Higher Level Wife – 178 – Young Master’s Private Money

Chapter 178: Young Master’s Private Money

Author: White Pear Flower

Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/

Translated by Gumihou

Proofread by Pill Bug

Gumihou: A lot of people laughing here. Made some minor adjustments to make Fu Qiuning less of a grinning sycophant.

 

As the ladies chatted, they saw Jin Yanfang enter with her two children. She beamed at everyone the moment she entered the door and said, “What’s this? To think that Madam Concubine and my sisters are all much earlier than I. Looks like you are all aiming for my sister-in-law’s food. Do you not fear being made fun of by others?”

Everyone laughed. Fu Qiuning got up to welcome her and pulled Jin Yanfang over to sit on the opposite couch, “Sister is so noble that I don’t have anything good enough for her. In the future, please don’t rely on me for meals.”

Feng Mingzhu chimed in jokingly, “That is so, we managed to trick some good food this morning, which is why there is now none for Sister-in-law.”

The Feng brother and sister, Feng Yuanzhan and Feng Yuzhi, wanted to go off and look for the older children to play with, but were told that the older children had gone to school. When they heard that their older cousins were not around, the Feng siblings pouted dispiritedly on the side. Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “You two are still a little young for school, otherwise you could go with them. Unfortunately, there is nothing much to play with here… well, let us adjourn to the Old Ancestor’s place instead.”

Concubine Mei and the others hurriedly stood up with Fu Qiuning and saluted her as she went to her room to tidy herself up a little. Then, the ladies and two children all set out for Health & Longevity Court. They sat for a while with the elder ladies before dispersing to their own individual places.

Fu Qiuning got up too early that day, [1] and felt a little sleepy by noon. After informing Yu Jie that she would be napping in the back room and ‘to call her if anyone came by’, she made her way to the couch and took a nap on a brocade quilt.

The couch had been placed just by the window. As the day progressed, the sun shone warmly on her person, but a gentle breeze kept her cool. Fu Qiuning was just thinking that this was how life should be when she heard footsteps. Thinking it was probably some young maid’s impatient steps, she ignored it.

A short while later, someone spoke close to her ear [2], “The sun is almost on your face. Aren’t you hot? If your skin becomes sunburnt, I wonder how you plan to go out and face people.”

[2] Fu Qiuning inwardly sighed: Am I destined to never have a peaceful day?

She opened her eyes and, yes, it was Jin Fengju. [2a] He was beaming down at her with a winsome expression. After some thought, she closed her eyes and turned her back to him. [2b]

Sadly, this did not deter the man as she felt a weight bearing down on her back. She sighed: Does he want to collect rent now? In the middle of the day?

“Why are you here?”

Jin Fengju chuckled, “Somehow it feels very comfortable to lie down here…”

“If you want to do something, just say so, it’s not like I could deny you.”

“No, no, of course not,” Jin Fengju was quick to deny it. The hand that had been creeping up her waist suddenly became well-behaved and stroked her hair instead. “I would never dream of forcing you into anything…”

[2]

“That’s because Lord Husband favours tricks instead,” she said bluntly.

He laughed, his voice pitched a little higher than usual as he said, “What- what do you mean?”

“The six large snakes, your friend the ghost-”

Sudden loud laughter cut her off, “Goodness! So my petty tricks have all been seen through. Alas! I have never done anything so embarrassing in my life, just twice, and both times it was because of you. Indeed, our Second Madam Ning is a great heroine and my methods are nothing in your eyes. Must you keep mentioning it? Am I not shamed enough? Hahaha!”

Fu Qiuning rolled her eyes, and got out of the couch, “I fear that some people have no concept of shame.” Having nothing better to do, she sat before the mirror and began to tidy up her hair and clothes.

In the mirror, she saw Jin Fengju also sitting up. He beamed and said, “That is right, a few days ago a merchant who did business in the West brought me a mirror. Though the item is light, it shows the image more clearly than these bronze mirrors. Too bad there’s only one. Moreover, this thing is too fragile and not easily moved and outrageously expensive. gifting me one is already a great favour, which is why I did not ask for more. Even if I wanted to purchase more, there were none to be had. In the end, I could only gift it to the Old Ancestor. In another two days, you may go and have a look at it at Health & Longevity Court. That thing is truly curious.”

When Jin Fengju saw Fu Qiuning looking at the mirror, he suddenly started talking about the mirror he had purchased. As for Fu Qiuning… [3] she barely paused in her tidying up. A fragile mirror that shows one’s image more clearly had to be the glass mirror. [2c] Was he trying to buy her favour with things? That would be just like him, wouldn’t it? This kind of behaviour was not limited to ancient male chauvinists, since she even had parents from the modern world that behaved just like that. Instead of giving proper attention to their children, the parents gave material things, pocket money, smartphones, games and more to buy their children’s favour. It was even worse when the parents were divorced.

[2c] Think about it, the first thing he did when he entered her sanctuary was to bribe the children to like him. If I had not encouraged the children to think well about their absentee father, would a relationship even form? She had also seen how he had interacted with his other children. He only favoured the ‘smart’ ones, and even then, they were only as well treated as their mothers. Fu Qiuning supposed that this was perfectly on par with the ‘ancient noble male’ attitude, she understood this, but that did not mean she had to like it.

As she brooded over various things, in Jin Fengju’s eyes, he only saw his beloved Qiuning remaining unmoved and disinterested in curiosities that would normally send people into squeals of rapture. He secretly praised her for being calm and unmoved by material things. Feeling proud of himself for having chosen such a wonderful person to fall in love with, he said, “I still have a banquet to attend later. I won’t be here for lunch.”

He waited eagerly for Fu Qiuning to express dismay over his absence.

Fu Qiuning lowered her comb and said, “I shall let the maids know. I’m sure they are in the middle of adding some exquisite dishes to the menu.”

When nothing else was said, Jin Fengju pouted and said, “Aren’t you going to ask why I stopped by when I have to leave so soon? Truth be told, I could not help it. I cannot muster the strength to go through a whole banquet without at least a glimpse of my beloved wife~~”

“… I see that someone had been sucking on honey lately,”

Jin Fengju felt himself blush. [4] He too felt that he adored Fu Qiuning too much. The sweet words that just left his lips earlier were not something he would usually say, but for some reason, whenever he looked at Fu Qiuning’s indifferent face, he felt an itch in his chest and would inevitably blurt out tender words. Was this what being in love was like? No wonder the stories and novels about love between men and women were so… vigorous.

Suddenly, he remembered what he was supposed to do that day and got up. He straightened his clothes and said, “That’s right, one other thing. I had Jin Ming exchange some gold and silver at the bank. When Cai Lian and Biyu come by, put the money away after verifying the amount. With Wanying acting as keeper of the house, well, she could be a little cautious with money. I worry for Yanfang and the others. I know that Yanfang won’t say anything to me. Just keep the money for now and take care of them. If something happens to be short, just make up for the lack.”

“… …”

“Qiuning?”

“… life as a woman in a noble house is hard,” was all she had to say.

As Jin Fengju spluttered and muttered a bunch of things, she ignored him and continued to brush her hair. It’s not like she did not understand why she was given money. It was to ensure that she maintained Jin Yanfang’s and the Feng family’s favour. From what she could see, Jiang Wanying did not like Jin Yanfang or the Feng family, and would most likely short them of money. Madam Jiang would support her niece’s decision. [2d] The money was not out of the generosity of his heart. He just wanted her to step into the disgusting mire that is harem politics and build her own little faction with Jin Yanfang on her side. If she was a real noble lady from that period, she could even send one or both of the gorgeous Feng sisters to Jin Fengju’s bed and have them be grateful to her for arranging this favour…

Before she could say yes or no to this ‘duty’, Jin Fengju had already fled, [2d] perhaps not wanting to confront the fact that he had turned a blind eye to Jiang Wanying deliberately starving the people of Night Breeze Pavilion.

When Bi Yu and Cai Lian came to Elegant Mansion, they came bearing two large cases that had to be carried by a few servants, [6] followed by a bunch of other things.

[5] “… …” Fu Qiuning stared at the [6] line of servants bearing more things. Then at the beaming Cai Lian and Bi Yu. “Are these all gold and silver?”

The maids tittered behind their hands. Seeing no one around, Cai Lian came closer and said with a beaming smile, “This is the Master’s personal wealth. He had us move it here for Madam’s safekeeping. The list is here, Madam, do please go through it. These are no ordinary things. These are precious treasures that Master had preserved for many years. Even Second Madam Wan only receives one or two items occasionally, but unexpectedly, everything is now under Madam’s care!”

“… …” as expected… was it because she had ignored him just now that he wanted to buy her affection with material things?

Fu Qiuning cast a cursory look over the list. Aside from gold and silver, there were also precious jade, antiques, calligraphy, paintings and other valuable odds and ends.

She knew it, the man did not want her to live a peaceful life. To throw such things in her place was a signal to the rest of the harem to attack her. Precious afternoon off now long gone, she called Yu Jie, Aunt Yu and Jian Feng over and went on to organise the endless stuff at a couple of the storage houses at Elegant Mansion. Luckily, the servant boys were swift on their feet and soon, there was only one last box left and these turned out to contain 200 taels of gold, 500 taels of silver and a few hundred copper coins. There were also a few dozen gold beans and leaves as well as 200 pieces of broken silver pieces.

 

[Gumihou: It’s all very ugh]

 

[1] Some small deletes to match facts with the previous chapter.

[2] Romantic? What romantic? It’s creepy that’s what it is.

[2a] Replace a ‘nyaa~’ moment with ‘whatever’

Deleted: Still half-asleep, her mind not fully awake, she closed her eyes again and grumbled, “It’s not as serious as you make it sound. It’s just after the Dragon Boat Festival, not even the hottest time of summer yet. Is the sun really that intense? Clearly, you just want me to get up and give you my spot. Well, I won’t.”

Fu Qiuning: …

Gumihou: …

Jiang Wanying: …I’ll admit, it’s something I would do

The above statement is just bait for: Jin Fengju rarely saw Fu Qiuning act so cute and stubborn. He couldn’t help but feel both angry and amused, but his love for her reached its peak. He also sat down on the bed and reached out to touch Fu Qiuning’s face

[2b] By turning her back to JFJ, it cut off all cutesy interactions between them. At this point, about 300 words of cute interactions, including one that ‘complain’ about how JFJ should totally visit Clear Soft Pavilion *blep*, was gone.

[2c] Deleted over 250 words of rambling thoughts that were meant to be Fu Qiuning ‘not shaken by novel things’ just to impress JFJ. Replace the random pointless content with ‘JFJ behavioural analysis’

[2d] Switch out ‘awwww he so generous~~’ to ‘it’s all politics…’

[3] Actual modern person reaction that is not tailored to gush over JFJ.

[4] Foreshadow Jin Fengju being controlled by something beyond his understanding (White Pear Flower) to act like a loony.

[5] Here, FQN jumped and shrieked at the amount of money, causing the maids to titter and reveal how generous their master was and how JWY only gets one or two pieces, but ohmygosh Second Madam Ning gets everything~~~!!

Yeah, nope.

You really shouldn’t make your MC go apeshit when she’s supposed to be stoic just for the purpose of polishing the ML’s butt

[6] For some reason, the ‘two large cases’ became antiques, painting etc and closed by ‘one final case’. So, adjust the detail from ‘two large cases’ to a bunch of boxes.

 

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