Chapter 2: 2

The wind blew through the window and slammed it open, making a loud noise. A servant girl reached out to close the window. Inside the room, a greenish cow statue made of copper was filled with a huge ice block, which was contained in its belly.

In summer, days were always hot in Yanjing. Ice blocks could only be obtained from cellars located hundreds of li1 away. A small block of ice already cost twelve silver taels2, not to mention this kind of huge compact block of ice. Moreover, there were four of these green copper cow statues, one in each corner of the room.

The inside of the room gave out a cool and refreshing feeling. A beautiful lady was sitting before a small table while supporting her chin, lazily looking through the account book in front of her. Beside her was a 13-14 years-old dainty young girl, who was eating frozen fruit yoghurt sprinkled with rock sugar on top. At the same time, she was flipping through a small mountain of invitations with the other hand. Two servant girls quietly stood behind, gently fanning her.

“Such a downpour …,” the dainty girl was lost in thought while watching the rain outside of the window.

The beautiful woman glanced at her and said, “Don’t eat so much, later in the evening when your father comes back, you won’t be able to eat anymore.” She then ordered the servant girl on her right, “Ruyi, take the fruit yoghurt away. Also, this cup of tea has cooled down, bring me some warm fragrant tea.”

Although the girl was somewhat unhappy, she couldn’t retort. Ruyi set the fan down and took the yoghurt away. As she was about to leave the room, a mama3 entered from outside, wearing plain cotton clothes. Although seeing Ruyi, she didn’t greet her as she hurried straight towards the madam4.1. It was evident that there was a pressing matter to report.

After pausing for a moment Ruyi left the room, carrying the frozen fruit yoghurt and cold tea. The sound of conversation could be faintly heard behind her.

“…. it said, it’s not a light illness… after learning of third miss’s marriage from Head Nun Jing An, she was really unruly and caused a ruckus.”

“Her health is definitely not good, sick to the point where she can’t even get out of bed…”

“The doctor said, she wouldn’t be able to endure past this summer. Why don’t we inform the master5…?”

In a moment, the room became silent. The madam’s mild voice started: “The master is recently busy handling official business. He doesn’t need to be disturbed with these trivial matters. As soon as he has a bit of free time, I will personally tell him.”

Immediately after, a young girl’s tender and charming voice sounded: “Who cares about her, she herself didn’t take a proper look at her own identity. Trying to obtain what’s beyond her standing, how dare she?

“Don’t mention this,” the madam switched the topic, “I heard the top scorer’s wife died of illness a few days ago, tomorrow we have to go and offer our condolences.” Her voice was filled with sympathy, “Her age was still young, how could she suddenly die of illness? Truly a pitiful person ah.”

Truly a pitiful person ah! Ruyi’s heart felt the same as she advanced without stopping towards the kitchen while carrying the silver tray.

The madam inside the room was the current Chief Assistant6 Jiang Yuanbai’s second wife4.2, Ji Shuran. The young girl was the Chief Assistant’s official daughter, Ji Shuran’s biological daughter. Jiang family’s third young miss, Jiang You Yao.

Regarding who they were talking about, the one who “wouldn’t be able to endure past this summer” should be the Jiang family’s second young miss, Jiang Li.

The Jiang family’s second young miss, Jiang Li, was sent off to the temple to study due to a mistake she made five years ago. Over the past five years, the Jiang family seemed to have forgotten this person. Nowadays, Ji Shuran was considered the only main wife in the Jiang family; and Jiang You Yao as well was considered the Jiang family’s only official daughter. As for the Chief Assistant’s first wife’s official daughter, she was currently suffering without being able to enjoy the summertime. But in the whole household, there wasn’t even a single person who was aware of it.

Nonetheless, even if they were aware, nothing would change.

Ruyi sighed deeply in her heart, looking at the cold tea she was carrying. What could be done? The first madam had passed away, and the second Jiang young miss already had a smeared reputation.

The ways of the world were precisely like that; when people were apart, the feelings would grow cold7.

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On the top of Mount Qingcheng was He Lin Temple, a renowned Buddhist temple.

Although the mountain road was rugged, the mountaintop was covered with deep and dignified greenery, with bamboo trees forming a lush and dense forest. Unexpectedly, the scenery was exceptionally good. Above all, the master of the temple was renowned far and near. It was said that praying at He Lin Temple was extremely effective and the predictions were accurate. Hence, many people did not hesitate to travel great distances8 to come and pray at the temple.

Not far from He Lin Temple, there was a Buddhist nunnery. Compared to the continuous stream of worshippers coming to He Lin Temple, the nunnery seemed deserted, with practically not a soul in sight.

In the quiet night, the falling rain caused the wind blowing thought the mountain to be even colder. A wooden shed with only one room was built next to the nunnery. From inside, the continuous sobbing of a young girl could be heard.

“Miss….. Miss, what can be done…..”

As soon as Xue Fang Fei opened her eyes, she felt that it was noisy. She exerted a great deal of effort to move her fingers, thinking that her body must have been sinking to its death. She moved again, and suddenly understanding dawned on her. It really wasn’t her body sinking to death, but rather there was a heavy quilt placed on top of her body.

Sometimes this is exasperating because a Chinese kanji can have way more meaning than an English word. Specially adjectives… an English adjective describes you a single quality of the noun, but in Chinese, they can describe 2 qualities at the same time. And then you have 2 of these Chinese adjectives meaning 4 English adjectives accompanying the same noun, which is just unfeasible orz.

That Madam Ji is such a hypocrite, saying she pities XFF who died young when she wants an even younger girl to die, doing all kind of tricks behind the scenes to achieve it.

Footnotes:

1: Li (里): traditional Chinese unit of distance, equivalent to 500 m/1640 ft.

2: Taels (两) are a traditional Chinese unit of weight equivalent to 50 g, and it was also used as currency system in some dynasties, using silver (银两) and gold taels as money.

3: Momo (嬷嬷) is an old female servant, you might have also seen it translated as granny.

4.1: Furen (夫人) is the wife of the master, the lady in charge of the household. It usually is the official or main wife, unless it’s a c-novel where then a concubine would steal the role after ditching the main wife. 4.2: In this case, JSR is the second main wife (继室) of JYB, which means she married him as the official wife after the death of his first official wife. Since the first Madam/Furen died, she is now the Madam/Furen of the household.

5: Laoye (老爷), lord, the master of the household.

6: Senior Grand Secretary or Chief Assistant (首輔, shoufu) – The most senior Grand Secretary out of the six Grand Secretaries. We will probably use Chief Assistant since it’s more user-friendly for both you and us.

7: 人走茶凉呢: The idea here is that when you are hosting people, you offer them warm tea. However, when this person leaves and the tea is left undrunk, the tea will cool down. Thus, when someone leaves a place or area, their presence or their effect in other people will wane, the relationship and association with that place will slowly dissipate. My thanks to Harusame (SpringRainTranslations) and Minodayz (MerakiTranslations) for their help with this sentence.

8:跋山涉水 – idiom, lit. to travel over land and water.

You can also find a compilation of idioms in the Glossary, and the pinyin terms and cultural notes in the Ancient China & Pinyin Glossary.

Names and places:

Ruyi (如意) – meaning good fortune. Jing An Shi (静安师) – Jing meaning calm, An meaning safe/ healthy. Shi is a title for a master, in this case since she is the master of the nunnery we translated it as Head Nun. Jiang Yuanbai (姜元柏), surname Jiang means ginger, the name means first/original cedar. Ji Shuran (季淑然), Ji is the last month of a season, Shuran means upright, warm and virtuous. Jiang You Yao (姜幼瑶), name means young jade/gem. Jiang Li (姜梨). Li means pear. Mount Qingcheng (青城), meaning green town/city Helin Temple (鹤林) – forest crane.

The quilt was originally thin. However, due to the damp weather, it became cold and heavy, making those covered under it to feel extremely suffocated. She lifted the quilt and, feeling her stomach became more comfortable, she slowly sat up.

The sobbing noise by her side came to a halt immediately. Through the soft candlelight coming from the top of the table, a pleasantly surprised face came into view as it said: “Young miss is awake!”

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Young miss?

Xue Fang Fei stared blankly and looked up and down at the person in front of her. The appearance of the girl seemed to be about 15-16 years old. Her eyes were swollen like the stone of a peach, looking adorable. Her dark-blue, plain cotton clothing was not suited for her body. From head to toe, there wasn’t a single piece of jewelry. Looking at her foolish appearance, Xue Fang Fei burst out laughing.

Calling her young miss, could she be a servant girl? Even during the time she was at Tongxiang before she married, the servant girl at her side would not wear such an ugly-looking attire.

Xue Fang Fei thought back, that wasn’t right, the important point was, she didn’t remember having this servant girl before. From her maiden home until she got married, she had four personal servant girls. Afterward, two of them got married. The morning after that shameful event at the feast, Shen Yurong’s mother wanted to beat the remaining two servant girls to death. Xue Fang Fei prevented that by pretending to be angry, and chased them out of the house before she could get hold of them. Later on, those who waited on her could be assumed to be Princess Yong Ning’s informers.

Princess Yong Ning! Images suddenly flashed quickly before her eyes. Xue Fang Fei remembered that Princess Yong Ning clearly came to provoke her. Then Princess Yong Ning’s people strangled her. Could it be… She had not died yet? How was that possible? Princess Yong Ning was the type of person who would completely eliminate everything down to the root1. It was impossible to spare her life.

Could it be… That she was rescued? Was it Shen Yurong? Or someone else?

Xue Fang Fei could see that the young servant girl wasn’t lying. The servant girl stopped her giggling, somewhat afraid, and she called in a small voice: “Young miss? Young miss?”

“Who are you?” asked Xue Fang Fei. Once she had spoken, she stopped, feeling that something wasn’t right. However, she couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong.

The young servant girl was even more anxious, she replied: “Young miss, this servant is Tong’er2 ah!”

Tong’er? Xue Fang Fei couldn’t remember if there had ever been a person called like this around her.

“Young miss,” Tong’er looked like she was about to cry, then said: “Young miss, this servant is aware that your heart is not happy. How could they just snatch your marriage? Madam had set down young miss’s marriage when she was still around. Marquis3 Ningyuan’s family, how could they break their promises in such a way4? Furthermore… master…. young miss, this servant knows you5 are blaming master. However, you cannot think about giving everything up ah! Even if it’s not for yourself, please think of madam, after all madam’s spirit6 is watching over you from heaven, she would feel extremely sad ah!”

Xue Fang Fei stared blankly at the small servant girl7 bawling her eyes out, while she was thinking in her heart, what she’s got to do with Marquis Ningyuan? Xue Fang Fei knew the heir of Marquis Ningyuan. Her sister-in-law, Shen Yurong’s younger sister Shen Ruyun, admired the young heir of Marquis Ningyuan very much. In the capital city of Yanjing, he was famous for being a beautiful man. What has that got to do with her?

The servant girl was still lost in her weeping when a sudden clap of thunder sounded abruptly outside, illuminating the room: a cold and shabby room, an ice-cold quilt; and at the same time, also illuminating Xue Fang Fei.

Suddenly, Xue Fang Fei realized what was wrong.

This voice….. tender and crisp, although exhausted, yet it was suffused with the characteristics of a young girl’s softness and stickiness.

This was not her voice.

“Who am I?” asked Xue Fang Fei.

Tong’er stared blankly.

“Who am I?” Xue Fang Fei repeated her question.

“What do you mean?” Tong’er replied indignantly, then promptly continued: “You are the current government cabinet Chief Assistant Lord8 Jiang’s first wife’s official daughter, Jiang family’s second miss, Jiang Li.” Then, she added another sentence for emphasis, “An honorable golden branch9, the Chief Assistant’s daughter!”

Jiang family, chief assistant’s daughter, the second Jiang young miss, Jiang Li.

Xue Fang Fei closed her eyes.

She would be Jiang Li.

A small comment as the editor. Remember that Fang Fei’s baby name was ‘Ah Lî’ (阿狸)? Calling Jiang Li in an endearing way would also be ‘Ah Li’ (阿梨), but the pronunciation of these kanjis is slightly different, so that’s why I decided to use this Li/Lî to mark the difference between the two instead of just using Ah Li for both. This will later (much later) have importance, just letting you know ^^

So, I made a small mistake with the meaning of Xue Huaiyuan in chap 1.1, although the meaning I provided wasn’t wrong, there is another meaning which I find more fitting: Huaiyuan (怀远) meaning profound heart. There was actually a senior official in Tang dynasty called Li Huaiyuan (李怀远), which despite his humble birth and bearing was very respected by the Emperor and the Crown Prince-later-turned-Emperor, and well he got many important official posts and titles throughout his life. I think he might be considered someone exemplary due to the brilliance of his work and his humility and uprightness; and he was used as inspiration for this kind of characters in c-novels (but then again, I might be wrong, I just looked it up in wikipedia and guessed this cuz I’ve seen it often in c-novels lol).

In any case, if you ever transmigrate to ancient China, be sure to do so in a family where your father is called Huaiyuan, they are the best daddies! Xue Huaiyuan is best daddy, and Qin Huaiyuan from Return of the Swallow is bestest best daddy ever! Go read ROS if you haven’t yet, it is one of the best female MC c-novels out there!! You will definitely not regret reading it, and you will have something to enjoy as you wait for MDD chapters to come out^^

On another note, it makes me mad that the kanjis for Yun Rong (云容), our lovely MC from our other novel (Who moved my mountain, check it out if you haven’t ^^), are found in the names of these two scumbag Shen siblings. Heaven shall punish them for such profanity, and if it doesn’t, well, Fang Fei will.

Footnotes:

1: 斩草除根, lit. to cut weeds and eliminate the roots. Idiom meaning to eliminate completely.

2:儿 (er), it’s another diminutive like Xiao (小) or Ah (阿) that is added at the end of one’s given name; used as an endearing term, again with family, children and loved ones. In this case, close servants may also be called using Xiao or ‘er by their masters.

3: 侯 (hou) – marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility, title used to address a nobleman or high official.

4: 背信弃义, lit. breaking faith and abandoning right; idiom meaning to betray, treachery, perfidy.

5: Throughout the chapter (and I assume in the rest of the novel and also for other characters in the same position) Tong’er uses a courteous form of ‘you’您 (nin), befitting of her position of servant addressing the master, opposite to how XFF calls her, using the informal ‘you’ 你 (ni).

6:在天之灵, lit. spirit/soul resting in heaven, refers to the soul and spirit of the deceased.

7: 丫头 (yatou) – servant girl.

8: 大人 (daren), respectful title used towards superiors, also used to allude to court officials.

9: A golden branch (金枝玉叶), also appeared in chapter 1.2 referring to Princes Yong Ning. Lit. golden branch, (with) jade leaves. It’s an idiom used to allude to high nobility, and especially the imperial household. It’s often used to express this idea of grabbing this golden branch (invaluable treasure), aka successfully making a connection with someone that is extremely powerful which would bring you endless benefits. Or if you are the golden branch, others will want to curry favor with you to obtain some privileges through you.

You can also find a compilation of idioms in the Glossary, and the pinyin terms and cultural notes in the Ancient China & Pinyin Glossary.

Names and places:

Tong’er (桐儿), Tong is a tree name, it may refer to Paulownia, Firmiana or Aleurites; ‘er is endearing diminutive. Marquis Ningyuan (宁远), Ning meaning peaceful, Yuan meaning profound.

Shen Ruyun (沈如云), Ruyun means ‘like a cloud’.

Yanjing (燕京) is the old name of Beijing, Jing is the capital city (so it can also be found as Yan Capital), Yan means swallow (the bird chirp chirp).

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