Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
Matron Qu was a maid who was part of the estate madam Tian-Shiâs dowry.
She was born into the madamâs maiden household, and as a maid she was one of the few who werenât constantly scheming how to get into the estate masterâs bed. Therefore, Tian-Shi held her in high regard. Once she came of age, Tian-Shi acted as a matchmaker and introduced her to one of the stewards in the main pavilion.
While Matron Qu married that steward, several other maids by Tian-Shiâs side had succeeded in climbing into the estate masterâs bed, and became his chambermaids.
At that time, there were those who mocked Matron Qu. Her appearance was excellent, and as the pavilion near the water why didnât she make plans for herself?
She had merely smiled at the time. After marrying the stweard, Matron Qu took a break from her duties and returned home to enjoy her married life. Three years passed and she gave birth to two children, one was Bi Yuanâs older brother, the other was Bi Yuan.
After her post-natal period, Tian-Shi called her back to become the baby 4<sup>th</sup> young masterâs wet nurse.
Many were envious of her and said she was blessed with good fortune. Those that laughed at her previously for not climbing the bed no longer laughed, because only then did they realize that the lady who was gentle and generous while at her maiden home had several tricks up her sleeve to deal with her husbandâs chambermaids. Before you were let off since you knew your place. Now that youâve climbed into my manâs bed watch me keep you on a tight leash.
Matron Qu was the 4<sup>th</sup> young masterâs wet nurse for five years. She put her whole heart into it, to the extent that Tian-Shi as the birth mother was unable to point out a single issue. When the young master turned five, the estate master said that a grown man shouldnât be coddled by a wet nurse anymore to prevent him from ending up with the air of a housewife. Tian-Shi thus transferred her back beside her to be a senior maid.
While Matron Qu became a head maid, those initial bed climbing maids had all disappeared to who knows where.
Many thought Matron Qu was someone with great foresight, and Matron Qu thought of herself the same way.
Having served her mistress from birth, wouldnât she have lived her life in vain if she didnât understand certain things? As long as her mistress could remain stable in her position as the Jinyang Marquis Estateâs madam, glory and wealth would rain upon her as long as she continued serving wholeheartedly. No need to become a mistress. A position as a senior maid, with a husband, a son and a daughter was plenty. Her husband didnât even dare take a concubine. Who could say her life wasnât good?
As Matron Qu finished listening to the common maidâs report regarding Bi Yuanâs situation, she remained expressionless.
Only after finishing her tasks for the day did she make her way over to the main pavilion where the madam lived.
Upon seeing Matron Qu, the maid at the door didnât even announce her presence before allowing her to enter.
As Matron Qu entered, Tian-Shi was leaning on the recliner with her eyes closed as a maid massaged her legs.
Tian-Shi was now over forty years old, but still looked like someone in her twenties. The years left no marks upon her visage, except for traces of maturity and a graceful bearing, as though time was giving her special treatment.
Fate truly was kind to Tian-Shi. Being noble born, marrying into an excellent household, and becoming in charge of household affairs upon marriage as the principal wife. Her mother-in-law was also magnanimous, and did not micromanage. She got along well with her husband and had a pair of sons and a pair of daughters.
The only imperfection was that men inevitably wanted to take a few concubines, and the resulting fruits of those unions.
However she was skillful, showing filial piety to her mother-in-law while showing respect to her husband. Kind in front of others while mercilessly strict in private. Those concubines and their children had long been suppressed by her into inexistence within the estate. Now that she even had a grandson, the only thing that could cause her worry apart from her husbandâs matters in court was her younger son Ruan Siyi.
Matrin Qu didnât say anything as she entered, and directly dropped to her knees at the madamâs side.
The maid massaging the madamâs legs was startled. Only then did Tian-Shi open her eyes and gaze upon Matron Qu who was kneeling on the ground.
Seeing her lying prone, Tian-Shi wrinkled her brows and waved her hands for the maid at her side to help Matron Qu up.
Matron Qu refused to rise, continuing to lay there, rambling about how she had lost face for her young mistress.
Upon hearing the phrase âyoung mistressâ the estate madamâs originally furrowed brow relaxed.
Thatâs right, young mistress. She was indeed Matron Quâs young mistress for many years. That was back when Matron Qu wasnât called Matron Qu yet, but rather DiĂ©âer . In the blink of an eye many years had already passed.
âAlright, talk to me. Whatâs the matter?â
Tian Shi wasnât a fool. Seeing Matron Qu put on this performance, she had definitely messed up somewhere and was here to ask her for forgiveness. Regardless, Matron Qu had followed her wholeheartedly for so many years. She had already planned to let her off as soon as she said âyoung mistressâ.
The estate madamâs change in expression was within Matron Quâs expectations.
As stated previously, how could those that were able to stably maintain their positions in the enormous Jinyang Marquis Estate be fools?
While Tian Shi understood Matron Qu, would Matron Qu not understand her own householdâs young miss?
Matron Qu knelt and explained the situation without embellishment. She merely said her daughter Bi Yuan was given a bowl of soup by the young master and therefore hit across the face by his wife.
Her tone was without complaint, just recounting the story and even criticizing Bi Yuan for being short-sighted. She happily received the young masterâs grace and offended his wife. Being hit wasnât a big deal, she was just worried that the young masterâs wife would hate her in the future. She begged Tian-Shi to remove Bi Yuan from the young masterâs side to prevent harming the relationship between the 4<sup>th</sup> young master and his wife. She criticized herself for not raising her daughter well, causing the madam to lose face.
Tian-Shi was the one who originally placed Bi Yuan by the young master Ruan Siyiâs side. This incident resulting in a beating could indeed be seen as losing the madamâs face.
Matron Quâs words were very appropriate, without complaint and without mentioning anything else. She played the role of a servant who worried for her master and was unbiased towards her own daughter very well.
Yet Tian-Shi couldnât help but realize how serious the situation was. Qiao-Shi had made such a large commotion and hit Bi Yuan? If the master bestowed something from above, how could those below refuse the offering? Was Qiao-Shi complaining about Yiâer giving her the cold shoulder, or was she giving him a slap to the face? Or was she including Tian-Shiâs face in the slap as well? After all, Bi Yuan was someone placed by Tian-Shi.
She was suddenly discontent with Qiao-Shi in her heart.
Regarding Qiao-Shi, her daughter-in-law, Tian-Shi couldnât say she was fond of her, but also couldnât say she disliked her. While discussing the marriage proposal initially she had looked well upon her family background. The precious princess of a high ranking official in the Ministry of Appointments. Apart from her slightly lacking appearance, just based on her background she was a worthy match for her Yiâer.
Since her Yiâer was the younger son, he couldnât inherit the title of nobility. No matter how much he was pampered at home, he couldnât avoid having a slightly lower status. In the future, he could only take an idle post to pass the days. Therefore, Tian-Shi was still satisfied with Qiao Shi as a daughter-in-law based on her status.
Yet when considering the 4<sup>th</sup> young masterâs dislike towards Qiao-Shi, Tian-Shi was unavoidably at a loss.
Yiâer, this child, was outstanding in most aspects. He was good at studying, and if the imperial court hadnât ruled that the offspring of nobility couldnât take the imperial exam, her Yiâer would have no problem ranking within the top 3 candidates.
His only flaw was his love of beauty. This wasnât to say Ruan Siyi was a lecher. Tian-Shi was clear about her own sonâs character. Yiâer that child just liked beautiful things, so Qiao-Shi who wasnât anything special to look at was a major eyesore.
Unfortunately since she had already married in, they had to be resigned.
Hearing her son often complaining to her about having picked out a mediocre wife for him, the estate madam was also slightly regretful. She could only blame herself for not taking a look in person initially. Yet who would have expected the likeness portrait to have been altered?
Tian-Shi didnât realize that Qiao-Shiâs mother had spent a lot of effort for the sake of her daughterâs marriage into the estate, not just making some alterations to the portrait. In fact, it couldnât really be called alterations, just that it was painted a little more abstractly. The portraits of this era were painted abstractly to begin with. She had also convinced a good number of people to bring up the proposal. Tian-Shi listened to these people, took a look at the portrait and decided on Qiao-Shi. Who knew that the bride was not much to look at in person?
Looking at the portrait, Tian-Shi had initially thought that the lass looked pretty decent.
But there was nothing that could be done even knowing the portrait had been altered. The principal wife was married for her worth, and a concubine taken for her looks. Could you return someoneâs daughter because they werenât beautiful? Of course you couldnât, so Tian-Shi could only console her own son, and promised that if he took beautiful concubines in the future she wouldnât hinder him.
This was the reason rumors of a chambermaid spot opening up in the young masterâs room had spread. It was actually premature, since Tian-Shi had only the intention but had not decided whether or not to influence what goes on in her sonâs room yet.
Back to the topic at hand, when Tian-Shi heard that Qiao-Shi had caused such a commotion, her dislike of Qiao-Shi increased. She felt in her heart that Qiao-Shi was quite petty, and not suited for a position of power.
âAlright, alright. Quickly get up. Itâs not that big of a deal.â Tian-Shi indicated for the maid beside her to help Matron Qu up. Since it wasnât appropriate for her to blame her own daughter-in-law, she could only placate Matron Qu: âBi Yuan will stay in Siyiâs pavilion. If Qiao-Shi has a problem with it, she can come talk to me about it.â
Tian-Shi was also prepared to use this situation to beat some sense into Qiao-Shi, letting her know that itâs fine if she wanted to hit her face, but she could not hit her husbandâs face. Married couples were supposed to be united. If you hit your husbandâs face, how could you be a good wife?
Therefore, after pondering for a bit she added: âTomorrow I will let Xiu Ă go give Bi Yuan that lass some medicine for her wounds. Sheâs considered to have suffered some grievances this time.â
âThank you madam for your sympathy!â
Matron Qu knelt to the floor once more and shed tears of gratitude.
This was her original intent!
Matron Qu finished expressing her gratitude and asked to withdraw. Only after leaving the main pavilion did she harshly spit a wad of saliva onto the floor.
Pah! Donât think that just because youâre the 4<sup>th</sup> young madam you can act as you please! A madam without the support of her husband wasnât that much more powerful than her servants. This time I will make you improve your memory, and remember in the future not to touch someone before having a stable footing!
Therefore it is said: who in this large residence was truly virtuous and kind? Even Matron Qu had manipulated her mistress without leaving a trace.
Yikes these chapters are long. This one especially since I decided to translate the authorâs notes (rant?) which was almost half the length of the chapter. Thanks for reading up to here, I will continue doing my best going forward.
Spoilers for side characters in 2<sup>nd</sup> last paragraph of Authorâs notes.
People have been pointing out that Tian-Shi was negligent in picking such a wife for her son. It was mentioned in the story that the wifeâs family spent a lot of effort into making it happen. You couldnât say anything if the portrait was too abstract, that could just be the artistâs style. Furthermore, Qiao-Shi isnât ugly. She just canât be described as beautiful. In modern terms, she could be called fresh and pretty. Itâs just that the young masterâs standards of beauty are much higher than normal people. Just like how everyone has their own preferred looks. A person could be an 8 to one person, a 6 to another and not attractive to someone else. Itâs just a matter of perspective. Qiao-Shiâs family also couldnât be said to be without conscience. Normally speaking, once you take the bride thatâs it, what could you still be grumbling about? Her mother at least still felt some guilt over it, and even though her daughter was angry she still criticized herself at first. In fact they didnât have to feel guilty. A high ranking officialâs daughter being matched with a second son was more than enough. As someone in Qiao-Shiâs fatherâs position, marrying off his daughter wasnât so simple. The background of the Jinyang Marquis Estate was taken into consideration, as well as Ruan Siyi being talented, good looking as well as a second son. In normal families they only had to worry about their daughter marrying rich. In this case the father had to consider his daughterâs personality, which didnât fit that of an estateâs main wife. Instead he chose for her to marry rich but in a position where she wouldnât have to do much work and not have to interact much with her mother-in-law. It was only upon seeing such a good match and opportunity that they decided to alter the portrait and have people bring up the proposal. Since these people could convince Tian-Shi, they were of course not outsiders, and instead were people close to her, which was why Tian-Shi didnât bother going to check it out in person. Furthermore, Tian-Shi also had plans in her heart. From the phrase âLooking at the portrait, Tian Shi had initially thought that the lass looked pretty decentâ you can tell she didnât think it appropriate for the wife to be some great beauty. Especially the following line about the wife being married for her worth and concubines for their looks.
How could she not know her own sonâs personality? She just thought well of the bride-to-beâs family background, and thought it a good match. Even if she wasnât a beauty, how could everything be perfect? She just didnât expect her son to have such a big reaction. Her complaints about Qiao-Shi and her family was merely her taking out her anger on them after being incessantly bothered by her sonâs complaints. Venting anger is something everyone does. Therefore, in deciding who was in the wrong, both sides are to blame. But to look at the root cause, the 4<sup>th</sup> young master is the majority, being not quite mature enough. Otherwise he and Qiao-Shi would not have fallen out to this extent.
But donât worry everyone, because a lot of people are saying itâs a shame for Qiao-Shi. The husband and wife wouldnât have ended up this way if it werenât for outside interference. The end of this piece has a happy conclusion for Ruan Siyi and Qiao-Shi. Letâs give Qiao-Shi happiness.
Having written so much, a lot of it were things I didnât want to say. But seeing some of the comments asking questions, I decided to provide some general explanations. To be honest, a lot of it is written in the story, itâs just a bit fragmented. Since they arenât main characters, going into too much detail would make people say the story is getting bogged down. But it is reflected in many places.