Chapter 3

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.

清霜 – Qing Shuang – Ye Li‘s yatou (丫头 – young maidservant)

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:

(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 令公子 – Rong ge erLing gongzi – Ye Li‘s younger brother who had just turned seven

Xu Family Members:

徐夫人 – Xu furen – Ye Li‘s second jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle)

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

Fu Imperial Capital

Chapter 3: Jiumu arrives

“Xiaojie (小姐 – Young miss / lady), Xu furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife) has arrived.”

Ye Li raised her head and just so happened to see her own second jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle) coming in from outside. She quickly got up and greeted, “Second jiumu.”

Xu furen this year was only maybe thirty-six or thirty-seven and her properly maintained appearance could only be described as delicate and pretty, but the temperament she naturally exuded from head to toe ill.u.s.trated her upbringing due to her prestigious family background.

Wrinkling her eyebrows as she stared around sizing up Ye Li‘s room, she couldn’t help but frown and prod her forehead, saying, “Jiumu and jiujiu (舅舅 – maternal uncle) already told you to move to jiujiu‘s home, but you stubbornly don’t listen. Now you look at the state of where you’re living, how does it look? You look at the matter of your wedding…you deliberately want your mother to feel uneasy even from beyond the grave, don’t you?”

Ye Li rubbed her forehead and pulled Xu furen to sit down, saying, “It hasn’t been easy on jiujiu these years, not to mention zumu (祖母 – respectful or intimate way of addressing grandmother) and fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father) are still around. Where can you find daughters moving to live in their jiujiu‘s homes? It would only gratuitously cause bystanders to mock muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother) for not knowing how to raise this daughter.”

Ever since the current emperor ascended the throne, he had taken the opportunity to forcefully suppress the old subjects of the late emperor’s reign. Waigong (外公 – maternal grandfather) and da jiujiu (大舅舅 – eldest maternal uncle) as well as Xu shi‘s (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) clansmen had withdrawn from the officialdom one after another. Now, there was only second jiujiu who was still in the Imperial Hanlin Academy as a third-rank member. From an outsider’s perspective, the hundred year old large and influential clan of Xu shi had long gone downhill.

Seeing Ye Li talk like that, Xu furen couldn’t help but sigh, saying, “Just seeing you give yourself grievances like this, if your waigong were to know this, he would feel really distressed.”

The Xu family for several generations have composed more of men than of women. When it reached Xu laodaye (老太爺 – respectful form of elderly gentleman / esteemed father), for this generation he only had Ye Li‘s mother for a daughter. Naturally, she endeared him a thousand times and he doted on her for ten thousand*.

((*Note: The exact words used here were “千疼万宠 – qiantengwanchong“, which literally means “thousand endeared, ten thousand to dote on / spoil / pamper / favour”. One can tell that it means laodaye really loved and doted on Ye Li’s mother. It sounds like an idiom, though it is not listed on MDBG.))

If he were to know that his only waisunnu (外孫女 – granddaughter through female descendant) had suffered this kind of grievance, according to Xu laodaye‘s temper, was only afraid he will want to rush into the capital to put pressure on his son-in-law to properly chew him out.

Ye Li laughed and said, “How can there be any grievances, Li er definitely wouldn’t allow my own self to suffer.”

Xu furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife) looked at her with concern, saying, “Now, your wedding…Ding w.a.n.g is really not a good match. Your younger sister really isn’t like a person, she stole her own elder sister’s husband, she as a big family’s xiaojie (小姐 – Young miss / lady) is also capable of doing this kind of thing?”

Ye Li fluidly glanced around, completely unlike her usual weak and frail-looking demeanor she used in the fu (府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together) and shallowly smiled, “Ding w.a.n.g also has Ding w.a.n.g‘s benefits. There is no need for jiumu and jiujiu to worry for Li er.”

Ding guow.a.n.g fu‘s status in Da Chu was exceptionally superior, unless Ding w.a.n.g were to plot a rebellion to seize the throne, otherwise even the emperor himself also wouldn’t dare to easily shake Ding guow.a.n.g‘s position. As for the current Ding w.a.n.g, due to the reason of his health, he was completely detached from the politics of the imperial court. Marrying him would naturally mean that there was no need to feel agitated over such disorderly troubles. In Ye Li‘s opinion, the only difference would be moving from the Ye fu to the Ding w.a.n.g fu. In her past life, she was too exhausted. In this life, she only wanted to peacefully lead an idle* life till death and she’d be all set.

((*Note: The exact words used here were “混吃等死 – hunchidengsi“, which means just to eat and do nothing else and just wait for death [that way]. It’s the opposite of leading a goal-oriented life, so ‘idle life’ seems to be the best way to describe it here.))

Not bad, leading an idle life. This was the goal that Ye Li in this life had set for herself. In her past life, she had been a soldier. A soldier for the special forces. She willingly risked her life and limb for her country and finally sacrified her own life for her country which could also be counted as an appropriate death. Her heart wasn’t filled with grief nor indignation, nor did she have any aspirations to shock the land under heaven. She believed she did not let down her country and that the country also didn’t let her down. To give one’s life in the battlefield was in the capacity of a soldier’s obligation and duty. It was just that for the ten years of carnage, she had gone through too much and was truly a bit tired. So, if she could live peacefully and ordinarily in this life then that would be good.

Seeing her looking calm in this way, Xu furen felt both relieved  as well as concerned, and finally could only give out a sigh. If unsatisfied, what could be done? Who would be able to defy the marriage personally decreed by the emperor?

“This was what your waigong (外公 – maternal grandfather) left for me and jiujiu to handle before he left the capital, it is the dowry that your waigong helped to buy for you. We have no method to honorably give it to you so converted it to banknotes and yaxiangdi* (壓箱底 – a small porcelain object often given to a daughter before her marriage as a form of s.e.x education tool – ) for you.”

((*Note: I don’t really know how to make sense of this line ” 咱們也沒法子光明正大的給你都換成了銀票壓箱底吧。” – which literally translates to “we have no method to honorably give you so all was exchanged into banknotes yaxiangdi” . I tried to translate it the best I can, but I’m not confident with its accuracy so take it with a grain of salt.))

Xu furen handed over a folded stack of banknotes into Ye Li‘s hands. Ye Li unfolded it and saw that there was a gold banknote worth one thousand taels as well as ten sheets of silver banknotes worth five hundred taels each. There were also some gold and silver banknotes of lesser value. Altogether they counted up to about twenty-two thousand taels.

Xu furen didn’t let her speak and continued, “I heard people say that that Ye w.a.n.g shi even wanted to take the dowry your mother left for you? For this matter, you can be rest a.s.sured. Jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle) will definitely help you deal with it. Humph, in our Xu family, which daughter hasn’t been married off splendidly. Even with the decline, still wouldn’t even use the first wife’s dowry to subsidize the trivial matters of a concubine’s daughter. Your mother’s dowry that they’ve wasted over these years…was that amount still little? Those hamlets and shops, jiumu will definitely help take them back for you. ”

Ye Li frowned and said, “This matter, Li er can deal with it. Jiumu shouldn’t…”

Xu furen smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, your father’s official position is indeed higher than that of your jiujiu (舅舅 – maternal uncle), but if the emperor still wanted face he absolutely wouldn’t make things difficult for your jiujiu again.” After the Xu family was originally given the t.i.tle of kaiguogongchen (开国功臣 – outstanding founding minister – t.i.tle given to reward loyal general or va.s.sal of new dynasty or state), they were held in even higher esteem beneath the skies in the Qingliu county. Even without the influence in the imperial court, it still wasn’t what the trivial Ye family and w.a.n.g family could compete with. After the emperor had ascended the throne, the way he publicly and secretly forced the clan members to resign from their government posts already didn’t look good. If anything were to even happen to their own family’s laoye (老爺 – master / lord of the household), there wouldn’t be an extremely significant excuse for it. The spit of all the people beneath the skies could even flood the emperor’s home.

Ye Li frowned as she thought about it, it was indeed not too big a deal and soon nodded to thank her jiumu. Xu furen smiled with satisfaction at this and said, “From now on, your mother’s family is only afraid that we cannot help you out of your predicament. After you get married, you should come more often to visit our home. Also let your jiujiu and waigong feel rest a.s.sured.”

“Furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife) has arrived.” There was the sound of footsteps from outside the door, w.a.n.g shi (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) with some yatou (丫头 – young maidservant / young girl) and pozi (婆子 – old maidservant / old woman) appeared in the doorway and stood there looking at Xu furen with raised eyebrows, saying, “Xu furen‘s arrival, why wasn’t anything announced? We weren’t able to have someone receive you in time.”

Xu furen usually couldn’t bear to see w.a.n.g shi‘s acting in such a way and slightly snorted out loud, saying, “I’m just here to represent my family’s laoye to come see Li er, with the Ye family’s high status, how could I dare let Ye furen receive me.”

The Xu family was a zhongding (钟鼎 – metaphor for political official / lit. bell or clock and three-legged cauldron or tripod) kind of family and a clan with a literary reputation. They have never had a concubine who had been promoted to a wife’s status do the work of a first wife.

Xu shi (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) has always looked down upon w.a.n.g shi‘s ident.i.ty, not to mention her own family’s xiaoguzi‘s (小姑子 – husband’s younger sister / sister-in-law) life ending in melancholy was more or less due to w.a.n.g shi, therefore how could she have a good facial expression?

w.a.n.g shi also deeply hated the look on Xu furen‘s face that showed she was looking down on her. She herself was after all a second-rank furen while this Xu shi was only a third-rank shuren (淑人 – t.i.tle of being warm and virtuous / lady), based on what was she looking down upon her? w.a.n.g shi ignored her out of dislike by looking around Ye Li‘s room and took the initiative to sit down on the side and towards Xu furen, she said, “We have already sent third guniang‘s bazi (姑娘 – young lady / girl八字 – birthdate used for fortune-telling) over to the Ding w.a.n.g fu. After about a couple of days, the date of the wedding can be set. This furen as a di (嫡 – legitimate / of the official wife) mother naturally will let third guniang (姑娘 – young lady / girl) get married off splendidly. Xu furen doesn’t need to get worried.”

Xu furen smiled indifferently and also sat down at the side, saying, “Getting married off splendidly naturally would be good. Although Li er‘s surname is Ye, but she is also our Xu family’s blood relative. If the Xu family’s guniang were to be wronged while getting married, then our family’s laodaye (老太爺 – respectful form of elderly gentleman / esteemed father) wouldn’t approve of it. Oh right…is your fu‘s Rong ge er (哥 – elder brother儿 – term of endearment for one’s child / child) still studying? Don’t know if next year, he’ll be taking part in the imperial examinations?”

Xu furen‘s few words made w.a.n.g shi‘s heart tighten. Her own familly’s Rong ge er was now currently studying in the clan’s Zong school. She actually forgot that although this Xu family was in decline, but they controlled Lishan (骊山 – Mt. Li) academy which was one of the four best academies in the world. It was also Da Chu territory’s best academy, the one and only. This year, Rong ge er wanted to go to Lishan academy to learn so that he’d have a better grasp on next year’s imperial examinations.

If she were to mess with Ye Li‘s dowry, she was just afraid that…thinking until here, she couldn’t help but stare resentfully at Xu furen. Xu furen however didn’t care as she smiled indifferently.

w.a.n.g shi‘s face was cold as she said, “Our Rong ge er is still after all Zhao Yi niangniang‘s (娘娘 – term meaning ‘mother’ but is used when addressing the empress, concubine, female royal, etc. by someone of lower rank) own younger brother, how hard can the insignificant imperial examinations be?”

Xu furen nodded in agreement with a smile and said, “Rong ge er having confidence is naturally best. Actually Liu guifei‘s (贵妃 – imperial n.o.ble consort / senior concubine) brothers were candidates who obviously took first place in the capital’s imperial examinations of the prefecture level and in the provincial level, but unfortunately didn’t feel rea.s.sured with themselves and went to the trouble of travelling a long distance to Lishan to seek guidance from laodaye. This was a bit too much. Presumably Ling gongzi (公子 – son of n.o.bility / young man) doesn’t need it, it is for certain that he will get the glory of taking first place in the three examinations* for Zhao Yi niangniang.”

((*Note: The words used here were “連中三元 – lianzhongsanyuan“. According to this that I just skimmed through, it referred to three t.i.tles of ranking first in three types of examinations. The t.i.tles are “解元 – jieyuan” (provincial), “会元 – huiyuan” (metropolitan), and “状元 – zhuangyuan” (palace – highest ranked exam). If one is ranked first in all three exams, they are considered “三元 – sanyuan”. Although it was said to be extremely difficult to attain first place in those three criteria, it’s not impossible as there were seventeen students listed in history who have achieved it. “案首 – anshou” is the first place t.i.tle for the prefecture or county level, but is not a “元” like in the other three cases since it is only considered a preliminary exam before the formal exams and is thus not included in the “三元 – sanyuan”.))

Hearing this, w.a.n.g shi‘s (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) face turned even uglier. Among the women, Liu guifei was praised to be the number one talented girl in the capital and after entering the palace, she was unceasingly and flourishingly favoured. Add to that, she successively gave birth to two princes and a princess and was bestowed the t.i.tle of guifei, completely and directly keeping her own daughter under control. The gongzi of the Liu family was also known to be really talented, causing her own son to be pushed down to be a n.o.body in the capital.

If that youngster from the Liu family were to become the top scorer in the imperial examinations of the palace level next year, Zhao Yi niangniang was sure to furious.

w.a.n.g shi gave out a slight ‘hmph’ sound and looked at Ye Li rather unwillingly, saying, “If there was Xu laoxiansheng (老先生 – old mister / old teacher) to provide guidance, Rong ge er naturally will have a better grasp of it.”

These words could be considered to be admitting defeat, but Xu shi didn’t declare her own position on it and just smiled, saying, “I’m merely casually saying these things. Ye furen‘s name of being virtuous has been spread far; of course you wouldn’t mistreat the daughter of the first wife. When I return, I will ask our laoye to have the list of items in the dowry that accompanied our family’s da guniang (大姑娘 – eldest young woman / eldest daughter) of that year to be sent over to the authorities to be put on record once again, so as not to delay Li er‘s wedding date.”

In the end, w.a.n.g shi stormed off with an ashen face and only then did Xu furen disdainfully show a cold smile.

Glossary RECAP:

Pozi (婆子 – old maidservant / old woman)

Er jiumu (二舅母 – second aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle)

Da jiujiu (大舅舅 – eldest maternal uncle)

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

Jiujiu (舅舅 – maternal uncle)

Da guniang (大姑娘 – eldest young woman / eldest daughter)

Laodaye (老太爺 – respectful form of elderly gentleman / esteemed father)

Waigong (外公 – maternal grandfather)

Laoxiansheng (老先生 – old mister / old teacher)

Guifei’s (贵妃 – imperial n.o.ble consort / senior concubine)

Niangniang (娘娘 – term meaning ‘mother’ but is used when addressing the empress, concubine, female royal, etc. by someone of lower rank)

Zhongding (钟鼎 – political metaphor for official / lit. bell or clock and three-legged cauldron)

Kaiguogongchen (开国功臣 – outstanding founding minister – t.i.tle given to reward loyal general or va.s.sal of new dynasty or state)