Zisu settled the two sisters and went out, leaving them in the room.
Deng Xue glanced at the arrangement in the room, then asked in a lowered voice, "Dajieda=eldest, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie¹, I see that the Fourth Miss isn"t like how aunt had said about her." From Deng Shi"s mouth, Yuxi was categorised as a foolish rich master. It was no wonder Deng Shi thought so. If Yuxi wasn"t foolish, who would spend so much money for a maid to learn martial arts.
Deng Shi thought that Yuxi who was deep in the boudoir wouldn"t definitely know the market outside. In fact, Yuxi was very clear of the price in martial arts school. The best military official in the capital would only charge a hundred tael1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old)² of silver a year. However, there were very few female masters, and it was even more difficult to find the one who was after one"s heartChinese idiom : satisfying one³. Thus, Yuxi made Zijin learn martial arts from Deng Shi. Later on, although Deng Shi didn"t take Zijin as her apprentice, she still taught Zijin carefully and did not hide any secrets from her, so Yuxi allowed Zijin to continue her studies.
Deng Shuang said, "Remember what aunt said when we went out. When we are here, we talk less and work more." Father Deng was also an armed escort. When he was wounded in those days, he couldn"t stop from taking a lot of medicines. He kept on seeing a physician and taking medicines like he had fallen into a bottomless pit, and within two years the Deng family"s financial resources finally emptied out. Mother Deng couldn"t stand living in such a poor life. As a result, she left her three young children to elope with another man. Father Deng couldn"t stand the blow that he vomited blood and died. At that time, Deng Shi even had already set her wedding date, but she voluntarily withdrew from her marriage for the sake of her nieces and nephew. Over the years, she had been working hard to raise them.
Deng Xue nodded and said, "Jiejieelder sister⁴, you don"t have to worry, I won"t act rashly." She was not as calm as Deng Shuang, but she was very obedient. She always listened to everything Deng Shi and Deng Shuang said.
Deng Shuang looked at her meimeiyounger sister⁵ and smiled. "You don"t have to think too much about it either. We"ll be staying in this courtyard for just a few days. Although I don"t know what will happen, I think we can go back after a few days." Although Zijin didn"t say how much the payment would be, by looking at what the Fourth Miss had done for Zijin, it was certain that Fourth Miss would not be a petty master.
From what Deng Shi heard from Zijin, when she thought about Miss Yuxi"s family, the danger would be limited, therefore, she let the two sisters go there together. The rewards they received would be used to buy more dowry for themselves.
When Deng Xue heard this, she lowered her voice and inquired, "Jiejieelder sister⁴, when we go back, how do you feel about requesting for a bolt of red satin from Fourth Miss?" Deng Shuang had been engaged and would be married at the end of the year. If they could get Fourth Miss to reward them with red satin for the wedding dress, it would have been extremely grand.
Deng Shuang laughed, "There are some things that don"t need us to mention." If they mentioned it themselves, their status would fall to the lower level. If Ziyin had a heart, she would definitely mention it to the Fourth Miss.
Less than half an hour after the Deng sisters arrived at the Rose Courtyard, Feicui from the main room came and informed Yuxi that the Old Lady had invited her to the main house.
Yuxi was not afraid of the Old Lady now, but she had been very defensive lately. She always felt that all she did have been seen through by the Old Lady. "Let"s go right away." There was no need to dress up to meet the Old Lady. It was enough for her just to wear home wear to go there. .
When Yuxi got to the main room, the Old Lady noticed the red paper affixed to Yuxi"s right eyelid and asked, "What is going on here?"
Yuxi didn"t hide it either, as she explained, "From yesterday until now, my right eye has been twitching all the time. When Eldest Aunt found out about it, she made me stick this paper here." Actually, she felt it was useless to stick this on, as her right eyelid just started twitching again at the entrance. However, it wasn"t good for her to question Qiu Shi"s good intention.
The Old Lady"s face changed slightly. People of her age were actually very superst.i.tious. "Don"t go out within this period of time." When a person right eyelid started to twitch, it meant that something bad was going to happen.
Yuxi nodded in agreement.
Only then did the Old Lady ask about the Deng sisters. ""What is the ident.i.ty of those two girls? And why did you bring them in for?" She knew that the matter must have received Qiu Shi"s approval, but it was still necessary to prod over it. Advocating strangers to enter the residence without permission should not be turned into a habit. As the matter of fact, the Old Lady had some complaints in her heart against Qiu Shi, for becoming more and more indulgent towards Yuxi.
