The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 9, Pt 1 - Lian Yan Qiu

Leaving Qianqing Palace hall, Yuan Luo returned to her palace.

After finishing the day’s palace affairs, she commanded people to prepare a fragrant hot spring bath. To the west of Zichen Palace was a spacious bath, where water vapor hung in the air and the temperature was moderate throughout the four seasons. The jade floor is carved with lotus shaped anti-skid patterns and the bright, clean walls are hung with pearl lamps.

Yuan Luo comfortably soaked in the bathing pool, squinting her eyes against the mist.

There was a crystal plate on a white jade platform full of fresh fruit. Some of the fruit included, such as  grapes and cherries,  were impossible to grow at this time of year without a greenhouse.

Si Xi directed more than a dozen palace maids, taking advantage of this labor to clean Yuan Luo's palace bedroom hall. They replaced worn-out bedding and scrubbed the tables and chairs. The hall, which was originally spotless, was cleaned so carefully in order to remove the pure, Baihe incense and replace it with Luo calm night incense.

While they were busy, the palace gate opened and a tall figured walked in.

Si Xi saw the incoming person clearly and was startled. Promptly she knelt on the ground: "Sir Lian, you’ve returned."

The visitor seemed to have been running around for a long time and he had yet to washed his body.

He took wet towel from a young court eunuch and wiped his hands consciously. Throwing the towel back onto the silver plate, he asked: "Si Xi, where is the Empress?"

"The Empress is taking a bath right now."

"I heard that the Empress was in danger not long ago."

Si Xi felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead: "Not daring to deceive you, sir, at that time the Empress was seriously injured and has forgotten many things..." Having said that, she couldn’t help but raise her head and by chance saw a pair of eyes which appeared to be smiling, but in reality were not.

Lian Yan Qiu smiled and asked, "Have even I been forgotten also?"

Si Xi was frightened and took an involuntary step back. She promptly replied: "The Empress still remembers some things and she definitely will not have forgotten you, sir."

Under Lian Yan Qiu’s questioning, Si Xi honestly explained the imperial concubine’s every move during this period in detail.

Lian Yan Qiu slightly muttered to himself then raised his foot to walk back out the door.

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Yuan Luo felt that she must have soaked long enough and got up from her bath.

Immediately, a palace servant stepped forward. A soft bath towel appeared out of the blue and encased her shoulders.

She seemed to be a tall and thin palace maid a head taller than herself. Through the heavy fog, she couldn't see her face clearly, but the red shirt was particularly bright.

Yuan Luo stared blankly. The female officials around her didn't wear this type of outfit.

She raised her head and before her a picturesque complexion appeared with eyes the color of a spring dawn surrounding pupils that resembled clear autumn waters. However, no matter how beautiful the appearance, with only a glance Yuan Luo recognized that it was a man’s face.

She couldn’t help screaming in surprise and, when it occurred to her that they were standing together and her body was half-naked, she was going to draw back, but her foot slipped.

"Empress, be careful." The man frowned and hugged her waist. Immediately, he picked her up and jumped down from the jade platform.  

His voice was as seductive as his appearance, but he was somewhat thinner compared to ordinary people, making him feel androgynous.

When Yuan Luo had fallen into his arms, she could only scramble to grab onto his shoulder for support.

The man stopped moving, then he bent to the side and put Yuan Luo down on a soft couch[1]. With a smile he said: "Empress doesn't need to grab your servant’s arm so vigorously."

While talking, his gaze fell to the gap in the bath towel across Yuan Luo’s chest. On her snow-white skin a little carmine mole was distinctly visible and on her arm near her shoulder there was a scar the size of a fingernail.

Seeing these clearly, he immediately moved his eyes and said with a smile, "It seems that the Empress really is unable to remember your servant."

Sitting on the soft couch, Yuan Luo in a flurry hurriedly gathered her bathrobe around her.

The person facing her calmly looked at her, smiled and asked, "Does the Empress need your servant’s help?"

Yuan Luo raised her head and finally remembered that his clothing was the same as that of Liu Xiu Chun, the imperial chief eunuch. She took another look at this person’s delicate, jade complexion.

"Lian Yan Qiu." In the original book, this name would inevitably come to mind as the individual who practically followed on the heels of Yuan Luo, the treacherous imperial concubine.

"The Empress still remembers your servant." Lian Yan Qiu raised the tip of his eyebrow slightly.

Yuan Luo’s expression was calm and collected: "This palace was taking a bath and had not summoned anyone to enter. Is even the local commander so rude?"

Lian Yan Qiu willing accepted her reprimand and bowed in salutation, "Your servant Lian Yan Qiu pays respect to the Empress." While his overall demeanor could be called a salute, it was, in fact, not respectful at all. It was very likely that this posture was his usual habit in front of the imperial concubine.

Looking at the person before her, Yuan Luo’s frame of mind was somewhat complicated. In the original book, it was mentioned that the Emperor was excessively muddle-headed and that the treacherous imperial concubine’s powerful court eunuch caused great turmoil for the laws and discipline of the imperial court. The powerful court eunuch it referred to was the man standing right in front of her.

He was once the trusted aide of Emperor Xianning. When Emperor Xianning died, he sent a letter in advance to the Han party people and welcomed Sikong Lin into the palace to inherit the throne. He was the power behind the Division of Intelligence, which was the spy surveillance system of the Imperial City. His influence in the palace was extremely prodigious, even more than his involvement in the previous dynasty.

In terms of rank he was considered his own subordinate and in terms of influence the both of them were dependent on each other.

Along with Yuan Lou, he helped forge her own past history. It would have been impossible for Yuan Luo to be conferred as a noble imperial concubine by the distinguished imperial court based on her original background. Lian Yan Qin forged Yuan Luo’s identity as the orphan daughter of the Yuan clan from the previous dynasty, a noble family that disappeared in the long river of history a hundred years ago.

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TN:
[1] Original text had 塌/tā (to collapse), instead of 榻/tà (couch). ‘To collapse’ makes no sense in either of the sentences where it’s used, whereas ‘couch’ does. If this is in error, someone please explain it to me. Thanx!
[2] Also, this is another short-ish chapter, so there will be another double post. Bonus for all you readers out there!