Pampered Poisonous Royal Wife Chapter 104

Chapter 104: The Singing Phoenix Perches upon the Green Wutong

Mu Yunyao returned to the rear courtyard with Madam Jin, where many people had already come forward to offer congratulations.

The Governor’s wife wore a brilliant smile. The rewards just now had not included her, but Governor Zhang had been granted a Lan Ling—an exceedingly precious honor for an official posted away from the capital. More importantly, this merit had practically fallen into his lap. How could she not be pleased?

Madam Jin was likewise surrounded by people offering congratulations. She had just been granted the title of a Ninth-Rank Imperial Titled Lady. No matter how much envy those people nursed in their hearts, on the surface, they all had to congratulate her with perfect sincerity.

The round of greetings and pleasantries lasted for more than an hour before the Governor’s wife finally arranged for everyone to take their seats.

Mu Yunyao’s seat was placed beside Madam Jin. As the guests spoke, many of them smiled and nodded toward her.

Mu Yunyao’s face held seven parts happiness and three parts reverent unease. She returned each greeting with a smile from beginning to end, and Madam Jin, watching from the side, could not help admiring her in secret. This girl was so clever it startled the heart. She had worried that after receiving His Majesty’s reward, Mu Yunyao might grow arrogant and lose her sense of measure. It seemed that worry had been needless.

The banquet was lively and bustling, yet Mu Yunyao ate with little awareness of taste. Su Qingwu’s arrival had left her thoughts rising and falling without rest. Those blood-soaked memories she had pressed into the deepest corners of her mind had surged up once more. Even brushing against them sent pain cutting through her heart.

“Yunyao, why is your complexion so poor? Does your hand hurt terribly?” Madam Jin felt a pang of guilt. When they came, she had been so caught up in excitement that she had not noticed Mu Yunyao’s injured hand at all.

“It is nothing. I only feel a little stifled in the chest. Madam need not worry about me.”

“If you truly feel unwell, you may go into the courtyard for some air. The small garden is just beside us.”

Mu Yunyao nodded, yet she did not move. She endured until the banquet had ended.

At the entrance, Jin Lan and Jin Qiao stood beside the carriage. Seeing Mu Yunyao walk out with such a poor complexion, they hurried forward to support her. “Miss, what is wrong?”

“Nothing. Let us go.”

Once inside the carriage, she leaned against the soft cushion. In the next instant, the color drained from her face like snow. She pressed a hand over her chest and drew breath in great, ragged mouthfuls, as though only by doing so could she scatter even a fraction of the pain lodged within.

When the carriage passed Jinling Bridge, Mu Yunyao could not keep from calling for it to stop. Clutching her chest, she ran to the riverbank and began retching.

Jin Lan and Jin Qiao turned pale with alarm. “Miss, what happened? Did something at the banquet disagree with you?”

She had scarcely eaten anything at the banquet, and now there was nothing for her to bring up. Yet nausea churned stubbornly in her throat. After a long while, she straightened and walked step by step toward Jinling Bridge.

“Miss?”

“I will stand in the wind for a while. Wait below.”

“…Yes. Then Miss must be careful.”

By now, evening was approaching. The last red streamers of sunset had not yet faded, and their reflection spread across the river in rippling crimson light, so like the blood that soaked through Mu Yunyao’s memories.

Whenever she thought of the Su family, the hatred in her heart became difficult to restrain. It was the nightmare that had cast its shadow over her entire life, leaving her without peace for even a moment.

Mu Yunyao closed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly. The wound in her palm tore open, and fresh blood immediately welled forth. If she went to see Mother in this state, Mother would certainly worry herself sick. She had to steady herself. She had to return to normal.

Mu Yunyao forced herself to think of the Su family. Again and again, she thought of them, dragging out every memory she feared, replaying them in her mind as though inflicting punishment upon herself.

The pain in her palm was buried beneath the pain in her heart. The heart Su Qingwu’s arrival had pierced open, gradually covered itself in a layer of armor, sealing over the bleeding wounds beneath, so that outwardly she still appeared whole and unharmed.

Only after a long time did Mu Yunyao open her eyes. The sky had darkened; the sunset glow had vanished without a trace. She lightly raised the corners of her lips, and the smile that appeared was even more complete, even sweeter than before.

