Chapter 55
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Liu Xiyin was an eighteen-year-old young woman. If she didn’t marry, it would soon be too late.
So Ye Zhao was very anxious.
But Hu Qing was a master of stubbornness, going west when he was told east, north instead of south. In the end, he exclaimed, “General Ye, we’ve known each other for so long. Don’t you understand me yet?”
Ye Zhao blankly shook her head.
“I…” Hu Qing “awkwardly” said. “This is really difficult to say. Think about it, why have I never been close to a woman, after all this time?”
Ye Zhao shook. “Don’t tell me you’re impotent? I… could ask an imperial physician to have a look at you?”
“No!” Hu Qing restrained the urge to throttle her and let out a long sigh. “I like men. I really have no interest in women.”
“How can you face the ancestors of the Hu family if you don’t carry on the bloodline!” Ye Zhao lamented.
Hu Qing nodded. “Perhaps one day I’ll have to marry a woman from a poor family to preserve my bloodline, then I’ll leave home and become a monk. But your cousin…”
In light of Hu Qing’s notoriety for his misdeeds, there was still some part of Ye Zhao who doubted his words. She remembered that, when they visited pleasure boats in the past, he always seemed disinterested in the ladies. There might truly be a problem in that respect — she believed it, in part. If she let Xiyin marry him and go on to become a grass widow, wouldn’t she hate herself for the rest of her life?
So she patted Hu Qing on the shoulder, threatening, “Don’t let me find out that you’re playing me, or suffer the consequences.”
“I would never,” Hu Qing said with a smile.
After giving it some thought, Ye Zhao threatened again, “And don’t hit on my husband or I’ll fucking hang you from the city gate tower!”
Hu Qing’s smile turned even brighter. “No need for such formality and courtesy, General. I like my men rougher.”
Ye Zhao’s eyelids twitched a few times, angered as she was. In the end, unable to do anything about it, she left unhappily and went back home to continue going through the roster of outstanding young courtiers, dispatching Concubine Yang for inquiries and doing her best to find a husband for her cousin.
A few days later, the rain was still falling, unrelenting. The roads were all muddy, driving everyone to laziness and unwillingness to go out.
Xia Yujin took tonics every day, stoking the fire in his guts. He gripped his blanket at night, recalling the arousing sight of those long legs and slender waist. He craved them, but his bedmate didn’t understand how to fulfill her husband’s wish: she went to sleep with her cousin every day, while he gritted his teeth resentfully. When he went to Prince An’s mansion to pay his respects, Consort Dowager An asked him when she could hold her grandson. Finally unable to hold back, he decided to take the initiative. Back home, taking advantage of Liu Xiyin’s absence, he ran to Ye Zhao’s study, first pretending to browse the contents of her bookshelves for a while, then calmly suggesting, “Wife, it seems that we haven’t talked privately at night for some time.”
Ye Zhao raised her head up from her stack of paper, at a loss. “What private talk?”
Annoyed at her for not picking up the hint, Xia Yujin had to prompt her again: “The kind which is about marching to war and fighting.”
There was absolutely no reaction from Ye Zhao. “Have I ever discussed military affairs with you?”
“I want a woman to attend to me when I sleep!” Xia Yujin angrily said, glaring at her thick skull.
“Oh…” Understanding, Ye Zhao generously waved her hand. “Have Meiniang serve you tonight.” Lowering her head, she went back to her roster of young talents, seriously considering which ones to pick to go discuss marriage with Liu Xiyin.
“Aren’t you a really fucking good wife!” Xia Yujin, who had been wasting his coy looks on a blind person, started shaking all over from anger. He picked up a bamboo-slips scroll and violently slammed it on her head, without a care for who she was.
“Screw you!” he started cursing incoherently. “You can’t even be jealous! Can’t you wait for your husband to take the initiative?! Are you genuinely stupid, or do you genuinely not know how long I’ve been holding back?! Do you think of me at all? Is that how you show the example, shirking your duty as the main wife and refusing to serve me in bed? Wanting to shove it on the concubines… Do I need you to arrange my concubines in shifts? Alright, then tomorrow I’ll go and take in another seven or eight concubines, so that you, insensible disgrace, can rest!”
“I’ll do it! I’ll attend to you tonight! Don’t go, this manuscript is very precious.” Ye Zhao, jumping around in fright, caught the bamboo scroll that was flying around disorderly. Having finally understood what he was awkwardly making a fuss over and delighted, she rushed over to him and leaned close to his ear. “Don’t be mad. I’m just that bad. I promise you’ll run out of rations tonight and march home in great spirits.”
Xia Yujin’s anger deflated a little. He turned around to push her back, pressing her against the side of the bookshelves, and grabbed her by the waist, running his hands around. Then they slowly made their way down, pinching her a few times in retaliation to give vent to his feelings, and he looked at the faint wild glint in her eyes. Unsatisfied, he smoothly slid the silver pin from her hair until the soft curls gently spilled down. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in for a rough kiss, wildly biting on her lips as if he wanted to tear apart this scoundrel and eat her up; but he provoked his opponent’s counterattack and was vigorously kissed back. The two of them were entangled for a long while. He had pushed a knee between her legs, while his hands relentlessly roved the top of her thighs, where the leg met the hip. Panting, he said, “I can’t wait to bring you to justice, you shameless scoundrel, and carry out your punishment.”
“If the city censor wishes to arrest me, I dare not resist his orders.” Leaning against the bookshelf, Ye Zhao brought her leg up and around him. She teased, “I must go to the Lord Censor’s bed, let you interrogate me thoroughly, and wait for your swift sentencing.”
How brazenly straightforward his wife’s words were!
Fire lit up Xia Yujin’s eyes.
As he hesitated, Ye Zhao had already pushed him back in the chair, one leg framing him. Without breaking the kiss, she softly brushed over his crotch, then grabbed the spot. “Lord Censor, you are full of virility, but prostitution with a criminal, in broad daylight? You are ignoring the laws of this country. How immoral.”
Xia Yujin struck back even more indecently. “I am the Emperor’s own nephew, the world’s first official rascal. I do what and whom I want. What’s he doing, managing the laws of the country?”
A beat, between lingering breaths…
“General Ye, are you there—” A sweet voice came from outside.
“Who’s there?!” Xia Yujin was all ready to go, then painfully interrupted. He wanted to drag all the blind bastards to the city censorate and flog them a hundred times just to make an example of them.
That sweet voice said again, “I have been sent here to send flowers to the general, from Miss your cousin.”
Ye Zhao came back to her senses, knowing it was Liu Xiyin’s personal maid, called Hongying. She quickly sat up and pushed away from the tangle of Xia Yujin’s limbs, swiftly put up her long hair, straightened her clothes, and then straightened his clothes, hinting at him not to play around with her eyes. She let out a cough. “Come in.”
Extremely aggrieved, Xia Yujin glared daggers at Hongying.
Hongying noticed that something was wrong. The lively, cute expression on her face dimmed and her eyes grew slightly misty. Presenting a pot of gorgeous jade cotton flowers,[1] she smiled obsequiously and said, “General, you said, last time you visited our miss, that the jade cotton she personally grows were blooming beautifully, so she sent this servant to deliver you a pot, as well as a few pots of rare and exotic plants brought back from Western Xia.[2] Although they are rude playthings from the wild, they smell wonderfully when they bloom and look very unique when placed on a table. General, Your Highness, they will be sent to you shortly.”
“She went to a lot of trouble,” Ye Zhao said.
Twisting the corner of her skirts, Hongying shyly said, “Our young mistress said to thank both Your Highness and the General for the trouble you have gone to lately on her behalf and for the help you’ve brought her in fixing the mess she accidentally caused. She is very grateful.”
Xia Yujin was very proud of himself for saving Liu Xiyin on the street and had never concealed it from Ye Zhao. Now, seeing that she was offering an apology gift, he muttered irresolutely for a moment, then had his attendant accept it and hold it in front of him. He saw that, among the others in the pot, there were also a cluster of small red flowers; they looked particularly unique and smelled enticingly, a nerves-soothing scent that was quite agreeable.
“Those are Manhua plants,” Hongying said. “They’re best placed at the head of the bed, to have sweetened dreams.”
Xia Yujin smelled his fill, had people take them to be put away, then told her, “The general will be busy tonight; she won’t go to your mistress’ side.”
Hongying lowered her head. “Our mistress said she was sorry to have bothered you for so long. She had trouble sleeping in a bed that is not her own, but there is no need to disturb the general again tonight.”
Xia Yujin saw the obstacle be swept away. He rejoiced.
He secretly vowed that if his sex life was once again interrupted by the damn girl tonight, he would have to drag her back to relieve the fire! Then he’d sell her out of the house!
[1 ↑] Lit. 碧纱草 bì shā cǎo. I’m not sure how to translate this. 纱草 refers to papyrus, but the text later specifically refers to 碧纱 and not 纱草. Google is not turning up anything. I suspect they might be made up.
[2 ↑] Lit. 西夏 xīxià. Unlike the Eastern Xia we’ve encountered in the text so far, this was a real dynasty/kingdom of Tangut people, 11th-13th c. I believe the Eastern Xia in the story are inspired by this dynasty, because the author tends to play on the historical details rather than use exact accuracy. I don’t know if this occurrence is deliberate, to differentiate between story-central Eastern Xia, or if it’s a mistake.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Liu Xiyin was an eighteen-year-old young woman. If she didn’t marry, it would soon be too late.
So Ye Zhao was very anxious.
But Hu Qing was a master of stubbornness, going west when he was told east, north instead of south. In the end, he exclaimed, “General Ye, we’ve known each other for so long. Don’t you understand me yet?”
Ye Zhao blankly shook her head.
“I…” Hu Qing “awkwardly” said. “This is really difficult to say. Think about it, why have I never been close to a woman, after all this time?”
Ye Zhao shook. “Don’t tell me you’re impotent? I… could ask an imperial physician to have a look at you?”
“No!” Hu Qing restrained the urge to throttle her and let out a long sigh. “I like men. I really have no interest in women.”
“How can you face the ancestors of the Hu family if you don’t carry on the bloodline!” Ye Zhao lamented.
Hu Qing nodded. “Perhaps one day I’ll have to marry a woman from a poor family to preserve my bloodline, then I’ll leave home and become a monk. But your cousin…”
In light of Hu Qing’s notoriety for his misdeeds, there was still some part of Ye Zhao who doubted his words. She remembered that, when they visited pleasure boats in the past, he always seemed disinterested in the ladies. There might truly be a problem in that respect — she believed it, in part. If she let Xiyin marry him and go on to become a grass widow, wouldn’t she hate herself for the rest of her life?
So she patted Hu Qing on the shoulder, threatening, “Don’t let me find out that you’re playing me, or suffer the consequences.”
“I would never,” Hu Qing said with a smile.
After giving it some thought, Ye Zhao threatened again, “And don’t hit on my husband or I’ll fucking hang you from the city gate tower!”
Hu Qing’s smile turned even brighter. “No need for such formality and courtesy, General. I like my men rougher.”
Ye Zhao’s eyelids twitched a few times, angered as she was. In the end, unable to do anything about it, she left unhappily and went back home to continue going through the roster of outstanding young courtiers, dispatching Concubine Yang for inquiries and doing her best to find a husband for her cousin.
A few days later, the rain was still falling, unrelenting. The roads were all muddy, driving everyone to laziness and unwillingness to go out.
Xia Yujin took tonics every day, stoking the fire in his guts. He gripped his blanket at night, recalling the arousing sight of those long legs and slender waist. He craved them, but his bedmate didn’t understand how to fulfill her husband’s wish: she went to sleep with her cousin every day, while he gritted his teeth resentfully. When he went to Prince An’s mansion to pay his respects, Consort Dowager An asked him when she could hold her grandson. Finally unable to hold back, he decided to take the initiative. Back home, taking advantage of Liu Xiyin’s absence, he ran to Ye Zhao’s study, first pretending to browse the contents of her bookshelves for a while, then calmly suggesting, “Wife, it seems that we haven’t talked privately at night for some time.”
Ye Zhao raised her head up from her stack of paper, at a loss. “What private talk?”
Annoyed at her for not picking up the hint, Xia Yujin had to prompt her again: “The kind which is about marching to war and fighting.”
There was absolutely no reaction from Ye Zhao. “Have I ever discussed military affairs with you?”
“I want a woman to attend to me when I sleep!” Xia Yujin angrily said, glaring at her thick skull.
“Oh…” Understanding, Ye Zhao generously waved her hand. “Have Meiniang serve you tonight.” Lowering her head, she went back to her roster of young talents, seriously considering which ones to pick to go discuss marriage with Liu Xiyin.
“Aren’t you a really fucking good wife!” Xia Yujin, who had been wasting his coy looks on a blind person, started shaking all over from anger. He picked up a bamboo-slips scroll and violently slammed it on her head, without a care for who she was.
“Screw you!” he started cursing incoherently. “You can’t even be jealous! Can’t you wait for your husband to take the initiative?! Are you genuinely stupid, or do you genuinely not know how long I’ve been holding back?! Do you think of me at all? Is that how you show the example, shirking your duty as the main wife and refusing to serve me in bed? Wanting to shove it on the concubines… Do I need you to arrange my concubines in shifts? Alright, then tomorrow I’ll go and take in another seven or eight concubines, so that you, insensible disgrace, can rest!”
“I’ll do it! I’ll attend to you tonight! Don’t go, this manuscript is very precious.” Ye Zhao, jumping around in fright, caught the bamboo scroll that was flying around disorderly. Having finally understood what he was awkwardly making a fuss over and delighted, she rushed over to him and leaned close to his ear. “Don’t be mad. I’m just that bad. I promise you’ll run out of rations tonight and march home in great spirits.”
Xia Yujin’s anger deflated a little. He turned around to push her back, pressing her against the side of the bookshelves, and grabbed her by the waist, running his hands around. Then they slowly made their way down, pinching her a few times in retaliation to give vent to his feelings, and he looked at the faint wild glint in her eyes. Unsatisfied, he smoothly slid the silver pin from her hair until the soft curls gently spilled down. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in for a rough kiss, wildly biting on her lips as if he wanted to tear apart this scoundrel and eat her up; but he provoked his opponent’s counterattack and was vigorously kissed back. The two of them were entangled for a long while. He had pushed a knee between her legs, while his hands relentlessly roved the top of her thighs, where the leg met the hip. Panting, he said, “I can’t wait to bring you to justice, you shameless scoundrel, and carry out your punishment.”
“If the city censor wishes to arrest me, I dare not resist his orders.” Leaning against the bookshelf, Ye Zhao brought her leg up and around him. She teased, “I must go to the Lord Censor’s bed, let you interrogate me thoroughly, and wait for your swift sentencing.”
How brazenly straightforward his wife’s words were!
Fire lit up Xia Yujin’s eyes.
As he hesitated, Ye Zhao had already pushed him back in the chair, one leg framing him. Without breaking the kiss, she softly brushed over his crotch, then grabbed the spot. “Lord Censor, you are full of virility, but prostitution with a criminal, in broad daylight? You are ignoring the laws of this country. How immoral.”
Xia Yujin struck back even more indecently. “I am the Emperor’s own nephew, the world’s first official rascal. I do what and whom I want. What’s he doing, managing the laws of the country?”
A beat, between lingering breaths…
“General Ye, are you there—” A sweet voice came from outside.
“Who’s there?!” Xia Yujin was all ready to go, then painfully interrupted. He wanted to drag all the blind bastards to the city censorate and flog them a hundred times just to make an example of them.
That sweet voice said again, “I have been sent here to send flowers to the general, from Miss your cousin.”
Ye Zhao came back to her senses, knowing it was Liu Xiyin’s personal maid, called Hongying. She quickly sat up and pushed away from the tangle of Xia Yujin’s limbs, swiftly put up her long hair, straightened her clothes, and then straightened his clothes, hinting at him not to play around with her eyes. She let out a cough. “Come in.”
Extremely aggrieved, Xia Yujin glared daggers at Hongying.
Hongying noticed that something was wrong. The lively, cute expression on her face dimmed and her eyes grew slightly misty. Presenting a pot of gorgeous jade cotton flowers,[1] she smiled obsequiously and said, “General, you said, last time you visited our miss, that the jade cotton she personally grows were blooming beautifully, so she sent this servant to deliver you a pot, as well as a few pots of rare and exotic plants brought back from Western Xia.[2] Although they are rude playthings from the wild, they smell wonderfully when they bloom and look very unique when placed on a table. General, Your Highness, they will be sent to you shortly.”
“She went to a lot of trouble,” Ye Zhao said.
Twisting the corner of her skirts, Hongying shyly said, “Our young mistress said to thank both Your Highness and the General for the trouble you have gone to lately on her behalf and for the help you’ve brought her in fixing the mess she accidentally caused. She is very grateful.”
Xia Yujin was very proud of himself for saving Liu Xiyin on the street and had never concealed it from Ye Zhao. Now, seeing that she was offering an apology gift, he muttered irresolutely for a moment, then had his attendant accept it and hold it in front of him. He saw that, among the others in the pot, there were also a cluster of small red flowers; they looked particularly unique and smelled enticingly, a nerves-soothing scent that was quite agreeable.
“Those are Manhua plants,” Hongying said. “They’re best placed at the head of the bed, to have sweetened dreams.”
Xia Yujin smelled his fill, had people take them to be put away, then told her, “The general will be busy tonight; she won’t go to your mistress’ side.”
Hongying lowered her head. “Our mistress said she was sorry to have bothered you for so long. She had trouble sleeping in a bed that is not her own, but there is no need to disturb the general again tonight.”
Xia Yujin saw the obstacle be swept away. He rejoiced.
He secretly vowed that if his sex life was once again interrupted by the damn girl tonight, he would have to drag her back to relieve the fire! Then he’d sell her out of the house!
[1 ↑] Lit. 碧纱草 bì shā cǎo. I’m not sure how to translate this. 纱草 refers to papyrus, but the text later specifically refers to 碧纱 and not 纱草. Google is not turning up anything. I suspect they might be made up.
[2 ↑] Lit. 西夏 xīxià. Unlike the Eastern Xia we’ve encountered in the text so far, this was a real dynasty/kingdom of Tangut people, 11th-13th c. I believe the Eastern Xia in the story are inspired by this dynasty, because the author tends to play on the historical details rather than use exact accuracy. I don’t know if this occurrence is deliberate, to differentiate between story-central Eastern Xia, or if it’s a mistake.
Liu Xiyin was an eighteen-year-old young woman. If she didn't marry, it would soon be too late.So Ye Zhao was very anxious.But Hu Qing was a master of stubbornness, going west when he was told east, north instead of south. In the end, he exclaimed, General Ye, we've known each other for so long. Don't you understand me yet?Ye Zhao blankly shook her head.I Hu Qing awkwardly said. This is really difficult to say. Think about it, why have I never been close to a woman, after all this time?Ye Zhao shook. Don't tell me you're impotent? I could ask an imperial physician to have a look at you?No! Hu Qing restrained the urge to throttle her and let out a long sigh. I like men. I really have no interest in women.How can you face the ancestors of the Hu family if you don't carry on the bloodline! Ye Zhao lamented.Hu Qing nodded. Perhaps one day I'll have to marry a woman from a poor family to preserve my bloodline, then I'll leave home and become a monk. But your cousinIn light of Hu Qing's notoriety for his misdeeds, there was still some part of Ye Zhao who doubted his words. She remembered that, when they visited pleasure boats in the past, he always seemed disinterested in the ladies. There might truly be a problem in that respect she believed it, in part. If she let Xiyin marry him and go on to become a grass widow, wouldn't she hate herself for the rest of her life?So she patted Hu Qing on the shoulder, threatening, Don't let me find out that you're playing me, or suffer the consequences.I would never, Hu Qing said with a smile.After giving it some thought, Ye Zhao threatened again, And don't hit on my husband or I'll fucking hang you from the city gate tower!Hu Qing's smile turned even brighter. No need for such formality and courtesy, General. I like my men rougher.Ye Zhao's eyelids twitched a few times, angered as she was. In the end, unable to do anything about it, she left unhappily and went back home to continue going through the roster of outstanding young courtiers, dispatching Concubine Yang for inquiries and doing her best to find a husband for her cousin.A few days later, the rain was still falling, unrelenting. The roads were all muddy, driving everyone to laziness and unwillingness to go out.Xia Yujin took tonics every day, stoking the fire in his guts. He gripped his blanket at night, recalling the arousing sight of those long legs and slender waist. He craved them, but his bedmate didn't understand how to fulfill her husband's wish: she went to sleep with her cousin every day, while he gritted his teeth resentfully. When he went to Prince An's mansion to pay his respects, Consort Dowager An asked him when she could hold her grandson. Finally unable to hold back, he decided to take the initiative. Back home, taking advantage of Liu Xiyin's absence, he ran to Ye Zhao's study, first pretending to browse the contents of her bookshelves for a while, then calmly suggesting, Wife, it seems that we haven't talked privately at night for some time.Ye Zhao raised her head up from her stack of paper, at a loss. What private talk?Annoyed at her for not picking up the hint, Xia Yujin had to prompt her again: The kind which is about marching to war and fighting.There was absolutely no reaction from Ye Zhao. Have I ever discussed military affairs with you?I want a woman to attend to me when I sleep! Xia Yujin angrily said, glaring at her thick skull.Oh Understanding, Ye Zhao generously waved her hand. Have Meiniang serve you tonight. Lowering her head, she went back to her roster of young talents, seriously considering which ones to pick to go discuss marriage with Liu Xiyin.Aren't you a really fucking good wife! Xia Yujin, who had been wasting his coy looks on a blind person, started shaking all over from anger. He picked up a bamboo-slips scroll and violently slammed it on her head, without a care for who she was.Screw you! he started cursing incoherently. You can't even be jealous! Can't you wait for your husband to take the initiative?! Are you genuinely stupid, or do you genuinely not know how long I've been holding back?! Do you think of me at all? Is that how you show the example, shirking your duty as the main wife and refusing to serve me in bed? Wanting to shove it on the concubines Do I need you to arrange my concubines in shifts? Alright, then tomorrow I'll go and take in another seven or eight concubines, so that you, insensible disgrace, can rest!I'll do it! I'll attend to you tonight! Don't go, this manuscript is very precious. Ye Zhao, jumping around in fright, caught the bamboo scroll that was flying around disorderly. Having finally understood what he was awkwardly making a fuss over and delighted, she rushed over to him and leaned close to his ear. Don't be mad. I'm just that bad. I promise you'll run out of rations tonight and march home in great spirits.Xia Yujin's anger deflated a little. He turned around to push her back, pressing her against the side of the bookshelves, and grabbed her by the waist, running his hands around. Then they slowly made their way down, pinching her a few times in retaliation to give vent to his feelings, and he looked at the faint wild glint in her eyes. Unsatisfied, he smoothly slid the silver pin from her hair until the soft curls gently spilled down. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in for a rough kiss, wildly biting on her lips as if he wanted to tear apart this scoundrel and eat her up; but he provoked his opponent's counterattack and was vigorously kissed back. The two of them were entangled for a long while. He had pushed a knee between her legs, while his hands relentlessly roved the top of her thighs, where the leg met the hip. Panting, he said, I can't wait to bring you to justice, you shameless scoundrel, and carry out your punishment.If the city censor wishes to arrest me, I dare not resist his orders. Leaning against the bookshelf, Ye Zhao brought her leg up and around him. She teased, I must go to the Lord Censor's bed, let you interrogate me thoroughly, and wait for your swift sentencing.How brazenly straightforward his wife's words were!Fire lit up Xia Yujin's eyes.As he hesitated, Ye Zhao had already pushed him back in the chair, one leg framing him. Without breaking the kiss, she softly brushed over his crotch, then grabbed the spot. Lord Censor, you are full of virility, but prostitution with a criminal, in broad daylight? You are ignoring the laws of this country. How immoral.Xia Yujin struck back even more indecently. I am the Emperor's own nephew, the world's first official rascal. I do what and whom I want. What's he doing, managing the laws of the country?A beat, between lingering breathsGeneral Ye, are you there A sweet voice came from outside.Who's there?! Xia Yujin was all ready to go, then painfully interrupted. He wanted to drag all the blind bastards to the city censorate and flog them a hundred times just to make an example of them.That sweet voice said again, I have been sent here to send flowers to the general, from Miss your cousin.Ye Zhao came back to her senses, knowing it was Liu Xiyin's personal maid, called Hongying. She quickly sat up and pushed away from the tangle of Xia Yujin's limbs, swiftly put up her long hair, straightened her clothes, and then straightenedhisclothes, hinting at him not to play around with her eyes. She let out a cough. Come in.Extremely aggrieved, Xia Yujin glared daggers at Hongying.Hongying noticed that something was wrong. The lively, cute expression on her face dimmed and her eyes grew slightly misty. Presenting a pot of gorgeous jade cotton flowers,1she smiled obsequiously and said, General, you said, last time you visited our miss, that the jade cotton she personally grows were blooming beautifully, so she sent this servant to deliver you a pot, as well as a few pots of rare and exotic plants brought back from Western Xia.2Although they are rude playthings from the wild, they smell wonderfully when they bloom and look very unique when placed on a table. General, Your Highness, they will be sent to you shortly.She went to a lot of trouble, Ye Zhao said.Twisting the corner of her skirts, Hongying shyly said, Our young mistress said to thank both Your Highness and the General for the trouble you have gone to lately on her behalf and for the help you've brought her in fixing the mess she accidentally caused. She is very grateful.Xia Yujin was very proud of himself for saving Liu Xiyin on the street and had never concealed it from Ye Zhao. Now, seeing that she was offering an apology gift, he muttered irresolutely for a moment, then had his attendant accept it and hold it in front of him. He saw that, among the others in the pot, there were also a cluster of small red flowers; they looked particularly unique and smelled enticingly, a nerves-soothing scent that was quite agreeable.Those are Manhua plants, Hongying said. They're best placed at the head of the bed, to have sweetened dreams.Xia Yujin smelled his fill, had people take them to be put away, then told her, The general will be busy tonight; she won't go to your mistress' side.Hongying lowered her head. Our mistress said she was sorry to have bothered you for so long. She had trouble sleeping in a bed that is not her own, but there is no need to disturb the general again tonight.Xia Yujin saw the obstacle be swept away. He rejoiced.He secretly vowed that if his sex life was once again interrupted by the damn girl tonight, he would have to drag her back to relieve the fire! Then he'd sell her out of the house!1 Lit. b sh co. I'm not sure how to translate this. refers to papyrus, but the text later specifically refers to and not . Google is not turning up anything. I suspect they might be made up.2 Lit. xxi. Unlike the Eastern Xia we've encountered in the text so far, this was a real dynasty/kingdom of Tangut people, 11th-13th c. I believe the Eastern Xia in the story are inspired by this dynasty, because the author tends to play on the historical details rather than use exact accuracy. I don't know if this occurrence is deliberate, to differentiate between story-central Eastern Xia, or if it's a mistake.
