Chapter 67 : Mama Fang Remarried (1)
When the first month of new lunar year arrived, Yuxi took advantage of the ti the state residence receiving people in by bringing Lin Qi into the residence.
Last ti, when Ling Qi was saved, her face was full of blood, so Yuxi was not brave enough to look at her. Now that she had entered the residence, Yuxi could see that Ling Qi was neatly dressed and her real appearance was finally revealed. She noticed that Ling Qi was actually a beautiful and lovely girl.
Yuxi was awared that Ling Qi knew how to read. For fear that Ling Qi would be ambitious and proud in the future, she told her, “Maids are bought from the lowest to the highest. Because you have learned the rules from Mama Fang, thus this ti, you will start by being a third-class maid. “
Ling Qi responded, “Miss, regarding these matters, I have already go over with Mama Fang.” At first she thought she would roughly be a lowly ssenger servant. However, she was very happy when she was appointed as a third-class maid.
Yuxi then told her, “There are many rules in the residence. You should learn them slowly. The people in this courtyard have their own thoughts. Therefore, you should use your conscience more. Don’t be easily fooled by others in just a few words.“ As for those who had cheated on her, she would not call out their nas to her. She would just let her figure it out for herself.
Ling Qi nodded and said, “Miss, I will be careful.” In addition to her Miss, she couldn’t bare her heart to others until she had fully understood them herself.
Zisu / Perilla
Source | Dalgial via Wikipedia
Yuxi also said, “You can’t use your na in the state residence anymore. You should change your na to Zisu (perilla) in the future.” (T/N : She sure love plants na, and it seed like she would use Zi at the beginning of her servants na)
Although Ling Qi was sowhat depressed that her na would not be used anymore in the future, Zisu did not sound bad either. At that mont, she nodded her head and said, “Okay, then I will be called Zisu in the future.”
Yuxi shook her head and reminded, “In the residence, you can’t talk directly to , your Master. You have to go through a higher level servant. You must correct this.” The rules might not be that matter now, but when Wu Shi finally ca and Ling Qi still acted like this, she would be the one who suffered.
Zisu’s eyes were sowhat dim, but she had chosen the road herself, so she would not regret it. “Miss, this handmaiden will pay attention to it later on.”
Yuxi then said, “You should not be sad either. I’ll marry you out to be the head lady of a household in seven or eight years. I won’t let you be a maid for the rest of your life.” She knew Ling Qi had promised to be her maid only to repay her kindness. Otherwise, with such fierce temper, how would she be willing to give way to others?
Zisu shook her head and said, “I won’t marry out. This handmaiden will serve Miss for all her life.”
Yuxi didn’t take this to heart either. It was the right way for a woman to marry when she reached the age of marriage. She then instructed, “First learn the rules from Mama Shen. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask Moju or Motao.” Zijin was an honest person. She was afraid that Zijin would be coaxed by Mama Shen before giving in to change side. While Zisu was a person with ideas and would not be easily tricked in just a few words.
After they done talking about the matter, Zisu told Yuxi about another matter, “Miss, a few days ago, Uncle Lian asked an official matchmaker to go to the shop to propose marriage, but the marriage proposal was rejected by Mama Fang.”
Hearing about another marriage proposal to Mama Fang, Yuxi’s face darkened imdiately. However, she quickly reacted and asked, “Uncle Lian? Do you know this person?“
Zisu nodded and said, “Yes. On the tenth lunar month last year, I went shopping with Mama Fang and t two scoundrels on the street. It was Uncle Lian who helped us subdue the two scoundrels. I’ve known him since then. “
Yuxi beca more and more vigilant. Who knows if this was another ruse of self-injury (inflicting an injury on oneself to win the confidence of the enemy) or not as she asked, “What does this man do? Who else is in his family?“
Zisu told Yuxi what she knew, “Uncle Lian eats from governnt coffers (serve as a governnt employee) by holding a post in Wardens’ Offices of the Five Wards. His wife passed away four years ago and they have two sons with the oldest being six years old and the youngest four years old. Even the uncle’s family owns properties and he himself has a salary. His life is not bad.“
When Yuxi heard that the other party’s conditions were good, her facial expression eased a lot, but she was still not completely relieved, “With his conditions, he has no worry in finding a new wife, and it’s no a problem for him to marry an older girl with less circumstances than him. So, why did he have taken a fancy on Mama Fang?”
