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Posted by Pale Mirror

https://pale-mirror-translations.blogspot.com/2025/06/chapter-52-pei-yu.html

She seemed to have contracted hysteria; before her eyes, the long-since withered and dead grasses were full of vitality, the peeling off wall paint brand new; even the dark and menacing moonlight, spilling over her figure, seemed like it was bright and warm sunshine.

"Pei Yu!"

In a daze, she heard someone call out; looking in the direction of the sound, and saw only a woman in palace maid's clothes, around her thirties, waving a hand at her. Pei Yu, Pei Yu, she repeated to herself, dust-covered memories floating to the surface; this was the old woman's name, but it had been many years since anyone had used it.

At that time, she'd followed along with the Yuehua Princess to Shejin to form a marriage alliance; the eunuchs in the Palace had chosen a Shejinese name for her, meaning "loyal devotion". She'd truly deserved these two characters of "loyal devotion"; when Princess Yuehua passed away, she'd gone on to raise the child she'd left behind. This child had been Liang Jiwen.

Liang Jiwen hadn't even been alive half a month when Princess Yuehua had died. According to the Shejinese tradition, when a consort died, her child would be sent to someone else to raise. Peoples' deaths were like the extinguishing of a lantern; in the Royal Palace, it was as if the person had never existed. Liang Jiwen had always believed that she'd lived a hard life because her consort mother wasn't favoured, but the consorts who lacked favour in the Shejin Royal Palace were many, while the only princess who lived like this was Liang Jiwen. In the Shejin Royal Palace, Liang Jiwen hadn't been favoured, and so Pei Yu had taken her and hidden away, withdrawing into a corner and slowly growing up. Though she'd lived a somewhat miserable life, in any case, she'd grown up safe and sound. But Liang Jiwen only called her "nanny".

Nanny, nanny; there were countless nannies in the world, and countless devoted and loyal servants, but there was only one Pei Yu.

The woman's face grew gradually clearer as her gaze focused; it was a kindly, good-natured face, good-natured to the point that it seemed to be able to forgive all wrongs—and she truly was like that. Pei Yu stared at her face, long sine dried-up eye sockets suddenly producing hot tears; she couldn't remember her name, but she could call out a mumbled phrase. "Cai Shan!"

Pei Yu had entered the Palace at twenty-four; her luck hadn't been good, and she'd had a master who was fond of excoriating her servants; if it weren't for Cai Shan's secret assistance, she'd have been tossed into who knew what unmarked grave early on. Seeing Cai Shan daily, Pei Yu's heart would always flood with gratefulness.

Cai Shan leaned against the doorframe, smiling, and beckoned to her. "Where've you gone off to now that you've only come back this late? If Niangniang discovers, you'll be skinned."

Cai Shan still looked as she had when they'd parted, only fine wrinkles on her face. At this moment, Pei Yu had even seemed to have forgotten her own age, and, as if back then, turned coquettish towards Cai Shan. "But don't I have you? My dear jiejie, you always help me." As she spoke, Pei Yu was about to approach Cai Shan, but before she'd taken a single step, she heard footsteps from every direction. She startled, wishing she could, in a flurry of steps, rush into that brightly shining Palace door. But in the end, her body was still one near sixty years of age, and no matter what, it wasn't comparable to youthful nimbleness.

No matter how much she raced forward, she could only see Cai Shan and that door grow further and further away from her, and only hear the sounds of footsteps and weaponry from all about grow closer and closer. Finally, everything disappeared, and someone who had run from who knew where threw herself at Pei Yu; luckily, someone else lent an arm of support, and only then was she able to steady herself.

"Nanny, where did you go? I looked everywhere for you," Liang Jiwen said, throwing herself into Pei Yu's embrace in a flash, tears flowing without pause.

Pei Yu's hand subconsciously stroked Liang Jiwen's back, and she comforted her quietly in Shejinese. But her eyes were vacant, her expression empty as she stared at everyone around. In a split second, the warm sunlight became dark, cold moonlight, and a flash, dozens of years flowed across the crimson palace wall. Cai Shan wasn't there, only Liang Jiwen, in her embrace, seeking comfort. Nanny—her name had once more become "nanny". It was just thinking of this, the rims of Pei Yu's eyes couldn't help but grow wet.

