On her way back, Qiu Shi felt strange and asked, "What does Yuxi mean? Why do we need to buy a maid from outside?"
Mama Li answered with a smile, "The relationship between maids in residence is very intertwined and complicated. Going outside and finding a new maid with innocent life experience is the better solution. That way, you can handle the maid easily in the future." With a prior murder attempt by Concubine Rong and frequent humiliation by Second Miss, Fourth Miss must have hated both of them. She was no longer the meek child of the past, and Mama Li didn't know what Fourth Miss would do. She sometimes felt unimaginable that Fourth Miss had changed so much after she was cured of her illness.
Yuxi's feet were relieved of swelling the next day, proving the physician's medicine was indeed really good. However, because the physician told her to lie in bed for a few days to fully recover, all the maids and old women around her wouldn't let her leave the bed. Yuxi was thinking of going to school the next day, so she asked Mama Shen to find four strong old women to carry her to Magnolia Courtyard tomorrow.
Mama Shen tried to persuade Yuxi, "Miss, studying is important, but currently, your leg situation is much more serious. It's not too late to go once your leg is completely healed."
Yuxi replied, "One day of teaching by Teacher Song is equal to four or five days by other teachers. Does Mama think I can keep up with her when my leg completely heals?" She couldn't keep up with her homework for one day, let alone several days. It was not easy for her to get this chance, so she wouldn't give up that easily.
Moju anxiously persuaded, "Miss, now you can't walk with your legs. You can't also listen to lectures when you go to class!"
Yuxi couldn't help laughing. "I hurt my leg, not my head nor my hands, so why can't I listen to lectures in class?" For her servants, it would be better if she just lay on the soft couch rather than walking or carrying things.
Old Lady Han and Qiu Shi did not oppose Yuxi's decision. For them, it was good that children were willing to make progress while adults usually tried to stop them.
The next day, Yuxi was carried to Magnolia Courtyard.
Since Teacher Song returned to the residence in the morning, she did not know about Yuxi's leg injury. When she heard Yuxi being carried over, she immediately went out. As she saw Mama Shen holding Yuxi on the chair, she moved forward and asked, "Fourth Miss, what happened to your legs?"
Yuxi explained sheepishly, "Teacher, I accidentally sprained my foot yesterday. Please forgive me, Teacher. The physician told me not to move so much, so I can't greet Teacher in return." Teacher Song could easily ask others the reason behind her injury, but it would not come out of her mouth.
Teacher Song took an unexpected look at Yuxi. She had been teaching for so many years, and those girls who couldn't stand her teaching method would use various reasons to escape, such as illness or injury. It was the first time that a student brought her injury to class. "In this case, you should take good care of it. Why do you still come to school?"
Yuxi answered, "I'm afraid I could not keep up with my studies. Furthermore, I just hurt my leg. It will not interfere with my activities of listening to lectures. It is just that I won't be able to finish the homework. However, when my leg finally heals, I will make up for them." It was okay for her to recite lessons, but she couldn't write too many words.
Teacher Song's look turned good as she said, "That's not a problem."
Teacher Song did not prevent Yuxi from memorising the text during class because of her leg injury. Fortunately, Yuxi did not slack off despite her injury. Otherwise, she would have been beaten to death. Speaking of which, she had already been hit once.
In the middle of the break, when Moju saw Teacher Song leave the class, she immediately rushed inside like an arrow. Looking at Yuxi packing, she hurriedly asked, "Miss, does your leg hurt?"
Yuxi answered with a smile, "I'm fine." It was like usual during class, except she had to write slowly this time.
As Yuxi thought of this, she asked Yuchen, "San Jie[1], can I borrow your notes?" She wrote too slowly that she couldn't keep pace with Teacher Song.
Yuchen nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll give it to you after class." Because Yuxi went to school with an injury, she was delighted with Yuxi's attitude. Yuxi's behaviour proved that the Miss of the residence was not so weak.
After class, Teacher Song said to Yuxi, "At noon, you can rest in the next room. No need for you to go back and forth."
Although the room next door was humble and simple, Yuxi knew there was a kang[2] she could lie on as long as there was bedding around. "Thank you, Teacher." Teacher Song still had some human touch in her.
Not long after lunch, Old Woman Ding told Teacher Song the news she had heard. "The Fourth Miss' leg was not hurt by herself but was sprained by Second Miss who had pushed her."
Teacher Song let out a cold snort, thinking that no antidote was possible[3] for this act. She thought of something and asked, "Why has the Fourth Miss' temperament changed so much?" The difference between what she heard and what she saw made her could not help but feel suspicious.
Old Woman Ding hesitated for a moment, then whispered to Teacher Song, "At the beginning of the year, when Fourth Miss had smallpox, Old Lady Han had called off the physician who treated her halfway. People in residence said that Fourth Miss had a hard life, but despite that, she would not die easily anyway."
Teacher Song asked, "Tell me, what's going on?"
Old Woman Ding repeated the information she had learned, "The Fourth Miss used to be weak and cowardly. When she was being bullied, she didn't say a word. However, after being cured of smallpox, her temperament changed greatly. This is also why the information we got was so different from the actual situation."
Teacher Song's expression didn't look good. "Unexpectedly, there is still an elder with this much bias." For the sake of a grandson, an elder could even ignore a granddaughter's life. This kind of elder was terrifying.
Old Woman Ding was worried. The Third Miss grew up with the Old Lady. It wouldn't be great if she learned how to deal with others from Old Lady Han. "Ma'am, the Third Miss is one in a million in terms of looks and talent. I'm afraid she will also be affected by that kind of grandmother."
Teacher Song shook her head. "The Third Miss is still young. Even if she is influenced by Old Lady Han, it is still limited. As long as I teach her well, there will be no problem. But Fourth Miss..." After a short pause, she asked softly, "Did she know about the physician?" She asked this question because some servants would help hide this matter from their master.
Old Woman Ding replied, "Of course, she knew. I heard from an old woman servant that the day when the physician did not come was when the Fourth Miss woke up." Even if Fourth Miss was ill and unconscious, someone must have told her afterwards.
Teacher Song fell into deep thought.
Old Woman Ding added, "Ma'am, after the Fourth Miss was well, the Old Lady sent out her mama, who was left by her biological mother to her. Now the mama of the Rose Courtyard and a maid close to her are both the Old Lady's people."
Teacher Song's expression slightly changed. She felt that Old Lady Han's behaviour went just too far. "How did Fourth Miss settle down her former mama?" Looking at Yuxi's behaviour, she wouldn't ignore her former mama's situation.
Old Woman Ding ruefully said, "The baozi[4] made by this mama was delicious, so the Fourth Miss opened a snack shop for her. The business is said to be good, and now it can earn thirty to forty taels of silver a month! I heard that all the silvers were given to Fourth Miss." In name, it was a snack shop for Fourth Miss' former mama. However, in reality, it was to earn private money for herself.
Teacher Song said in a low voice, "After hearing what you said, I can't see through the Fourth Miss at all."
Old Woman Ding also felt that Yuxi had frightened her a bit. "Yes, it's not easy for a child to behave so calmly after being informed of such unfair things." Her Master's family was also precocious but not as horrible as the Fourth Miss'.
Teacher Song also thought Yuxi was a little premature, but it was not hard for her to understand if she thought about what had happened to her. "Judging from how she handled her former mama's matter, it shows that she still had a good heart."
At this time, Yuxi was unaware that Teacher Song and Old Woman Ding were talking about her. As in this moment, she had just woken up. Her afternoon nap was not long, only for half an hour, and then she woke up at this point.
She usually wrote big characters during her free time after a nap, but she couldn't do it today, so she changed it to recite her lessons. However, no matter how low her voice was, it still could be heard and seen by the maids in the courtyard.
When Old Woman Ding heard Yuxi's recitation, she asked Teacher Song, "Will Ma'am accept Fourth Miss as a student?" Although Yuxi's performance was outstanding, she still thought Yuxi had too many ideas.
Teacher Song didn't answer her question. Yuxi was not poor in talent and worked very hard, but there was still a big gap between her and Yuchen.
Yuxi's injured leg took ten days to completely heal.
Today after class, Teacher Song didn't immediately leave but instead asked Yuchen and Yuxi to stay. Then, she gave both of them timetables.
Yuxi looked at the timetable: learning musical instruments in the early morning, learning calligraphy and listening to lectures in the morning, and studying chess and painting in the afternoon.
Teacher Song looked at Yuxi and said, "Fourth Miss, which musical instrument are you going to learn?" Third Miss had learned the qin, so she didn't need to choose, but Yuxi had never touched any musical instrument.
Yuxi shook her head. "Teacher, I don't know which instrument to choose." She had never gotten in touch with musical instruments in her previous life, so she would not choose them carelessly. She would rather have Teacher Song help her pick them.
Teacher Song thought for a moment and said, "Then choose the guzheng!"
----------xx Info xx----------
In this video, the guy was playing guqin while the Lady was playing guzheng. Both musical instruments are from the zither family. Despite that, they are pretty different in size, sound and method of playing.
The guqin is much shorter than the guzheng and a bit thinner since it has only 7 strings, while the guzheng has 16 to 21, making its size a bit wider than the guqin.
The sound of the guqin is a bit low compared to the guzheng's high tone.
While the guqin focuses more on your left-hand movement, the guzheng focuses on your right hand.
The guqin is much shorter than the guzheng and a bit thinner since it has only 7 strings, while the guzheng has 16 to 21, making its size a bit wider than the guqin.
The sound of the guqin is a bit low compared to the guzheng's high tone.
While the guqin focuses more on your left-hand movement, the guzheng focuses on your right hand.
----------xxxxx----------
Yuxi was not that interested in musical instruments, but since Teacher Song wanted to teach her, she certainly would not refuse. People like them, even if they were not proficient in music theory, had to know at least something about it.
Yuchen said, "Teacher, I want to learn to play the flute again." It was too monotonous to learn only the qin. She had to learn at least two subjects to get good at.
Teacher Song shook her head. "Master the art of qin first, then you can learn other musical instruments." Too many skills wouldn't pressure the body[5], but they must also be equally proficient.
Yuchen nodded.
Before she left, Teacher Song said, "Starting today, you will write one hundred characters every day. You don't have to give it to me after you've written it." Writing them was entirely voluntary, but she didn't worry about them being lazy.
Footnotes Full List
- san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- a brick bed that could be heated
- Chinese idiom: beyond redemption
- steamed stuffed bun
- Chinese idiom: It was good to learn so many skills
Noob Translator's Musing
Just finished watching A Love So Beautiful. I know I was late in the hype train, but I have to say, the story is lovely and heartbreaking (Wu Bosong ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇ‸இﾟ)ﾟ｡).
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi