How Dare You?! 成何体统 (Cheng He Ti Tong)
By 七英俊 Qi Ying Jun
Translation by Spider
Between making her suspicious and making her give up, he chose suspicion.
The headache had become so severe that Xiahou Dan could barely endure it. Darkness dotted before his eyes, and he forced out a rather insolent smile, “I don’t remember.”
Yu Wanyin turned and walked away.
Xiahou Dan only remembered hearing the sound of her opening the door and leaving, followed by the questioning voices of the Shadow Guards outside. After that, there was only darkness.
“Crown Prince.”
Zhang San heard the voice and quickly turned around, respectfully saying, “Imperial Grandmother.”
The palace servants who were busy at his command in the distance also stopped their movements and paid their respects.
The stern woman glanced behind him, “What are you doing?”
“In response to Imperial Grandmother, during the Flower Festival a few days ago, your grandson saw the arrangement in the Imperial Garden and had an idea to plant some seedlings for Imperial Grandmother.”
Zhang San had been eavesdropping on ancient conversations every day, and now his natural response was somewhat enhanced, “By the time of Imperial Grandmother’s birthday, these flowers should be blooming, just in time to celebrate Your Majesty Grandmother’s longevity.”
The Empress Dowager’s expression softened slightly, “The layout of these seedlings seems to be quite elaborate.”
Zhang San smiled modestly, “Imperial Grandmother is perceptive; this is a depiction of two dragons playing with a pearl, symbolising auspiciousness.”
He waited a long time without hearing a response.
Zhang San looked up nervously.
The Empress Dowager’s expression turned cold, “For the vast lands of Great Xia, only one true dragon is needed.”
“…”
How do I respond to that?!
The Empress Dowager looked at his bewildered expression and after a while, a hint of pity appeared in her eyes, “Your mother passed away early, the Emperor has already taken a new consort, and soon a new Empress will be appointed, followed by a new Crown Prince. In this vast palace, only I cherish you.”
Zhang San had only one thought in his mind.
He had to please the Empress Dowager today. Those seedlings were his only hope of recognition among fellow transmigrators.
He humbly surrendered, “Imperial Grandmother, you’ve misunderstood. The two dragons I planted represent you and me.”
“….”
Zhang San nervously awaited her response.
The Empress Dowager smiled, “Now that’s my good grandson. Rest assured, there won’t be a new prince born in the palace.”
As per Xiahou Dan’s recent indecisive nature between the two sides, tonight should be Xie Yong’er’s turn to attend to the Emperor.
Xie Yong’er arrived at the bedchamber in full bloom but was stopped at the gates.
The guard said, “His Majesty has already retired for the night.”
So early?
Xie Yong’er wondered, suspecting Yu Wanyin was behind this. She gritted her teeth and pulled out a silver coin from her sleeve, offering it to the guard, “Excuse me sir…”
The guard’s longsword swiftly unsheathed three inches.
Xie Yong’er was startled and quickly stepped back.
“Oh, Consort Xie,” Grand Eunuch An Xian emerged from behind the door, smiling warmly, “Unfortunately, His Majesty has a headache and ordered not to be disturbed. Please return, Consort.”
“Eunuch An, speaking of that, Yong’er has learned a bit of massage techniques.” Xie Yong’er smiled sweetly, attempting to roll up her sleeve, but An Xian frowned and shook his head.
She couldn’t help but freeze in place.
Inside the bedchamber.
Bei Zhou finally couldn’t resist anymore. He applied some medicinal oil to his palms, rubbed them together to warm them up, and reached towards the person lying on the bed with his eyes tightly closed.
Before he could touch his temples, his wrist was gripped tightly by a cold hand.
The tightly closed eyes suddenly blew wide open. Hostility swirling in his deep black pupils until recognizing the person. He painfully suppressed his emotions and said, “Don’t touch me, Uncle Bei.”
Bei Zhou felt distressed, “You’re in so much pain. Let Uncle massage you, it will help.”
Xiahou Dan just held onto his wrist tightly.
