Chongfei Manual

The summer weather was muggy and hot. It felt unbearable. As Wei Luo lied on an elmwood couch that was underneath a trellis roof for growing flowering vines, she could hear the continuous chirping of insects from the trees. She sat up to hold a cup of ice-cold black plum soup. As she sipped the soup, she said to Bai Lan, “Fan harder. Did you not eat enough at lunch? Why are you fanning so weakly?”

(T/N: Below is a picture of the trellis roof.)

Ch 166 - trellis roof for vines.png

Bai Lan’s brow was twisted as she said, “Your Highness, you’re about to give birth soon. It would better if you drink less cold liquids.”

There was a thin layer of sweat on the tip of Wei Luo’s nose. Even though she was hiding underneath the trellis roof, she wasn’t able to escape from the heat. She lied back down on the couch and lazily looked up. “Don’t worry. I asked Doctor Sun about this. He said it was okay. If even my small desire of drinking something cold is taken away from me, I don’t know how I can endure through this endless summer.”

As soon as Bai Lan heard Doctor Sun’s said it was okay, she immediately stopped worrying. Doctor Sun was much more knowledgeable than them.

Wei Luo lied on the couch to rest for a while. When Zhao Jie came home, her eyes were closed and she was peacefully sleeping.

Zhao Jie waved his hand to indicate for Bai Lan and Jin Luo to withdraw and sat down on the couch. He parted the loose hair on Wei Luo’s forehead and gently used his thumb to wipe away the sweat.

During today’s morning court, Emperor Chong Zhen brought up the topic of establishing the next emperor again. The court ministers that had previously objected to Zhao Jie had already vanished without a trace. Some of them had met with accidents while they were traveling. Other court ministers had been thoroughly investigated by Emperor Chong Zhen for accepting bribes. There were also court ministers who took the initiative of proposing to retire from their official positions and returning to the countryside. Everyone had a tacit mutual understanding of who was behind all of this.

Other than Prince Rui, who had stepped forward, to retort, no one else in the imperial court dared to voice any objections. Regardless, the emperor had suppressed his objections and he could only step back to his original position.

The matter of choosing the crown prince was settled just like this. Once the Ministry of Rites selected an auspicious date and the Ministry of Justice finished drafting and finalizing the documents, Prince Jing Zhao Jie would be proclaimed as the crown prince. Emperor Chong Zhen announced that he would step down from the imperial court once this was done. In front of everyone, Emperor Chong told Zhao Jie to come with him to the imperial study. This was to clearly indicate that they would be discussing an important matter.

Prince Rui stood inside Han Yuan Hall with a gloomy and cold gaze. Soon after, he flung his sleeve and left the hall.

Zhao Zhang’s expression wasn’t good either. He clenched his fists inside his sleeve before following after Prince Rui’s footsteps and left the hall together.

Emperor Chong Zhen mentioned Jiang Nan’s flood to Zhao Jie about and asked about his opinions. After they finished discussing this matter, he didn’t say anything else, just waved his hand to indicate for Zhao Jie to leave the room.

Before Zhao Jie left the study, Emperor Chong Zhen put down his brush and looked at the blue sky and white clouds through the window. He suddenly sighed, “Once you ascend the throne, this emperor will leave the capital with your imperial mother and leisurely travel the country as husband and wife.”

Zhao Jie paused for a moment before he strode away without saying a word.

Zhao Jie’s movements woke Wei Luo up. When she opened her eyes, she saw that he was lost in thought. She couldn’t resist stretching her hand out and waving it in front of him. She asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Zhao Jie’s black eyes shifted. He grasped Wei Luo’s soft fingers, curved his lips into a smile, and said, “I was thinking about whether our child will be a son or daughter.”

Wei Luo very opinionatedly said, “It’s so mischievous. It’s definitely a son. Moreover, if a pregnant woman likes sour food, it means she’s going to have a son. If she likes spicy food, it means she’s going to have a daughter. Recently, I really like to eat sour plums.”

It wasn’t that Wei Luo had a preference for a son over a daughter. She was merely guessing based on what she knew. To be totally honest, Wei Luo still wanted to have a daughter slightly more. People all said that a daughter was like a small, cotton-padded jacket that would be intimate and considerate towards her mother. She also wanted a small cotton-padded jacket of her own.

