Chapter 44 : Concubine Lian Miscarriage

The first two lessons in the morning were about poetry. Since Yuxi had decided to learn only chess and painting, she did not listen in to the two classes, but instead spent her time reading in the instrument room next to the class. When the third lecture was about Mencius, she found out how superficial it was to think that Teacher Song was already lecturing too fast. Now Teacher Song was teaching twice as fast as before.

Fortunately, in today’s lecture, Yuxi had not only recited the text beforehand, but also did some reviewing, otherwise she would never catch up with the learning speed. She looked at the relaxed Yuchen and had to sigh that good talent was truly envied by others.

When the class was over, Teacher Song said, “Fourth Miss, stay.”

It was not a good thing to be asked to stay behind by your teacher. Just when Yuxi started to feel uneasy, Teacher Song said, “Fourth Miss, your handwriting is weak. If you want to write good handwriting, you need to pay more attention to it.”

Yuxi naturally hoped to write good handwriting, “Teacher, I practice everyday, but I don’t know how to reach the level that teacher said.”

Teacher Song smiled and said, “Don’t think so much about it. After this, you stick the paper on the wall, and then practice calligraphy with a cantilever. Then, you will stick on doing it day by day. “

Yuxi nodded and said, “Okay.”

Once Yuxi left, Old woman Ding asked curiously, “Ma’am, why only Fourth Miss was been taught and not Third Miss?” In theory, Yuchen was Teacher Song last student, so, it should be Third Miss who was the first one to be taught.

Teacher Song shook her head and said, “Third Miss handwriting is already very good. There is no need for her to practice this. Fourth Miss is currently not suitable to write in plum blossom regular script. Let her practice the strength of her hand first and then let her copy other copybooks.“ There was also a remark that she did not say out loud. Even if she asked Yuchen to do so, Yuchen would unlikely not to accept it.

Old woman Ding had been following by Teacher Song’s side for so many years and this was the first time for her to see such a gifted student, “Ma’am, if you look at Third Miss learning progress, it is already sufficient to teach her for three years.”

Teacher Song shook her head and said, “Old Madam Han has high hopes for the Third Miss. How can she let me alone to teach her?”

Old woman Ding was not foolish either. The Third Miss had already worshipped her Master as her teacher. It was absolutely impossible to invite another teacher. “Do you mean the Old Madam wants to invite a nurturing momo (wet nurse)?”

Teacher Song gave a brief nod, “En. The Old Madam wants Third Miss to marry into high status family, so rule and etiquette is indispensable things. “

Meanwhile, as Yuxi went out of Magnolia Courtyard, she saw Yuchen sitting in a pavilion. As soon as Yuchen saw her, she walked out of the pavilion.

Yuxi walked over with a smile and asked, “Third Sister, are you waiting for me?”

Yuchen asked, “Fourth Sister, you have never be in contact with poetry, so, why don’t you learn it?” If it was like last time where Yuxi felt that she could not learn it very well after learning for a period of time, then, she would not feel that there was anything. But now Yuxi quit without learning it, which made her unable to understand.

Yuxi complained in her heart, if I learned everything, how can I keep up with the current progress. “I learn slowly. If I learn more, I will certainly not be able to keep up. Moreover, I am not interested in poetry, so I simply don’t want to waste my time.“ She thought that learning painting was a waste of time, not to mention learning poetry. But this was what Teacher Song asked her to learn, so, she could not refuse.

Yuchen tries to get into the bottom of this by asking, “You haven’t learned it, so, how can you know you are not interested in it?”

Yuxi said, “I have a headache when I read those poems.”

Yuchen was still unwilling to give up, “Fourth Sister, you have not learn it, so how will you know. In fact, poetry is not difficult to learn. I believe that as long as you are willing to work hard, you will certainly be able to learn it well. Once you learn it, you will find it very interesting.“

Chinese Bitter Melon

Source : J.Stander via Gsd97jks @Wiki (Momordica charantia)

It was really a painful thing to have someone around you who could turn you into dregs at any time. Yuxi tried hard not to let herself fell into a depressed mood by saying, “Third Sister, everyone says it is good to eat bitter melon in summer, because it has the specific effects of clearing away heat during summer heat, improving eyesight and detoxifying, but I just don’t like eating bitter melon.” Green vegetables and turnips had their own tastes. (T/N : I love bitter melon!)

Hearing this, Yuchen knew that she could not persuade Yuxi anymore, “Since you don’t want to learn, then, just forget it.” She instead felt pity for Yuxi.

After both Yuxi and Yuchen parted way, Shishu said, “Miss, you are being too considerate of Fourth Miss, but she is not at all being grateful.” Fourth Miss also had a thick skin. When Teacher Song refused her, she at once came to seek help from her Miss. Supposedly, her Miss had done her such a big favour, so she should at least have some respect for her Miss, but in the end, on the contrary, Fourth Miss seemed to have forgotten such a thing. A really ungrateful wretch!

Shishu only dared to complain in her heart and did not dare to speak out. Otherwise, her Miss would scold her again.

Yuchen shook her head and said, “You don’t understand.” Last time when she helped Yuxi, she also had her own selfishness. Watching Yuxi worked so hard, she could keep on whipping herself, so that she would not relax, would not be complacent and would not be too proud.

Yuxi’s mind was somewhat puzzled. Why did Yuchen want her to learn poetry so much? Just this question kept on flashing by in her mind.

When she returned to Rose Courtyard, she told Mama Shen to clean up the east room as she was going to use it as her study. She then asked Mama Shen to empty the north wall of that room.

Hearing this, Mama Shen was delighted and asked, “Miss, this east room is also big. Why don’t you buy another easel, then it will be convenient for you to draw later.”

Yuxi thought for a moment, “In addition for buying another easel, I also need to buy chess table and embroidery frame.” After a pause, she said, “I’ll write a list myself, so I will not leave anything behind.”

Embroidery Frane

Source : 巧女瑛瑶 ([转载]苏绣针法2, March 14, 2017)

This list was soon delivered into Qiu Shi’s hand. After reading the list, Qiu Shi said with a smile, “This child, why does she want embroidery frame?” With regard to Yuxi’s small arms and legs, it was not necessary for her to use embroidery frame.

Mama Li took the list and said, “Fourth Miss wants a lot of things!” These things roughly cost hundreds of silvers!

Qiu Shi said carelessly, “As long as the child is well, this money is nothing.” Anyway, the cost would be taken from public account, not her private savings. Of course, she would still pay for it even if she had to use her private savings.

When it came to private savings, Mama Li would immediately think of the small kitchen matter, “Madam, are you really going to pay for Fourth Miss kitchen? I figured out that it will cost around twenty taels of silvers. It’s a lot of money that you have saved over the years.”

Qiu Shi smiled and said, “The child has money now, so she definitely won’t want me to supplement it. Speaking of which, I had thought that Mama Fang would loose money in running the baozi (filled steamed bun) shop, but I didn’t think she would do well till now.“

Mama Li also said ruefully, “I heard that Mama Fang is more energetic now than when she was in the residence!” Being free outside and not being controlled by others made Mama Fang’s life much easier.

Qiu Shi nodded, “This child is too considerate. I want to help her more if I can.” What the child did sometimes warmed her heart.

Upon seeing this situation, Mama Li said nothing more.

Sometimes it really took talent to learn something. Yuxi only took three days to learn wuqinxi taught by Teacher Song. She couldn’t help thinking how good it would be to have a martial arts master to teach her. She would not be afraid of being bullied in case of disaster later on. However, the thought was only flashed by. As a young miss of the state official residence, learning martial arts was absolutely prohibited.

Teacher Song smiled and said, “Yuxi, when you have learned it completely, you can practice it in your own yard. You don’t need to come here this early anymore.”

Yuxi smiled and nodded, “Okay.”

Since Yuxi didn’t have to go to Magnolia Courtyard early anymore, and she didn’t take the first two early classes either, as a result, she would have plenty of free time.

Mama Shen came into Yuxi’s room with a big smile on her face and said, “Miss, everything is ready, and the new items will be delivered later.” The study had been cleaned up, with only a few stuffs lacking.

It didn’t take long for breakfast to be served before the stuffs for east room was delivered.

Moju often took a stroll with Yuxi outside and her way of seeing things had somewhat become high. She looked at the easel and other things sent to the east room which were made of jichimu (chicken-wing wood), and her heart became bitter, “Miss, isn’t the material used for this stuffs extremely poor?” She really felt wronged for Yuxi. All the furniture of Third Miss were made of yellow pear wood, and some were made of rosewood, but her Miss could only use this worthless jichimu.

Yellow Pear Wood / Huanghuali

Chicken-wing Wood / Jichimu

Yuxi restrained the smile on her face and said, “These are all things that my aunt purchased personally for me with her heart. For what reason should I act ungrateful and instead become choosy? If my aunt knew, how unhappy would you think she will be?” Not to mention that Eldest Aunt would surely be unhappy when she heard it, even Mama Shen would think Moju’s words were terrible if she knew about it. At that time, Mama Shen would think that Moju was trying to incite disharmony between Yuxi and Yuchen sister relationship. In the end, Moju would be the one who had to bear all the consequences.

Moju’s face turned pale and she cried, “Miss, that’s not what I meant.” She just felt that it was unfair and her Miss had been wronged.

Yuxi said with a cold face, “Later on, you should think more before you speak, as to avoid trouble issues from the mouth (Chinese idiom : a loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble). I won’t be able to protect you if this happened again.”

Moju was originally not a kind person who was good with words. After this incident, she had became more and more inclined not to speak. Yuxi thought it was right for Moju to say less, so she would unlikely to make more mistakes.

The study was finished and everything was in order. Yuxi’s next days became busier and busier. Sometimes she was really tired that she would lie on her couch and wondered what she was doing at this time in her last life. Sadly, she couldn’t recall anything.

Time flies when people were busy, and one month passes before they knew it.

This day, after class, when Yuxi went back to Rose Courtyard, Hongshan also returned from outside. Hongshan lowered her voice and said to Yuxi, “Miss, Concubine Lian has a miscarriage. It is been said that she had a male fetus.” This was also what Yuxi had requested of Hongshan, to tell her whenever there was any trouble in the residence. Otherwise, she would not dare to tell Yuxi about such dirty things. If Mama Shen knew, she would be stripped of her skin.

Yuxi felt a cold behind her back as she asked, “What’s going on?”

Hongshan whispered, “Concubine Lian had been paying her respects to Madam these days. However today, she somehow slipped and fell not far from the main courtyard, so she lost the child.“

Yuxi looked solemn, “What did the Old Madam say over there?” Concubine Rong had a good mean to plant this incident on her aunt’s head.

Hongshan said, “The Old Madam scolded Madam for her lax in housekeeping. While, the Duke was furious and called Madam a poisonous woman. He also said that he would not have only two sons if Madam had not been cruel.“ Before, the Duke had several concubines, many of whom were pregnant, but in the end they either fell or died.

Yuxi couldn’t understand what was in her uncle’s mind, and was ashamed on behalf of her aunt for many times. Fortunately, her Eldest Uncle was only given an empty post, otherwise he would have been so easy to get around and didn’t know what trouble he was causing. It was also estimated that the Old Madam knew that her eldest son was useless, so she let him took only the position in name only and fully trained her father.

Since the Old Madam didn’t punish Qiu Shi, Yuxi also felt more assured. The real power holder in the residence was not her uncle, but the Old Madam. As long as the Old Madam didn’t believe the incident was done by her aunt’s own hand, then there would be no problem.