Chapter 25: Looking For A Fight

Li Chengxuan didn’t know Song Jinning’s true intentions, and thought that she was really not good at Toss the Pot.

He was proud of himself. But then again, Song Jinning is a woman and is not as strong as a man, so it’s normal that she’s not proficient in Toss the Pot. 

But Li Chengxuan still felt invincible. 

He told Song Jinning: “Stand a few steps forward.”

Li Chengxuan asked Song Jinning to stand a few steps forward because he was already confident that he was going to win. 

Song Jinning looked at him.

Are you doing this out of pity? Ha, when you lose later, you’ll feel even more miserable! 

But then again, this man is the Emperor, and is her husband, so she shouldn’t bully him too much. Later, she’ll just ask the small kitchen to prepare a few more dishes that Li Chengxuan likes. 

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He felt that Song Jinning changed drastically. Her movement used to be so light that it couldn’t even hit the copper pot, but now her movements are both graceful and strong, which makes the arrow hit the copper pot every time. 

There was a dreadful feeling looming inside Li Chengxuan. 

He will lose. 

But because he was a proud man, even if he already knew what would be the outcome of this game, he still didn’t give up easily. 

After calming down his mood, he gritted his teeth and picked up an arrow.

Li Chengxuan was actually very good. He could throw most of the arrows inside the copper pot without fail. 

But Song Jinning was better, she could throw all the arrows inside the copper pot without fail. 

After the remaining six rounds, the result was obvious. 

Minus the first four rounds, Song Jinning threw all the arrows in the copper pot in each round. 

Song Jinning won. There was no doubt. 

There was a moment of silence in the courtyard.

Except for Qu Yu and Bai Lu who knew Song Jinning’s proficiency in Toss the Pot, everyone else was dumbfounded. 

Unexpectedly, the Empress is so good, unlike His Majesty…..

As for Li Chengxuan, his face turned red. 

“You missed those shots on purpose, so that zhen would relax his guard against you?”

He looked at Song Jinning with anger written all over his face. 

What are you talking about? What do you mean to relax your guard against me? I intended to make you lose from the start! 

Normal bullying is boring. If you want to bully someone, you should add a little spice. 

But if she said this to Li Chengxuan, won’t she look bad?

So Song Jinning put her hands together and smiled: “No. It’s just that chenqie hasn’t played this game for so long, so chenqie’s hands are a bit raw. It’s just like that for the first few games, chenqie just needed to get used to the feeling of the arrow.” 

What do you mean by this? Li Chengxuan thought angrily. You’re just lying to coax me! 

He snorted softly. Li Chengxuan paused, but still couldn’t help asking Song Jinning, “What other skills do you have?” 

Song Jinning blinked.

Does this mean you haven’t lost enough, and you still want to lose?! 

“Your Majesty, do you still want to try other things with me?”

“Yes!” Li Chengxuan gritted his teeth, “Tell zhen what you can do.” 

His Majesty seems to be very competitive.

However, Song Jinning was kind: “Your Majesty, if you compare chenqie with your majesty in chess, calligraphy, and painting, Chenqie is definitely not as good as you.”

Li Chengxuan snorted softly.

Even if I have suffered an embarrassing loss this time, I will definitely win next time! 

When the two returned to the main hall, a maidservant brought over a bowl of water and cleaned their hands, while Bai Lu and Gu Yu offered them tea and snacks. 

The snacks that Gu Yu and Bai Li had brought  were Sachima¹沙琪瑪 (shāqímǎ)- Sachima. A sweet snack made of fluffy strands of fried batter bound together with a stiff sugar syrup, and is somewhat similar to American Rice Krispies Treats. This snack originated from Manchuria and popularized during the Qing dynasty., kidney bean rolls²芸豆卷 (Yúndòu juǎn)- Kidney Bean Roll. These are classic folk snacks in Beijing, popularized during the Qing dynasty. A little background history on Yúndòu juan: When Empress Dowager Cixi (Qing Dynasty Empress) was resting, she heard the sound of gongs going off on the street making her ask a servant what’s happening. The servant said a man was selling kidney bean rolls so Empress Dowager Cixi became curious and asked the servant to bring the man. When she tried the Kidney bean roll, she fell in love with it so she asked the man to make snacks for her., and a plate of osmanthus mung bean cakes³桂花绿豆糕 (Guìhuā lǜdòugāo)- Osmanthus Mung Bean Cake. This is a classic Chinese dessert eaten mainly as a snack. As the name suggests, it’s a cake made of mung bean with osmanthus decoration.. 

(T/N: Pictures will be at the end of this chapter)

Song Jinning had no appetite, so she just ate a piece of kidney bean roll. 

As for Li Chengxuan, he didn’t know if the food made by Song Jinning’s cooks were good, or he was just tired and needed replenishing, or if he was eating his heart out because he was angry. In short, he ate quite a lot. 

At this moment he was reaching out his hand to take a piece of osmanthus cake to eat. From the corner of his eye, he saw Song Jinning holding a white thing.

Li Chengxuan was taken aback and he hurriedly looked at Song Jinning.

A snow-white cat was acting cute and coquettish to Song Jinning. Song Jinning seemed to be very pleased, and kept raising her hand to touch her back. 

Song Jinning reached out and took a piece of osmanthus cake from the plate and placed it on the cat’s mouth, coaxing softly: “Qiu Qiu, come, have a taste.”

