Chapter 104 : New Year Goods

There were a lot of things to be prepared on the twelfth lunar month, especially the most essential items, the New Year goods.

At noon on this day, Yuxi saw a plate of sausages on the dining table, and her heart jumped. She pretended to be surprised, as she asked, “What is this?”

Kufu explained with a smile, “Miss, these are called sausages. It is said that nowadays, they were very popular outside. Today, I bought a lot from the purchasing agent. Even that Old Nainai¹respectful form of address for an old woman, and it seemed like this old woman was the one who managed the sells of the shop. You will see the same word later but have different meaning had also asked someone to send two jin²a traditional Chinese unit of a catty, or 500g for Miss to taste while they are still fresh. Miss, apart from the sausages, there are also preserved meat. It is said that they taste good too!”

Yuxi naturally knew that these were sausages. She had once thought to sell them that one time, but later she just gave up because she was worried that Old Madam would suspect her. She then asked, “Who made this?” In her heart, she speculated that this was probably something produced by Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang. She couldn’t think of anyone else, other than her.

In a word, Yuxi really admired Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang. In her opinion, Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang was such a capable person. How much money did Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang had made so far? It was estimated to be several hundred thousand liang⁵a traditional Chinese weight unit, which was equal to 1

/16 catty, 1

/12 pound, or about 37.8 grams of silver. How would Yuxi not feeling envious. Ah, there was a good old saying, fullness for the bold, famine for the timid⁶Chinese idiom : those who are timid will starve to death, so it encourages people to take risk. Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang was bold enough that she could earn a fortune, while her had courage that was so small that she couldn’t even manage to drink even a soup. Yuxi said to herself, “I don’t know what else will come out later on.” The things that Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang produced didn’t spread inside the Duke of the State official residence. Yuxi guessed that everyone already had the thought that Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang was too strange, that they weren’t brave enough to buy her things.

Kufu shook her head and said, “Regarding this matter, this handmaiden isn’t that clear. But I’ve heard that this one is the most expensive. It costs 100 copper coins for a jin²a traditional Chinese unit of a catty, or 500g!” A jin²a traditional Chinese unit of a catty, or 500g of pork cost twelve copper coins, and a jin²a traditional Chinese unit of a catty, or 500g of sausages cost one hundred copper coins, which common families simply couldn’t afford. Of course, this rare thing would only be enjoyed by rich households.

Spicy Sausages

Image Credit | Xinyue Shise via Meishij.net

Yuxi inserted a piece into her mouth and nodded her head, “Not bad. It is really delicious.” This time, her maid had bought spicy sausages, which were really to her taste.

After she finished her lunch, Yuxi had a walk around her courtyard. Rose Courtyard was the smallest courtyard, which incomparable to Yuchen’s huge Tingyun Pavilion. Thus, it was just enough for her to walk inside her own yard.

White Yuxi was walking in her courtyard, she also took the time thinking. She didn’t know if Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang also found out about her abnormality. If she did, would she do something to her? She noticed that Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang wasn’t a soft-hearted kind of person. Since she had been thinking too much, she eventually forgot the time. Until Kufu came to remind her, “Miss, it’s time for you to take a nap.”

Yuxi gave out a smile, while wondering, how did two quarters of an hour passed so quickly?

The next day, the purchasing agent brought a lot of things for Yuxi. There were eight types of sugar in various flavors, as well as cookies, peanuts, sunflower seeds and other snacks in many flavours. They weren’t that much though, as each kind was only about two to three jin²a traditional Chinese unit of a catty, or 500g only.

The old woman who brought the things over said, “Old Nainai¹respectful form of address for an old woman, and it seemed like this old woman was the one who managed the sells of the shop. You will see the same word later but have different meaning said that these things are all new. She specially asked this old servant to bring some for Miss.” Naturally, when there was something new in the capital, every family would want to buy some. One was to pursue the trend, and the other was to prevent others from saying that they lacked knowledge. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Yuxi had never been interested in candy and other sweet things alike, but these things still need to be prepared. When the New Year came, she would have something to serve those who came to her yard. While, from Ye Shi point of view, this showed that Yuxi was Qiu Shi’s favourite, since Qiu Shi would make extra purchases just for Yuxi, a benefit that others didn’t receive.

Songxiang (pine rosin)

Image Credit | Jibi44 via Wiki

After dinner, Yuxi went to the Songxiang⁷pine rosin Courtyard to express her thanks to Ye Shi. There was no excuse for her not to be thankful when Ye Shi had sent her so many thoughtful gifts.

Ye Shi did not expect Yuxi would come and thank her for this matter. She smiled as she took Yuxi’s hand and said, “Why Si Meimei⁸si=fourth, meimei=younger sister needs to be this polite for?”

Rose Scented Tea

/ Rose Tea

Image Credit | 陸小嬌 (July 31st, 2018, 玫瑰花茶怎麼泡好喝 玫瑰花茶什麼時候喝最好) via Zhifure

It was here, when a maid immediately brought Yuxi a cup of rose scented tea.

Yuxi looked at the rose tea and smiled. It seemed that Dasao⁹eldest sister-in-law knew her preferences very well, and Yuxi was not that unreasonable either. Thus, she took the scented tea with both of her hands and took two sips before putting it down. “Dasao⁹eldest sister-in-law, why are there so many new things came out this year?” Although she already speculated that they were made by Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, but her assumption wasn’t ascertain yet!

Ye Shi did not think much about it, as she smiled and replied, “These things were all made by He Sheng Tang, but I heard that He Sheng Tang is the property of Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang. By the way, the sausage and bacon from the previous two days were also released by the people of Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long life’s hamlet.”

Yuxi was shocked, “I heard that Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang has opened many shops this year, and the business of each shop was extremely good. She is indeed a very capable person.” Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang was so eager to exchange all the things she knew for money. So, what was actually Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang’s plan to even risk herself from people assumption, just to collect this much money?

Ye Shi smilingly said, “Who would have known, right! However, this is also Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang’s good fortune in making money. Even though I’m envious of her, but that feeling doesn’t go over my admiration towards her.” She didn’t mention it before, but what helped Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang to earn so many profits as much as the alms bowl was because everyone was buying goods for New Year.

After Yuxi had a short conversation with Ye Shi, she left right away. She was mainly here to express her thanks, and in her opinion, that was sufficient.

Ye Shi sent Yuxi out of the door and turned around. She could not help sighing, “This Fourth Miss, she’s so hard to get close to.” She had always wanted to build a good relationship with Yuxi over the past two years. She had even specially been fawning over Yuxi, but Yuxi continuously treated her indifferently.

Ye Shi’s wet nurse, old woman Hua, advised, “It’s much better for Master to take a good care of Master’s body. Everything else is just something vain.” To give birth to a son was something fundamental to the family of Duke Han of the State.

Ye Shi touched her belly, then she said with a wry smile, “I also want to have one!” The Shizi didn’t have a concubine’s room, and he only had her. They were very loving towards each other, and yet for two years, they had not conceived any child. Though, for Ye Shi, this matter shouldn’t be done in a rush.

Ye Shi’s basic body constitution was somewhat inclining towards cold. This situation happened when she was pushed into the lake in winter, during the year she was engaged. What made it worse was that she was in the middle of her monthly period at that time. Since then, the coldness in her womb had become more severe. So for the past two years, she had been recuperating herself. If this ailment of her was being known to others, it wouldn’t end well. Especially if the ones who knew about it were the Old Madam and Qiu Shi, otherwise she would have a hard time living in the residence. Ye Shi tried to curry favour with Yuxi, in hoped that Yuxi would be able to put in a good word about her in front of Qiu Shi and this would definitely give her more time. Every woman wanted to have her own children and was unwilling to raise other people’s children.

Old woman Hua asked in a low voice, “Eldest Nainai¹⁰(respectful) mistress of the house, do you think we need to ask a physician to have a look at it?” Both were glad that Physician Bai was not an expert in gynecology, otherwise their secret would have been exposed much earlier.

Ye Shi shook her head and said, “No need, let’s keep using what we used before!” In exchange, on the contrary to their belief, their way was even more ineffective.

The main courtyard was not far from Songxiang⁷pine rosin Courtyard. Thus, Yuxi went to the main courtyard again. Looking at Qiu Shi’s face, she smiled and asked, “What’s the matter, Eldest Aunt?” With Ye Shi helping with the housework, her Eldest Aunt should have been much more relaxed than usual.

Mama Li explained in a low voice, “Madam had asked someone to have a talk with Madam Duan, but Madam Duan hasn’t given her answer yet.” Duan family and Han family were two groups of people who didn’t walk on the same road. Even when Yuxi helped Duan Xinrong back in those days, only these two peers who kept visiting each other. Furthermore, Han family had never thought of claiming connection of higher status with the Duan family.

This result was as expected by Yuxi, “Eldest Aunt, don’t worry, my Erge¹¹er=two

/second, ge=elder brother, short form of gege will definitely find you a saozi¹²elder sister-in-law who is much better than Xinrong Jiejie¹³elder sister

/a respectful term for elder female.” Although Duan Xinrong was her good friend, nevertheless, the ones at the top of her priority list, were definitely her Eldest Aunt and her Erge¹¹er=two

/second, ge=elder brother, short form of gege.

Qiu Shi was just a little depressed, not angry. Marriage was the best way to tie a knot between two surnames. If the other party didn’t agree with it, she couldn’t force them either, “You and your sweet mouth.”

Out of the main courtyard, Yuxi didn’t immediately return to her own yard. In any case, since she was already out, it was better for her to stroll more, and thus, her stroll led her to Tingyun Pavilion.

The one Momo¹⁴wet nurse Gui disliked the most was Yuxi, and no others. Because of Yuxi, Yuchen’s one-day plan would be disrupted when she arrived. As a matter of fact, Yuchen didn’t practice her qin that day, and chatted with Yuxi instead.

Seeing that a maid brought in melon seeds which were green in colour, Yuxi took one and put it in her mouth. When she smelled the fragrance of tea, she could not help laughing, “Did San Jie¹⁵san=three

/third, jie=elder sister also buy this from He Ji Tang?”

Yuchen waved and let all the maids and old women to retreat. When there were only two of them left in the room, she said, “I bought it from He Sheng Tang. In addition to melon seeds, there are also some peanuts and so on, which are made in many flavors.”

Yuxi laughed, “It must have been really tough for Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang.” She had never heard of these things before, nor did she ever eat them. Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang must have eaten them before, otherwise they would not have been so delicious. Of course, even if Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang had eaten them, the people who did all the research were still the people of Gongzhu¹⁶Princess

/Princess of the First Rank Residence.

Yuchen didn’t like to talk about Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang. Since Heshou³he = harmonious, shou = long lifeXianzhu⁴Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang was so strange, she didn’t have further interaction with her, “It’s going to be New Year’s day soon. Have your hamlet send New Year’s goods to you yet?”

Yuxi smiled, “I have sold almost everything I can sell in my hamlet.” None of the things that had not been sold were good, so they certainly would not be delivered to her.

Yuchen laughed, “I knew it. The things from my hamlet should be arriving tomorrow. What do you lack? I’ll send you what I have here.”

Yuxi was not going to be courteous to Yuchen either. Yuchen had so many good things, which Yuchen didn’t lack even one bit. “I’m thinking of making Grandmother and Eldest Aunt a scarf and kneepads. So, I’m currently looking for some leather. If you have any, please leave some for me.” At first, she was reluctant to ask for Yuchen’s things, but after a long time, Yuxi was no longer feeling awkward. Anyway, if she didn’t use them, those things would only be piled in the warehouse, and became wasteful.

Yuchen said, “When those things finally arrived, I’ll give you some more. You should also make yourself some big clothes in the meantime.” Yuxi wore very little clothes, which made Yuchen felt cold every time she saw Yuxi. In terms of physical constitution, Yuchen was far worse than Yuxi.

Yuxi didn’t want to make big clothes. She grew too fast. What she wore this year, she wouldn’t be able to wear them next year. It would be too wasteful. Moreover, she was not afraid of the cold. In winter, she only had a cotton-padded jacket, and that jacket was already enough for her. If it weren’t for the maids around her kept on harping about it, she wouldn’t even wear those big clothes all those years she went out.

The next day Yuchen’s things finally arrived. She chose the best pieces of leather, including a tiger skin to be sent to Yuxi. Shiqin felt distressed and said, “Miss, let’s keep this tiger skin for our own use!”

“No, I’m giving this to my Si Meimei⁸si=fourth, meimei=younger sister,” said Yuchen. She was very sure that Yuxi would not use this tiger skin for herself, but would use it to make hand guards and knee pads for the Old Madam.