Glossary
嬷嬷 mama – an older female servant
奴婢 nubi – slave servant girl; often used by servants speaking to their masters
夫人 furen – legitimate wife, missus;
小姐 xiaojie – young miss; usually from a good family, but can be used to refer to any young girl
姨娘 yiniang – concubine, not the legitimate wife; added to the end of the maternal na to show their (lower) status compared to the wife
“nubi greets da xiaojie!” After dinner, Mi mama was brought before Yun Qian ng by Mu Chun.
At the mont, the room was very well-lit with candles in all four corners. Yet Yun Qian ng was still studying the register, wearing the sa pale-yellow garnt from dayti and a yellow skirt that was embroidered with golden orchids. Her full head of fine black hair was lightly drawn in half, only adorned by a single orchid openwork jade hairpin. Her face was elegant like the moon; her eyes calm like water, as if able to see through everything. Mi mama who had encountered countless people actually montarily forgot her etiquette and followed Yun Qian ng‘s silhouette closely with her eyes, almost thinking that she was looking at the shadow of the previous furen……
Only, when furen had lived in this room, it didn’t look so crude and shabby!
If furen was watching in heaven and saw her living environnt now, how broken-hearted would she feel?!
“Mi mama, have you already arranged everything for the servants?” Yun Qian ng had noticed Mi mama‘s asuring gaze, but didn’t interrupt her. Instead, maintaining a natural expression as she looked through the register in her hands, she didn’t speak until she had reached the last page.
Hearing Yun Qian ng‘s sudden question, Mi mama imdiately retreated her lancholy and then lowered her eyes. She softly but respectfully replied, “Answering da xiaojie, everything has been properly arranged, da xiaojie has no need to worry!”
Appropriate response, proper posture and movents, all of these showed that Mi mama had once received very good training, allowing Yun Qian ng to make an assured nod. She lightly placed the register on the table, but didn’t let it go from her long slender fingers. Tapping on the cover with a fine finger, Yun Qian ng looked at Mi mama; her eyes that were like a smile yet not a smile hid an intelligence that was difficult to overlook!
“mama is an elderly from the fu, with you arranging these matters, I’m naturally reassured!” She maintained her severe gaze on Mi mama‘s half-lowered face, but found that she didn’t flinch, instead kept up an an ordinary expression. Yun Qian ng couldn’t help but faintly show so praise in her eyes and continued, “Only, why did mama reenter the xiangfu? At mama‘s age, you should have returned to your village to retire and live in comfort!”
Hearing Yun Qian ng ask her this, Mi mama slightly lowered her posture, sowhat frightened, and said, “Answering da xiaojie, nubi is from a poor family. What with living in comfort, as long as there is enough rice to eat, I will be more than satisfied! By chance, Liu yiniang said that the fu was in need of people, so nubi ca here!”
Her words were half true and half lies, showing that Mi mama‘s attitude and manner of speech could be very convincing to others!
“Is that so? Liu yiniang is truly considerate!” However, at this kind of answer, Yun Qian ng kept her indifferent expression!
She paused to take a sip of tea to moisten her throat, before she started speaking again, “It’s just that, now that you’ve entered my Qi Luo Yuan, I won’t permit any disloyalty! It doesn’t matter who recruited you, the one who lives in this Qi Luo Yuan is , Yun Qian ng! mama, can you rember this well?”
Her voice suddenly turned cold, causing Mi mama to shiver in her heart as she imdiately responded, “This is of course! xiaojie can be reassured! nubi is not a person that will bite the hand that feeds!”
Seeing that her heart had so conscience, Yun Qian ng nodded with satisfaction and finally got to the main point, “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Why did mama leave the fu in the past? Which zhuzi did you serve before this?”
When she heard Yun Qian ng finally ask her this, Mi mama couldn’t bear it any longer. With a plop, she knelt on the floor, slightly lifting her aged face that was stricken with tears. Before she spoke, the sound of her shivering could be heard……
“xiaojie… xiaojie… nubi… nubi has sinned… xiaojie……” Her intermittent cries caused Yun Qian ng to furrow her eyebrows. Signaling Mu Chun to shut the door, she motioned for Mi mama to rise.
But Mi mama heavily shook her head, and pushed away Mu Chun‘s supporting arm with one hand before she said, “xiaojie, nubi used to serve furen, and also received her grace! But… But at the ti I was muddle-headed, and abandoned furen instead! xiaojie, please punish!”
Mi mama‘s wails didn’t evoke any pity from Yun Qian ng. Instead, she retracted the little warmth that had appeared on her face and, looking directly at Mi mama with ice-cold eyes, said, “If that’s the case, Mi mama had better start explaining from the beginning!”
Mi mama lifted a hand to wipe her tears. She took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, then sadly said, “nubi was once a pozi that waited upon furen in the outer rooms. Two months before furen went into labor, nubi‘s son was crippled in a fight. That Su yiniang ca to and said that as long as nubi left the xiangfu, nubi‘s useless son would be saved! nubi for my child, ignored furen urging to stay and left the xiangfu. Didn’t imagine, three moths later, furen passed away!”
As she spoke, Mi mama started to kowtow again and mumbled, “That year after nubi‘s husband passed away, if not for furen taking in nubi‘s family, how could we have lived for so long? But nubi, for my children, abandoned furen without care, didn’t even see furen one last ti before she was gone!”
Hearing this, Yun Qian ng recalled the records on the register, other than a Xia mama, the people by Yun furen‘s side all t with mishaps two or three months before she passed away. She suddenly realized that this chain of events, was most likely planned by Su Qing!
First, she got rid of all the people loyal to Yun furen, that way, she could easily act against her!
“Mi mama, do you know a Xia mama?” Recalling the person in the register, Yun Qian ng asked.
“She was furen‘s wet nurse! I heard that after furen passed away, Xia mama went insane with grief!” Right now Mi mama regretted being unable to prove her loyalty to Yun Qian ng. As long as she knew anything, she would not hide the slightest bit of information!
Yun Qian ng saw that her forehead was already bleeding, then spoke, “Rise! What you said today, and your identity, must not be be known to others!”
“Yes, nubi understands! nubi ca here this ti, only to atone for my sins. nubi only wishes to be able give xiaojie a helping hand and absolutely won’t cause trouble for xiaojie!” Seeing that Yun Qian ng was keeping her calm, Mi mama felt comforted and imdiately restrained her sealed in heart many years of sadness. She tidied up her clothes and stood to the side.
Yun Qian ng rised and walked to the window. Slightly lifting her head to look at the shining moon, she sorted out the information she had just learned.
Su Qing was able to control the life and death of the servants when Yun furen was still alive. This, if not with Yun Xuan Zhi‘s instigation, she wouldn’t have had the power to do so!
In that case, whether Yun furen‘s death was natural or intentional, the answer was already obvious!
But still, since Yun furen passed away prematurely, why did Su Qing allow Yun Qian ng to stay alive until now?
It seems that Su Qing still had so fear towards the Empress Dowager and Fu Guo Gong Fu’s influence. After all, if Fu Guo Gong Fu’s di daughter and di grandchild t with accidents one after the other, they wouldn’t be willing to take things lying down. After a thorough investigation, there was no guarantee that they won’t find any traces or clues!
She can’t help but admit that Su Qing had both courage and cunning. She really did have a grasp on other people’s mindset!
“mama, co over, I have sothing to ask of you!” Retrieving her gaze, Yun Qian ng calmly said.
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