Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

At the main house, there are only Qi Yun’s mother, Liu-shi, and the Qi family’s eldest daughter-in-law, Fang-shi.

Liu-shi asked Ye Jiao to come over. She didn’t seem to be anxious at all, but Fang-shi kept looking outside while coaxing her son. It appeared that she was more concerned than Liu-shi.

Seeing her like this, Liu-shi couldn’t help but say, “What are you looking at?”

Fang-shi immediately turned to Liu-shi, her round face lit up with a smile, “Mother, I am waiting for my second brother-in-law and my sister-in-law.”

Liu-shi glanced at her. She put down the teacup in her hand and said, “Yun’er wants to rest, don’t worry about him.”

Even if Qi Yun wanted to call the doctor quietly, there is nothing in this family that could be hidden from Liu-shi.

Before the doctor left, Liu-shi specifically called him over and interrogated him.

In the end, she heard the doctor say that Qi Yun’s body was getting better. This time, he had a bit of internal heat1 , so he had a bit of fever, but it was nothing major.

In the past, Qi Yun was either hot or cold. Although it was not a good thing to have an internal heat, Liu-shi understood that her son was no longer on the verge of life and death.

This was enough to make Liu-shi happy, but she didn’t say anything, afraid that it would break Qi Yun’s fortune.

She forcibly settled down and said to Fang-shi, “Today, your second brother will stay at home. I am just thinking of Qi Yun’s body. If others care about those vain rules, they

can care for it. But we are not a big family, and we are not strict with the rules. Just get someone to accompany Jiao Niang.”

Although she said that, Fang-shi could hear that her mother-in-law was very satisfied with Ye Jiao.

She responded to Liu-shi‘s meaning with a smile and said, “My younger sister-in-law has a good blessing. Not only was my second younger brother getting better and better, but look, it was cloudy a while ago, but it was sunny now.”

Liu-shi smiled upon hearing this.

People were always a little bit superstitious in their hearts. Before Ye Jiao came to their family, Liu-shi didn’t care about her very much. She just thought that in the future, it would be just another mouth to feed. But now, when she heard that Qi Yun’s body did not have any illness, Liu-shi thought Ye Jiao was very good.

‘Today is the day when she is returning home. Look how nice the sun is.’

She knew that Fang-shi had deliberately said nice things to make her happy, but Liu-shi loved listening to it.

As long as Qi Yun’s health is good, Liu-shi was happy to treat Ye Jiao well.

Fang-shi looked at her and smiled. Knowing that Liu-shi was in a good mood, she took the opportunity to say, “Mother, Shitou is growing fast. He needs new clothes again.” 

As she said this, she turned to her son, who was less than two years old in her arms, Shitou.

Liu-shi looked at her but didn’t answer. She just reached out and touched the top of Shitou’s hair.

When the child was born, he had a weak body, so they didn’t give him a big name. As a superstitious blessing, he only got a nickname for the family to call him.

Liu-shi had always favored Shitou, but this time she did not immediately respond.

Fang-shi did not dare to urge her and only sat quietly.

After a while, Liu-shi said, “There is no way we will shorten the food and clothing for Shitou. Just ask someone to make what you want, you don’t have to tell me specifically.”

Fang-shi immediately laughed when she heard this, and there was no concealment of joy on her chubby face.

Liu-shi didn’t say anything about Fang-shi, but sighed helplessly.

Her eldest daughter-in-law was originally the daughter of a scholar. Although there are many officials in the imperial court nowadays, there are also many who only spent money to buy a title.

But the scholars of Fang-shi‘s family really took the examination properly and received the Xiucai title. The daughter of a scholar is always a popular choice.

[T/N: Xiucai (秀才)was a title awarded to graduates of the respective examination in the system created during the Sui and Tang periods.]

In order to give her first son a wife from a scholar family, Liu-shi spent a lot of money to hire a top matchmaker and finally let them married.

Who knew that Fang-shi was not clever at all, but particularly stingy.

Shitou is Liu-shi’s only grandchild, and he had never lacked anything. But Fang-shi had to ask Liu-shi for everything and did not want to purchase anything by herself.

Fortunately, Liu-shi thought she had always been honest and caring, so she let her go, and just considered it as spoiling her grandson.

Fang-shi took advantage, so she smiled again. Cheerfully hugged her son, and teased him with an apple, “Shitou, come, laugh.”

Little Shitou also gave her a lot of face. He chuckled while holding the apple, and his big eyes turned squinting and looked especially pleasing.

Liu-shi loved her grandson, and when she saw Shitou smile, the little opinion about her daughter-in-law immediately disappeared.

At this moment, Ye Jiao opened up the curtain and walked in.

Seeing them, Ye Jiao smiled softly, “Mother, sister-in-law.”

Fang-shi was scared of Qi Yun. After all, ordinary people would feel uncomfortable to see the sick and gloomy Qi family’s second son.

However, Fang-shi was extraordinarily kind to Ye Jiao and even sympathized with her.

The more she feared Qi Yun, the more she sympathized with Ye Jiao.

However, apart from sympathy, Fang-shi‘s heart was a little bit proud. Her husband, Qi Zhao, is a good person. Compared with Ye Jiao, Fang-shi felt that she was extremely lucky.

This made Fang-shi take the initiative to come over when she saw Ye Jiao. She kindly took her hand and said, “It’s autumn, and it’s cold outside. Why don’t you wear more clothes, sister-in-law?”

When Ye Jiao faced Liu-shi and Fang-shi, she lost the coquettishness she had in front of Qi Yun, and replied very cautiously and politely, “I will remember. I will definitely wear more next time.”

Some people came and placed a simple breakfast on the table. When the three of them ate, most of them were only talking to Liu-shi. Ye Jiao only held her bowl of porridge.

There was an egg in the porridge, and there was a meaty smell. Ye Jiao’s eyes narrowed in happiness.

When the breakfast was over, some nannies cleaned up the dishes and wiped the tea marks on the table.

Liu-shi looked at Ye Jiao up and down, beckoned to let her come closer, and then said to a nanny on the side, “Nanny Liu, give the things to Jiao Niang.”

Nanny Liu immediately took out a big cloth bag and opened it. It contained several sets of clothes and a jade hairpin, which looked pretty good.

The little ginseng can’t tell whether things were good or bad, but she felt that the dress was more delicate than what she wore. It felt softer in her arms.

Fang-shi’s eyes looked hot and she wanted to speak, but Liu-shi stopped her words. “You have just passed the door, and you haven’t prepared many clothes. After a while, it will be cold before you can find someone to make clothes. Let’s wear this first.”

As soon as this remark came out, Fang-shi understood that Liu-shi was preparing clothes and jewelry for Ye Jiao. It was telling the Ye family that the Qi family valued Ye Jiao. Probably it came with a warning, so that they should not come to provoke Ye Jiao in the future. 

Ye Jiao didn’t understand these twists and turns, but she remembered Qi Yun’s instructions. Her husband asked her to speak politely in front of Liu-shi, so she would not ask questions in front of Liu-shi casually. She only smiled and said, “Thank you, mother.”

The way she said ‘mother’ was sweet, which made Liu-shi feel comfortable.

On the other hand, Fang-shi touched her throat, holding her mouth, thinking that this second sister-in-law is good-looking, and her voice sounded nice. Liu-shi was not happy after she called her so many times.

But she also thought that Ye Jiao married Qi Yun. Who knew how hard it would be in the future, so Fang-shi immediately felt comfortable.

Liu-shi didn’t know what her daughter-in-law was thinking about, and she didn’t ask. She just reached out and took Shitou into her arms to coax. The child’s delicate appearance also brought out the lively atmosphere into the room.

Ye Jiao left the Qi family house in an ox cart. The Qi family can afford a mule and horse, but in the village, ox carts are often more efficient than horse carts.

The ones who accompany Ye Jiao back are the old Nanny Liu, who is usually next to Liu-shi and Xiao Su who was sent by Qi Yun.

Xiao Su held the things in her arms tightly, fearing that the ox cart would bump it around.

She held not only a gift to bring back to the Ye family, but also a food box.

Ye Jiao blinked at the food box, and curiously asked, “Is this also to be taken as a gift?”

Xiao Su had a lively temper, but when she saw Qi Yun, she was scared off into a shivering quail. Now when she left the house, she spoke a lot more crisply, “No, the second young master asked me to bring this, saying that he was afraid that the young madam would be hungry.”

Nanny Liu was a little surprised when she heard this. She followed Liu-shi and watched the three young masters grow up. The second young master is usually cold and indifferent to everyone, but now he actually cared about food for his wife?

Ye Jiao’s eyes lit up, “Snacks?”

Xiao Su nodded and opened the food box.

Inside were six red bean cakes, the same as the cakes that Ye Jiao ate last night, but it was still warm this time.

Ye Jiao was full after breakfast and was not hungry yet, but after seeing it, she felt her mouth was dry and she wanted to eat something.

But she resisted and did not reach out. Instead, she asked Xiao Su to close the food box, she opened the window curtain and looked out.

The little ginseng didn’t care whether she would return to her family’s home or not. If Qi Yun hadn’t insisted on it, she would probably not take this trip.

However, Ye Jiao was very concerned about the Qi Family Medicine Garden that they might pass on the road.

The little ginseng is now only quasi literate and can’t read characters. Human characters are different from those used by spirits, there is only a little similarity. She could count characters that she could recognize with her two hands.

When leaving the house, Ye Jiao turned around to look at the Qi family plaque outside the house, and remember the words as if it was a picture, so that she wouldn’t fail to recognize the Qi family’s medicine garden. .

Not long after sitting in the ox cart, Ye Jiao saw a courtyard.

It was not far from the road, the fence was high, and something seemed to be cooking inside, there was white smoke blowing.

The sign hanging outside said “The Qi Family’s Medicine Garden”. Ye Jiao didn’t recognize the characters, but Ye Jiao memorized the first two words, and she could smell the scent of medicinal materials, so she knew it was the place.

She was no longer looking for the place, so she dropped the curtain and fixed her eyes on the food container.

Before Ye Jiao could speak, Xiao Su opened the food box and handed it to Ye Jiao.

Ye Jiao picked up a hot red bean cake and took a bite. Her mouth was full of sweetness, and the little ginseng couldn’t help but narrow her eyes in happiness.

‘It is good to be able to eat.’

‘He is still thinking of me.’

‘What a good marriage!’

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However, there are six red bean cakes in the box, which are a lot. She couldn’t help but think a little. She wanted to wait until they returned and she would say that she was hungry and then went to the medicine garden to rest. If this red bean cake couldn’t be finished, she wanted to go to the medicine garden on the way back. What excuse should she use?

Then she looked at Nanny Liu and Xiao Su, “Are you hungry?”

Before Nanny Liu spoke, Xiao Su already nodded.

Xiao Su was not hungry, she was greedy.

The Qi family is a wealthy household and has enough food. But Xiao Su only came to help. Even though she usually eats until she is full, the food was not so delicate, and sweet things were rarely available.

Nowadays, the court is in charge of salt, and the price of sugar is so expensive that ordinary people simply cannot eat it.

Ye Jiao saw the desire in Xiao Su’s eyes, and pushed the food box toward them, “Eat it separately, don’t leave it.”

Xiao Su immediately reached out and took one, as if she was afraid that Ye Jiao would go back on her words.

Nanny Liu also picked one up. She felt that Ye Jiao knew how to be kind, so she would remember that Ye Jiao gave her benefits.

After a while, the six red bean cakes were eaten by the three people. Sweet things always make people feel better, so Ye Jiao’s face is full of smiles when the ox cart stops.

She was healthy, and the ginseng essence regulated her body well. Her skin is white and her cheeks are blushing. She is especially beautiful when she smiles.

The ox cart parked outside the courtyard of the Ye family. Xiao Su jumped out of the cart and moved a low stool to help Nanny Liu down. Then the two of them helped Ye Jiao out together.

When Ye Jiao opened the curtain, she noticed that a lot of people were watching her.

In fact, since the ox cart entered the village, some people had followed it.

The village where the Ye family lives was not a large village, and only the village chief’s have cattle at home. Now they saw cattle pulling carts, so they are naturally curious.

As a result, they saw the ox cart was parked outside the Ye Family courtyard. They naturally remembered the lively bride welcoming team sent by the Qi family a few days ago.

When they thought about it, today should be the day when the Ye family’s lady returned.

Ye Jiao didn’t go out often before, so not many people knew her. Even if some people had seen her, they only remembered that she was a girl with her head down. Her voice was so small that people couldn’t see her clearly.

But now when the little ginseng got off the car, she looked so pleasing to the eye.

She was a small ginseng in her previous life. In this life, she became a human, and Qi Yun took care of her in everything.So the little ginseng did not understand the word “inferiority” at all.

Anyway, she had just grown up, it is fair that she didn’t know everything.

Her husband only said that she needed to be careful in front of the two elders of the Qi family. As for the others, she didn’t have to be afraid of anyone.

When getting out of the cart, Ye Jiao held Xiao Su and Nanny Liu’s hands and looked very comfortable.

The clothes Liu-shi made for her were not as gorgeous as the clothes of noble ladies in the city, but they were also exquisite. The materials used were high quality. Ye Jiao was born beautiful so she looked like a rich lady.

This appearance shocked the onlookers, and they couldn’t help but stare at each other.

‘Is she the Ye family girl who is always timid?’

‘She is so good-looking!’

If people knew that the Ye Family’s girl had such a good appearance, probably the Ye Family’s door would have been crushed by matchmakers requesting marriage!

It just so happened that Ye Erlang came back with some vegetables. When he saw Ye Jiao, he didn’t dare to recognize her for a while. He didn’t dare to say anything until she got closer.

“Sister?”

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Author’s note:

Qi Yun: The first hour after my wife left, I already missed her. I don’t know if she missed me.

Ye Jiao: The red bean cakes are still warm and delicious.

Qi Yun: ???

Footnotes

In traditional Chinese medicine, some things are “hot” or heaty or Yang while others are cooling or Yin.