said, calmly combing her oily hair, “in a moment when we go to the Ningbi Hall, there will inevitably be those with even more exaggerated styles. We aren’t breaking any rules.”
Cui Ya sniffed herself gently, her face wrinkled like a steamed bun. “So fragrant, it’s making me dizzy!” she exclaimed.
Qin Chuan, who rarely accessorized, was wearing a hairpin with a single pearl flower, applying powder to her face. However, her complexion was a waxy yellow, nor were her natural features attractive. Thus, the more she applied powder, the impression is not that she got more beautiful, but more ugly instead. Cui Ya couldn’t bear to watch any longer, she had the vague feeling that the usually amiable Chuan-jie was oddly grotesque today.
Choosing her words extremely carefully, she opened her mouth to ask, “Uhm…Chuan-jie, you…really don’t think that the fragrance is too strong?”
“Not at all, if I want to be fragrant, I’ll be thorough about it,” said Qin Chuan, slightly smiling while contentedly admiring herself in the mirror.
Two individuals wore the fragrant osmanthus scent whilst rushing towards the Ningbi Hall, passing plenty of shocked individuals. Fortunately, the Hall was already filled with young women practically drowning in flower-scented perfume. The osmanthus scent, though strong individually, simply mixed with the scents of the other flower perfumes, becoming indistinguishable and forming a sickening atmosphere in the process. This caused the head steward to sneeze more than ten times, but that was the extent of the damage.
“I’m aware of where each one of you outsiders wants to go, and in my heart I’m very happy…but please don’t go overboard…” coughing, the head steward issued a small reminder. Everyone ignored him, so he had no choice but to drop the subject. In the past, he’d always been a steward on the inside, and had never been in contact with such a group of individuals. “Forget it…” he lamented. “I’ll distribute the work, call their names up to receive the token (4).”
Qin Chuan’s job was to take care of the Qiong Flower Sea, where many exotic species were planted. Once the White River Dragon King arrived, the best flowers would be chosen to display in each of the halls.
As she was tying the token around her waist, someone suddenly tapped her shoulder. Cui Ya whispered weakly into her ear, “Chuan-jie…he…he’s back again…hurry and support me…”
Again? Qin Chuan inexplicably turned her head. Fu Jiu Yun leaned on the hall door plugging his nose, simultaneously amused and disgusted at the chaotic scene in the Hall.
Flustered, the head steward took advantage of the commotion to approach. Submissively, he asked, “Jiu Yun daren (5), do you need anything?”
Fu Jiu Yun nodded, saying, “Did nobody tell you that Xuan Zhu needs the Ningbi Hall today?”
The steward’s complexion instantly paled. He stammered, “W-what? Xuan Zhu daren needs the Ningbi Hall?! W-why was I not informed of this…this situation, what should be done…?”
Fu Jiu Yun blinked a few times, as if frightening the steward was particularly enjoyable. Thus, he deadpanned, “It seems like you forgot, Xuan Zhu heard that you had organized a large number of outside servants in the Ningbi Hall, ruining the atmosphere here.”
The head steward was left speechless. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fainted.
Fu Jiu Yun didn’t expect him to be gutless like this, and kicked the steward gently with his foot. The steward, however, was passed out. Fu Jiu Yun couldn’t help but sneer at him, “Huh? Unexpectedly, you’re really useless.”
He swept towards the Chao Hall, meeting many female guest servants along the way dressed in red and green, with fragrance that assaulted the nostrils. He found it amusing on the inside, but he plugged his nose as he silently made his way. If one paid attention, they would notice that as he passed by Cui Ya, the latter grew weak from head-to-toe, her cheeks reddening as she stared at the floor. Without the slightest hesitation, Fu Jiu Yun approached her, saying with a laugh, “Guniang (6), we meet again.”
Two streams of blood spurt from Cui Ya’s nostrils. She felt as if she were in a dream. “Jiu Yun daren, I-I…I’m willing to be kissed by you…”
This audacious statement left all the present servants in a state of shock. Qin Chuan, behind her, secretly tapped her shoulder. Cui Ya was completely unaware; her soul was probably already leaving her body.
Fu Jiu Yun wasn’t particularly surprised, he stretched three slender fingers out and gently grabbed Cui Ya’s chin. Lowering his head, he actually sniffed the girl a bit. Laughing, he said, “…you really are fragrant.”
Stupefied, Cui Ya replied, “It’s sold at the base of the mountain, this osmanthus essential oil. Five coins (7) a pound (8), the sweet-smelling osmanthus is sold…”
Fu Jiu Yun smiled, “Since it’s like that, shut your eyes.”
Cui Ya closed her eyes without the slightest hesitation, eyelashes trembling and cheeks reddening. Qin Chuan wore a complicated expression as she looked at Cui Ya. If she really got kissed by Fu Jiu Yun today, the rumors that would spread would still be trivial, but the real problem would be if the small infatuation grew and led to heartbreak. Cui Ya was still young, if she invested her emotions too deeply, what would the result be? Furthermore, this man was likely to forget her afterwards, leading her to a lifelong heartbroken state.
Taking all this into account, Qin Chuan secretly reached into her bag and pulled out a single silver needle. Gently stabbing it into Cui Ya’s back, she immediately collapsed onto the ground. Qin Chuan hurriedly caught her, shouting, “Cui Ya! Cui Ya?! She seems to be unconscious! Everyone, hurry and help out! Take her somewhere with fresh air!”
The servants who were dumbstruck hurriedly came to help out, one after the other, carrying Cui Ya to a chair near a window and opened it to allow the air to flow.
Qin Chuan spotted a feather fan sticking out of a flower vase in the corner of the hall and headed to pick it up. Turning around, she meant to fan Cui Ya, but instead saw Cui Ya being embraced by someone, who gently held her shoulders, whispering to her, “Are you okay?”
That sound gave Qin Chuan a fright, and she suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Stupefied, she raised her head. Sure enough, Fu Jiu Yun was standing right in front of her, staring at her with interest.
Hurriedly, she lowered her head, smiled, and said, “T-this little one is fine, many thanks, Jiu Yun daren! We outsiders have always heard of lao daren’s kindness, but from what this little one saw today, the rumors don’t even describe half of it. (10) For me to be able to come today is really a great blessing.”
Accompanying her horrid makeup was her vulgar smile, her appearance especially wretched. On her head was a pearl flower hairpin that would wobble whenever she nodded, making her appearance amusing. On top of that was her mass of heavily oiled, osmanthus scented hair, giving off an extremely fragranced scent, a man that wouldn’t faint at her appearance was especially rare.
However, Fu Jiu Yun looked at her intently, even lowering his chin to his hand thoughtfully. He looked at her left and right, up and down, until finally, he reached out his hand to fix her hairpin, showing her a gentle smile.
Qin Chuan’s body shook slightly. Retreating a step and pointing at Cui Ya, she said, “This little one is worried about her, let me take a look…”
He grabbed her wrist, and Qin Chuan felt goosebumps instinctively cover her body. Fu Jiu Yun grabbed her closer to him, and breathed out slightly in her ear. Simultaneously feeling itchy and numb, Qin Chuan couldn’t help but suddenly think of that evening. Suddenly, she escaped his grasp.
“…Your pouch is very unique.” After waiting a such long time, she didn’t expect that that’s all he would say.
Qin Chuan followed his gaze downwards to the old bag hanging on her waist. The opening was loose, and it was obvious it had been opened. Hastily, she let out a few laughs before repeatedly thanking him, saying, “Many thanks for Jiu Yun daren’s appreciation, this pouch is something this little one purchased in the West three years ago for ten coins a pouch.”
“Is it?” he answered indifferently before suddenly reaching out to easily grab it. “Let me look at it, then,” he said boredly.
Qin Chuan rushed up and firmly grabbed his arm, shivering, and said, “Daren, this little one’s purse only contains two-tenths a tael of silver, this little one still has to eat and buy osmanthus oil…you, please do not be too strict with me!”
Fu Jiu Yun unhurriedly tore the pouch open. His voice was gentle as he said, “Two-tenths a tael of silver is not few, it is enough to afford a pot of top-notch pear white. (11)”
“Jiu Yun daren!” Qin Chuan exclaimed helplessly.
He opened the pouch anyways. Inside were a few things he scooped onto the palm of his hand: a small silver coin, worth more or less two-tenths a tael of silver; a headband that was old, washed cleanly, but full of the scent of osmanthus oil; and a broken wooden comb with a few oily hairs stuck between its teeth. Aside from this, there was nothing else.
Fu Jiu Yun seemed to expect something else, and he thoroughly re-checked the pouch just to make sure. Silently, he took the silver coin and began to play with it, tossing it up and down, before saying, “So it was only two-tenths a tael, you weren’t lying, how clever.”
After saying that, he lightly patted her head a few times with a slight smile, and returned the comb and headband to the pouch and re-hung the pouch at her waist. The silver coin, however, was taken away.
Qin Chuan scowled, and taking her pouch as if to hug it, she suddenly took out a silver needle concealed within its cuff. Simultaneously, her back broke out in a cold sweat.
“Jiu Yun daren, that small silver coin…” she caught up to him, her face reluctant.
“What’s going on here?” an ice-cold voice suddenly sounded from a woman that had suddenly appeared at the door to the palace hall. Although her voice wasn’t particularly loud, it seemed to press down with a full force. In a moment, the part-time worker quieted down.
Qin Chuan felt as if her back had been whipped, but she stood still.
Her breathing and heartbeat were smooth and steady. Before she faced the one standing in front of her, she was unexpectedly calm. Qin Chuan could straighten her spine to calmly face the woman.
Footnotes:
aschenputtel. 