Bei Zhou sighed, “Why did the illness suddenly flare up…” Since entering the palace, he had thoroughly checked every corner and verified Xiahou Dan’s meals, but had never found any poison.
Xiahou Dan pursed his pale lips, “Maybe there’s a tumour in my brain.”
“Nonsense, Uncle already checked your pulse, there’s nothing like that.”
Xiahou Dan muttered, “We need a CT scan.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Uncle, I want sweet porridge.”
Bei Zhou immediately got up, “I’ll make it for you.”
After he walked away, a figure quietly approached, kneeling beside the bed.
Xiahou Dan stared at the bed curtains for a while, sighed, “Go fetch Bai-xiansheng.”
Xie Yong’er walked out, unable to believe she had been chased away.
The Emperor was clearly infatuated with her, allowing her to wield great influence in the harem, having just recently cleared away some troublesome rivals. How could the situation change overnight? Even An Xian, who had always been so deferential, dared to show displeasure towards her!
According to the standard plot of palace intrigue dramas, it began to rain heavily.
Xie Yong’er hadn’t brought an umbrella and walked alone in the bleak wind and rain, imagining a background score of Erhu music playing in her mind.
At this moment, she had to find out if the enchanting Yu Wanyin laid behind the tightly closed doors of the Emperor’s sleeping palace
Xie Yong’er circled to the outside of the consort’s palace.
To her great surprise, Yu Wanyin was not only in the Noble Consort’s palace but sitting alone in the corridor, holding a palace lantern and gazing up at the rain. Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, her once bright face now appearing pale.
Xie Yong’er, “…”
In this scene, you’re even more pitiful than I am? What’s going on here?!
Xie Yong’er paused and was about to tactically retreat, but Yu Wanyin had already looked over, exclaiming in surprise, “Is that Sister Yong’er?”
She beckoned Xie Yong’er to the corridor to shelter from the rain, “Sister, weren’t you supposed to attend to His Majesty tonight? Why are you here?”
Xie Yong’er lowered her head, “His Majesty isn’t feeling well and has already retired.”
Xiahou Dan is sick? Yu Wanyin was momentarily stunned.
In the afternoon in the study, he did complain of a headache. Did it worsen after she left?
Or perhaps… he’s just pretending to be sick.
She started regretting leaving the study. What benefit was there in exposing his identity? All along, she had been trying to ignore the inconsistencies about him, but was she also avoiding the moment of confusion and helplessness?
Xie Yong’er observed Yu Wanyin’s expression. She hadn’t expected that Noble Consort Yu truly didn’t know anything.
It seems that the Emperor is indeed ill?
Xie Yong’er quickly changed her tone, suddenly showing concern, “Sister Noble Consort, why don’t you go check on His Majesty? He was very uncomfortable just now and seemed to say he wanted to see you.”
She didn’t want to be the only one to suffer the treatment of being driven away by the guards.
Yu Wanyin’s reaction was somewhat unexpected. Her face showed neither excitement nor disappointment, but rather a furrowed brow, as if going through some inner struggle.
Xie Yong’er, afraid that she might change her mind, was about to encourage her further, but Yu Wanyin took the bait, “In that case, I’ll go see him.”
Xie Yong’er watched with satisfaction as Yu Wanyin turned and left.
Yu Wanyin opened a paper umbrella and walked into the rain. Suddenly, she turned back, “Sister, rest here for a moment. I’ll have Xiao Mei take you to change into dry clothes and wait until the rain stops before sending you back. Thank you for coming to tell me about this.”
Xie Yong’er smiled even more brightly and said slowly, “Sister warned me not to drink the contraceptive tea. I’ve always remembered that favour in my heart.”
Yu Wanyin, “…”
Could it be genuine?
Now it seemed that compared to those two Xiahou men, Xie Yong’er’s position was so low that it was almost cute.
Yu Wanyin felt a twinge of guilt and said dejectedly, “I never expected to hope for a day to confide with my younger sister.”
Xie Yong’er, “…”
Could it be sincere?
Could it be that last time she really was just kindly reminding her?
From her perspective as an ancient person, she couldn’t have predicted that anyone would deliberately reject the dragon’s seed. So her poisoning incident was purely self-inflicted?
But… if the original scheming female lead had truly abandoned her villainous ways, wouldn’t all her pre-emptive struggles turn into one-sided persecution?
Yu Wanyin had already walked towards the sleeping chamber. Xie Yong’er stood in confusion, mouth open towards the rain curtain, but ultimately didn’t utter a sound.
Thunder rumbled, and a lightning bolt tore through the sky, casting a pale light on the guard’s sword. “Please return, Your Highness. The Emperor will see no one.”
Yu Wanyin had originally hesitated, unwilling to face Xiahou Dan. Seeing the situation now, she panicked inwardly, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
The guards remained silent.
The palace lanterns around Yu Wanyin had long been extinguished. The paper umbrella couldn’t shield her from the pouring rain coming from all directions, leaving her completely drenched. She huddled, shivering, “Could you please inform the elder brother to tell N- nanny Bei…”
“Noble Consort Yu?”
Yu Wanyin turned around. Bei Zhou, dressed as a nursemaid, was about to enter the hall, holding a bowl of sweet porridge.
She hurriedly grabbed him, whispering, “Uncle Bei, let me go in and see him.”
Bei Zhou scrutinised her, perhaps recalling her bold statement on the boat that day, his expression slightly softened, “Follow me.”
Xiahou Dan had curled himself into a ball under the blanket. Bei Zhou called him a couple of times, then lifted the blanket to reveal his head, “Wanyin is here.”
Yu Wanyin was startled.
Xiahou Dan’s long hair was dishevelled, his face as pale as paper. He glanced weakly at Yu Wanyin and hoarsely said, “Thank you, uncle, please leave the porridge for now.”
Bei Zhou tactfully left.
Yu Wanyin sat on the edge of the bed, cautiously saying, “Shall I feed you?”
Xiahou Dan nodded, then gritted his teeth and stopped, veins bulging on his forehead as if even this slight movement caused him intense pain.
Yu Wanyin awkwardly supported him, afraid to exert too much force. After a while, Xiahou Dan made up his mind to sit up by himself. Yu Wanyin quickly fetched two soft pillows to support him.
She reached out to pick up the bowl of porridge, but Xiahou Dan stopped her.
After a long, deep breath, Xiahou Dan spoke softly, “Let’s talk.”
“There’s no rush right now, you should rest…”
“You guessed right,” he interrupted, “I’m indeed not a CEO.”
Xiahou Dan continued, “Before coming here, I was a struggling actor, playing small roles for many years without much success.”
Yu Wanyin looked at him in astonishment.
That explained why his act as a tyrant had been so convincing.
“But if that’s the case, why did you feel the need to deceive me?”
“I didn’t intend to deceive you. When you guessed I was a CEO, I just went along with it.”
“Why?”
Xiahou Dan smiled faintly, his lips devoid of colour, “I’ve always had bad luck. So when I found myself here, my first reaction was that I’d die in this cursed place. Then you appeared, like a saviour descending from heaven, holding the script in your hands, determined to turn the tables. Watching you, I felt like I still had hope.”
He closed his eyes briefly, his Adam’s apple bobbing with difficulty, “I’m afraid of losing you. Once you realise I’m such an incompetent failure, you’ll leave me. Once you’re gone, I’m finished.”
Yu Wanyin was at a loss for words for a moment, “This is… not quite what I imagined.”
“Oh?”
“I thought you would have some profound secret burden.”
Without hesitating for even half a second, Xiahou Dan gently laughed, “Looks like my acting skills still have some use after all.”
He sighed, looking at her frankly, “But now you know, I don’t stand much chance. Even if Prince Duan is just a character from a book, his strategies surpass mine a hundredfold. So, that promise still stands: if you choose to leave, I completely understand and won’t stop you.”
He leaned back on the pillow, his eyes like those of a harmless big dog.
Translation by Spider
Next: Chapter 8
Previous: Chapter 6