Chapter 169: A Non-hypocritical Di-Mother [1]
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Fu Qiuning: What’s with all the pretentious tea drinking?
Gumihou: Mirroring JFJ’s tea-drinking of intimidation
Fu Qiuning: Ah…
Gumihou: Also, what tea drinking? There is no pretentious tea-drinking here
Fu Qiuning blinked slowly. Bai Lu hastily pulled Jin Zhenyi away and was trying to make him apologise when Fu Qiuning said, “Who wants to be your mother?”
This caused the boy to choke. The girl, Jin Xiunan, looked like she wanted to cry.
Perhaps unable to think of what to say, Jin Zhenyi started screaming, “My mother was sent to the village. Whose fault do you think it is? You still have the face to speak to us?!”
Fu Qiuning felt oddly fascinated by the boy’s nearly uncontrollable temper. She said slowly, “Yes, whose fault is it, exactly? Did I hold her hand and forced her to make you to cut your face? Did I beg the Young Marquis to call for an imperial physician?”
She was speaking in a half-fascinated voice, as though she was watching a play and was wondering just what the actors on the stage would do next.
What happened was Jin Zhenyi turning purple in the face, unable to answer her as he nearly expired from shame and anger. Unable to bear it anymore, Bai Lu threw herself down beside Qiuning and pleaded, “Madam, the Young Master lacks understanding. He only has thoughts for his mother. Please consider, Concubine Xu has only recently been banished, the children are distraught and their words should not be taken seriously. Young Master had always been eager and hasty…”
“Hasty and eager people should understand the consequences of their actions even more. If we allow such behaviour when he is young, what will he be like as an adult? Moreover, he is a sharp one. Do you like plays? I have always liked the little villains in plays. I used to wonder about those traitorous little court officials. Don’t you think that villains are only interesting when they are smart and cunning?
Do you suppose those villains were born bad? How could people be born bad? Or are they just badly brought up? I wonder, what kind of adult would you be? Will you be a cunning villain, out to scheme and make trouble for the hero? Or will you grow up to be a hero to defend your family? Which kind of person do you think your mother will want you to be?”
Fu Qiuning’s smile was slightly frightening as she stared at the people in the room. If this was a novel, these two people would grow up to be the little villains just to make life difficult for the protagonist. However, even if they were not in a novel, these children were the son and daughter of an influential man of an influential family. Should they choose to, they could make a lot of people’s life difficult with their limited authority alone.
She tapped her finger on the table again and said, “Concubine Xu’s banishment had nothing to do with me. She harmed the wrong person and suffered the consequences. I, too, am suffering the consequences of her actions. After all, aren’t you all here? In my courtyard? In this very room? Do you suppose I am overjoyed to have you here?”
She let them all squirm for a moment before continuing, “Hate me if you like. I don’t care. There is no need to give your greetings to me. However, you must be present at meal times. You should know that your father is usually around for dinner. The people of Elegant Mansion are not allowed to bully you, and you may give your complaints at the dinner table to your father if that happens. However, if you dare to bully the people here, do not expect me to overlook it either. Do we understand each other?”
“I understand,” said Jin Zhenyi, who probably only understood half of what was going on.
From the side, Jin Xiunan also whispered, “I understand.”
Fu Qiuning stood up, and said, “If you understand, that’s good. Our relationship may never be warm or harmonious, however, I do not care for hypocrisy. It’s too tiring.”
Jin Zhenyi snorted, “Too tiring? This is not much better?”
Fu Qiuning looked at him and shook her head pityingly at him. She turned to Bai Lu and said, “Who are the maids and matrons serving Young Master and Young Miss? Let me know if you need more people. The Young Marquis mentioned something about choosing maids for Feng’er and Jiao’er, he might as well choose more while he’s at it.”
Bai Lu hurriedly replied, “In response to Madam, the main maids serving Young Master are Chan Juan and me, and the junior maids are Fen’er, Rui’er, and Si’er. There are also two young servants, Xiao Wu and Luo Jiu, a wet nurse, and a tutor. As for Third Young Miss, her maids include Hua Hong and Liu Lu, and the junior maids include Zhui’er, Xiang’er, and Xiao Yan. There is also a wet nurse and a tutor. That should be enough.”
Fu Qiuning thought: That’s… a whole lot of people per child. She would have to give over an entire wing or building just to house those maids and matrons. Not to mention the amount of food they will consume… Still, who cares? Jin Fengju and the estate will pay for their living expenses.
In the end, she decided to let the children keep those maids and servants. Their mother had been sent away, so it would be good for them to keep some familiar faces around.
“Move two more labourers and rough work maids from Calling Crane Pavilion as well,” she said.
These tender-looking fancy maids would probably instigate the children into doing something questionable if they were forced to scrub floors or clean out toilets, so it’s better to have rough work servants around too. With the sudden influx of these pretty maids, her own courtyard workers won’t be able to keep up just moving literal shit around.
Bai Lu breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Madam is wise, this is a most excellent suggestion.”
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When they returned to their room, Jin Zhenyi begin to throw a temper tantrum. He snarled and said, “Who does she think she is? In the past, she was not fit for my mother to lay eyes on her, but she now dares to speak to me like this? Not allow me to bully others? Why not? I am the young master of this place, I’ll bully whomever I like, can she really control me? Pei! Still have the cheek to say that interacting with us is tiring? I’ll make sure she knows what ‘tiring’ really means!”
He stomped his feet in frustration. Then, he whirled around to glare at his sister and snap, “Xiunan, have you lost your tongue? Why did you not say anything when that woman treat us like this? Where is your usual sharp wit?”
Jin Xiunan’s eyes reddened. She looked at her brother and shook her head sadly, “Brother, that woman already told us there is no need to greet her and we did not even have to pretend to like her. Moreover, she openly said that she would not allow the people here to bully us, so long as we don’t bully others. These conditions can be considered very good. Don’t forget, it is our mother… who harmed her first.”
“How can you say that? You traitor! Have you forgotten about our mother? Do you want to climb up her tall branch? Fine, go ahead, I won’t stop you.” Jin Zhenyi couldn’t believe his sister would say such things. He was shocked and angry. He knew his sister was different from him. Though usually silent, she always had some good scheme up her sleeves. He had hopes that his sister would come up with some incredible schemes to stir things up at Elegant Mansion. However, he never expected this response.
“Elder Brother, I’m not trying to climb onto any branch, nor have I forgotten about Mother. However, have you thought about our other options? Do you prefer Clear Soft Pavilion to this place? Even when Mother was around, we still suffered under Zhenxuan and Xiuzhen’s hands. Have you forgotten this? Don’t tell me that you really think Second Mother Ying is as kind and agreeable as she appears on the surface?”
Jin Zhenyi fell silent. After pondering over various thoughts for a long time, he plopped to the ground and mulishly said, “Anyway… anyway, I will never forgive that woman.”
“Don’t call her ‘that woman’. If Father hears it, he will be… not happy. No matter what, we should still address her properly. She is Father’s lawful wife, and even back when she was not favoured certain rules cannot be disregarded, even more so now that she is favoured. Besides, do you think she cares for your forgiveness? I think it is fortunate that we ended up in this lavishly furnished mansion. Also, did you not see how she casually hand over Mother’s properties to Bai Lu? Do you think anyone would be as indifferent to any money-making businesses?”
Bai Lu approached and said, “Third Young Miss is correct. Everyone says that Second Madam Ning is mild-mannered and benevolent. From the looks of it, this may well be true. If things turn out as she said they would, we can call her an honest person as well. No matter what, we are still better off here than anywhere else. Although Madam Concubine had been sent to the village, so long as Young Master and Young Miss strive to do well and remind the Young Marquis of her existence, it is still possible to bring her back. For now, it is best not to dwell on it. Rest for a while, it should be lunch soon. After lunch, please have a short nap. School will begin again the day after tomorrow, right? This maid shall go and prepare writing materials for Young Miss and Young Master.”
The children watched as Bai Lu walked away, leaving only a few maids and matrons in the room with them. Jin Zhenyi sighed. All of his grand plans had collapsed into nothingness under the delighted eyes of those around him. He felt even more resentful towards Qiuning, thinking: She did say that we could hate her all we like, right? Hmph, that hypocritical woman has a clever tongue. In only a day, she managed to make all the people in my house agree with her. It was only a matter of time before the other servants are bribed over as well.
However, no matter how angry and resentful he was, Jin Zhenyi dared not make trouble in Elegant Mansion. He was the one who had provoked Jin Changfeng and attempted to frame him. Although his mother had shouldered all the blame and his father may not be completely unaware. It would still be better to stay honest and low-key for the time being and not risk being expelled from the Jin Estate to the village. If that were to happen, who would bring his mother back?
With that in mind, he behaved himself for a while. Even at school, he was more well-behaved than usual, so Jin Fengju didn’t punish him further. Just like that, the entire incident was considered resolved.
However, the gloom hanging over the Jing Dukedom was still far from being dispersed.
Although Jin Fengju’s brilliant schemes allowed Prince Rong to regain the Emperor’s trust and favour, the Emperor still had not summoned Jin Fengju to court. This inevitably made everyone in the Dukedom, from the Old Madam to the maids and servants, uneasy. Everyone knew that in other families, it was the child who relies on the father’s authority, but in this dukedom, it was the opposite. The entire family relied on this young marquis, who was only twenty-five years old.
Amidst the anxiety of the people, only Jin Fengju and Fu Qiuning remained calm and composed. Jin Fengju had long intended to rein in his sharpness, so the Emperor’s neglect played into his hands. As for Fu Qiuning, she could care less about the petty political intrigues of the palace. She was too busy with preparations for Aunt Yu’s marriage. As for the rest of the chickens in the coop, now that one of them had been axed, they all kept their heads down for fear of being the next one for the cooking pot.
[Gumihou: Poor little dude, your only existence is to make trouble and make Fu Qiuning look good.]
Pill Bug TL Notes:
[1] 嫡母 Di-mother means ‘official’ or ‘true’ mother