Liang Jiwen had truly been deeply frightened; she'd always believed that the Great Li's Imperial Palace was some sort of heavenly paradise, and if one were only to come there, they could live a wonderful life without fear of anything. Only now did she realise that here was no different from her place of origin. Although there was no one here who bullied her, or who docked her level of food and clothing, she couldn't speak the language, and when interacting with others, had to have her nanny there. Even if the material conditions were better, it was lonely and isolated.

As she saw it, her nanny was the only person she could rely on in the Great Li's Imperial Palace. The tears that had, previously, been frightened away by Song Juguang, at this moment couldn't be controlled, spilling out, and no matter how Nanny Pei Yu coaxed her, it was no use. The imperial guards standing all about stared, at a loss, into the distance, their faces carrying an exhaustion to them.

Wen Qing was in the group as well; she looked at the master and servant before her, embracing as they cried together, and then tilted her head to look at her compatriots by her side, who'd nearly put on the wrong shoes, and inexplicably, a somewhat preposterous sensation rose in her heart. But before she could consider it carefully, someone approached from a distance.

Xun Zhu had never been eloquent, and tonight, she'd undertaken this duty out of fear that Jiang Changbai was too exhausted. Now, with everyone's gazes falling on her, if she were to say that she weren't that slightest bit anxious, that would, of course, be a lie. But she didn't show it in the slightest, her expression calm and steady as she walked to their sides. "Since you've found her, then you'd best go back into the palace; there's no use hugging and crying here."

But Liang Jiwen couldn't understand her. Luckily, at this moment, Nanny Pei Yu came out of her daze, and shifted her head towards Liang Jiwen's ear, quietly coaxing her with a few words, and then pulled her to her feet, heading towards the Rongfan Palace. Just then, a sudden voice approached from the distance. "Being this noisy so late at night, do you even care if anyone can sleep!"

The group looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a pair of women coming in their direction, looking angered. The woman at the head had draped a light yellow cloak over herself, and behind her followed what seemed to be her maid. The group, recognising her, called out, "Taipin-niangniang",^[1] making obeisance, voices rising and falling in succession.

But Bi Yushuang didn't pay them any attention, angrily rushing towards Liang Jiwen to call out, "Can't you stop?"

The sound of weeping immediately turned into sobs. Xun Zhu, seeing this scene, couldn't help but think of Song Juguang's reprimand towards Liang Jiwen just previously in the Yangxin Hall, finding it amusing—so, this Shejin princess' disposition was unexpectedly like so.

Remembering that Xun Zhu was the person at Jiang Changbai's side, when Bi Yushuang looked in her direction, her tone softened a few degrees. "Don't blame this sorrowful one for being angry; having grown old, I prefer tranquility, and hearing this racket in the middle of the night, naturally I wasn't able to be at ease."

Yet Xun Zhu smiled. "Then this servant has truly gained knowledge and experience today, that a nineteen year old can count as someone old."

Her attempts at using her age as an excuse having been shattered, Bi Yushuang's expression didn't have the slightest trace of embarrassment; rather, she extended a hand to raise Liang Jiwen's face, using the light from the lanterns in the hands of the imperial guards standing by the side to carefully look her over. "What are you crying for? Soon enough you'll even attract ghosts." She shot a look at Nanny Pei Yu as well, and said, "You don't even know to wipe away your master's tears."

Nanny Pei Yu's hand trembled, and only once she reacted did she take out a handkerchief, but it was already a bit too late. Bi Yushuang had pulled out a handkerchief first, using it to wipe away the numbing tears on Liang Jiwen's face, muttering to herself, "She looks even older than I am, how come she's cried into this state?"

Liang Jiwen raised her eyes to look at her, her expression full of bewilderment. Bi Yushuang furrowed her brows. "How come she's not speaking? She was just crying that loudly—she couldn't be mute?"

Nanny Pei Yu explained, "The Princess just came to the Great Li; she hasn't learned to speak its language yet."

Liang Jiwen's eyes brightened, yet her voice was still low. "So you're that Shejin princess—the one living in Rongfan Palace, right?"

Liang Jiwen knew that "Rongfan Palace" indicated the place she lived, and so she nodded thoughtlessly. By this point, Bi Yushuang couldn't keep acting, and thoughtlessly clapped her hands. "This sorrowful one wanted to come find you to entertain ourselves from early on, but every time I stopped by, you weren't there." Bi Yushuang had entered the Palace late, and during the previous emperor's time, had always hidden in her own palace, not interacting with the world. By the time Jiang Changbai ascended the throne, everyone else within the Palace all had mutual friends to accompany them, and only Bi Yushuang was alone on her own. The past few days, hearing that a princess from Shejin had come to the Palace, she'd been radiant with joy, wanting to chat with her to relieve her boredom. But each time she'd gone, it had been for nothing—the maid at Rongfan Palace's doors seemed to only know how to say "the Princess isn't here"; having run into her with such difficulty now, she naturally was thrilled.

In truth it wasn't that she hadn't been there, but because Liang Jiwen's disposition was introverted, and she wasn't willing to meet anyone, it was just an excuse that Nanny Pei Yu and the other palace maids had come up with together.

Liang Jiwen stared at her blankly still; Nanny Pei Yu, just then, came to help her out of her predicament. "Taipin-niangniang, the Princess can't understand you."

In this bit of time, Bi Yushuang understood the state of things before her as well. Disappearing in the middle of the night, her own master had had to come find her, and this matter made Bi Yushuang find Nanny Pei Yu contemptible, and so she didn't have any goodwill towards her. She cast her a glance, and said, "Nevermind if she can't understand me; tomorrow, you'll go with this sorrowful one to study. In the future, women can take the keju as well; let's go to the study and study under the master a bit, and who knows—maybe in a few years, we can manage a position as an official, and show off our prowess in the bureaucratic field."

As the words were said, the surroundings suddenly fell into a deathly tranquility. Even the surrounding imperial guards held their breaths with rapt attention, not daring to make the slightest sound. Women taking the keju was already not some secret in the Great Li, but Bi Yushuang calling out about showing off prowess in the bureaucratic field without so much as being indirect about it was an entirely different matter.

Bi Yushuang became aware of having spoken too much as well, but having already spoken, there was no point in trying to take the words back, so she only urged, "Ah, translate, quickly! Even if you don't sit the keju, learning some of the Great Li's language would would make your life easier, wouldn't it? You can't be intending to take a translator everywhere, can you?"

Nanny Pei Yu lowered her head and say, "Alright", and only then translated. But Liang Jiwen, hearing the words that Nanny Pei Yu related, gazed disbelievingly at Bi Yushuang.

The moon still hung distantly in the heavens, and the moonlight that spilt about was still clear and cold. But perhaps because of someone's hopes, this dilapidated corner of the Imperial Palace was far from as eerie as it had been previously.

Xie Qianbing had only just left morning court when she apprehensive headed towards the imperial study. But the matters of the capital were countless, and Jiang Changbai's days were busy. She could only submit a memorial, and wait to be summoned. When she entered the Palace again, it was already near sunset, and along the way, she ran into Song Juguang and Wei Xiren, who'd just hurried there from the barracks in the outskirts of the city.

Song Juguang saw Xie Qianbing from a distance, and nodded her head to her. If it were the past, Xie Qianbing wouldn't have thought much of it, but now, having seen Song Juguang's face, she remembered the letters that she'd found in Lian Zhigao's residence, and meeting Song Juguang's gaze, felt her spine prickle.

He Leyong's warning from the night before brought her back to awareness, and Xie Qianbing suppressed the train of thought, greeting Song Juguang as if it were an average day. But when the three had come into the imperial study, atop the desk before Jiang Changbai was a pile of letters.

Jiang Changbai, hearing footsteps, raised her head, the corners of her lips curving. "I was just about to send someone to summon you all; I didn't expect you'd all come together."

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Translator's notes:

[1]: 太嫔, meaning "Dowager Concubine".

https://pale-mirror-translations.blogspot.com/2025/06/chapter-52-pei-yu.html