How could Qiu Shi not know of Yuchen's intelligence? To not hurt Yuxi's self-confidence, she immediately changed the subject, "The copybook your Er Ge1 found for you is inappropriate. So, is there any copybook that you want? "
Yuxi shook her head. "I don't know either. "
Zanhua Xiaokai (簪花小楷) was created by Lady Wei, the most prominent female calligrapher during Jin Dynasty. It was based on Zhong Yao's regular script but written a bit narrower than his. This type of calligraphy is one of the most used copybooks for calligraphy students.
Image Credit: TodayOnHistory
Image Credit: TodayOnHistory
Seeing no response from Yuxi, Qiu Shi reminded her, "Yuxi, you are the youngest of four girls in this residence. Teacher Song will examine you first; only through this examination can you succeed. If you can't write, she definitely won't accept you."
Yuxi didn't expect this. "Then, what can I do?" This was a rare opportunity that she didn't want to miss! But, wouldn't it be strange if she suddenly could write with Teacher Song's favourite script⸺zanhua xiokai?
Qiu Shi turned around and asked Mama Li, "Do I have a zanhua xiokai copybook here?" There were too many things for her to remember.
Mother Li shook her head. "No, my Lady." The Qiu family was the home of military generals. All the men in the family were required to be able to read and write. It would be even better if the girls in the family learned the same thing. But they won't be forced if they decide not to. Even Qiu Shi didn't like studying. She stopped her studies after reading a few books and learning to do accounts.
Qiu Shi thought momentarily and said, "I'll find the copybook for you. When I find one, you have to begin practising your calligraphy." She also hoped that Yuxi could follow Teacher Song's class. Yuxi lost her mother early and was not loved by her biological father. It would not have been easy for her to find relatives later on. If she could get Teacher Song's approval, she could also encounter a good household to marry into. When that time came, Qiu Shi could also relax a lot.
After Yuxi left, Qiu Shi's face fell, and she instructed, "Mama Li, go and bring over Ziyi!" When she heard what Yuxi had said just now, her heart had already burnt with anger. But she didn't want Yuxi to see her ugly face, so she pretended to be okay.
When Yuxi returned to her courtyard, she read with Mama Shen again. She had learned all the enlightenment and women's books in her past life. To avoid arousing suspicion, she slowly learned them again this time.
After taking a nap, Yuxi took the embroidery basket to do some work. Hongshan came in with a white face, looked at Yuxi, and asked, "Miss, did you tell the Lady about the copybook?"
Yuxi blinked her eyes, "Yeah! What's up? "
Hongshan was going to cry, "Miss, Ziyi Jiejie2 is going to be released by the Lady."
Old woman Shen, who was also there, asked, "What's going on?" Ziyi was the Shizi3's personal maid, so how did she get involved with her Miss?
Yuxi explained the matter to Mama Shen in a few words and then said to Hongshan, "I didn't know it would be like this. When I saw my aunt today, I just said it offhandedly." People would guard against a four-year-old child if the child had too many intentions, so Yuxi wouldn't admit that she said it intentionally.
Old woman Shen said, "Miss did the right thing. This matter should have been told to the Lady. This Ziyi was too daring. To let her stay would only bring disaster." For her to even dare to frame the Second Young Master for not being uptight and honest. She didn't know what would happen later if such a maid had not been kicked out of the residence.
Hongshan did not dare to speak anymore.
Yuxi deliberately pretended to be worried and said, "Mama Shen, I'm afraid my Grandmother will blame me." The four pretty maids around the Shizi3 were all given by the Old Lady. Her grandmother would become more displeased with her by getting rid of one of the maids.
