The instance Ban Hua got back home, she was swarmed by the family, they wanted to see if she was fine and were only relaxed after it was confirmed.

“Hua Hua, what did His Majesty say to you?” Yin-shi pulled Ban Hua to sit down, she asked in detail of what had happened in the Palace.

Ban Hua recounted her visit to the Palace in a systematic and detailed way. “His Majesty is obviously not well, his face has changed and became distorted. The staff at the Great Moon Palace are all nervous, afraid of making His Majesty enraged.” It was a grim and depressing visit, totally different from the relaxing occasions of the past.

Yin-shi inwardly sneered, someone with too many evil deeds would always receive the retribution in the end. Patting Ban Hua’s arm, she said, “His Majesty is not very stable emotionally, you better not go to the Palace too often. We are not involved with the matter between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. The Second Princess Consort has moved too aggressively, she has rushed to grab all the edges for herself. Someone like that is too short-sighted, don’t get too close to her.”

“We’ve never had a good relationship, how can I be close to her.” Ban Hua laughed, “Please don’t worry.”

“When can I ever not be worried with you two ungrateful little things?” Yin-shi said, “Alright, you always take a nap in the afternoon, go back to your own courtyard.”

Ban Hua stood up, she was about to say her farewell.

“Wait,” Yin-shi called, “How is Master Rong’s injury?”

“Much better, it’s just external injuries, he’ll recover quickly.” Ban Hua said carelessly, “Don’t worry.”

Stupid child, it was not Rong Xia she was worried about, it was her daughter. If something was to happen to Rong Xia, she could not let her daughter marry a cripple. Other people might try to benefit from her daughter, all she wanted was her daughter not be disadvantaged.

Read this for free at SleepyPrawn site. Add to my viewer number and I will translate more happily!

“Master, Furen, the miss from Minister Yao’s house is here asking to meet.”

“Minister Yao?” Yin-shi looked at Ban Huai in confusion. Since when they have a relationship with Yao Peiji’s family?

Ban Huai shook his head, he had nothing to do with Yao Peiji the painting lover.

“Is it the Third Miss Yao?” Ban Hua asked the housekeeper.

“Yes.” The housekeeper confirmed.

“Third Miss Yao knows me, let her in.” Following this Ban Hua said to Yin-shi, “Mother, this Third Miss Yao is quite interesting, let’s have her and see what she wants.”

Yin-shi nodded without asking further.

Ban Heng suspiciously shot Ban Hua a glance, “Sis, you’ve hooked another young girl again?” He had the reasons to believe that had his sister been a man, she would have been a famous playboy of the Capital.

“Nonsense, it’s this miss herself who came to me.” Ban Hua glared, “You this child, with your clumsy mouth.”

Ban Heng: ……

—

Yao Ling sat in the outer room in anxiety, her handkerchief has been twisted into a crumple. Since her father was caned and his ministerial position taken away, their Yao family’s status in the Capital has been in a free fall. The imperial doctors would not come without repeated begging, while outside doctors could not be used. The injuries on her father’s back has started to fester.

With Shi family giving them cold shoulders after her father lost his value, and all other families treated them perfunctorily, all doors were closed to them when they tried to hire two more prominent doctors. By coincidence, she heard that Ban family had good resident doctors, the senior ones used to follow Ban family predecessors to battlefields so they were particularly skillful in treating injuries, even Count Cheng’an’s injury was treated by them.

She had wanted to ask for help early on, but she had been holding back from fear of rejection, fear of dragging others into trouble. However, her father’s condition deteriorated last night and he has been in high fever since the morning. There was no choice, she had to thicken her scalp to beg for help.

A servant took her to the main hall where the family of three were sitting. She hurriedly went forward with a salutation, “This little one greets Master Duke, greets Furen, Junzhu and Shizi. Turning up without an invite, please Master Duke and Furen forgive.”

T/N – The raw is really ‘the family of three’, poor Ban Heng was forgotten again by the author.

“Miss Yao, please sit down,” Yin-shi smiled gently, “Miss Yao is here, is there a matter?” Yin-shi’s voice was soft as Yao Ling’s eyes were red with traces of tears still hanging on the eyelashes.

“Furen, today this little one is here to beg.” Yao Ling rose and saluted deeply, “Father’s injury is serious, begging Master Duke and Furen for your family’s doctor to check on Father.”

Such a deep bow, Yin-shi had thought it was something huge, turned out just for doctors. Yin-shi was stunned for a moment, “Your esteemed father’s injury is still not healed yet?”

Yao Ling shook her head, “Not just not healed, the wounds have festered and he has started to be feverish. This little one truly has nowhere else to beg.”

When she was still in Xuezhou, Yao Ling had never really grasped the value of power. In just half of a year in the Capital, she understood the reason Capital people were constantly in the struggle to climb the ladder. The Capital is a no-nonsense place, one was respected only when one had power and authority, once it was gone, even if others did not cast stone into the well, there would still be no helping hands.

Compared to the Capital, Xuezhou was a backwater, but she suddenly missed her life there.

Xuezhou was not as prosperous as the Capital, the food and merchandise were not as good as the Capital, but the people of Xuezhou were simpler, more honest, and more compassionate to others.

She came in desperation, grasping onto a faint hope, and if the Bans would not help, she had no reason to begrudge them either. Her father had offended His Majesty, it was only natural that people were afraid of being implicated.

“Sure, I’ll let them check on Yao-daren now.”

Yao Ling’s eyes widened in surprise, it was granted this easily? She had not yet said how she was going to pay them back. She had not even started to beg.

The bossy and domineering Ban family in the rumours ….. was just this?

“Fu….. Furen?” Yao Ling was frozen, did not know what to say.

Seeing Yao Ling’s stupid face as the person was stunned frozen, Ban Hua asked, “Is there anything else?”

“No. Nothing.” Yao Ling shook her head in a daze. She abruptly dropped to her knees, earnestly bumped her head to the floor, “Many thanks, this little one will definitely repay the kindness.” She did not kneel when she was going to beg because that was equivalent to forcing the other party to acquiesce, but she was now down on her knees in full earnestness.

She had been to several families that were in good relationship with Yao family, but all of them were vague with their answers, unwilling to help. Who would expect that the one to extend a helping hand was Ban family who they were unfamiliar with.

“Just a small thing. Sister Yao what are you doing?” Ban Hua bent to help Yao Ling up. She took out a handkerchief to wipe Yao Ling’s tears. “Your father’s condition is urgent, hurry take the doctors home.”

“Elder Sister Ban,” Yao Ling sniffed, gratefully curtseyed to Ban Hua, and hurriedly left with a hand wiping her eyes.

—

As the backbone, if Yao Peiji fell then the whole clan would never recover. His high fever did not subside, everyone was in anxiety. Yao-furen and her children were on his bedside round the clock, Yao-furen kept wiping her tears as all the medicine fed to him was vomited back out.

T/N – I think here could read as ‘the whole clan would never recover’ instead of just Yao Peiji’s own nuclear family. See the note at the bottom.

“Furen, Furen, Third Miss is back with doctors.”

Yao-furen wiped her tears quickly, looked outside with joy, “Doctors from where?”

“This Servant is not sure, but they wear satin robes, they can’t be regular doctors.” Regular doctors did not wear satin, the ones who did were normally residents of wealthy houses.

“Whoever doctors is fine, let them come in first.” Yao-furen’s anxiety was burning, if only the doctors could instantly warped to the bedside right now.

When Yao Ling came in, without asking the family had the doctors start right away. Like a miracle, with just two pills, Yao Peiji’s body stopped trembling, his temperature dropped and he was able to swallow the medicine. The doctors were obviously very skillful.

The two doctors wrote them a prescription but refused the money. Only with the Yaos’ insistence that they finally reluctantly accepted.

After the doctors had left, Yao-furen watched Yao Peiji sleeping peacefully, her anxiety dropped.

“Ling Ling, these doctors are experts, whose family’s are they?

Yao Ling covered her father with a blanket, “Duke Jingting’s resident doctors. Duke Cheng’an’s injury is also treated by them.”

“So it’s ….. Duke Jingting residence?” Yao-furen remembered that she had also thrown in a few words when everyone were busy gossiping about Ban family, her face was instantly burning. At the moment when friends and relatives had stayed away, Duke Jingting was willing to help. This life-saving kindness, how would their Yao family ever repay.

