In the twinkling of an eye, it was already the fifth month of the lunar year.
Looking at the roses crawling over the branches, Yuxi whispered, "It has been a year." It had been a year since her rebirth. This year, she changed a lot. She also believed that the future would change and become better.
Hongshan came in from the outside and said, "Miss, Concubine Rong ate some unclean things, and she had a pregnancy complication. Luckily, the child was saved."
Yuxi turned around and asked, "If I remember correctly, Concubine Rong should be seven months pregnant, right?" Concubine Rong was also quite impressive. During the past six months, she had reassured herself in raising her child, but she secretly had taken away the unborn child of Concubine Lian while her child had not faced any serious problems.
Hongshan nodded. "Speaking of which, this child was also fortunate."
Yuxi tried to recall this event in her previous life. Regrettably, she couldn't remember what had happened at that time. Though there was only one thing she could be sure of, Concubine Rong didn't have a son. She had only one child, who was Yujing. That was to say, either the child in Concubine Rong's stomach hadn't been born safely, or the child died young. "As a matter of fact, Er Jie[1] has been confined for nearly half a year." Initially, the Old Lady ordered Yujing's confinement to be a year, and Yuxi thought it was merely a talk. She didn't expect it to be true. This confinement in the Buddhist family hall had happened for half a year, making her feel that Yujing probably had gone mad for being confined.
Hongshan thought that Second Miss' confinement had made everyone's life peaceful and quiet. "If Second Miss comes out, we will not be able to live this peacefully anymore."
Yuxi smiled softly. "What is there to be afraid of? That last time, I was defenceless; however, this time, there won't be a repeat of what happened at that time. "Later, she would not let herself suffer any more losses against Yujing.
That evening, Hongshan brought a message to Yuxi, "Miss, Mama Fang said she will come to visit tomorrow."
When Yuxi heard this news, a smile appeared on her face. Since Mama Fang would be entering the residence tomorrow, the matter had progressed smoothly.
When Mama Fang saw Yuxi the next day, her face was filled with joy. "Miss, Yao Ji's shopkeeper, is willing to buy our prescription, but he asked to be the sole seller."
This request was not excessive, so Yuxi naturally agreed. The two discussed for a long time before Mama Fang left the residence.
In the afternoon of the same day, Yao Ji's general shopkeeper got the prescription for the ointment. Looking at what was written, his heart whispered, it doesn't look like a little girl's handwriting.
As Mama Fang looked at the shopkeeper, she said, "If the shopkeeper is not at ease, then just forget about it."
The shopkeeper chuckled. "No, I just think these words seemed to have just been written recently."
Mama Fang's heart jumped, but she did not have stage fright this time, "As long as the prescription is fine, when it was written is not important. The shopkeeper is the one in charge, isn't so?"
General shopkeeper Yao naturally wouldn't
put on a rival show[2] with Mama Fang at this time, as he didn't understand pharmacology. He glanced at it once more and then handed it over to an elderly man with a long beard whose age was estimated to be about fifty years old.
After reading the prescription, the bearded old man said to the shopkeeper, "Most of the ingredients listed in the prescription are used to make a scar-removing ointment." During this period, the Yao Ji store had already specially assigned a person to analyse the ingredients of this ointment. Of course, only the general composition could be analysed. It was impossible to examine how to allocate and how many materials were used for a single ointment.
General shopkeeper Yao was highly delighted. Originally, he was only thinking of giving it a try. However, he didn't expect to find a golden egg. He let the bearded old man go out first, then said to Mama Fang, "We can sign the contract now."
Mama Fang shook her head. "My Master said that no contract will be signed." If you didn't sign a contract, it meant that you were unwilling to let go of your handle on the prescription.
Yao Ji's general shopkeeper's eyebrows quivered with some embarrassment. He had found out all the ins and outs of Mama Fang, and he roughly guessed that the prescription should have come from the Fourth Miss of the Duke Han of the State's official residence. Although he didn't know where she got the ancient remedy, he would accept it as long as the prescription was valid. He had no doubt for its genuineness. Although the ointment was not good-looking, he had tested it for a month, and the effect was excellent. Several kinds of scar-removing creams currently in circulation on the market were not as effective as this one. So, he said, "I can't pay without a contract!" The most important thing was, if there was any problem, he could ask the creator of the ointment.
Mama Fang outrightly said, "My Master said that if you don't believe me, you can wait until the ointments are made before paying."
Yao Ji's general shopkeeper was dumbfounded, as he didn't expect the other party to be this daring. He thought for a moment and then said, "If it is this way, I will pay one-third of the amount first and then pay the rest after the ointments have been completely made." This was already the foremost authority he could use.
Mama Fang nodded in agreement and added, "My Master also said she was willing to sell you the prescription only because she saw Yao Ji's business reputation was the best. If you keep your promise, no third person will know about this."
Yao Ji's general shopkeeper understood why Mama Fang didn't dare to collect the money first. Both she nor her Master did not worry about them not paying at all. If the shop didn't dare to pay, they would sell the prescription to other shops. If things were not exclusive, profits would be significantly reduced. However, if he leaked the story about Fourth Miss being the seller, it would not harm Fourth Miss significantly but would damage their reputation instead. The shopkeeper immediately said, "Fang
niangzi[3], rest assured. This matter will never be spread. The rest of the money will be sent to you as soon as the ointment is made. "
Mama Fang shook her head. "When the time comes, you can send a message, and I'll get it myself." She didn't want anyone to know that she had a business relationship with Yao Ji Shop.
For this prescription, Yuxi's first offer was fifteen thousand taels[4]. However, shopkeeper Yao knew she didn't want her residence to know, so he deliberately lowered the price to eight thousand taels[4]. After both sides haggled over the price, they finally agreed on the cost of twelve thousand taels[4] of silver. This time, the shopkeeper paid four thousand taels[4] of silver first as per agreement.
A sample of silver tickets or
yín piào of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Image credited to artxun via baike.baidu.com.
Image credited to artxun via baike.baidu.com.
Mama Fang carefully took the silver tickets with both hands and put them in her pocket. When she walked out of the door, her legs were still shaking, as she had never seen so much money in her life!
After sending off Mama Fang, shopkeeper Yao couldn't help but whisper to the waiting old man by his side, "Third Uncle, you said that the Fourth Miss of the Duke Han of the State's official residence was only five years old. Why is she so hard to handle? "Such a precious thing and she dared to take it out so casually. He would have treated the prescription like an apple of his eye if it was him.
The bearded old man said, "It doesn't matter whether Fourth Miss Han is hard to deal with. What matters is this prescription. Nothing else matters as long as it can make money for us." The other party asked them not to reveal the news, indicating that she didn't want others to know about it. Thus it could be seen that she tried to avoid this matter being known by people of Duke Han of the State's official residence.
The old man didn't think much of it. Many things could happen in a large family. A little girl suddenly got such a large sum of money, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep a cent if this was known. That was why she made this kind of request.
General shopkeeper Yao nodded. "What Third Uncle said is right."
The four thousand silver tickets made Mama Fang nervous for the next few days. After half a month, she got another eight thousand taels[4] of silver, which made her feel so anxious that she couldn't sleep well, afraid that something would go wrong. When Moju came to deliver things, she immediately handed the box containing the money to Moju and said, "This box contains the income from last month. Take it back to Miss."
Moju took it with both hands. "Mama, rest assured, I'll give it to Miss." The box was locked. One key was in Mama Fang's hand, and the other was with Yuxi.
When Yuxi saw the money box, she still looked like usual and instructed, "Put it down. I'll look at it first, and then you can register them into account in the evening." Everything she acquired must be accounted for, and the person in charge of the money box was Moju.
