Chapter 17

Note: The names are retained in traditional Chinese characters as the RAWs I’m translating from are in traditional Chinese and it also makes it easier for me when I’m translating. The new vocabulary terms on the other hand are in simplified Chinese.Characters Shown / Mentioned in this Chapter:

葉璃璃兒 – Ye LiLi er – Main Female Protagonist – first di daughter of the Ye family, but the third child in the family.

定王定國王墨修堯 – Ding w.a.n.gDing guow.a.n.g Mo Xiu Yao – Imperial Prince Ding of the highest rank

黎王 墨景黎 – Li w.a.n.g  Mo Jing Li – Imperial Prince Li

Ye Family Members:

葉文華 葉尚書尚書大人 葉老爺 – Ye Wen Hua Ye Shangshu Shangshu daren Ye laoye – Ye Li‘s father who has the t.i.tle or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence / Minister of Revenue

徐氏 – Xu shi – Ye Li‘s mother

(葉夫人 – Ye furen – can refer to either Xu shi or w.a.n.g shi)

葉昭儀 (大小姐) 葉玥(?) – Ye Zhao Yi (da xiaojie)Ye Yue(?) – Ye Li‘s eldest sister

葉容容少爺容哥兒  – Ye RongRong shaoye Rong ge er – Ye Li‘s younger brotherson of w.a.n.g shi

Xu Family Members:

徐御史御史大人 二舅舅 – Xu YushiYushi daren Second jiujiu – Ye Li‘s second jiujiu who is an imperial censor in the current dynasty

徐清鋒清鋒 – Xu Qing Feng Qing Feng – Ye Li‘s cousinthird in the familyson of Xu Yushi, Ye Li‘s second jiujiu

徐清塵 – Xu Qing Chen – Ye Li‘s cousineldest in the familytwenty-two years old

徐清柏 – Xu Qing Bai/Bo – Ye Li‘s cousinfourth in the familysixteen years old

徐清炎 – Xu Qing Yan – Ye Li‘s cousinfifth in the familythirteen years old

Bold - Names of people, placesItalic - Chinese terms in pinyinUnderline - Unknown

Fu Imperial Capital

Chapter 17: Family members, close relatives

Hearing the words of her waishengnu[1] who she loved like a daughter, Xu furen‘s[2] originally cold face immediately had more of a smiling expression. Holding onto Ye Li‘s hand, she sighed in pity as she said, “Good child, you’ve suffered a grievance.”

Ye Li just smiled and didn’t say anything, pulling Xu furen‘s arm to go inside the yuanzi[3] and didn’t forget to turn her head towards fuqin[4] who was standing at the side looking embarra.s.sed and said, “If fuqin isn’t busy, also come taste this daughter’s tea together with us.”

Only then did Ye Wen Hua force himself to laugh, nodding his head as he said, “Then I’ll come and taste Li er‘s[5] tea.”

The originally tense atmosphere at long last eased up somewhat, the group of people were just about to enter Qing Yi Xuan when from not far away, w.a.n.g shi[6] came staggering over while supported by others. Seeing Ye Rong who was at that moment suffering from a beating that had him letting out world-shattering screams, w.a.n.g shi cried out in grief and threw herself forward to protect Ye Rong in her embrace. w.a.n.g shi was the zhumu[7] managing the household; with her showing up, the other people naturally didn’t dare to make a move again and could only stand at the side.

Once Ye Rong saw that w.a.n.g shi had arrived, he promptly held onto w.a.n.g shi as though he had found a supporter and sorrowfully cried out in pain, yet still didn’t forget to point at Ye Li and say, “Mother, she caused this child to take a beating. You absolutely have to help this child get revenge ah. Really hurts….wuwu (crying sound)….”

w.a.n.g shi held Ye Rong in her arms as she kneeled on the ground, looking at Ye Wen Hua with a face full of sorrow and resentment as she inquired, “Laoye[8], what exactly had Rong er done wrong that you needed to beat him like that? He…He is still so little, he is your only son ah…wuwu…third xiaojie[9] , even if Rong er had indeed offended you in any way…but you are both related elder sister and younger brother ah….”

“Li er, follow jiumu [10]  to go inside the house. What kind of evil monsters are there in this fu[11]  ? How would it look if it were to spread outside? If it really won’t do, have your jiujiu[12]  present a memorial to the emperor that it would be better for you to be received from the Yushi[13]  fu when you get married. It may be a.s.sumed that for your marriage, your waigong[14]  had better take charge; our Yushi fu wouldn’t bring disgrace to the Ding guow.a.n.g[15]  fu‘s face (refers to one’s honor or reputation).” Seeing w.a.n.g shi kneeling on the ground not far away and who was crying with a look of grievance, Xu furen‘s face once again sank, pulling Ye Li to go inside.

This Ye family’s w.a.n.g shi mother and daughter pair as well as Ye Zhao Yi in the palace were all of the same revolting behaviour, but never mind this Ye Ying and Ye Yue crying–this w.a.n.g shi was already of mature age and yet still didn’t know shame.

Ye Li nodded, turning her head towards w.a.n.g shi and indifferently said, “Furen‘s words are too heavy, Rong er was punished by fuqin. But now that you mention it, Rong er should also be properly disciplined so as to avoid outsiders from saying our Shangshu[16]  fu has no family education.” Finished talking and also no longer taking notice of the complexion of Ye Wen Hua at the side, she pulled Xu furen‘s hand and went inside the yuanzi.

Xu Qing Feng followed from behind, looking a couple of times at w.a.n.g shi with interest and laughed, saying, “Gufu[17], this jishi[18]…is indeed truly interesting.” He had never seen any family’s furen who had this type of conduct. No matter how the zhengshi[19]  of a famous and influential family was in private, they would forever be graceful and dignified in front of outsiders. This one who would on one side cry and on the other not forget to seduce people with their grieving appearance was obviously the look of a small concubine. That’s right, didn’t this person come from the ceshi[20] ? Finished speaking, he also turned around to follow muqin[21] and biaomei[22]  , leaving the matter outside for the Shangshu daren[23]  whose face was already black like ink to deal with.

Inside the quiet and elegantly placed reception pavilion, Ye Li offered the tea she personally steeped to the still angry jiumu and biaoge[24]  .

Xu furen drank a mouthful of tea and feeling her anger staved off somewhat, only then did she helplessly look at Ye Li and say, “You take a look at this temperament of yours, even the jishi‘s shuzi[25]  also dared to pick on you.”

Ye Li didn’t mind, her smile unperturbed as she looked at her protective jiumu and said, “She after all is the Ye family’s zhumu managing the household and is also the birth mother of Zhao Yi in the palace. Not to mention, Li er didn’t at all suffer any losses. Jiumu, wouldn’t you agree?”

Xu Qing Feng frowned and said, “Today it was us who came, your father couldn’t not punish in front of outsiders. If it was like normal times, would it have been so easy?”

Don’t a.s.sume that he didn’t know; those mere twenty floggings were actually delayed until w.a.n.g shi had rushed over and had only then landed a few strikes on Ye Rong that were neither light nor heavy. If it weren’t incited by Ye Wen Hua, how would the underlings have so much courage to agree overtly but oppose in secret?

Ye Li‘s eyebrows raised as she smiled, saying, “I have allowed biaoge as well as jiujiu and jiumu to get worried. He is after all fuqin‘s one and only son, how could he not have reason to be biased? But Li er is also not one to be trifled with; if he really placed the offense on me, how could I have let him get away so easily?” In Ye Li‘s view, Ye Rong was merely a child who had been spoiled to the point of causing people not to particularly like him. Bothering about him too much on the contrary would be very dull.

Recalling a certain person who was ridden with bad luck this time, Xu Qinq Feng couldn’t help but feel happy. However, he still couldn’t help himself from warning his own biaomei repeatedly to be careful about everything and so on.

Xu furen handed over a sealed letter into Ye Li‘s hand. Ye Li pinched the envelope that clearly wasn’t thin and feeling warm on the inside, lifted her head to see Xu furen‘s pair of warm and affectionate eyes.

Ye Li‘s heart felt slightly sour, “Jiumu…..” Ever since muqin pa.s.sed away, if it weren’t for jiujiu and jiumu looking after her from time to time, these years she herself wouldn’t have been able to be this free and unfettered.

Not waiting for her to express words of thanks, Xu furen reached out to hold her hand and smiled, saying, “Silly child, no matter what, you are the Xu family’s own flesh and blood, are you not? Your jiujiu only had your mother as a younger sister in this lifetime; what could it cost to do these things?”

“Jiumu……” Ye Li lowered her eyes, not wanting to let Xu furen see her eyes glistening with tears.

((This translation is originally found on: h t t p : / / g u q i n t r a n s l a t i o n s . w o r d p r e s s . c o m))

Xu Qing Feng saw that the mood was somewhat sad and promptly laughed, saying, “What mother said is right, our Xu family only has Li er this one daughter in this generation. By the time of Li er‘s big wedding, dabo[26] as well as eldest brother, second brother, fourth younger brother, and fifth younger brother will all enter the capital. If it weren’t for yeye‘s[27] health being somewhat unwell this year and the doctor not allowing long-distance travel, he also would’ve wanted to come.”

Ye Li also immediately held down her inner rolling emotional state, “Waigong‘s health is unwell? Then da jiujiu[28] they….”

“Don’t get anxious, yeye is already old so it’s natural that some minor illnesses couldn’t be avoided. The capital’s climate is also not as suitable as that of Yun prefecture in terms of nurturing the body. As for eldest brother, they originally also needed to enter the capital to prepare for next year’s metropolitan civil service examination; now it’s only due to your wedding that they decided to go earlier by a few months to enter the capital.” Afraid that Ye Li would overthink it, Xu Qing Feng quickly consoled her.

Ye Li held herself back from laughing; now it was only the end of the third month, the metropolitan civil service exam next year was still almost one year away; going that ahead of time could be considered to be somewhat too early.

Understanding that biaoge had wanted to console her, Ye Li also followed him in changing the subject and asked in wonder, “Second biaoge, fourth biaoge and fifth biaodi[29] all need to take part in the metropolitan civil service examination?”

The second in the current generation of the Xu family named Xu Qing Ze was nineteen this year, the fourth named Xu Qing Bai was sixteen this year and Xu Qing Yan was thirteen. As for the eldest, Xu Qing Chen was twenty-two this year who at the early age of fourteen had already received first place in the list of pa.s.sers as the top scorer in the palace examination, becoming the youngest top scorer of the palace examination since the founding of Da Chu. However, Xu Qing Chen didn’t like the discord of the officialdom; at the age of fifteen, he had resigned from a government post and went to various regions to study away from home. At only twenty, he had become Lishan Academy’s youngest xiansheng[30] . For this biaoge, it wouldn’t be too much to describe him as having astonishing literary talent and magnificent rhetoric. Although Ye Li had only seen him a couple of times several years ago, her impression towards this biaoge was nevertheless very deep.

It was just that the Xu family’s three gongzi[31]  were joining the imperial examination at the same time; according to the Xu family’s capability, the possibility of failing the imperial exam was extremely low. Would it be too conspicuous?

Xu Qing Feng shrugged his shoulders and said, “Originally it was second elder brother and fourth younger brother, old fifth was the one who wanted to come himself. It was said that he wanted to surpa.s.s eldest brother for his t.i.tle of of being the top scorer in the palace examination as a fourteen-year-old youngster. Eldest brother was born in the second month, his was the ninth month. If he really were to hit the mark on becoming the top scorer in the palace examination then it can really be considered as surpa.s.sing eldest brother, but there really isn’t a big chance.” Since he was little, he liked martial arts; even if he were to read books, he liked to read military books. Towards studying to be the top scorer of the palace examination, he didn’t have any interest.

Actually the Xu family’s interest towards the imperial examination wasn’t at all big; they didn’t have any intention in becoming officials anyway. It was just that if they didn’t take an imperial exam and thus get a certain ranking, based on their age–even if they were of great erudition and scholarship–they wouldn’t be able to teach at Lishan academy. How could those arrogant sons possibly be convinced to follow someone who is about their age as their teacher?

Xu furen also smiled and said, “Actually, the one who really needs to take the exam is only Qing Ze. Qing Bai and Qing Yan those two youngsters are only taking the opportunity to join in the fun.”

“Second elder brother plans on staying in the capital then?” Ye Li asked.

Xu Qing Feng laughed and praised, “It’s still Li er who is clever. However second elder brother will stay in the capital, your biaoge I will be going on a long journey.”

Seeing Xu Qing Feng‘s appearance of glowing with health and vigour (in high spirits), Ye Li was delighted as she said, “Could it be that second jiujiu had given his approval to biaoge?”

Xu furen nodded her head somewhat helplessly as well as gratified and said, “You can say that again. This brat finally had his wish fulfilled. Your jiujiu is currently planning on letting him enter the army to hone himself.”

Actually, Yushi daren‘s thoughts were still very complicated; both hoping that after a while of honing one’s self in the army, this child would find it unbearable and obediently return home to continue the tradition of the Xu family’s literary reputation, but if Xu Qing Feng really dared to muddle along for several months and then came running back again, one only feared that a good beating was unavoidable.

“Then congratulations to biaoge.” Ye Li said, smiling. Second jiujiu had always disapproved of biaoge serving in the army; now that he had finally relented, it was no wonder that Xu Qing Feng was so happy.

“Bearing Li er‘s auspicious words. Wait until biaoge, I, become an important general; if that Ding w.a.n.g[32] dared to bully you, biaoge will help you vent your anger!”

“……..” Ye Li had a face of black lines; even as an important general, it still wouldn’t be enough to contend against someone like Da Chu‘s only succeeding w.a.n.gye[33]. Not to mention, waiting for him to go from being a foot soldier to becoming an important general, the citron daylilies would’ve already gotten cold (means to wait for a very long time).

一脸黑线 (yilianheixian) – a face of black lines, commonly depicted in manga or anime – sampleGlossary:Waishengnu (外甥女 – sister’s daughter / wife’s sibling’s daughter)Furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife)Yuanzi (院子 – a small residence within a family residence compound)Fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father)Er (儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child)Shi (氏 – clan name / maiden surname)Zhumu (主母 – owner ‘mother’ / mother in charge of the household)Laoye (老爺 – master / lord of the household)Xiaojie (小姐 – Young miss / lady)Jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle)Fu (府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together)Jiujiu (舅舅 – maternal uncle)Yushi (御史 – imperial censor)Waigong (外公 – maternal grandfather)Guow.a.n.g (国王 – former appellation for '亲王 – qinw.a.n.g' which is the highest rank of a prince, used from Han to Ming dynasty)Shangshu (尚書 – t.i.tle or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence)Gufu (姑父 – father’s sister’s husband / husband of paternal aunt / uncle)Jishi (继室 – second wife of a widower)Zhengshi (正室 – legal wife / first wife)Ceshi (側室 – sideroom / concubine)Muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother)Biaomei (表妹 – younger female cousin via female line)Daren (大人 – adult / grownup / t.i.tle of respect toward superiors)Biaoge (表哥 – elder male cousin via female line)Shuzi (庶子 – son of a concubine / b.a.s.t.a.r.d)Dabo (大伯 – father's elder brother / eldest uncle / husband’s elder brother / brother-in-law)Yeye (爷爷 – paternal grandfather)Da jiujiu (大舅舅 – eldest maternal uncle)Biaodi (表弟 – younger male cousin via female line)Xiansheng (先生 – mister / teacher)Gongzi (公子 – son of n.o.bility / young man)w.a.n.g (王 – imperial prince)w.a.n.gye (王爺 – term for addressing an imperial prince)