Chapter 138 : Taoran House (3)

As Yuxi and her servants moved into their new home, everyone would surely come over to congratulate them. That afternoon, Yuru and Yujing came over one after another, and they both prepared some gifts.

The embroidery patterns behind this kang (heatable bed) is called kang screen. It’s used as decoration.

Image Credit | 沅汰 (走進清宮看陳設, Sep 13th, 2017)

Yuru prepared a pair of kang screens. “I embroidered it myself. I hope Si Meimei¹si=fourth, meimei=younger sister won’t dislike it.” Yuxi’s embroidery was good, which was known all over the Duke of the State Residence. It was a pity that Yuxi pursued perfection, thus she had made very few embroidered works. Only the Old Lady and the First Lady had obtained her embroideries, while others didn’t have the opportunity.

Yuxi took the kang screens and smilingly said, “It’s not too late to like it, and how can I dislike it?” Yuxi also knew that she always blew apart the hairs upon a fur to discover any defect²Chinese idiom : being nitpicking, but she couldn’t help it. If the embroidery wasn’t to her liking, she would rather destroy it than using it.

The seat screen generally refers to a screen with a base that cannot be folded. In ancient times, it was often used as a barrier behind the main seat to show recognition of nobility and dignity. – 座屏, Jun 16, 2016

The gift from Yujing was also made from embroidery, which was a pair of seat screens. The difference was that Yuru’s pair of kang screens could be seen at a first glance had been embroidered by her personally, while Yujing’s gift was clearly from her maid’s hand. Yuxi didn’t show any dislike for it and she smiled as her expression of thanking her.

What Yuchen had given her as a gift was a painting. Tingyun Pavilion had already been tidied up for a long time. Thus, in the beginning of the fifth lunar month, Yuchen resolutely moved back to Tingyun Pavilion despite the opposition from the Old Lady Han.

Yuxi originally thought it was a painting, painted by Yuchen herself. That was why she was really shocked when she opened it. Yuchen had gifted her Wu Daozi’s ‘Five Saints and a Thousand Officials’. Yuxi hastily declined it, “San Jie³san=third, jie=elder sister, this gift is too valuable. I can’t take it. If San Jie³san=third, jie=elder sister really wants to give me a painting, please paint one for me, and I’ll like it even more.” This thing was priceless! Yuxi couldn’t even figure out why Yuchen was giving her such an expensive gift.

Yuchen shook her head and said, “When things have been sent out, there is no reason for me to take them back. If you really like my painting, I will draw it and send it to you another day.”

It was definitely not good to accept something so valuable, but then again, Yuchen looked like she wouldn’t take it back once she had given it away. Yuxi really felt like Yuchen was giving her a hard time. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Yurong looked at Yuxi’s awkward expression and felt that Yuxi was truly pretending. This painting was worth several cities⁴Chinese idiom : priceless. Yuxi’s heart must have been eager to receive it from Yuchen, while going as far as pretending to be awkward. But as Yurong thought about how Yuchen had sent her a few mediocre things from the moment she came back from Hebei until now, she became really upset. She was also her younger sister, but she received such a different treatment from Yuchen.ᵀᴺOnly Yuchen treats you differently, but your mom and dad love you. Try to wear Yuxi’s shoes, where she is ignored by her Grandmother, Father, Stepmother, younger sister etc. I think you’ll get mad.

Yuru smiled beside her as she urged, “This is San Mei⁵san=third, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei’s piece of mind. Si Meimei¹si=fourth, meimei=younger sister, just take it!” She remembered when she first saw the painting, she felt very jealous, but she didn’t expect that it would be in Yuxi’s hands in the blink of an eye. However, it was fortunate that she didn’t snatch away the painting that day.

Those bandits didn’t understand anything about calligraphy and painting, let alone this painting of the ‘Five Sages and Thousand Officials’ hanging in the drawing room. That was why they didn’t take any precious calligraphies and paintings in the study.

Yujing really couldn’t tolerate seeing Yuxi being neither leftwards nor rightwards⁶Chinese idiom : in a dilemma as she said, “Si Mei⁷si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei, don’t be sentimental.”

With Yuchen’s gift had been given out first, Yurong and Qiu Yanfu’s gifts could just be ignored. The two of them didn’t really want to give Yuxi any gifts, but it was because it would be truly bad if they didn’t give any.

After everyone sat down, a maid brought in several plates of peaches. These peaches were fragrant and tempting, and their colour was really gorgeous. Yuxi smiled and said, “This peaches taste good. Everyone should try it.”

Yurong looked at the peaches and asked, “Did you buy these peaches, Si Jiejie⁸si=fourth, jiejie=elder sister?” Everyone in the residence knew that Yuxi’s courtyard had been burned down, so where would she still have the money to buy peaches. The peaches were just on the market, and they were so expensive that most common people couldn’t afford to buy them.

Yuxi smiled, “No, I don’t have that kind of spare money. These peaches were sent over by Er Ge⁹er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege this morning.” As for whether Han Jianye bought it or got it from someone else, she wasn’t sure.

Yurong sneered. Yuxi only knew how to curry favour with the senior branch of the family, without looking at which side she was currently on. Yurong didn’t know what her Dad thought about this, but unexpectedly he didn’t seem like he even care, and just let Yuxi had her way to court favour with the senior branch.

Yuru smiled and commented, “Er Ge⁹er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege really loves Si Meimei¹si=fourth, meimei=younger sister.”

Yuxi didn’t seem to see the different expressions on everyone’s faces, as she happily smiled, “Yeah! Er Ge⁹er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege loves me very much, and he will think of me every time he sees good things outside. In these years, many rare things that I’ve got were bought by Er Ge⁹er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege.”

Yuchen listened to these statements with a forlorn look on her face.

Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui didn’t know at first that Yuchen had sent Wu Daozi’s ‘Five Saints and a Thousand Officials’ as a gift, and after she knew about it, she advised, “Miss, if you’re sending such a valuable thing to Fourth Miss, what will you send to Eldest Miss and Second Miss for their happy occasion¹¹wedding in the future?”

Yuchen smiled, “It’s not like they’re going to have the joy of moving into a new house.” She had lost all her jewellery and some of her porcelain and jadeware had been broken into pieces. Nevertheless, she still had all those fixed assets, such as the house deed, the land title and furthermore some silver drafts, so Yuchen didn’t wound her muscles and move her bones¹²Chinese idiom : have a serious injury.

Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui softly said, “Miss is being very good to the Fourth Miss.” It was too good, which made others feel that Third Miss was clinging to the Fourth Miss. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Yuchen indifferently said, “It’s just a painting. How can that be considered as good!”

Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui thought of Yuxi’s manner and said, “Miss, no matter how well Fourth Miss behaved usually, it is an unchangeable fact that she has a grudge against the Old Lady and the Lord in her heart. Otherwise, she should have taken Zijin and the Deng’s sisters to go to the main house to protect the Old Lady that night, instead of going to the master courtyard. If the Fourth Miss had gone to the main house, so many people would not have died in there.” Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui said these words in the hope that Yuchen could guard against Yuxi and not to get emotional.

It had been such a long time, so how could Yuchen not know what Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui was thinking as she softly said, “Momo¹⁰wet nurse, please go out. I want to be alone.” It wasn’t like she didn’t know what Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui said. It was just that night matter, in what position did she have to blame Yuxi?

After Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui left, Yuchen went to the window and looked at the swaying lotus flowers outside. Her mood was unusually heavy.

During this period of time, Yuchen had been reflecting. Yuxi knew to let her maids take refuge in the rockeries in the garden after discovering that something was wrong, but what about her? She only followed Momo¹⁰wet nurse Gui to the main room and left all the others behind. If she had arranged the servants like Yuxi, would those people be alive? Also, Yuxi only kept Zijin and Deng’s sisters in the master courtyard, while she and her grandmother did nothing. When they knew that the bandits had come, they hid in the secret cabinet of the Buddhist temple, and they didn’t care about the maids at all. She hid in the secret cabinet, as she listened to the cries of people for help, but there was nothing she could do. That kind of feeling, she couldn’t forget until the day she died.

Also through this incident, it made her see the difference between herself and Yuxi. Yes, Yuxi’s looks and talent couldn’t compare to hers, but in other aspects she was far inferior to Yuxi.

Yuchen sometimes felt that Yuxi was like a mirror, and every time she looked into it, she could find her own flaws. It was not scary to have flaws. It was scary when one did not know where one’s flaws were.

That evening, Yuxi received a gift from Han Jingyan, which was a set of four treasures of the study. After taking a look at it, she told a maid to put it in the study.

By having a study, reading was much more convenient for Yuxi. However, after reading the medical books for half an hour, she felt out of sorts. She remembered the burned Book of Han and the notes that she had made. Her six years’ hard work had gone to waste.

The next day, Yuxi sought out Qiu Shi, stating that she wanted to go out to buy books. The books that she had bought before had been reduced to ashes, which Qiu Shi knew all about them. However, she didn’t agree to Yuxi’s request.

Qiu Shi explained, “There is still some chaos outside. After some time has passed, you can go out to buy books.” Seeing that Yuxi didn’t quite agree, she continued, “If it’s so urgent, then you can ask your Er Ge⁹er=second, ge=elder brother, short form for Gege to buy it for you.” With what happened before, Qiu Shi had become frightened.

Yuxi smiled as a response, and talked about another thing, “Eldest Aunt, shouldn’t we let the Deng sisters go back?” Since the incident, Qiu Shi had made the Deng sisters stay behind. Usually she would ask one of them to follow her around before she could really feel at ease, and this was the aftermath of that night.

Qiu Shi was a little hesitant.

When Yuxi saw the situation, she took a compromise method, “Eldest Aunt, Deng Xue’s wedding date has been set for the tenth lunar month, so she has to go back to embroider her dowry. If you want, you can ask Deng Xue to stay here a little longer.”

Qiu Shi thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Forget it. Just let the sisters go back! The residence is now patrolled every night, so there shouldn’t be any more trouble.”

Yuxi said with relief, “Eldest Aunt, there was a reason for the incident last time. If the bandits come again, they will definitely only come and go.” Last time, the prince rebelled. Many people wanted to fish in troubled waters. Now who dared to do such a thing, if only just to court death.

Qiu Shi nodded and said, “You are right. It is impossible for such a thing to happen again.” Rather than saying these words for Yuxi, it was more for herself to hear.

Yuxi became aware that Qiu Shi had fallen into the shadow¹³something like paranoia?. She suggested, “Eldest Aunt, if you are not at ease, why don’t you put some more strong women in the courtyard. If something really happens, they will be able to withstand it for a while.”

Qiu Shi noticed that the way Yuxi spoke her words like the clouds were pale and a light breeze was blowing¹⁴Chinese idiom : not a big issue

/ care less

/ doesn’t care, that she suddenly laughed, “Fancy that this aunt who has lived to such an old age, has it even worse than you, and yet I’m not getting better.” Yuxi was not afraid, but she was. Wasn’t this kind of a joke?

Yuxi thought that it was normal for Qiu Shi to be afraid, “Eldest Aunt has too many worries to let go, as a result, aunt feels very afraid.”

These words made Qiu Shi couldn’t help but tap the back of Yuxi’s head when she heard them, “What kind of words are these? What do you mean I have too much to let go of? You talked as if you have no worries.”

Yuxi smiled gently. Not all of things could be explained. Speaking of which, there was really nothing that could make her worry in the Duke of the State Residence.ᵀᴺAre you really really really really really sure, Yuxi?

Qiu Shi’s heart choked with emotion, but she couldn’t say anything to make it better. She simply turned her head and told Liuyue: “Go and call the sisters, Deng Shuang and Deng Xue.” ᵀᴺQiu Shi just remembered Yuxi’s life in the residence and those who supposed to protect her, didn’t protect her

The Deng sisters were both relieved to know that Qiu Shi was going to let them go back to their own home. They were well fed, well housed and well dressed at the Duke of the State Residence, and yet they still felt uncomfortable all over. But the Lady of the Duke of the State didn’t even raise the matter of letting them go back home, so they couldn’t take the initiative to ask her to leave the residence. The employer hadn’t said that the contract had been completed, so they couldn’t take the initiative to cancel it.

Qiu Shi was a very generous person. Knowing that Deng Shuang was going to marry, she not only gave them some jewellery, but she also gave the two sisters one hundred mu¹⁵unit of area equal one fifteenth of a hectare of fertile farmland as dowry, which was worth a lot more than silver.

The Deng sisters were so happy to have gotten these things that they couldn’t close their mouths. This good land around the capital, was truly something that no amount of money could buy. The sisters took the reward and went back happily. This one errand trip was really worth it.

Yuxi said, “Eldest Aunt…you should just give them 1,000 tael¹⁶a unit of weight for silver of silver each. Why should we give them such fertile land?” This style of spending money was a bit too much.

Qiu Shi smiled, “The Crown Prince had plotted a rebellion and many families had been implicated. Those who have a little money will take this opportunity to buy property.” Those families that were implicated in the plotting and rebellion case, all their properties were all up for sale. Qiu Shi still had a good insight as she bought some shops and estates during this time.

Yuxi quickly said, “Eldest Aunt, I still have over three thousand tael¹⁶a unit of weight for silver of silver on hand. Do you think you can buy another small shop for me?” Although she had an annual income of two to three thousand tael¹⁶a unit of weight for silver of silver, her expenses were huge, hence she could only save three thousand tael¹⁶a unit of weight for silver of silver so far.

Qiu Shi smiled, took a small casket from Mama Li’s hand and handed it to Yuxi. Yuxi knew what it was without having to look at it, as she shook her head and said, “Eldest Aunt, I can’t take this.”

Qiu Shi placed the small casket in Yuxi’s hand and said, “This is the dowry that aunt has prepared for you, but now it’s given to you in advance.”

Yuxi was dead set against it.

Mama Li smiled and said, “Fourth Miss, this was specially placed for you by my Lady. Wouldn’t it be a waste of my Lady’s efforts if you don’t take it?” In the past, whenever Qiu Shi wanted to help Yuxi financially, Mama Li would say a few words of advice. She was afraid that if they gave things too generously, Yuxi would want a foot after winning an inch¹⁷Chinese idiom : not satisfied with small gains. However, now, Mama Li didn’t even say half a word. Compared to what Yuxi had done before, this little bit of stuff was really nothing.

In desperation, Yuxi could only take the small casket.

Mama Li said to Qiu Shi, “This temperament of Fourth Miss is really rare.” That night, Yuxi not only protected the lives of all the people in the master courtyard, she also preserved the master courtyard’s properties. For such a great merit, Fourth Miss not only did not take credit for it but she seemed to have also forgotten about it, which was admired by Mama Li.

Qiu Shi nodded, “Yes! It’s all thanks to Yuxi.” If there was no Yuxi, she would be just like the Old Lady, where all the properties in her courtyard would have been looted. If so, where would she have the money to purchase estates and shops?

Mama Li smilingly said, “This is also a reward for my Lady’s kindness.” If Qiu Shi didn’t treat the Fourth Miss as her own daughter, the Fourth Miss wouldn’t have run to the master courtyard to protect the Lady despite the danger, and she wouldt have hidden inside the rockeries just like her maids.

Qiu Shi agreed very much with this saying, “While living a life, you still have to accumulate a lot more blessings.” Only when one accumulated blessings, could one be rewarded with blessings.

When Yuxi returned to Taoran, she gave the small casket to Zisu.

Zisu was naturally a money-grubber, and loved money much more than Yuxi. Otherwise, in such a dangerous situation at that time, she would not have forgotten to let the maids and old women servants of Rose Courtyard to snatch all the jewellery. Zisu opened the box and looked at the contents. She happily said, “Miss, the Lady has given you a pavement store front in East Street, plus a thousand mu¹⁵unit of area equal one fifteenth of a hectare of fertile land.” These two things were much more valuable than the industries Yuxi had at hand.

Since it was a dowry for her, Yuxi already knew it was a shop and an estate without even looking at them. Only these industries were the most affordable. Yuxi instructed, “Since they are gifts from Eldest Aunt, you should put them away!”

Zisu happily put these things away and said to Yuxi, “Miss, with the industries in your hand and the dowry that will be given by the Duke of the State, we won’t have to worry about money anymore in the future.” At that time, when Zisu knew Yuxi had given out 500 tael¹⁶a unit of weight for silver of silver every year to let Zijin learn martial arts, and her hair nearly turned white with worry.

Yuxi didn’t respond to this statement. If there were no mistakes, these properties would indeed guarantee her food and clothing. But no one really knew what would happen in the future.

PS (Author) : Good night, folks, and sweet dreams.