Chapter 2

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 (嫡 – legitimate / of the official wife) daughter of the Ye family, but the third child in the family.

定王墨修堯 – Ding w.a.n.gMo Xiu Yao – Imperial Prince Ding

黎王 墨俊黎 – Li w.a.n.g Mo Jun Li – Imperial Prince Li

Ye Family Members:

葉尚書 – Ye Shangshu – 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

(氏 – shi – clan name / maiden surname)

徐氏 – Xu shi – Ye Li‘s mother

王氏 – w.a.n.g shi – the current main wife of Ye Shangshu and current zhumu (主母 – owner ‘mother’ / mother in charge of the household) of the household

葉昭儀 (大姐 / 大小姐) – Ye Zhao Yi (Da jie / Da xiaojie) – Ye Li‘s eldest sister

葉瑩 – Ye Ying – 4th daughter in the family

容哥兒 – Rong ge er – Ye Li‘s younger brother who had just turned seven

Bold - Names of people, placesItalic - Chinese terms in pinyinUnderline - UnknownBlue - definition brackets

Fu Imperial Capital

Chapter 2: Dowry

Although everyone knew that Ding w.a.n.g was trash, but this trash in the end was still the Da Chu dynasty’s one and only first-rate w.a.n.gye next in line for succession.

So for Ye Shangshu (尚書 – t.i.tle or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence) and the Ye family’s laotaitai (老太太 – elderly lady) who have always treated Ye Li with complete indifference, they still put in the seldomly used effort in conversing with Ye Li.

“Sunnu (孫女 – granddaughter) pays respect to zumu (祖母 – respectful or intimate way of addressing grandmother) and to fuqin (父親 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father).” Ye Li arrived at laofuren‘s (老夫人 – old madam / t.i.tle for the mother of a n.o.ble or an official) Rong Le hall.

Ye Shangshu and w.a.n.g shi (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) as well as fourth xiaojie (小姐 – young miss or lady) Ye Ying were already there.

Ye laofuren nodded with a look of affection on her face and smiled, saying, “Li er (儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child), just rise. Now that you’ve been betrothed to Ding w.a.n.g and next month Ying er is also getting married to Li w.a.n.g, our family can be considered to be having two simultaneous happy events*.”

((*Note: “雙喜臨門 – shuangxilinmen” literally means “double happiness arriving at the door”, which is an idiom for having two happy events or news simultaneously happening to the family.))

Ye Li got up, her eyes looking down on the ground but her face was actually shown to be completely respectful. “Causing zumu to specially rush back here from outside, it is sunnu who is unfilial to have made  zumu look after me.” Although she didn’t particularly like Ye Li, the words that Ye Li said still made laofuren absolutely happy.

She looked at Ye Li with her face showing more affection and said, “This is our family’s big happy occasion, how can I not come back? The two young women’s dowry has to be prepared properly.”

w.a.n.g shi quickly got up and looked at laotaitai with some difficulty, saying, “Ye laotaitai, originally there was only fourth daughter getting married next month so we could still make it, but now there’s also third xiaojie. I’m just afraid that…”

Ye laofuren was also someone who has become fiendish*, how could she not be aware of w.a.n.g shi‘s own hidden selfish calculations?

((*Note: According to this , “成了精” or the more straightforward “成精” means turning / turned into a “妖精 – yaojing”, which means ‘evil spirit’ or ‘alluring woman’. The word ‘fiendish’ seems more apt in this scenario though.))

Thinking about it for awhile, she said, “The date for this Li yatou (丫头 – young girl) hasn’t been confirmed yet, let’s be more urgent about Ying er (儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child) then.”

Hearing laotaitai‘s words, w.a.n.g shi joyously agreed.

Ye laofuren looked at her two sunnu and ordered a yatou (丫头 – young maidservant) to bring out two boxes to set them on the table before saying, “You two yatou (丫头 – young girl) are both blessed. One is getting married to Li w.a.n.g and the other is marrying Ding w.a.n.g. I as a zumu am also not one for favoritism, these things are one for you each. In the future, fifth yatou (丫头 – young girl) and sixth yatou will also be the same. My dowry of a couple of hamlets will also be given to you one each. As for whether the public will be adding anything more or not to the dowry is something for your muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother) and fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father) to handle.”

Accompanied with a smile, w.a.n.g shi said, “It’s still laotaitai who spoils the granddaughters, xifu (媳妇 – daughter-in-law) and laoye (老爺 – master / lord of the household) have discussed that if the dowry for Ying er‘s marriage with Li w.a.n.g were to be lessened, we fear the imperial family won’t be satisfied. The public has used twenty two thousand taels to buy the dowry, and there are still six hamlets and six shops. From xifu‘s own dowry, have also brought out two hamlets for her.”

Ye laofuren frowned and said, ” Isn’t that a bit too much?”  Although she said that adding a bit more dowry for Ye Ying‘s marriage with w.a.n.gye would be preferable, but if the remaining guniang (姑娘 – young lady / girl) were to get married off and there was too big of a difference between their dowries, that also wouldn’t be good for the reputation of the Shangshu fu (尚書 – t.i.tle or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together).

“How do you intend to prepare Li er‘s dowry then?” Laotaitai in the end was a bit more experienced than w.a.n.g shi. Although Ding w.a.n.g was considered trash, he was still trash from a clan with an extensive background. If it weren’t for his own situation as an individual, he would’ve been more deserving to be honoured than compared to Li w.a.n.g. If they were to be too harsh on Ye Li‘s dowry, then the people from the Ding guow.a.n.g fu who had been loyal for generations would have something to say about it.

w.a.n.g shi obviously didn’t think that laotaitai would ask this directly and hesitated for a bit before saying, “Ding w.a.n.g after all is different from the emperor’s own tongbao (同胞 – of the same womb / of the same mother) younger brother. As for our fu, it’s also really a bit…xifu was thinking whether we should wait for Ding w.a.n.g fu‘s betrothal gifts to be delivered and then see. By that time, we could just add on two hamlets.” The meaning was that the betrothal gifts that Ding w.a.n.g would send could then be sent back as the dowry. As for how much they could send back in the end was left out in ambiguity*.

((*Note: Don’t really get what the author means by “还不是看她的意思 – haibushikantadeyisi“. Literally, it’s saying 'still not see her meaning”. If I were to guess, it either means that w.a.n.g shi purposely left out that ‘meaning’ in ambiguity or that she was so transparent that people could see her own wicked intentions.))

After hearing this, Ye laofuren‘s face sank and said, “Scoundrel! Using the betrothal gifts to act as the dowry to be sent back, you could even come up with this. Do we still want our Ye family’s reputation? Do you as a stepmother still want your own reputation? It is true that the Xu family has declined in these past few years, but your w.a.n.g family still wouldn’t be able to compare to it!”

Being mercilessly reprimanded by laotaitai, w.a.n.g shi‘s face immediately turned red as she cried out in grievance again and again, “Laotaitai, xifu is being wronged. In these past few years, when has xifu ever treated third guniang badly? It’s really…it’s really…our fu is also having difficulties. There are also still some remaining unmarried guniang, and in the future Rong ge er (哥 – elder brother儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child)  getting married will also need silver….”

Laotaitai was angry to the point of needing to rub her chest because of this shortsighted xifu. Rong ge er had only turned seven this year, they still wouldn’t know when he will be getting married. She swept her eyes over to Ye Shangshu sitting quietly on the side and said, “For your own daughter, what do you personally think should be done?”

It was a good thing she personally came back and had asked about this, otherwise if w.a.n.g shi really had Li yatou married off like this, they wouldn’t only offend the Ding w.a.n.g fu but also offend the Xu family. The Xu family’s people in the officialdom has lessened over the years, but how could they afford to offend that hundred-year-old, large and influential family? Ye Shangshu looked at muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother) as though he had been put in a difficult spot and once again looked at his own wife, saying, “Third yatou is after all a di (嫡 – legitimate / of the official wife) daughter and is generally like Ying er.” To be able to be in the position of a shangshu (尚書 – t.i.tle or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence), Ye Shangshu after all wasn’t stupid. He naturally knew what muqin was concerned about.

“Generally like Ying er?!” w.a.n.g shi shouted and said, “Where in our fu do we have that much money? Laoye, it really isn’t qieshen (妾身 – a deprecatory or modern appellation for a woman referring to themselves) this di mother’s intention to treat third guniang unfairly. It’s that our household’s economic situation is in a difficult position. Ying er is the tongbao (同胞 – of the same womb / of the same mother) younger sister of Zhao Yi living in the palace, and the one she is marrying is the emperor’s younger brother closely related by blood. If the dowry were to be lessened, that will make w.a.n.gye‘s reputation look bad, Zhao Yi‘s reputation will also not look good. If worst comes to worst…If worst comes to worst, qieshen can just also use my own dowry again and have the two hamlets meant for Rong ge er to give to third guniang instead.” w.a.n.g shi lamented miserably while wiping away tears, but in her heart she was secretly resenting Ye Li who was just sitting at the side in silence. How could she let this s.l.u.t’s daughter to be treated just like Ying er? Don’t even think about it!

“This….” Ye Shangshu was distracted for a moment and looked at Ye Li awkwardly. At this time, Ye Zhao Yi was justifiably and flourishingly pampered and was even pregnant. If she were to give birth to a son…

Ye Ying saw Ye Shangshu‘s expression has softened and bit her lip, saying, “Father, there is no need to feel troubled. Ying er‘s dowry can just leave some to give to third elder sister. But we must definitely not use the palace’s da jiejie‘s (大姐姐 – eldest big sister) money. Also leaving some for fifth younger sister and sixth younger sister would be even better.”

Seeing his most doted on and favourite daughter being so sensible,Ye Shangshu‘s eyes softened and then looked at Ye Li, wanting her to also say something.

Ye Li faintly smiled on the inside before raising her head up to look at everyone and then softly said, “Fuqin, muqin, as well as fourth younger sister don’t need to feel troubled.”

w.a.n.g shi heard this and felt happy on the inside. In these past few years, Ye Li was one who didn’t like to argue nor scramble over things all this time, making her think that Ye Li‘s personality was really flexible and accommodating and thus she had thought she wanted to back down.

But then heard Ye Li say, “Muqin before pa.s.sing away had mentioned it to this daughter; when she was marrying into the Ye family, waizufu (外祖父 – maternal grandfather) and waizumu (外祖母 – maternal grandmother) had provided eight hamlets, twelve shops, as well as three woodlands. These were left for this daughter to use as dowry. As for anything else, fuqin and muqin can also just do it according to second elder sister’s example. Better to treat fourth younger sister with urgency.”

The Ye fu‘s second xiaojie (小姐 – young miss or lady) married the Yushi (御史 – imperial censor) fu‘s third gongzi (公子 – son of n.o.bility / young man) two years ago, w.a.n.g shi had only given ten thousand taels as dowry.

“What?! How could this be?!  Those are….” w.a.n.g shi couldn’t help but shout out. Those were what she wanted to leave for her own daughters’ dowry as well as for Rong ge er‘s.

Ye Li looked at her strangely and said, “Those are what?” Humbly lowering her gaze, she then looked at Ye laotaitai timidly, saying, “Muqin at the time said that her dowry was to be pa.s.sed down to sunnu er (孫女 – granddaughter儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child). My jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle) also knows of this matter. Right, zumu?”

Ye laofuren‘s face didn’t look good. At that time, Xu shi marrying into the Ye family could be said to be shilihongzhuang (十里紅妝 – describes a splendidly abundant dowry accompanying the bride). If all of it were to be given to Ye Li, then Ye Ying‘s dowry wouldn’t look good. These last couple of years, the Ye family squandered money like dirt, originally they were a bit unable to make ends meet. If they wanted to go about the same way as Xu shi‘s dowry of that year, after Ye Ying gets married the family may as well not live. On the other hand, what Ye Li said actually wasn’t wrong. At the time before Xu shi pa.s.sed away, the Xu family’s young madam had been there and had personally heard Xu shi‘s personal account for future matters.

Seeing Ye laofuren not saying anything, Ye Li also wasn’t in a hurry to say something. It was only on the inside that she coldly laughed. She didn’t really have too big of a opinion over the amount of dowry, but muqin‘s dowry cannot be given to w.a.n.g shi‘s daughter to be used as her dowry. Although it was after Xu shi pa.s.sed away that she got her past life’s memories, but that didn’t change the fact that Xu shi was her muqin. Carefully cared for since little, putting one’s heart into guiding her as well as the grievances Xu shi had suffered were something she didn’t forget at all. Ever since marrying into the Ye family, Xu shi had never had a day where she was happy. Her life ending in melancholy also could be said to be not the worst outcome. If even her own dowry was taken to subsidize the husband and concubine’s daughters, Ye Li who didn’t believe in ghosts was worried that muqin would climb out from her grave.

After a long while, Ye laofuren just said, “Let’s put this matter aside first, later I will discuss it with your muqin and fuqin again.”

Ye Li slightly raised her eyebrow, softly responding with an affirmative.

Glossary RECAP:

Sunnu (孫女 – granddaughter)

Zumu (祖母 – respectful or intimate way of addressing grandmother)

Laotaitai (老太太 – elderly lady)

Laofuren‘s (老夫人 – old madam / t.i.tle for the mother of a n.o.ble or an official)

Muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother)

Fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father)

Qieshen (妾身 – a deprecatory or modern appellation for a woman referring to themselves)

Xifu (媳妇 – daughter-in-law)

Yushi (御史 – imperial censor)

Waizufu (外祖父 – maternal grandfather)

Waizumu (外祖母 – maternal grandmother)

Jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle)

Shilihongzhuang (十里紅妝 – describes a splendidly abundant dowry accompanying the bride)