The first two lessons in the morning were about poetry. Since Yuxi had decided to learn only chess and painting, she did not listen to the two classes but instead spent her time reading in the instrument room next to the class. When the third lecture was about «Mencius», she discovered how superficial it was to think that Teacher Song was already lecturing too fast. Now Teacher Song was teaching twice as quickly as before.
Fortunately, in today's lecture, Yuxi had not only recited the text beforehand but also did some reviewing. Otherwise, she would never catch up with the learning speed. She looked at the relaxed Yuchen and sighed that a person with good talent was indeed envied by others.
When the class was over, Teacher Song said, "Fourth Miss, stay."
It was not a good thing to be asked to stay behind by your teacher. When Yuxi started to feel uneasy, Teacher Song said, "Fourth Miss, your handwriting is weak. If you want to write in good handwriting, you must pay more attention to it."
Yuxi naturally hoped to write good handwriting, "Teacher, I practice every day, but I don't know how to reach the level that teacher said."
Teacher Song smiled. "Don't think so much about it. After this, you stick the paper on the wall and then practice calligraphy with a cantilever. Then, you will stick to doing it day by day. "
Yuxi nodded. "Okay."
Once Yuxi left, Old Woman Ding curiously asked, "Ma'am, why only the Fourth Miss was being taught and not the Third Miss?" In theory, Yuchen was Teacher Song's last student, so it should be Third Miss who was the first one to be taught.
Teacher Song shook her head. "Third Miss' handwriting is already perfect. There is no need for her to practice this. Fourth Miss is currently not suitable to write in plum blossom regular script. Let her practice the strength of her hand first, and then let her copy other copybooks. "There was also a remark that she did not say out loud. Even if she asked Yuchen to do so, Yuchen likely wouldn't accept it.
Old Woman Ding had followed Teacher Song's side for many years; this was the first time she had seen such a gifted student. "Ma'am, if you look at Third Miss' learning progress, it is already sufficient to teach her for three years."
Teacher Song shook her head. "Old Lady Han has high hopes for the Third Miss. How can she let me, alone, teach her?"
Old Woman Ding was not foolish either. The Third Miss had already worshipped her Master as her teacher. It was absolutely impossible to invite another teacher. "Do you mean the Old Lady wants to invite a nurturing
momo?"
Teacher Song gave a brief nod. "En. The Old Lady wants the Third Miss to marry into a high-status family, so rules and etiquette are indispensable. "
Meanwhile, as Yuxi went out of Magnolia Courtyard, she saw Yuchen sitting in a pavilion. As soon as Yuchen saw her, Yuchen walked out of the pavilion.
Yuxi walked over with a smile. "San Jie[1], are you waiting for me?"
Yuchen asked, "Si Mei[2], you have never been in contact with poetry, so why won't you learn it?" If it were like the last time Yuxi felt that she could not learn it very well after learning for some time, then she would not think there was anything to it. But now Yuxi quit without studying it first, which made her unable to understand.
Yuxi complained in her heart; if I learned everything, how could I keep up with the current progress. "I study everything slowly. If I take any more, I will certainly not be able to keep up. Moreover, I am not interested in poetry, so I simply don't want to waste my time." She thought learning painting was a waste of time, not to mention poetry. But this was what Teacher Song asked her to learn, so she could not refuse.
Yuchen tries to get to the bottom of this by asking, "You haven't learned it, so how can you know you are not interested in it?"
Yuxi said, "I have a headache when I read those poems."
Yuchen was still unwilling to give up. "Si Mei[2], you have not learned it, so how will you know? Poetry is not complicated to learn. I believe that as long as you are willing to work hard, you will undoubtedly be able to understand it well. Once you know how you will find it very interesting."
It was painful to have someone around you who could turn you into dregs anytime. Yuxi tried hard not to let herself fall into a depressed mood by saying, "San Jie[1], everyone says it is good to eat bitter melon in summer because it has the specific effects of clearing away heat during the summer heat, improving eyesight and detoxifying. Still, I just don't like eating bitter melon." Green vegetables and turnips had their own tastes.[T/N]
Hearing this, Yuchen knew that she could not persuade Yuxi anymore. "Since you don't want to learn, just forget it." She instead felt pity for Yuxi.
After both Yuxi and Yuchen parted ways, Shishu said, "Miss, you are being too considerate of Fourth Miss, but she is not at all grateful to you." Fourth Miss also had thick skin. When Teacher Song refused her, she came to seek help from her Miss. Supposedly, her Miss had done her such a big favour, so she should at least have some respect for her Miss, but in the end, on the contrary, Fourth Miss seemed to have forgotten such a thing. A really ungrateful wretch!
Shishu only dared to complain in her heart and did not dare to speak out. Otherwise, her Miss would scold her again.
Yuchen shook her head. "You don't understand." The last time when she helped Yuxi, she also had her own selfishness. Watching Yuxi work so hard, she could keep on whipping herself so that she would not relax, would not be complacent and would not be too proud.
Yuxi's mind was somewhat puzzled. Why did Yuchen want her to learn poetry so much? Just this question kept on flashing by in her mind.
When she returned to Rose Courtyard, she told Mama Shen to clean up the east room as she would use it as her study. She then asked Mama Shen to empty the north wall of that room.
Hearing this, Mama Shen was delighted and asked, "Miss, this east room is also big. Why don't you buy another easel? Then it will be convenient for you to draw later on."
Yuxi pondered momentarily, "Besides buying another easel, I also need a chess table and an embroidery frame." After a pause, she said, "I'll write a list myself, so I will not leave anything behind."
This list was soon delivered into Qiu Shi's hand. After reading the list, Qiu Shi said with a smile, "This child, why does she want an embroidery frame?" Concerning Yuxi's small arms and legs, she didn't need to use an embroidery frame.
Mama Li took the list and said, "Fourth Miss wants a lot of things!" These things roughly cost hundreds of silvers!
Qiu Shi said carelessly, "As long as the child is well, this money is nothing." The cost would be taken from the public account, not her private savings. Of course, she would still pay for it even if she had to use her personal savings.
When it came to private savings, Mama Li would immediately think of the small kitchen matter. "My Lady, are you going to pay for Fourth Miss' kitchen? I figured out that it would cost around twenty taels[4] of silvers. That will take a lot from the money you have been saving for years."
Qiu Shi smiled. "That child has her own money now, so she definitely won't want me to supplement it. I thought Mama Fang would lose money running the
baozi[5] shop, but I didn't know she would do well until now."
Mama Li said ruefully, "I heard that Mama Fang is more energetic now than when she was in residence!" Being free outside and not being controlled by others made Mama Fang's life much easier.
Qiu Shi nodded. "That child is too considerate. I want to help her more if I can." What that child did sometimes warmed her heart.
Upon seeing this situation, Mama Li said nothing more.
Sometimes it really took talent to learn something. Yuxi only took three days to learn wuqinxi taught by Teacher Song. She couldn't help thinking how good it would be to have a martial arts master to teach her. She would not be afraid of being bullied in case of disaster later on. However, the thought was only flashed by. A young miss of the state residence was prohibited from learning martial arts.
Teacher Song smiled and said, "Yuxi, when you have learned it completely, you can practice it in your yard. You don't need to come here this early anymore."
Yuxi smiled and nodded. "Okay."
Since Yuxi didn't have to go to Magnolia Courtyard early anymore, and she didn't take the first two early classes either, she would have plenty of free time.
Mama Shen came into Yuxi's room with a big smile and said, "Miss, everything is ready, and the new items will be delivered later." The study had been cleaned up, with only a few things lacking.
It didn't take long for breakfast to be served before the stuff for the east room was delivered.
Moju often took a stroll with Yuxi outside, and her way of seeing things had somewhat become high. She looked at the easel and other items sent to the east room, which were made of
jichimu[6], and her heart became bitter. "Miss, isn't the material used for this stuff extremely poor?" She felt wronged for Yuxi. All the furniture of Third Miss was made of yellow pear wood, and some were made of rosewood, but her Miss could only use this worthless jichimu[6].
Yuxi restrained the smile on her face and said, "These are all things my aunt purchased personally for me with her heart. For what reason should I act ungrateful and instead become choosy? If my aunt knew, how unhappy would you think she would be?" Not to mention that Eldest Aunt would surely be unhappy when she heard this, and even Mama Shen would think Moju's words were terrible if she knew about it. At that time, Mama Shen would think that Moju was trying to incite disharmony between Yuxi and Yuchen's sistership. In the end, Moju would be the one who had to bear all the consequences.
Moju's face turned pale, and she cried, "Miss, that's not what I meant." She just felt that it was unfair that her Miss had been wronged.
Yuxi reminded her coldly, "Later on, you should think more before speaking to avoid trouble issues from the mouth[7]. I won't be able to protect you if this happens again."
Moju was originally not the type of person who was good with words. After this incident, she became increasingly inclined to speak. Yuxi thought it was right for Moju to say less, so she wouldn't likely make more mistakes.
Yuxi's study was finally finished being arranged, and everything was in order. Yuxi's next days became busier and busier. Sometimes she was exhausted that she would lie on her couch and wonder what she was doing at this time in her previous life. Sadly, she couldn't recall anything.
Time flew when people were busy, and one month passed before they knew it.
This day, after class, when Yuxi returned to Rose Courtyard, Hongshan also returned from outside. Hongshan lowered her voice and said to Yuxi, "Miss, Concubine Lian has a miscarriage. It was said that she had a male fetus." This was also what Yuxi had requested of Hongshan, to tell her whenever there was any trouble in residence. Otherwise, she would not dare to tell Yuxi about such dirty things. If Mama Shen knew, Hongshan would be stripped of her skin.
Yuxi felt a cold behind her back as she asked, "What's going on?"
Hongshan whispered, "Concubine Lian had been paying her respects to the Lady these days. However, today, she somehow slipped and fell not far from the Master Courtyard, so she lost the child."
Yuxi looked solemn. "What did the Old Lady say over there?" Concubine Rong had an excellent means to plant this incident on her aunt's head.
Hongshan replied, "The Old Lady scolded the Lady for her lax housekeeping. While the Duke was furious and called the Lady a poisonous woman. He also said that he would not have only two sons if the Lady had not been cruel." The Duke had several concubines, many of whom were pregnant before, but they either had miscarriages or died in the end.
Yuxi couldn't understand what was in her uncle's mind and was ashamed on behalf of her aunt many times. Fortunately, her Eldest Uncle was only given an empty post. Otherwise, no one would know what trouble he would cause in the future since he was so easy to get around. It was also estimated that the Old Lady knew that her eldest son was useless, so she only let him take the position in name only and fully trained her father.
Since the Old Lady didn't punish Qiu Shi, Yuxi also felt more assured. The genuine power holder in residence was not her uncle but the Old Lady. As long as the Old Lady didn't believe the incident was done by her aunt's hand, there would be no problem.
Footnotes Full List
- san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei
- I love bitter melon!
- unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
- steamed stuffed bun
- chicken-wing wood
- Chinese idiom: a loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble
Noob Translator's Musing
This Korean Drama called
The Secret Life of My Secretary is quite interesting. Maybe because I thought I didn't know who the actor and actress played the main lead. However, when I checked their profiles, the male lead, Kim Young-kwan, played the arrogant prosecutor in The Guardians (which I haven't finished watching. It's actually good, like Ocean Eleven, the drama version). The female lead Jin Ki-Joo played Kim Seul-gi's best friend in
Splash Splash Love (one of my fav dramas).
I've reached episode 8 of this drama, where Jung Kal-hee impersonated her former boss, Jessica Park, for her current boss, Do Min Ik, who had a problem with face blindness. When I watched it, I kept exclaiming, "No, Kal-hee. Tell him it's you. Please, please, please, don't do this." I know there will be people who will be hurt because of this. Should I continue watching? I dislike this kind of thing the most. But...I love how both actor and actress play their characters convincingly. Arrgh! Dilemma! Dilemma!
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi