The Rise of Phoenixes- Novel Translation 33

Zhi Wei gets promoted and the very first assignment she gets from the Emperor is to put together a list of eligible bachelors so he can choose a husband for Prince Shao Ning.

Princess Shao Ning was of course quite upset when she heard the news. She cried, made a ruckus, and searched everywhere to find Zhi Wei. Running all over to hide from the Princess, Zhi Wei laments silently– You silly miss. The fact that the Emperor gave this task to me meant he has no intention of choosing me as your husband. Moreover, even if the Emperor is willing, your dear Sixth brother will never allow that to happen. The more you ruckus you made, the faster you will get married off. You silly kid, how can you not have figured that out yet?

Shao Ning obviously has no clue of all the in and outs. To her, love is always hard but the future is bright. A bright future is something that has to be earned and won by two people working together so how can she be left to fight by herself? So…that’s why Zhi Wei has been spending all her energy on hiding from Shao Ning.

Today, Zhi Wei was caught by Shao Ning again in the palace.

Zhi Wei gives a hasty bow “Hi, Princess. Good morning, Princess. I still have to attend to something so please excuse me.” Before Shao Ning could even get a word out, Zhi Wei has finished her big long greeting and taken off running.

“You stop there!”

Running full speed ahead, Zhi Wei gave the officials who all are wearing the same eerie smile as they looked her way with fthe “I don’t know, I didn’t hear anything” expression.

“Don’t do that thing!” Chasing after her, Shao Ning yells “Don’t do it, don’t do it!”

The officials’ suggestive smiles turned to shock– What thing? What thing? Do what, do what?!

Even though she is running against the wind, Zhi Wei still broke out in a cold sweat…Princess, can you say things a bit more clearly…talking like this could get me killed…

“Official Wei, don’t run…” A sweaty palace servant runs after Zhi Wei “You have been summoned by the Emperor.”

Her vision turning into a haze of red, Shao Ning knew this must be her father summoning Wei Zhi to discuss who to announce as her future husband.

“You can’t go today!” Gritting her teeth, Shao Ning suddenly clap her hand “Come!”

In a flash, a crowd of Shao Ning’s guards completely surrounds Zhi Wei.

Zhi Wei frowns. Wei Zhi’s persona is a weak scholar so there is no way someone like that could fight the guards.

“Take him!” Shao Ning yells. In the next instant, the guards quickly stop Zhi Wei from escaping.

“Tie him up!”

Tied up by yellow ropes, Zhi Wei is carried across the palace courtyard by the guards.

Trembling with excitement, Shao Ning runs after the guards.

“I am going to take you to see father. I will say that you tricked me into sleeping with you so you have to marry me and I have to marry you.” (In Chinese there is actually two different way to say marry. One is to denote a woman being given to a man for wife and the other is of course for the man to take in a woman as his wife.” This sentence is humorous in Chinese because Shao Ning had switched the two forms. So the sentence is more like Shao Ning is the man who is taking in Wei Zhi as the wife.)

So angry that she actually broke out in a smile, Zhi Wei says “Princess, did anyone tell you that forcing your way will often get you nothing?”

“I only know,” Shao Ning replies in a huff “To hesitate is to have nothing in the end!”

“……….”

Wrapped up like a mummy, Zhi Wei is carried up in the air by eight guards as the Princess’ war trophy. Staring up at the sky, Zhi Wei laments “These days…the snare of male beauty…”  (This is a nod to a previous scene when our heroine bit Ning Yi and some elderly dude had said the same thing about her. Post 29)

A window on a second floor is suddenly flung open and a person sticks out half of their body “Ah! Isn’t this Official Wei? Ah Ah! You were vertical when you left. Why are you back horizontally?”

Looking up at Helian whose eyebrows seem to be in danger of flying off because of his huge smile, Zhi Wei greets “Good morning, Your Highness. Excuse me for not being able to bow.”

Someone else pokes out his head beside Helian. Holding a tea cup, the man took a careful look at Zhi Wei and says “Horizontally you look like a ridge but from the side you look like a mountain peak. Official Wei, this is quite a lovely position.”

Taking her own careful look of the man, Zhi Wei remarks “Near and far presents different views. Your Highness’ current expression is quite thought-provoking as well.”  (I think the general gist is Ning Yi teasing Zhi Wei and Zhi Wei fighting back by saying Ning Yi is not so good looking now that she is seeing him from a different angle.)

His mood much improved by Zhi Wei’s words, Helian laughs “Your Highness, Official Wei is not some weak official that can be bullied by you!”

“Just within these walls.” Ning Yi turns away from the window “The academy’s wall is sure tall.” (Ning Yi is reminding Helian of his days of only being able to squat on the academy’s wall because Gu Nan Yi wouldn’t let him in.)

Helian “……….”

“Shao Ning, what are you doing?!” Another window opens and reveals the Emperor with a stony expression.

Raising her head stubbornly, Shao Ning yells loudly “Father, I am not going to marry other people. Wei Zhi and I were in the royal garden…”

Closing her eyes, Zhi Wei yells even louder “My Emperor, please excuse me being unable to bow. I was sleepwalking in the royal garden just now and heard a novel story about a couple where the foolish scholar was too dumb to return the lady’s affection. Your humble servant thought the story was very good, very dramatic but the princess dislikes it. So I thought if the princess dislikes it then it must be my fault for not being able to tell the story to the princess in such a way that she would like it. Your humble servant felt so guilty that I decided the only thing to do is to tie myself up to ask my emperor for forgiveness. However, I accidentally tied up myself too tight so that’s why the princess sent the guards to help carry me here.”

All the officials who have been eavesdropping looked at each other with a laugh while thinking silently that this kid is as slippery as mudfish. No wonder the Emperor is all smiles every time he is around, who else has the skill to glaze over this whole thing and still made sure to not embarrass the royal family?

The Emperor frowns “Bunch of kids! All this ruckus over such little thing! All of you go back now! Shao Ning! Do you really want me to ground you?”

Her face turning white degree by degree as she listens to Zhi Wei’s words. Shao Ning knows that everything she wanted to say has been cut off by Wei Zhi. This man’s thoughts are as deep as the ocean and his heart is as hard as a rock. She can’t win over him. Begging, whining, or by force…none of it can move him an inch.

Stubbornly keeping her face raised upward, tears slowly filled Shao Ning’s eyes. Stunned to see his daughter’s tears glistening in the sun, the Emperor belatedly realizes that this might not be some passing fervor for Shao Ning but she might actually have really fallen in love. The thought tugged at Emperor’s heart and made him hesitate but before he could even finish his thoughts, Ning Yi laughingly chides “Little sister is being too mischievous. Such an important government official, one with such a bright future…how is he supposed to act in front of others after this.”

The small tug on his heart instantly disappeared as the Emperor’s eyes turn back to their usual cool expression. Indeed, there are lots of talented scholars but most of them are only book smart. Scholars who are equally talented in politics and have real abilities are usually so haughty they are difficult to work with. Wei Zhi is one of the rare talents who is the whole package. It will be too big of a shame to give someone like this to the Princess as her husband. (The usual practice/law is that whoever marries the princes can no longer participate in politics.) Moreover, it doesn’t seem like this Wei Zhi return the princess’ affection anyway.

“Shao Ning.” Stiffening his heart, the Emperor yells “Go back! You are not allowed to come out again!”

Her bonds loosened thanks to the Emperor’s orders, Zhi Wei bows to the Emperor and say with a smile “My Emperor, please don’t punish the princess. Happy days are to follow so we must not disturb the princess’ good mood.”

Reminded by Zhi Wei’s words that he can’t have Shao Ning running wild like this right before her wedding, what if her future husband becomes resentful? The Emperor yells “Take the princess! No one else is to come out of her place!”

That means the princess is grounded indefinitely. Surprisingly, Princess Shao Ning didn’t make a fuss but left after giving her father a glare. When Shao Ning’s head was turned away though, a tear dropped to the ground.

Expressionless, Zhi Wei stands with her back to Shao Ning– When it comes to Shao Ning, it will only harm her if she is not given a clear rejection. Hopefully, after today she can finally pull back her mistakenly placed affection.

Looking up, Zhi Wei sees Ning Yi who is leaning on the window sill looking down at her with eyes that seems like they are smiling but also not. Glancing up again with a frown when Ning Yi suddenly mouthed something silently, it took Zhi Wei a few moments to figured out what he said.

“Black heart.” (He is teasing her about how he dealt with Shao Ning.)