Higher Level Wife

Chapter 92: Suspicion

Author: White Pear Flower

Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/

Translated by Pill Bug

Edited by Gumihou

Gumihou: Watch out, Jin Fengju is going to display the following emotions/characteristics in this chapter: Clever Boy, Sweet & Playful Lover, Sensitive Man, and Righteous Anger on Behalf of the Little People

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the chapter to see Gumi and Pill Bug’s feelings when working on this chapter.

After Jin Fengju was done speaking, Jiang Wanying dared not answer back. It was not that she did not want to argue back. However, Jin Fengju had already opened with ‘Let the matter go’, so why should she argue when he already stated that he will not pursue the incident? This husband of hers was shrewder than a fox. [e] Moreover, there was no guarantee that he had not already grasped most of the necessary facts. She might as well go along with it and let the matter die a natural death.

If she tried to argue back, she could provoke Jin Fengju’s anger and draw his ire toward herself instead. [a] The man was too good with his logical arguments and might trap her into revealing something in a bout of carelessness. In the end, she did scheme against Fu’shi, so it was not like Jin Fengju had wronged her with his suspicions.

When she considered all of this, Jiang Wanying decided to count her blessings and complied with a docile, “Yes.”

Apparently satisfied with this answer, Jin Fengju turned to leave. A few steps later, he suddenly stopped as though remembering something, and turned back to her. In a serious tone, he said, “You should pay more attention to the goings on within the marquisate. Find out any one has been handing out information to Prince Lie.”

Jiang Wanying’s heart trembled. She managed to choke out, “Cousin… why would you ask this? Is… Is it because you suspect that there are Prince Lie’s people… in our marquisate?”

Jin Fengju nodded. Still in that serious tone, said, “Indeed, otherwise, how could they get hold of such information so quickly? However, they must have some skills to escape our eyes for so long. You take your time and observe the situation carefully. If you find any suspicious people, inform me and I will look into the matter myself.”

“Yes, I understand, Cousin.” Jiang Wanying nodded solemnly

Jin Fengju looked lost in thought for a moment. Suddenly, a bitter smile spread across his face and he said, “I had wanted to use [b] this as something to hold over her, who would have thought that it got out of my hand on its own? Forget it, forget it, just be sure that Night Breeze Pavilion’s monthly allocations are properly sent to them from now on. As for Third Brother Zhang and Aunt Yu’s matter. Since you have personally promised them, be sure to carry it out properly.”

He openly stressed the word ‘you’. Jiang Wanying’s heart stuttered and she thought: Indeed, Cousin knows it all. He knows how I bribed Third Brother Zhang, and what it means. Forget it, fortunately, I did not try to stand my ground earlier, otherwise, what would become of me? Only, that hateful Fu’shi. How did she enter Cousin’s eyes? She is clearly so ordinary looking and her only worth was bringing two cheap brats up. Just… why?

The more she thought, the more her chest ached with hatred. Her hands clenched into fists under her sleeves, but her expression remained passive and submissive. Only after Jin Fengju had gone far enough away that she finally released a sigh of relief and unclench her fists.

Madam,” Qiu Xia ran over, distressedly saying, “The Master suspects Prince Lie…”

“And? What does that have to do with us?” Jiang Wanying flashed a glance at her maid before slowly exhaling, “He has nothing but suspicions. The matter had only been revealed for a day, but Prince Lie happened to know of it even before Lord Husband. As the saying goes, ‘there is no good story without curious coincidences’, therefore, it made sense for Lord Husband to be interested in the matter. As for you, what are you all in a muddle for? Are you the one who leaked the information?”

“Yes, yes, this servant knows her error, Madam please do not wrong this servant, this servant naturally is not that kind of person.” Qiu Xia nodded repeatedly. Seeing that Jiang Wanying’s face was emotionless, without even a hint of joy or anger, she boldly came forward again and whispered, “What are Madam’s plans for Fu’shi’s monthly allocations?”

“Humph, just let her enjoy her moment of triumph. Could a woman like her keep her hold on Cousin? Once she loses all favour, just see how I slowly break her to pieces.” Just talking about Fu Qiuning made Jiang Wanying grit her teeth with hatred. She gripped the table so hard that there was a sharp snap and a jolt of pain. When she raised her hands, she found that she had snapped off half a fingernail.

