Chapter 139: Good News
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
AR Qiuning: Kyaa~~! It’s all so tragic~!! *sobs~~*
Gumihou: As expected… *sigh*
Fu Qiuning: *sigh*
There was no time to lose, Jin Fengju also could not tarry. Therefore, after patting Old Madam’s hand one more time, he made to leave. At the entrance, he happened to see Fu Qiuning rushing over and heard her say, “We only heard about the matter when Yu Jie came over with some snacks for the Old Madam. What happened? Is there any news on Sister Yanfang?”
Jin Fengju shook his head. He was about to speak when [1a] he noticed the strange, blank look on Fu Qiuning’s face.
[1b] “Qiuning, what is it? What are you thinking?”
[1a] “Nothing, why? What does it matter what a woman thinks in this place?” she said in an odd flat tone.
[1b] Jin Fengju was starting to panic now, he thought of Madam Fang’s desperate request, then of Fu Qiuning’s position. If he had thoughtlessly divorced her back then… Suddenly, he stepped forward and seized her by the shoulders, “Do you think me so heartless? So long as Yanfang is alive, no effort shall be spared to save her life. I, you should go in and look after Elder Madam and Aunt. Now that such a terrible thing had happened at the estate, it’s best for you to say something as well. That’s right, now that something like this happened, it’s best to have Wanying come and handle matters. Her house arrest will be lifted as of today.” After a final squeeze of Fu Qiuning’s hand, he rushed away.
[2a] Fu Qiuning stared at the rapidly disappearing back, then at the hand that had been so hurriedly squeezed. Ah, she thought: Someone’s feeling guilty. Also, why talk about Jiang Wanying’s business with me? Am I supposed to personally tell her you lifted her house arrest to fix some shit? How much do you want her to hate me?
[2a] However, no amount of thinking would help her current situation. After some thought, she dispatched Yu Jie to Clear Soft Pavilion. [2b] Since they had locked up the only competent and semi-intelligent person in the entire estate, this place must be falling apart now. Speaking of things falling apart, “[3a] Aunt Yu, find out whether the estate has received a ransom letter or not. If they want money for kidnapping a member of the Duke’s family, the estate should have received something.”
“Yes, yes, yes, we shall have others check on the matter as well!”
Fu Qiuning turned around and saw Old Madam Jin and Madam Fang calling out orders to their servants. For a moment, she could not help [3b] be amazed by their lack of basic common sense. Isn’t it normal for noble households to suffer from kidnappings, assassinations etc? While it was possible that the thugs or, whoever they were, to sell women as slaves, it felt kind of odd for thugs to target a nobleman’s entourage and kill the men just to sell off high-ranking women. Wait, that might actually happen, if she was part of the gang, it’s probably safer to sell the women rather than risk getting the attention of a well-connected noble family for a bit of money. Women that most of these snooty noble houses would consider soiled goods and therefore might as well just die for the family honour.
[3b] Ooops, perhaps she was the one who lacked common sense after all.
All sorts of thoughts swirled around her head as the women around her wailed and cried. She had no idea how to comfort these people. [3c] To cry and wail with the rest seemed hypocritical, especially since she had literally never seen this Jin Yanfang before. Even so, she still felt some twinges of sympathy for the woman with children looking forward to coming home to a loving family only to be attacked by bandits…
[3c] From the level of wailing around her, the Jin clan appears to care about this Jin Yanfang a lot, otherwise, surely they would not have put on such an outrageous performance? Even so, Fu Qiuning had to wonder just how far they intend to carry out their act. She would not be surprised if this Jin Yanfang is eventually ostracised by her own family for being a ‘soiled woman’. That poor thing, that’s one of the worse things about being born into this wretched, male chauvinist era.
Even in the modern world, news about women and children being abducted, raped and murdered could be found on Weibo. While she sympathised with the plight of these people, it was difficult to relate since it had never happened to her or anyone around her. [3d] Jin Yanfang may be technically ‘family’, but it was still rather hard for her to blubber and wail dramatically like the rest of them for a stranger.
When Jiang Wanying arrived, she immediately parked herself next to Madam He and Madam Fang and wailed and cried with them for a bit. However, she soon heroically stopped crying and began to comfort everyone. [2b] Fu Qiuning had to admire her professionality and practical behaviour.
For a long while, the Old Madam’s place was filled with sniffling people, anxiously awaiting news from Jin Fengju and Jin Luanfeng. Even Jin Yu had gone out to look for news.
That evening, when dinner time came, no one have the heart to even mention eating. Even those with no deep feelings for Jin Yanfang, namely Jiang Wanying, Xu’shi, Huo’shi, and of course, [2c] Fu Qiuning herself, were worried enough to not have an appetite.
Suddenly, the servant girls came rushing in and called out over each other, “The Duke, Young Marquis, and Second Old Master Feng are back!”
Everyone’s spirits lifted for a moment. Then, anxiety fell upon them as they wondered anxiously what sort of news the men have brought.
Jin Yu and Jin Shi entered first. It turned out that Jin Shi managed to receive some news and rushed back to the Capital to inform them. Jin Luanfeng and Jin Fengju entered soon after, their expressions very grim.
“What happened?” Old Madam Jin sat up on her couch. Madam Fang also rushed over.
Jin Shi said gravely, “Luanfeng and Fengju received news that this matter was most likely conducted by some notorious Jianghu [4] thugs. They styled themselves as vigilantes out to rob and kill corrupt officials. The convoy was attacked because our in-laws were involved in corruption and bribes. Fortunately, this vigilante group do not kill women, so it is likely that Yanfang and the rest of the women in the convoy had been taken away to be sold as slaves…”
Old Madam Fang looked like she was about to faint away, so he quickly rushed over to support her, “Mother, do not worry. I heard that these people only sold women as slave workers and not into prostitution. Tomorrow morning, Luanfeng will bring a bring group of people out to inquire about the matter. We have also written to Pengzhan. Fortunately, Fengju has a special messenger pigeon at hand. Pengzhan is situated near the south of the Yangtze River, whereas the in-laws were killed in Yunzhou. By following the river, they could reach Yangzhou in less than a day. Therefore, it is possible that Pengzhan would be able to track them down.”
Jin Luanfeng also said, “That’s right, do not worry, Mother. I shall be leaving for Yunzhou immediately as well. I shall also inquire after sister’s news on the way. No matter what, we shall find her.”
Hearing them, Madam Fang finally felt a little relieved. [1b] Having nothing better to do, Fu Qiuning patted the Old Madam’s hand and said, “This is a blessing. Now that we know that their lives are preserved, it is only a matter of time before we track them down.”
Jiang Wanying snapped angrily from the side, “Lord Husband, can’t we track down those thugs? That group of unreasonable things should be destroyed! All nine generations of them!”
Jin Fengju shook his head with a bitter smile, “And how do we find them? Those thugs, as you call them, move on horses and are as swift as the wind. Though they robbed people in broad daylight, there were no witnesses. It was through this unique way of attack that we know the convoy had been attacked by this particular group of bandits. However, even the imperial court could not track down their lair. Not to mention, they have a reputation for going after corrupt officials and therefore are very popular with the common people. Just tracking them alone is close to impossible, let alone executing all nine generations of them.”
Jiang Wanying grew silent at this.
That night, nearly everyone had trouble sleeping.
The next morning, Jin Luanfeng set out immediately. As for Jin Fengju, despite his youth, he was still an important minister within the dynasty and cannot come and go as he pleases. Otherwise, he would have gone out to make inquiries long before this. For now, he could only beg for the emperor’s grace and send some guards to go with Jin Luanfeng and assist in the investigations. Even Prince Rong had people out inquiring for information while he had to wait for news at home. [2a] Fu Qiuning knew all of this because Jin Fengju told her all about it, at length.
Since it was the prominent Duke of Jing’s in-laws that were murdered and their female relatives vanished without a trace, it was impossible to hide the matter from the public.
Jin Fengju had been in a bad mood lately, and had been resting at Fu Qiuning’s place these past few days. [1c] Personally, Fu Qiuning believed that Jin Fengju was just using the excuse of stress and bad mood to lurk around Night Breeze Pavilion. Just like how he had made use of her ‘illness’ to make himself a nuisance. She had had to listen to his dramatic solos every night for now, and it was getting seriously repetitive.
Fortunately, they received news from Jin Pengzhan about five days later in the form of a letter from Yangzhou. According to the letter, people had been sent out to track down the whereabouts of Jin Yanfang and the others. They eventually found that Jin Yanfang had been sold to a wealthy merchant household as a slave. Naturally, when Jin Pengzhan received the news, he raced over to the house, travelling even at night.
It turned out that the wealthy merchant had bought the women, thinking that they were a poor family who had sold themselves into slavery due to some reason or other, never dreaming that the girl he had bought could be from the powerful Duke of Jing’s estate. He was so frightened at the realisation that he could hardly speak. Later, he kept repeating that the women he had bought into his house never said anything about their origins, that they merely work inside his estate, and that he would never dare to offend such honourable people.
The entire family was relieved to hear this. No matter what, Jin Yanfang was not humiliated inside a bandit’s nest. Although she had worked as a slave for a few days, her person was still clean and innocent. Naturally, there was no way to control the rumours, but it was good enough to know that her person was still pure.
After receiving the good news, Jin Luanfeng rushed to Yangzhou and collected them. In less than 10 days, their boat would reach the Capital. A letter had already been sent in advance. When Jin Shi received the letter, he hastily ordered his wife to bring the letter to the Old Madam. All of the womenfolk in the estate were there when Madam Fang announced, “According to Luanfeng, aside from Yanfang, Sir Feng’s two daughters have now become helpless dependents as well. Yanfang’s mother-in-law died early, and the few concubines have all been sold off to other places, leaving only one concubine with them. There is also an orphaned female cousin-in-law…”
Before Madam Fang could finish speaking, Old Madam Jin said, “Since they are our relatives, we have no choice but to assist them. Our family happen to lack young girls, so let’s take them in. We can afford this bit of money to raise them. Even if we are not related, anyone would be uncomfortable seeing such delicate and noble ladies suffer.”
Madam Fang hastily nodded with a beaming smile, “It shall be as you say. If the young women know this, surely, they would be ever so thankful for Old Ancestor’s great benevolence?”
Old Madam Jin sighed and said, “That silly child, ah. When she was sold as a slave, why did she not inform them of her identity? That wealthy merchant is right, if he knows that the maid he was purchasing was a daughter from our house, even with 10 borrowed guts, he would not dare to make use of any of them.”
Madam Fang sighed sadly, “According to Luanfeng, Yanfang was most concerned about our family’s reputation. No matter what, they were once held against their will by these wretched bandits. She fears that word would spread and damage the family name. That, were it not for the children, she no longer wanted to live. Later, when Pengzhan saw them at the wealthy merchant’s place, each of them was crying bitterly, terribly grief-stricken…”
Madam Fang had also started crying as she spoke, causing everyone in the room to burst into more tears. [2a] Fu Qiuning had to lower her head and cover her face with a handkerchief lest the others saw how she rolled her eyes at their performance. She even rubbed her eyes hard to redden them.
After a while, Jin Fengju also returned and was very happy to hear that Jin Luanfeng had found Jin Yanfang in the north. He was finally relieved. Since the mansion next door was still under renovation, Jin Luanfeng was still living within the estate. However, Jin Shi’s place has limited space, therefore, Old Madam Jin said, “The Yong Cui Garden is meant to house unmarried young girls. Now that all the young women had married out, it is now vacant. With so many people coming in, we should open up the place and let them stay at the Garden.”
[3f] Fu Qiuning could feel Jin Fengju’s eyes on her, as well as the eyes of everyone else’s, looks like they were all remembering the time she had gotten lost there.
Jin Fengju coughed and said, “It is not a bad plan to open the place. However, I shall arrange for more people to take care of the garden and prevent people from getting lost.”
Faint snickers rose around her as everyone covered their mouths. [2a] Fu Qiuning considered being offended by this, but considering how they had all wailed and cried just now, she decided that it was not worth the effort. Let them snicker, it’s not like it cost her anything.
[Gumihou: Look at all that ass polishing and ‘forward thinkingness’. Look at the sensitive Young Marquis, the sensible Old Madam, look how happy and tearful modern person AR Qiuning is to be surrounded by such wonderful forward-thinking people~~]
Basically how Gumi imagined Fu Qiuning’s face throughout this whole ordeal.
[1] Deleted AR Qiuning:
[1a] Deleted ridiculous:
FQN suddenly wept and sobbed out, “Boo hoo~~ pls, this wretched woman begs you to only think of Little Sister’s life and… *sobs* not think about other things… put her life first… waahh~~”
This scene was created solely for JFJ to ‘wipe AR QN’s tears’ and ‘comfort’ her. Like, hehe, nope.
[1b] Replaced deleted JFJ ‘comforting FQN’ with more awkwardness. It’s a treasure trove of awkward. How could Gumi resist?
Also, managed to fit in most of JFJ’s self-righteous speech back in despite the lack of a tearful AR Qiuning
[2] Added details:
[2a] Added Fu Qiuning’s presence into FQN’s brain.
[2b] Acknowledge JWY’s importance in the estate
[2c] Why is Fu Qiuning’s name missing from the list of people with ‘no deep feelings for Jin Yanfang’?
Fortunately Gumi noticed this slight and put her name in.
[3] Replacement:
[3a] Replace FQN’s long and rambling order+explanation to Aunt Yu re ransom note. It’s mostly there to showcase AR Qiuning’s ‘cleverness’. In short, an ass polishing moment. Yes, Gumi just deleted Ass Polishing for Qiuning
Fu Qiuning: It’s not like I want a shiny bottom to reflect that man’s face.
Gumihou: Pfft
[3b] Replace ‘could not help but shed tears’ with ‘could not help but be incredulous at their lack of competence’. Basically, deleted all ‘boohoo~ the thugs are cruel’ scenes with ‘sigh… aristocrats are cruel’.
[3c] Replace AR Qiuning’s ‘boo hoo~ boo hoo hoo~~~’ with ‘the heck am I doing here…’ along with a healthy dose of scepticism and cynicism.
[3d] Replace ‘Jin Yanfang is family, of course, I is anxious and heartbroken, boo hoo~ hoo hoo hooo~~’ with, ‘like, I’m sorry but don’t know her? Also, are you guys really sad or performing for someone?’
[3e] Replace ‘woo woo, we are all so worried. Especially me who had never seen this person before~~’ with ‘is this scum using his missing relative as an excuse to stay at my place…’
[3f] Replace JFJ’s POV of ‘tee hee~ someone got lost there~~ hee~~’ with FQN’s POV of ‘I can feel certain scum eyes on me…’[4] Jianghu – literally ‘rivers and lakes’
Generally refers to the martial arts world of ancient China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianghu
