何为贤妻 To Be A Virtuous Wife Chapter Eighty Two “The Curtain Drops on Qu and Liang”

Chapters eighty and eighty one have been slightly edited.

This chapter has been brought to you by me, ororomunroe90, vivie and leecherleechleech.

The title says it all.

Chapter Eighty Two The Curtain Drops on Qu and Liang

In the end, the Qu Family didn’t manage to find anyone to help them. Even though they couldn’t examine what had happened sixteen years ago, the taiyi, who had been requested by Tian shi after she had given birth to a daughter, was still alive. He had taken the pulse of Qu Tian shi quite a few times. The pulse had been very steady with no hint of illness. However, the final outcome was that by the end of the month, Qu Tian shi had passed away due to illness. He was inwardly suspicious so he clearly remembered, even after all these years, that he had been the first person to take Qu Tian shi’s pulse at that time.

The testimony of this taiyi didn’t prove that Qu Tian shi was killed by Chang De Gong Fu, but once combined with the others facts: soon after Qu Tian shi’s death, the Duke of Chang De had been in a rush to welcome the new wife, Liang shi, the dragon and phoenix twins who Liang shi had given birth to not even eight full months after entering the fu, all these series of coincidences was enough to prove that Qu Tian shi’s death wasn’t accidental but deliberate.

Once the proof was revealed, it shocked the entire court. If a man was lustful, it meant that his morals were deficient but it wasn’t enough to make others dislike him. But to harm his wife for a woman on the outside, that was being an animal in clothing, a person that everyone could beat up.

Qing De Emperor had originally heard that Duan Wang Fei was estranged from her birth father. Hence, he had been slightly dissatisfied with Duan Wang Fei. Since the marriage had been decreed by him, he couldn’t act on it. But once this matter came out, and Qing De Emperor looked at the memorandums which described how Chang De Gong Fu had abused the eldest di daughter and shu daughters, he felt that his second erxi didn’t have an easy life.

He couldn’t help but say to Jing guifei, who had been grinding ink for him: “Originally, zhen had thought that this was a woman who didn’t respect her parents. I didn’t think that she had such a tragic past. It was fortunate that Official Tian cares for his relatives. Otherwise, our er xi might have been someone else.”

Jing guifei didn’t look at the memorandums and only responded: “Emperor, you don’t even know that Heng’er’s wife is extremely filial. Normally, when she receives something interesting, she would impatiently deliver it to qie. In the beginning, qie thought she was too childish, but only now does qie know that this child most likely thinks of qie as her own mother so she would think of qie at every turn.” The rims of her eyes reddened, “Such a good child, but Chang De Gong Fu abused her. It really is too cruel.”

Qing De Emperor was extremely moved by what Jing guifei said. He reached out to pat her hand and comforted her: “Now you are her popo, that makes you her mother. She remembers beloved fei: one is that she is filial, the second is that you are close to her. It isn’t just that she is a good er xi, you are also a good popo which made the two of you become more intimate.”

Jing guifei was so comforted that she smiled through her tears. At this time, a taijian from the outside reported that Shu guife was asking for an audience.

Jing guifei had a conflicted expression on her face as she said: “Since meimei has something to ask Emperor, then qie will retreat.”

“There’s no need,” Qing De Emperor reached out to pull Jing guifei closer, not allowing her to leave. He turned his head to look at the taijian, “Tell Shu guifei that zhen has no time and won’t see her.”

“Emperor ……” Before Jing guifei could finish, she was interrupted by Qing De Emperor.

“Beloved fei, come see how this drawing is,” Qing De Emperor rolled open a drawing, and started to admire it with Jing guifei.

Jing guifei smiled as she went forward a few steps. After closely examining it, she nodded and praised: “This drawing has both mountains and water, the sky and earth are vast. Not even taking into account how good the artist’s skill is, one can see the artist has a generous personality. Whoever drew this, if Emperor can hire such a person to enter politics and work, he will become a pillar of the country.”

“What pillar of the country? This was just a product of zhen’s leisure time,’ Qing De Emperor contentedly put his hands behind his back. Seeing the shock and awe on Jing guifei’s face, he said happily, “How about zhen teach you how to draw?”

Jing guifei naturally went with the flow and allowed Qing De Emperor to enclose her hand and start drawing.

Watching as a peony formed under the brush, Jing guifei glanced outside at the steadily darkening sky, an indiscernible hint of mirth at the corner of her lips.

Shu guifei looked at the tightly closed gate to the palace hall and unwillingly turned to slowly leave. What was not having the time? How could that whore Wei shi accompany the Emperor?

Twenty-something years ago, Wei shi didn’t manage to enchant the Emperor so how could Wei shi, twenty-something years later, manage to captivate the Emperor? This kind of matter, she wouldn’t believe it, and no one who heard it would believe it either.

Because the matter was connected to the mystery of Qu Tian shi’s death, along with the series of events that had occured at Chang De Gong Fu, Qing De Emperor was so angry that he wanted to execute the Duke of Chang De. In the end, because he had remembered that the Duke of Chang De had the grace of giving birth and raising Duan Wang Fei, he exempted his death sentence. Instead, he took away the Qu Clan’s title, and demoted the family of Chang De Gong Fu to a shu min. The Duke of Chang De Gong Fu was imprisoned in jail. Those not in jail were thrown out of Chang De Gong Fu.

As for the small family that was the Liang Family, Qing De Emperor didn’t have to waste much energy. He just sealed the Liang fu and erased the scholarly honor of Liang Hong, and decreed that the next three generations of Qu and Liang Family could not attend the examinations.

The Qu Family who had caused so much fuss in Jing City fell down just like that. Among the people, there were even ones who had started to use Chang De Gong Fu as the basis for many plays. A fickle man who killed his wife to marry again. A cruel father and step-mother who abused the previous wife’s daughter. And how the first wife’s daughter endured such humiliations and in the end, married an ideal husband.

No matter how much the story had changed, the Duke of Chang De and Liang shi were eternally known as the most malicious villains and Qu Qing Ju was the abused little white cabbage.

After she had finished reading how she had married an ideal husband and the aggressive and contemptible paternal family story, Qu Qing Ju laughed so much that she cried. As expected, the plays were based on reality but larger than life.

When did she ride a twelve-person gold sedan? When did wang ye, full of rage, drag everyone of the Gong Fu out to be beaten? Those points were too drastic.

Mu Jing saw wang fei crying from laughter as she read the story and came forward to attentively help rub her stomach. She smiled as she commented: “Wang fei, don’t choke. Nubi heard another version before. How about wang fei take a listen?”

“Tell me,” Qu Qing Ju took a drink of tea and asked in interest.

After Mu Jin finished narrating, Qu Qing Ju felt that the creativity of the ancient people was extremely strong.

The main idea of the story was that she, the little white cabbage, endured the snow in the middle of winter to buy red bean buns for Liang shi. She struggled in her journey in the midst of the harsh winds wearing very little and encountered Duan Wang on a white horse. The two of them fell in love at first glance. In the end, a romance that moved the heavens was written.

Did the logic of this story get eaten by the author? Liang shi would eat red bean buns in the winter and not sparrow’s nest? And in that kind of weather, who would be selling buns? Even if people were selling, who would go buy them? The most strange was that in such a snowstorm, He Heng wouldn’t sit in a sedan or carriage outside but would masochistically ride a horse.

Just as Qu Qing Ju was going to laugh herself silly, Ming He unexpectedly came over. He said that wang ye wanted to take her out of the fu. Qu Qing Ju didn’t know what it was for, but seeing Ming He’s state, it was an emergency. She glanced at her attire to see if anything was wrong and didn’t change before following Ming He out.

When she got on the wang fu’s carriage, Qu Qing Ju saw He Heng was already sitting inside. She asked with some confusion: “Wang ye, where are we going?”

“The play has to go on til the end. If you don’t get to see the conclusion, there’s no meaning,” He Heng smiled and held her hand. He ordered the driver outside, “To Chang De Gong Fu.”

Qu Qing Ju looked in surprise at He Heng. After the carriage started moving, she asked: “Why does wang ye want to take me there?”

“Today is the day that everyone of Chang De Gong Fu is being evicted completely. That place was where you used to live. Before the fu is sealed, I’ll get you to check if there is anything wrong,” He Heng cheerfully responded, “I know that Qing Ju is a person who remembers the old times.”

Hearing He Heng give such a dignified reason for going to spectate, Qu Qing Ju smiled and followed: “Wang ye is right, I am one who remembers the old times.” The saying, ”the clothes should be new, the people should be of the past”, had its own logic.

When the carriage made its way to the front door of Chang De Gong Fu, there was a great mess at the gate. Loud sobbing and pleading made the entire place sound like the market.

Ming He came up to pull the curtain at the front of the carriage slightly open, allowing the two zhuzi inside to have a perfect view of the great play occurring outside the fu.

The uniformed Imperial Guards were forcefully escorting some people who didn’t want to leave. On the ground were dropped luggage and clothes. There were many servants who had left with their heads down. Seeing Duan Wang Fu’s carriage, they carefully came forward to bow before hurriedly leaving.

Qu Qing Ju watched apathetically as Qu er xiaojie supported Qu lao taitai out the front gate. Behind the two was Liang shi, her face full of panic. Qu Wang Zhi was trailing Liang shi, his crestfallen attitude like a duck plucked of its feathers.

The family stood at the gate, watching as the servants who had once served them all leave. Gradually, the crowd grew smaller and smaller, and then there was silence.

Qu lao taitai watched as the plaque, on which “Chang De Gong Fu” was written, got taken down and smashed onto the ground. Then continued watching as the crimson red doors of the gate got sealed with papers from the government. A long time later, she sighed: “Karma, karma.” She pointed at Liang shi who was wiping her tears to rant, “That year, if it wasn’t for taking this person of bad luck into the fu, would my Qu Family be like this?”

By now, Liang shi wouldn’t listen to what Qu lao taitai said. She instantly retorted: “Lao taitai might have forgotten that it was lao ye who had married erxi into the fu. Lao taitai, rather than blame me, blame lao ye!”

“You,” Qu lao taitai was so angry that she staggered. It was only because of Qu Hui Xue’s support that she barely managed to not fall down, “Did the Liang Family teach you to not respect your elders like this?”

“There’s not even a Liang Family now. Wasn’t it impacted by your Qu Family?” Liang shi felt that her paternal family had been indirectly affected by the Qu Family. She instantly shrieked, “Why is lao taitai turning around to blame our Liang Family?”

“Mother, don’t speak any more,” Qu Wang Zhi heard Liang shi’s words becoming nastier and couldn’t help wading in, “Now that our family is like this. What are you fighting over?”

“I will disturb everyone. This is our wang fei’s gift to everyone, please receive it.”

Qu Wang Zhi heard that this voice didn’t belong to a normal man and turned around. He saw a taijian wearing a blue robe standing behind them, a pouch of silver in his hand. He couldn’t resist looking behind the taijian and saw a magnificent carriage parked not too far away. Inside the carriage was Duan Wang and da jie sitting together.

Because of the distance, he couldn’t distinguish the expression on the two’s faces. But in this instant, he felt that he was entirely mired in an awkward and embarrassed state.

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41 thoughts on “何为贤妻 To Be A Virtuous Wife Chapter Eighty Two “The Curtain Drops on Qu and Liang””

  1. Thanks. The Qu and Liang family are getting what they deserve for killing Qu Tian Shi and trying to steal her dowry. On top of that, they abused the di daughter.

    1. Honestly, the evidence of the killing was a bit on the lacking side, but they did dishonor her memory by a ton. Marrying another woman before she was even properly mourned? Abusing the daughter she left behind? Being arrogant and stupid for no good reason? Meh, they deserved the punishment for being so ignorant of the effects of their actions.

      1. If I’m cynical enough, the death was just an excuse to pull them off. He Heng doesn’t want embarrassing in-laws.

      2. True, evidence is lacking and it is even possible that HH played behind.
        But supposedly the doctor was honest, the suspicion is not baseless at all.
        In the past the technology was lacking and there is no lab to check on chemical substance in the corpse etc, so one can only rely on witnesses and existence of motives as well as opportunity.
        Most servants in noble families have death contracts, so it’s hard to find witness anyway.
        But talking about motive and opportunities, they all do exist.
        Even at this point, Qingju’s father hsd even dared to say that he should have strangled her to death when she was a baby if he knew that today would happen, instead of reflecting upon his mistake…let alone ask for forgiveness.
        If he could even think of strangling his own baby daughter to death, let alone killing his wife…
        He definitely is a man capable of doing anything for his own benefit.
        Liang shi was already pregnant and she is a miss from nobel family too, there is no way he could take her in as a Qie, added to it he is very much inlove with her that he wouldn’t want her to become a Qie.
        But his 1st wife is also noble and had Tian family support, and he has no reason to divorce her.
        She had just given birth, so he can’t use an excuse for not able giving a heir.
        Tian shi was still young, she can get pregnant again later, so opportunity to have a son was still open.
        So, he can only marry Liang shi if Tian shi was dead.
        Talking about evidence…
        Feng zijin could kill previous QQJ without a trace either so, why can’t Duke Chang de?
        Supposedly Tian shi had a gestational diabetes brought by pregnancy…
        She could have been recovered after giving birth with a proper diet and exercise, but if her husband deliberately ordered the kitchen to give her high calory diet…
        Who would be able to say that he is trying to kill his wife?
        All he did was giving sumptuous meal to his wife afterall.
        And she would die due to illness, that verdict is not wrong at all.
        Diabetes, or high cholesterol in blood and high blood pressure are all indeed true illness.
        Added to it the stress she had to endure knowing her hsuband making others pregnant while she is pregnant too.
        So…she might have been died due to illness, but who can bet that the illness was not incited by someone?
        Tasty food is not poison per-se afterall.
        All one can find even if they did the auyopsy at that era, they might only be able to say that it is incompatible diet..
        The same thing said about QQJ before.
        So it is still slow murder..

  2. thanks a lot—-!
    eh—that was what the qing de emperor thought of qing ju? does he not know that they did not treat her well? he only knows now?! how horrible…! hmph! well, never had a good opinion of him anyway! -makes a disapproving face-
    anyway, lol, qing ju laughing until tears come out! always nice to see her happy! also, hmph, yay, the ending of the play—-! how satisfying, finally, they have fallen to ruin! woo—-!

    1. He’s someone to take advantage of. For 20 years it was the other girl and the third son. Now, it’s time for the ultimate popo to enter the stage and whisk away his attention.

      1. lol—! indeed, it was that other woman,now, the more intelligent woman will take over! ahaha! i’m more interested in he next emperor though, lol!

  3. I feel bad for the innocent younger generations of the families that got drag into it… X-X QQJ father and that women got wat the deserved! I wonder wat will happen to QYS now? She has no family to relied on and HY is a piece of crap. Poor girl 🙁 HH is quite ruthless behind his gentleness xD QQJ surely got the last few laugh! Also thank you so much for translating!!!

    1. didn’t she say that before? whatever happens, it’s her choice. she doesn’t want to be di wife after all.

      1. Yeah… Those I pity are Qu and Liang family of the next 3 generations, because they truly have nothing to do with the crime.
        But these generation have atleast enjoy their glory in abusing their power to bully commoners to gain more wealth.
        QYS knew what kind of man Rui wang since the start.
        If she craved being a Qie at Duan wangfu it is still somehow reasonable considering his good reputation.
        But Rui wang has been known as arrogant, snobbish and bullying since soooo long. Despite being favored by emperor he doesn’t even have much support caused by his personality.
        One can even see how he acted towards his wangfei in the banquet…added with all the rumour.
        So… what makes her think that she can have a good life being a concubine of such a man, even if he become an emperor?
        It will be even more horrible to have an emperor husband like him than the present one.
        As a wife of normal family, her family can still smash her husband’s door if she is badly treated, but they can’t complain and denounce an emperor even if she was becoming an empress.
        So she knew from the start what she can face being with such a man.
        But her greed over money and power won over her brain.
        And if her family truly love her, they would never even try to send their daughter to the palace, let alone to a Wangfu as a qie.
        It has never been He yuan trying to get her, it has been her side who presented her to him.
        That’s why she never even experience any favor from Rui wang, he had looked down on her since the start…
        She could even see it before she was taken in. Only blinds can not see how he takes QYS as during lantern festival, but it didn’t stop her…
        So… Despite my disgust seeing how Heyuan abuses her, but I just can’t help despising her too for letting her greed and jealousy got the best out of her.
        She seeked her own death.

  4. Thanks for the chapter. Glad to know that the Emperor is showing his love and attention on JGF. At this moment, LS is blaming her husband?? Unbelievable.

  5. unfortunately, the younger generations will always get impacted by their previous generations’ deeds.
    but the Qu and Liang Families got their fair share of life: first enjoyed bullying people below them and now receiving their retribution.

  6. I’m curious with the second daughter. She’s not Liang shi’s daughter, but one of the shu daughter, rite?

    Also what “shu min” means?

    We ve foreseen the fall of CDGF. I hope QQJ will share her thought with Liang shi 😈😈😈😈

    Thank you for this chapter

      1. Isn’t 庶民 shumin commoners? It’s different from slaves. They’re not forced to be laborers, just demoted to “nobodies”

    1. The shu daughters are the daughters born to the concubines of the father. If Liang shi can treat the di daughter so badly why would she treat a shu daughter well?

  7. I was a bit disappointed though. I know HH and QQJ went to have a final look of downfall of CDGF but I thought they gonna to rub into LS face but they stayed in the carriage instead. I do agree that LS is shameless..and I also feel sorry for the innocence younger generation especially QYS to have a donkeyhole for a husband, HY…

    CDGF has fallen. Now we are waiting for HY to fall…I hope that is soon…since SGF has fallen out of favour with the useless emperor.

    1. They sort of already are rubbing it in their faces, by giving a few paltry silver to them, who used to be rich. It’s like rewarding a servant except in this case, it’s the ex-duke family. It’s embarrassing as hell for them especially since in the Chinese culture, “mianzi” or “face” is extremely important. I’m sure there is more to this show in the next chapter.

  8. Thank you…..QQJ can afford to laugh because she still has her mother’s family support. QYS is pitiful…..

  9. This chapter is not only the downfall of the Qu and Liang families but of Shu guifei as well. Indeed, excessive arrogance never pay off. It is so scary that their downfall happened when they are already of advanced age, where it would be difficult to recover…..I am happy to note, though, that this latest event made HH’s and QQJ’s relationship stronger. Likewise for the emperor and Jing guifei…..thanks a lot for the update….

  10. i don’t know. I’m not feeling too happy with QQJ and HH behaviour at the end. I have nothing to say about Liang Shi becoz she’s really shrewd. but whatever it is, after all her tai tai and her father are her family. Her blood related family. Even if she didn’t like them, at the very least she can keep her silence and act nonchalantly as respect towrds them.

    1. You mean how Qu Qing Ju acted towards the Duke and the rest of the family? But the Qu Qing Ju who we have for the story technically has no relation to the Qu Family except the body she’s inhabiting is related to them. The original Qu Qing Ju, she really paid her debts when she died and the Qu Qing Ju who is the main character of the story has no reason to treat them as family.

    2. Why QJ has to symphatize to the so called parents who said its better to kill the young original QJ? i think the original QJ suffered so much til she cant feel anymore (ppl arnd her called her dull/mud/wood). The new QJ can only share memory but she even can feel original QJ’s pain. That might be the reason she takes those measures.

      1. That’s right. The Duke is too much, to remorselessly declare that his own daughter should be killed by his hands. If my father said that kind of things to my 15-16 years old self, i think i would have suicided. Parents always have huge impact on their children, no matter their age. I think it is fortunate that the original QQJ is not around to hear her own blood father says things like that. No matter how wooden the original is, having been raised in enviroment that emphases on being filial, the duke would have broken her heart.

    3. True parent are those who raised the children well and with love. Making babies doesn’t make someone parent.
      If one want to be treated like elder, one should act like one.
      What makes someone parent are not the blood flowing in one’s vein, cos..technically speaking, these days one can even buy sperm and rent womb (although it is not always legal).
      If one need forgiveness, they should at least first show some repentance even if they are still too prideful to ask for a forgiveness.
      But the fact is, none of them show any remorse, none did sone self reflection.
      Even the father still acted haughtily at this point…and dared to say that he would have prefered to kill her only because she made him wait.
      He even still blame others even if he was actually coming to ask for help.
      With such attitude…he would have the thrown away the last shred of pity and feeling QQJ might have still had a that time.
      So he had no one to blame actually.
      Even Lao taitai, had she ever had any regret ? None.
      So why should QQJ care?
      Moreover, she is not even the real QQJ.
      She has no relation with them, no reason to have any guilty conscience at all.
      She basically is punishing them on the deceased’s behalf.

  11. The evil family has been defeated, next HY’s turn? I’m really lookiing forward to it 😊
    And thank you for the chapter

  12. An abused little white cabbage indeed… but cute nevertheless XD

    Thanks for the chapter!

  13. Other than closing her eyes to all he foolishness her family’s been doing, what did the Qu Lao taitai do that made QQJ ignore her completely?

    1. It’s precisely because she didn’t do anything. She knew about their treatment of the original QQJ. However, she did nothing but watch. Plus, she only showed favor to the 3rd daughter. How can someone like that still call herself QQJ’s grandmother?

      1. Ah, right, its because she closed her eyes on QQJ that QQJ closed her eyes on too

  14. Lol, this is the best chapter so far. It made me laugh with tears. 😂
    Especially this part: “Did the logic of this story get eaten by the author? Liang shi would eat red bean buns in the winter and not sparrow’s nest? And in that kind of weather, who would be selling buns? Even if people were selling, who would go buy them? The most strange was that in such a snowstorm, He Heng wouldn’t sit in a sedan or carriage outside but would masochistically ride a horse.” Man, that brought lots of laughs and giggles! 😂
    Thanks for translating this wonderful story! ^_^

  15. This comment is super late, but this chapter kind of made me feel for the Emperor. All he really wanted was a wife that truly loved and cared for him.

    Unfortunately, he shot himself in the foot in that regard by having his harem. The wives which may have originally truly loved and cared for him were too busy utilizing politics against each other (including subtly manipulating the Emperor) that any love they once had faded. Helped along by the fact that his affectations apparently change easily based on who he only happens to see taking care of him during bad times.

    Truly reaping what he sowed, but slightly tragic in a way. If he chose a single wife, he may have truly had the kind of relationship he appears to have yearned for.

    1. But he was happy for more of his life in the illusion. It only “broke” for a short time before he “found” it with Jing guifei again.

  16. this is my 2nd time reading this story and i always get emotional and cry at this part. not for QQJ, but the original QQJ. it’s great that justice is served now but I still feel regret that the original QQJ — a 16 year old girl — died thinking her grievances went unheard and unnoticed. she was basically alone in a world pitted against her.

    as for HH’s intentions for spilling this tea, I’m 100% sure this is one-part taking revenge for his beloved wangfei (he wouldn’t have specifically gone to spectate otherwise lol), and one-part washing himself and QQJ white. Because there must be more than one person that thinks like the emperor, that QQJ is unfilial (after all, “it’s all the woman’s (Liang shi’s) fault, the man is only implicated, you shouldn’t blame the man”; even Lao taitai is doing this). So by making these people into complete villains, no one can exaggerate and use Chang De Gong Fu to accuse Duan Wang as unfilial etc.

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