ch 38 – Bartering (1)

Naturally the duchess have heard of Apothecary Baili before. She frowned slight and slowly shook her head, “The drugs from Apothecary Baili can’t always be purchased even if you have lots of money. This year, Jishi Hall1 supplied drugs from Apothecary Baili exclusively, almost all of the medicines were already reserved by nobles. If we go there now, most likely we would come back empty handed. Forget it, the medicinal soup is bitter, but it’s quick, I will manage….”

“You keep drinking that nasty-tasting medicinal soup, it is going to ruin your appetite for everything else. Not to mention that you never had good appetite to begin with…. Let me see what I can do…” The Duke had made up his mind.

Mrs. Chu shook her head slightly and said, “Husband, if you are going down the path of looking for medicines for me, you must need to ask for favors. We had just returned to capital city, and your father has control of the military in the North. Now is not a good time to be asking for favors from the nobles.”

“You let me handle this,” said Chu Bufan while giving her a comforting look. He then walked out of the room after nodded to his two nieces.

Jun Li-er seemed more relaxed in her mannerism after the departure of the duke. She stuck her face in front of Mrs. Chu and buttered up to her, “Aunty, that Jishi Hall has a branch in the city of Yan as well. If you can’t get them from capital city, your niece can write to daddy. With our status in the city of Yan, I trust that Jishi Hall will do us the favor and give us a few of their pills.”

The word “Yan” launched the duchess into troubled thought again. When Jun Miao-er saw that, she immediately comfort her softly, “Aunty, daddy and uncle had already pulled all the strings they have; as long as our cousin is still in Yan, we certainly will be able to locate her!”

“That is exactly right! Perhaps cousin had already found cousin and are on the way back to capital city!” Jun Li-er quickly chimed in.

Jun Miao-er was tender and gentle and Jun Li-er outgoing and cheerful. The Duke had invited the two over from Yan specifically to keep his wife company knowing how much she missed their daughter. With these two chitchatting with her, Mrs. Chu was able to temporarily put aside her thoughts for her daughter and chatted about recent hot topics in capital city with the two of them.

After Mrs. Chu had finished her medicine and went to bed, Jun Miao-er and Jun Li-er returned back to their own courtyard.

“Fifth sister, do you think… they will be able to locate our little cousin?” Jun Miao-er was soft and slow when she talked, her tone tender, it was almost like she was sighing.

“Who knows? It has been over ten years already. But, as long as she’s still alive, they must be able to find her one day.” Jun Li-er spoke her mind, her mannerism that of straightforwardness.

Jun Miao-er gave her a long and meaningful look before she chuckled and said, “Fifth sister resembles aunty the most in our family. If one doesn’t know any better, one might even think Fifth Sister is Aunty’s daughter! If they aren’t able to locate our little cousin… perhaps Aunty will adopt Fifth Sister to be her own child. By that time, Fifth Sister will leap forward to become the only girl in the Duke’s resident!”

“Second Sister, why do I think there were subtext in your words?” Jun Li-er stopped smiling and looked nonchalantly at her cousin.

“No, there isn’t. Fifth Sister thinks too much.” Jun Miao-er’s smile was all the more warmer and touching. She entered her own courtyard with a few lotus steps.2 Inside the Duke’s residence, each of the cousins have their own courtyard. They were petite but each had their own uniqueness. Most importantly, they were close to the duchess’s “Qinghe Hall”.

Jun Miao-er was a commoner girl with special treatment in her family; she was sent by the family to keep her Aunty company because her mannerism was similar to hers. Her father was the oldest in the side branch and the future leader of the clan. The title of “clan leader” might sound very respectful, but it was not an officer title, unlike Fifth Sister’s father, who was a Sub-Fourth Rank Official in the Prefectural Magistrate.

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Notes:

1. Literally meaning – “saving people in the world”

2. Small steps. Not sure if women were still binding feet at that time, but basically women were supposed to take small steps and shuffle. You know, the weaker the women appear, the better. =.=