Pampered Consort's Acting Awards - Chapter 3

“A wanted poster.”

 “He’s just that, but in order to be with him, you are even willing to part with me?”

Hearing this sentence from Qin Suizhi, Su Ling’s temple suddenly ached. The scenes of Qin Ling attempting suicides because of the man from the Zhu clan came one after another.

Since the Ministry of Rites announced the news of the general election for the new emperor, Eldest Miss Qin did not just sit down and weep every day, nor did she only smash things and went on a hunger strike. Later on, she simply hung three-foot white silk on the beam of her room.

Mournful and heartbroken tones echoed in her ears—

“Young Sir Zhu said to me that if I enter the palace, he won’t get married in this life.”
“Big Brother, repeated rumor becomes a fact, public clamor can obscure the actual truth, you understand this principle better than me. Most of the time, the words outside can’t be trusted. Zhu Ze is definitely not what you think.”
“In this lifetime, Ah Ling is destined to disappoint her parents and brother.”

What Qin Wang said yesterday about throwing tantrums definitely was not accusing Qin Ling wrongly in the least bit.

In all fairness, it was fine if Qin Ling and Zhu Ze really had mutual affections. However, even after making a huge ruckus and drinking poison to suicide, that man of the Zhu clan had never appeared once.
It went without saying that affection was a shallow thing.

Back to Qin Suizhi.
The young man’s attire was dusty, and his shoes were stained with mud. In addition, because of fast-riding, his palms had red marks from holding the reins.

Seeing that she had not spoken for a long time, Qin Suizhi could not help but laugh at himself. He raised his head and glanced at the beam, sighing deeply he said: “Ah Ling, what should I do with you?”

The distress in the young man’s eyes was too harsh, so she tried to appease him: “In the future… I won’t anymore.”

Qin Suizhi stared blankly, “What did you say?”

Su Ling imitated Qin Ling’s way of speaking as best as she could: “After going through this incident, I understand a lot of things clearly as well… In the future, I won’t let Eldest Brother worry anymore.”

Qin Suizhi blinked vigorously, and after a while, he said in an unconvinced tone: “What you said is true? You won’t meet Zhu Ze anymore?”

Su Ling nodded her head and said “en” in a low voice.
Perhaps because she had lost consciousness for too long, Su Ling’s voice was obviously still a bit hoarse. Qin Suizhi could not help but recall that she had taken poison for Zhu Ze. His eyes became somewhat gloomy and he patted her shoulders: “Okay, you should rest early. These few days I’ll be at home to accompany you.”
He said it was to accompany but to put it bluntly, it was to watch her.
But Su Ling could understand. Her words just now, at most Qin Suizhi only believed half of them. After all, Eldest Miss Qin was very passionate, it was hard to guarantee that this was not just a new means of retreating first to advance later.

After Qin Suizhi left, Su Ling went back to the couch, pondering over what should be done in the future.
Eldest Miss Qin had paid no attention to outside matters, as her whole heart was only filled with Young Sir Zhu. In her memories, there was not any information regarding the Su family and the current political situation.
There was only one piece of information she could know right now—
In the battle against the State of Qi 3 years ago, the Great Zhou had emerged victorious and Xiao family’s state power was preserved.

As for other things, she could only make some inquiries at Qingfeng Pavilion at the Dongzhimen1.

[Dongzhimen: A neighborhood area in Beijing (the capital)]

In short, she had to go beyond the door.

Early morning the next day, the treetops stood still.
The servant girl, He Zhu, was standing behind Su Ling. Facing the mirror, she inserted a golden hairpin embedded with turquoise into Su Ling’s hair bun. Soon after, she lamented: “This servant is illiterate and is not good at speaking pretty words, however, she feels that Miss was born really eye-catching. When one sees Miss, one will feel that the flowers in this courtyard had lost their colors.”

Su Ling lifted her eyes and looked at her.
How could one call this not good at speaking words? This was clearly “very skilled in speaking words”.
If she was the real Qin Ling, tears would have fallen right now.

The draft. The draft.
Although talents, moral character, family background, and skills were all within the scope of the assessment, in the end, it was still a beauty contest.
As far as the Qin family’s daughter’s appearance was concerned, it was difficult to miss.
Saying that Eldest Miss Qin was born eye-catching, was tantamount to stabbing her heart with a knife.

This servant girl’s heart had obviously gone astray.

Although her identity had changed, after all was said and done, Su Ling was still that empress who had been in charge of the affairs of the Six Palaces. After only a brief glance at each other, He Zhu could not help but tremble.
She bit her lips and forced a smile: “Miss… Why is Miss looking at this servant like this?”
Su Ling restrained her eyes and replied indifferently: “It’s nothing. You can go.”
Anxiously, He Zhu retired.

Before the door fully closed, one could see Qin Suizhi entering the room while carrying two small food boxes. He said while smiling: “I just came back from the town and bought your favorite glutinous rice balls and steamed bass. Don’t you have a sore throat? It would be best if you eat lighter food. Come over quickly.”

Su Ling sat down and Qin Suizhi gave her a piece of fish belly.

Su Ling held the chopsticks but did not move.

Because she never ate fish.

“Quickly eat ah, what are you thinking about?” Qin Suizhi patted Su Ling’s head and smiled with his head tilted: “Last night, I thought that your words were only trying to deceive me, but after seeing today, it’s like you’ve been reborn.”
Once the voice fell, Su Ling immediately coughed.
Qin Suizhi stroked her back, “Slow down.”

“Ah Ling, after this you should follow me to where Father is and admit your mistakes.” Qin Suizhi put down his chopsticks and his expression gradually became solemn, “Even if in your heart, he has done a lot of mistakes and seems like he’s forcing you to your death, but in the end, that’s…”
“Nevermind, let’s not mention the past anymore. Just go with me, okay?”

Su Ling lifted her eyes: “Okay.”
After yesterday, she had already planned to see Qin Wang. After all, if she wanted to enter the palace, she needed to handle the matters in the Qin family well first.

Qin Suizhi did not think she would agree so easily. When the corners of his mouth were about to rise, he heard Su Ling said: “Brother, I want to go out for a walk in the afternoon.”

Hearing what was said, Qin Suizhi’s smile disappeared in a flash, his face was grave: “Ah Ling, are you going to see him?”

Su Ling knew that her credibility was too low and it was not realistic to go out by herself at present: “These two days I’ve been feeling so uncomfortable in my heart, so I want to go out for a walk. If Eldest Brother doesn’t feel at ease, you can go together with me.”

Qin Suizhi glanced at her and said: “Alright, then I’ll accompany you.”

Once the two finished eating, Qin Suizhi brought Su Ling to the master courtyard.
When entering the door, Jiang Lanyue was tidying Qin Wang’s clothes. Originally, the two were talking while laughing, but once he saw Qin Ling, Qin Wang immediately pressed down the corners of his mouth: “What do you come for!”

Qin Suizhi tensed up. He was afraid that the younger sister would turn around and walk away, so he immediately placated: “Ah Ling, Father is also worried about you this time, don’t think about it too much. After you finish talking, we’ll leave right away.”

In fact, according to Eldest Miss Qin’s temperament, once Qin Wang let out this one sentence, she would have left immediately. And not just leaving, she would turn her head and curse Jiang Lanyue as a vixen.

Jiang Lanyue wore a smile while watching Su Ling. She had been prepared to watch the scene of the two father and daughter who were as incompatible as fire and water, only to hear Su Ling spoke slowly: “From today onwards, I won’t be seeing the young sir of the Zhu family again.”

Her tone was stable and could not be said as sincere, yet this manner of speaking lightly was enough to make Qin Wang stunned.

After a long silence, Qin Wang lifted his face and said: “If there is another time, the Qin family won’t have you as a daughter anymore.”

“I know.”
Su Ling turned and left.

After the brother and sister left the master courtyard, Jiang Lanyue personally poured a pot of tea for Qin Wang. She smiled and started: “As the saying goes, misfortune lies in blessing and vice versa. Eldest Miss having to go through this affair is not a bad thing either, at least this time, Master can be relieved.”

Since the death of Wen Shuanghua, Qin Ling had never spoken to Qin Wang in this kind of calm manner.
At this moment, a crack appeared in the corners of Qin Wang’s mouth, like a three-foot crevice on a frozen lake’s surface.
There was obviously a trace of happiness in his heart, however, he was still reluctant to admit: “Relieved what? How many absurd things has she done? Maybe she will change her temper again someday.”
Jiang Lanyue teased: “No matter how absurd, she’s still your own child.”

Qin Wang followed with a smile.

However, this smile, was not what Jiang Lanyue had asked for.

As the autumn sky sunk, the weather became somewhat colder.

Su Ling wore a veil hat and boarded the carriage.
The first place the little lady was brought to was a jewelry store.
Qin Suizhi’s whole face was written with “pick whatever you wish, Big Brother will pay for you.” Unfortunately, Qin Ling did not find anything she fancy.

In desperation, Qin Suizhi asked the shopkeeper for a sheet of paper, and said unhurriedly: “Tell me what you want, I’ll draw it for you.”

Qin Ling gave directions to Qin Suizhi’s pen, “I want a golden flower buyao, with a red pearl embedded on top of it.”

[buyao: Dangling ornament]

“Big Brother, it should be bent a little bit on this side.”
“Why don’t you say so earlier?” Qin Suizhi retorted, but still re-drew it.

After a long time, Qin Suizhi handed off the drawing to the shopkeeper’s hand, “Do it according to this, I’ll have to trouble the shopkeeper.”
The shopkeeper smiled and continued, “Young Sir is too courteous.”
Qin Ling said: “This golden flower with red pearl buyao, how long will it take to be finished?”
The shopkeeper kneaded his chin: “This buyao is drawn exquisitely. No matter how urgent the lady needs it, she will still have to wait for ten days.”
Qin Ling expressed her thanks.

Ten days, it’s enough.

From the jewelry store, the two headed in the direction of Dongzhimen.

As soon as they alighted the carriage, they saw a crowd of people walking in the same direction.
They were originally here to find the hustle, so they followed. Scent of Osmanthus flowers wafted the whole way, getting stronger and stronger.

After stopping, they found out that they had arrived at the Gongyuan.

[Gongyuan: a place for examinations in the imperial examination era]

Today was August, 17th. The day the triennial provincial imperial examination was held in the capital.

First Place: Huai Jing
Second Place: He Wenyi, Chu Jiangya, Mu Zhengyan, Ding Jin, Tang Wen, Luo Qiuhe…

Everyone was congratulating a man clad in ink colored robe one after another, “Congratulations for Young Sir Huai.”

“Truly didn’t expect, Young Sir Huai passed as the first place even though it is your first time participating in the imperial examination. Really promising.”

“Many thanks.”
The man surrounded by the people was tall and straight, with deep eyebrows, the corners of his mouth were not deep nor shallow, with an easygoing appearance. Really not resembling one who had just participated in the examination for the first time.

Su Ling only took a glance before retracting her gaze.

When she turned her head, Qin Suizhi was looking at the two words “first place” motionlessly.
In Su Ling’s memory, Qin Suizhi had been known as a child prodigy since he was young. He could make poems when he was 3 years old, and his writing was excellent when he was 7. If Qin family’s madam did not make Qin Suizhi swear that oath before she died.
Perhaps, this year’s first-place would be him.

Qin Suizhi sensed that someone was looking at him. He immediately calmed his state of mind, and smiled towards Su Ling: “Why are you looking at me?”

Some things did not require comfort, as once exposed, it might hurt the person.
Su Ling said: “Let’s go.”

As soon as the voice fell, the cold wind suddenly blew.

Su Ling’s veil hat and the notice paper on the front door of the Gongyuan were swept up by the wind.

However, the instant the notice paper was lifted—

Su Ling’s heart seemed to stop.

She seemed to had seen a yellowed wanted poster.

And the person on the wanted poster…

To confirm her own guess, she strode forward and tore off the wanted poster.

At this moment, a man wearing an ash-colored robe spoke: “Eh, why did Young Lady tear this wanted poster off?”

The wind made a rustling sound in her ears.
Su Ling stared at the portrait in the wanted poster, below the portrait were the three words—Su Huaian.

Su Huaian.
How can it be possible?
Didn’t he…
Supposing that he’s not dead, then what’s with that bloodstained kerchief 3 years ago?

While she was still thinking, Qin Suizhi walked over and asked softly: “Ah Ling, what’s wrong?”

Su Ling mumbled, “Who is this?”

Hearing these words, the man wearing an ash-colored robe laughed: “Young Lady isn’t from the capital? You don’t know this person?”
“This person ah, used to be the heir of House of Zhen, a young high ranking official of the Supreme Court. Oh, right, also the top scorer in the palace examination on the 34th year of Yongchang era. He should have a promising future, to think that…” The ash-colored robed man shook his head and said: “Unexpectedly he’s a traitor who collaborated with the enemy and committed treason.”

Su Ling secretly clenched her hands, her nails almost piercing into her palms.
She controlled her voice and quietly said: “Collaborated with the enemy and committed treason. He should be put to death, why is this person still on the wanted poster?”
The ash-colored robed man stroke his chin and replied: “Hai, I remember that 3 years ago, on the night of August 15th, this person disappeared without a trace from the prison of the Ministry of Justice. No one has been able to catch him after 3 years, so it becomes an unresolved case.”