Now that Yuxi had bought a few real estates and land property, it was impossible to hide such a big thing from the people of the residence. Of course, she also did not want to deceive people. It was also good to let them know she had money. At least they would not dare to underestimate her anymore. She was fed up with the supercilious look she received from the servants in her past life.
When Yuru knew this matter, her eyes spit out green fires. "Impossible! Where did Yuxi get such a large sum of money? Mother must have bought them for her. "
Qingxuan didn't feel it was like that at all as she said, "Miss, if it were only three hundred or five hundred taels[1], First Lady might have to supplement it. But, if we add up all these properties, it will cost a few thousand taels[1] of silver. The First Lady may like Fourth Miss dearly, but she is not her birth daughter. How can she give that much money to her just to buy the properties?" The First Lady was also a mother with her own sons. She couldn't give all her private money to Fourth Miss.
Yuru gave out a cold snort. "Do you mean that this silver was left to her by her mother? You may believe it, but I don't. At that time, Yuxi was so sick that she nearly died. If there was such a large sum of money, why didn't Mama Fang take it out then? "
Qingxuan felt that her Miss had penetrated into a bull's horn[2]. "Miss, Fourth Miss got smallpox at that time." No amount of money was going to help a person with smallpox.
Yuru still didn't want to believe it. She always felt that there was something wrong. She made an excuse to go to Rose Courtyard to find out the truth.
Yuxi answered Yuru's probing earnestly, without perfunctory or giving people room to think back.
Yuru didn't find any helpful information from Yuxi. She suddenly thought of something and asked Qingxuan, "Did you send someone to ask Mama Fang?"
Qingxuan didn't know how she should persuade her Miss at this time. "Miss, it takes a lot of money to ask someone to help with this, and we don't have much on hand."
Yuru was usually very economical. Every month, she would save a portion of her monthly allowance. Now, to investigate, she gritted her teeth and prepared to lay down her hard-earned savings. "Take out twenty taels[1] of silver. Then find an old woman on friendly terms with Mama Fang, and ask her to find out what happened from Mama Fang's own words."
Unfortunately, twenty taels[1] of silver were spent in vain as nothing could also be found from Mama Fang.
When Qingxuan saw that her Master was still full of doubts, she could not help saying, "Miss, Third Miss's two stores in the northwest alone worth ten thousand taels[1] of silver. These industries run by Fourth Miss are not enough to be compared with Third Miss."
Rather than being good advice, this statement only added fuel to the fire.
Yuxi soon knew what Yuru was up to, and she intentionally asked Mama Shen, "Mama Shen, what is Dajie[3] meaning?" Before, the probing that Yuru made on her had already irritated her so much. She didn't expect Yuru to go as far as seeking out Mama Fang.
Mama Shen replied, "Don't worry, Miss. Eldest Miss is just jealous of you."
Yuxi's face revealed a sneer, "I'm afraid it is not just jealousy." There must be some plot to get to the bottom of her current situation. Though, she did not understand it. If Yuru wanted to resent someone, shouldn't she envy Yuchen? Why fix her jealous eyes on her solely?
Yuxi did not know Yuru was extremely jealous of Yuchen, but Yuchen had always been perfect. So, Yuru felt inferior when she faced Yuchen. However, Yuxi was different. Yuxi was the worst of the four girls before, and Yuru was several times better than her. Now, Yuxi suddenly appeared better and climbed onto her head. So, Yuru was extremely unwilling to accept this kind of outcome.
Mama Shen thought for a moment and said, "Miss, would you like me to talk to Mama Luo about this?" Speaking to Mama Luo was like telling the Old Lady.
Yuxi nodded in response. Not only did she let the Old Lady know, but she would also tell Qiu Shi about this incident. "Eldest Aunt, what does Dajie[3] mean?" She disguised a crying face in the presence of the Old Lady and Qiu Shi using eye drops.
Qiu Shi had always been indifferent towards Yuru. "Just let her toss and turn. You don't have to pay attention to her." First, Yuru pretended to be sick to avoid going to classes. Then, she said Qiu Shi was biased towards Yuchen and Yuxi by providing both of them with a small kitchen. Now, she was making such a move. Qiu Shi used to think that Yuru was clever and sensible, but now she felt even more that Yuru was short-sighted, clearly showing that she was a person of humble birth.
Yuxi knew how to quit while she was ahead[4], as she immediately changed the subject. "Eldest Aunt, how is the little maid rules learning progress?" In her opinion, it was better if she personally trained that little maid. Then she would feel much rest assured.
Qiu Shi smiled. "She has completed her rules learning as others. I will send her to you this afternoon."
Not long after, Rose Courtyard welcomed a newcomer.
Yuxi looked at the little girl, as thin as a bamboo pole, kneeling on the ground. She was very suspicious, thinking if this person was the strong person that Qiu Shi had mentioned. "Do you really have a lot of strength?"
The little girl, somewhat scared, said, "Miss, I have been stronger than others since I was young." If Yuxi hadn't made it clear that she needed a strong little maid, she would not have been able to enter the eyes of the mama of the person in charge of the residence.
Yuxi felt that seeing is believing. "Then, you can show it to me by moving this table."
Looking at the little girl walking over and lifting the table, Yuxi was convinced she was indeed strong. The table weighed more than thirty catty. She could not even lift it nor move it. "Put it down!" Seeing the other party kneeling on the ground again, she asked, "What's your name? Where is your home? How did you get to our residence? "
The little girl answered, "My name is Sanya. I live in the mountains. I have two sisters and one brother. The family had to chip in to pay for my brother's education and buy a farm, so my mother sold my sisters and me." As to where her home was, she also did not know.
