Chapter 2
In June, the season at the Imperial City is extremely hot and unbearable.
In the Southern Qi Imperial City, since its founding, the past emperors have advocated for civil ruling and also preferred poetries, and elegant hobbies of pen and ink. So, inside and outside of the Capital were planted with all kinds of flowers which were in full bloom all year round. The imperial capital city, where flowers smell fragrant, has been known as the Flower Capital.
Although the Northern Zhou Dynasty invaded and trampled on the border this year, it did not affect the prosperity of the Southern Qi’s Imperial City.
Before entering the City, Su Feng Nuan smelled the scent of flowers emanating from the Imperial City. She sniffed and strolled into the city with her horse.
Looking behind, aside from the people who came and went, she could not see a sign of her Third brother Su Qing.
Since the victory of General Su against the invasion of the Northern Zhou’s Army, the depressive atmosphere in the Capital has changed and has become more lively.
She led her horse into a teahouse, and asked for a pot of good tea. She was not in a hurry to return to their house, so she sat down and listened to the storyteller’s stories leisurely.
The teahouses and restaurants in the capital have always been the liveliest places for people to gather after various major events.
Today, the storyteller is talking about the major events that happened recently.
General Su defeated the Northern Zhou army and it made the emperor greatly pleased, promising heavy rewards, saying that after General Su dealt with the issues at the border and returned back to the Imperial Capital, he would be given the title of Wu Hou, and the Su House would be renamed as the Wu Hou Manor.
(T/N: Hou = Marquis; second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility)
In addition to this matter, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager also expressed their intention of giving a marriage for the Young Lady of Su Family.
There are currently two marriage candidates who have been proposed the most.
One is Ye Xiang, the eldest son of Rong’an Palace; the other is Xu Yun Chu, the grandson of the Emperor’s father-in-law.
(T/N: Xu Yun Chu is described as Emperor’s Xiao 小*little/tiny/few/young* Guo-jiu 国舅*prince’s maternal uncle* from guo-zhang’s *Emperor’s father-in-law* manor in the raw)
One is from the royal family and the other one is from the aristocratic family which is also the family of the Emperor’s in-laws. Both of them have a distinguished background.
The General’s Su Manor is about to become the Wu Hou Manor; it would also be very prominent, making Lady Su and the two candidates a naturally compatible match.
It was said that the Empress Dowager recommended her own grand-nephew Xu Yun Chu, while the emperor proposed his own nephew Ye Xiang from the Rong'an Palace.
The court officials also have their own bet, and the discussion of this matter is livelier than the General’s great victory against the Northern Zhou’s Army.
Well, talks of marriage of children have always been accompanied with soft amorous feelings, and have always been enjoyed by idle people. Particularly that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor expressed their intention of bestowing marriage themselves to the youngest daughter of the now prestigious family of General Su. The people in the capital were really stirred by the news.
Feng Nuan drank three cups of tea as she listened to the gist of the incident. She was about to pay her bill and leave, when she heard a clear voice with a hint of regret, "I didn't expect that I’ll sleep for three months and now I missed so many good shows."
She raised her gaze to look upstairs, and saw that the voice was coming from a private room. The door of the private room was open, but the curtain obscured her vision, she could vaguely see a few figures sitting around the table with outlines blurred, and the appearance of the person talking can’t be seen clearly.
This time, someone replied and laughed, “Prince, you have not only missed a good show during your three months of sleep. If you weren't intoxicated and dead drunk, you would have actually gone to the battlefield with General Su!”
After hearing this, the person who was regretful earlier had taken a change of tone and happily said,”That way, it was actually fortunate that I was drunk for three months; otherwise, I would have faced the swords with no eyes on the battlefield. I heard that General Su was seriously injured and he’s still recovering at the border. If I went, I would be just like my parents, and I won't be able to come back. How could I still sit here and drink tea?”
“Exactly, exactly.”, someone replied.
“Our Prince is a lucky person and will have an auspicious life.” , someone echoed.
Su Fengnuan retracted her gaze, took out some of her silver, putting them on top of her table and she got up.
This time, the man smiled and happily announced, “I am really a lucky person and blessed by heaven. In that case, everyone’s tea in this teahouse today will be paid by me!”
The moment his words fell, a burst of cheers instantly followed.
Su Feng Nuan paused and she looked upstairs again. She saw about seven or eight people sitting and laughing together in the elegant room.
Someone downstairs asked, “Prince, are you serious about this?”
“Of course! My words are true, when have I ever not kept my word?" The man upstairs said with a smile, “Shopkeeper, listen carefully, the bill of all the customers in the teahouse today will be charged on my account."
“Great!” The shopkeeper immediately answered with a smile.
Su Feng Nuan took off her gaze and returned to her seat. She beckoned to the young attendant, and whispered to him.
After hearing what she wanted to say, the boy looked at her, dumbfounded.
Su Feng Nuan wore a bucket hat and half-new plain white skirt with a sword around the waist. Just like how jianghu people dress.
(T/N: Jianghu = countryside; river or lake; quack or fraud)
The young attendant looked at her for a long while, but he could not still clearly see her features.He could only stammer, “This...this miss, this...isn’t this not right?"
“What’s wrong? Didn’t he make it clear? That he will pay for all of the customer’s tea today? ” Su Fengnuan looked at the young man with clear and innocent eyes through her veil, "Could it be that the words of Prince Ye, from the dignified Royal Palace of Rong’an, don't count?"
The young attendant hesitated and whispered, "But... Prince Ye said that for those who will drink here, he didn't say...did not say take away also count ..."
Su Fengnuan reached out and knocked on the table twice, and said with a smile, "Does your tea house have so much money that you don’t want to earn money? Go ask your boss and see if he will do it or not."
Hearing her words, the young man glanced upstairs and saw the laughter and joy of the people there. He then immediately ran to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper listened to what the young attendant said, looking towards Su Feng Nuan. He was stunned, but after a while, he nodded to the young man.
After getting his boss’s approval, the young attendant ran to the back and brought back 10 boxes of good quality new tea.
Su Feng Nuan untied the bag behind her. She opened it, then wrapped up the 10 boxes of good quality new tea, and walked out of the teahouse with ease.
The young attendant watched Su Feng Nuan as she left the teahouse and took the horse away. He then turned and ran back to the shopkeeper, whispering, “Boss, 10 boxes of top quality new teas, a box is worth a thousand gold, then these ten boxes are worth as much as 10 thousand gold ah. You actually agree with that, Prince Ye would lose a lot of money today.”
The shopkeeper crackled his abacus and shook his head, not saying anything.
The young attendant said, “Boss, should we tell Prince Ye?”
The shopkeeper shook his head.
The young man naturally didn't say anything when he saw the shopkeeper not saying anything. However, he felt distressed for Ye Xiang. Ten thousand gold is not a small sum of money. Prince Ye’s ancestral businesses and properties must have been ruined and depleted by him all these years, right? What can he do for a living in the future?”
The news that Prince Ye will be paying for tea in the teahouse soon spread. From one person to ten, ten to a hundred, and many people heard that they all flocked to the teahouse.
The young attendant served tea back and forth, his legs so numb that he couldn’t care less about Ye Xiang’s money anymore, now that his legs hurt.
Ye Xiang did not stay in the teahouse for a long time. After drinking two pots of tea with a group of people, he left the teahouse and went to find a place to have fun.
He slept for three months, and he did not sleep lightly, so he was instead very full of energy. On a hot day, he took a group of people to the hunting ground.
On the other hand, Su Feng Nuan led her horse back to the Su Manor.
Madam Su heard that she had returned to the Capital, and came out to greet her with joy. She looked at her left and right and was relieved to see that she was not injured.
Su Feng Nuan took off her bag and handed it to Madam Su, and said with a laugh, “Here, these are ten boxes of finest Tianxiangjin that your daughter robbed just for you. I know that Mother loves to drink tea, so please accept it.”
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T/N: Finally! After a very very very long time... I'm able to update this series. Summer class made me cry tons😭😭😭😭LOL. Btw, thank you for those who read and comment. It means a lot to me really. I just hope that my translation is understandable to you, people.