Chapter 13: Ruiji [Section Two] (Part 1)

Translator: Tygris
English proofreader: 247Reader

It was the night of the first day of the last month of the year. The Emperor, in accordance with the ancestral regulations, rested in the Empress’s palace. Ruyi was listening to the desolate, chilly wind and the heavily blanketed snow outside while staring at the light, lost in thought, when she saw A’Ruo coming in, shaking off the snowflakes covering her body. A’Ruo moved closer and greeted [Ruyi], “Little Mistress.”

Ruyi poured a bowl of tea from her own teapot and handed it to A’Ruo, and also handed her a hand furnace to hold. “Have a drink of hot tea to warm up.”

A’Ruo, shivering from the cold, drank the entire bowl of hot tea in a single gulp. After warming up a bit, she said, “[This servant has] completed [her] investigation. Second Class Attendant Mei was indeed sent in by our fu ^[1]府 (fǔ) means mansion or official residence. Here, it is used as a metonym for the Ula Nara clan. More generally, this is a common way to refer to other clans as well. For example, “the White House” is often used to refer to the US President. and did indeed enter [the palace] under the acknowledgement of the Former Mistress. But that year, the late Emperor was replenishing the stock of Nanfu musicians, and every fu selected the best musicians to send into the palace, not just ours. This servant has checked: Second Class Attendant Mei is seventeen this year and was sent in at the age of twelve.”

The hongluo charcoal in the brazier burned vigorously. Every so often, a few speckles of red embers sprang out. Ruyi slowly picked at her nails, considering. “Could it be that Paternal Aunt had arranged for someone to be planted in the palace so early? It is just that Paternal Aunt never mentioned this person to me before.”

A’Ruo twisted her plaits. She said, “This servant also thought thus. But in those last few years, the Former Mistress was too busy to even take care of herself ^[2]自顾不暇 (zì gù bù xiá) means that even taking care of oneself takes more energy than one has and does not have the energy to take care of others. and did not have much contact with Little Mistress. It is understandable if she simply forgot.”

Ruyi nodded. “Maybe we are overthinking. Every fu sent someone in; one just happened to be ours, as well. In the eyes of others, though, those with suspicions would think that I was the one to instigate sending her to the Emperor.”

A’Ruo replied, “Is that not exactly the case? Any kind of messy matter can be blamed on us. Little Mistress can no longer be so mild-tempered. One of these days, strike them when they least expect it, and they will know how powerful we are.”

Ruyi laughed. “No matter how powerful [we are], it cannot be compared to the power of your mouth!” She squatted down and picked up the crow-colored fire tongs to poke at the charcoal in the brazier. A burst of fragrance rose from the bottom.

A’Ruo took a few sniffs and said happily, “How nice! It is the smell of roasted chestnuts!”

Ruyi smiled. “Knowing that you enjoy these, as soon as you left, I tossed quite a few chestnuts into the brazier. Now, they are just ready. You can grab the fire tongs yourself and pick them out. Be careful not to burn your hand.”

With a smile, A’Ruo swiftly ^[3]Here, the author used the term 忙不迭 (máng bù dié) which means extremely hastily. agreed. Taking out the chestnuts, which had been roasted till they burst open, she began peeling and eating them with no care for the heat.

The lights in the warm room were bright, and the sweet aroma of chestnuts wafted faintly in the air. The master’s and servant’s gazes met midair, and they smiled happily.

Over the next few days, whenever someone was called to attend to the Emperor at night, it would always be Second Class Attendant Mei of Yong’he Palace. The favor that she enjoyed was unrivaled. In addition, there was goose feather-like snow ^[4]鹅毛大雪 (é máo dà xuě) describes extremely heavy snow, referring to densely falling snow with snowflakes as big as goose feathers. for many days in a row, making it inconvenient to go outside, and so the Empress exempted [everyone] from the morning and evening payment of respects. ^[5]晨昏定省 (chén hūn dìng xǐng) means to serve parents before bed at night and to visit them in the morning to ask about their well-being. This was a daily etiquette for serving parents in the old days. It comes from the first chapter of the Book of Rites. During this period of time, everyone accumulated heavy curiosity about this never-before-seen Second Class Attendant Mei.

Finally, after five or six days, the snow stopped and the skies cleared—it was finally possible to step outdoors. On that day, when everyone came to pay their respects, they all arrived exceptionally early.

As expected, just after settling down and exchanging a bit of conversation with the Empress, the eunuch outside announced, “Second Class Attendant Mei has arrived.”

Hearing these words, the concubines who had originally been laughing and talking smoothly all fell silent, looking uncontrollably towards the outside. 

The doors opened. A woman dressed in a cherry-red su-silk ^[6]This is referring to silk from Suzhou. Somewhat related: Suzhou embroidery – Wikipedia  qizhuang ^[7]See: Qizhuang – Wikipedia embroidered with gardenia flowers and butterflies filled their vision as she walked in. She had her hair in an exquisite bun, adorned with no gold ornaments, but only a few tourmaline flowers dotting her hair, two hairpins with hanging snow-white pearls slanted in her bun, and embedded sparkling purple pearls glistening at her temples. As she walked closer, one could see that her outfit was embroidered with tiny, pale-magenta gardenia flowers accompanied by silver threaded lake-blue and light-green butterflies. The embroidery was so delicate and life-like that it seemed as if, with a simple breath, the flowers would bloom and the butterflies would begin fluttering across the dress.

Noble Consort Hui, seeing that she no longer dressed the same as she had before, sneered, “Vixen!”

Second Class Attendant Mei kept her head lowered the entire time, so no one was able to see her features clearly, but Noble Lady Jia was already wondering aloud, “Our winter clothes have always been thick and heavy. Why is her outfit so light and thin, as if she does not fear the cold?”

Concubine Chun, sitting at her side, replied in a lowered voice. “One hears from the Imperial Household Department that the Jiangning Weaving Factory ^[8]江宁织造 (jiāng níng zhī zào) was an Imperial merchant that had set up a weaving factory in present-day Nanjing during the Ming and Qing dynasties to produce silk fabrics for the Imperial Palace. This is under the purview of the Imperial Household Department. ^[9]Imperial merchants originally referred to members of the Imperial clan who engaged in business or the people who managed businesses on their behalf, but later the term expanded to include merchants employed in an official capacity by the Qing Dynasty government to operate important national industries. Imperial merchants were affiliated with the Imperial Household Department, and the position could be inherited/kept in the family. For example, the Jiangning Weaving Factory, famously overseen by the Cao clan, was responsible for providing silk products and satin to the Imperial Palace. In three generations, they had four people in charge of the Jiangning Weaving Factory. For more information on the Cao clan, read the family section of Cao Xueqin – Wikipedia, who was the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classics of Chinese literature, though it seems that he was but a young child when the Cao clan fell from favor/somehow incurred the wrath of Yongzheng. Based on how the Imperial merchant position was inherited, Cao Xueqin could have been the fourth generation to take over the Jiangning Weaving Factory had the Cao clan not fallen from favor! has recently sent in as tribute a type of warm satin, which, though light and thin, is very warm.”

Noble Lady Jia gave a despondent sigh. “Ever since the Emperor ascended the throne, the Empress has issued an order prohibiting the use of pure gold accessories, gold thread in clothing, and fine fabrics from Jiangnan, saying that those were overly extravagant. Now, look at her outfit. The material is su-silk, but even a Second Class Attendant has used silver thread in the weaving. Though there are no gold accessories, is tourmaline not a precious stone?”

Concubine Chun minutely shook her head, signalling [Noble Lady Jia] to be quiet.

Second Class Attendant Mei bowed with her head lowered. “This concubine, née Bai of Yong’he Palace, pays respects to Empress Niangniang and all the Little Mistresses. May Empress Niangniang enjoy ten thousand blessings and golden peace. May the Little Mistresses enjoy satisfaction in all matters.”

The Empress smiled gracefully and spoke harmoniously. “This must be Younger Sister Mei. Originally, we should have met earlier, but it happened that heavy snow has been falling continuously, and so we meet only today.

“Rise.

“Lianxin, bestow a seat.”

Second Class Attendant Mei raised her head. Everyone had, seeing her exquisite accoutrements, thought that she was some sort of charming beauty. Who knew that when she looked up, her face was merely delicate and fair. Although her face was indeed pretty, it could only be considered somewhat above average. Other people did not react much, but Noble Lady Jia breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. She lowered her head and, fiddling with a silver-embedded jadeite bracelet, smiled without speaking.

Lianxin moved a chair behind First Class Attendant Hai and invited Second Class Attendant Mei to sit, and also attentively brought her tea.

Second Class Attendant Mei was not shy and responded clearly, “[This concubine] should have come to pay respects to Empress Niangniang earlier, but unfortunately, due to poor weather, was forced to delay until today.”

The Empress pushed up the corners of her lips into the gentle lines of a smile. “Whether or not you come is but a manifestation of your heartfelt intention. In the future, we will be meeting morning and night, and you will grow to understand that each and every sister is easy to get along with.” Having spoken, she allowed Lianxin to introduce the concubines one by one.

Noble Lady Jia laughed lightly, “Not only are we easy to get along with, even the Emperor is exceptionally fond of Younger Sister. Younger Sister’s clothing material is light and warm; it must be the warm satin sent by Jiangning as tribute.”

Second Attendant Mei gave a faint smile. “Noble Lady Jia has a good eye.”

Noble Lady Jia wanted to paste on a smile, but could not. “It is not that I have a good eye, but rather that, when I saw Younger Sister wear such thin clothes, I feared that Younger Sister would freeze. It turns out that it was the Emperor’s kind intentions. It is just that this warm satin is rare, and even the Empress’s palace does not have any. I have only heard of it and was making a random guess.”

Noble Lady Jia spoke in a detailed and eloquent manner, and everyone could not help but feel a touch of jealousy. Second Class Attendant Mei maintained the same indifferent expression. “Is that the case? The Emperor only rewarded me with clothes. I did not ask much regarding other matters, and did not know.”

The consorts and concubines, seeing her indolent expression, understood that she was not easy to deal with. In the end, it was Noble Consort Hui who spoke. “Ever since the Emperor ascended the throne, Empress Niangniang has always advocated for simplicity and frugality in the harem. Younger Sister is only a Second Class Attendant. This outfit is somewhat too extravagant.”

Second Class Attendant Mei lazily raised her eyes. “Is that the case? It is just that the Emperor likes it when this concubine dresses this way.”

Noble Consort Hui choked for a moment and was unable to keep herself from feeling annoyed.

The Empress saw the signs and said clearly, “That is enough. Though the snow has stopped outside, the weather is still frigid, and the roads are still slippery and hard to traverse. You all should still go back earlier. It is almost the end of the year. Take care to not catch a chill.”

Everyone made sounds of agreement and began ascending their sedan chairs and going back to their own palaces.

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