Li Chengxuan looked down at the osmanthus cake in his hand.

Can he still eat this?

He threw the osmanthus cake back on the plate. 

Then he suddenly asked: “Qiu Qiu?”

Song Jinning didn’t know Li Chengxuan’s true feelings, and just felt that he thought that Qiu Qiu looked cute or that Qiu Qiu is a good name for a cat. 

She held up the two front legs of Qiu Qiu and lifted her up to show Li Chengxuan.

“Doesn’t she look like a snowball? Because of this, Chenqie named her Xueqiu, with the nickname Qiu Qiu. Isn’t it very nice?” 

Li Chengxuan looked at Song Jinning for a while. 

How come you and Qiu Qiu are so close? 

Not only was it continuously meowing, it was also rubbing its head on Song Jinning’s palm. 

Forget it. This is too much of an eyesore. 

Li Chengxuan just gave a slight hum then took a cup of tea to drink.

As soon as Li Chengxuan raised his cup of tea, Gu Yu walked over and said to Song Jinning: “Your Highness, Tong’an Furen⁴夫人 (Fūrén)- Madame. Common title of noblemen’s wives. Usually mixed with their husband’s title, for example: Count An (An Bo), his wife would be called An Bo Furen and so on and so forth. sent a request to enter the palace. She said that Her Highness the Empress Dowager is sick, so she wants to visit her tomorrow.” 

Count Tong’an is the half-brother of Empress Dowager Song and Prince Nanyang, and is also Song Jinning’s nominal uncle. 

When the previous emperor died, Li Chengxuan became the emperor and Consort Xian became the Empress Dowager. Naturally, Consort Xian’s family were given honorary titles and rewards. 

Needless to say, almost everyone in the Song family received a title. 

However, most of these people only had titles with no real power. 

Count Tong’an felt this was unfair. He has appealed to Empress Dowager Song many times to give him a post with real power. 

It’s a pity that Empress Dowager Song is not  close to Count Tong’an. Secondly, Count Tong’an is known to be greedy, so Empress Dowager Song is worried that if she gives this younger brother of hers real power, he will ruin the reputation of the Song clan. Because of these said reasons, she has been reluctant to give way to Count Tong’an’s requests. 

Later, when Count Tong’an continued to bother her, she used the reason that men are not allowed in the inner palace so that he would go away. 

But Count Tong’an didn’t give up. 

Since men are not allowed in the inner palace, he lets his wife and daughter go to the palace and beg to see Empress Dowager Song instead. 

Since they are also surnamed Song, Empress Dowager Song can’t do much, so four times out of ten, Tong’an Furen and her daughter are successful.

Since Song Jinning entered the palace and became the Empress, Tong’an Furen and her daughter have asked to enter the palace many times, but they were always rejected by Song Jinning for various reasons. But now, Song Jinning doesn’t dare to reject them without Empress Dowager Song’s approval.

After all, the reason for their visit is because of Empress Dowager Song. 

So she told Gu Yu: “Go to Shoukang Palace and ask Empress Dowager Song..”

Empress Dowager Song is the person involved. If she wants to see them, then she will see them. If she doesn’t want to, then Song Jinning will just have to reject them again. 

Gu Yu obeyed, and Song Jinning continued to play with Qiu Qiu. Li Chengxuan would ask her questions from time to time, and Song Jinning would answer these questions calmly. 

Li Chengxuan found that getting along with Song Jinning is really a pleasant thing.

First of all, she never asks about his affairs in court, second of all, she never mentions Empress Dowager Song or her family in front of him, and third of all, all she talks to him about are stupid or insignificant things. 

If he asks her something, she will answer. If he has nothing to ask her, she will do her own thing happily, and will never take the initiative to bother him.

Not to mention that she doesn’t do things to gain his favor. 

Li Chengxuan thought about it several times, and finally understood the reason why. 

This person didn’t treat him as the emperor at all, and didn’t care what he would think of her in his heart, and this is the reason she could be so relaxed in front of him. Every time he came to Weiyang Palace, Song Jinning even thought of ways to drive him out.

Although Song Jinning and him are a fake couple, Li Chengxuan was surprised at his own behaviour. 

He seemed to always want to visit Weiyang Palace when he was tired with government affairs. 

Weiyang Palace is clean and comfortable, and Song Jinning wouldn’t bother him no matter what. 

For example, right now, he is leaning on the couch with his right leg up in a daze, and Song Jinning will never persuade him that he was an emperor and that he should sit upright. On the contrary, she herself, as the empress, did not have the etiquette and posture of an empress. She was also leaning on the couch, reading a book in her hand, while slowly touching her cat.

The cat felt comfortable being patted by Song Jinning, so she closed her eyes, and purred softly. 

It was dusk, so the orange sun shone diagonally through the window, making the sunlight fall on Song Jinning and the cat. Li Chengxuan didn’t know what happened but suddenly the words ‘Sui Yue Jing Hao’⁵岁月静好 (Suìyuè jìng hǎo)- Common Chinese idiom. Lit. translation is ‘Time is Quiet’. It means that we should not be impatient in our lives, and the greatest strength is to keep the calmness and tranquility in our heart. came to mind.

He was almost frightened to death by his thoughts. 

Song Jinning makes fun of him whenever she has the chance, how come he suddenly thought that she was similar to ‘Sui Yue Jing Hao’! 

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