Zhao Jie silently smiled. A while later, he finally said, “I thought of names for our child yesterday. Do you want to hear them?”

Wei Luo became interested, “Tell me.”

Zhao Jie said, “If it’s a son, then his name will be a single Chinese character, Xi. His name will have the warm and harmonious meaning of sunlight. If it’s a daughter, her name will be Ran Ran. It’s the ran from shi guang ren ran.” He looked at Wei Luo, pinched her small, round face, and asked, “What do you think?”

(T/N: Shi guang ren ran is an idiom that means passing of time, usually used to express an emotional feeling that time is fleeting).

Wei Luo pondered for a moment and felt that both of these names were pretty good. “Have you discussed this with His Majesty?”

Zhao Jie said, “Why would this prince have to discuss my own child’s name with him?”

All of the names of the imperial descendants had to be approved by the emperor first. However, this wasn’t the first or second time that Zhao Jie acted so arrogantly. In all likelihood, Emperor Chong Zhen didn’t have a way to deal with him either.

Wei Luo nodded, “Both of those names are pretty good. Then, it’s settled.”

After they finished discussing this, Zhao Jie stretched his arms out to hug Wei Luo. He hadn’t had time to be affectionate with her in many days. Right now, he just wanted to be close with her for a while.

Unexpectedly, she avoided him fasted than a rabbit. With a look as if she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to escape from him, she scowled as she said, “It’s too hot. Stay farther away from me. Don’t come closer.”

She suddenly thought of something and looked around, “Why did you drive Jin Lu and Bai Lan way? There’s no one left to fan me. No wonder I feel so hot…”

Zhao Jie knew that Wei Luo didn’t like being too hot, but he still felt slightly injured from how she had reacted and his expression didn’t look good.

Zhao Jie grasped Wei Luo’s slender, white wrist, leaned over, and easily pressed her underneath his body. He calmly looked down on her, “You want me to stay farther away?”

Wei Luo shrunk back slightly. Even thought she was feeling hot, she didn’t dare to voice a complaint right now.

Zhao Jie lowered his head to bite her neck. He gently nibbled and his voice became quieter and quieter, “Ah Luo, do you know how difficult it has been for me to resist during the past few months?”

In consideration for the baby in Wei Luo’s belly, Zhao Jie hadn’t touched her for over eight weeks and he was very much longing to do so. Zhao Jie’s hand went inside Wei Luo’s small top to hold her white steamed bun. He bit it a few times as if he was venting his anger, but at the same time, he didn’t dare to use too much force. However, Wei Luo’s body was delicate and red marks quickly appeared on her skin. Wei Luo yelped in pain, so he changed to coaxingly sucking on it.

Wei Luo twisted her body. She couldn’t stop worry. “Stop, our child will be coming out soon. Doctor Sun said that we can’t do this during the last three months…”

Zhao Jie naturally remembered his words. He knew that he couldn’t truly touch her. He just wanted to feed his craving a little bit.

A moment later, quiet moaning could be heard from the trellis roof frame.

There were curtains hanging from the trellis roof frame, so the scene inside couldn’t be clearly seen, only the shadowy figures of two people could be seen. Zhao Jie had completely wrapped himself around Wei Luo with his head buried in her chest. After Wei Luo stretched a hand out to push him, she quietly yelped. Perhaps, she was feeling pain from being bitten again.

A long time later, Zhao Jie asked in dissatisfaction, “Why isn’t there milk?”

Wei Luo felt flustered and exasperated. If she wasn’t worried about harming her child, she really wanted to kick him to the ground. “It’ll only come after the child is born. I haven’t given birth yet, why would there be…” When she had said half of her sentence, her face had already become unspeakably red. She couldn’t finish her words.

Zhao Jie lingered in this position for a bit before turning over and wrapping his arm behind Wei Luo. He heavily breathed into Wei Luo’s ear and slowly said to Wei Luo, “Wait until this child is born and you’ll see how I’ll punish you.”

Wei Luo’s long eyelashes trembled. She didn’t say a word.