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“Master, this servant has made secret inquiries according to your instructions. To date, thirty-six people have frozen to death within the Capital alone. Most of them died in the huge snowfall a few days ago. Eight or nine people froze to death yesterday due to the Great North Wind. In other provinces, many local officials have set up certain measures against the cold and there were very few deaths. However, in the territory of Liaodong under two of Prince Lie’s trusted aides… they must have been [c] both greedy and incompetent, because, after only two bouts of snow, more than 300 hundred people have died…”

“DONK!”

Jin Fengju’s fist landed solidly on the table, interrupting Jin Ming’s report. Seething with hatred, he said, “That flock of corpse-eating beasts! What does the country pay a salary to this group of beasts for? They could not plough the land, and even brought harm to the people!”

Jin Ming stood to the side, not daring to say anything as his Master seethed. After some time, Jin Fengju finally calmed his anger enough to dully say, “The information I wish you to spread, have you done it?”

Jin Ming quickly nodded and said, “To reply to the Master, the information has been dispersed. It would not be traced to us.”

Jin Fengju nodded back and said, “Then, we may expect Zhenjiang Palace to send someone to invite their girl back, right?”

Jin Ming smiled and said, “This servant believes so. Perhaps, it is better for Madam to prepare herself?”

Jin Fengju laughed in return, “Idiot, what is there to prepare? Are you afraid that no one knows I am planning to lure these people into a trap?”

Jin Ming bobbed his head several times, smiling ingratiatingly at his master. Jin Fengju picked up the teacup from the table and took a slow sip. After some thought, he suddenly said, “That’s right, how long has it been since Prince Rong invited me to a banquet? Was it eight or nine days? Do you remember?”

Jin Ming hastily beamed and said, “Isn’t it so? This servant had been wondering about it too. Usually, an invitation would come after no more than three days have passed, even if it is only an invitation to sit and chat for a bit. This servant remembers that the last invitation happened to be when High Highness invited Young Marquis to his palace, but Master could not go due to Second Madam Ning’s matters. Master even promised to bring wine to see His Highness. The Lord Prince even said Master’s offer was merely perfunctory. Doing the math, it looks like it really has been eight or nine days since he had invited Master over.”

Jin Fengju tapped his fingers on the table and mused, “Did Brother-in-law experience a sudden change in temperament and learned how to avoid suspicion? That’s not right, he has always been spontaneous. I know that the emperor understands his nature, and thus has never truly been cold with him. Otherwise, the emperor might suspect him of posturing and intending to make a grab for the throne.

Besides, I am his brother-in-law and not his henchman. I am only there to drink and chat every now and then. It did not matter if the emperor found out about this, so why the sudden alienation?”

Jin Ming quickly replied, “Young Marquis is too serious, how can that be considered to be alienation? Perhaps His Highness is busy with something these days and did not have the heart to invite the Young Maquis over. It has only been eight or nine days, surely there’s no need to worry about it?”

“You do not understand, if he really has such a difficult matter, he really should not hide it from me.” Suddenly, Jin Fengju stood up and said, “Go and send a message to him. Say that I have prepared some good wine and am just waiting for Brother-in-law’s invitation to drink with him.”

Jin Ming hastily acknowledged the order and left. As he reached the door, Jin Fengju said, “Ah yes, when you return, remember to look for me at the Night Breeze Pavilion.” Leaving those words, he also stood up, tidied his hair and clothing a little and left for Night Breeze Pavilion.

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Right at that moment, Fu Qiuning was harvesting snow from plum flowers.

Because the courtyard door was not closed, Jin Fenju entered on his own. Seeing no one in the house, he went through the corridor and made his way to the backyard. As expected, the person he was looking for was there among the dozen over plum trees. A slim figure draped in a pale yellow dress embroidered with floral patterns, a satin overcoat covering her shoulders as her slender fingers busied themselves with some mysterious industry.

“White snow and red plum blossoms, a woman stands alone, what a beautiful scene indeed,” Jin Fengju enjoyed the scenery on the side for a moment before letting himself laugh out loud. As expected, Fu Qiuning jumped and whirled around to say, “Why are you so silent? I really should rear a dog here to prevent strangers from just walking in. You really gave me a fright.” She performed a salute and asked with a smile, “It has only just snowed, what attracts Lord Husband to my place?”

“While treading snow, seeking plum blossoms, my steps lead me here,” Jin Fengju came up to watch as she brushed snow from the plum flowers into a blue and white urn. Curious, he asked, “What are you doing? Where are Aunt Yu and Yu Jie? Why are they not doing it together with you?”

“Aunt Yu is in the study, tidying up the place. Yu Jie is making snacks in the kitchen, I think. I had been sewing for a little while and felt a little sore in the neck, so I came out to harvest some snow off the plum blossoms. Back in the day, we had a cultured teacher in the village. He was very good at teaching and the children all enjoyed his lessons a lot. I was too young for school, so I eavesdropped on his class.

Now and then, he spoke of curious ways to brew tea. It was said that snow collected from plum blossoms and stored in a blue and white urn should be buried under a flowering tree. In the following year, when the snow had turned into water, tea made with that water will have an extraordinarily refreshing and cool fragrance.

This humble woman has no talent. Even so, this humble woman thought of attempting it, but in the absence of good tea, the thought has been abandoned to gather dust. [d] With Lord Husband’s care and the good tea leaves at hand, this humble woman thought to give this brewing method a try.”

As Fu Qiuning spoke, Jin Fengju stretched out his neck to look into the urn. Seeing that the urn was little more than half full, he could not help but laugh, “ [d] Why waste your energy in such a troublesome manner? Would it not be better to just grab a branch and shake the snow off the blossoms into the urn?”

He was just reaching out to grab a branch when Fu Qiuning covered her urn and cried out, “[d] Do not! Only snow from the pistils should be collected. I have spent a long and troublesome hour collecting this. Please, do not ruin my water.”

This recipe was naturally the one recorded in Dream of the Red Chamber, just spun out by Fu Qiuning using a different story. Jin Fengju laughed aloud, “I did not expect you to be this cultured. Alright then, good, I will await this plum blossom next year.” He also stretched out his hand, brushing off a bit of snow from the plum flower pistils into the urn. [1]

“Lord Husband, do go inside and sit down. [d] I’m fine doing it alone.”

Jin Fengju immediately shook his head and replied, “No, no, is it so easy to drink your special tea? Especially when brewed with such a troublesome water collecting method? If I do not put in a little effort, I might not even get a sip next year.”

Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “It’s not like people ever visit this place. Only the Young Marquis ever comes by. How could I be accused of stinginess? That’s right, it is neither early nor late, what is Young Marquis here for?”

Jin Fengju replied, “I have already spread the news. I’m afraid it would not be long before your maternal family comes. I thought you might wish to have some warning, they should send word in two days. We should think of a way to get information out without alerting them when you return.” He added with a smile, “The matter will require some work. Jin Ming will come looking for me soon. Let us return to the house, alright? I see your face has turned pale from the cold.” [1]

Gumihou: In retaliation for giving me stomach churning illness, I’ve turned your cute lover’s interaction into something vaguely threatening, replete with toxic male ego along with a ‘will not listen’ attitude

[a] Give a bit more concrete details aside from ‘he clever’ and ‘he sooo clever’

[b] ‘This’ being the Third Brother Zhang and Aunt Yu’s matter that Author had glossed over in the previous chapter but could not now since it is also part of the plot, but was worded very vaguely. It’s okay though, Gumi helped clarify it.

Also, YTA Jin Fengju

[c] Oh look, an obviously evil wild villain and his henchmen has appeared. Time for JFJ to play hero. Look how much he feels for the little people. We are all so touched. His heart must truly be as great as his looks.

Pill Bug: Oh, the sarcasm.

[d] Gumi turned the cute interaction into overbearing sweetness on the man’s side because he’s at the courting stage.

[e] Naw ma’am, you just dumb.

Pill Bug TL Notes:

[1] Aaaaaaah, another full-page wall of text, Author-san please stop doing this!

Gumihou: This is her MO, I split a looooot of walls of text in The Feast.