东宫 Eastern Palace: Chapter 10

Sorry I didn't update for the past few months since I have been busy with my part time job and school, but I'll update more frequently. I also wanted to introduce Nilla, who will be editing the English translations.

            Hi guys, nice to meet you all! My nickname comes from the food Nilla Wafers, and I happen to really like vanilla too. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'd like to thank Michelle for giving me the opportunity to work with her. Props to her for taking so much time to translate for us ^^ Some of the descriptions are pretty weird for my English-speaking brain, but they’re also pretty hilarious considering the context haha ^^ our heroine is too much fun.

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My reputation is...ruined! Although we've argued so much these last three years, I have never disgraced myself in front of Li Cheng Yin until today. I was very furious and hotly said, "If you dare to laugh, I'll tell A'Du to kill you with the knife!"

The corner of his mouth twitched even more, so I glared at him, but he started to laugh loudly. I'd never seen him laugh so happily before, and the whole palace residence echoed with his laughter. I got very angry and seized A'Du's knife.

Yong Niang called out in shock as I flipped the knife around and used the handle to threaten Li Cheng Yin.

 "Do you think I'm scared to hit you? Do you think that if you're sick I won't hit you? I'm telling you, if I wasn't worried that the Emperor would send an army to kill my Father, I would've definitely killed you today!”

Yong Niang moved forward to pull me away, but A'Du blocked her. Even though I was using the knife handle, being hit by it would still be very painful. Li Cheng Yin endured quite a few of my hits and he seemed completely different, he wasn’t even yelling at me like usual. The two of us were fighting on top of the bed, and each hit from the flashing golden knife in my hand was accompanied by the sound of the wind. Yong Niang was panicking, jumping up and down. "Crown Princess, Crown Princess, don't hurt the Crown Prince! Crown Prince, be careful!"

Li Cheng Yin used his strength to seize my knife while I was busily calling A'Du. "Take Yong Niang outside!"

If I didn't force her to leave, then I wouldn't be able to fight him.

A'Du quickly pulled Yong Niang away. My hair became loose, and the golden phoenix hairpin suddenly slipped down to my hair bun. Within a blink of an eye, Li Cheng Yin had seized my knife.

Li Cheng Yin stood up on the bed, holding the knife above me. His body was taller than mine, even when I tiptoed I was still unable to reach the knife. I jumped up to get the knife, but he switched the knife to another hand. I jumped again, and he switched once more...I jumped four to five times, but every time I still couldn't get that knife. He jokingly said, "Jump! Jump again!"

This made me even angrier. Seeing that he was only wearing a yellow silk nightgown with a red belt, I had an idea and abruptly grasped onto his belt. Li Cheng Yin suddenly became flustered and sputtered, "You, what are you doing?"

With one hand grabbing onto the belt, I started kicking his knee. I kicked his knee so hard that he bent and fell down. As he fell, I quickly jumped up to grab his wrist and take back the knife.

At this moment, A'Du came back. Seeing that I was leaning towards Li Cheng Yin's body and pulling onto his belt, A'Du's face suddenly became red and she disappeared in a flash.

"A'Du!" I jumped up to call her, but Li Cheng Yin was trying to take back the knife.

Both of us were fighting on the bed, but we fell to the floor and became entangled. I never thought Li Cheng Yin could fight so well. Before when we fought, it would always end quickly because someone would come and stop us. Today was different than before. Even though he was still sick, a man is always a man, and he was endowed with extraordinary strength like a bull. Although I'm very good at fighting, I'm at a disadvantage sometimes because I can't endure as long as others can. Towards the end of a long fight I become powerless. Li Cheng Yin took back the knife but I grasped onto his hand as if my life depended on it. He loosened his grip, threw the knife to the other side and then kicked it far away so that no one could get to it.

I was gasping for air, Li Cheng Yin was still twisting my arm, and the both of us were like two locks twisted together on the rug. His forehead was full of sweat. This was good, sweating after a long fight would help him recover from his illness. We became deadlocked: he wouldn't let go while I didn’t have any more strength to struggle. He saw my knotted belt and used one hand to pull on it.

I nervously asked, "What are you doing?"

He pulled off the knotted belt and carelessly tied my hands together. I became anxious, I was scared that he would tie me up and hit me. I shouted, "Hey! A gentleman does not hold a grudge, if you dare to torture me, then I will call A'Du to come and kill you!"

"Shut up!"

"A'Du!" I shouted, "A'Du come quickly!"

