ROHYX Chapter 22 : Deep Water and Scorching Fire (4)

Yuxi was walking in the garden, thinking about things. The wind blew, and a refreshing fragrance came to her face.

Knowing that Yuxi was in a bad mood, Moju wanted to say something to ease her mind, so she said with a smile, "Miss, the osmanthus planted in this garden blooms late, but the fragrance is especially strong. Less than half of the garden is full of osmanthus fragrance."

Yuxi listened to Moju and went straight to the tree, looking up at the tall, thick, sweet-scented osmanthus tree. Her mind could not help but remember her past life, where she once wiped foul-smelling grass on her body to be safe when fleeing the country. Because of this fishy smell, people retreated three feet from her, thus saving her. An idea seemed to rise in her mind.

It took Teacher Song only three days to finish her lectures on «Thousand Characters Classic», then two days to talk about «Lessons for Women», and then she began to talk about «Women's Analects».

Yuxi previewed these books a few days ago, making it easy for her. It was just that neither she knew what was going on. Yujing suddenly began to have a strong determination to succeed. She listened attentively in class and completed her schoolwork on time. She even recited the text and analysis very well. Yuxi did not perform worse than Yujing; it was only that Yujing suddenly made tremendous progress. By contrast, Yuxi was inferior.

Yujing said with a face full of a smile, "Si Mei¹, we have to work hard!"

Yuxi turned her head and ignored Yujing's sarcasm. She was very clear about Yujing's temperament, where she was not a person who could suffer hardships. There must be something fishy with this significant change.

Moju wanted to spray Yujing on her face. Yujing didn't even look at how old she was and how old her Miss was. She still had the face to ridicule her Miss. On the way back, Moju said indignantly, "That Second Miss has not been hit for these two days, but she was struck by the teacher a few days ago. How dare she mock Miss." Honest people also had their temper.

Yuxi replied, "It's true that I didn't do a good job lately, so I must work harder."

Moju wanted to cry. "Miss, you have worked hard enough. I'm afraid your body can't even endure it anymore. Miss, you must take good care of yourself!" Her Miss didn't sleep until midnight these two days, and yet, she would always get up at the beginning of maoshi². Because of this, she lost a lot of weight, and the meat she had just raised was also gone. Moju felt distressed when she looked at Miss.

Yuxi laughed, "I will not invert roots and branches³." Learning something was important, but no matter how important it was, it was less important than a healthy body. If the body collapsed, everything else would be in vain.

Over the next few days, Yujing had always wanted to push down Yuxi and even actively provoked her. Unfortunately, Yuxi simply ignored Yujing and left her alone.

Yujing was so angry that it made her teeth itch⁴.

Motao brought a set of green clothes for Yuxi to change into.

When Yuxi wore it, she found it was too big. She took it off and said, "Take it and change it."

Sitting back in front of the dresser and looking at herself in the mirror, Yuxi couldn't help touching her face. The little meat that she had been raising for months disappeared again.

She changed into a peach-coloured dress and took Moju to Magnolia Courtyard.

Motao looked anxious as she told Mama Shen, "Mama, this is not the way to go, right? Miss' health would not bear it." The new clothes were all just made a month ago. Now, all couldn't be worn. The dresses could be altered, but what made her worried was Miss' body would finally stop enduring.

Mama Shen couldn't do anything about it too. If Miss didn't work hard like this, she wouldn't be able to catch up with the lessons. "I'll ask the kitchen to cook some more delicious food." With a full dining table, Miss could at least eat more. Her physical strength would not be easily broken down if she could eat more.

Motao was worried, but she could not help Miss solve the problem.

Yujing saw Yuxi's face, which looked like she was hungry, as she asked with a smile, "Si Mei¹, how is your recitation today?" She was very proud of herself when she believed she had suppressed Yuxi.

Yuxi looked at Yujing, who was still in high spirits and said with a straight face, "I have memorised all of them."

Yujing smiled proudly. "Be careful. Don't give a wrong answer later, or you will be criticised by the teacher again." Once she had done talking, she ignored Yuxi and went straight to Magnolia Courtyard.

Moju turned red with anger.

Actually, Yuxi was not as angry as she'd believed. It wasn't something worthwhile to be mad over Yujing's words.

Yuchen looked disapprovingly at Yujing. Yuxi's performance was no worse than hers, but for Yujing to be praised twice by the teacher and she already satisfied with this? What could Yujing achieve with just that?

Yuxi saw the «Analects of Confucius» sent to her hand. She had no objection to learning it. Just thinking about it meant that they would also be taught «The Great Learning», «The Doctrine of the Mean», and «Mengzi». These books made her, who thought she would finally be relieved, feel like crying.

Yujing stood up and asked, "Teacher, I don't understand why I need to learn the «Analects of Confucius»?"

Teacher Song answered with a straight face, "What's wrong? You don't want to learn?"

Yujing didn't want to learn because she felt it was useless to know. It wasn't like learning qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, which were suitable for raising one's reputation. "Teacher, «Analects of Confucius» is a scientific research book. It is useless for us to learn it." From what she said, learning it was a waste of time.

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.

Teacher Song didn't like Yujing, but she wouldn't go as far as making her life difficult, so she said, "Then tell me, why did you study with me?"

Yujing wanted to learn such things as qin, chess, calligraphy and painting. She wanted to become a talented woman and marry into a wealthy family. However, she could not give that kind of answer. "To study with a teacher is naturally to learn something."

Instead of paying attention to Yujing, Teacher Song turned to Yuchen and asked, "Third Miss, tell me something, what are you studying for?"

Yuchen thought for a moment and answered, "Naturally, to be a wise, sensible person."

Yuxi sniffed at these spoken words. In her previous life, Jiang Hongjin's younger sister, her sister-in-law Jiang Qi, was also known as a talented woman in the capital. However, in private, she was bitter, ferocious and evil. It had nothing to do with being a wise, sensible person.

Teacher Song nodded. "Third Miss expressed it very well. Reading or studying is for a person to be wise and sensible. After reading a book, one can also see things in the long run."

Yujing curled her lips but dared not refute what Teacher Song said.

After class, Old Woman Ding discontentedly said, "Ma'am, this Second Miss is too presumptuous." For such a person, they must find a reason before expelling her.

Teacher Song laughed and said, "Everyone has a temper."

Old Woman Ding felt a little strange. "She performed badly before, but now she's doing very well. Ma'am, don't you smell anything fishy regarding this?"

Teacher Song did not think much of it and said, "This older Young Miss is beginning to get it straight."

Old Woman Ding had doubts but no evidence to support her claim. It would be bad for her to say this rashly and offend the host family since her Master was only a teacher. Although her Master had an excellent reputation, she couldn't offend the government for such a trivial matter.

Yuxi was holding the «Analects of Confucius» in her hand, thinking there were still so many things that she could not finish learning. She felt the future was dark as she looked at her petite body and wondered if she could hold out until the end.

When Moju saw Yuxi was pulling a long face, she asked in a low voice, "Miss, did Teacher Song criticise you?" Yujing had performed well, unlike Yuxi.

Yuxi shook her head. "No, I just felt a little tired."

Moju then felt sorry for Miss, but she didn't dare to ask her to stop studying. Otherwise, Mama Shen would skin her alive.

Yuxi went to a junction and went straight to the main courtyard. However, she only stayed there briefly since her time was too tight. Nowadays, she was vexed at being unable to use her twenty-four hours fully.

Out of the main courtyard, she happened to meet Yuru. Yuru said with concern, "Si Mei¹, you have lost so much weight. You must take care of your health!"

Yuxi smiled. "I know. Thank you for your concern." Looking at Yuru's complexion, she knew that Yuru was almost recovered.

After walking away, Moju asked in a low voice, "Miss, what does Eldest Miss mean?" Moju was honest but not stupid. She could feel that the Eldest Miss' words were not good ones.

Yuxi lightly smiled. "Dajie⁵ is just concerned about me. "Whether Yuru really cared was up to debate.

The more Moju thought about it, the more she felt that Eldest Miss' words were not right. "Miss, why do I feel Eldest Miss curses you to be sick?" She felt like the way the words were spoken did not seem to wish Miss to be not like her. If you felt ill, you didn't have to study. Moju used to think that Yuru was gentle and amiable, but now that she looked at Yuru, she felt that Yuru was a fake.

Yuxi only smiled softly. Sometimes, she wondered if all the excellent aura of the residence had gone to Yuchen alone. Otherwise, Yuchen, the chosen girl out of a few girls in the Duke Han of the State's place, could not have become the favoured Empress of the Harem, which others could not obtain. Even though Yuxi worked hard all her life, she was not smart enough to go anywhere that far.

When Yuxi returned to her courtyard, she began reciting. This was the learning method that she had summed up herself. She learnt the text by heart, and then she did her homework. It would be done faster like this since she didn't have to read the text while writing.

The only thing Yuxi felt fortunate about now was that her memory ability in this life was much better than in her previous life. Otherwise, she would not have been able to hold on this long. "Confucius said, is it not pleasant to learn and practice what is learned time and again…." Reciting and remembering all the written words in her mind repeatedly could also deepen her memory.

After dinner, Yuxi asked Mama Shen, beside her, to help her with digestion. "Where did Mama hear that as long as one survived the first half of the month, the days after that would be better?"

Mama Shen answered, "That's what they said outside."

Yuxi shook her head helplessly. It was only she who overthought this matter. The first half of the month tested students' perseverance, but with Teacher Song's temperament, it was impossible to relax in the future, even after half a month. Sigh, she didn't know when these deep water and scorching fire⁶ days would come full of vigour. She didn't want to back down but felt her body could not endure it much more.

Mama Shen thought Yuxi couldn't help thinking about quitting, so she hurriedly said, "Miss, no matter how hard it is, you have to hold on!" Yuxi's current performance had made Mama Shen no longer expect Teacher Song to accept her as a student. She only hoped that Yuxi could continue surviving the first few months.

Yuxi smiled and said she would never voluntarily quit unless Teacher Song kicked her out. Although this period was challenging, she learned many things not mentioned in the textbook. Only now, she was worried about one thing. "Don't worry. I won't give up halfway. It's just that I feel like my spirit is willing, but my flesh has been weak⁷ recently. I'm worried that my body won't endure it any longer."

Mama Shen was shocked; however, she felt slightly at ease when she saw Yuxi's unchanged expression. "Don't worry, Miss. I'll send a physician to look at you. "

Yuxi intentionally told Mama Shen to let the Old Lady know so that the Old Lady would have a physician come over to help her recuperate.

Footnotes Full List

1. si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei
2. 5-7 am
3. Chinese idioms, meaning to do things in the wrong order
4. phrase: greatly irritated or annoyed by someone
5. eldest sister
6. Chinese idiom: abyss of suffering
7. Chinese idiom meant when you would like to do something, but you do not have the time, skills, or energy necessary to do it

Noob Translator's Musing

Hahaha... I just posted Chapter 23 inside Chapter 22. Silly me! It must be because I was busy these days and still am, so I stole a bit of time to post this chapter. Thank God, I noticed it.

---

«Previous Chapter :: Table of Contents :: Raw :: Next Chapter»