The other Yaos were also stunned. As a well-known literary family, they had been looking down on the Bans. In observance of the conducts of a gentleman, they never joined in the slandering of Ban family, but their heart was still scornful.

In this moment of need, the one they despised had offered a hand when noone else dared to.

“Mother,” The eldest gongzi of Yao family spoke up, “Tomorrow I will go to Ban family to say thank you.”

“Better not now.” Yao-furen hurriedly shook her head, “His Majesty is still upset. If we pay a visit now, we may drag them in?”

Yao eldest son did not think of this point, he paused, and after a moment replied, “This Son understands.”

“Wait until your father has recovered.” Yao-furen sighed, “We are lucky to receive their help, we can’t harm them.”

—

In the Great Moon Palace, Emperor Yunqing was quietly drinking his medicine.

Ban Hua’s visit had put him in a good mood, after a bowl of bigeng rice, he took his medicine.

“Your Majesty,” The Commander of Imperial Guards was at the bedside, “From the Palace, Fule Junzhu went to Count Cheng’an residence.”

“En. Zhen guesses the wound medicine was given to Count Cheng’an?” Emperor Yunqing smiled lightly, it obviously did not upset him.

T/N – Maybe I am reading too much into this, but what does this mean? He’s not upset that the exclusive medicine was given away because he liked Ban Hua that much, or .. what’s in the bottles?

“Yes, Fule Junzhu went home after accompanying Count Cheng’an at lunch. But….. “

“But what?” Emperor Yunqing’s dark pair of eyes stared at the person in front of him.

“The third miss of Yao family paid a visit, then left with two doctors.”

Out of the blue, Emperor Yunqing laughed out loud. After a long time he said, “Everyone in the Capital are good at bending to the wind, grasping benefit and avoiding harm, Ban family is the only one true to their character. Yao Peiji is useful, don’t let anything happen to him.”

“This is trivial, no need to report to zhen. How about the two princes?”

“The Crown Prince has been reading books in his palace, he doesn’t seem to be displeased of Your Majesty placing him in detention.” The Commander said, “It’s just that, there seems to be a rift between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.”

“En.” Emperor Yunqing nodded lightly, “And the Second Prince?”

“The Second Prince……” The Commander was hesitating, “Your Highness the Second Prince’s character is not as serene as the Crown Prince.”

“Zhen thinks, it’s less about the jumpy character, it’s more on his mind being stirred up.” Emperor Yunqing’s expression was flat. “What else has happened today?”

“The Second Princess Consort stopped Fule Junzhu, she asked Fule Junzhu to persuade Ban family to join the Second Prince.”

“Did she agree?” Emperor Yunqing laughed coldly, “Zhen is still alive, and they can’t wait to start scheming?”

The Commander dared not answer.

“What did Fule Junzhu say?”

“Junzhu said, this world belongs to Your Majesty, Your Majesty is to decide to whom the throne should go to, and that a son should just listen to his father’s instructions.”

T/N – I think that ‘family’ and ‘clan’ are often used interchangeably. When it says ‘family’ sometimes it’s not just the nuclear family, it implies the extended family,  or the whole clan, and by ‘clan’ sometimes it includes their associates of lesser families. Otherwise it makes no sense that just a handful of families giving the Yaos cold shoulder and all doors were closed to them.

T/N – I tried to watch The Romance of a Twin Flower last night, it’s the drama adaptation of The Dreamers in the Spring Boudouir, and I was…. speechless. I don’t understand why after spending money to buy the IP, they picked only the character names and reduced everything else to oblivion. The drama is completely different from the novel, they might as well write a new story.

The novel has severely imperfect characters living in a harsh and vicious world. The MC is not a Holy Mother, she has her share of cruelty and a ton of selfishness. The ML…. he’s as black as the villains, even scummier than some. The drama is the usual dime of a dozen thingy where everything has been white-washed to innocence. I watched ep 1 and 2, skipped every few episodes, then jumped right to the last episode. Now I dread that I need to watch A Girl Like Me drama once this translation is finished.