by Ning er
As she finished, Yun Ruo Xue abruptly stood up and left, letting the door curtains thrash noisily……
“Wang mama, you go and look after her; personally send her to the ancestral hall!” Su Qing only felt like she had a headache. Especially when she saw that half of her face was swollen in the bronze mirror, she felt even more wronged. However, if she did not give in for the time being, the ones who would suffer later would still be her and her daughter!
When Yun Qian Meng returned to Qi Luo Yuan, Shui’er and Bing’er came forward and gave an account of the situation within the courtyard over the last few days. Seeing that there hadn’t been any major events, she let them prepare some hot water, planning to take a bath!
As the dense steam spiraled upwards behind the screens, the entire room was shrouded with a dense mist. Yun Qian Meng got out of her clothing and let down her hair before entering the juniper bath tub. Closing her eyes as she submerged herself in the hot water, she unfolded and released all her tension!
About fifteen minutes later, a knock was heard from the wooden door to the warm room. Mi mama’s voice sounded, “xiaojie, nubi has returned!”
Hearing this, Yun Qian Meng gradually opened her eyes. Within the curling mist, her black eyes were as brilliant as stars. Soon after, the sound of hot water splashing was heard. Yun Qian Meng wiped away the droplets of water on her body and put on her inner clothes. Covering herself with a patterned orange short jacket inlaid with silver borders, she stepped out of the screen and lightly said, “Come in!”
Mi mama immediately brought Shui’er and the others inside. Letting them clean the room, she took a dry cloth and carefully helped Yun Qian Meng dry her hair. Only when the two of them were left, she finally whispered by Yun Qian Meng’s ear, “xiaojie, nubi has already made the appropriate arrangements!”
Yun Qian Meng nodded slightly and softly said, “shenniang once told me that zumu likes to eat the jade emerald mung bean cakes from Tian Fu Lou in the capital. But it’s already late today. Let Liu yiniang prepare the carriage, tomorrow, I will personally go out!”
Mi mama understood and immediately complied. Still, her heart was somewhat worried. She didn’t know how the young miss would react when she saw that person tomorrow!
Chapter 47: Unyielding old madam | Chu Wang Fei
狐媚子 humeizi – fox women, fox; a woman who seduces with her attractive looks
绿豆糕 lü dou gao – Mung Bean Cakes, Here’s a recipe.
楼 lou – building with multiple floors
堂哥 tangge – elder male cousin from father’s side; cousin brother
During dinnertime, the few yiniang all went to visit the old madam. Even Su Qing who had always considered everyone else beneath her had, with Wang mama‘s help, carefully come over to Bai Shun Tang!
However, compared to the others, Su Qing was quite late. Even the family head, Yun Xuan Zhi arrived five minutes earlier than her!
The old madam was a clever person. She didn’t say a word of disatisfaction and only drank tea while chatting with Yun Qian Meng, Yun Yi Heng, and the others. It was until Yun Xuan Zhi had stepped into the room when she finally put down her teacup and put away her smile, dully saying, “Su yiniang really knows the rules more and more! There isn’t a woman in charge in the fu, but you still won’t let other people take the responsibility!”
Su Qing knew that her late arrival had caused the old madam to be unhappy. But she was pregnant right now. Her bodily strength could not be compared to the other around her. So, she smiled and said, “laotaitai, don’t joke with nubi! It’s only that nubi is carrying laoye‘s flesh and blood. Naturally, nubi had to be careful, and couldn’t walk too vigorously. Because of that, nubi was a little later than the other yiniang. laotaitai, please don’t blame me!”
“Mother, this is the first day you’ve come back to the fu. We should talk about some happy things! Just a while ago, er’zi found a teacher for my nephews. He will be able to come tomorrow. This way, erdi can also be reassured!” Yun Xuan Zhi went forward to support the old madam, leading her to the dinner table while he speaking with a smile.
Sure enough, when the old madam heard that he was so caring towards Yun Xuan Mo’s children, her cold expression eased up slightly. She nodded and took a seat, temporarily letting go of Su Qing!
Yun Xuan Zhi knew that the old madam had never been pleased with Su Qing. Today, Su Qing was trying to throw away their previous biases by coming to pay respects, causing Yun Xuan Zhi to feel like a spotlight was pointing at his face. Hence, at the old madam’s nitpicking, Yun Xuan Zhi couldn’t obviously side with Su Qing. Instead, he used his actions to obscurely make his intentions known!
As the juniors sat down in succession, the old madam surveyed the surroundings. Unable to see Yun Ruo Xue‘s figure anywhere, a feeling of discontent couldn’t help but rise up in her heart. She held her ivory chopsticks unmovingly and shot a severe glare at Su Qing, asking, “Su yiniang, where is Ruo Xue? Qian Meng the di xiaojie came early to pay respects to me; yet she, a shu daughter has such a big ego! Don’t tell me that this old woman needs to go and invite her!”
After her voice fell, the entire room became silent. Su Qing who was being treated coldly in front of everyone had her complexion alternate from green to white. Tightly forming fists under her sleeves, she forced a smile and apologized, “laotaitai, please quell your anger! er xiaojie has made a mistake, so laoye had sent her to kneel in the ancestral hall!”
Hearing this, the old madam suddenly slapped the table with her chopsticks. The rosewood table immediately produced a crisp sound, causing the servants serving beside her to jump in alarm. They only saw the old madam speak with a severe expression, “Punished by kneeling?! Her mistake can be settled by just kneeling? If you can’t teach her well, then let her follow beside me in the future! A noble xiaojie who grew up in the capital actually acted like those sly ! Even though lao er‘s family’s Yun Yi Yi isn’t fifteen yet, she is far more dignified and composed!”
Su Qing‘s heart was already filled with anger when she listened to the old madam keep talking about Yun Xuan Mo’s family. Hearing the old madam mention Yun Ruo Xue, a proper xiaojie to Yun Yi Yi, a country girl on equal terms, she was speechless with rage. The smile on her face paled somewhat as she loosened and tightened her fists. After repeating the action few times, she forcefully restrained her anger and lowered her head to accept the old madam’s scolding!
Other than Yun Xuan Zhi, everyone in the room was indifferent towards Su Qing while she was being ridiculed by the old madam. They were actually all laughing in their hearts!
Yun Qian Meng didn’t glance away from the tableware in front of her. Her expression was exceptionally serene, not allowing anyone to peek into her thoughts!
Yun Xuan Zhi only felt that the old madam was already like this on the first day of her return; was simply giving him a slap across the face. But if he spoke up to help Su Qing once again, he worried that it would incite the old madam to retaliate even more intensely in the future. Hence, he cast his gaze towards Yun Qian Meng who sat opposite him, giving her a meaningful look!
Yun Qian Meng inwardly sighed. Truly, even the sitting pawn could get hit by a bullet. She could only put away her calm expression and made a slight smile while she said, “zumu, let’s not keep talking! sunnü is already hungry; our two tangge who had to rush over on such a long journey must surely be tired. Why don’t we quickly eat and let them go back to rest? Otherwise, they might not have enough spirit to greet the teacher tomorrow!”
The old madam heard Yun Qian Meng, originally planning to diss Su Qing a bit more. But seeing that her two darling grandsons seemed slightly weary, she nodded, saying, “After eating, everyone can go back to rest! Meng yatou as well, these days have been tough on you!”
Yun Qian Meng smiled and shook her head, saying sweetly, “Not hard at all, these are all things that sunnü should do! sunnü still plans to go out tomorrow to buy some of Tian Fu Lou‘s jade emerald mung bean cak
es for zumu!”
Sure enough, when the old madam heard the name of the pastries, a trace of joy flashed across her eyes. She was immediately even more satisfied with Yun Qian Meng!
The next day, early in the morning, Yun Qian Meng finished paying her respects to the old madam and brought Mi mama and the others to go out of the xiangfu!
AFter the carriage had stopped in front of Tian Fu Lou, Yun Qian Meng put on her muslin veil and told the coachman to return to the xiangfu before coming back after one o’clock in the afternoon to pick her up. She then alighted and walked into Tian Fu Lou!
“xiaojie, the carriage has left!” Mu Chun pulled back her little head that had poked out the window and announced mischieviously!
Yun Qian Meng looked at her crafty expression and couldn’t help but smile under the muslin veil before nodding towards Mi mama. She only saw Mi mama lead them familiarly through the backyard of Tian Fu Lou until they arrived at a rather remote alleyway. At the end of the alley, she stood before a single-storey house and knocked on the door frame three times. A quiet question immediately came from inside, “Who is it?”
“It’s me.” Mi mama used a similarly low voice to reply. When the person inside heard her voice, they immediately opened the door.
They only saw a seventeen or eighteen year old pretty young girl. The girl immediately bowed upon seeing Mi mama, saying, “nubi greets Mi yi!”
“Has mama gotten better today?” Mi mama nodded to her, then led Yun Qian Meng into the tiny courtyard, asking the girl as she walked.
“Somewhat better, but the physician said mama‘s illness had dragged on for too long, afraid that he could only treat the symptoms but not heal the roots!” The girl saw that Mi mama was treating the other girl in front with such respect, and felt somewhat curious, but still honestly answered Mi mama‘s questions!
“You can return to your work then!” When everyone arrived before the main room, Mi mama sent the girl away and then pushed open the tightly closed wooden doors!
Before Yun Qian Meng stepped into the room, she told Mu Chun, “Tian Fu Lou will only make fifty packages of jade emerald mung bean cake by noon. Mu Chun, you should go and wait in line! We will meet at Tian Fu Lou at one o’clock!”
Mu Chun sounded her agreement, then bowed towards Yun Qian Meng before she left the small yard.
Yun Qian Meng finally focused her attention inside the room. She only felt the strong smell of Chinese medicine assault her senses. The smell of the blended herbal medicine caused the two of them to unwittingly frown!
“Cough, cough cough……” At this moment, a violent coughing sound came from within the room……
Chapter 48: First meeting with Xia mama | Chu Wang Fei
龙凤胎 longfengtai – dragon phoenix twins; twins of mixed sex
An trembling, emaciated hand entered their sight as they looked and saw the person on the bed struggle to lift a teacup on the bedside. Mi mama immediately rushed over and carefully helped her up. Then, she help put the teacup to her lips and tenderly said, “lao jiejie, if there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask!”
This was the first time Yun Qian Meng saw Xia mama. The fifty year old lady actually looked like an old woman of seventy years. Her body was skinny and shriveled, leaving only bone; the cheeks that protruded from her wrinkled face were full of age spots; and her grayed hair almost blinded Yun Qian Meng. Who would have thought that the wet nurse of the xiangfu’s furen back then would have become like this?
With her body under the clothes as brittle as glass, her hand that was just skin and bone had tightly grasped Mi mama’s. She only said with great effort, “No… need…”
Her speech caused Yun Qian Meng to notice something peculiar. From the tone and tempo of Xia mama’s speech, it was evident that her tongue had been injured. And half her body didn’t seem to bulge from under the covers. This caused Yun Qian Meng’s heart to suddenly sink. Her eyes were suddenly suffused in cold light, as she almost couldn’t suppress the anger that was boiling in her body!
Yun Qian Meng’s chilly expression had finally roused Xia mama’s attention. She only turned over slowly, and saw a young girl in a green coat and white skirt standing at the end of the bed. Only, the girl was wearing a muslin veil, so she couldn’t see her face clearly. But looking at her graceful and slim figure as well as her dignified posture, she was certainly from a prestigious family!
Mi mama saw the confusion in Xia mama’s eyes. Looking to see Yun Qian Meng nod to her, she then whispered into Xia mama’s ears, “lao jiejie, this is furen’s xiaojie!”
After that, Yun Qian Meng saw the originally spiritless Xia mama unexpectedly straighten up emotionally. Her deadly still eyes suddenly became emotional as she counldn’t help but stretch her arms over, wanting to touch Yun Qian Meng. She cried out with great difficulty, “xiao… jie… xiao… jie…”
Yun Qian Meng only felt her nose stuff up and immediately took off the muslin veil. Her appearance that was so similar to Qu Ruo Li suddenly appeared before Xia mama, causing her to stir even more emotionally, even almost falling off the bed……
Yun Qian Meng quickly stepped forward and helped support her with Mi mama. Looking at Xia mama’s white hair, her throat choked with emotion, “mama, Meng’er has come late!”
When Xia mama heard Yun Qian Meng admit her identity, she firmly grasped her hands while she strenuously and resolutely said, “laonu… greets… xiaojie!”
Yun Qian Meng nodded heavily with tears in her eyes and then helped her sit properly. Personally taking the teacup, she carefully fed her a few sips. Then, she took out her own silk handkerchief and carefully helped her wipe away the stains around her lips, smiling to say, “mama, you can restfully recuperate in the future! Meng’er will definitely cure you!”
Xia mama was currently overwhelmed by her favor. She never expected that she would still be able to meet the little young miss after so many years. She expected even less that the little young miss was such a considerate person. Reminded of the deceased Qu Ruo Li, she momentarily felt her sadness welling up, a single tear falling from her wrinkled eyes……
Yun Qian Meng lifted her hands and gently brushed away the tears at her eyes, smiling, “mama, you can tell me all your grievances. I will definitely make those black-hearted people pay!”
Xia mama saw how staunch Yun Qian Meng was and felt gratified. However, she didn’t reply and instead groped around the bed. She pulled out a red sandalwood box from under a stack of covers and respectfully passed it into Yun Qian Meng’s hands, her happy eyes indicating for Yun Qian Meng to open it……
Yun Qian Meng was slightly puzzled, but she couldn’t bear to let down Xia mama’s enthusiasm. Her fingers gently brushed against the nephrite jade lock as she opened the box.
Suddenly, the room was filled with a dazzling radiance, making it hard to keep their eyes open! Yun Qian Meng fixed her stare and found that the red sandalwood box was neatly stuffed with thirty South Sea Pearls that were about the size of an infant’s fist. Each of the pearls had a bright luster, with almost uniform size, it could even be said to be the best quality out of the best goods!
In the centre of those pearls was actually an adult-fist-sized Night Luminous Pearl. In the dusky room, the Night Luminous Pearl emitted a brilliant luster; a priceless treasure!
A shriveled hand now clamped on top of Yun Qian Meng’s, as Xia mama who had teared up in happiness said, “This was… left behind… by… furen… for xiaojie… nubi… today… finally returned… returned it to the rightful owner…”
But Yun Qian Meng who had received it didn’t show the slightest bit of pleasure. She only calmly closed the box and put it back into Xia mama’s bosom, tenderly saying, “mama, mother gave this to you!”
Yun furen must have had two lines of thought back then; she would leave it for her own child, but if her children met with disaster, she would leave it for Xia mama’s retirement!
But she didn’t think that Xia mama would protect it
loyally. She would rather endure poverty for more than ten years, and never once touched this box of riches. This caused Yun Qian Meng to feel extremely moved!
But Xia mama was quite a stubborn character. She stuffed the box into Yun Qian Meng’s bosom, unwilling to accept it no matter what was said!
Mi mama saw this and wiped the tears in her eyes. She came over to advise Yun Qian Meng, “xiaojie, you should just accept Xia mama’s sincerity! What’s more, mama will be in your care in the future, she won’t need to live pass those inhuman days anymore!”
At this, Yun Qian Meng nodded and passed the box to Mi mama, then finally steadied her heart to question Xia mama, “mama, what happened to your legs? How have you been living these few years?”
Xia mama heard Yun Qian Meng mention the matters from the past and steadied her mind. She held down the suffering in her heart and slowly said, “xiaojie… that year… furen was carrying… dragon phoenix twins… but Su Qing… bribed the midwife… the little gongzi was… drowned in water… when he was born… xiaojie was a girl… managed to escape… nubi… they cut off my tongue… they broke my legs… furen… let nubi act insane… finally escaped……”
At this point, Xia mama sobbed uncontrollaby with a face full of tears; her body was trembling violently with rage!
Yun Qian Meng had an austere expression, but the hatred in her eyes could not be wiped away. She only lightly embraced Xia mama’s scrawny body, and gently consoled her, “mama, you should recuperate safely! This grudge for mother, didi, and you; I will definitely repay Su Qing tenfold, hundredfold!”
When Xia mama heard Yun Qian Meng’s words, her heart tightened. Although she knew she shouldn’t let the young miss take risks at the moment, the grudge of furen and the grudge of the little shaoye could not be left forgotten. She only hated that her handicapped condition didn’t allow her to help. She could only softly remind, “xiaojie… be careful… of… xiangye……”