Chapter 2 - A Secret
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Bai Xi cursed. Shit! She had unexpectedly been caught in the middle of an explosion and died. Her body should have been disintegrated, but surprisingly, due to so mishap, her soul had ended up in an intact corpse. God had given her another chance and let her be reborn as compensation.
Bai Xi never expected that this body would hold the sa na as she had in her previous life. This must be destiny. Furthermore, this body was 10 to 15 years younger than her previous self. The way this god showed his kindness… Only, why did she get reborn in a place she had no knowledge of? What place was Xi Yue?
Here, she knew she had one very doting grandfather. Her grandfather was Xi Yue's accomplished general, whose fa was widespread. However, after her grandmother had passed away, her grandfather had resigned his post and planned to live the rest of his life with his family.
With regards to her father, he was employed by the current pri minister. Her father was in charge of military administration and commanded the army. His power was not in the least bit small, and he doted on her to the extre. She had been told that her mother died shortly from unknown causes after giving birth to her. She didn't know much more than that since nobody was allowed to speak of it, or they would be beaten to death.
"Damn…" Bai Xi sighed heavily. She couldn't rember how many tis she had sighed.
"Young miss, why are you getting out of bed? You should not move around in case the wound opens up again. You will worry the old master."
"Mm, Bao Mu1 has returned." Bai Xi sighed. She remained leaning against the door, not wanting to return to the house.
"Young miss, this servant's na is Mu Qiu, not Bao Mu." After delivering the al, Mu Qiu went to help Bai Xi.
"Yes, yes, you are nad Mu Qiu, not Bao Mu. But I still feel that the na Bao Mu is appropriate." Bai Xi didn't want to explain what 'housekeeper' ant, and she didn't want Mu Qiu's support either. Rather, she wanted Mu Qiu to imdiately go back to the house. She had already been recovering for 10 days and the wound had scarred over. Besides, the injury didn't an much to her.
Mu Qiu was the servant who looked after this body. Since the two of them grew up together and were very close, Mu Qiu was completely loyal to Bai Xi. Mu Qiu ca off as honest and concerned about her, and really liked to nag, particularly about the wound she recently suffered. From the first day she woke up, she never got a day of peace and quiet. So, she wanted to give the nickna of Bao Mu to Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu was tired. After the young miss woke up, she liked to play tricks on her. The young miss didn't seem like her previous self - she talked a lot, jumped a lot, and laughed a lot more.
"Right, what happened to you?" Bai Xi said before she ate a mouthful of fish. Although the fish tasted good, if she ate too much, she would get sick of it. Three out of the five dishes contained fish, but all were cooked differently. Did this body really love to eat fish?
"This servant asked about the governnt official, and the facts were the sa as what the old master said. They discovered young miss when young miss had already fallen, and the blood just kept flowing. If they had found young miss too late, young miss, I suppose…" Mu Qiu recalled that day when the young miss returned. Even now, Mu Qiu's heart still trembled.
After hearing those words, Bai Xi frowned. She recalled that day when she took the chance to jump into the interior of the carriage. There, she realised that she had fainted upon entering the carriage, most likely due to the poor condition of her body at the ti since she had pushed herself too far.
However, when she woke up, she discovered that she had a large bruise on her forehead in addition to the sword wound. She was certain that she received the bruise when she jumped into the carriage since she didn't have it beforehand. So, either she passed out when she collided with sothing inside the carriage, or the person inside knocked her out. The latter reason seed more suspicious, but it would be good if it was not the latter reason, otherwise…
However, it boiled down to one thing. Who wanted to kill the previous owner of this body? Without rhy or reason, why did the previous owner suddenly end up outside of the city? There were a number of skilled retainers that went with this body, since venturing outside the city was dangerous. But her grandfather and father did not know about the venture, and neither did Mu Qiu, who was constantly around her. What secret was this body hiding?
"Young miss, a mont ago, this servant heard the steward say that tomorrow, young master will arrive in the capital, but young master will need to pay a visit to the imperial palace before returning ho in the afternoon." Mu Qiu looked over to see Bai Xi suddenly lost in thought. Mu Qiu mistakenly believed that the family's young miss was letting her imagination run wild since she slowly began to laugh.
"Oh?"
"Eh?" Upon seeing Bai Xi's reaction, Mu Qiu was inwardly terrified. Hadn't the young miss been counting the days, waiting for the young master to co back ho? Why was she suddenly dismissive now?
"Don't prepare these kinds of light dishes next ti. They are tasteless. I want to eat more good at and seafood, but no more fish. Greasy food." She was a standard carnivore. For the sake of her wound, she had to eat all the delicate and light foods. She could and had endured it, but now there was no need to tolerate it again.
"Eh?"
"Can I not, dear Bao Mu?" Bai Xi smiled at the surprised expression on Mu Qiu.
"Y-you can." Mu Qiu was dumbfounded, finding it difficult to believe what Bai Xi had just said.
Bai Xi nodded, satisfied, and then she continued eating her al.
Mu Qiu recovered from her daze and blinked. After she confird that the young miss was indeed the young miss, she closed her mouth, which was open large enough to fit an egg in. So she didn't mishear her young miss. Before, the young miss would say eating at would make her fat, and she would worry about being ugly. But… finally… Mu Qiu laughed. The young miss had co around and did not care about her appearance anymore.
