The palace maid who was holding Tian Mi’s hand was stunned and then broke into a smile: “Chun Hua, come and see. Niangniang moved her fingers just now! Niangniang must have heard us talking!”
Chun Hua came closer and said, “Well, it must be! I’ll go make some medicine for Niangniang. You watch over Niangniang!”
“Good!”
After pretending to be ‘dead’ for two days, Tian Mi really couldn’t pretend anymore.
Because she was so hungry~
In the past two days, Chun Hua and Qiu Shui have taken great care of her in every possible way!
Even so, they still neglected something.
That was, she needed to eat!
In the past two days, they didn’t feed her anything except to feed her medicine.
Now her mouth not only tasted like medicine, but also smelled like medicine!
Sob sob~
Fortunately, when she really couldn’t pretend anymore, she finally thought of a feasible way.
That is, pretend to be stupid!
There was no other way she could do it because the male lead’s favorability toward her was zero!
Only by pretending to be stupid could she lower the male lead’s defensiveness toward her.
When Chun Hua was about to force her to drink medicine again, Tian Mi’s eyelashes trembled and she slowly opened her eyes.
Chun Hua was so shocked that she almost knocked over the medicine bowl in her hand: “Niangniang, Niangniang, are you awake?!”
“Hey~” Tian Mi groaned weakly. She was really weak! Hungry!
“Qiu Shui, hurry up, go and ask the imperial physician to come over! Niangniang is awake!”
As soon as Chun Hua’s voice fell, there was a ‘clang’ voice from outside, followed by the patter of footsteps: “Chun Hua, did you say that Niangniang woke up?!”
“Yes! Hurry up and ask the imperial physician to come over!”
“Oh~ I’ll go now!”
“Niangniang, do you feel uncomfortable? Tell this slave, and this slave will tell it to the imperial physician in a while.”
Chun Hua put the medicine bowl in her hand on the low table beside the bed, leaned down, and asked Tian Mi.
Tian Mi blinked her eyes in confusion, then turned around helplessly, and looked around: “Where is this?”
Chun Hua was stunned and replied a little strangely: “This is Niangniang’s palace, Mi Hua Palace!”
“Who are you?” Tian Mi asked again.
Chun Hua was completely dumbfounded: “Niangniang, don’t you recognize me?!”
Tian Mi shook her head. Her eyes were clear, giving people absolute reason to believe that what she said was true.
The imperial physician came, and it was Imperial Physician Liu who came.
Physician Liu took Tian Mi’s pulse, stroked his gray beard, and said, “Besides that Concubine Liang is still a little weak and needs to rest, she is fine.”
“But Physician Liu, is Niangniang really okay? Niangniang didn’t recognize me just now and asked who I was!” Chun Hua frowned slightly and asked with a worried look on her face.
Physician Liu was a little surprised, and then he leaned over Tian Mi: “Concubine Liang, do you remember who you are?”
Tian Mi shook her head obediently: “I don’t remember.” Her tone was very childish, like a child of several years old.
Physician Liu took Tian Mi’s pulse again, frowned, and was stunned for a long time. Then, he slowly said: “I think Concubine Liang was stimulated, and now her mind has returned to that of a young child.”
“Then what should we do now?!” Qiu Shui pulled Physician Liu’s sleeve with some excitement.
Physician Liu brushed Qiu Shui’s hand away: “The old man can’t do anything. Previously, there were also concubines in the harem who lost their minds after being stimulated, but they were not cured. So, there is nothing the old man can do!”
Physician Liu shook his head, carried the medicine box on his back, and turned around to leave.
*****
Translator’s Comment:
I don’t know what dynasty this arc refers to. Because every dynasty in China has a different imperial concubine’s rank system.
I tried to find one similar to the author’s description. Based on the raw text, Tian Mi’s previous rank was Gui Fei (Noble Consort), and then her rank was lowered. It was lowered to Fei (Consort) rank. Based on the reference below, in this dynasty, the Emperor could have 4 consorts, which matched the author’s description of ‘one of the four concubines’.
Btw, I use the word ‘concubine’ instead of ‘consort’ because I think ‘concubine’ is much more common.
Imperial Chinese Harem System (Source: Wiki)
The Qing dynasty system was one of the simplest systems in Chinese history. Officially, there were eight ranks:
1. Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; huáng guì fēi)
3. Noble Consort (貴妃; guì fēi)
4. Consort (妃; fēi)
5. Concubine (嬪; pín)
6. Noble Lady (貴人; guì rén)
7. First Class Attendant (常在; cháng zài)
8. Second Class Attendant (答應; dā yìng)
There was no fixed number of holders for the three lowest ranks. Lady-in-waiting (官女子; guān nǘ zǐ) was typically used to refer to all the women working in the palace. It was not part of the official ranking.
There were limits placed on how many imperial consorts could hold the ranks of concubine, and above. An emperor could have 1 empress, 1 imperial noble consort, 2 noble consorts, 4 consorts, and 6 concubines at a time. The ranks of noble lady, first-class attendant, and second-class attendant were unlimited.
The palace maid who was holding Tian Mi’s hand was stunned and then broke into a smile: “Chun Hua, come and see. Niangniang moved her fingers just now! Niangniang must have heard us talking!”
Chun Hua came closer and said, “Well, it must be! I’ll go make some medicine for Niangniang. You watch over Niangniang!”
“Good!”
After pretending to be ‘dead’ for two days, Tian Mi really couldn’t pretend anymore.
Because she was so hungry~
In the past two days, Chun Hua and Qiu Shui have taken great care of her in every possible way!
Even so, they still neglected something.
That was, she needed to eat!
In the past two days, they didn’t feed her anything except to feed her medicine.
Now her mouth not only tasted like medicine, but also smelled like medicine!
Sob sob~
Fortunately, when she really couldn’t pretend anymore, she finally thought of a feasible way.
That is, pretend to be stupid!
There was no other way she could do it because the male lead’s favorability toward her was zero!
Only by pretending to be stupid could she lower the male lead’s defensiveness toward her.
When Chun Hua was about to force her to drink medicine again, Tian Mi’s eyelashes trembled and she slowly opened her eyes.
Chun Hua was so shocked that she almost knocked over the medicine bowl in her hand: “Niangniang, Niangniang, are you awake?!”
“Hey~” Tian Mi groaned weakly. She was really weak! Hungry!
“Qiu Shui, hurry up, go and ask the imperial physician to come over! Niangniang is awake!”
As soon as Chun Hua’s voice fell, there was a ‘clang’ voice from outside, followed by the patter of footsteps: “Chun Hua, did you say that Niangniang woke up?!”
“Yes! Hurry up and ask the imperial physician to come over!”
“Oh~ I’ll go now!”
“Niangniang, do you feel uncomfortable? Tell this slave, and this slave will tell it to the imperial physician in a while.”
Chun Hua put the medicine bowl in her hand on the low table beside the bed, leaned down, and asked Tian Mi.
Tian Mi blinked her eyes in confusion, then turned around helplessly, and looked around: “Where is this?”
Chun Hua was stunned and replied a little strangely: “This is Niangniang’s palace, Mi Hua Palace!”
“Who are you?” Tian Mi asked again.
Chun Hua was completely dumbfounded: “Niangniang, don’t you recognize me?!”
Tian Mi shook her head. Her eyes were clear, giving people absolute reason to believe that what she said was true.
The imperial physician came, and it was Imperial Physician Liu who came.
Physician Liu took Tian Mi’s pulse, stroked his gray beard, and said, “Besides that Concubine Liang is still a little weak and needs to rest, she is fine.”
“But Physician Liu, is Niangniang really okay? Niangniang didn’t recognize me just now and asked who I was!” Chun Hua frowned slightly and asked with a worried look on her face.
Physician Liu was a little surprised, and then he leaned over Tian Mi: “Concubine Liang, do you remember who you are?”
Tian Mi shook her head obediently: “I don’t remember.” Her tone was very childish, like a child of several years old.
Physician Liu took Tian Mi’s pulse again, frowned, and was stunned for a long time. Then, he slowly said: “I think Concubine Liang was stimulated, and now her mind has returned to that of a young child.”
“Then what should we do now?!” Qiu Shui pulled Physician Liu’s sleeve with some excitement.
Physician Liu brushed Qiu Shui’s hand away: “The old man can’t do anything. Previously, there were also concubines in the harem who lost their minds after being stimulated, but they were not cured. So, there is nothing the old man can do!”
Physician Liu shook his head, carried the medicine box on his back, and turned around to leave.
*****
Translator’s Comment:
I don’t know what dynasty this arc refers to. Because every dynasty in China has a different imperial concubine’s rank system.
I tried to find one similar to the author’s description. Based on the raw text, Tian Mi’s previous rank was Gui Fei (Noble Consort), and then her rank was lowered. It was lowered to Fei (Consort) rank. Based on the reference below, in this dynasty, the Emperor could have 4 consorts, which matched the author’s description of ‘one of the four concubines’.
Btw, I use the word ‘concubine’ instead of ‘consort’ because I think ‘concubine’ is much more common.
Imperial Chinese Harem System (Source: Wiki)
The Qing dynasty system was one of the simplest systems in Chinese history. Officially, there were eight ranks:
1. Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; huáng guì fēi)
3. Noble Consort (貴妃; guì fēi)
4. Consort (妃; fēi)
5. Concubine (嬪; pín)
6. Noble Lady (貴人; guì rén)
7. First Class Attendant (常在; cháng zài)
8. Second Class Attendant (答應; dā yìng)
There was no fixed number of holders for the three lowest ranks. Lady-in-waiting (官女子; guān nǘ zǐ) was typically used to refer to all the women working in the palace. It was not part of the official ranking.
There were limits placed on how many imperial consorts could hold the ranks of concubine, and above. An emperor could have 1 empress, 1 imperial noble consort, 2 noble consorts, 4 consorts, and 6 concubines at a time. The ranks of noble lady, first-class attendant, and second-class attendant were unlimited.
