As always: Running commentary - running through. Enjoy.💖
Pei Shaoqing:Â Pei Shaoqing was the second young master of the Pei family. She was twenty years old. She had an older brother who was not blood related: Qin Yaotang.
Pei Shaoqing had a deep obsession with this brother.
The Pei family were a commercial overlord whose business had no match from north to the south of the dynasty. Their portfolio was varied; they owned banks, restaurants, sold textiles, tea and antiques. They even ran gambling houses. With such a large commercial portfolio covering a large territory, they could be described as extremely wealthy. Years ago when the young Empress was married to the young Emperor, her bridal clothes had been made by the Pei clothing stores. Red brocade embroidered with hundreds of phoenixes, each one different and lifelike. Such exquisite embroidery made the family famous and the Emperor rewarded them with thousands of gold. The Emperor also bestowed them with the royal seal, giving them the responsibility of clothing the Royal family. This was icing on the already big cake.
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The Pei household had two wives. The first wife was the daughter of a rich family who entered into a marriage contract with the Pei family. The second wife was the current Pei patriarch's love; she was a lowly maid he fell in love with when he was young. In Master Pei’s youth, his father found out about his son’s romance and sent his son out of the city to deal with one of their banking affairs. While he was away, his father married the lowly maid off and sent her and her husband far away so that when the young master Pei returned, he could find no trace of her. Despondent, the young master listened to the command of the his father and married the first wife. (Zuben: This writer seems to like this kind of family dynamics)
For many years, she did not conceive a child.
In this time, the Master Pei went on a business trip and came across the maid he had fallen in love with. She was now a widow with an eight year old son, and was living in poverty.
Master Pei brought her back to the family regardless of his first wife’s opposition, insisting on bringing her through the door. His father had already passed away so no one could stop him. The first wife could not help but acquiesce. Hence the household had two wives.
Elder Master Pei and his second wife loved each other very much. Even though, her son was not blood related to him, Qin Yaotang was raised as his own. Even though his family name was different, he was regarded as the first young master of the house.
Because of the arrival of the second Lady, the first Lady began to feel even more left out by her husband. She deeply resented the second Lady, and she was afraid that she would usurp her position in the household. Fortunately, she conceived and gave birth to Pei Shaoqing.
From an early age, the first Lady had drilled into Pei Shaoqing that she was heir to the family. That the Qin mother and her son were her enemies, Shaoqing must not let them steal her birthright. Therefore, Shaoqing went against young Master Qin at every turn.
Ah, this was simply a live action dog-blood drama.
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Miaofu frowned at the headache; her wrinkled eyebrows were reflected in the mirror.
She hadn’t died in the crash but woke up to a ghost place called Shengyuan Dynasty. But what is that? She had read nothing about this dynasty in her history lessons. There had been no such timeline as the Shengyuan Dynasty!
Holding her head, she suppressed the urge to scream. She has never heard of this dynasty but that was where she was.
She had magically transmigrated!
Transmigration? Transmigration - this word that appeared only in TV dramas and novels, but now she had experienced it.
The most embarrassing thing was that appearance after crossing was exactly the same as her original appearance. Well, there was a difference; her former body was fat now she was thin.
But after a fat woman becomes slimmer, doesn’t she become pretty?
No!
Du Miaofu’s face remained ordinary, and the most tragic thing of all; her chest was now flat. Her body part of pride was gone!
What kind of ghost is this? Miaofu’s difference did not turn the tables. Others cross into peerless beauties or delicate beautiful youths but when she crosses her new body is just as ordinary as she used to be.
The only extraordinary thing was that her new body was Pei family’s second young master, Pei Shaoqing.
The main point was that she had to be disguised as a man because Pei Shaoqing was female.
Ah! This was a real dog blood melodrama like on TV!
In order to ensure her position in the family, since she could not get her husband’s love, at least she could not lose her family’s money; the first lady lied that her daughter was a son and kept this secret, swearing even Shaoqing to secrecy. If she did not want to lose the status of young master, if she wanted to inherit the family’s wealth, she had to make sure she was not found out as a daughter.
So, no one in the family except for Shaoqing and her mother knew she is a woman. And the first Lady died suddenly three years ago from an illness.
Miaofu could only sigh; thinking so much, raising her daughter as a son, just for wealth and status, and what did it all come to? Didn’t she leave it all and go.
The most pitiful of all this was Shaoqing; having being brainwashed by her mother from childhood into hating the second Lady and Qin Yaotang. But there was another side to this coin, Shaoqing had a deep obsession with Qin Yaotang; though she hated him, she also loved him. A woman’s love for a man.
Somehow, Shaoqing fell in love with Qin Yaotang.
However, Qin Yaotang already had a gentle and lovely fiancee…
Ah ah...so complicated.
Miaofu put held her head and wailed inwardly.
How did she know about Shaoqing so much? Because, she not only inherited her body but her memories as well.
When she first woke up, her head was fuzzy. She looked about to see a strange environment and was feeling lost, when the memories floated up and gave her everything she needed to know.
Shaoqing had a contrary volatile personality; quick to anger even injuring servants in her rage, especially maid-servants who admired Qin Yaotang. Last month, she broke the leg of a maid servant because Qin Yaotang smiled at her.
The matter angered the Elder Master Pei, and he wanted to use the family rules to discipline Shaoqing but Shaoqing rebelled. Master Pei was so angry he was shaking, if second Lady had not persuaded him, Shaoqing would have been driven out of the house.
Shaoqing also had a poor reputation in the city. She did not do any work but spent her days drinking wine and causing trouble everywhere, and opposing Qin Yaotang. She often went to find Qin Yaotang’s trouble all to get his attention.
But Qin Yaotang regarded Pei Shaoqing as thin air. So regardless of all the troubles she made up and down, he ignored her, which made Shaoqing increasingly angry and hateful.
In the matter of Qing Yaotang’s fiancee, Shaoqing was incredibly jealous of her. She went as far as to put a needle in the other woman’s saddle so that she would press the needle into her horse while riding, causing the horse to go crazy and maybe injure her, preferably kill her.
Who would have predicted that the horse would get stung by a tiger bee and go crazy, injuring Shaoqing. She fell into a coma and Pei Shaoqing became Du Miaofu.
This what happens when you have the downfall of others in your heart.
Reaching up to feel the gauze bandage around her head, Miaofu sighed. She lowered her head as sorrow bubbled up like heat up her nose and her eyes went red.
She hadn’t died in the plane crash but inexplicably crossed over to another place. But how about Weiwei and A Hao. Did they cross over too?
She wanted to tell herself that they were fine. But if they were not fine, they may be in this ghost Shengyuan Dynasty like her.
But she knew better than anyone, how could such a coincidence occur? It was not a novel...but...she crossed over, didn’t she? If she, with her unlucky star, could encounter this then it stands to reason that Weiwei and A Hao also!
Suddenly, the fortune teller’s words came to her mind:
Born to be the father of the mother; her life was destined to be a lonely one. She would be the misfortune of anyone she was too close to.
She thought of her own bad luck: Her parents died in a car accident, although she was in the back of the car, she came through unharmed. She was adopted by relatives. But one after the other they either ended up filing for bankruptcy or nearly fatally injured. Eventually, she was abandoned in an orphanage.
Being at the orphanage at the age of 10, no one wanted to adopt such a big child and her personality was introverted, not cute. She had no friends until she reached high school and met Jiang Chuwei.
Jiang Chuwei was a beautiful girl with a domineering personality. She was often fierce to her and made Miaofu run her errands but ultimately, Chuwei was good to her. When she left the orphanage, she lived with Chuwei. When she was looking for a job, Chuwei helped her to get work at the magazine she worked at.
But in the end, Jiang Chuwei was also slain by her buried at sea along with her brother A Hao.
Tears began to fall one by one and finally they turned to a torrent, ‘Chuwei...A Hao...I’m so sorry...It’s all my fault...I’m so sorry…’
She cried hard. She cried so much her injured head hurt making her cry even more. Why was her head so painful?
Holding her painful head, she had to slow down her crying. She sniffed, her eyebrows wrinkled in pain and her eyes were puffy and swollen. She bit her lip and waited for the pain to ease off.
After a while, her head didn’t hurt so much. Her frown relaxed although the tears did not stop. She wiped away the tears from her face.
Chuwei had always told her she had a strong and optimistic personality otherwise, if it were someone else all these things had happened to; they would have committed suicide. But Miaofu lived happily. Even when three meals were not guaranteed, she remained hopeful saying that, there was enough meat on her bones, it didn’t matter if she was hungry for a few days.
Thinking of Chuwei, Miaofu could not help but laugh.
Perhaps after crying, the depressed emotions were temporarily released. Although, she still felt like there were painful tears to shed, she took a deep breath and tried to hold back her tears.
Du Miaofu, don’t cry, think positively!
If a loser like her could transmigrate, then Chuwei and A Hao will certainly be alright. They may not necessarily be having adventures...
Even though she feared it was impossible in her heart, she pressed down the bad thoughts.
She had to tell herself that everything was going to be fine or she would not be able to climb up from despair. The red puffy eyes showed a glimmer of perseverance as Miaofu clenched her fist.
In any case, since she has come to this strange place and became Pei Shaoqing, it may be a test that God has set for her.
Maybe her mission was not necessarily here!
Isn’t that the same as in a novel? After transmigration, an ordinary person become extraordinary, because they are carrying a mission of change!
Then her mission was...her mission was…
Miss Du was stuck. She thought of her new body, of Pei Shaoqing; a cross-dressing woman with the worst reputation, and the love-hate she had for Qin Yaotang.
Her head hurt…
Regardless of the mission issue, it had been four months since she arrived in this ghost place. In this time, she had been recovering.
When Shaoqing got hit by the horse, she not only hit her head but she also broke her left leg. Fortunately, it was a simple fracture, so after three months of recovery she could walk without a cane.
However, these past few months, Miaofu realised that the popularity of Shaoqing was not ordinary at all!
Even though she had been injured falling off a horse, with the exception of the servant girl sent to provide her meals, no one visited. Even the servant girl was fearful when she came to deliver the food. When she heard ‘thank you’ she was so scared she prostrated herself. Wasn’t that too exaggerated? Thinking about the servant girl’s behaviour, Miaofu did not know whether she should laugh or cry, but on thinking about Shaoqing’s previous behaviour the servant girl’s fear was excusable.
But what about the Master Pei? His son’s head was hurt, was it so difficult to ask about his health? Although, Shaoqing was not in the right, he was injured; this father has never cared about her. Being taught by her mother who only had self interests and hatred in her heart and a father who was not interested, it is no wonder her mind became distorted.
The trouble Shaoqing was causing up and down was just a call for attention. While breaking people’s legs and attempted murder was unacceptable behaviour, it was not without reason.
Miaofu shook her head; it was still difficult to sympathise with Shaoqing. She would have kept her distance from such a person.
But here she was the one being kept at a distance, but the person who was bad was not Miaofu, she was just a passer-by wearing the body of Pei Shaoqing.
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This situation would not do; she could not stay in her room forever. So, after she was fully recovered, Du Miaofu decided to go out. She chose to wear a set of purple robes - ancient men’s clothes were very troublesome; too many layers. In addition to an inner shirt and an outer shirt, there was a frivolous overcoat which was then belted. The most troublesome thing was the waist long hair.
It seemed it was traditional for the Shengyuan dynasty man to have such long hair. What kind of dumb-ass tradition is this?
Grabbing the long hair, Miaofu’s hands itched to cut it. Could she cut it? Would she be seen in a worse light that she already was?
She sighed in resignation. She pulled the hair into a ponytail and tied it with a hair ribbon the same colour as her clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror; although, her looks were ordinary, and she was tall and thin. In the mirror, her appearance gave off a gentle and elegant feeling.
Picking up a folded fan from her table, she opened it and gently fanned herself a few times,
‘Hmm, I would not have expected to look this good wearing men’s clothes.’ She said to herself, while touching her face. She could not help but be narcissistic for a few minutes. She squared her shoulders, and then left her room.
Using the memories as her guide, she walked across the promenade and stepped on a bridge. Coming towards her, were two men. She could not help but pause in amazement. What had caught her eye was the man in front; he was followed by a middle aged man who held a stack of books in his hand. The two were in discussion.
Miaofu’s gaze was held by the man. Unlike her Confucian costume, the man’s clothing was luxurious. He wore black. It looked simple and light with only a piece of blue jade hanging from his belt. He was tall and the clothes belied a strong body. His features were as perfect as a sculpture. His eyes were indifferent, revealing no trace of emotion. The cold aura he exuded made one not dare approach him, yet one could not help but be attracted to him.
Qin Yaotang.
The name appeared in her mind unbidden accompanied by the skipping of her heartbeat.
Miaofu frowned; this accelerating heartbeat was subconscious. It seemed to be an instinctive reaction of this body. As for her personally, she preferred to stay as far away from these ice-cold types; they were not easy to get along with,
The two men noticed Miaofu standing there. The older man, Lin Guan, frowned slightly. The two young masters had never gotten along; one could never tell what kind of trouble second master was going to bring.
No one really cared for second young master Pei Shaoqing. Though he was not happy about it, as a subordinate of the family, he stopped and bowed to Miaofu, ‘Second young master.’
As for Qin Yaotang, he turned a blind eye to his nominal younger brother. He simply turned his face away and walked past.
Qin Yatotang thought Pei Shaoqing would surely call him back and try to ridicule him. But he was too bored and lazy to pay any attention to Shaoqing’s naive behaviour.
Seeing that First young master ignored Second Young Master, Lin Guan could only sigh in his heart. The second young master would surely get angry and cause a scene.
He could only helplessly follow Master Qin and wait for the grumpy second young master to speak.
They walked past each other on the bridge, but second young master remained silent. Lin Guan could not help but look back to see second young master’s back heading off. What was this? Second young master was not looking for trouble?
‘Young master, second young master, he…’ Lin Guan was amazed by this turn of events.
Yaotang was also mildly surprised, but he was indifferent. Regardless of the significance of Shaoping’s unusual behaviour, he was not interested.
To him, Shaoqing was insignificant.
The books in Lin Guan’s hand were more important than Shaoqing,
‘How is the quality of silk this year?’ he asked.
Lin Guan quickly recovered his mind and answered, but he was still suspicious. How come second master did not find trouble? This has to be the first time in the world that this has occurred. Did second young master have some terrible plan up his sleeve?
On Du Miaofu’s part, she was well aware of how Pei Shaoqing would have reacted to Qin Yaotang’s snub; she would have called surnamed Qin was not surnamed Pei and sooner or later the family would belong to her. That kind of childish attack wasn’t the way the young master of a family should behave.
Thinking of the memory in her mind, Miaofu shook her head. Did Shaoqing really think those words would have any influence on a person like Qin Yaotang? Qin Yaotang did not regard Shaoqing as anything. To him, even looking at her was a waste of time.
In Mioafu’s opinion, Shaoqing was more like a jumping clown. She desperately wanted to attract Qin Yaotang’s attention.
Not only Qin, but Lin Guan who was with him, looked down on Pei Shaoqing despite his show of respect.
Miaofu was a very observant person; although, his attitude was outwardly respectful, Lin Guan could not hide the disgust for her in his eyes. In her childhood, Miaofu was fostered by various relatives, so she had learned to read people’s expressions. Although Lin Guan’s was well hidden, she could still sense his disdain.
Miaofu shook her head and sighed. It seems no one really cared for Pei Shaoqing! That she didn’t say a thing must have really shocked them.
Miaofu smiled proudly as she walked on, wondering in ice-faced Qin Yaotang would have been surprised as well.
Nah, that would not even happen. From her experience, people like Qin would not care about people who they regard as unimportant, not matter what action Pei Shaoqing makes, he would not pay any attention to her.
Poor Pei Shaoqing, no matter what she did, Qin Yaotang did not put her in his heart. Miaofu wanted to shed a tear of sympathy for her predecessor.
What am I to do in the godforsaken place? She asked the sky.
This person had been injured and nobody cared for her. Her relatives did not look in on her, and she was hated by the servants. Even the person she was secretly in love with did not care for her, and he had a fiancée.
She was so tragic.
What could Miaofu's mission be?
Was it to improve the father-daughter relationship? To be candid, she did not care for Shaoqing’s father. He did not have any love for his child. He put his fatherly love into Qing Yaotang, and gave no attention to Pei Shaoqing, his only child. He only knew to fight with her.
It was very likely because he had no love for the first Lady, hence he did not love the child she gave birth to.
While she understood the reasoning, she did not understand the actions. The extremeness of Shaoqing’s personality was a combination of her mother’s selfishness and her father’s disregard. Master Pei also bore responsibility.
So improving her father-daughter relationship? Miaofu was not interested. (Zuben: I dunno if you can pick and choose "missions" but carry on)
What about the tragic crush on young Master Qin? Most definitely not.
She definitely had no interest in being close to that high in the instep ice-man. He did not look affable at all. When she first clamped eyes on him, the first word that came to mind was ‘Dangerous’.
Besides, he had a fiancée. She did not want to get in between that, and she wasn’t interested in being a small wife or concubine.
Now that her instincts regarded him as dangerous, she decided it was best to avoid him as much as possible, and since he did not pay any attention to her, she was more relieved.
She took a deep breath, ‘Oh...so tight.’ she exclaimed rubbing her chest in pain. Although, Shaoqing’s breasts weren’t big, it was still hard to have them bound. She really didn’t know how Shaoqing endured it.
It seemed the most urgent task at present was to solve Shaoqing’s identity. How could she solve it? Should she run to the old man and just tell him outright?
If she did this, she didn’t know how he will take it. Would he able to accept it? Or would he faint out of anger? She didn’t want to be the cause of the body’s father’s death.
But it would be impossible to conceal forever, and she didn’t want to keep binding her chest.
Miaofu wracked her brain for a solution. As she thought and thought, she could not help but think - would it not be too difficult to achieve this mission?
Miaofu suddenly felt like she had a muscle twitch in her forehead.
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♢ Chapter 2