Chapter 4 Scarlet Heart

 FlamingoBees 

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Scarlet Heart 

 Chapter 4: 

After a refreshing sleep, I woke up to a bright day. Thinking that the Eighth Prince must have gone to court by now, I called for the maids to help with washing up. Once I was ready, I hurried to greet Jie Jie. As I entered the room, I saw her staring out of the window lost in thought. I sat down beside her, thinking about the events of last night, feeling a bit downcast.

After a while of silence, Jie Jie asked without turning her head, "What are you thinking about?" I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, teasingly asking, "What is Jie Jie thinking about?" She remained silent, gazing out the window. After a moment, she replied, "Nothing in particular." We both fell into silence, my face pressed against her shoulder as we both stared out of the window.

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A quaint pavilion sits atop a small hill, surrounded by verdant bamboo on three sides, while a corridor extends from the other, winding down the slope. With my back to the corridor and facing the bamboo, I sit slouched on a stone bench within the pavilion, one hand supporting my head, the other holding a scroll of Song poetry. Before finishing a verse, I am already lost in reverie.

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

"Returning to the gates of Chang, all matters seem awry,

Together we came, yet our journeys differ as we part.

The parasol tree half-dead after frost's sigh,

The white-headed mandarin ducks lose their mate's heart.

On the rough old path, dew greets the dawn's light,

The old nest on the hill, and the new mound, together they sigh."

Suddenly, the book in my hand was snatched away, and a cheerful voice exclaimed, "What are you looking at? People are coming, don't you know?" I startled, jumping up from the stone bench. I saw Tenth Prince looking at me. His teasing had succeeded, and he was gleeful, but upon seeing the tears in my eyes and the distress on my face, his initial joy froze, replaced by a mixture of concern and surprise. Standing beside him, Ninth Prince, and another handsome young man also seemed taken aback.

I bent down to greet them, adjusting my facial expression in the process. When I lifted my head again, it was with an air of composure. Tenth Prince was still dumbfounded, but Ninth Prince, after the initial shock, introduced, "This is Fourteenth Prince." 

Fourteenth Prince, someone I had longed to meet. But the timing was wrong, and I couldn't summon any joy. For a moment, silence enveloped us all. Seeing Tenth Prince recovering, I inquired, "Why is Tenth Prince here?" 

He replied, "We were going to see Eighth Brother. We saw you sitting here motionless from afar, so we came over to see what you were up to." Pausing, he glanced at my expression and asked, "Did someone upset you?" 

I smiled lightly and replied, "With my sister being the Side Consort of this mansion, who could possibly upset me?"

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

He tapped the stone table with the rolled-up book, about to speak, when Ninth Prince interjected, "Let's go, Eighth Brother is getting impatient!" Tenth Prince shot me a deep glance, placed the book on the table, and walked past me with a somber expression, followed by Ninth Prince down the corridor. 

Fourteenth Prince, on the other hand, walked over to the table with a smile, glanced at the book, and suddenly asked, "How old are you?" 

Puzzled, I replied, "Thirteen!" He chuckled, nodded slightly, then turned and left.

I waited for a moment, watching them walk away, then picked up the book from the table and headed back. Yet, the words of Qiaohui from yesterday continued to linger in my mind.

"Before the Madam got married, she was very close to a sergeant under the master's command, and he taught her horsemanship. Although he was a Han Chinese, his riding skills were excellent and well-known throughout the camp. But later, the Madam married the Prince. Initially, although the Madam didn't smile much after marrying the Prince, everything else seemed normal. Three months later, she was pregnant with the Little Prince. But unexpectedly, news came from the north that the sergeant had died. The Madam fainted upon hearing this, struggled for a few days, fell ill, and then lost the child. Although she recovered from the illness later, her health has been weak ever since! Since then, the Madam chants scriptures every day and treats people more and more coldly. Although the principal consort entered the mansion two years later than the Madam, she is now pregnant with the Little Prince, but the Madam still…"

At that time, I was angry and asked, "Didn't Sister ask Father about this at first?" 

With a bitter smile, Qiao Hui replied, "How could she not? But Master said, 'Don't even dream about it anymore. She belongs to the Prince, and if anyone dares to think otherwise, we won't survive.'" 

I further inquired, "Does the Prince know about this?" Qiaohui said, "I don't know. Father handled it very secretly at the time, and only Master, the Madam, and I knew about it in the mansion!" 

But I remembered Eighth Prince's expression under the big tree by the lake and thought that perhaps even Father and Qiaohui were mistaken.

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

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