The Empress’ Livestream-Chapter 761: Has the Lady Returned? (III)
Chapter 761: Has the Lady Returned? (III)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Although there’d been some friction at the beginning, the conversation was quite pleasant.
Seeing that the sky outside had darkened slightly, Lady Qi smiled and said, “It was a great joy talking to you today, Governor. We hit it off right at the start. I’ve been enjoying myself so much that I forgot the time. If I tarry any longer, I’m afraid I’ll keep you from your duties as governor. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Please go ahead, madam. Public security in the city is unstable nowadays. If anything happens to you on the way home, I won’t be able to account for it to Bogao.”
Jiang Pengji arranged for someone to escort Lady Qi back to her home.
….
“Huang Bogao’s a lucky man. He’s married a good wife.”
Huijun was happy when she received the generous gift. But upon hearing that it’d been given by Huang Song’s wife, she immediately became displeased.
“A good wife? I don’t see it. If not for my master’s generosity and refusal to argue with such a vulgar woman, I’m afraid she would have caused trouble for County Chief Huang.” Huijun frowned. “She claims that she came over to express her thanks to you for saving her husband, but her actions show otherwise. Who would come over to express their thanks while armed to the teeth? Every one of those maids seems to have been trained. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to deal with one or two large men.”
Jiang Pengji laughed involuntarily. She lifted her hand and poked at Huijun’s frown.
Hearing Huijun shout as she raised her hand to cover the space between her brows, Jiang Pengji said, “Do you think that Huang Song’s wife is completely lacking in courage and insight?”
“She’s not reckless, but she’s also not worthy of praise from my master.”
As Huijun thought about those valuable items, her frown became even more severe.
Her master was different from ordinary women and was more outstanding than ordinary men. Why would she need to have anything to do with rouge and face powder?
“I see that your capacity to get jealous is not small in any way either” Jiang Pengji smiled helplessly as she shook her head. “As for the matter of her giving me rouge and face powder, it all depends on how others understand it. Don’t forget, it’s also fashionable for men to put on makeup. It’s not only women who are using it. Men are using it more and more. Strictly speaking, there’s nothing wrong with the gifts she sent that I could nitpick about. The mistake lies in your master being a woman, not a man. As such, it’ll stir up controversy.”
Huijun harrumphed softly, still feeling dissatisfied. “Why was she so certain that you wouldn’t flare up?”
“What would have been the alternative?” Jiang Pengji asked. “If I criticized her as a matter of principle, insisting that she sent the makeup to insult me, wouldn’t that mean that I take offense at my identity as a woman? Otherwise, why would I be so angry? With the current fad, even men giving one another cosmetics is considered something cultured and refined. What more is this matter? If I got angry, I’d just be providing others with entertainment as they watch me make a fool of myself…”
She’d handled things in the best way she could.
“I still don’t like her,” Huijun said. “I can’t get over this anger!”
“She is Huang Song’s wife, naturally she would want to protect Huang Song.” Jiang Pengji smiled. “You’re my family, and naturally you’ll protect me. Let’s go —— Let’s see what good things Lady Qi sent me. If they aren’t good, I’ll go to Huang Song and extort some from him.”
Feng Zhen and Yang Si soon got wind of the matter.
“Lady Qi visited the residence while carrying knives. What’s her influence that she would be so bold?”
Feng Zhen frowned at first, but when he heard that his lord had handled the matter satisfactorily, he breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and began to pay attention to the gossip.
Yang Si thought carefully and said, “The surname Qi… could it be the Qi family who produced two Generals of the Army among their ancestors?”
The General of the Army specialized in handling military affairs. Their salary consisted of 200,000 pounds of grains. They also had a golden seal and wore a purple ribbon to denote their high rank.
The Qi family was a military family. During the Great Xia Dynasty, they produced two Generals of the Army in a row.
In the final years of the Great Xia Dynasty, the Qi family was drawn into the struggle for the throne. Their stratagems were lacking, causing them to lose. The new emperor settled the score with their entire family.
The Qi family had made some sacrifices to defend their lives. Although the vitality of their family had taken a serious hit, at least their lineage had not broken.
It was said that the number of adult males in the two current generations of the Qi family was rather scarce. It would be difficult for them to continue their lineage.
Feng Zhen tucked his hands into opposite sleeves and sighed. “Who knows? It wouldn’t be unusual for a woman from the Qi family to do this.”
Yang Si lit the oil lamp in the hall and added two lamps to his desk to prevent having to use too much effort to read the documents.
“Huang Song is lucky…” Yang Si fetched a roll of bamboo writing slips. “Unfortunately, our lord can’t take this shortcut.”
Others could use marriage connections to increase their strength. But their lord was a woman. If she wanted to do this, her spouse could only become a member of her family and take on her surname.
To take on the surname of one’s wife and become a member of her family… What serious, proper person would be willing to do that? Even an ordinary person, as long as they were not about to die from hunger, would not easily take on their wife’s surname and become a son-in-law living at their wife’s parent’s house. Although his lord had done a good job, her identity as a woman was still a weakness, so she needed to do her best to level out the injustice.
Fairness was not a handout given by others. One had to fight for it themselves.
Feng Zhen twisted the beard that he had just begun to grow.
“She doesn’t need it either.”
Even without relying on Liu She, she’d been able to go from a state of poverty and ignorance to where she was now. She had resumed her real identity and had a firm seat of power in Wanzhou. How could things be more difficult than before?
Meanwhile, Huang Song had accidentally learned what his wife had prepared as the thank you gift for Jiang Pengji. He got such a fright that he nearly died on the spot.
“She sent rouge… face powder… fabrics, and jewelry?”
Huang Song exercised restraint again and again before he was able to suppress the impulse to lift the servants by their collars.
“Was this madam’s own idea, or did you wicked slaves egg her on?”
Why would the servants dare to claim that they’d egged her on?
The entire house was Lady Qi’s realm. Not to mention Master Huang Song, even the other servants were so tightly managed that no one dared to say a word of gossip.
“It’s… it was the lady’s own decision.”
Huang Song was like a deflated doll. He felt as if his body was about to collapse.
“You may withdraw.” He was about to let them leave when he remembered something and called them back. “How long has madam been out?”
“It’s been about two hours.”
Two hours?
Huang Song looked at the sky and saw that it was almost completely dark. His face suddenly darkened as well.
“The lady hasn’t returned yet?”
The servant answered, “Not yet.”
Huang Song felt anxious and said, “Prepare a horse right away.”
He was quite confident about Jiang Pengji. She had great tolerance and a big heart. He also had confidence in his wife. Although she had a temper, she wasn’t one to go overboard… But if the two of them were to encounter each other, Huang Song had no confidence about that at all.
The groom had just led the horse over. Huang Song had not even mounted the horse when Lady Qi’s carriage slowly pulled up in front of the door.
“Madam, are you okay?” Huang Song rushed forward.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay? The governor of Liuzhou is neither fierce nor cruel, she wouldn’t eat me.”
Lady Qi glanced at him as if displeased. Her young and beautiful face was infused with vigor and drive.
“I….” I was afraid that you would hurt each other. Huang Song swallowed the words and instead said, “I was worried about you. Lanting’s temperament has always been difficult to understand. I just heard that you sent a pile of rouge and face powder over to her. I was so frightened I nearly broke out in a cold sweat.”
Lady Qi rolled her eyes at Huang Song. “It’s not as if I gave her a period belt, it was just some top quality makeup. Both men and women can use it and it’s not anything taboo. She accepted it generously, and not only did that give dignity to both parties, but it will also become an anecdote that will be passed on with great relish. If outsiders hear about this, they will, at most, say that I’m petty and narrow-minded because I’m a woman and praise her for being an unusual woman who has a big heart. If someone wants to argue about this, it should tell you something about the size of their heart and the breadth of their mind.”
For a narrow-minded woman, no matter what was her starting point was, her future growth and development would be extremely difficult.
As long as Jiang Pengji did not make any stupid mistakes, she would definitely not take this wrong step.
Huang Song was so choked up that he was speechless.
Somehow, he felt that his wife was being a little too angry today.
