When Yuxi arrived at the master courtyard, she saw a line of young girls standing in a small yard. There were twenty of them, with ages ranging from six to ten years old.
Yuru was the first one to make her pick. She picked four servant maids with no outstanding appearance. When it was Yujing's turn, she chose the good-looking ones. When it was Yuxi's turn, there weren't many maids to choose from.
Yuxi looked at them carefully and said, "Please take a step forward."
The six remaining maids listened and immediately took a step forward. Yuxi asked about their families and then asked them random questions, such as their hobbies and who they were close with.
Yujing snorted and sneered, "Si Meimei1, are you having fun here? We are merely choosing a maid, not a companion for you to practice reading with. Even knowing their hobbies and who they are close with are not related to their jobs."
Yuxi ignored Yujing's sneer and chose three maids from the middle. The three servant girls shared two common characteristics: having a smart mouth and clear eyesight.
When they returned to Rose Courtyard, Mama Fang finally couldn't help herself and asked, "Miss, why did you only choose three? There are six vacant spots in our courtyard!"
Yuxi whispered, "Mama, it's better to have quality maids over having so many."
The three new maids still needed to learn the courtyard rules well, so they would not be sent to serve Yuxi yet.
To Yuxi's surprise, Moyun returned to the residence the next day. Moyun permanently left the place early in her previous life, so Yuxi had no profound impression of her. After all, at that time, she was only four years old and could not even remember anything yet!
When Yuxi saw Moyun, she was somewhat shocked. Unbeknownst to her, Moyun had a beautiful appearance, with her eyebrows and eyes looking quite elegant. Although she wore a simple indigo-blue dress, it could not hide her graceful attitude. This was the first time Yuxi saw such a beautiful maid. She suppressed her thoughts and asked with concern, "Is your mother doing okay?"
Moyun gratefully said, "My mother's illness is already cured. Many thanks to Miss for the gifts." Moyun was Yuxi's personal maid, so she naturally knew that her Master had a short supply of silvers.
Yuxi responded, "That's okay. You look so haggard, though. Why don't you go and take a rest first?"
After Moyun withdrew from the room, Yuxi's face suddenly turned gloomy. Although Moyun looked haggard on the surface, she could see clearly that Moyun's hands were both smooth and clean, with neatly manicured nails. It showed that they had been carefully maintained. If Moyun had to look after her sick mother day and night, when did she have time to take good care of herself?
Yuxi thought about it momentarily and drew Mama Fang to her side. She asked, "I remember that Moxiang has a younger sister. Do they look alike?"
Mama Fang shook her head and answered, "I haven't seen what her sister looks like."
Yuxi said, "Mama, try to find her. If she does look like her sister, Moxiang, bring her in quietly. Don't let anyone else know.
Mama Fang was puzzled as she asked, "Miss, what are you planning to do?"
Yuxi told her suspicion to Mama Fang and then explained what she had planned. "Mama, don't let a soul know about this. You have to do it by yourself."
Mama Fang hesitantly said, "Miss, once this matter is done and your guess is found wrong, the Old Lady will surely punish you."
Where would Yuxi be afraid of the Old Lady's punishment? She confidently replied, "Mama, don't worry, I'm still young. Even if Grandmother is angry with me, the worst she would do is by confining me inside the courtyard." The Old Lady would dislike her more, but she wouldn't kill her.
Mama Fang hesitated for a long time but finally agreed.
Yuxi sighed slightly. Mama Fang was loyal, but apparently, she didn't know how to plot. Unlike the maids she had trained, who were all loyal and quick-witted. This saved Yuxi from the misery of spending time employing more people for her courtyard.
The relationship between servant maids was sometimes close and sometimes distant. Moyun and Moxiang's relationship was tight because they had been sharing the same room for a long time. Since Moyun had returned to the courtyard, it was not unusual for her to still reside in the same room.
That night, Moyun heard the sound of a door being opened in her sleep. When she opened her eyes, she saw her bedroom door was wide open. She was so scared till her hair stood up. She clearly remembered that she had locked the door before going to bed. So, how did it open?
In her confusion, she saw a woman in a white dress floating to her bedside. Moyun shrank to a corner of the bed, shivering all over.
The female ghost muttered, "Why did you kill me?"
Moyun looked at the pits on the ghost's face and wished she could faint. When it climbed into bed and tried to strangle her, she knelt and started to beg, "Moxiang, I didn't know there was dirt in the sachet. I didn't mean to harm you. You let me go. Please let me go. I promise I'll burn you a lot of paper money every year."
"What sachet?" the ghost asked eagerly.
A sachet is a small cloth-scented bag filled with herbs, potpourri, or aromatic ingredients. During the Chinese Warring States period, a scented sachet was an ornament worn on the body to absorb sweat, repel insects and ward off evils. In the Han Dynasty, both boys and girls wore sachets, and in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, scented bags gradually became preferred only by women. A scented sachet became a love token in the Qing Dynasty. - Wikipedia
Moyun was about to answer when she suddenly discovered something was wrong. She stared at the ghost and asked sharply, "Who are you? You actually dare to pretend to be a ghost here?!"
Yuxi was standing at the door quietly, patiently waiting for Moyun to scream for help, but now, the 'female ghost' had totally ruined her plan.
Mama Fang, who had run out of her patient, rushed into the room and grabbed Moyun. She asked angrily, "What sachet did you say? What dirty things did you put in the sachet?"
Moyun looked at Mama Fang and the person standing by the door. At this time, the real answer to their problem was still unclear. No matter how Mama Fang forcefully interrogated her, Moyun would immediately turn stiff and kept saying that she was frightened and muddle-headed when she spoke those words.
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Yuxi went into the room. She looked at Moyun and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
Moyun knelt on the ground and said, "Miss, I was just frightened and confused; therefore, I started to talk nonsense. Miss, this servant is wronged."
Yuxi knew she could not let her people get involved with this problem. She also understood that she couldn't be the judge on this matter. So, she ordered Moyun to be tied up for now. After daybreak, she went directly to the main courtyard with Moyun bundled up like a rice dumpling. The Old Lady would dislike her more for this, but Yuxi couldn't tolerate the person who had poisoned her anymore.
As soon as the Old Lady finished washing, Feicui saw Yuxi entering the courtyard. She whispered, "Old Lady, Fourth Miss had come with Moyun, who looked like she had been tied up. I don't know what she had done wrong for Fourth Miss to treat her like that." Feicui's cousin was Moyun's cousin, making them somewhat related to each other. The relationship between servants in residence was quite complex, with many of them having family ties with each other.
The Old Lady frowned. Although she did not like Yuxi, she knew that Yuxi would not have tied the maid and brought her to her courtyard without any reason, so she just gave a simple order, "Let them in."
When Yuxi saw the Old Lady, she immediately knelt and said, "Grandmother, this granddaughter doesn't mean to disturb Grandmother's peace this morning. This matter is too big for this granddaughter to handle, so I have come to ask for Grandmother's help."
The Old Lady swept nonexistent dust at the corner of her clothes and smoothed it out. She then asked, "What's the problem here?
Yuxi told her what happened last night and said, "I received a beautiful sachet from Moyun two days before I became ill with smallpox." The meaning of this statement was self-evident.
Moyun was paralyzed. She thought Yuxi would hand her over to Qiu Shi. She had prepared a lot of counterarguments last night. But when it became apparent that Yuxi had brought her to the main courtyard to look for the Old Lady, she knew she was finally done for. Qiu Shi was soft-hearted and strict, so it was impossible to punish her just based on the Fourth Miss' words. Even if she was being punished, the worst she would receive was to be sold out. However, the Old Lady was different. As long as she had been accused, with evidence or not, she would die without a proper burial place.
The Old Lady's hand was closed tightly, but still, she calmly asked, "And then?"
Yuxi told the Old Lady what she had found last night, "Last night, I asked Moju about the sachet I received from Moyun. She said, after I felt ill, Moxiang took it away."
