QT: Heroine Arrives, Woman Rapidly Retreats! (continuation of Arc 8)

Arc: Cross-dressing Female General vs Alluring Malicious Beauty (6)

Of course, if Fu Yunzhen ran to her Imperial Father in a fit of pique and asked for the cancellation of the marriage, that would be perfect for her.

Most generals had fiery tempers, and Princess Shuhe didn't think that the famous General Fu would be any exception.

But she didn't expect that General Fu could endure such blatant and upfront humiliation without even changing the look on his face.

Was he even a man?!

Princess Shuhe glared at Gu Shengyin angrily.

Gu Shengyin could easily see what the princess wanted to express by the look in her eyes. She wanted to say to this princess: "Sorry, you guessed it, I really am not a man."

Princess Shuhe stared at her for a long while, and finally said angrily: "Fu Yunzhen, this princess has already laid out her words today, I won't marry you! Someone like you, a toad wanting to eat swan meat, wanting to marry me, is simply wishful thinking!"

After she finished speaking, she watched Gu Shengyin very carefully, expecting to see a change in expression.

However, Gu Shengyin's expression remained unchanged, and she said lightly: "Your Royal Highness, speaking these words to me are useless. My Fu Family has always been utterly loyal to the Emperor. His Majesty's will, the Fu Family will never disobey. If Your Highness is truly unwilling, then report directly to the Emperor."

After she said this, she looked at Princess Shuhe, whose eyes had widened in outrage, and continued: "This subject wholeheartedly serves the country, and has never had any intentions of finding a spouse. However, the Emperor has relayed his good intentions, if there are no changes, this subject will marry Your Highness, and will treat you with the respect of a guest."

The meaning of her words was: You look down on me, Fu Yunzhen, but I also don't like you very much. However, as the Emperor has decreed the marriage, I will respect you after marriage, but you don't need to consider or want for anything else.

Princess Shuhe was infuriated by her unceremonious retort to the point her face turned blue. Her chest heaved in anger for a while, and she said coldly: "What a sharp-mouthed General Fu! This princess had known that you were a peerless soldier, but I did not expect that General Fu would speak more eloquently than a common housewife."

Gu Shengyin responded with a faint smile: "This one is unskilled, Your Highness has overpraised."

Princess Shuhe stormed out furiously.

Please read this at tranquil library dot com.

The reason she dared to be so blatant was simply because men all cared for their good face. It was impossible for a man with even the slightest hint of hot-bloodedness to publicize a matter like being rejected by his fiancée in person and wanting to end the engagement.

However, she was wrong. Fu Yunzhen simply just wasn't a man at all.

If she could cancel the engagement between her and the princess, not only would her most pressing issue be solved, but in the future she could use this issue as an excuse to refuse any overtures of marriage from other people. The price of such a benefit would simply be being the butt of jokes behind her back for a while. For Fu Yunzhen, what would that matter?

Gu Shengyin left in a good mood. She had to calculate properly, how to bring up this matter in front of the Emperor.

Insisting on having the marriage canceled, but not having the guts to speak up herself. That Princess Shuhe, wanting to leave so quietly after this matter, how would it be that easy!

Gu Shengyin was dressed as a wealthy young master, and strolled casually along the streets. Her figure was great, and her clothes were all luxurious. She wore a light smile, causing many young ladies to blush.

"Who do you think you are? You dirtied this young master's clothes, and think a simply word of apology is good enough? Do you know who I, this young master, am?" Gu Shengyin heard an arrogant voice.

She followed where the voice was coming from and looked over.

Ari's Corner:

ahh I hate how hard it is to translate idioms and subtext between languages

also important note! i haven't had time to translate the last month because of a variety of issues (getting sick; college semester stuff; etc) so my stockpile has dwindled to a concerningly small number of chapters and it's been giving me the Big Anxiety because i end up feeling like i really have to translate even when i don't necessarily have the time, and then it just feels like a huge obligation which honestly takes out all the enjoyment of translating
and so this month (february) i'm only gonna post a chapter once every two weeks to give myself the extra time to get myself sorted for life things and try to catch up on stockpiling; i'm going to try to keep it to just a month so hopefully! by march i can go back to updating every week

there were two idioms used in this sentence
举案齐眉 – jǔ àn qí méi – when a wife lifts a (serving) tray level with her eyebrows to show great respect for her husband; basically day-to-day formalities and respect
相敬如宾 – xiāng jìng rú bīn – to respect each other as a guest; describes the harmony between husband and wife; respect and love each other, just like guests
basically GSY is saying she'd reciprocate the respect the princess would have to show her after marriage and promising not to mistreat her

like the common trope of the commoner housewife arguing with others in public