Zisu smiled, “I heard the matchmaker said that Uncle Lian was actually not ready to remarry. He said that he was afraid of hurting his two sons by marrying again. Even he felt that Mama Fang was a good person, so he changed his mind.“
Yuxi felt doubtful. Zisu was aware that hearing from other people’s mouth was only a one-sided information. So, like Yuxi, she also needed to know more about his situation. If this man nad Lian really had a good character and was not plotting anything, Yuxi thought that it was also good for Mama Fang to marry him. After all, having a husband and children would already create a complete family, much better than Mama Fang adopting a child. She decided to check the details of this man first. (T/N : No wonder Yuxi was mad at you, Zisu!)
Mama Fang’s matter could be put aside, but the matter of studying pharmacology could not be delayed any longer. Today, Yuxi finally summoned up her courage and said, “Momo, I want to learn pharmacology from you.” These words had been hidden in her heart for several months. If she kept them inside her again, they would only make her continuously feeling distress.
Momo Quan was surprised for a mont, but she quickly responded and asked, “Why do you want to learn pharmacology?”
Yuxi answered, “Actually, I have long been interested in pharmacology and I also bought a dical book to read. It’s just that nobody guides and I read it slowly without understanding what I just read.“
Huangqin / scutellaria baicalensis / Baikal skullcap / Chinese skullcap
Source | Doronenko via Wikipedia
Momo Quan showed her doubts and asked, “You said you were reading a dical book by yourself?” After getting the affirmative answer from Yuxi, she asked, “Since you said you have read it, you should know about huangqin (scutellaria baicalensis)?”
Yuxi nodded and said, “Huangqin (scutellaria baicalensis), also known as fuchang (rotten intestines) and huangwen, has bitter and non-toxic root, and is mainly used for treating jaundice due to heat, diarrhoea due to intestine, lower abdon colic pain and benefiting for small intestine.” (T/N : Sorry. I don’t know how to translate huangwen to English.)
Ruixiang / Daphne
Source | Miya via Wikipedia
Momo Quan could not hide the surprise on her face, but she continued to ask, “Ruixiang (daphne)?”
Yuxi thought for a mont and said, “Ruixiang (daphne), produced in the southern prefectures and counties. It has whirling branches and trunks, soft thick leaves and evergreen all year round…”
As soon as Momo Quan heard this, she knew that Yuxi was indeed interested in learning pharmacology, and she had made great efforts to learn it. You know, learning dical skill was a very boring thing, and reading dical books was even more so. “How long have you been reading that dical book?”
Yuxi answered with so embarrassnt, “Half a year. After reading it for that long, the dical book becos more obscure and difficult to understand, in addition, no one even teaches . Therefore, I have been reading it slowly since it has beca so difficult for to understand.” She learned everything only by chanical morising, which was much harder than morising through reviewing.
Momo Quan was full of questions, “Why are you so interested in pharmacology?”
Naturally, Yuxi won’t say that she could used it in the future, but she still explained, “When I had smallpox last year and there was no one to cure it, I thought that if I had my own dical skills, I wouldn’t lie in bed waiting to die. So, I want to learn so pharmacology after I get well, so that I can use it in case sothing happens again.“ Sotis it was necessary to tell the truth, saying lies wouldn’t win people’s trust, especially in the presence of such person as Momo Quan. Otherwise, you would never have a chance.
Momo Quan’s expression kept on changing. What did she an by saying that no one could cure smallpox? It was like saying that the people of the Duke Han’s state residence had totally abandoned her. Although Yuxi did not enjoy good life conditions like Yuchen, but she was still being treated very good in the residence. She could not believe what Yuxi had said. She asked, “Didn’t you have a doctor to treat your smallpox?”
Yuxi shook her head and said, “No, sothing wrong happened in the middle. The doctor was delayed for two days. Therefore, I feel that rather than relying on others, it’s better to rely on myself.“
Momo Quan was a person who knew at once that the matter was not that simple, “I can’t promise you this since it’s not within the scope of my teaching.”
Yuxi was disappointed, but she would not give up. She still had plenty of ti anyhow and she would slowly grind. Other people could even grind iron bars into a needles. So, she could certainly win over Momo Quan the sa way.
When Yuxi walked away, Momo Quan called over a maid, and quietly checked Yuxi’s story with her. Yuxi’s smallpox was known to most of the servants in the state residence, and the maid did not conceal it from Momo Quan. She told her exactly what had happened.
Before, Momo Quan first thought that Yuxi was a little cold-hearted, but now she was speechless. Old Madam Han was so bias that she could even ignore Fourth Miss’ life. It was a miracle that Fourth Miss could make such progress without having a distorted mind. It was also because of this matter that made her view of Yuxi got even better.
Momo Quan had seen a lot of wise and beautiful won in the palace, but only a few of them were good and open-minded. These people would not complain about anything, nor would they feel sorry for themselves. No matter what situation they were in, they would try their best to live. If she said that before she taught Yuxi only because it was her duty, then at this mont, she decided to teach Yuxi wholeheartedly. (T/N : Yup, Yuxi is like that. If it soone else… her grandmother, her father, her second sister, her stepmother all would have been assassinated.)
A few days later, Hongshan told Yuxi all the news her brother had heard, “Miss, the man nad Lian Shan whom you asked to inquire is the patrol guard of Dongcheng (East Side). My brother said that this man is a man of great courage. His wife died of illness four years ago, leaving behind two sons.“
Yuxi asked, “What’s his family situation? Is there any property? What’s the temperant of the two children?“ All of these needed to be considered.
Hongshan wondered why Yuxi wanted to inquire so much about this man. It was just like she was checking household registration. Hongshan did not dare to ask, but stated, “This Patrol Guard Lian has a house and a small shop. He has a salary every month. It’s just that he has a loose hand and often helps his friends. These days, he is a little tight. His two sons are very naughty.“ It was normal for a boy of this age to be naughty.
Yuxi had a good impression of Patrol Guard Lian after listening to these words. At least there was no obvious big problem, “Is this news true?”
Hongshan hastily said, “My Third brother had found out the information from a lot people. So, there should be no problem.” Although in her mind she was feeling a bit strange, but she knew discretion, so she didn’t ask a word.
Although Yuxi believed that the information collected by Hongshan’s brother would not be wrong, but in order to be on the safe side, she still asked Steward Xiang to inquire about this Lian Shan’s situation. If the news obtained by Xiangyang was the sa as what reported by Hongshan’s brother, then, she thought that this marriage could happen.
Xiangyang’s hands and feet worked very fast. The next day, he sent all the information on Lian Shan to Yuxi.
Yuxi carefully looked at the data, and the situation was roughly the sa as reported by Hongshan’s brother, except Xiangyang’s information was much more detailed.
After reading the information, Yuxi handed it to Zisu and instructed her, “You should go to the baozi (stead stuffed bun) shop tomorrow and read the things stated in this to Mama Li.” She thought that it was useless if she was the only one who believed this person was pretty good. So, the key was to get Mama Fang’s approval. (T/N : Wait… Who is Mama Li? New worker? One of the two apprentices?)
After reading what was written, Zisu smiled and asked, “Miss, do you agree?” If Mama Fang could marry Uncle Lian, it would be a very happy event.
Yuxi asked with a smile, “Aren’t you telling about this in the first place in hope that I can persuade Mama Fang to marry this patrol guard?” The real reason Zisu suddenly ntion such a thing to her was, she hoped that Yuxi could co forward and persuaded Mama Fang.
Zisu was sowhat embarrassed, “Miss, I really think that Uncle Lian is very nice, and there is nothing wrong for Mama Fang to marry him.”
Yuxi said coldly, “Although your stand is good this ti, but before you promise others next ti, think through your brain to determine if those things can be done or not?”
Zisu asked with amazent, “Miss, how did you know that I have made a promise with soone?”
Yuxi did not answer Zisu’s question, but she instead said, “Think about where you did wrong. What’s your duty? This ti I think you are the first offender, so, you will be fined with three months salary. If there will be another ti, I will not dare to keep you around anymore.” She was determined not to keep a maid who would decide everything on her own.
Zisu was a little confused.
Yuxi did not explain what she really ant, but instead, she went directly to her study.
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