Mama Shen said with a smile, "Miss, don't worry. Ziyi isn't one of the maids given by the Old Lady to Master Shizi3. Ziqing, one of the maids sent by the Old Lady, will get married at the end of the year, so she is released. Ziyi came as her replacement. "
If Yuxi could tell Qiu Shi about this, she would not be afraid of retaliation. Yuxi took one thoughtful look at Hongshan. She thought Hongshan was clever, but she did something stupid this time. If she guessed correctly, Hongshan even did it on purpose. As for her reason, Yuxi didn't know. She asked, "Hongshan, what is the relationship between Ziyi and you? "
Hongshan saw Yuxi's displeasure, and her heart was still pounding. She lowered her head and said with a winsome look, "Miss, Ziyi Jiejie2 is my first cousin."
In front of Yuxi, Old Woman Shen said, "Your cousin, nine times out of ten, has been schemed on." It was said that the Shizi3 liked this Ziyi very much. As expected, the other maids would be jealous of her, which was why this happened. But she was only a maid beside the Shizi3, so it was not her concern.
Hongshan's face turned pale.
Yuxi thought this Ziyi was foolish. Wasn't it stupid to point out the fault of one of her masters? Even without her getting involved, Ziyi would still be kicked out.
Yuxi went to greet the Old Lady the next day. The Old Lady rewarded her with a pair of twisted suede jade rings and a zanhua xiaokai copybook.
The Old Lady said, "You did an excellent job. "
Yuxi knew what the Old Lady was referring to, so she smiled happily when she received the gift. However, the Old Lady was satisfied with Mama Shen by two points for her report. She also felt that Yuxi was easily tempted by money, just like the girls from her maternal home, who were extremely shallow.
When Yuxi was alone in the Rose Courtyard, her expression was complicated. As seen from this copybook, the Old Lady knew whenever there was trouble on her side, which meant that no matter what she did or said, she would forever be under the Old Lady's eyes and have no privacy.
She was glad that she was well-behaved in other aspects besides showing her genius in embroidery, which was different from that of ordinary people. She was just like a typical four-year-old child. Otherwise, the Old Lady would have been suspicious of her. Because of this, Yuxi became more cautious in the future.
A noob translator, きつね, translated this noob translation. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.site. If you read this in another location other than the site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
In the following period, Yuxi had a hard time. Usually, she slept until the end of maoshi4. As a result, Mama Shen woke up at the beginning of maoshi4 and started chanting about Yuchen's excellence in Yuxi's ears. She then said that Yuchen had started learning to play the zither after she had done with women's literature. At that time, she was learning the art of painting and zither. Yuxi reluctantly got up and practised her calligraphy. However, she was only willing to sit on three things. Namely, reading, practising calligraphy and embroidering. She was unwilling to learn other things; for example, if she were persuaded to learn zither, for the life of her, she would never let herself do it. She would just give an excuse that she had a headache and then run away.
Was Mama Shen kidding around? Was Yuchen comparable? She had lived an extra life and quickly learned things, but she was still incomparable with a monster like Yuchen. Comparing oneself to Yuchen made it easy to lose one's heart.
When Mama Shen saw that her talk for half a month had no effect on Yuxi, she finally decided to give up.
More than a month passed in the blink of an eye. Today was the day when Teacher Song would come to the residence.
As Yuxi had done memorising books and practising writing words in the morning, she noticed that Motao had yet to come back. After waiting a while more, she ordered a nearby maid, "Go and see why hasn't breakfast been brought in yet?"
After half a column of incense, Motao returned with the food box in her hand and angrily said, "Miss, the crispy thick congee was stolen by Yunbo, the Second Miss' maid. She said her Miss wanted to eat it." The effect of the crispy thick congee was to nourish the five Zang organs, tonify Qi and blood, and moisten the hair. Yuxi's body was well-known for being weak. She was eating this congee just to nourish it.
Crispy, thick congee is made with ghee, honey, and glutinous rice. Just cook it the usual way you make normal rice congee.
Image Source | Baike Baidu
Image Source | Baike Baidu
Despite losing her congee, Yuxi's expression stayed the same. Then she said, "I'm hungry; set out my meal." She did not have a big heart, but today was a special day. She would suffer if she made any trouble today.
