Chapter 222.1: Coming-of-Age Ceremony, Imperceptible Influences

Jing Wan got up, cupping her hand towards the Grand Elder Princess, and afterwards, turned around and returned to the eastern wing.

Zhou Ying Shuang took the tray from the yousi's hands, following Jing Wan to the eastern wing. This place, aside from Gong mama and Jing Wan's two servant girls, there was no one else.

Jing Wan smilingly held Zhou Ying Shuang's hand. Her palm, as expected, was somewhat sweaty. Jing Wan lightly parted her lips, "You did very well."

Zhou Ying Shuang relaxed a breath smiling, together helping Jing Wan change into the plain short-coat dress.

And that simple and beautiful colored dress, symbolizing the innocence and carefreeness of a young child, was taken off, seemingly also just shedding.

The short-coat dress was similar to a middle garment. Along the hem, there weren't designs, and the belt used was also just a cloth belt.

However, regardless whether it was the colored dress or the short-coat dress, it all appeared extremely simple, and moreover, just wearing for this ceremony, but regardless whether it was the materials used, or the craftsmanship, there wasn't the slightest negligence, that was all the best.

Jing Wan came out wearing the short-coat dress, half spreading out her two arms, revealing to the guests attending the ceremony.

A moment later, Jing Wan turned to face Luo Rong Yan and Zhang-shi, kneeling down, performing a formal kowtow, thanking her parents for giving birth to her and raising her.

However, this kowtow of Jing Wan's made the two feel too ashamed to accept. Zhang-shi uncontrollably shedded tears, and after discovering, hurriedly wiped it away. Those who weren't in the know just treated it as her shedding tears of joy because her child has grown up.

And Luo Rong Yan looked to Jing Wan's tranquil appearance, unable to guess what kind of feeling she was carrying at this moment.

A few days ago, Luo Old Madam nearly stripped them of their rights as the hosts of Jing Wan's coming-of-age ceremony. It was something that they had to kneel down and painstakingly beg for. With the parents both still alive, if attending not as hosts, how will outsiders think? Afraid it will produce even more guesses and rumors again, and what this damaged wasn't just the Luo family's reputation, but further will implicate Jing Wan's reputation.

Luo Old Madam's harsh words and stern look made them feel very much ashamed, and once again made them deeply acknowledge how much of a failure they were as parents. Recalling don't know how many times their child must have felt disappointed in the dark, they just heartached to the extreme.

However, right now, it wasn't the time to think too much, hurriedly calling for her to get up.

Jing Wan once again sat kneeling down on the cushion facing eastward to undergo the second hairpin adding.

The Grand Elder Princess carried out a similar action as before. The second yousi went forward carrying the deep colored qu dress as well as the hairpin(zan)[1]. The Grand Elder Princess stood before Jing Wan, chanting the ode of good wishes again, "In this auspicious time, putting on the attire of adulthood for you, respect is thy honor, kindness is thy virtue, wishing you longevity, forever enjoying the good fortune from heaven." After Zhou Ying Shuang removed the hairpin(ji) from her head, the Grand Elder Princess picked up the delicate and precious hairpin(zan) and inserted it into Jing Wan's hair. Shortly after, she returned to her original position.

(T/N: The first picture below is the different styles of the qu dress, 'qu' translates to bent/crooked, you can see how the hem of the dress is slanted; the second picture is a comparison of the qu dress with the short-coat dress in the middle.)

Zhou Ying Shuang once again helped Jing Wan straighten the hairpin, and after Jing Wan got up and bowed to the Grand Elder Princess again, she took the qu dress from the yousi and once again followed Jing Wan into the eastern wing to change her clothes for her.

The simple and elegant short-coat dress symbolized the innocence and pureness of a budding young girl, while the qu dress manifested the beauty of a blossoming maiden.

After coming out, she similarly showed her clothes to the crowd, and immediately after, faced towards the main guest, performing the formal kowtow. This second kowtow was for expressing one's respect towards one's teacher and elder.

Regardless of from which angle, the Grand Elder Princess was all worthy of this kowtow, smilingly calling for her to get up.

Repeating the process again, the third adding of the hairpin carried out............

The third yousi went forward carrying the formal big-sleeved long dress and hairpin(chai).

The Grand Elder Princess stood before Jing Wan, reciting the ode for the third time, "Rectified by the age, order of the month, adding your clothes. Brothers all present, with their accomplishments as their virtue. The aged have no borders, receiving the heaven's blessing."

(T/N: After much headache with this last line 黄耇无疆,受天之庆, my interpretation is that living to a wrinkled-face old age is a blessing from heaven, because life expectancy back in the day wasn't very high. '黄耇' translates to yellowed wrinkly old face of an elderly person', but too wordy to work in so left it out.)

Zhou Ying Shuang took down the previous hairpin(zan).

The Grand Elder Princess put on the hairpin(chai) for Jing Wan........

Three adding of hairpin, and changing the clothes three times, letting people see the process of Jing Wan's beautiful transformation.

Jing Wan, who was standing before the crowd, in the formal big-sleeved long dress was graceful and imposing, elegant and refined, seemingly as if there was no one more fitting of this attire than her.

Among the guests, quite a few people all quietly whispered. Regardless whether it was their expression or words, not one wasn't praising Jing Wan. Afterwards, intentionally or otherwise, they looked towards Jin Qinwang. Seemingly, matching with such a living Enma truly was unfortunate.

As for Li Hong Yuan, he stared at Jing Wan with a serene expression. Regardless of how many people were in the surrounding right now, his eyes could only hold her.

It's not that he's never seen Jing Wan dressed up formally before, but seemingly, there wasn't a single time where it was this bewitching like now. Her every speech and conduct was all like directly stabbing his heart, both ticklish and numbing, even carrying a bit of indescribable pain, perhaps because this represented her coming-of-age. To put it bluntly, Li Hong Yuan was just that hungry wolf that has been guarding by the side since long ago, constantly wanting to have Jing Wan taken back to his lair. Right now, the earthly favors and human conditions were all ready, just waiting for the right time. All these years, he has waited, and during the process, he was also fretful and impatient. Clearly there were still just a few months, yet his unbearable impatience seemingly in this moment reached an unprecedented peak.

Li Hong Yuan retracted his gaze from Jing Wan, lowering his head, trying his best to suppress the urge to have Jing Wan taken away under the numerous eyes. This obsession, this curse, perhaps after obtaining, can be eliminated, yet Li Hong Yuan felt, this kind of thing probably won't happen on him. Approaching a foot, he'll just want to approach another ten feet. He once was able to scheme for her to be engaged to someone else, and would even help out in the dark, yet now, anyone that dares to have delusions about Jing Wan, he all wanted to have them chopped into pieces.

Rui Qinwang also had his gaze retracted from Jing Wan. Don't know how many times he's sighed in regret inside. Inadvertently, he casted a glance at Li Hong Yuan who was sitting next to him, "Sixth brother, what's wrong, is your body unwell?"

Rui Qinwang's words seemingly had him pulled out from that dangerous state, violently turning his head..............

In that moment, Rui Qinwang just felt as if he'd gotten targeted by the most ferocious beast, malicious and ruthless, his bloody mouth wide open like a sacrificial bowl, able to pounce on you at anytime and have you torn to shreds. His heart rapidly contracted, his body turning, nearly falling off his seat.

Rui Qinwang's complexion was exceptionally unsightly. Although he didn't really fall from his seat, but he has already lost his bearing and embarrassed himself very much. His status was honorable, so his seat was in the front row, how many people all saw. At this time, he didn't even dare go look at the others' expression, letting himself remain calm at all cost. Fortunately, for him, this rather wasn't anything difficult. He wasn't willing to look at Li Hong Yuan again, but in reality, it was because he didn't dare, unwilling to admit his fear, that's all.

However, so what if he wasn't willing to admit, in reality, it was just so. Li Hong Ming just now wanted to run away on instinct. It wasn't that he had how great of an endurance restraining himself, but purely because his legs were limp, unable to stand up. From birth until now, he probably never lost this much face before. Even if others didn't know, he was still very resentful inside.

His attitude towards Li Hong Yuan originally had changed somewhat, yet in this moment, it was even more resentful and loathing than before.

Li Hong Yuan casted a glance at his leg. To actually be scared to the point where his leg trembled, tsk, just this bit of capabilities.

Li Hong Yuan smiled for no reason, appearing very nefarious and wanton, and anyone who saw all felt somewhat numb in the head. This living Enma truly is able to make one heart tremble————-in fear. Getting disturbed by Li Hong Ming like this, the restlessness in his heart rather eased a little. His gaze once again landed on Jing Wan, still that smile, even the curvature of his mouth all didn't change, yet the feeling it gave others was completely differently, still making one tremble———in confusion.

Jing Wan pursed her lips. Right now, her heart was also a bit unsettled inside.

This man was practically just like that poppy[2]. Clearly knowing it was deadly, yet still would get bewitched by him, especially when he was intentionally seducing you, how many people were capable of resisting? And when one really gets infected, one will probably no longer be able to escape from.

But how would Jing Wan know, for Li Hong Yuan, she was precisely that gu[3] of his heart. As long as she was safe and sound, he will be at peace. But, he has never wanted to get rid of her, only wanting to have her placed at the tip of his heart, protecting in his palm.

However, he didn't really want to have her locked up, not letting anyone see, not letting anyone have delusions of.

As long as she was in a place where he can reach, he was willing to give her everything she wanted, not confining her, instead destroying everyone that dared to have delusions about her. Setting aside others, just this one next to him, his so-called third imperial brother............

[1] In the footnotes, I did an explanation on the three different types of hairpins used, the ji, zan, and chai; all three are used in the hairpin ceremony in this order.

[2] Poppy in reference to opium

[3] Gu - Bug/parasite in stories and legends that can be used to control people

T/N: Technical chapters like these take forever because I have to constantly look up stuff to make sure I'm translating things correctly. The lines the Grand Elder Princess recites come from Confucian's 'Classic of Rites', and trying to decode their meaning is like ahhhhhhhhhhh, and then half hour later, I give up and just look online for explanations by actual experts. But I hate how no one gives a straightforward dumb down version for people like me, so I still have to dig through walls of text to get the information I need. I can barely read academic papers in english, so it's even more of a headache reading it in chinese. Worst is when there's no explanation like the third line, and I'm just trying my best to wing it.