Chapter 180 - The Empress Dowager is Ill, Ruixue’s Warding-Off Wedding is Pushed Forward 

Chapter 180 The Empress Dowager is Ill, Ruixue’s Warding-Off Wedding is Pushed Forward

[I know there’s some content missing, but I’ve checked a lot of sites and the raws are all the same. If anyone can find the missing content, send me a link!]

“Be careful.” There were soldiers patrolling around the mountain. If the soldiers saw them together, they would be finished.

When Shangguan LingRan ran down to the bottom of the mountain, his martial nephews released sighs of relief when they saw him come back safely.

They looked at his happy face and rippling phoenix eyes filled with deep tenderness and knew that his wish had been fulfilled. For a time, they were all happy for their little Shishu.

Yi Chen immediately smiled and said, “It looks like we will have a little martial aunt [Shishen] soon.”

Shangguan LingRan was not angry. He smiled happily and devilishly charmingly. “That’s right. Children, you have to be as loyal to your little Shishen as you are to me.”

“Yes, little Shishu.” The little martial nephews smiled as they answered.

That night, Shangguan LingRan and Zi You tossed and turned. They didn’t sleep well.

Zi You thought that since she liked him, then she would have to fight. Even if there were deep trenches or countless thorns in front of her, she would rush through them to fight for him.

Shangguan LingRan was thinking about Zhao HongXiang. That b*stard! As soon as he thought that YouYou was his fiancée in name, his teeth ached from hatred.

He must take care of him, but not now. He had to wait until he had the ability to protect YouYou and not be guarded against by the Emperor and his sons before he could make a move.

Military training was intense and tiring, but the days were full of happiness. Through frequent interactions, the females and males got along more and more naturally.

At first, the females were reluctant to bandage the soldiers’ wounds on their legs or torso. But after several times and after they saw Zi You’s calmness when she bandaged wounds for the soldiers, the females had calmed down too.

Zi You’s strength, tenacity, and amiability to the soldiers made the soldiers admire her very much. They affectionately called her “Little fairy.”

Winter left and spring arrived. Since Shangguan LingRan returned to the capital, he didn’t go see Zi You in the mountains again. He didn’t even come on Zi You’s birthday on March 23rd. He had fifteenth martial nephew Yi Chen bring her a gift and letter.

The gift was in a rosewood box. Zi You opened it. It was a diamond inlaid emerald corundum bracelet with a matching long hairpin lying on the red flannel. The brilliance of the corundum and diamond shone like a rainbow.

Fifteenth martial nephew Yi Chen proudly opened the hairpin. It was actually hollow in the middle. A very small dagger was in the thin hairpin. The sharp blade emitted bright light. The position where the emerald corundum was inlaid was precisely the part where someone should hold it. It was suitable for a woman to hold without hurting her hand.

Zi You knew that it was very skillful to do such a thing in a small area of a hairpin. This must be valuable. But she was very happy with the hairpin from simply her necessity for such an item.

She couldn’t bring a dagger or soft sword everywhere she went. But close combat wouldn’t be a problem with this hairpin.

Fifteenth martial nephew Yi Chen could tell that a smile was emitting in her eyes. He boasted even more proudly. He took the bracelet out and pressed down somewhere. Needles swooshed out and landed on a table.

He said, “There are fourteen silver needles inside this bracelet. Seven are dipped in anesthetic. Seven are dipped in poison. The range is about five meters. It will be more effective the closer you are. My little Shishu had someone make this in three months. Others certainly won’t make it so well. My little Shishu has spent a lot of thought! My little Shishu can’t home. He feels very bad about it!”

It wasn’t that Shangguan LingRan didn’t want to come, but that he couldn’t come. That was because the Empress Dowager was watching the fireworks and had gotten a cold. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to it. But she had gotten worse and worse. In the end, the cold turned into heat, obstructed her lungs, and gave her asthma. She was suffering from modern day pneumonia.

Shangguan LingRan’s feelings were conflicted towards this grandmother of his. There was resentment, but also familial affection. After all, everything that she did, including raising “him” into a dandy, was to save his life.

The Empress Dowager really did love him. Shangguan LingRan understood that if she wasn’t alive, the Emperor would be even more unbridled. Thus, he could only strongly suppress his lingering for Zi You and stay by the Empress Dowager’s side day and night; for fear that the Empress would do something.

Zi You was aware of the Empress Dowager’s condition. Shangguan LingRan had Lightning send her a letter every two days. Even his aunt Nee Liu mentioned the Empress Dowager’s condition in her letters to Mu YingYi. The words were full of worry.

Since something big had happened, in order to demonstrate his filial piety, Taizi actually proposed to marry cefei Liu Ruixue ahead of time as a warding-off wedding.*** The Emperor even agreed.

[Warding-off wedding (Chongxi) = holding a wedding in hopes that a joyous occasion would “ward-off” imminent death.]

Originally, the wedding was scheduled for August 6^th, but it was now pushed forward to April 12^th. That was the result from Duke Anguo’s discussion with the Emperor because Liu Ruixue didn’t reach marriageable age until May 13^th.