Moju was loyal and honest, so Yuxi still felt at ease with her. Of course, money and accounts were separated into two things. Even if Moju started to think carefully about everything, Yuxi would still not be worried.
Although Mama Fang didn't come to the residence, she also entrusted Hongshan's brother with the message. Of course, they all used the code words agreed upon in advance. So, Yuxi knew there was something else inside the money box.
After Moju went out, Yuxi took out the key and opened the box. She saw a pile of broken silvers pressing on several sheets of silver tickets inside.
Yuxi was thrilled to see these silver tickets. When she married Jiang Hongjin in her previous life, her dowry was more than twenty thousand silver. However, Yuxi soon calmed down. These twelve thousand tickets and two silver pieces were huge sums, but they could only buy a few decorations in Yuchen's house, which meant that there was nothing for her to be too excited about.
With such a large sum of money, Yuxi felt she had to buy some properties quickly. Having a property meant that she had a fixed income every year. This way, she would not have to worry about money later on. Even if she didn't receive any money from her mama's baozi[5] shop, she would still make money through her properties. She also didn't have much ambition either. As long as she had plenty of money, she believed she would have a comfortable life in the future. After facing so many things, she knew very well that it was much more convenient to have money and use them to handle things in the residence. Hongshan's vast relationship with others, on the one hand, added to her ability to scout out some news, which would surely cost her a lot of money.
Yuxi was not in a hurry either. It would not take only a day or two to complete the purchase of properties. It would have to be done slowly, not hurriedly.
When Yuxi received a large sum of money, she still acted the same. Even her personal maid, Moju and Hongshan, didn't see any difference in her.
In a blink of an eye, it was vacation time again. There would be two days off every month, and both days were the last two days of each month. This was Teacher Song's habit, which could not be shaken even with thunder[6].
One day, Yuchen offered an invitation. "Si Mei[7], my uncle will have his birthday in a couple of days. Please come with me!" She was very much loved by the Old Lady of Marquis Pingqing's residence. That was why she had to learn from Teacher Song. Otherwise, Old Lady Jiang would often take her back to the Jiang family.
Yuxi politely refused. "San Jie[8], I have to review my lessons these two days, so I won't go." Some young misses of Marquis Pingqing's residence had a high outlook, and they liked turning up their noses at her just because she was the second wife's daughter. In her previous life, she was looked down on by them, so she was not prepared to start making friends with some people in Marquis Pingqing's residence.
Yuxi intended to take advantage of this two-day holiday to study double-sided embroidery. The talent for learning things was significant. She felt it was challenging to learn qin, but with this double-sided embroidery, even if no one had taught her, she already had gotten the knack of it. Once you got the skill, it was much easier to master.
Yuchen was disappointed, but she did not insist.
Looking at Yuxi's back, Shishu said unevenly, "Miss has planned everything for Fourth Miss, but she is not even sympathetic. Miss, you'd better stay away from her in the future!" She felt that Yuxi did not know what was good or bad and was not worth the trouble for her Miss.
Yuchen looked at Shishu and said flatly, "You are getting old too. I will ask my Grandmother to let you out."
These words were like a thunderbolt from the clear sky[9]. It did not only frighten Shishu but also Shiqin. "Miss," said Shiqin, "Although this is a little overstepping, it is also for Miss' sake."
Yuchen warned coldly, "For my sake, you can provoke my relationship with my
Si Meimei[10]? The last time I didn't pursue it because she (Shishu) had served me for many years. This time, I am determined not to spare anyone anymore."
Shishu collapsed to the ground.
Footnotes Full List
- er=second, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- Chinese idiom: to get into confrontation
- polite form of address for a woman
- unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
- steamed stuffed bun
- Chinese idiom: the arrangements are unalterable
- si=fourth, mei=elder sister, short form for Meimei
- san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- Chinese metaphor : a sudden accident
- si=fourth, meimei=elder sister
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi