Chapter 87: Tree Peony vs Cattail Weed

Yuan Dong pointed at Er Ya with a stern expression on her face. “How dare you not greet the Princess!?”

Embarrassment appeared on Er Ya’s dark and red face. For a few moments, she was too dumbstruck to get any words out. “Ai, ai…”

>Er Ya speaks with a dialect.<

A trace of displeasure flashed across Duan Xinghui’s face since the person he liked was being troubled. He pursed his lips unhappily before cupping his fist and speaking to Ning Shu with a salute. “Princess, Er Ya is from the countryside and doesn’t really understand etiquette. Honourable Princess is magnanimous, so please be tolerant of her shortcomings.”

>Da ren strikes again! I can’t very well translate it as -sama in this setting so I shall be translating it as ‘Honourable’ – used as a title indicating eminence or distinction, given especially to judges and certain high officials.<

Fuck! So if she didn’t tolerate this, then that meant that she wasn’t tolerant and magnanimous? This was completely coercing her with ethics. Ning Shu’s expression turned cold and the imposing aura around her thickened.

Ning Shu spoke mildly, “General should quickly head to the palace to report to His Majesty.”

“Many thanks for Princess’s concern.” Duan Xinghui cupped his fist. With that motion, he encircled Er Ya with his arms.

Duan Xinghui had handsome and sharp looks. Moreover, his expression was usually indifferent, so overall he appeared to have a very earnest personality and gave off a reliable feeling. If the person in his arms had been a beauty, this would have been a perfect scene of a hero and beauty. However, Er Ya was sadly a bit far from being a beauty. When she was placed next to Duan Xinghui, it made for a discordant image.

“Princess, how can you put up with that lowly woman being so rude?” Yuan Dong complained to Ning Shu angrily.

Ning Shu stroked the little gray ball’s furry body as she looked towards Yuan Dong. Yuan Dong was very stirred up and her face was filled with jealousy.

“Yuan Dong, mind your status,” said Ning Shu mildly.

Yuan Dong’s heart skipped a beat as she instantly became overcome with embarrassment. She glared at Er Ya out of the corner of her eye.

“Princess, what’s that in your arms?” When Er Ya saw the little gray ball in Ning Shu’s hands, she asked this with a surprised tone.

Ning Shu suddenly smiled. She understood what Er Ya’s personality was like now. She had the unsophisticated simplicity and pureness of country folk along with a bit of inferiority that low class people felt.

So this was the type of girl Duan Xinghui liked. The original host’s personality was the complete opposite of Er Ya’s. Jiahui, who had the honor of being a princess, was as arrogant as the phoenix that soared through the Ninth Heaven. Something like inferiority simply did not exist in her personality.

It could only be said that Princess Jiahui wasn’t Duan Xinghui’s cup of tea at all. She just hoped that Er Ya would be able to maintain her simple personality and continue to be the unstained bright moonlight in Duan Xinghui’s heart after she experienced life in the flourishing capital.

Embarrassment appeared on Er Ya’s face again and she didn’t speak anymore. The princess had only smiled, but as Er Ya looked at Ning Shu’s smile, her inferiority complex made her feel as if the princess was laughing at her.

After she saved Duan Xinghui from life-threatening danger, before she knew it she had fallen in love with this handsome and cold man. He gave off a noble aura, so she knew from the start that he wasn’t a simple character.

However, her expectations were still shattered when she found out who Duan Xinghui was. She never imagined that he was actually a general of Great Yong.

Er Ya had, from the small courtyard of her home, watched silently as the army marched neatly into the village with their flags bellowing in the wind in order to get Duan Xinghui. As she watched, her emotions had surged. She had stared dumbly at Duan Xinghui. At that time, she felt as if he was getting taller and larger, while she in contrast was becoming increasingly petty and short.

Unexpectedly, Duan Xinghui had actually been willing to take her with him. Er Ya loved Duan Xinghui deeply and for his sake, parted with her family, with her hometown, to step foot into the unknown capital.

However, before she even entered the capital she had run into the princess. If the princess was a tree peony, then Er Ya felt that she was a cattail weed. It was the difference between the clouds in the sky and the mud on earth.

#comment: In Chinese~ cattails are known as ‘dog’ ‘tails’!