The Marquis Is Innocent

Out of Yuyang, two hundred miles southwest of Zhuo County, there is a city called Yi.

The carriage of Su E Huang left Yuyang, traveled all the way slowly, and reached Yi City on this day. The party rested in the city for a few days because people and horses were tired and not feeling well.

She is the widow of Liu Li, the younger brother of Emperor Xuan. She comes from a noble family in Zhongshan and is related to the Wei family. Her status is noble. The magistrate of Yi City treated her with courtesy when she stopped on her way back to Zhongshan because she was not feeling well.

The next day in the evening, her nephew Su Xin caught up with her. The first thing Su Xin said when they met was, “I didn’t receive the news as promised. I left the city as quickly as Aunt had instructed. I think Old Jiang failed.”

Su Xin’s expression seemed frustrated.

Su E Huang’s eyebrows knitted. Deep disappointment swept through her eyes, but soon, her expression returned to normal. She said indifferently: “Loss is a loss. Why so depressed? There are many things in this world that are not as expected. When I was planning, I was ready to lose.”

When Su Xin saw how calm she was, his frustration gone, and he said, “I did what Aunt told me to do. I fed the country marquis’ wife with Bodhisattva in her sleep, and I left quietly before dawn.”

With the thought of the woman who will lose her life no matter whether things work or not, he felt some pity. He could not help but say: “I saw she was very supportive of Aunt, and I was cautious with her. I expected it not to fall into the eyes of outsiders. I think she will be fine even if the matter is unsuccessful. Why do you want me to kill her?”

Su E Huang said, “How do you know your dealings with her have not fallen into the eyes of others? How do you know she will not confess against me? What’s wrong with killing a few people? Men have shed millions of corpses and blood in their quest for dominance and power. Why can’t I kill a few people for what I want? A man like you, how can you be acting like such a woman?”

Su Xin looked ashamed as she lectured him, and he gritted his teeth and said, “What Aunt said was right. You’ve taught me. I hate that Old Jiang is incompetent and wasted Aunt’s efforts.”

He suddenly thought, “Aunt, how do you know Old Jiang will keep her mouth shut? What would you do if she can’t withstand the forced confession and tell the truth ?”

Su E Huang said: “The hardest thing to control in the world is the human heart. The easiest to control is also the human heart. If you recognize what a person thinks and wants, you can control the person, just like manipulating a puppet.”

“This Old Jiang not only will not turn me in, I expect she had killed herself at this moment in return for my kindness to her.”

Su E Huang smiled faintly and said.

Su Xin looked at Su E Huang in a daze and asked: ” Aunt has always been clear and decisive. I extremely respect you. But there is one thing I do not understand. I hope Aunt can enlighten me. The incident failed, and we couldn’t eliminate the Wei family’s old woman, which is a great pity. I don’t understand. Since you want to win Marquis of Yan’s heart, why don’t you let Old Jiang eliminate the Qiao girl instead of going through all the trouble to get rid of that old woman?”

Su E Huang said, “Who is the Qiao girl? She is just the daughter of an enemy of the Wei family. Zhonglin married her for the sake of Yanzhou, so what is there to fear? But the old woman is different. She never likes me, and Zhonglin always obeys her. If she is around, Zhonglin will not dare to come near me, even if he has a heart for me. You’re good at riding and shooting. I don’t need to tell you that you had to shoot the horse before you could shoot the man.”

Su Xin’s face showed his respect, and he said, ” Aunt is not a common woman. My heart goes out to you! I hope to serve you to the death. One day, I can be rich, and powerful, revitalize my Su family and console my ancestors.”

Su E Huang smiled and said nothing.

When Su Xin asked her why she didn’t eliminate the Qiao girl, she didn’t tell her nephew that she was motivated by something subtle. The heart of a woman who refuses to be defeated.

In Zhongshan country, Su E Huang met the Qiao girl for the first time.

When she saw her, the self-confident Su E Huang had to admit Wei Zhonglin’s wife was not only younger than her, but her beauty was better than her own.

She can not describe the Qiao girl’s beauty in words. Once one sees her, one can feel her unique beauty, and it is impossible for her to obtain it no matter how much she cultivates in her life.

At that time, Su E Huang planted the seed of jealousy in her heart. In Yuyang, under the Lu Li platform, she witnesses the Qiao girl in the crowd of soldiers hit the soft-shelled drum.

A strong wind blew her clothes on the stage, and ten thousand people under the stage responded to her call.

Su E Huang deeply engraved that scene in her mind.

If the previous jealousy was only out of nature, then from that moment on, she knew what she wanted to do to this Qiao girl.

If Zhonglin did not like her, she wanted the Qiao girl to witness how her husband favored her and took away the status and glory that belonged to her.

If Zhonglin likes her, she will take Zhonglin away from her, so she can taste the great torture and pain of being lost and eaten by jealousy.

Since birth, Su E Huang had been burdened with the noble fate theory of ‘Nobility is Unspeakable.’ In this regard, she had never doubted it. She cut off the last trace of her innocent emotions in her youth with her own hands. The thoughts and efforts consumed her from the first day of her marriage. Suffered many grievances, suppressing many hearts. However, after ten years of dreaming, her efforts were wasted. Everything returned to the original point and was even worse than the original point.

T/N: a Chinese idiom, pinyin: guì bù kě yán, meaning so noble that it can not be expressed in words. From “Historical Records · Gaozu Benji.”

She lost her youth, her dreams had dashed, and her whole family counted on her alone.

What could be more terrible for a woman than this?

But this Qiao girl, as the daughter of an enemy family, had what she wanted most today: youth, beauty, and the status of Zhonglin’s wife.

Su E Huang felt that she, who was two years older than him and inspired his youth, was unique in his heart.

Wei Shao always had an affection for her. That year, at seventeen, she said goodbye to the fifteen-year-old him and resolutely married away to Luoyang.

He had a strong personality from childhood and used to hide his thoughts with a heavy heart. As a teenager who suffered the blow of losing his father and brother, his character became serious, gloomy, and uncertain, which is natural.