Chapter 25 : Foil

Concubine Rong wept with joy when she knew she was pregnant. She looked forward to a son for so many years, but she didn’t expect the child to come after she had given up any hope.

She touched her belly and said, “Son, you’re really mother’s little lucky star.” If the child had not arrived in time, she would have been sent to the temple.

Yujing, who didn’t think so much about her future brother, asked, “Mother, what should we do now?” The immediate task was to solve their present matter.

Concubine Rong sighed slightly, “During this time, we will recuperate in Pleasant Courtyard.” Having the child was equivalent as having a talisman, but she also knew that if she dared to borrow the child to do anything, the Old Madam would not touch her now, but would certainly seek her revenge after the child was born.

Yujing was unwilling, “Mother, I am one head short of them in status. If I lose this chance again, I will not be able to stand up in front of them.”

Concubine Rong poked Yujing’s head, hating iron for not becoming steel (Chinese idiom : to feel resentful towards somebody for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement) and said, “You regret it now? How did you listen when you were asked to do your homework well earlier? It’s too late for you to feel regret now.” If it was not for Yujing constant complaints from morning till night and even expressed her desire to quit due to illness, how would she not come up with such a plan?

While mother and daughter were talking, they saw Mama Luo came over. Mama Luo was also a kind of person who did not liked to talk nonsense, so she directly took away Concubine Rong’s two close maids and her beloved mama.

Concubine Rong’s face turned ghastly pale but she didn’t dare to confront the Old Madam. Now that the Duke was no longer as protective of her as before, she decided to keep a low profile. Moreover, the most important thing right now was the child in her belly.

When Yuxi saw that only she and Yuchen were in the class next day, she muttered in her heart whether Yujing also withdrew from the class through illness. No, she wouldn’t have. When Yuxi saw her yesterday, she was still full of vigour. Moreover, Yujing was different from Yuru. Yuru couldn’t keep up with the learning process while Yujing had been doing well recently.

With Yuxi’s mind filled with many questions regarding this, she immediately asked Hongshan after class ended.

Hongshan’s eyebrows and eyes were all full of happiness. Now that Second Miss had left, she could no longer bully her Miss, “Miss, yesterday, Concubine Rong fell ill. The Second Miss waited on her all night and also fell ill from fatigue.“

Yuxi doubted the truth of the news very much. Yujing’s temperament was not like a filial daughter who could wait on people without sleeping all night. “How did Concubine Rong felt ill?”

Hongshan shook her head and said, “I don’t know. Yesterday evening, the Old Madam asked Concubine Rong to come over with Second Miss. It was said that Concubine Rong was seen being carried out. A doctor also came not long after.” The mouth of the Old Madam’s maid, that old woman, seemed very tight like a clam shell. She could not find any useful information, but this piece of news was still came from that old woman of the Old Madam’s courtyard.

Yuxi thought that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed, “Did the Old Madam met anyone before calling for Concubine Rong and Second Sister?”

Hongshan thought for a moment and said, “Yes, Teacher Song did went to see the Old Madam.”

Yuxi understood at once, that Teacher Song had perhaps uncovered her Second Sister’s cheating acts. In fact, she was somewhat puzzled. She could see that there was something wrong with it, so, how could a person as fierce as Teacher Song found out about it only now? And what with this being ill excuse? If she guessed correctly, Concubine Rong’s illness was fake, but it was true that it was used to cover up for Yujing.

Yujing won’t be coming, so, Yuxi and Yuchen were the only two students left in the class. By this time Yuxi would not want to hide her weaknesses anymore. Once her weaknesses were exposed, Yuchen would compare her to dregs where she will still be considered inferior. Even if she worked hard, she could only draw with Yuchen. She knew, however, that Yuchen had to practice qin and paint in her spare time. In contrast, she had become a foil.

What Yuxi did not know was that her performance at this time startled Teacher Song. She thought Yuxi couldn’t keep up with the progress and was still wondering how long would she last. She didn’t expect Yuxi to give her a big surprise.

When it school holiday came, it happened to be raining.

Yuxi stood at the door, looking at the pearl-like raindrops drifted down from time to time, muttering, “It’s hard to get two days off, and now it’s raining.” There were two days off in one month, which was stipulated by Teacher Song, for students to relax. Of course, Yuxi could not relax. As soon as you relaxed, you would probably not be abled to keep up with the progress.

Embroidered shoes got wet easily in rainy days.

Mama Shen said, “Miss, let me carry you over!” Misses from large families were very delicate. If a four-year-old girl went shopping or something, she needed to be held by someone all the time

Yuxi was unwilling, “No need, I’ll walk by myself.” She was not actually four years old, but already in her twenties. How could she let them carry her? It would also be very awkward situation for her.

When Mama Shen saw Yuxi’s firm attitude, she took a step back, “Miss, no matter how careful you are, it’s a quarter of an hour’s walk from the Rose Courtyard to the main room, and your shoes will always get wet. If Miss suffers cold, it is the sin of this old servant. Miss, let this old servant carry you over!”

Moju, who noticed that Yuxi was still unwilling, said, “Miss, if your clothes get wet, then the Old Madam will surely blame us for being careless.”

Yuxi also did not know where the Old Madam’s interest came from. Yesterday she was ordered to come down to the Old Madam’s room for breakfast today, otherwise she wouldn’t have to go out if it rained today. She thought for a moment and said, “Mama is getting older, let Hongshan carry me on her back.” Hongshan was the servant girl of the Old Madam. Now, she couldn’t just leave her behind when she visited the Old Madam.

Yuxi laid on the back of Hongshan, and Mama Shen was holding a blue cloth umbrella beside her. Walking in the drizzle, she couldn’t help reaching out to touch the rain. It was ice-cold.

Mama Shen saw the situation and hurriedly said, “Miss, don’t play with the rain, you’ll catch cold.” It was easy to catch cold in this weather. Now Miss’ health was no better than before, and she was still taking the tonic prescribed by the doctor every day!

Yuxi replied with a smile, “I’m not so delicate.” Since she studied with Teacher Song, the Old Madam’s attitude towards her had been getting better and better. She was not acting like a four years old, so, the Old Madam must have thought about the reason behind such a big change in her attitude. However, given her current situation, she had no choice but to counter soldiers with arms, water with earth weir (Chinese idiom : to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation).

When she arrived at the main room, the Old Madam didn’t show too much enthusiasm, which made Yuxi felt very relieved. If the Old Madam suddenly had a deep affection for her  other grandchildren, she didn’t know if she could stand it.

A servant girl named Cuiyu came in and said, “Old Madam, the breakfast had been prepared and it’s ready to be eaten.“

The breakfast was very rich, with glutinous rice congee, xiaolongbao, crystal shrimp dumplings, lily pastries, plum blossom pastries, spinach, crispy ginger, pickled cucumber and other six side dishes, as well as a bird’s nest and Xinjiang mushroom chicken soup.

Xiaolongbao (lit. little-basket steamed bun)

Yuxi saw so much delicious food that her stomach began to growl. She also didn’t know if it was because of the shadow left by her last life, but she couldn’t go hungry after she was reborn.

The cook for the main room was definitely the best cook in the residence. The taste of the things things made were not much better than that from the main kitchen, even Mama Fang’s cooking couldn’t compare.

When the foods were delicious, you would eat more. Yuxi ate a bowl of glutinous rice porridge, two small steamed buns, six crystal shrimp dumplings, not many side dishes, and finally drank a small bowl of mushroom chicken soup.

While Yuxi was eating, the Old Madam looked at her more than once, and at last, her frown was so wrinkled that she could kill two flies (TN : I don’t really understand this part. I just know that the Old Madam was frowning heavily). “Fourth Girl, do you see how your Third Sister uses things?” If such a hungry ghost action being seen by those who didn’t knew what really happened in the residence, they would thought that the people of the residence had treated Yuxi badly.

Yuxi was just focusing on eating, where would she have time to pay attention to Yuchen. Now with the reminder from the Old Madam, she unable to ignore them.

Yuchen ate slowly, chewed her food well before swallowing them and her chopsticks moved elegantly while picking the foods. A true acts of a great lady.

Yuxi was somewhat discouraged in her heart. She even became a foil for just having a meal. She didn’t know till when her days as a foil ended?

Once they finished the dishes, a maid brought in a bowl of goat milk egg custard. Yuxi felt regret. If she knew earlier, she wouldn’t have eaten so much till she felt full. At the first glanced, the goat milk egg custard looked delicious. Although she was very full, she still took a bite, there was no way she won’t try it! If she hadn’t been stared at by the Old Madam, she would really like to finish the goat milk egg custard. It was delicious.

Old Madam Han couldn’t help herself but asked, “Are you so unrestrained like this in your daily meals?” She didn’t know how Mama Shen served, nor did she knew how to advice the Fourth Girl.

Yuxi shook her head and answered, ”No, but today’s food is really delicious, so I couldn’t help eating more.”

Old Madam Han’s face eased up and then she said, “In the future, attention should be paid to the fact that even if the food is delicious, it must be ate in an appropriate amount. Overeating is not good for your health.” She was very particular about keeping a good health, otherwise she wouldn’t have maintained it so well.

Yuxi honestly agreed.

After breakfast, Yuxi was going to leave the main courtyard. Yuchen came out and said to her, “Fourth Sister, I’m going to visit my maternal uncle’s house tomorrow. Come with me!” Yuchen’s maternal uncle was Marquis of Pingqing. Now, he was the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, a powerful and important minister.

Yuxi was unwilling, “Third Sister, I can’t, I want to take these 2 days to review my lessons. Otherwise, I’m afraid my hand will be hit again.” Fortunately, nowadays, Teacher Song hit just for a show. It was actually not that painful, but she still felt  quite embarrassed.

Yuchen did not insist, just smile and said, “All right.”

The Old Madam heard Yuxi refused Yuchen’s invitation, with her hands holding the Buddha beads, she said to Mama Luo who was beside her, “This girl’s mind is too deep. Let old woman Shen take a good look. If there’s something wrong, immediately tell me.”

So, Mama Luo became busy.

Yuxi only went to the main courtyard twice this month, and every time she came and went in a hurry. This time, she had time to accompany Qiu Shi for a long time.

Then, Liuyin came in and said, “Madam, Concubine Rong said she has a stomach-ache, so she needs a doctor.” Concubine Rong’s pregnancy had not been publicized, but it still could not escape Qiu Shi’s eyes. Just because the Old Madam didn’t let the news be disclosed to the public, she didn’t dare to make a move either.

Yuxi looked at Qiu Shi’s expression, stood up and said, “Aunt, I still have a lot of schoolwork to do, so, I’ll go back first.”

Within the period of time Yuxi left her home, the day had stopped raining. She said to her maids and old women, “Let’s take a walk in the garden.” The garden must had been more beautiful after rain.