Translator: 247reader

TLC: Tygris

Bringing you a bonus chapter! The translation will generally update weekly, with one chapter every Saturday, but since we’re just starting out, I figured I’d post chapter two early – don’t worry, there will still be a chapter on Saturday!

Chapter Two: Reward

The Duke Chu Mansion had strict rules, and it was essential to pay respects to the Duke in the morning and evening. Whether it was winter or summer, respects would be paid at half-past Mao shi ^[1]In traditional Chinese timekeeping, Mao shi is the two hours between 5 and 7 AM, so this would be every morning at 6 AM. in the morning and at You shi ^[2]Between 5 and 7 PM in the evening.

Yixia Pavilion was more than seven or eight minutes away from the main courtyard, and Chu Yi needed to wash and dress, so she rose every day a ke after Mao shi ^[3]A ke is 1/100th of a day long, so roughly 14.4 minutes. This means she wakes up at roughly 5:15 AM. Those who were late would have to stand until greetings were over.

Chu Yi remembered that during the period when her second sister Chu Ying was “sick”, unless she asked for leave and did not come to pay her respects, when she did come, if she was late, she was similarly made to remain standing.

Her eldest sister had never been late, and neither had her younger sisters. Chu Yi, who didn’t want to stand, always arrived on time.

It was still dark, and the morning was cold. Liuxia walked in front with a lamp. When they arrived at the main courtyard, Chu Yi took off her cloak and asked Liuxia to take it to the side room and wait while she went to the main hall.

She was not the first one to arrive, as her eldest sister-in-law, Lady Lin, was already present. She was also not the last one, as her younger sisters had not come yet.

There were small incense burners and fruits on the table in the main hall. Two maids bustled in and out.

Lady Lin was dressed simply, in a mountain-green dress with two jade hairpins on her head.

Seeing Chu Yi coming, she took the initiative to speak. “Third Younger Sister is here.”

Chu Yi bowed and said, “My greetings to Eldest Sister-in-law.”

Lady Lin said gently, “As a family, why should we care about all these empty formalities?”

Chu Yi raised her head and smiled. “Eldest Sister-in-law is right, but we mustn’t forsake etiquette.”

She saw that Lady Lin’s facial color was poor, probably because she hadn’t slept well. The misfortunes of the two girls in the Duke Chu Mansion had not only affected the potential marriages of the younger brothers and sisters but also made it impossible for Lady Lin, the eldest daughter-in-law, to hold her head up.

A family shared the same breath, their branches connected; ^[4]同气连枝 (tóng qì lián zhī) is an idiom meaning that family bonds are close and fortunes are shared. this was what Chu Yi had experienced the most in this world.

The two of them chatted for a bit, and then stood up and prepared to greet the other girls and women as they entered.

Bowing, everyone said together, “Greetings to Mother” or “Greetings to Madam.”

With a wave of her hand, Lady Yan said, “Everyone, sit down.”

The seat where Chu Ying had once sat was empty, but rather than sitting there, Chu Yi sat in her original seat. Behind her sat her fourth sister, Chu Xin, and her fifth sister, Chu Qi. Her sixth sister, Chu Xian, the youngest at only six years old, was held by Concubine Xu.

Her second elder brother, third elder brother, and two younger brothers were still at their academy, so naturally they could not come to pay their respects.

Once everyone had been seated, Lady Yan said, “Although it is spring, it is still very cold in the morning and evening. Be careful not to catch a cold. Burn charcoal fires for another half a month, and tell the steward if you need anything.”

The first month of the year had just ended, and it would be uncomfortable to stop burning charcoal now.

Everyone responded in unison.

Lady Yan smiled and said, “If there is nothing else, everyone may return.”

Chu Yi heaved a sigh of relief and stood up to leave, but heard Lady Yan say, “Third Miss, please stay and have breakfast with me.”

Chu Yi raised her head and answered in the calmest voice possible. “Yes, Mother.”

Lady Yan was middle-aged, and had given birth to a son and two daughters. The eldest son, Chu Yuanzhen, was married, and the two daughters were no longer around. She had never paid too much attention to the other, shu children. Lady Yan’s impression of Chu Yi was that she was obedient and sensible, probably because children without mothers matured early, and never made mistakes.

Chu Yi was methodical in her actions, and had even gone to see Ying’er off last night.。

With differing expressions on their faces, the others retreated silently. Chu Yi smiled at her di mother before once more lowering her head.

Lady Yan must have kept her for a meal because she had something to say, probably because of what happened last night. Chu Yi had been here for more than a year, and while she didn’t want to stand out like Chu Jin, nor did she want to end up like Chu Ying – she still had to eat this meal.

Lady Yan said to Nanny Chen, “Ask the maids to serve the meal.”

The eight-immortals table ^[5]A Bāxiānzhuō (八仙桌), or eight-immortals table, is a traditional Chinese square table that can seat eight people, two on each side. was filled with food. Chu Yi looked around and saw three kinds of porridge. The freshest-looking one was the seafood porridge. The rice was cooked until it practically melted in the mouth, with orange-yellow shrimps and milky white scallops lying on top. It looked delicious.

There was sweet-smelling eight-treasure porridge, and another bowl that looked like pork liver porridge.

Two bowls of bird’s nest soup ^[6]Bird’s nest soup is a delicacy made with edible bird’s nests, harvested from swiftlets, which build them up with layers of saliva and attach them to the walls of caves – or, nowadays, to purpose-built nesting houses where they’re farmed., some dim sum and flour-based pastries, and steamed side dishes – all piled together, there looked to be five bamboo steamers worth of them.

Chu Yi had never eaten in the main courtyard before, and she didn’t know if all of this was because she was here, or if the food in the main courtyard was always like this.

Lady Yan’s attitude was unclear. She merely asked Chu Yi to sit down. The maid served her porridge and then left. Three bowls of porridge sat in front of her, and Chu Yi didn’t know which one to eat.

But it didn’t matter which bowl – she couldn’t pick up her chopsticks until her di mother did. She couldn’t act like she hadn’t eaten any good food for eight hundred years.

Lady Yan sipped a mouthful of bird’s nest soup first. “I heard from Nanny Chen that you arrived early today. Are you cold? Start with something hot to warm yourself up.”

People here generally preferred to talk in a roundabout way. Chu Yi heard the hidden meaning in Lady Yan’s words. She knew that Chu Yi had gone to Yingchun Pavilion last night and also knew that she had given Chu Ying silver.

Nanny Chen had told her about everything.

Chu Yi cautiously decided not to choose the bird’s nest soup, but took the bowl of seafood porridge instead. “Thank you for your consideration, Mother. I’m not cold.”

Lady Yan smiled and picked up a piece of gold-threaded bun for Chu Yi ^[7]This could be one of several things (all of which sound delicious): fried silver-threaded buns, these gold-threaded rolls, or any of a variety of other buns and rolls from around China. It’s a popular name. “You are thinner than your second sister. Eat more.”

Lady Yan intentionally brought up Chu Ying. As far as outsiders were aware, Chu Ying had always been a sickly person. She claimed to be sick and didn’t go to gatherings or marriage talks. She had even occasionally used poor health as an excuse to not come and pay respects.

Although it wasn’t good to have unfounded suspicions, Chu Yi still thought that her second sister had been pretending to be sick to avoid places she didn’t want to go. If she were really sick, given the family background of the Duke’s Mansion, they would definitely have searched for eminent doctors.

Lady Yan said all this simply because she missed Chu Ying. In addition, with the two elder sisters gone, the marriage prospects of the younger siblings would be affected. The one whose betrothal was being discussed now was the second son, Chu Yuanhao. The third son was only one year older than Chu Yi, so the next in line might be Chu Yi.

Whether Chu Jin and Chu Ying had truly brought shame to the Duke Chu Mansion or not, they could not lose face in front of outsiders.

Chu Yi put down her spoon and said, “I met my Second Elder Sister yesterday. She was already regretful. When the storm has passed, Mother should bring her back.”

Lady Yan smiled, but said nothing.

It would be easier said than done. Chu Ying had committed wrongdoings herself, almost implicating the Duke Chu Mansion. It was her own fault that an unmarried girl in the Duke’s Mansion had become a topic of gossip among the people. Lady Yan didn’t know when the storm might pass.

Lady Yan said, “Let’s talk about it later. You should eat more.”

The food in the main courtyard was delicious. Yixia Pavilion also had a small kitchen, but Chu Yi was determined to save money, so the small kitchen’s doors were rarely opened.

Actually, she had thought the food from the large kitchen was scrumptious enough, but the food in the main courtyard ranked several rungs higher.

The porridge was pillowy soft, the shrimps and scallops were very flavorful, and the dim sum was also delicious.

But, considering her manners, Chu Yi ate very slowly. It took him a quarter of an hour to finish her breakfast. Finally, seeing that the bird’s nest soup had not been touched, Lady Yan asked the maid to heat it up again.

Only then did Chu Yi try the bird’s nest soup.

“Nanny, later, when the Third Miss leaves, please bring her a box of bird’s nests,” Lady Yan ordered casually.

Chu Yi was about to stand up and refuse, but Lady Yan said, “If it’s given to you, just accept it.”

Chu Yi then bowed. “Thank you, Mother.”

A bowl of bird’s nest soup had a smooth and silky texture. She had never eaten it before, and it tasted really good.

After the meal, Nanny Chen brought in two wooden boxes. One was ordinary, with only carved patterns, but the other was inlaid with jade. Chu Yi assumed that they were both bird’s nests, so she asked Liu Xia to take both back.

When she went back and opened it, she found that there were indeed bird’s nests in the wooden box. There were more than ten of them, enough to eat for a while.

The jade-inlaid box contained two other boxes. The more elaborate one contained two gold hairpins, which were well-made and very beautiful.

The simpler one contained plain silver ornaments, including bracelets, hairpins, and earrings. The box was full of them, and they looked very convenient to pawn.

Chu Yi had the urge to pick up a scale and weigh them.

The silver alone must be worth over fifty taels. Including the two gold hairpins, her di mother had given her a great deal of money.

With a sigh, Nanny Li said, “It’s a fortunate thing that you gave the Second Miss silver yesterday.”

Chu Yi said, “Count it up, note it in the account book, and then pawn this box.”

Chu Yi didn’t have any valuables here, and her account book was just a thin one.

Nanny Li went to weigh the boxes and found that the worth of the silver jewelry added up to more than seventy taels, and the two gold hairpins, when counted together, were worth more than ten taels. The box of bird’s nests, too, was probably worth a lot of money.

The daughters of the Duke Chu Mansion would never wear silver jewelry when going out. Chu Yi planned to keep some of it as a reward for her maids and exchange the rest for silver. The price would probably be discounted, but it would still be fifty taels at least.

Nanny Li asked, “Miss, the Madam gave you all these. Is it a good thing to pawn them?”

Chu Yi had indeed considered this. Lady Yan only gave her these things because she had given Chu Ying some money last night; otherwise, she never would have received them..

But since they had been given to her, they were hers, and there was no need to return them.

Chu Yi said, “Just pawn them. Split them up among several stores. Put away the hairpins for now, and stew a cup of bird’s nest soup for me every night.”

Her small kitchen had finally come in handy.

After counting everything up, Chu Yi sat down and found a book to read. She was thirteen years old, which in this era was almost the age to discuss marriage.

After they turned thirteen, the daughters of the Duke Chu Mansion no longer needed to study, and had to focus on the matter of their prospective marriages.

She remembered what Lady Yan had said this morning. Her di mother had taken this step in consideration of her second elder sister. Now that she thought about it, when her eldest sister had been sent into the Buddhist temple a year ago, it had also been for her protection. On the surface, she was confined to the temple for the rest of her life, but if one thought about it carefully, the move had been made to save her life.

Having the admiration of two princes sounded nice – but there had been no plot armor, no Mary Sue story. What the Emperor and Empress in the palace saw was that their sons quarreled and even physically fought with each other over a woman.

No one in this time would blame the men in this situation. If her sister had not been confined, what would her fate have been?

Perhaps she could have entered the palace and become the Emperor’s concubine. But the Emperor was currently middle-aged, old enough to be her eldest sister’s father.

Worse still, she might have been executed.

Chu Yi shuddered.

Then, with a smile on her face, she told the maids, “I’ll read for a while. You all may leave, and close the window, too.”

In the main courtyard, Lady Yan was sitting and drinking tea. At this moment, the carriage that was taking Chu Ying to Lunan was likely dozens of li away. ^[8]One li (里) is equal to 500 meters, or half a kilometer.

Nanny Chen knelt down to make tea. “The Fourth Miss and the others have already gone to the classroom. The servants have all been warned. No one dares to say anything.”

Lady Yan put down the teacup and said, “Well, tell me, was it the Third Miss’s own idea to give money to Ying’er, or was it the idea of the nanny beside her?”

Nanny Chen answered, “As for this… From what I see, the Third Miss seems to be someone with her own ideas.”

Lady Yan had sighed too much in the past few days. “Let’s wait and see. I still have to consider carefully whether I really want to prop up the Third Miss.”

In the current situation, there were those who were too young and couldn’t understand anything, and those who were too old for her to cultivate a mother-daughter relationship. Although Chu Yi was a daughter of the Duke Chu Mansion, so were Chu Jin and Chu Ying.

If she wanted Chu Yi to listen to her, relying on affection wouldn’t work. The best course was to give her money.

Lady Yan pondered over this matter all day. In the evening, after dark, when it was almost time for dinner, a maid reported, “The master has returned and is walking this way.”

Yesterday, Duke Chu had stayed in his study. Lady Yan hadn’t expected that he would come to the main courtyard today.

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