chapter 122

As soon as Yuxi’s group entered the garden, they saw that Yujing was there too.

Today’s Yujing was no longer as domineering as she was seven years ago. Of course, she still had some small temperament. Yuxi walked up to her and smiled, “Er Jie¹er=second, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie, are you here in the garden to see the flowers too?”

Yujing said with a smile on her face, “Can’t I be as carefree as Si Meimei²si=fourth, meimei=younger sister?” She had been worrying about her marriage lately. She was already 15 years old this year, but Qiu Shi mentioned to her that she still couldn’t find any betrothal candidate for her yet. It must have been influenced by her real mother. It made her think that Qiu Shi wouldn’t find her a good marriage in the end. Hence, she had become more worried about this matter than Yuru. It wasn’t because she didn’t even think of creating a problem either. She just didn’t have a chance to do anything because she had been taught by the nurturing momo³wet nurse to be a good person and every time she went out, her two maids would stay close to her.

Yuxi chuckled, “This is the only way I can steal some free time. I will have to take care of the housework after this.” Yuru and Yujing also learned to manage the household, but they often went out to socialise. For such a long time, they just hung up the title to their names and did not actually take care of any housework. Unlike Yuxi who had to learn everything.

Yujing stifled a sigh, “Then I won’t disturb Si Meimei²si=fourth, meimei=younger sister any longer.” With Qiu Shi’s affection for Yuxi, having a conflict with Yuxi definitely wouldn’t be good. Now, it was not like seven years ago.

Yuxi didn’t take Yujing to heart at all. Except for Wu Shi and Qiu Yanfu who occasionally gave her the dilemma, other than that, she was currently living a very comfortable life.

That night, Yuxi’s right eye kept on twitching. She said to Zisu, “I remember an old saying, if the left eye twitches, it means there will be wealth, while, if the right eye twitches, there will be disaster. My right eye has been twitching from noon until now. Is there any disaster happening right now?” Because of her rebirth, Yuxi was very sensitive to such unexplained things.

When Zisu heard this, she also became tensed, “What disaster?”

Yuxi thought for quite a while, but she still couldn’t come up with a reason why, which was simply unexpected. As she laid in bed that night, she thought about it again. Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind, which made her jump up from the bed. How could she forget such a big thing? The big change in the Imperial Palace happened in the fourth lunar month in her past life. Then, that event would surely happen in this period of time in this life.

When the palace had a drastic change in Yuxi’s past life, a mob tried to ransack the Duke of the State official residence. However, the residence was highly guarded by retainers, thus, it was not that easy to be taken down. When the mob saw that there was no hope of capturing the residence without the mood to continue fighting, they soon left. The incident that happened back then, although it was frightening, it left a deep impression on Yuxi, which was why she could still remember it so clearly.

Although in her past life, it could pass peacefully, Yuxi did not dare to guarantee that nothing would change in this life. In this life, she was not the only person who knew about the time of the palace change, as Heshou Xianzhu³he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang should have known about it too. Ahem, compared with Heshou Xianzhu³he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, she was simply weak. She basically knew nothing about the outside world, thus she didn’t know any other event that was as big as the palace change.

Fearing an accident would happen, when Yuxi got up in the morning, she wrote a letter and handed it to Zisu, “Send this letter to Zijin.” Zijin had followed Yuxi for several years. Although she did not learn much, it was not a problem for her to basically write and read letters.

Zisu was a bit surprised, but seeing that Yuxi didn’t have any intention to explain it to her, she didn’t inquire about it.

After breakfast, Yuxi went to the main courtyard. Looking at Yuxi who didn’t look well, Qiu Shi was startled, ”What’s wrong? What with such an ugly look?”

Yuxi explained, “Since last night, before I went to bed, my right eye kept on twitching. I feel like something very bad is going to happen.” Just at this moment, her right eye started to twitch again.

People in this era were very superstitious. Qiu Shi was so frightened to see this look that she hastily called out for Mama Li, “Quickly go and get the red paper.”

Qiu Shi took a scissor and cut the red paper to the size of a fingernail. Next, she held it in her hand and murmured. After that, she handed it to Yuxi and said, “Put this little red paper on your right eye.”

Yuxi asked awkwardly, “What is this for?”

Mama Li explained, “This is a folk prescription. Stick this on to avoid any disaster.”

Although Yuxi was not convinced, she did not waste Qiu Shi’s kindness, “Eldest Aunt, today I’ve sent a letter to bring Zijin back.”

Qiu Shi pointed to Yuxi’s forehead and said, “You, this child ah, to send your personal maid to learn martial art well. If I didn’t know about it, I would have thought that you were in danger.” There would be no danger for a girl who went out to socialise as she was always surrounded by maids and old women servants.

Yuxi smiled, “Thank you, Eldest Aunt.” If it wasn’t for Qiu Shi, Zijin certainly wouldn’t be able to go out to study martial arts. If it was someone else, even if Zijin managed to go out, she wouldn’t be able to come back to the residence in the future. Fortunately, Qiu Shi was the mistress of the house. As long as Yuxi’s request was not too out of line, she would definitely not refuse, making it much easier for Yuxi to act.

Qiu Shi didn’t know that Zijin was also required to pay tuition for her study, which cost 500 tael⁴a tael = 1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) a year. If she had known about it, she wouldn’t let Zijin study martial arts. “Silly girl. No need to thank me.” Over the years, Yuxi had been thinking about everything for her. Even Mama Li, who once had occasional complaints about Yuxi, was now full of praises for her. Yuxi did it for Qiu Shi, even when she was not her biological daughter.

In the afternoon, Yuxi was reading a book in the study. Zisu walked in softly and announced, “Miss, Zijin is back.”

Surprise flashed in Yuxi’s eyes as she put down the quill in her hand and prepared to walk out.

Instead, Zisu called out to Yuxi and also informed her, “Miss, Zijin didn’t come back alone. She also brought in two strange girls.”

Yuxi nodded her head, indicating that she knew, and walked out.

Zisu understood that these two girls were not brought in by Zijin on her own accord. It was Miss who asked Zijin to invite them. That was good. She thought that since Zijin had been studying outside, she didn’t know the rules of the residence anymore!

Seeing Yuxi, Zijin immediately knelt on the ground and called out, “Miss.” She hadn’t seen Miss since she had been sent out to study outside by Miss herself three years ago.

Zisu’s brows furrowed at the sight of Zijin. It wasn’t that she didn’t welcome Zijin, it was just that Zijin had changed too much. Not only she was becoming more tanned, but she was also getting fitter which made her look less like a girl and more like a boy.

Seeing Zijin looking like this, Zisu felt that she should suggest to Miss to hurriedly bring Zijin back. If one got a tan, one could turn it back, but it would not be appropriate if one turned wild while outside.

Yuxi personally helped Zijin up and said, “It has been a hard few years for you.” Three years ago, Han Jianye asked Zixin to learn martial arts from Deng, a female escort guard of the escort agency. Unlike Han Jianye, Zijin had to pay tuition fees to study with this female guard, which was 500 tael⁴a tael = 1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) a year, with food, clothing, accommodation and transportation were counted separately. A year down the line, Zijin alone would have to spend more than 600 tael⁴a tael = 1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) of silver, while Yuxi herself never spent that much in a year.

Zijin really didn’t feel it was hard. Learning martial arts was much easier than reading and writing with Miss. She smiled and introduced Yuxi to the two girls that she brought, “Miss, this is Shuang Jie⁵elder sister and Xue Jie⁴elder sister that I often mentioned to you.” Deng Shuang was the eldest child and Deng Xue was the second, with both of them the true blood nieces of the female escort. Although the female escort did not know why Yuxi wanted to send Zijin to learn martial arts with her, her intuition didn’t feel it was good. However, she could not bear to let go of Zijin’s one-year tuition. It was not easy to earn money as an escort guard, let alone a woman. She only earned 300 to 400 tael⁴a tael = 1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) a year, and she also had to face various unexpected dangers. Sometimes she could even lose her life. Now she could make that much money just by teaching a maid and to push that off would be a foolish act. However, in order to prevent any trouble, she only promised to teach kung fu, not to accept Zijin as her disciple. Therefore, Zijin could only call Deng Shuang and her sister as jiejie⁵elder sister, not senior sisters.

When Deng Shuang and Deng Xue entered the state residence, they felt that their eyes couldn’t see enough. When they entered the courtyard and saw Yuxi, they were somewhat reserved. Never looked down at Yuxi’s young age, as her aura was not. If she did not have any dignity, she would not be able to control the stewardess mama in the residence. As everyone knew, these stewardess mama were the ones who decided on the dishes according to the guest⁶Chinese idiom (dialect) : to treat sb according to their social status, relationship with them etc. If their master temperament was a little softer, they would dare to deceive their superiors and delude their subordinates⁷Chinese idiom : conceal the true state of affairs from above and below oneself. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

When Yuxi realised that the two girls were being restrained towards her, she didn’t care either and just smiled, “Zisu, take these two girls down for them to rest.”

It was only after the two girls left that Zijin opened her mouth and asked, “Miss, what happened to you?” As soon as she entered the door, she noticed the red paper affixed to the corner of Yuxi’s eyes.

Yuxi said, “I don’t know what’s going on either. From yesterday until now, my right eye has been twitching continuously. I was worried about something, so I called you back. Whatever happened, I will feel at ease with you around.”

This was when Zixin understood why Yuxi asked her to bring the two sisters in with her, “From now on, I won’t leave Miss’ side, not even for a moment.”

Naturally, Yuxi would not object as she asked, “Where are your weapons?” In case something happened, having a weapon had a very different outcome than not having one.

A Broadsword

Image Credit | WeEnterWinter CC BY 2.5 via Wiki (大刀队)

Zijin replied, “It wasn’t easy for me to bring weapons.” She usually practiced with a broadsword, which weighed nearly 100 jin⁸a catty (approximately 500 g). At first it was a bit difficult, but now, she could dance with it in full swing.

Yuxi was silent for a moment before she said, “I’ll have someone bring it in later in the evening.”

Zijin didn’t think much of it either, as she said, “Miss, I’ll fetch it myself in the evening. That way, no one will be suspicious.” The people in the residence knew that she had a handful of strength, but how much strength she actually had, was unknown.

Yuxi nodded and said, “Bring in the weapons of the two Deng girls too. If there is nothing, leave the weapons in the room and don’t move them. If something happened, they may be a lifesaver.”

Zijin also became tense by Yuxi’s words, “Miss, Zijin won’t let anything happen to you, not even a little bit.”

Yuxi listened to Zixin’s words with relief and smiled, ”There’s no need to worry either. I’m just doing this just in case. However, you’ll have to take a little bit more responsibility for this matter.” What she meant was the idea of bringing Deng Shuang and her sister into the residence was Zixin’ s suggestion, not Yuxi’s. She was worried that the Old Lady would cause some trouble.

Zijin stated, “Miss, if there is anything you want me to do, I will do it.” She didn’t like to use her brain. Many things made her think and most of the time, she couldn’t understand much. Later, she simply didn’t want to think and she would only listen to Yuxi.

Yuxi told Zijin about her plans.

Zijin still had something to say, “Whatever Miss says, I’ll do it.”