Chapter 12 : Beauty

Today, when Yuxi got up in the morning, she saw a magpie calling from top of a tree. Mama Shen smiled and said, “Miss, the magpie is calling. Today must have been a good day.”

Credit : China Online Museum

The magpie is universally admired for its intelligence and guile but it can be a nuisance to farmers. In China it has a positive connotation, a harbinger of joy and as such a magpie is used in paintings to wish someone joy as xǐ means ‘glad; joy; happiness’. If the character is shown upside down, like fu (good fortune), it means happiness is arriving. – Chinasage

It was indeed a good day for Yuxi. At noon, she received good news about Mama Fang’s baozi shop. Even when the shop was only recently opened for business, Mama Fang managed to gain two to three taels of profits.

Yuxi told the news bearer, “Please told Mama Fang to take it easy and not get herself tired.” The baozi shop now had a strong woman working besides Mama Fang. This old woman was not a servant of the Duke Han’s residence, but was bought by Yuxi herself. Her servant deed was kept by her.

Yuxi also had made a lot of considerations when buying her. The old woman could act as an assistant to Mama Fang when managing the shop, be her companion and made sure of her safety.

Since the shop started to make money, Yuxi could finally put down the heavy burden on her mind. In her last life, when Mama Fang was kicked out from the residence, she became so sad that she passed away early. In this current life, Yuxi was sure Mama Fang won’t face the same fate as the one in her previous life.

When Yuxi went to pay respect to Qiu Shi the next day, she noticed that there was another woman in the room. The woman was wearing a sky blue with willows green beizi. Her face was pure and delicate. Her skin was white and she had a graceful figure. She was a bright beautiful woman.

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Beizi(褙子) was a type of Chinese Hanfu. Legend said, this type of Hanfu was started to be wore during Tang Dynasty, then preserved till Song and Ming Dynasty.

It was a type of Hanfu with a parallel-collar “jacket” with side slits beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be secured at the front either with ties or a metal button. Extremely versatile, it can be long or short, had narrow or wide sleeves, and was worn by both men and women. During the Song Dynasty, it was popular to wear narrow-sleeved beizi over a chest undergarment and skirt/pants. Another name for Ming Dynasty-style beizi is Pifeng/披风. – My Hanfu Favorites

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Qiu Shi smiled when she saw Yuxi’s puzzled face and said, “Yuxi, this is Concubine Lian.”

Yuxi pressed down the thought in her mind and gave her greeting to Concubine Lian.

Concubine Lian bowed at Yuxi and gave her a small gift. Then she also gave Qiu Shi a gift before she asked to be excused and went out with her maid.

Yuxi was determined not to asked Qiu Shi about this kind of backyard affair, so she can only talk to her about the news she received about the baozi shop. Yuxi told her about how Mama Fang’s shop had started to make money even when it was just newly opened. “Now that the shop is making profit, Mama Fang becomes very energetic, so I don’t have to worry much about her anymore.”

Qiu Shi lovingly touched her head and said, “You are a good girl” Not only her heart was good, but she was also kind, thought Qiu Shi. Generally speaking, when a servant was let out, she will only be given some money. Where would you find a master who would take care of a servant future after being led out off his/her master’s residence?

Yuxi went back to her courtyard after their conversation. After returning to Rose Courtyard, she went to find Hongshan and asked, “What is going on with this Concubine Lian?” Since coming to Rose Courtyard, Hongshan became Yuxi’s main source of information. She had a lot of relatives working in the residence, so it was convenient for her to know the current news of the household.

Hongshan said, “Miss, Concubine Lian was awarded by the Old Madam to Duke Han.”

Yuxi was a little upset and asked, “Why did Grandmother send a woman to Uncle?” It was not a big problem for a mother to sent a woman to her son, but it was a big problem when this kind of thing had never happened in her previous life. This sudden appearance of Concubine Lian brought a sudden feeling of panic inside her. There were so many variables in this life that she has no chance to understand any of them yet.

Hongshan shook her head and said, “This is indeed strange. The Old Madam has never personally given any woman to any of her sons. I don’t know why she did it this time.” When a mother-in-law was trying to suppress her daughter-in-law, she liked to stuff her son with a new concubine. However, the Old Madam had never done such a thing but instead asked her two sons to respect their main wives. Unfortunately, her eldest son doted on his concubine more, and her second son’s respected main wife had an early death, making the Old Madam’s thoughts went in vain.

After noticing Yuxi’s doubtful face, Mama Shen asked, “Did you in any way cause this matter, Miss?”

Yuxi opened her eyes wide and asked, “What does this have to do with me?”

Old woman Shen explained, “This old servant didn’t dare to tell lies. Miss really had something to do with this matter. Does Miss remember what happened a month ago?”

Yuxi immediately thought the matter of Moyun. She asked, “Do you mean that Grandmother had given Concubine Lian to Uncle because of my anger? How is this possible?” Although she suspected that Concubine Rong was behind the incident last time, but there was no evidence to convict her. Later, Mama Luo informed her that she had already given up pursuing the culprit because she knew it was wasting so much time. Now, they told her that her grandmother gave her a woman to fight Concubine Rong. This was utterly nonsense!

Old woman Shen shook her head and said, “Concubine Rong has crossed the line, so the Old Madam must solve this problem.” No large family could tolerate a concubine who tried to murder the residence masters’ children. Whatever the reason, Concubine Rong had already violated the Old Madam’s bottom line, so this time she must be cleaned up.

In her last life, Yuxi was a simple person. A bit an idiot and too naive. Fortunately, she was aware that these old attitudes of her were her shortcomings. So, now, she was working hard to correct them. After listening to Mama Shen’s words, she pondered for a while. When she was done thinking in every angle, she concluded, “What Mama means is that Grandmother gave Concubine Lian to Eldest Uncle in order to win his favor. When he no longer spoils Concubine Rong, he will get rid of her?”

“Yes,” answered Mama Shen. In her heart, she was shocked with Yuxi’s deduction.

Yuxi became more confused as she listened to Mama Shen’s answer. “Why is it so troublesome for Grandmother to get rid of Concubine Rong?” The Old Madam was the master of the backyard. She needed only one word to deal with Concubine Rong. Why should she go in circle to do it? Her mind was too tired to even continue being panic.

Old woman Shen thought that Yuxi was not actually bad. She could think so much with that head of her. “To know a child, better ask the mother. The Old Madam knows Duke Han’s temperament so well. If she deals with Concubine Rong rashly, the Duke will surely turn against the Old Madam.“ If the Old Madam could actually deal with Concubine Rong without thinking about her son, she would have kicked her out ten years ago.

Yuxi knew that in order to accommodate Concubine Rong, her Eldest Uncle almost turned his face with his own mother. Old people depended on their sons to live well in their old age. So, it was normal for Old Madam had some scruples. Only Yuxi still felt suspicious, so she asked, “Eldest Aunt also provided a few concubines to Eldest Uncle before, but unfortunately they were all broke under Concubine Rong’s hands. Mama, can this Concubine Lian fight well with her?”

Old woman Shen said, “Since the Old Madam herself has choosen Concubine Lian, she naturally has her own advantages. However, this matter cannot be solved overnight.” It would take a while before Concubine Rong could be taken down.

Yuxi was silent and curiously asked, “Mama Shen, why did you tell me all of this?” It was not that she was being too suspicious, but she really felt that Mama Shen’s action did not have good-intentioned. This kind of things should have be hidden. How could she freely told her?

Old woman Shen did not hesitate to say, “Miss, you can’t act with one muscle. You have to bow when you need to bow your head. Otherwise, you’re bound to suffer.” During this period, Mama Shen found that Yuxi did not act in accordance with the rules and regulations. She did not consider the consequences of her actions at all. Now it’s okay when she was still young, but when she grew up, she will definitely lose a lot because of her temperament.

Although Yuxi was not particularly clever, she knew what Mama Shen had said were for her own good. She asked, “Mama Shen, what do you want to say actually?”

“I hope Miss will not get angry when she listens to what I say,” said Mama Shen. Everyone liked to listen to praises, but not everyone liked to listen to criticism.

Yuxi said with a smile, “Mama, you can tell me. I’m not that narrow-minded.”

Just as Madam Shen was about to speak, Moju announced from outside, “Miss, the maid from the residence of Marquis of Changping has brought something for Miss.”

Knowing that she just disturb their conversation, Moju hurriedly brought in two melons. She took a glance at Mama Shen who suddenly stopped talking.

Yuxi looked at the two melons send by Zhou Shiya and said with a smile, “Put them in the well water first and open them up after lunch.” The melons would taste sweeter when they were being cool inside the well water in such a hot day.

After Moju left, Yuxi asked, “Mama, what was it you wanted to say?”

After a moment of silence, Mama Shen asked, “Does Miss avoiding the Old Madam?” Fourth Miss looked quite afraid of the Old Madam, which not only she could see, but so did the Old Madam. Otherwise, she would not have been assigned by the Old Madam to be Fourth Miss new Mama.

Yuxi was not foolish. If she nodded to Mama Shen’s question, didn’t it meant she was not being filial? So she could only pretend to be aggrieved and said, “Mama, Grandmother told me not to greet her in the future. I didn’t want to upset my grandmother, so I only dare to do so only on the 15th day of the first lunar month.”

Mama Shen thought that Yuxi was a very clever girl but lacked guidance from an adult. So, she said, “The Old Madam has send Hongshan and this old servant to serve Miss, so Miss should know that the Old Madam has changed her attitude towards Miss.”

Yuxi was not moved by what the Old Madam had done, but as a precaution, she asked, “Mama Shen means that the Old Madam actually loves me dearly too?”

In order to guard against other people suspicions, Yuxi behaved foolishly in many aspects except for her amazing talent in embroidery. No matter how shrewd Mama Shen was, she wouldn’t have noticed these things. Mama Shen answered, “Miss, you’re the granddaughter of the Old Madam’s immediate family. Is there any reason, why she shouldn’t feel pain when you’re hurt?”

Yuxi raised her head and looked at Mama Shen with great surprised. She said, “Mama, you said my Grandmother loves me too. Is this true?”

When Mama Shen saw Yuxi’s affection and admiration for the Old Madam, she breathed a sigh of relief, “Naturally, it is true. Miss, in the future, you should visit the main room more often. Only by getting the Old Madam’s favor, will you get a better life in the future. ”

“What does Mama mean by that?” asked Yuxi with a puzzled face. “Is there anyone else in the residence who will bring trouble to me? That cannot be. Eldest Aunt loves me very much. So does my grandmother. Who else would make things difficult for me in this residence?”

Mama Shen felt that Yuxi was too simple, but still she was not discouraged. Yuxi had never been personally involved before and she was only four years old. She was very malleable. “Miss, now the Third Lady is in Hebei with the Third Master, it’s natural that nothing would happen. However, after three to five years, when she returns, Miss’ life will not be as comfortable as it is now. ”

Yuxi felt that Mama Shen mother was digging a hole for her. “Mama Shen, Mama Fang told me that mother is a very good person.” This mother referred to her stepmother, Wu Shi, not her actual mother.

After hearing this, Mama Shen felt that the Old Madam was right to let Mama Fang go. With such a silly Mama, Fourth Miss would definitely be taken to the pit. Fourth Girl was already predominant. If she said something bad about Wu Shi, she will probably be dissatisfied with her. “Whether she’s good or bad, Miss will know by then,” said Mama Shen gently.