MBCEM Ch 6

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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This was simply too baffling!

How could a mere palace concubine be privy to the secrets of Lin Wu Marquis Manor?

Yuwen Lan looked at Yan Shu in surprise.

Since he had been too shocked, he had forgotten to restrain himself, thus his gaze had been too direct, and the time he had spent looking at her a bit too long.

At the careless look given to Yan Shu, she couldn’t help but mutter in her heart, [Just why was this person looking at me like that?]

Of course, no one but Yuwen Lan knew why he had been looking at her.

However, everyone in the palace had already seen it.

The Empress Dowager suddenly said to Yan Shu, “The time you’ve been out hasn’t been short, so you’d better go back and rest early. Aijia will say a few words with His Majesty.”

As if she had been pardoned, Yan Shu hurriedly saluted the two of them, “Chenqie asks to be excused.”

After saying so, she bowed her head and cleverly left the hall, seemingly as lovable and cute as the small flowers and grass in the courtyard gardens.

But Yuwen Lan knew that she was no small flower.

It was not until he saw her leave the hall and the hanging screen of the hall had dropped yet again that he reluctantly withdrew his gaze, but his mind was still in shock.

Just what is going on with this woman?

“As the saying goes, even an honest and upright official will have difficulty resolving a family dispute,” The Empress Dowager said, “Your Majesty, there is no need for you to worry too much about the affairs of Lin Wu Marquis Manor. If those two people really can’t get along, then it’d be better to leave them as it is.”

Only then coming to his senses, Yuwen Lan said, “What Imperial Mother said is true. Zhen also has this intention.”

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, “It’s getting late, Your Majesty. Would you like to stay for the evening meal?”

Yuwen Lan quickly said it wasn’t necessary, “There are still a few account books remaining in the imperial study, erchen won’t continue to disturb Imperial Mother.”

 儿臣 (erchen) the way a prince addresses themselves toward their parents

After saying this, he got up and left through the palace door.

The hall became quiet. The Empress Dowager got up and moved toward the western window. Zhu Shu, her lady-in-waiting, followed her to wait on her and said, “His Majesty seems to treat Beautiful Lady Li differently…”

The Empress Dowager smiled, “At his age, His Majesty should already have a dragon heir.”

Zhu Shu responded, not daring to say anything else.

However, the Empress Dowager said once more, “Guard your mouth more strictly, the affairs in aijia’s palace should not be carelessly talked about.”

Everyone in the palace hall hurriedly echoed their acknowledgement.

~~

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

After returning from Ci’an Palace, the sky had already been dark for more than two hours.

Yuwen Lan lay on the wide dragon bed after hurriedly approving a few account books, not having been in the mood to use the evening meal, nor feeling sleepy at all.

He had thought about it for half the afternoon and the entire evening, yet still couldn’t figure it out.

— Since she was the original Li Yan Shu, and there had been nothing unusual about the Li family, how could she possibly know so many things ordinary people didn’t know about?

After all, she had been in the palace for three years and had never even been outside, so how could she be aware of a cabinet minister’s secret – one that even he, as the emperor, was unaware of?

Could it be that… there was some sort of secret in Yongning Palace? 

Ever since he was a child, Yuwen Lan had already been long accustomed to hardship and strange things, yet this had been the only one he had been unable to figure out, so he continued to toss and turn, unable to sleep.

After some time had passed, the palace became silent.

He simply got out of bed, put on his clothes, and left Qianming Palace.

~~

Not too long after, Yuwen Lan arrived at Yongning Palace.

Landing lightly on the palace roof, he gently moved a tile on the glazed roof to peer down at the woman sitting in front of the mirror talk to the maid— —

Ren Dong’s face was still full of excitement, “His Majesty said so many things to you today, and has never done so to any other master of a palace before either. He must have taken a liking to you!”

Yuwen Lan had seen a lot of delusional people, so there was not even a ripple of a wave in his heart.

 自作多情 to imagine that one’s love is reciprocated / to shower love on an uninterested party

Yan Shu sighed, “You don’t understand, he really won’t favour me.”

Ren Dong just thought she was being modest and said with a smile, “You are so beautiful, and His Majesty is also at the age where he is still full of strength and at his prime. Why can’t he fall in love with you? After all, isn’t there a saying that goes, a woman matches one’s ambitions’?”

 什么女什么求 i rlly don’t know for this one someone help QAQ

Yan Shu didn’t say anything else and just sighed again in her heart.

[…That young and vigorous peerless man is not a normal man, it’s useless no matter how beautiful he is!]

The eyebrows of someone on the roof jumped up in displeasure, trying to calm himself down.

However, this woman didn’t even tell the maids closest to her, so did it mean that only she knew this secret?

In the room, Yan Shu sighed once again, “Not only will His Majesty not be interested in me, but I’m afraid it will also invite trouble for us.”

What a good guy! This harem was already like being surrounded by wolves, where everyone’s eyes were green with hunger. If they knew that the Emperor had said a few words to a little beautiful lady like her today, then they would definitely all rush over here to devour her!

Moreover, in a way where they wouldn’t even spit out her bones!!!

Ren Dong remained unconvinced and said, “Anyway, today, it was the Empress Dowager who called you over. It’s not like you deliberately went forward yourself.”

In the reflection of the mirror, Yan Shu rolled her eyes, “Would it really matter to them whether I deliberately did it or not?”

That was true.

Ren Dong had nothing to reply and said again, “Why did the Empress Dowager suddenly ask you to leave again?”

Yan Shu said, “Maybe because she didn’t want His Majesty to talk to any other women other than her niece?”

Ren Dong, “Then why did the Empress Dowager ask you to go in the first place? Truly baffling.”

Yan Shu also frowned, “That’s right.”

First, the Empress Dowager had unprecedentedly summoned her, and then the Emperor had suddenly appeared as well…

Just what the hell was going on here?

Really unable to figure it out, Yan Shu decided to summon the system first, [Tong Tong, if someone wants to harm me again, you must tell me in advance.]

 system = xitong / she’s given the system a nickname

System, [No problem.]

Yan Shu felt in her heart once again that being so terrified and fearful of retaliation was not a long-term solution after all, so she should make a few preparations in advance.

Don’t know if there’s any opportunity for her to leave the palace and become an idle person?

Someone on the roof raised their eyebrows – want to escape?

At this moment, several palace maids were working together to move a bathtub into the room, and then another bucket of hot water was poured in. In an instant, hot steam filled the room.

— —Yongning Palace was small, and unlike larger palaces which had earth dragons, only the main room was relatively warm, so Yan Shu could only bathe like this in winter.

 地龙 ancient heater

Her hair had just been taken down, so taking advantage of the heat, she quickly undressed.

Yuwen Lan turned his head subconsciously.

But then suddenly, he remembered; wasn’t this his own concubine?

So he turned his head to look back again…

Ahem, although there was still some fog left over from the heat in the room, it did not affect the view at all.

Under his eyes, the girl took off her clothes one by one, from her short robe to her skirt, then her snug undergarments, revealing her true nature.

Endless snow that covered ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers, and at the peak of those mountains was a burst of red plum blossom; a warmth to the heart and a delight to the eyes.

He didn’t expect that she could eat so much every day, yet her waist and body were actually so slim, as if he could hold it with just one palm.

…

Since he had lost the ability to do that, he had deliberately rejected all women, so this was actually his first time seeing such a scene.

He had to admit, it really made one unable to tear their eyes away. 

Of course, he couldn’t watch for very much longer before the girl dived into the water like a fish.

Her little mouth kept repeating in a whisper, “So cold, so cold!”

Yuwen Lan raised his eyebrows. He didn’t even feel cold in the howling wind, so how cold could she possibly be while immersed in such hot water?

Yan Shu really was feeling a little cold.

Apart from the fact that it was cold today, she also felt as if cold air was constantly seeping into the room.

She said to herself, “Why does it seem like there’s air leaking in from somewhere?” As she said this, she started to look around.

Yuwen Lan ducked away just as she was about to look up at the roof.

In fact, she wouldn’t be able to find anything since there was only a tiny gap. However, for some reason, he started to feel as guilty as a thief.

 做贼心虚 to have something on one’s conscience.

Not long after, he vaulted to the ground and left.

Yan Shu quickly finished bathing, dried herself, put on her clothes and slipped into bed.

Ren Dong asked the palace maid to come in to take away the water and bathtub. She heard Yan Shu asking from under the covers, “Why do I feel so cold for some reason? Have someone take a look tomorrow and see if there’s a draft coming in from somewhere.”

Ren Dong agreed, “I’ll ask Xiao Dongzi to do it tomorrow. You go to sleep first.”

It always felt the most comfortable sleeping after taking a bath, so Yan Shu hugged her hot water bottle and fell asleep.

When Yuwen Lan returned to his bedroom, it was already past midnight. 

He even had early morning court tomorrow, so if he didn’t sleep now, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all tonight.

But when he closed his eyes, his mind was full of that scene just now.

It really made people toss and turn, making it even more difficult to fall asleep.

~~

Yan Shu had a wonderful good night’s rest, and when she woke up the next day, Ren Dong had already asked Xiao Dongzi to climb up to the roof to take a look.

After checking it out, they found nothing unusual.

Ren Dong laughed at her, “Master, you live in a palace, not a thatched hut where air can leak out.

Yan Shu was unable to respond, but still felt as if something was wrong in her heart. When she took a bath last night, it felt as if there had been air conditioning circulating throughout the room.

The system chimed, [Someone was peeking at you last night.]

Yan Shu was stunned, [What? Someone was peeking at me???]

System, [No doubt about it.]

Yan Shu’s head was full of questions, [Why didn’t you tell me earlier?]

System, [You didn’t ask this system last night.]

Yan Shu almost vomited blood, [You won’t tell me if I don’t ask you? Didn’t you already agree to tell me in advance if there was any danger?!!!]

System, [There was no danger, thank you very much.]

Yan Shu, [??? Was there no danger when being peeked at?]

System, [Just a peek, it’s not like you lost any meat. Not talking anymore, this system is taking a day off today.]

Yan Shu, [??? Hey, since when did we have day offs here?!]

However, no matter how loudly she roared in her heart, the system remained silent.

Yan Shu almost vomited blood and was forced to ponder over it by herself — —

The system had said there was no danger. Could it be that the person peeking at her had been a eunuch?

mio: i mean… he pretty much is HGLSIFKJDS

Yi… now that’s just too disgusting!

However, without any evidence, everything was just her conjecture, and making it public would do her no good either.

After much deliberation, she could only enhance her vigilance.

~~

The busy day passed by quickly, and soon, it was night again.

In the dead of night, Yuwen Lan left his palace once more.

The mystery hadn’t been cleared up yet, so he would definitely not be able to get any sleep tonight – thus, he might as well continue to investigate.

However, the girl seemed to have learned her lesson today and had sent a little eunuch to guard the courtyard.

It wasn’t good for him to go up to the roof again, so he slipped into the palace whilst no one was looking.

At that time, Yan Shu was waiting for an opportunity in the canopy of the bed.

She had thought about it all day and decided to catch the thief herself tonight.

So she went to bed early tonight, unwilling to close her eyes, concentrating on listening to the smallest sound with her ears raised.

She was so sleepy that her eyelids couldn’t help almost shutting. Suddenly, she heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from outside the canopy bed.

With a quiver, she immediately picked up the wooden stick and got out of bed.

She crept to the door, and when the sound of footsteps came nearer, she raised the stick to strike.

However, her arm was suddenly grabbed before she could succeed.

She was stunned and immediately wanted to shout. Then she opened her mouth, but it was covered again.

The other person seemed to be tall, holding her arm with one hand and covering her mouth with the other, leaving her helpless to do anything else.

However, Yan Shu refused to yield and twisted her body furiously in an attempt to break free.

The soft body with its warm fragrance struggled frantically in his arms, like a fish on the riverbank, causing Yuwen Lan to instinctively increase his strength on his hold. But the scene he saw last night suddenly appeared in his mind at an inappropriate time.

While he was distracted and absent minded, a burst of pain suddenly spread from his palm. He immediately snapped back to his senses and realised that this girl had actually started biting him.

——

the author has something to say:

Yan Shu: Bite the pervert to death!!!

A certain emperor: It’s zhen!!!

Yan Shu: Kill the bastard dog emperor!!!

A certain emperor: ???

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this was an update that was a long time coming! i’ve missed this story — yet i’ve also been reminded of how hard it is to tl this story, hence why i haven’t updated in ages GHSDLKFJD

YAN SHU IS TEW FUNNY HAHAHAH i would also be seriously entertained if i could read her mind^^

hope you enjoy this chapter, and pls comment maybe what ur favourite dish is in the comments? i really like spicy foods so i always crave food like malatang or liang mian which is essentially cold noodles!! if you ever get malatang, it’s a MUST to put some sort of tofu in there! whether it be fish tofu, fried beancurd skin, silken, etc (can u tell i’m v passionate abt this topic HAHAHAH)

n e ways, pls lmk ur fav dishes so i can broaden my food horizons hehehe^^