Yuxi hesitated for a bit but then she told her, "Grandmother, I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that my Rose Courtyard was covered with blood and I was also covered with blood myself, which made my heart felt very afraid as I always felt that something bad was going to happen."
The Old Lady"s expression did not even change for a bit after she heard this. She instead said, "Dreams always show the opposite of reality."
Mama Luo also did some research on this matter as she stated, "Dreaming of blood usually indicates that one is going to get rich. Fourth Miss, your fortune has arrived." In a way, she kinda of will be receiving a "fortune".ᵀᴺ
The corner of Yuxi"s mouth twitched, but she sincerely said, "Grandmother, I won"t be this afraid if it"s just a nightmare. But my right eyelid keeps on twitching after I had that dream and I became very upset, so I wrote to Zijin this morning to ask for her return today. At least, with her around, I can be a little bit at ease."
If Yuxi invited Zijin to come back, even the Old Lady couldn"t pick out any problem, after all, Zijin was Yuxi"s personal maid. The Old Lady asked, "Then, why did Zijin bring the other two girls? To take the liberty of bringing in strangers like that, did she totally forget what her position is?"
What Yuxi hated the most was that the Old Lady always treated a small issue like it was a big issue. However, the Old Lady was still the one who held the greatest power in the residence, so she couldn"t afford to offend her. "Zijin was very anxious after reading my letter, so she invited her two senior sisters to come and protect me."
The Old Lady expression turned a little ugly. What did Yuxi mean that they were here to protect her? As if the residence was a dragon"s pool and tiger"s denChinese idiom : danger spot⁶. She calmly said, "If you are not at ease, arrange for some strong old women servants to live with you. They are also much better than the two little girls." She was very unhappy when Yuxi sent Zijin to learn martial arts. Only after Qiu Shi and Han Jianye helped to intercede that she felt that it was not worthwhile for her to sweep the face of her daughter-in-law and grandson over this petty thing, hence she agreed. However, this didn"t mean that she was willing to let Yuxi mixed with outside people.
How would Yuxi be willing to send people away? "Grandmother, I have promised the Deng sisters to let them stay here and they will go back after three days. Grandmother, Teacher Song used to teach us that a person should keep his word. Grandmother, I can"t be a person who goes against her own promise."
Old Lady Han flashed a little smile from the corner of her mouth, which indicated that she felt Yuxi was actually not bad. Even Yuxi"s mouth had become more and more nimble. Unexpectedly, the Old Lady had actually been pressed with her own great principles by Yuxi, "Since you are determined, I won"t embarra.s.s you either. You can let them stay if you want, but you better stay in your own yard these days and don"t come out." She believed that if Yuxi stayed in her own yard, there would not be any disaster coming their way.
Yuxi didn"t have any problem with this either, as she nodded her head in response, "Okay."
Mama Luo felt that Yuxi was acting more and more recklessly nowadays. "Old Lady, the Eldest Lady is following Fourth Miss" words more and more now. This old servant was really worried that if things went on like this, Fourth Miss won"t know how to restrain herself anymore."
The Old Lady casted a glance at Mama Luo and said, "You keep on provoking me with your words. Enough already. I believe that girl knows how far she can go and when she should stop." With what happened to Han Jianye before, the Old Lady had become more tolerant of Yuxi. Han Jianye"s incident was enough to show that although Yuxi had estrangement and even psychological resentment towards her and Yan-er, she was not really a cold-hearted person. If there was something bad happening in the residence. Yuxi would surely put forth her strength to help. Pardon me, Old Lady, whatever good things she did so far were mostly for her own self, her aunt and Han Jianye. Not for the residence.ᵀᴺ
Mama Luo hesitated for a moment, then she said, "Old Lady, the Fourth Miss took advantage of managing the household to install many of her people. Should we just let her?" Since it was necessary to insert people, it was natural that some people would be pulled down from the stage. Many of those who had been pulled down were Old Lady"s people. .
The Old Lady did not have any problem with the way Yuxi managed the household, despite her act of disposing some of the old servants and she had placed all her people in inconspicuous positions, without moving any of her confidants. From here, it could be seen that Yuxi really had a sense of propriety, where she didn"t make the Old Lady resentful of her action and at the same time, achieving her own goal. Truly killing two birds with a stone. "That girl, her conduct has become increasingly thorough." It was just that Yuxi was still a little young, so it was going to take another two years of practice for her to become sophisticated and no longer became a cause for concern.
As the Old Lady followed Yuxi"s side, she realised that many of Yuchen"s problems also came out. Yuchen was not as good as Yuxi in her work, and she always looked ahead into the future and back into the pastChinese idiom : be overcautious and indecisive⁷, despite that, the results had never been neat, which was actually very bad. However, after the Old Lady mentioned them to her, Yuchen made a lot of progress.
When Mama Luo saw this situation, she couldn"t say anything anymore. It was just that there were still things she could only lament in her heart, this was truly 30 years in the east of the river and then the next 30 years in the west of the riverChinese proverb : fortune changes with time⁸. Eight years ago the Fourth Miss was just a little transparent to the Old Lady, but now she was almost equal to the Third Miss in the Old Lady"s eyes.
After Yuxi finished her dinner, news came from the concierge that someone had brought a box of things. "Zijin, your things have arrived, go and get them yourself!"
Zijin immediately went outside to get her things.
Zisu looked at Yuxi with her brow still tightly furrowed, "Miss, what"s wrong?"
Yuxi replied, "My eyelid has stopped twitching." Since her eyelid didn"t twitch anymore, this proved that the calamity wasn"t far away from her. Because this matter had happened so long ago, her brain could only remember that the palace changed in the middle of the fourth lunar month, but somehow she couldn"t remember what day it was. That"s what happens when you don"t do anything back then!
Zisu didn"t know what Yuxi was thinking, thus she reminded her, "Miss, you should listen to the Old Lady, don"t go anywhere!"
Yuxi didn"t explain, as she just nodded slightly. She was not Heshou Xianzhuhe = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to daughter of a Junw.a.n.g⁹. Heshou Xianzhuhe = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to daughter of a Junw.a.n.g⁹ was not afraid of being criticized or doubted, but she was. She was afraid that she would be killed because she was a monster. She did not want to die. She just wanted to live well and later on, she would lead a peaceful life. Henceforth, she couldn"t say anything, and she wouldn"t say anything to anyone.
A quarter or so later, Zijin brought the box back. The box was sent directly to Yuxi"s room, and after waiting for everyone to leave, she opened the box and took out the broadsword inside.
Yuxi looked at the broadsword that radiated a cold light and asked, "Have you edged the sword?" The so-called "edged the sword" means covered with blood.
Zijin froze for a moment, then she shook her head, "No."
Yuxi asked, "If a thief rushes into the courtyard, will you dare to cut someone with that sword?" She could only hope that she had been mistaken, that this life would still be as it had been in a previous one, and the thugs would just leave after storming at the gates, instead of what she had thought recently, where there would be changes this time around. But what if it happened in the way that she thought it would be? By that time, there would definitely be some blood.
Zijin opened her mouth and answered after a while, "Miss, how can someone just rush into the yard and kill people?" It wasn"t like the house guards outside were just posing. There was absolutely no way this would happen.
Yuxi said, "I was only asking you, if you really encounter this kind of situation, do you dare to kill?" Zijin was only one year older than her. Over the years, her life had been drifting with the wind and the currentChinese idiom : smooth sailing¹⁰. Yuxi was worried that in case such situation happened, Zijin would be inconvenient to do it.
Zijin nodded, "I dare. If anyone dares to hurt a girl, I will fight with him till death." She didn"t remember where her home was, but she remembered her childhood very well. At her old home, she never ate a full meal, wore warm clothes, and was often beaten until she met Miss. She could not only eat and wear warm clothes, but she could also read and write, and even had the opportunity to learn martial arts. Without Miss, there would be no her today.
Yuxi nodded and explained, ""I had a dream yesterday that a bandit entered the courtyard to kill someone. Plus my right eyelid keeps on twitching, so I"m a little worried."
Zijin said, "Miss, I heard that dreams always showed the opposite of the reality!"
Yuxi laughed, ""I"m just merely taking precaution. There"s no better time for us to prepare than right now, and if something like this does happen, at least we won"t lose our heads out of fear Chinese idiom : panic-stricken¹¹."
Zijin felt like the scared people after hearing frightening wordsChinese idiom : alarmist¹².
Yuxi smiled and didn"t explain more. It was good if nothing happened, she also hoped that there was nothing, but in case it happened, they would not be feeling any fear as they had prepared themselves.
As Yuxi thought of this, she went into her study, lifted the brush, and began to draw the setup of the state residence backyard. She could be selfish and ignore other people, but the people in the Rose Courtyard had served her for so many years. For this reason, she should try to protect everyone within the scope of protection that she was able to give.
Noob Translator"s Musing
I don"t know what"s wrong with Mama Luo. She seems to go against Yuxi lately.
This is really cool! :: :: ::