Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 38

“An Rou, why are you sitting here alone? Are you unhappy?”

Three days have passed since they left the palace for a banquet. During these three days, Princess An Rou seems somewhat listless and unhappy. Consort Xian, seeing this, is secretly delighted but pretends to be ignorant.

“Consort Mother?” Princess An Rou turns her head, “It’s not that I’m unhappy, I just find the palace really boring. Can I go to Aunt’s house again?”

She has grown up in the palace and is extremely familiar with every plant and tree here. No matter how beautiful the scenery, she has lost interest. A few days ago, she left the palace to play at the Princess’s residence, and she felt very happy.

“Do you want to go to Aunt’s house to play, or do you want to see someone?” Consort Xian teases, not forgetting to watch her expression, wanting to see if there is any shyness or anticipation of a young girl in love.

But the result disappoints her. Princess An Rou only widens her eyes and asks in confusion, “See who? Aunt?”

Consort Xian covers her mouth and laughs, “Of course not your aunt. I heard that you met a very handsome young man at the Princess’s residence that day?”

“How does Consort Mother know?” Princess An Rou is very surprised, and then she suddenly realizes and says shyly, “It was Hua Ying who said it, right! That little girl can never keep a secret, I won’t tell her anything next time!”

“Don’t be shy. Do you know who that young man is?”

“Pei Yage said that he is her big brother, and even bet with me that he is the most handsome man in Liangjing. I didn’t believe it at first, but after seeing him, I found that he is really very good-looking.” Princess An Rou has always liked good-looking people, both men and women.

“Then, if he were to become your husband, would you be willing?” Consort Xian cautiously asks, not letting go of her slightest reaction.

“Husband?” Princess An Rou blushes, “Consort Mother, don’t make fun of me, I’m still young!” After all, she is a young girl, and she feels a bit embarrassed talking about such matters.

“What’s there to be shy about when it comes to matters of love? That Pei Che is exceptionally handsome and proficient in the six arts of a gentleman. Which girl in Liangjing doesn’t like him? If you don’t settle it soon, he might be taken by someone else. Be careful, or your father might choose an ugly husband for you.” Consort Xian’s words hit directly at her deepest fear.

“No, Father promised me that I could choose my own husband!” She would never choose an ugly man as her husband.

“You choose for yourself, but it’s still your father who will first select a few for you. And in the end, you’ll just be choosing the tallest among the short ones. Can any of them be as good-looking as Pei Che?” Consort Xian sighs, looking as if she is lamenting that An Rou is being deceived.

Princess An Rou hesitates. She thinks about it and realizes that the husbands of the other princesses indeed don’t seem as good-looking as Pei Che.

“But…” She doesn’t know Pei Che at all!

“No buts. Just tell me, would you rather have Pei Che as your husband, or let other ugly men be your husband?” Consort Xian deliberately narrows her options to these two. Princess An Rou, inexperienced in worldly matters, doesn’t notice the trap in her words, and it is obvious whom she would choose.

After Consort Xian leaves, An Rou’s mood doesn’t improve; it actually worsens. She doesn’t understand why she inexplicably chose Pei Che as her husband, but Consort Xian is right. What if the others are all ugly? It would be better to have Pei Che as her husband; at least he is really good-looking!

Seeing her in this state, Hua Ying, who comes in to serve her, seems to guess her thoughts and suggests an idea: “Princess, you just want to know what kind of person Pei Che is, right? Why don’t we go out of the palace to find him and see what he’s like?”

“Leave the palace?” Princess An Rou’s eyes light up but then dim again. “No, Consort Xian wouldn’t agree to let me leave the palace.”

“We can sneak out. Haven’t you read those stories where girls dress as boys? We can disguise ourselves as young eunuchs and leave the palace, and return before the gates are locked. How could Consort Xian find out?”

…

“Pei Che, accompany me to take a look over there, will you? I’ve never been there!”

A woman dressed as a man stands beside Pei Che, pointing excitedly at a tall building in the distance.

“There’s nothing nice to see there.”

“What about over here? There’s a lake. Shall we take a boat ride?” The woman, undeterred, points to a lake ahead.

“The water is cold in winter. What if you fall in?”

“… Are you unwilling to accompany me?” The woman looks at him angrily.

“Princess, please forgive me for being blunt, but I think you should return to the palace.” Pei Che forces a smile while thinking that he was helping his Uncle. So he controlled his temper.

“I’m not going back to the palace. If you won’t go with me, I’ll go by myself!” With that, she starts to walk ahead.

Pei Yage quickly grabs her and whispers, “Princess, it’s dangerous with so many people outside. Let us go with you.”

Then, in a pleading tone, she says to Pei Che, “Big Brother, it’s rare for the princess to go out. Why don’t you accompany us to take a look?”

Rarely go out? She has been out for three consecutive days. Pei Che recalls the day his second uncle suddenly sent someone to invite him to the study, claiming it was for an important matter. But when Pei Che entered, he only found two people dressed as eunuchs standing there, while his second aunt and older cousin were talking to one of them.

“…Princess”

Princess? Pei Che vaguely hears this address and immediately wants to leave, but Pei Shiyuan calls him back.

Pei Shiyuan pulls Pei Che aside and whispers, “Che’er, your second uncle wants to ask a favor. This Princess An Rou is raised under Consort Xian. She sneaked out today without the consort knowing. We wanted to send her back, but she refused and insisted on going out to play. It’s dangerous outside, and if something happens, no one can explain it. Why don’t you take them out for a walk and then safely escort her back to the palace? How about it?”

“Second Uncle, are you confused? How can I, a lone man, go out alone with the princess? If this gets out, it will damage both the princess’s and my reputation. I can’t agree to this.” Pei Che refuses directly.

“Che’er, you’ve misunderstood your second uncle!” Pei Shiyuan, seeing his firmness, quickly tries to salvage the situation. “I’m not asking you to accompany the princess alone. Yage will accompany the princess, and you’ll protect them from behind. If a group goes out, even if seen, people will only think you’re protecting your sister. This should have been done by Min’er or Pu’er, but they both went to Yicheng two days ago. In this household, your second uncle can only rely on you!”

Pei Shiyuan speaks persuasively and looks at Pei Che with a pleading expression. Pei Che has no choice but to agree. 

And so, three days pass.

This princess seems to have discovered the delights outside the palace. For the past three days, she comes out of the palace to find them at the same time each day, even bringing her own well-fitted men’s clothing, no longer wearing the two sets of eunuch uniform from the first day.

This makes Pei Che seriously doubt the competence of the guards at the palace gates. Can they really keep assassins out if they can’t even keep her in? And Consort Xian—can she really not notice a living person missing from the palace?

Thinking back on the princess’s somewhat odd behavior over the past three days, Pei Che has a vague sense of unease, though he hopes he is wrong.

“Big Brother?”

Pei Yage’s words bring Pei Che back to his senses. He thinks for a moment and says to them, “These places are not interesting. I know a place that’s very fun. How about I take you there?”

He realizes he has been wrong. The places he has taken them to over the past few days are bustling markets or scenic spots, which have made the princess yearn for civilian life. He needs to show them the reality of ordinary people’s lives to extinguish her desire to leave the palace and any inappropriate thoughts.

“Great!” Before Pei Yage can speak, Princess An Rou already shouts, “Hurry up and take us to see it!”

Pei Che calls for the carriage waiting nearby and lets them get on while he mounts his horse and leads them toward the outer city.

At first, Princess An Rou is quite interested in looking out of the window, but as time goes on, she starts to feel bored. “How much longer until we get there?”

“Princess, please wait a little longer. We should be almost there,” Pei Yage says, though she doesn’t know where her big brother intends to take them. She has an uneasy feeling about it.

After a while, the carriage suddenly stops.

“We’re here. Get off,” Pei Che dismounts and looks at the street, which he always finds filthy and chaotic, and the corners of his mouth can’t help but rise slightly.

As he expects, before Princess An Rou and Pei Yage even get off the carriage, the smell from the street has already made their faces turn pale. To ordinary people, this street is relatively clean, but to those accustomed to pristine surroundings, it is a shock.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to go out? If you don’t get off, we’ll return to the palace.”

Princess An Rou can’t let this rare opportunity slip away. Summoning her courage, she gets off the carriage. Pei Yage, after some hesitation, also gets off, but she holds a handkerchief to her nose and mouth, looking around with obvious disdain.

“Pei Che, where are you taking us?” Princess An Rou asks, slightly uneasy in the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Princess, don’t you always want to know how ordinary people live? I’ve brought you here to see. This is also one of my favorite places to visit,” Pei Che says, standing at the alley’s entrance and looking out at the street, lying calmly.

Before Princess An Rou can respond, a speeding carriage passes by the alley, its wheels hitting a small pothole and splashing dirty water everywhere, with mud droplets landing on them.

Pei Che frowns and is about to speak, but seeing Princess An Rou’s distressed expression, he says, “Princess, you don’t want to return to the palace, do you?”

“Who… who said I want to return to the palace! I still want to continue looking!” After saying this, she pushes aside Hua Ying, who is trying to wipe off the mud spots for her, and walks out.

It is almost noon, and the morning market has mostly dispersed. Rotten vegetable leaves and other debris are piled up along the sides of the street, waiting for the cleaners to come by. The smell from these things is quite unpleasant, and Princess An Rou walks forward with her nose covered, trying to suppress the discomfort in her stomach. She is so focused on looking around that she doesn’t notice another small pothole ahead. By the time she realizes it, one foot has already stepped in, and her pristine embroidered shoe is instantly dirtied. She jumps up angrily, stomping hard to try to shake off the dirt.

The surrounding townsfolk have never seen such a strange person before and can’t help but look at her with curious eyes, wondering where this pale-faced person, who is so out of place on the entire street, has come from.

Princess An Rou becomes increasingly unhappy. She withdraws her foot and walks a few more steps before stepping on a slippery dead fish, which breaks her composure. She turns around and runs back toward the carriage parked in the alley.

“Let’s go back to the palace. This princess can’t stay here any longer!” Princess An Rou can’t wait to jump into a bath and scrub herself clean from head to toe.

“Princess, are you sure you don’t want to look around anymore? If you come back tomorrow, I’ll still bring you here. From now on, this is the only place I’ll take you,” Pei Che says maliciously.

Princess An Rou realizes he is deliberately mocking her. She glares at Pei Che and says fiercely, “Pei Che, how dare you have the audacity to mock me!”

“I am doing this for the princess’s own good. If the princess doesn’t leave the palace anymore, I will naturally not be able to offend you.” Or if you must leave the palace, don’t come to the Duke’s mansion.

Hearing this, Princess An Rou catches the hint of distance and dislike in his words. Enraged, she laughs sarcastically, “I won’t let you have your way. I will leave the palace every day! I’ll even ask my father for an imperial decree to make you my husband, so you’ll have to follow me every day!”

“Heh,” Pei Che sneers. His suspicions from the past few days are finally confirmed, and he can’t contain his emotions, feeling deceived by everyone involved.

At that moment, the rumbling sound of wheels approaches. 

Pei Che turns his head and suddenly smiles. “Listen carefully, I, Pei Che, would rather marry that man than ever marry you!” He points outward at a man pushing a small cart in their direction.

On the cart is a sign, written in slightly childish handwriting, that reads “Jiang’s Baozi Stall.” This is the contribution of Little Stone, who has learned to write and insisted on making a sign for the family stall.