Yuxi had nothing to say. Many families favoured sons over daughters, and countless people sold their daughters for their sons. Sometimes, Yuxi was also very glad that she was born in the State Residence. Even if her father did not care about her mother's premature death, she never had to worry about food and clothing. Just in the morning, she saw some herbs and said, "From today on, your name will be Zijin[5]." The name Sanya was such poor taste.
Zijin[5] kowtowed three times to Yuxi and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you for giving me the name, and I will remember it."
That night, when Yuxi was writing in the study, she asked Zijin[5] to follow her. Seeing Zijin[5] looking at the huge characters written by her with her eyes filled with admiration, Yuxi smiled and asked, "Do you want to learn how to read?"
Zijin[5] hurriedly shook her head. "No." Reading was a costly thing. Where did she have the qualification to learn? However, watching Miss write characters warmed her heart and delighted her eyes[6].
Yuxi smiled. "I will teach you to read, but you must remember one thing. You are my people, and you will only listen to me in the future." She decided to cultivate Zijin[5] as her confidant. The people in residence were so intertwined that they could do ordinary things, but she was not at ease to involve her regarding private matters. Hence, she only dared to let Hongshan be responsible for inquiring about the news and doing some less important things. Even if Hongshan had decided to be on her side, she only dared to give some secret matters to Moju or Motao. Since Hongshan's family were in residence, nothing could be done about it. In case the Old Lady or someone took her family, threatening her, Yuxi didn't believe that Hongshan would still stay by her side.
Zijin[5] immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Handmaiden is born as Miss's people, and when in death will be Miss's ghost."
Yuxi bowed her head and wrote down the two characters 忠心 (zhōng xīn[7]) and handed them to Zijin[5] as she said, "These two characters mean loyalty. You should keep these two words in mind first." Since Zijin[5] was going to be her confidant, she needed to learn Chinese characters. However, Yuxi was not in a hurry. Knowing a little every day was enough for years to come.
Zijin[5] respectfully said, "Yes."
Yuxi smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. I won't mistreat you as long as you don't have second thoughts. I have instructed Moju, and she will teach you well in the future". As a master, she could not teach a servant girl to do things, so she gave the job to Moju.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and one would sweat with every step one took while on the way. During the holiday, Yuchen didn't go to Marquis Pingqing's residence but instead invited Yuxi to Tingyun Pavilion.
Tingyun Pavilion was windy on all sides since it was situated by the lake. So, it was cool even without using any ice.
In the past, after Yuchen had finished playing her qin, she would ask Yuxi to comment. Yuxi would feel embarrassed and say, "San Jie[8], you know I don't have innate skill in music theory. You asked me to comment, but how will I explain why I gave that comment?" If she were told to look at a painting and to tell what was in it, she could say one, two or three, four and five things. But when it came to
qin, she was powerless.
Yuchen smiled and said, "I just want you to listen to it. Treat it as your amusement."
Coming here just to listen to the tunes wasn't something hard for Yuxi to do. Yuchen folded her legs and sat on the qin table. She adjusted her timbre before she started to play. After playing two songs in succession, she asked, "Si Meimei[9], what do you think of my qin playing?"
Yuxi was busy eating peaches rather than listening to the songs just now. So she couldn't say how pleasant the songs were. She just said, "It was pleasant to hear." But she could not describe why they were nice.
Yuxi thought it was finally over. How could she know that Yuchen took her to the painting studio next? Looking at the floor of the house covered with paintings, she was somewhat ashamed. She had also studied painting with Teacher Song for so long. Although Teacher Song said she was talented, she had not painted any pictures.
After spending two hours in Tingyun Pavilion, Yuxi returned to Rose Courtyard with Hongshan. Once Hongshan left Tingyun Pavilion, she said to Yuxi, "Handmaiden has always heard that Tingyun Pavilion is warm in winter and cool in summer. I didn't think that the rumours were true." After saying that, she carefully looked at Yuxi and felt relieved when she saw no reaction. Because of the Old Lady's particular preference for Third Miss, both Eldest Miss and Second Miss were dissatisfied. However, her Miss didn't seem to care.
Yuxi smiled gently. If she cared about this, she would be similar to Yuru, who always tried to penetrate into a bull's horn[10].
After a short walk, Hongshan suddenly remembered one thing she forgot to tell Yuxi. "Miss, Concubine Rong is about to give birth. This child doesn't seem to have an easy journey!" During Concubine Rong's pregnancy, two incidents happened. One time, she ate a dirty thing that could lead to abortion. Fortunately, she only ate a little. Another time, she fell in the garden. Although there was a pregnancy complication, the child could still be saved. Hongshan had to admire Concubine Rong. If Second Miss had learned a few tricks from Concubine Rong, she would not have been grounded until now.
Yuxi also knew that Concubine Rong's delivery period was this month.
Hongshan said, "Both the midwife and the physician have confirmed that Concubine Rong's baby is a son." Even without a son, Concubine Rong already managed to get in the way of the First Lady by some degrees. Once she had one, she would surely climb onto the First Lady's head. So, Hongshan felt that the First Lady might not let the child be born safely.
Yuxi chuckled. "Son or daughter, none is an obstacle to my Eldest Aunt." Her aunt's position as the Lady of the State Residence had already become solid. No one could shake it, even the Old Lady. However, when Concubine Rong came, her aunt had somehow given in to her from time to time.
Footnotes Full List
- unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
- Chinese idiom: waste time on an insoluble or insignificant problem
- eldest sister
- Chinese idiom: stop before going too far
- corydalis
- Chinese idiom: find the scenery pleasing to both the eye and the mind
- loyalty
- san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- si=fourth, meimei=younger sister
- Chinese idiom: to waste time on an insoluble or insignificant problem
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi