Higher Level Wife

Chapter 43: Dragon Boat Festival Banquet (1)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Pill Bug

It had been a long time since Jin Fengju had laughed out loud so. Even the comic lines of folk songs and professional storytellers usually only elicited small smiles from him. This time, he laughed so hard that all traces of the calm and indifferent noble aristocrat had disappeared. He clutched the children close to him, sputtering between laughter to say, “Aiyo, one can’t tell north, south, west, east, another could barely tell left from right and the last is directionally challenged.

Many a verse has been written about such a gathering of people, to think that God himself had assembled all three of you to one place. Fortunately, I came here to pick you up out of concern that something might happen, otherwise, you would still be wandering around the marquisate even after the banquet is over.”

Finally, he released the children and came to smile down at Fu Qiuning, still chuckling now and then.

“Still dare to make jokes, why don’t you have a think and recall just who was the one who got us into this situation?” Fu Qiuning was so angry that she had forgotten to put on her ‘gentle noblewoman’ disguise and lashed out fiercely, eyes flaring with anger as she turned her head away with a ‘humph!’.

For a moment, Jin Fengju was too stunned to react. Then, he laughed again, his folding fan waving slowly as he considered Fu Qiuning’s face. He thought: Although this woman’s face is a little ordinary, it has certain interesting notes whenever she smiled or glared at me. I do believe my heart actually skipped a beat just now.

Naturally, none of his thoughts showed on his face. Instead, he smiled and said, “If you wish to vent your fury, [1] I suggest you go after the one who took your aromatic plants and stole credit for your efforts with the Old Madam. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. Come, I shall lead you to the Health & Longevity Court.”

Jin Fengju looked down to study the twins’ clothes and frowned, “Why aren’t they wearing the dragon phoenix jade pendants? If there ever is a reason to wear them, surely it’s during the Dragon Boat Festival Banquet?”

Fu Qiuning’s voice was mild, “Of course, they are wearing them. Can’t you see the pendants on their necks? However, the jade pendants are too eye-catching and should not be openly worn. Therefore, this humble woman instructed them to tuck them into their shirts.”

“You call these things eye-catching?” Jin Fengju sneered. He squatted down and took the pendants off the twins’ necks and tied them to their waist. He stood and turned to Jin Ming, “A few days ago I had specially ordered two longevity locks for Feng’er and Jiao’er. They had arrived yesterday and are in my study now, go fetch them.” He turned to Fu Qiuning again and said with some displeasure as he studied her head, “Why haven’t you used any of the accessories from the box of jewellery I sent you? These accessories have long since become outdated. Are you not afraid of being made fun of?”

“This humble woman does not wish to show off,” said Fu Qiuning mildly. She thought: It’s better if I could use even older ones. If I dressed up too well, who knows how much hatred and jealousy I’d attract from your wives and concubines.

Jin Fengju also understood her reason. Therefore, he merely smiled and said nothing else. Not long after that, Jin Ming returned with the longevity locks. The heavy pendants were made with solid yellow gold, engraved with delicate floral patterns and auspicious words. Instead of a gold chain, the locket was set in a gold collar. Jin Fengju personally put these longevity locks on the twins before getting up and looking over them with a smile. “This is much better. At the very least, they don’t look as plain as before.”

With that final remark, he grasped each twin by the hand and led them to the Health & Longevity Court.

When they arrived, only Second Master Jin Shi’s wife, Fang’shi with her daughter-in-law, He’shi were there with three children. Most of the others had not arrived yet. They must have been surprised to see her and the children, but not a trace of it showed on their faces. 

Fu Qiuning escorted the children to greet each person. Fang’shi and He’shi quickly stood up and returned their greetings. A maid laid out cushions in front of the Old Madam and Fu Qiuning led the children over to perform the full ceremonial salute, the infamous feudal system kowtow. As her head touched the floor, Fu Qiuning did not forget to curse this evil feudal system that forced people to prostrate themselves before others.

“Do get up,” said Old Madam Jin courteously. When the three got up, she studied them carefully, noting Fu Qiuning’s dress which was probably only 80% new and made from ordinary gauze and cotton fabric. Though the material was ordinary, the design was novel and unique. Fortunately, thanks to the light colour and lack of accessories, the clothes did not particularly stand out. Her looks were averagely pretty with a gentle and quiet air. The downcast eyes contrasted with straight shoulders, giving an impression that was neither humble nor arrogant.

The Old Madam quietly raised her perception of this person by three points. She waved her hand and said, “As I rarely see you in the past, do come and sit next to me. Bring the children too. I am old and my eyes can no longer see as well as before. If the two little ones don’t come over, I can’t see them clearly.”

Privately, Fu Qiuning wondered: Reading glasses have not been invented yet? From what I have seen in the [3] <<Yongzheng Dynasty>> historical television series, reading glasses should have already been around during the Qing Dynasty. At least, the glasses bestowed to [4] Tong Guowei by Emperor Kangxi were beautifully perfect circles of clear glass. Back then, reading glasses were still a rare thing even among the royalties. She had no idea what era they were in right now, however, she had not heard anyone mention trading with foreign countries. Therefore, it was probably normal even for nobles to not have something like reading glasses yet.

All sorts of random thoughts fleeted through her mind as she brought the twins forward to the Old Madam. She did not sit directly on the kang seat but shuffled off to the side as the twins performed their greetings.

“This great-grandchild greets Great-Grandmother,” echoed the twins as they got down on one knee before her.

However, the old lady quickly pulled them up by their little hands and after a good look at their faces, she exclaimed, “Goodness, the two of you really do look like a young Fengju. There is very little difference.” She turned to Jin Fengju, “When your mother sees them, won’t she be shocked by their faces? Look, look, it is as though they were cast from the same mould as yourself. There’s barely any difference.”

Jin Fengju smiled, “This grandson plans to invite Elder Madam, therefore, I shall take my leave first.” Before he left, he stopped before Fu Qiuning and said in a low voice, “You remain here. I shall be back soon. Don’t worry, no one will make things difficult for you. No need to shrink away.”

Fu Qiuning though: Which of your eye saw me shrinking away? This is modesty, okay? Modesty. What nonsense, who plans to shrink away? You can’t even use your adjectives properly and you call yourself a scholar?

Still, she managed to maintain a gentle and submissive face as she said, “Yes, this humble woman understands. Would the Young Marquis please go ahead?”

From the side, Fang’shi and her daughter-in-law kept their eyes on the exchange and nodded to themselves. They thought: Not bad, even though this wife was not that good looking, her tone and speech are much gentler than that noble-born Second Madam. Her calm and steady nature has the air of a di born daughter that is rather inconsistent with that of a shu born girl.

On the other side of the room, Old Madam Jin had already pulled the children up to the kang seat and asked them questions like: What books did they usually read? Who made their clothes? Who took care of their daily living?

Jin Changfeng and Jin Changjiao had none of the liveliness displayed at Night Breeze Pavilion on them. Instead, they behaved like a pair of little adults, answering the Old Madam’s questions methodically and smoothly. Now and then, their sweet voices coaxed a laugh from the old lady. As she continued to chat with the two children, Old Madam Jin thought: No wonder even Fengju thought so highly of them. The twins are indeed well-behaved and sensible. It’s rare to have such a calm and good-tempered disposition at such a young age. Moreover, their reading comprehension appears to be very good. It looked like it was to Fu’shi’s credit that the children were so well taught. Fengju certainly had not wasted his effort on her [5].

They were still chatting when a faint sound of laughter came in from outside.

Fu Qiuning thought the sound resembled descriptions from [6] <<Dream of the Red Chamber>>. Sure enough, one inner court life was pretty much the same as other inner courts, filled with the tittering of female laughter and the tinkling chime of charming jewellery. She thought of the young ladies in the book, the energetic and sincere Baochai, the slender but gloomy beauty Daiyu and the clever worldly Xifeng.

Right now, which character am I?

Haizz, who else can I be?

I can only be Fang Chuyu in my past life and Fu Qiuning in this life.

[Gumihou: Haizz, poor Fu Qiuning]

[1] Oh look, he’s trying to get her involved in inner court battles by pitting her against Jiang Wanying. He’s like a little boy with a brand new stag beetle. Wanting to see how this new beetle fares against the original favourite.

Men of this era are so disgusting. They don’t ‘get involved’ in inner court battles because it demeans them. But they would pit their females against one another like fighting cocks in a ring. Favouring one or the other now and again by giving them extra grain, better sleeping locations or even silver spurs for their feet against other cocks. When one of the cocks died, he could then shake his head over the violence women inflicted on each other and get younger and more colourful cocks in.

It certainly doesn’t hurt their ego to have women almost literally tearing each other to pieces over the men’s attention.

Effing Cocks the lot of them.

[2] Longevity locks

https://www.haoyunbb.com/baike/8/87106.html

[3] Yangzheng Dynasty – a Historical TV drama loosely based on the historical events in the reigns of the Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors during the Qing dynasty 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongzheng_Dynasty

[4] Tong Guowei – the father of Emperor Kangxi’s birth mother. He is the uncle and father-in-law of Emperor Kangxi and was so well beloved that he was publicly called ‘uncle’ by the Kangxi emperor

https://daydaynews.cc/en/entertainment/827051.html

Emperor Kangxi, 4th May 1654-20th Dec 1722 – 2nd Qing Emperor, reign 1661-1722

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Emperor

[5] I love how everyone thinks Jin Fengju is doing Fu Qiuning a Huge Favour while she was like… ‘kill me now…’

[6] Dream of Red Chamber