Instead of looking at Moyun, who was struggling to get herself free, the Old Lady continued to ask Yuxi, "Then, why are you doubting Moyun?"
Yuxi did not hide her thoughts and answered, "Grandmother, after I had gotten better, I felt doubtful over this matter. I hadn't been out of Rose Courtyard and never directly met those who had been infected, so how could I possibly get smallpox? When I returned to the Rose Courtyard and heard that Moxiang was also infected with it, I didn't feel it was right." After a short pause, she continued explaining.
The Old Lady looked at Yuxi with great surprise. She did not expect this girl to be enlightened just after getting well from illness. Then, she ordered, "Mama Luo, pull the maid down and ask her thoroughly." This 'ask thoroughly' was not as simple as asking questions but came with torture.
Less than half an incense later, Mama Luo returned and reported, "Old Lady, that maid said that both of them did it because they were quite angry with Fourth Miss. She had scolded them before because of a problem over a meal. They put dirty things into a sachet for revenge, then gave it to Fourth Miss, and that was it." The Old Lady only nodded her head.
A blaze of anger flashed into Yuxi. It was a blatant attempt to kill her, but the Old Lady took it lightly. Was her life really not that important in this household?
The Old Lady glanced at the unwilling Yuxi and said slowly, "Your Mama Fang is also getting old. It's about time to let her out." Not to mention that Mama Fang had managed the Rose Courtyard into a mess. She even indulged Yuxi in her childish plan to play ghost in Rose Courtyard.
Yuxi was dumbfounded. Rather than punishing Concubine Rong, the culprit, her Grandmother had decided to drive away her Mama?
The Old Lady didn't care about Yuxi's reaction at all. She just looked at a maid beside her and said, "Hongshan, you go to Rose Courtyard with Fourth Girl." Hongshan was a young second-class maid beside the Old Lady. Her meaning was to give Hongshan to Yuxi.
Hongshan was raised to be clean and pure. After hearing the Old Lady's words, without hesitation, she went to Yuxi and bowed to her.
Yuxi was not in the mood to see Hongshan at this moment. Her mind was full of thoughts on what to do after Mama Fang was expelled from the residence. In her previous life, Mama Fang died of illness soon after she was driven out of the house. Would the same thing happen to her again in this life? No, absolutely not. She would not allow that to happen. However, she knew it was useless to beg the Old Lady. It was up to her to figure it out for herself. For the first time, Yuxi felt that she was so incompetent. In her excitement to trap Concubine Rong, she somehow implicated Mama Fang, too.
The Old Lady noticed that Yuxi didn't try to beg her on behalf of Mama Fang. She frowned. She felt that Yuxi was somewhat unsympathetic toward Mama Fang, but when she saw that Yuxi stood unstable with a pale face, she stopped talking to her.
Mama Fang knew that the Old Lady would let her off. She wanted to rush into the main courtyard like a bolt of lightning and tried to plead with the Old Lady. However, Yuxi took her hand and whispered, "Mama, just return to our courtyard first. We will talk there." Her Grandmother was firm with her decision, and nothing could change it. Nothing good will come from pleading with her now. The Old Lady would surely reprimand them if they were adamant about bothering her.
Hongshan was speechless seeing Mama Fang in such a bad situation, and Yuxi's attitude over this matter surprised her. It seemed like Fourth Miss had changed a lot. She was no longer timid and didn't easily flinch anymore. Before, she only knew how to cry when something terrible happened to her, but now she had become more creative and full of ideas.
Although, it was regrettable that she could not always stay by the Old Lady's side. After all, being a maid beside the Old Lady was more powerful than being one of Fourth Miss' maids. However, she didn't think much about it. Firstly, the Old Lady told her she couldn't defy this order. Secondly, Fourth Miss was only four years old. She just needed to wait for five or six years beside the girl. If her mother came to ask for a favour for her in the future, the Old Lady was willing to release her at that time.
Footnotes Full List
- Si=Four/Fourth, Meimei=Younger Sister
Noob Translator's Musing
Yuxi was still a four-year-old kid when this event happened. Such an eloquent kid.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi