Chapter 7 : Embarrassingly Short Of Money

The main room of the main courtyard was filled with fragrance of sandalwood.

The Old Madam leaned on a semi-old green back pillow with Yuchen hitting her leg, and said, “This child, don’t you know how precious the double-sided embroidery is? How can you give it to Fourth Girl just like that?” Actually, she wasn’t that angry at Yuchen. She just felt that Yuxi had shallow eyes. When Yuxi saw other people’s good things, she immediately wanted to take those things as her own.

Yuchen explained with a smile, “Grandmother didn’t see her at that time. When Fourth Sister saw the double-sided embroidery, she looked at it as if it was the world greatest treasure. Since I saw how much she love it, I decided to just send it to her.” She knew that the double-sided embroidery was precious, but she wouldn’t considered it as a unique item.

Old Madam shook her head and said, “I’ll ignore it this time. But you should stop giving away the items your mother had left for you.”

Yuchen smiled and nodded, “I know, Grandmother.”

Naturally, Yuxi won’t rush to see the Old Madam just like she did in her previous life. In addition, Old Madam even forbid her to come. Despite having so much free time, she wasn’t idle either. Early every morning, she would pay her respect to Qiu Shi and when she returned to her courtyard, she would learn to embroider from Moju.

Moju started to teach her the basic of embroidery, such as how to use the needle or how to embroider in a line. After a short period of teaching, Moju knew that her Miss had a natural talent for embroidery as Yuxi managed to grasp all the basics of embroidery in a short time.

When Qiu Shi learned about this, she smilingly asked Yuxi on her next visit, “Fourth Girl, Aunt heard that you started to learn to embroider. Is this true?”

Without a word, Yuxi took out a headband that she had made. “Eldest Aunt, this is what I had done. As you can see, I didn’t do it well. I hope Aunt won’t dislike it.”

Headbands

More Info (Text in Chinese though)

Lately, Yuxi felt that Qiu Shi’s attitude towards her had changed a lot. In her previous life, Qiu Shi took care of her like she was one of her routine. In this life though, her aunt had become more caring and more concern of her. She knew that it was the result of her insistence to pay Qiu Shi a visit every day during this period.

Qiu Shi took the headband and took a good look at it. “Did you really embroider this?” asked a surprise Qiu Shi. The pattern on it was a bit messy, but the stitches were done delicately. It was absolutely impossible for a person who had only studied for half a month to made them.

Moju, who stood beside Qiu Shi, was the one who answered, “I don’t dare to deceive Madam, but this headband was really embroidered by Miss. We didn’t even lend her a hand.”

Yuxi blushed and said, “Aunt, I will make you another one, once my skill has become much better.” She deliberately embroidered the patterns disorderly. Because of her past experience, her learning process was much faster now. However, if she went beyond the normal range, she afraid she would be regarded as a monster. That was why she started to embroider slowly.

As Qiu Shi heard her promise, she no longer being doubtful of Yuxi’s skill. Then, she smilingly said, “This work is very good. Aunt likes it very much.” It was rare for this child to always think of her, but as Yuxi’s elder, she should also reminded her, “When your embroidery skill have improved, you should also make one for the Old Madam.”

When Yuxi heard this, her smiling face turned gloomy. She bowed her head and said, “I’m afraid Grandmother won’t like it.” If your heart really dislike something, it would be obviously shown in your attitude.

Qiu Shi went silent for a bit and then said, “How can Old Madam not like it? That’s you, showing your filial piety to her. Obviously, she should be very happy to receive it.”

Yuxi reluctantly agreed.

At this moment, Mama Wang stepped forward and muttered a few words in Qiu Shi’s ear. With a smile on her face, Qiu Shi informed Yuxi, “Tomorrow, a group of new maids would enter the residence. You should come over and pick out some that you like.” Usually, the maids in the residence were children born from the current employed servants and they were seldom been bought from outside.

Yuxi nodded and replied, “Okay.” In her last life, new maids would directly be send to Rose Courtyard. But now, the situation was different. Her aunt had given her the option to choose her own maids.

When Yuxi returned to her own courtyard, she immediately told Mama Fang about it and then she asked her, “Mama, did you find anything strange about Moyun and Moxiang?”

Mama Fang hesitated for a moment and answered, “Miss, there’s nothing strange could be found about those two.” Out of Yuxi’s four senior maid servants, Moju and Motao were bought by Ning Shi. Their servant deeds were in Miss’ hand. If Miss had an unfortunate short life, their future would also be affected, thus they had the lowest possibility of bringing harm to Miss. While, Moyun and Moxiang were children of the old servants in the residence, so the likelihood of them being responsible for Miss previous illness was quite high.

Yuxi was not that disappointed either. After all, she had spent more than a month in Qingzhu. Obviously, that would give enough time for the culprit to clean one’s track.

Mama Fang continued, “Miss, right now, Moyun is busy looking after her sick mother. Why don’t we take this opportunity to let her off?” Although there was no solid evidence against Moyun, but since there was a suspicion on her, the safest way to act was to lay her off when she wasn’t around.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “It’s not the right time, Mama.” Moyun’s family was in difficult situation right now. Since she also wasn’t Moyun actual master, she didn’t have the power to let her leave the residence permanently. If she did have that option, it would bring more trouble to Moyun’s family. If Moyun left the residence, her investigation on the real mastermind would also turn cold. Only Moyun knew the real person behind her incurring smallpox.

Mama Fang thought for a moment and felt that Yuxi was also worried about the same thing, that’s why she decided not to act recklessly.

Yuxi then said, “Mama, let’s send twelve tael (a unit of weight used in east Asia approximately equal to 1.3 ounces) of silvers each to both Moxiang’s and Moyun’s families.” Moxiang had passed away because of smallpox. As for Moyun, since her mother had fell ill, she needed to spend a lot of money for her mother’s treatment. Unfortunately, Yuxi didn’t have much in her hand, so she couldn’t give her more than what she had.

Mama Fang awkwardly said, “Miss, we only have not more than twenty silvers left. We wouldn’t have much if we send some to their families.” Yuxi had no other income except from the twenty silvers allowance that she usually received in second month and six month every year. From that allowance, one or two pieces of silvers had to be rewarded to the courtyard servants, and some for miscellaneous expenditures. It was not easy to keep these twenty silvers without proper planning.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “No matter how difficult it will be, those tael of silvers still need to be send to both of their families.”

Although Yuxi’s mother, Ning Shi, was a illegitimate daughter, she was married off to the Han family to fill the empty third Han household. Since her husband came from a noble family, the Ning family gave her a lot of dowry to save her face. However, when something bad happened to the Ning family later on, Ning Shi sold all her dowry to help them. Despite all that, her maiden family still couldn’t be saved. At the same time, she was already heavily pregnant. With her being unable to sit still, as a result, she faced difficulty during her delivery. Since she lost a lot of blood at that time, she passed away as soon as she gave birth to Yuxi.

Mama Fang felt a terrible thump in her heart. At that time, she advised Ning Shi not to sell all her dowry, as she had to leave some for the child in her belly. But, Ning Shi would not listen. Without silvers, how would she be able to reward the servants. Without rewards, the servants would look down on her, despite her being their master.

Yuxi asked, “Mama, please find an opportunity to exchange the golds and silvers given by Grandmother and Eldest Aunt last New Year for broken silvers and copper coins!”

Mama Fang was somewhat reluctant as she said, “Miss, you will need these things in the future. You should save them.” When Miss was send out to marry in the future, Miss won’t afford to do some social mingling and rewarded her future servants. She would certainly be criticized because of it. Outside people would not have good view of her once she had obtained a penny-pinching reputation.

Yuxi smiled and said, “There’s always a way to find money. Don’t worry about it.”

Mama Fang felt that Yuxi had became more decisive after she recovered. For her, it was a good change, so, she decided not to argue with her Miss.

Yuxi was very satisfied with Mama Fang’s attitude. then she said, “Tomorrow, mama will come with me to the main courtyard, and help me choose some good maids.” The new maids that were sent over to her courtyard in her last life was not to her liking.

The next day, on the way to the main courtyard, Yuxi met Concubine Rong and Second Miss, Yujing.

Concubine Rong was so charming that when she looked at people, her eyes were full of amorous feelings. It was no wonder that she could still cling firm on Duke Han.

While, today, Yujing wore a yellow dress with a reddish gold prominent collar and a same colored jewel hairpin in her hair. The ruby in the middle of the collar shined blindly, making her looking truly rich and impressive. She also had an outstanding appearance, with a pointed face and slender eyebrows. Nevertheless, with traces of arrogance and cruelty in her eyes, one could see at a glance that she wasn’t a good person.

Concubine Rong looked at Yuxi. Her eyes flashed as she said, “I didn’t expect Fourth Miss to be looking so well. It’s like seeing a new person.” Yuxi used to be as thin as a bamboo pole and talked with her head bowed down. She even acted timid around her own family and also had a lack of self-confidence. However, nowadays, she was looking a bit chubbier, with a healthy color skin tone and no longer acting timid. It was like she had turned into another person.

Yuxi answered with a light smile, “My mother never stop blessing me from heaven.”

Concubine Rong laughed touchingly, “I heard that Fourth Miss has begin to learn embroidery. If Fourth Miss does not dislike it, you can come to my Pleasant Courtyard and I will personally teach Fourth Miss.” Her needlework was so excellent that even the royal embroidery lady couldn’t be a match for her.

Yuxi straightly answered, “No need.”

Yujing’s face turned bad. She glared at Yuxi and said angrily, “My Concubine Mother would love to invite you to come to our Pleasant Courtyard, but you made it like this invitation rarely happen. You should just come over.“

Yuxi glanced at Yujing and said, “Actually, it is also quite rare for me to deny your request.” She was smart enough to know that she couldn’t be someone who didn’t had a mind of her own. Concubine Rong and Eldest Aunt Qiu Shi were sworn enemies. Since she was on Qiu Shi side, she couldn’t have any close relationship with Concubine Rong. So, she always ignored her advices and now she suspected that it was her who had tried to kill her. For that reason, she won’t leave even a shred of sympathy for her.

Yujing was furious. She tried to rush over to Yuxi and gave her a lesson herself.

Concubine Rong’s eyes were fast and so were her hands. She caught hold of Yujing, and smiled at Yuxi, “Fourth Miss, please try to reconsider. If not, then, just forget about it.” Yuxi stared at Concubine Rong and simply replied, “I would never ever reconsider it.” She did a good job of embroidery herself. Even if she didn’t do it well, she still would not go to Concubine Rong. Even her current status in the residence wouldn’t allow her to learn from Concubine Rong.

The smile on Concubine Rong’s face cracked. She didn’t realize that Yuxi’s speech had become so ruthless. When she saw Yuxi’s eyes remained deep and serene, she decided to maintain her usual calm face as well.

After they departed way, Mama Fang whispered to Yuxi, “Why did Miss offend her? If Miss doesn’t want to learn from her, then just politely refuse.” Although Concubine Rong was only a concubine, she was still deeply favoured by the Duke. It wasn’t worth it for Yuxi to make enemies with Concubine Rong over something trifle.

Yuxi said expressionlessly, “Mama, who is the most likely be the culprit behind my recent illness?”

Mama Fang’s complexion changed, “What does Miss mean? That’s impossible. Second Miss’ side has no grievances against Miss. How can they plan a malicious scheme against Miss?” She thought that Yuxi was just merely overthinking.

Yuxi said, “Mama, do you remember at that time, when my Second (Cousin) Brother had an accident and my Eldest Aunt fell ill? If at that time he had left the world, she would surely loose any will to stay alive.” It wouldn’t be good for a sick person to receive that kind of huge blow as it would only ruin the patient’s spirit to live.

Yuxi also later learned that her Second Brother nearly drown accident was not actually an accident. It had been orchestrated. She suspected that Concubine Rong was behind that incident. She was also quite sure that Concubine Rong had a grudge against her mother. Now that her mother had gone, Concubine Rong transferred her revenge towards her.

Hearing Yuxi’s words, Mama Fang’s face slowly turned blue.