Chapter 30 : New Year's Gift (1)

It snowed that day. White and flawless little snowflakes fluttered down from the sky like beautiful silver butterflies dancing lightly. Snow fell more and more. Snowflakes flew all over the sky, like smoke, but not confused them with smoke. They were like fog, but also not confused them with fog. The whole world was shrouded with the vast snow.

 

In the cold winter twelfth lunar months, the inside of the room had been heated by earth dragons. Yuxi sat in the warm room and looked at the content of the qipu. Studying the qipu had now become her best hobby, surpassing her former hobby - embroidery.

 

Moju quickly came in. Since she was cold, she didn’t dare to get close to Yuxi. She said at the door, “Miss, Motao just now fell down and now she can’t get up.” The ground was frozen that Motao slipped while carrying the food box.

 

Yuxi hurriedly said, “Please go and get a physician.” Motao was one out of Yuxi's four maids who was the least cold-headed. She did things with a dull head on weekdays and had the weakest sense of existence. But this did not mean that Yuxi did not take care of Motao. On the contrary, she still attached great importance to Motao.

 

Moju nodded in response, “Miss, we still need to wait for breakfast.” Motao had dropped all Yuxi’s breakfast to the ground, so they had to get another one from the big kitchen. However, the main kitchen had to get an extra portion for that, which meant that breakfast would be done slower than usual.

 

Yuxi calculated the time for her to wait for the main kitchen to be done with it. She was sure going to be late. She then said, “Don’t do it anymore. Just bring anything that can be eaten from the kitchen.” If she had a small kitchen, she wouldn’t be in such trouble. However, this could only be considered. The residence only had a kitchenette for the Old Lady and Eldest Aunt, no one else.

 

After a quarter of an hour, the breakfast was delivered. Today morning breakfast was very simple, only baozi, mantou, and a bowl of millet porridge.

 

Yuxi was not a picky eater either. When she had eaten her breakfast, she was ready to go to Magnolia Courtyard.

 

On her way out, Mama Shen wanted Yuxi to wear another coat, but Yuxi stopped her, “I’m wearing a fur coat and it’s not cold.” She was now much stronger than before and did not need to be wrapped like a zongzi.

 

Mama Shen was unable to dissuade Yuxi, so she had to give up.

 

At the gate of Magnolia Courtyard, Yuxi saw Yuchen. Because it was extremely cold these two days, Yuchen had not come to learn qin early in the morning.

 

Yuchen was wearing a silver-white foreign satin sable fur cloak on the outside, and her head was covered by the cap of the cloak. When she entered the classroom, she took off her cloak, revealing the inside which was a knee-length water red jacket with snow weasel furs and engraved with silver lines.

 

Yuxi glanced at Yuchen's cloak, but her eyes fell on a kind of ice-cold emerald gourd bracelet on her wrist. Yuchen usually wore a few pieces of jewellery, but as long as she wore one, it must be a top-quality product, and quite light. Yuxi only looked at the jewellery that Yuchen wore every time, which could give her a lot of insight.

 

Yuxi turned her head and looked at Shishu’s guarded eyes. It felt really bad to be guarded like she was a thief. Before, she just ignored this feeling, but today she felt a bit irritated and said with a deliberate smile, "San Jie, this bracelet of yours is really beautiful. Can you show it to me?"

葫芦 (hulu) / Gourd
By aroid, CC by 2.0 via Flickr
and pinkytoky (Good Luck Symbol – Hulu, the Calabash Gourd, February 8, 2018)

Gourd had been symbolised as ‘good fortune’ and this gourd bracelet was made from old ice-cold emeralds. The six gourds on the bracelet were vivid in colour, crystal clear and full of vitality.

 

Yuxi looked at it and could not help but gasped in admiration, “It’s beautiful.”

 

Seeing this, Shishu hastily said, “This bracelet was given to my Miss by the Old Lady a few days ago.” Everyone in the place knew what this statement meant.

 

When Moju heard this, her eyes burst with flames of anger.

 

There were certain things that you couldn't say just because you knew it. If you still said it, it would turn out to be something embarrassing. This time, Shishu had truly angered Yuxi. Yuxi looked at Shishu and said with a forced smile, “You don’t know what you said, but you think I’m scheming for San Jie’s bracelet.”

 

Shishu didn't expect Yuxi to speak so bluntly, so her face instantly turned stiff. She believed she was loved by the Old Lady and her Miss, but she was also a servant girl. How could she be compared with Fourth Miss?

 

Yuchen did not know why Yuxi suddenly launched an attack against Shishu and said with a smile, “It’s not something valuable. If Si Mei like it, then I will give it to you.”

 

Hearing this statement made Yuxi feel that things of high value were like weeds on the roadside in the eyes of others. It made her extremely uncomfortable. She smiled and said, “No need. There are so many beautiful things in the world that I can’t take them all for myself.” Having said this, she handed the bracelet to Yuchen and lowered her head to sort out her books.

 

When Yuxi returned to the Rose Courtyard after class, Mama Shen said with a smile, “Miss, the New Year's gift from the Lord has arrived.” Today was the eighteen days of the twelfth lunar month, and this year’s gift came at a really good time.

 

Yuxi immediately gave a response, “Oh!”. Although Han Jingyan was an official who always worked outside of the capital in her previous life, it did not hinder her admiration for him. Even back then, when she was wronged, she thought that as long as her father was in the residence, no one could bully her. Unexpectedly, Han Jingyan regarded her as nothing after he returned to the capital. Even when she was bullied by Wu Shi, he never cared. That was not all. Knowing that the Jiang Family was a pit of fire, she was still being pushed into it. Was this her biological father? She didn’t know, but she thought of him as her enemy. Therefore, she had no more affection for Han Jingyan, a cold-blooded and ruthless father.

 

Mama Shen looked at Yuxi’s expression, which was neither salty nor bland, and her heart thumped. It was like Yuxi did not care at all about Lord's negligence. Could this mean that Miss was not close with the Lord either? This was not good. “Miss, the Lord has sent a lot of things this time.”

 

Yuxi thought for a moment and asked, “If I remember correctly, my Father has been in Hebei for five years and it will be six years by next year. Will Father come back next year?“

 

Mama Shen smiled and said, “I heard that Lord’s achievements are excellent and he will probably be promoted next year.” If one wanted to be promoted, one would not return home.

 

Yuxi was silent for a moment and then she asked, “Mama Shen, what kind of person is my stepmother?” Seeing that Mama Shen did not speak, she said, “If Mama is not clear, just this time, let’s inquire about it from the people who came back from Hebei.”

 

Mama Shen looked a little uncomfortable.

 

Yuxi didn’t say anything to her face, but she turned to let Hongshan inquire about Wu Shi. Hongshan had a wide range of connections, and Yuxi also gave her some money to take care of it. She soon got the news.

 

Hongshan had inquired about Wu Shi’s basic situation and she told Yuxi about it later on.

 

After hearing what Hongshan said, Yuxi deliberately pretended to be dissatisfied and asked, “What else?” It took several taels of silvers to find out the number of wives and concubines his father had in Hebei and also the number of aunts and stepsiblings that she had. The news was too simple.

 

Hongshan said, “It is said that the Third Lady is strict in her household management. The household is well organized inside and outside, which is highly valued by the Lord.” She had some worries. It could be seen from the news that the future mistress of the Third House was not a good person, which was very disadvantageous to her Miss.

 

Yuxi chuckled. It was good for Wu Shi to manage the family strictly, but those informers could not go so far as to give her just this useless news. It should be that these people thought she gave less money. She inquired about Wu Shi’s news just for a show. She had been living with Wu Shi for several years in her previous life and was already very clear about her temperament.

 

Yuxi said to herself, “There are still many years to go. Don’t worry.” It was not until she was eleven that Wu Shi followed her father back to the capital. As soon as Wu Shi arrived in the residence, she fought with her Eldest Aunt for the right to manage the house. The two fought for several years. It was not until her niece, Qiu Yanfu designed Yuxi's Er Ge that Wu Shi completely tore her Eldest Aunt's face.

 

Hongshan didn’t hear clearly what Yuxi just said and asked, “Miss, what you’re talking about?”

 

Yuxi looked up and returned to her usual look, “It’s not a big deal to say that my stepmother is a powerful character. However, Grandmother is the main person who can decide on what happens inside the residence.” A few years were enough time for her to be ready. In her last life, she was stupid, but in this life, Wu Shi would never step on her again.

 

Meanwhile, Qiu Shi was looking at the New Year's gifts list sent from Hebei. After reading it, her face looked very ugly.

 

Mama Li noticed that Qiu Shi was not looking good, she hurriedly asked, “My Lady, what’s wrong?”

 

Qiu Shi handed the list to Mama Li and said, “They sent several carts of things all the way, all of which were filled with worthless things. It’s a good calculation to have won the title and not spend much money!“ They did send things in a few carts, but if they added up the total values, they would only be up to two or three thousand taels.

 

After reading the list, Mama Li’s look also turned bad, “This Wu Shi is going too far.” The number of New Year's gifts increased, but unfortunately, there were fewer and fewer valuable things.

 

Qiu Shi sneered, “She thinks everyone under the sun is a fool, and only she is the smart one!” Wu Shi didn’t want to give up money but still wanted a face. Didn't she know that there was nothing cheap in this world?

 

Mama Li calmly said, “My Lady, during the assessment period on the third lunar month next year, Third Lord has already been assigned as a tongzhi for 6 years. If he has to go on an official trip to the reservoir again, we have to make it clear to him and also to the Old Lady that next year, we can’t afford to use the public fund to pay for the trip expenses.” When her Master married into the family, the Duke's official residence was in deficit every year. It took a lot of effort from her Master to make ends met till today. The reason for her Master to work hard was not for the sake of the Second Lord.

 

Qiu Shi understood the meaning of Mama Li’s statement, however, she was somewhat hesitant, “Do you mean to let the Old Lady use her own money?” She was not a tight-fisted person. She had never thought of the Old Lady’s money. It was just that she thought Wu Shi would be so stingy that the official residence had to pay for everything to dot, made Qiu Shi unwilling to continue paying for their expenses.

 

Mama Li said, “My Lady, even if Wu Shi could not carry it clearly, the Third Lord is not a muddle-headed person. I believe that the Third Lord must have let his confidant send money to the Old Lady and let the Old Lady help with the management. We have to borrow this incident to let the Old Lady know Wu Shi’s character.“ The Third Lord was the son of a noble family. It was truly impossible for him to not know that they needed money to manage the residence. This money was certainly impossible for the official residence to easily put forth for his usage.

 

Qiu Shi had a headache, “If Wu Shi returns, this residence will not be quiet anymore.” Although she never met this Wu Shi, looking at the way she conducted things showed that they would not get along with each other.

 

Mama Li laughed. “My Lady, don’t worry. When Wu Shi returns, the first person she sees isn't my Lady, but the Third and Fourth Misses.” Both of them were currently following Teacher Song’s study. Even if they only learnt something superficial, it was still impossible for Wu Shi to suppress both girls.

 

Qiu Shi shook her head and said, “No matter how strong the Third and Fourth Girls are, they will have to depend on their brothers from their side of the family. They can’t stand up to Wu Shi.”

 

Mama Li didn’t argue with Qiu Shi either. Only time would prove it. However, she believed that the Third and Fourth Misses were definitely not the ones who tolerated the sound of swallowing. As long as Wu Shi returned to the capital, her good days would come to an end.

 

NOOB TRANSLATOR'S MUSING

The first sentence in the second paragraph was this '寒冬腊月，屋子里早就烧上了地龙' which I got from multiple translator apps mean this 'In the cold winter months, 地龙/earth dragon/earthworm had been burnt inside of the house. Even though earthworm is not my favourite being, I still feel a bit uneasy if I knew several earthworms have lost their life. So, did that sentence mean that or did I lose in translation? Since I'm not confident with that translation, I just used 'In the cold winter months, the inside of the house had been heated earlier'.