Pearl in the Palm

Chapter 1

Qing Hui said: "I wasn't thinking of saying so much. I just wanted to say, Zhuzhu is leaving, and I still have no money to buy the pearl hairpin that I promised her. Alas. Qing Shuang, can you lend me a liang[7] from your private money? "

Qing Shuang: "..."
　　
...
　　
Ye Fu'an has already handed over his affairs to his subordinates early in the morning and asked the Emperor for a few days so that he can take his daughter back.
　　
The Emperor knew Prime Minister Ye Fu'an's capability and personal character. After suddenly hearing that Ye Fu'an has a daughter, the Emperor was also quite curious and asked a few more questions.
　　
Ye Fu'an likes his baby daughter the most. From the time Ye Lizhu was born, he could not wait to look at his daughter day and night.
　　
The Emperor asked, and Ye Fu'an was humble at first, and suddenly, calmly and without batting an eyelid, boasted that Ye Lizhu is a rare beautiful and talented woman.
　　
The Ye family has been loyal and upright and has served as civil ministers for generations. Although Ye Fu'an is vicious, merciless, and frightens some people, he is loyal to the country and the people. The Emperor is mediocre and didn't have great accomplishments, so he depends on his loyal ministers.
　　
He has six princes but because the Emperor loves his Noble Consort the most, naturally, he favors her son, the Second Prince. Recently, the Emperor wanted to abolish the Crown Prince and establish the Second Prince as the Crown Prince.

However, the Crown Prince was very powerful and has the support of Prince Qin[8] who holds 600,000 soldiers. Prince Qin is the younger brother of the Empress and the uncle of the Crown Prince. He is decisive in killing, inspiring awe throughout the empire. Even if the Emperor was to borrow ten guts, he did not dare to abolish the Crown Prince.
　　
He didn't dare doesn't mean that he didn't want to. Recently, the Emperor was made restless by the Noble Consort's pillow talk, thinking to pull the neutral Prime Minister Ye to the side of the Second Prince.　

"Yi'er hasn't married a princess yet, and Miss Ye is smart and intelligent. I[9] want to arrange a marriage for them."

The Emperor and Prime Minister Ye are not the only ones in the study, but also a few other powerful officials.
　　
Prime Minister Ye smiled and touched his beard: "This minister would also like for my humble to marry the Second Prince, but my daughter has a good temperament and a feeble body, and difficult to serve. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been sent to a temple. The minister heard that the Second Prince has several concubines. My daughter is in poor health. If she gets into a confrontation with a concubine, she might pass out of anger. If my daughter were to have an unexpected misfortune, this old minister will definitely not be able to live."
　　
Upon hearing this, the Emperor hesitated.
　　
The Second Prince was indeed fickle, and it's nothing but Ye's daughter's bad fate to be ruined, only afraid that if Ye's daughter dies from anger, Ye Fu'an, that hoodlum, might retaliate against the second prince.
　　
In addition, Ye Fu'an's meaning is that, if Ye's daughter was to enter the door, no other concubines can exist. The most important thing for the royal family is to open branches and scatter leaves[10]. What the Emperor fears the most is if, at that time, Ye's daughter is weak and unable to give birth to others, and even teams up with her father to frame up other concubines, leaving the Second Prince without heirs.
　　
The Emperor smiled and said: "Yi'er is rude and impetuous. Since Minister Ye values ​​his beloved daughter so much, I am not willing to let such a good daughter be ruined by Yi'er. Shu State gave some silks and satin as tributes, waiting for Ye qing to bring them to Miss Ye."
　　
Ye Fu'an came out of the upper study, his face red. How could he allow his baby daughter to be defiled by Zhao Yi, this pervert?

He was just boasting about his daughter. Ye Fu'an's pearl in the palm[11], is she someone others can marry just because they want to?

Notes:

1. 阴气 (yīn qì): in traditional Chinese medicine, it is the cold, heavy, dark qi, usually associated with women.

2. 弱柳扶风/ ruò liǔ 扶风 (idiom): From "Dream of the Red Chamber", describes a woman with a weak posture and gentle movement. The "weak" highlights her morbid beauty just like a willow swaying in the wind, which is touching and pitiful.
　

3. 琴 (qín): quqin or zither; a 7-stringed zither.

4. 六根 (liù gēn): In Buddhism, this refers to the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind).

5. 慧 (huì): means intelligent

6. 疏不见亲 (shū bù jiàn qīn): lit. casual acquaintances should not come between relatives/blood is thicker than water (idiom)

7. 两 (liǎng): currency equivalent to a tael weight of pure silver

8. 王 (wáng): Can mean prince or king. In this case, Qin Wang is a prince not related to the imperial family by blood, typically bestowed after rendering a meritorious service.

9. 朕 (zhèn): "I" or "we". This is the self-appellation used by the Emperor.

10. 开枝散叶 (kāi zhī sàn yè): to have a lot of offsprings.

11. 掌上明珠 (zhǎng shàng míng zhū): lit. a pearl in the palm (idiom); fig. beloved person (esp. daughter)