Li Cheng Yin seemed scared A'Du would come over because he knew he couldn’t beat her. He turned around to look for something, and I guess he was trying to find something to block my mouth. However, the bed and the floor were a complete mess, the pillow and blankets were scattered on the floor… where could he find something so quickly? Even though my hands were tied together, my feet could still move. I was jumping on the ground like a fish out of the water, and I seized this opportunity to shout, "A'Du! Come quickly and save me! A'Du!"

Li Cheng Yin became anxious, so he threw himself on top of me and used his mouth to stop my mouth.

I was stunned.

His body was filled with the scent of sweat, medicine, and other unknown scents. His mouth was soft and hot like a freshly cooked roasted duck, but his mouth was softer. I was stunned, really stunned. My eyes were opened widely and all I could see were his eyes.

We stared at each other.

I had forgotten how to breathe, and was only staring at him.

I opened my mouth, about to shout, but his arms tightened. When I opened my mouth, his tongue went into my mouth.

Too disgusting!

My whole body was filled with goosebumps and all the hairs on my body stood up. He suddenly nibbled onto my mouth.

 Ah, ah, ah! That is my mouth! Not pig feet! Not roasted chicken! Not duck leg! He suddenly hugged me while nibbling onto my mouth with great pleasure. While he was nibbling onto my mouth, he was also touching my clothes. Fortunately, there was a tight knot around my waist or else he would have pulled my skirt apart and I wouldn't be able to live anymore.

How grievous! How insolent!

I used all my effort to bite his mouth, and raised my foot to kick him fiercely.

I kicked him aside and he didn't move anymore. I jumped up, rushed over to pick up A'Du's knife, and then cut off the belt that tied my hands. I picked up the knife and pointed it to his neck: "Li Cheng Yin! Today, I will fight you until the end!"

Li Cheng Yin lazily glanced at me and lowered his head to touch the knife. I pressed the knife closer to his neck to threaten him: "You aren't allowed to tell anyone about today's matter or else I'll tell A'Du to kill you tonight!"

Li Cheng Yin was sitting there with his hands by his waist as if there was no sharp knife near his neck when he suddenly became shameless: "What things happened today that don't you want me to say?"

"You kissing me, and… and….hmph! Anyways, you cannot tell anyone about today's situation or else I'll kill you!"

He moved his neck closer to the knife: "If you kill me now, you are killing your husband. Also, if you dare to touch a piece of my hair, my imperial father would send troops and fight Western Liang!"

How shameless!

I was so angry that I didn't know what to do. I hesitated whether or not I should stab him or let A'Du deal with him tonight. "But..." he said, "If I am in a good mood, then I won't tell anyone about today's matter."

I looked at him. "What do you want me to do in order for you to be in a good mood?"

Li Cheng Yin tapped his chin. "Let me think...."

I fiercely said, "What is there to think about? Anyways, I'm telling you right now, if you tell anyone about this matter, I will immediately tell A'Du to kill you!"  

"Kiss me!"

"What?"

"If you kiss me, then I won't tell anyone!"

I looked at him suspiciously. Today's Li Cheng Yin doesn't seem to be the Li Cheng Yin I had known. Before today we wouldn’t have gotten past three sentences of conversation before arguing with one another. Li Cheng Yin was very hateful, hateful, and extra hateful...but today he was shameless, shameless, and especially shameless.

My mind relented and I decided to take the risk. "You will keep your promise?"

"A gentleman will act upon his words."

"Fine."

I placed the knife down, closed my eyes and bit him on his face leaving a tooth mark. It was so painful that he sharply took in a breath. When I finished kissing him, I was about to pick up the knife and leave, but he suddenly reached out and pulled me into his embrace.

           Unexpectedly, he nibbled on my mouth again. Ah, ah, ah, ah!

           He nibbled for a long time before letting me go. I was gasping for air and my lips were burning hot. This person was nibbling my mouth to the point it became swollen!

He reached out his finger to touch my lips, said: "This is called kissing, do you understand?" I really want to stab him, if I wasn't worried about our two countries fighting, people suffering, the bloodbath, the bones piled as high as a mountain…

I swallowed back my pride and grinned. "Thank you for teaching me!"

 "No need to thank me." He was so shameless.

 "Now that you know, kiss me."

We just kissed! I was so angry that I jumped up. "You didn't keep your promise!"

 "Just now, I was the one kissing you not you kissing me."

For the peace of the two countries, I will endure it!

I grabbed onto the front of his clothes and then imitated him by fiercely nibbling onto his mouth, chicken legs, chicken legs, chicken legs........I'll just pretend I am nibbling onto a chicken leg! I’ll nibble! I’ll nibble! I’ll nibble, nibble, and nibble!

I finally finished nibbling. When I let go, I discovered that from his neck to his ears Li Cheng Yin was flushing red, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was breathing heavily.

"You have a fever again?"

He suddenly denied it, saying, "No! You can leave now."

I fixed my clothes and hair, grabbed my knife, and quickly left.

There was no one outside as I continued to walk to my palace residence. I noticed as I was walking, the palace maids had a stunned look and even almost forgot to bow to me. Those palace maids were selected by Yong Niang. All of them were like Yong Niang as well; they always remembered the rules.

After looking at the mirror, I finally understood why they were looking at me like that.

I looked like a ghost. My hair was down, my clothes were a complete mess, and my mouth was swollen. Li Cheng Yin, that rotten egg made my mouth swollen. The palace maids helped me change my clothes and fix my hair. Fortunately, no one asked me about today's matter. If they knew, then there would be no need for me to stay in Eastern Palace. Suddenly, someone outside the door said Li Cheng Yin had sent someone to send me something.

This rarely happened because everyone knew that Li Cheng Yin didn't like me. He never sent anyone to bring things to me.

            I felt like something was wrong. Usually when I argued with Li Cheng Yin he wouldn't care about me for the next several days. Today we were fighting very aggressively, but he sent someone to gift me something. This was strange.

            However, I'm not scared of Li Cheng Yin, so I said, "Tell him to come in."

           He sent an eunuch to bring a tray with a lid that had a red silk covering it, I couldn't see what was underneath. The eunuch was sent by Li Cheng Yin, so he was standing in a very well mannered way and earnestly announced the imperial decree. "Your Majesty said he was very apologetic for breaking Crown Princess's belt, so he want to compensate for your loss by giving Crown Princess a string with a pair of mandarin ducks [1]. Your Majesty said, he was going to come and give this to Crown Princess himself, but he felt very tired, sweated a lot, and was scared to catch a cold, so he couldn't come. Your Majesty also said he wouldn't tell anyone about today's matter, so please relax Crown Princess."

           I almost fainted from my anger. Some of the palace maids looked at the sky, some of them looked at the carpet, others were biting the corner of their mouths, some other maids had displeased looks on their faces, and a few maids' faces were distorted from holding in their laughter... Everyone pretended as if they didn't hear anything and refused to look at me.

           Li Cheng Yin, you are bold! Is this what you called not telling anyone? This is called using your imperial order to tell the whole world! You are purposely using this way to tell me not to worry.... I can't stand this! Telling someone in this type of situation to not take revenge would be hard!

          I gave a strained smile. "I thank your Highness."

          The eunuch showed his reverence and respect by kneeling down and holding the tray above his head. I reached out to open the lid covered with the silk, and there was indeed a pair of delicate mandarin ducks, as if they were full of joy. Looking at it made me feel very angry to the point I almost fainted from my anger. The palace maids by my side had already moved forward to take the tray.

          I already knew Li Cheng Yin wouldn't let me have any good days, but I never thought he'd be this bold. He unexpectedly used this type of scheme. At night, A'Du finally came back with Yong Niang. Not long after Yong Niang arrived, someone told her about the mandarin ducks. Though she didn't ask me about it, she was smiling with joy and when she saw that the corner of my mouth was swollen, she ordered someone to prepare my meal. I dare say the whole Eastern Palace knew about this incident by now. My clothes were a mess and my hair was down when I came out of Li Cheng Yin's palace residence, I didn't know where my belt went, and then Li Cheng Yin gave me a pair of mandarin ducks as a gift.

          Mandarin duck- even thinking about it gave me goosebumps. If Li Cheng Yin sent me a necklace, I wouldn't think it was strange, but he sent me a string of mandarin ducks, which is obvious he was plotting something.

          However, the people in Eastern Palace didn't think like that, especially the palace maids who served me. Everyone's eyebrows were raised and they exhaled, believing that I had finally convinced Li Cheng Yin.

"The Crown Prince finally changed his mind, Amitabha [2]! Zhao Liang Di must have mistreated the Crown Prince. Look, she's been rejected by him. The Crown Prince treats the Crown Princess well now."


Notes:
[1] 鸳鸯 Mandarin duck- In this chapter, the mandarin duck we are referring to is a decoration in the shape of a mandarin duck. Mandarin duck is a type of duck, but sometimes in Chinese context it means a couple.
[2] 阿弥陀佛 Amitabha- A chant to the Buddha meaning "May the lord Buddha preserve us."

< Chapter 9                                                                                                                Chapter 11 >