There was suddenly a voice. "Oh, fourth younger sister, I said that it isn't ti to co to Xi Yuan2. You see, second older sister is currently eating her al. We are going to disturb second older sister's al."
"What third older sister said is right."
Although the two of them said such things, they showed no signs of leaving. On the contrary, they took a step into her room.
Although they entered noisily, Bai Xi did not pay attention to them. Only when she finished eating did she put down her chopsticks and look towards them. They should be her younger sisters. While they were sisters in na, their birth mother was a concubine.
"Mu Qiu, they ca to eat a al. Prepare two sets of tableware."
"You…" Did she think they actually wanted to eat that al? Who wanted to eat that kind of al, and to eat the leftovers from their ugly elder sister? Bai Lin, the third older sister, pushed those thoughts back and said with a faint smile, "Hehe, fourth younger sister and I have already had our als. The main reason why we ca to visit today was to check up on second eldest sister. We heard that a few days ago, second eldest sister received a heavy injury."
"Oh, third younger sister and fourth younger sister are really too kind." It had already been 10 days and only now they ca to check on her. So kindness that was.
"I don't know who sent those assassins. For soone to actually want second older sister's life… I heard that second older sister's elite guards all died. Heaven really helps the worthy, second older sister, to be able to escape the assassins in one piece," said Bai Xi's fourth sister, Bai Ling Long.
"Mm, heaven really does help the worthy." Bai Xi nodded her head. She pretended not to hear the implication behind those words. For her 'elite' guards to all die… Actually, their martial arts skills were average, diocre at best, so it was a surprise that she hadn't died and sohow managed to escape with minimal injury. Did they want to say that her reputation had suffered?
"Yes, second older sister can rest assured. Father and grandfather have already sent people to investigate those assassins. Presumably, it won't take them long to bring the assassins to justice." How was this ugly woman not killed? Bai Lin wondered.
"Mm."
"Right, second older sister, I heard that eldest brother will be returning tomorrow." Bai Ling Long and Bai Lin took control of the conversation and smiled at each other.
"…"
"Eldest brother was incredibly concerned for second older sister. Presumably, eldest brother received father's ssage and knows that second older sister was injured. He must have hurried back ho after his military duties at the border." A flash of satisfaction passed through Bai Ling Long's eyes. She would get to see that ugly woman's enraged appearance.
"Fourth younger sister, what you said is only half right. Eldest brother certainly treats second elder sister with great concern. However, this ti eldest brother returned quickly from the border primarily for the sake of older sister Xue3. I heard that early next month, eldest brother and older sister Xue will have a large wedding. What's more, the emperor has sanctioned the joyous marriage. Without a doubt, eldest brother quickly ca back to prepare for the wedding," Bai Lin said to Bai Ling Long, but her gaze was focussed on Bai Xi's every move.
"Eh?" The two won looked at each other before turning to look at the person in front of them with smiles on their faces.
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1. Bao Mu (保姆) is a more modern term for housekeeper, so Mu Qiu doesn't realise the aning of it.↩
2. Xi Yuan is the na of Bai Xi's courtyard. The literal translation is Bright/rry Garden.↩
3. The use of older sister here is ant as respect. Bai Lin and Bai Ling Long are not related to Xia Xue.↩
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Mu Qiu (慕秋) - her na ans Yearn-for Autumn
Bai Lin (白琳) - her na ans White Beautiful-Jade
Bai Ling Long (白玲瓏) - her na ans White Exquisite (clever and nimble)
Translator (Jal) comnts:
I have added two more Chinese idiom anings to the first page. I completely forgot about them last ti!
With regards to the Chinese idioms, would you prefer if I translate them to an english equivalent when possible and put the Chinese in the footnotes, or leave them as their Chinese translation, and then explain them in the footnotes?
Release schedule has been tentatively set to 3:30 pm Friday, AEST (GMT 10).
Editor (Prisma) comnts:
Prisma to Jal on the morning train to uni: *Asks a question about liking poodles, which neither of us like*
Jal: Did you ask if I like hoodoos?
Prisma: Well no, but now I’m changing my question. Would you rather have a sentient hoodoo or a poodle as a pet?
Jal: Wait what
Prisma: The sentient hoodoo looks like Probopass btw, I an, it is a Probopass.
Probopass
Jal: Uh… I have… No idea???
Prisma: Okay then. Imagine you are sitting down at ho. Sothing furry brushes your arm. Is it a poodle or Probopass’ mustache?
Jal: POODLE. I PICK POODLE.
[Later that day]
Prisma: Hey, I’m designing logos maybe for the Translation WordPress. Do we want a bubble tea anywhere in it?
Jal: That’d be good. But please no face on the bubble tea.
Prisma: I wasn’t even thinking about that. But now that you ntion it, I’ve got a great idea.
Jal: ABSOLUTELY NO FACE. Or face like things.
Prisma: YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT.
Jal: DUDE
Prisma: *sends over a draft idea*
Prisma: Awwwwwww yeaaaaahhhhh
Jal: ABSO-F***ING-LUTELY NOT
Prisma: Omg I’m laughing so hard
Jal: NO. NO. NOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOO
Prisma: Dude, just you wait until I colour this bad boy.
Jal: F***ing no to the bubblepass.
[In the end, we decided not to have a logo.]
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