Speaking of Concubine Rong's ability, the Old Lady had put her under house arrest in Pleasant Courtyard. In the case of Concubine Lian, she could still pull the other half of the Duke Han of the State back to her by using Yujing's hand. The reason why she had only half was that Lord Duke also favoured Concubine Lian. But despite this, Yuxi still admired Concubine Rong's means. Of course, Concubine Lian would never let Concubine Rong succeed in her plan. It was known that the concubines that Eldest Aunt gave to Eldest Uncle in the past could not compete with Concubine Rong. Yuru's mother died at her hands. One must say that the Old Lady was still the most powerful in the government.
After breakfast, Yuxi changed her clothes and went to the main room. By the time she arrived, everyone was already there.
When Yujing saw Yuxi, she deliberately pretended to be surprised, "Si Meimei5, you are only four years old. Do you want to study together with us?"
Yuxi despised Yujing so much. She also had to learn from Teacher Song. Though, no one in the whole mansion knew about it. Yujing knowingly said, "Well, Teacher Song is a famous lady in the capital city. I will be satisfied if I can learn anything from Teacher Song."
Yujing sneered, but she also wanted to learn a little. Not to mention whether Teacher Song would accept her or not, it would certainly not last more than three days.
Old Lady Han glanced at Yujing, and she dared not speak anymore. Yujing's worst fear was the Old Lady and no other. If she did something wrong, the Old Lady would shut her up in the Buddhist temple to copy Buddhist scriptures.
Yuxi also knew that the Old Lady did not like Yujing, but this Second Miss had good luck. She was her father's favourite child. Nobody dared to provoke her for being arrogant and overbearing in the state residence.
Qiu Shi seemed to ignore the contradiction and said with a smile to the Old Lady, "Mother, Magnolia Courtyard has already been set up, but the maid has not been chosen yet. I think it is better to let Teacher Song choose the maid herself. "She had prepared several maids but did not know Teacher Song's preferences, so she did not want to be a good advocate. In doing so, she also expressed her respect for Teacher Song.
Old Lady Han always believed in Qiu Shi's ability to handle internal affairs, "Well, you think so well." If you rushed to send a maid to Teacher Song, she would think they were trying to pry into her privacy!
At the end of the morning, the long-awaited Teacher Song finally arrived. She went up to Old Lady Han and gave her a gift.
Today, Teacher Song was wearing a gold butterfly patterned cyan-coloured beizi, a brown skirt, and black hair combed into a bun, adorned with a pair of double-happiness hair clasps inlaid with cat's eyes gems. This dress was very old-fashioned.
Yuxi had seen Teacher Song several times in her previous life. Whenever she saw Teacher Song's facial impression, she felt afraid. But now she didn't feel afraid at all.
After exchanging a few greetings with Teacher Song, Old Lady Han introduced Yuru and her other grandchildren to Teacher Song one by one.
Teacher Song only glanced at Yuru and Yujing, and then she focused her attention on Yuchen. When Old Lady Han talked about Yuxi, Teacher Song shook her head and said, "Old Lady, Fourth Miss is too young to join."
Yuxi stood up and said, "Ma'am, it was me who asked my Grandmother and Aunt, and they couldn't resist me. I want to learn Chinese characters with Ma'am." After a pause, she continued, "Don't worry, Ma'am, I won't hold back my other three sisters."
Before Teacher Song came, she had made a straightforward inquiry on the situation inside the State House and many queries on the Fourth Girl. However, Teacher Song only knew of the news before Yuxi fell ill, which made her feel that Yuxi was different from the information she had received. However, she still shook her head and said, "You are too young." If teenagers couldn't even stand the way she thought, let alone a four-year-old child.
Footnotes Full List
- er=second, ge=older brother, short form for Gege
- older sister
- an heir of a noble family
- 5-7 am
- si=fourth, meimei=younger sister
Noob Translator's Musing
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi