CH 2

A clarification on names and nicknames:

Ruan Ning is the third daughter born into the Ruan Family, Ruan Xi (our FL) is the fourth daughter born into the Ruan Family. In chinese, ‘san’ is 3, ‘si’ is 4. Correspondingly, Ruan Ning is referred to as ‘san niang’, Ruan Xi is referred to as ‘si niang’.

However, it is best to just remember san niang and si niang as their nicknames, and also associate those numbers to them. To my knowledge, very few characters apart from the two sisters have those numbers in their addresses.

Terms used in Chapter 2

“Si mei, san jie will be depending on you for support in the future.”

Upon seeing her fourth younger sister fail to pick up the thread of conversation, Ruan Ning felt slightly displeased in her heart. She could not help but tighten the grip she had on Ruan Xi’s soft fabrics as she lifted her exquisite and delicate face. Tears glittered in her eyes and her gaze was expectant.

This was the reason why Ruan Ning had visited Ruan Xi today.

First she gave her a top-notch ginseng that she had no use for to garner her fourth sister’s gratitude, next she ‘poured out her woes’ to gain her fourth sister’s sympathy and compassion, before she finally took the chance to reap the benefits.

Beyond the fact that Wen Ting Zhou’s father was a Minister of Rites, his own future road was bright. Furthermore, the Wen Family was a famous family with good breeding; its branches fanned out with luxuriant leaves, and they were prolific with abled people.

If Qi Yue An could receive the help of the Wen Family early on, his future path in officialdom would definitely become smoother.

She trusted that her intelligent si mei would understand her meaning.

Ruan Xi came to an abrupt realisation. She had been wondering why Ruan san niang was ‘pouring out her woes’ so inexplicably just now.

It turns out she was waiting for this. Her heart sank slightly. Ruan san niang had been reborn, whereas the original owner had always obscured herself in silence before she got married. Since her performance conformed with the norms of the society, others had only seen the beauty she was incapable of hiding, but in front of Ruan san niang – who harboured a lifetime’s worth of experiences – she could not deceive her. It was an exercise in futility to feign stupidity now.

From the original owner’s memories, she knew that the original owner was intelligent; she had a good command over a household’s expenditure and its corresponding laws and regulations, was extremely skilled in the zither, Go, calligraphy, painting and needlework, but she had only displayed her capabilities when she was teaching her husband and sons.

She was an unrivalled beauty who chose to blunt the cutting edge of her talent and skill, because a mediocre girl was less likely to attract scruples. Unfortunately, all of this changed when she had a marriage agreement with Wen Ting Zhou.

Her legitimate mother must be feeling extremely revolted in her heart.

And that revulsion was unlikely to stop until she married out of the residence.

In the time where her thoughts were turning, Ruan Xi had already decided on a response. Although she and Wen Ting Zhou were engaged, she still had to live under her shrewd legitimate mother’s eyelids as long as she was not married. It was better to not start anything.

“Mother and san jie have always treated me wholeheartedly, if I can help san jie, I would never shirk from my duty. But… But san jie is also aware that I am only an illegitimate daughter, whilst the social status of the Wen Family is high. I’m afraid that being able to marry Wen gongzi has already exhausted the blessings I have in this life…”

A thread of hesitation seeped into Ruan Xi’s tone. Her exquisitely beautiful face also revealed the slightest restlessness and unease she had towards the future.

There were three parts of truth and seven parts of falsification in her words.

In her previous life, she had suffered from a congenital heart disease and she never dared to think about the matter of feelings, to say nothing of marriage. In this lifetime, she was already engaged the moment she crossed over.

Thankfully, the person she was slated to marry was Wen Ting Zhou.

The Wen Ting Zhou from the novel never took a wife in his entire lifetime. She did not need to worry if someone else would snatch her husband, and her luck was quite decent.

When Ruan Ning heard her fourth sister’s words, she came to an abrupt realisation. How could she possibly forget the fact that ancient people attached the greatest importance to identity and family status? With the high family status that the Wen Family had, her fourth sister’s illegitimate identity would become a grievous injury.

This marriage agreement might look incredibly good, but the problems present were enormous.

As she had expected, her fourth younger sister was astute and intelligent; she had thought of this layer early on.

Ruan Ning felt faint discomfort in her heart. Including this lifetime, she had already lived through three lifetimes, and yet she still could not compare to her fourth sister. Her fourth sister had already perceived this problem early on, whereas she did not discover it at all.

When her fourth sister had married Qi Yue An, the ignorant and incompetent concubine-born son from the Duke’s Residence in her stead during her previous lifetime, both parties had the identity of illegitimate children. One of them possessed the beauty and capabilities, the other came from a Duke’s Residence; it could be said that their standings were equal.

With her intervention in this life, she was afraid that her fourth sister would be eating a fair bit of bitterness.

Ruan Ning stared at her fourth sister with a complicated expression. She absolutely refused to admit to the fact that she had pitted her fourth younger sister, but the good husband that her fourth sister married in her previous lifetime only came about because she had surrendered and allowed her fourth sister to have him.

She was merely grabbing hold of the things that rightfully belonged to her in this lifetime, and didn’t she remedy her fourth sister with an even better candidate for a husband?

Even if Wen Ting Zhou was only using her fourth sister to conceal his own sexual orientation, her fourth sister was a smart person, she would definitely know how to use Wen Ting Zhou to ensure that she could live out her days well.

With those thoughts in mind, the guilt that Ruan Ning had just started to feel disappeared completely. She hugged Ruan Xi affectionately and chided her: “Nonsense, you have plenty of blessings to go around. Among us four sisters, the family background of your fiancé is the best.”

“Si mei, don’t forget to give your san jie support when the time comes around.”

“I will try my best.”

Understanding that Ruan san niang would not drop the matter, Ruan Xi pursed her lips and finally agreed in the end. Even if she were to disagree, Ruan san niang would still take advantage of it.

“Thank you si mei. With si mei’s support, I have the confidence as well.” Ruan Ning revealed a smile after obtaining her fourth sister’s agreement. Now that her goal had been achieved, she did not want to stay here any longer. Thus, she stood up and bade farewell, departing on light feet.

Ruan Xi furrowed her brows. Ruan san niang was quite realistic indeed.

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After Ruan san niang left, Su Yu, who had been standing at the side without making a sound, noted that Young Lady’s complexion was quite decent. She poured a cup of warm tea for her Young Lady and queried: “Young Lady, will yõu be practicing calligraphy today?”

您 (pinyin: nin) – the more respectful way to say ‘you’, as opposed to the more informal ‘你’ (ni). I will be putting a tilde (~) on top of the ‘o’ to denote it.

Ruan Xi paused, remembering that the original owner was a very self-disciplined and assiduous person. Today happened to be the day where the original owner would practice her calligraphy. Accepting the tea, she took a faint sip to cover-up her momentary pause before she shook her head and said: “I would like to recover my body first. We will speak of it after I have recuperated fully.”

While she had assimilated the original owner’s memories, they were not just memories alone; she had to relearn all the various things the original owner was capable of, and she had to practice in secret. Or else, she would be exposed the moment the original owner’s wet nurse Mama Xu returned.

妈妈 (pinyin: ma ma) – Different from what ‘mama’ means in modern-day context, in ancient terms, ‘mama’ is used to refer to older woman servants who have either served their mistresses ever since they were young as a wet nurse and/or in a normal capacity, or are close confidants to their aged mistresses.

Unlike nubi, they are not necessarily held under slave contracts, and they are more like trusted, managerial employees.

The Earl Chengyi was extremely meticulous where his four daughters of remarkable appearances were concerned. He had specially invited a few female masters to instruct them, and whether it was reading and the cognition of words, rudimentary knowledge in the four arts – zither, Go, calligraphy and painting – or knowledge pertaining to needlework, cooking, appraisal, and etiquette, they had done cursory readings of all the aforementioned subjects.

The original owner’s ceremony and propriety was exceedingly refined; her movements, rising, sitting and lying was its own ilk; her skill in the four arts were quite decent, especially her chess skills which were first-class, and it should be related to the fact that the original owner was expert in strategy.

谋略 (pinyin: mo lue) – astuteness and resourcefulness.

Secondly, her painting and calligraphy was invested with spiritual influence.

Lastly, her zither skills were considered moderate.

Ruan Xi was lucky that the original hid her own inadequacies by keeping quiet. She appeared normal in terms of her etiquette and her skill in the four arts, and her needlework was the same. In conclusion, it was just plain normal; owing to her lack of remarkable aspects, it made Ruan san niang more outstanding than she already was.

Speaking of which, Ruan san niang’s rebirth should not date back to more than half a month ago, and perhaps the timing coincided with when she had travelled over in her previous life, because there were no recent news about Ruan san niang selling strange and novel things for profit thus far. With the lesson measured in excruciating pain that she had experienced in her previous lifetime, it was unlikely for Ruan san niang to cause the great winds she had started back in the book.

The bearing she had just now was far better than what the original owner could recall.

Ruan Xi genuinely hoped that she had gained some wit after falling into that pit.

吃一堑,长一智 (pinyin: chi yi qian, zhang yi zhi) – One only learns from their mistakes.

As hundreds of thoughts spun in Ruan Xi’s mind, Su Yu nodded her head in approval after hearing her Young Lady’s answer. “The cold that Young Lady experienced this time around has bore down menacingly, and it almost frightened nubi to death. Thankfully, Young Lady managed to endure past the most critical juncture.”

奴婢 (pinyin: nu bi) – it means slave girls and/or maidservants.

Whenever Su Yu recalled last night’s scene where her Young Lady’s prolonged high fever refused to abate, fear would linger in her heart, alongside a small, insistent uncertainty. “Young Lady, pardon nubi for speaking bluntly, but yõu tend to exercise your body in private, and the colds that yõu were previously infected with had never been this severe. Nubi thinks that there is something awry here.”

Ruan Xi’s heart chilled in response. Su Yu’s words were akin to a sudden clap of thunder jolting her awake. That was true; the original owner had always paid an inordinate amount of attention to her body and health, and she would typically only require one or two cups of ginger tea to dispel her cold. And yet, the physician had prescribed her medication to relieve her symptoms…

It was like the original owner had only kicked the bucket after she drank the cold dispelling medicine.

If she hadn’t crossed over all of a sudden…. If the fever hadn’t receded swiftly after their souls had switched…

With a frigid expression, Ruan Xi promptly instructed: “Su Yu, could you do a covert check to see if the cold dispelling medicinal soup I drank yesterday is still around?”

Su Yu stiffened. Then, her complexion became uglier in an instant as she thought of something. Gritting her teeth, she said: “Young Lady, the cold dispelling soup yõu drank yesterday was personally made by nubi. If there is an problem with it, it means that there was an issue with the medicinal herb that were sent over.”

Mama Xu had only left for a few days and yet her Young Lady almost lost her life. Su Yu only felt that she was too useless.

“Forget it, this matter requires no further investigation. I am well-aware of the circumstances, and it is estimated that we won’t find anything now. We just need to be more careful in the future.”  Ruan Xi did trust Su Yu. It seems like the original owner’s death was by no means simple, and she already had a suspect in her mind. When she remembered how the female protagonist in the novel had envied the original owner for having a good life, she disagreed, because she could sense the original owner’s difficulties as she resided in her situation.

The original owner’s biological mother had passed away early on, and without her biological mother to protect her, she could only rely on her outstanding beauty to gain her father’s partiality by value. However, because she could not revolt or hinder in her legitimate mother’s eyes, she had to be prudent about every little thing and conceal herself, ensuring that her performance conformed with the norms of society, and was ordinary and commonplace.

But she had lost her life in the end.

Ruan Xi knitted her eyebrows together as she warned herself inwardly. It seems like the engagement between the original owner and Wen Ting Zhou was a curse rather than a blessing.

If the original owner had been skilled in pharmacology… But her legitimate mother was a shrewd one; she did not allow the female masters to teach the three concubine-born daughters the basics of pharmacology. Her other two illegitimate older sisters had their biological mother’s secret guidance, whereas the original owner could only rely on herself and Mama Chen.

Ruan Xi’s heart silently ached for the original owner.

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“Young Lady, the Third Young Lady’s personal maidservant Yao Hong begs for an audience.” The coarse middle-aged woman-servant’s voice sounded from outside the door.

“Let her come in.” Ruan Xi was aware of the reason behind Yao Hong’s visit, and a small smile appeared on her lips unconsciously.

Since Ruan san niang was sending her ginseng, she felt elated, especially since it was a pure and natural, wild ginseng.

Yao Hong was a servant with a pretty appearance, and she offered her a wooden box the moment she walked in. The wooden box contained a ginseng that was short of a hundred years. “Fourth Young Lady, this is the ginseng that the Third Young Lady is giving yõu to nourish yõur body.”

“San jie has the heart.” Ruan Xi smiled, signalling for Su Yu to keep the wooden box. Perhaps, in her happiness, she had forgotten to restrain her own charisma, and her smiling expression was like peonies in full bloom, glittering and magnificent as it wrested away people’s hearts and souls.

Yao Hong was stunned into a daze.

She was already aware of the fact that the Fourth Young Lady was a stunning beauty, but after looking at it for a long time, it had lost its mesmerising effect. As the proverb goes, beyond the skin-deep and dazzling beauty that a woman of genuine and exceptional beauty possessed, there was a beauty that came from the bones and a charisma exuded by the person herself.

The Fourth Young Lady’s beauty was merely skin-deep, and it would only make a person’s breath catch for a moment. As a matter of fact, it could not stand scrutiny.

Upon noticing Yao Hong’s strange behaviour, Ruan Xi kept her smile immediately. In response, Yao Hong sobered up from her fascination, and realised that the Fourth Young Lady was the same as before.

She could not help but become vexed in her heart; why did she stare at the Fourth Young Lady with such rapture as though she had been possessed just now?

“Fourth Young Lady, the Third Young Lady is still waiting for nubi’s reply, nubi will be withdrawing first.”

Just as Yao Hong was departing, a peal of noise came from outside the room. A boy’s tender and aggrieved voice travelled into Ruan Xi’s ears: “Mother, I will apologise to si jie properly.”

Ruan Xi knew that the speaker was the original owner’s six-year-old brother Ruan Yu Min from his voice alone.

Ruan Yu Min was the Third Young Master of the Earl Chengyi Residence, his biological mother was Lin yiniang, and both the mother and son were the main receivers of Earl Chengyi’s doting.

In her moment of contemplation, a woman with delicate and pretty facial features and an outstanding temperament that imbued her with scholarliness walked in with a chubby and cute boy in hand.

There were a few servant girls and Mamas following her in as well.

The person who had arrived was precisely Lin yiniang.

Originally, Lin yiniang was a daughter of a xiucai in dire straits, and she was later brought back to the residence as a noble concubine after Earl Chengyi became interested in her.

秀才 (pinyin: xiu cai) – a scholar who had passed the imperial examination at the county level, or a skilful writer.

With her delicate and pretty features, and the temperament that pervaded her entire body, she did not look like she was a yiniang concubine to a noble family.

There were quite a few concubines who were tender and younger than Lin yiniang – akin to flowers and jade – in the inner courtyard of the original owner’s Earl Father.

But Lin yiniang position remained unshakeable; she was still the most pampered, and in her legitimate mother’s purview, she was the thorn at her side.

The original owner had secretly studied the bearing, manners, and methods of this Lin yiniang before.

When Ruan Xi saw Lin yiniang at first sight, she became astonished instantaneously.