Had Su Qingwu not appeared so suddenly, she might never have known that alongside her hatred for the Su family, there was also a fear sunk just as deeply. That was fine as well. Once fear was seen clearly, it could always be overcome slowly. Was she not already doing very well?

“Su Qingwu, Su Qingwu… The cold cicada loves the emerald grass; the singing phoenix perches upon the green wutong,”

. Your aspirations are indeed lofty…”

“I did not expect Miss Mu to know the origin of my name.”

A smiling voice rang out abruptly.

Mu Yunyao turned her head sharply and saw Su Qingwu walking slowly up from the other side of Jinling Bridge. A gentle smile rested on his face, just like his voice—soft as water, warm as polished jade.

Su Qingwu was also looking at Mu Yunyao. In truth, he had already been standing there for quite some time. From the moment Mu Yunyao stepped down from the carriage, he had stood on the opposite bank watching her. The longer he watched, the stronger that strange sense of dissonance became.

He remembered his own younger sister at thirteen. Though she spent her days complaining to him that the momo teaching her etiquette was too strict, she was, most of the time, entirely carefree and happy. Yet the young girl before him seemed to be desperately suppressing something. That feeling was so intense that merely watching her made his chest tighten, stirring in him an urge to investigate.

The feeling had come too suddenly. After flashing through him, Su Qingwu pressed it down. Reason reminded him that the young girl before him would have no connection with him at all. There was no need to waste time on someone irrelevant. Yet when he heard her recite his name and then speak the lines, “The cold cicada loves the emerald grass; the singing phoenix perches upon the green wutong,”

” his feet moved onto the bridge of their own accord.

Mu Yunyao curtsied. “Greetings, Lord Su. This humble girl spoke out of turn for a moment. I ask Lord Su to forgive me.”

Su Qingwu studied her, his brows shifting once more. The person before him carried a gentle air, a shallow smile resting at the corners of her lips. She seemed no different from the other young ladies he had met, as though the strangeness from before had merely been his illusion. “Miss did not say anything wrong. What fault is there? My name does indeed come from those two lines of poetry.”

“Many thanks for Lord Su’s generosity. It is getting late. I should return home. Farewell.”

“May I ask when the wound on Miss Mu’s palm will heal?” Su Qingwu asked with a smile.

“Whenever I am injured, my wounds recover very slowly. The weather is hot now as well. I imagine it will take half a month.” In another month, it would be Su Qingwu’s grandmother’s birthday. By the time the wound on her hand healed, there would no longer be enough time. Besides, making a wound heal was not easy; making it fail to heal had countless ways.

As expected, a trace of disappointment crossed Su Qingwu’s face. “That is truly a pity. I once saw a double-sided embroidered screen of splendid mountains and rivers. The embroidery was astonishing, almost as though formed by heaven itself…”

Mu Yunyao’s expression did not change. “Then Lord Su may seek out the person who embroidered that screen and ask for help. I imagine your grandmother would be even more pleased.”

“Many people have been searching for the person who embroidered that screen. Unfortunately, no one has found them.”

“Then perhaps the destined connection has not yet arrived. It is late, and Mother is still waiting for me at home. This common girl takes her leave.” After speaking, Mu Yunyao turned directly and went down the bridge.

Su Qingwu’s fingers moved slightly. He watched Mu Yunyao’s departing figure and did not speak again. She had left in such haste that it was almost as though she feared him. In the capital, he had long been accustomed to being praised and pursued. Being suddenly disliked by someone was unexpectedly novel.

As soon as Mu Yunyao came down from the bridge, Jin Lan and Jin Qiao hurried forward to meet her. Seeing that her complexion had returned to normal, they quietly released a breath. “Miss, are you all right?”

“It is nothing. Let us go.”

This line alludes to a verse by Li Bai, “Han jiang ai bi cao, ming feng qi qing wu” (寒螀爱碧草，鸣凤栖青梧), from Mo Shang Sang (“Mulberry on the Road”). With images of the cicada, the phoenix, and the parasol tree, the verse evokes elegance, nobility, and lofty aspiration. Here, it serves as an indirect reference to Su Qingwu, hinting at his elevated status and proud bearing.

Edited by Little Kitty on 05/06/20

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