Chapter 179: Plans
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Gumihou: …
Fu Qiuning: ….
AR Qiuning: Ahhh~~!!! Kyaa~~~!!! Ufufun~~!!
Fu Qiuning: Would someone please rid me of that freak?
Gumihou: I can… delete her presence somewhat
Fu Qiuning had the gold, silver and copper coins brought to the bedroom when she spotted Cai Lian following behind with a small box. Cai Lian beamed at her and said, “This is some of Master’s private money that he had been saving all these years. Please keep them safe, Madam.”
Fu Qiuning frowned and asked, “Private savings? The things just now aren’t considered private savings?” She accepted the box and found a stack of banknotes [1] inside. The top few were worth a thousand taels each, followed by five thousand tael notes, and at the bottom were three bills worth ten thousand taels each. Roughly estimating, that stack of banknotes alone amounted to over two hundred thousand taels.
Fu Qiuning was dumbfounded. She thought: F*ck, is Jin Fengju a corrupt official?
She looked at Cai Lian, “Where is this money from? Such a large sum should belong to the public fund, right? How can this be private savings? Surely even the public fund doesn’t have this much money?”
Cai Lian smiled and said, “If the public fund of the dukedom only has this much, how could it handle the estate expenses? Please rest assured, Madam. The master is a very capable person. Over the years, the master managed his official duties flawlessly and received rewards from the Emperor. This fund is from those rewards and some other small business income. The master cares for you greatly, that is why he entrusted his entire fortune to you. Otherwise, even Second Madam Wan, who is aware of Master’s private fund, dares not covet it.”
“… …” Finally, she sighed and asked, “Who else knows about this?”
Cai Lian tittered and said, “With so many chests, how could we avoid notice? Even so, Master intentionally chose ordinary chests to transport these precious treasures. Therefore, we could just say that the boxes merely contain some gifts of silk, jewellery and other trinkets for Madam. No one would be the wiser. Considering Master’s deep love for Madam, it is only right to gift you with many things. No one would suspect that Master’s affection is so deep that he would actually entrust his entire private funds to you. Do be at ease, these gifts would not arouse anything beyond the usual petty little jealousies and would not put Madam in any kind of danger.”
Cai Lian rattled off her assurances with a puffed-up chest. She thought herself quite clever and understood Fu Qiuning’s concerns. Naturally, she also did not forget to flatter the Madam and praise her Master for having a discerning eye. Just then, Bi Yu entered the room with yet another chest in hand.
Fu Qiuning sighed, “What now?”
“These are property deeds and land certificates for some of the farmsteads.” Bi Yu said as she handed the small chest to Fu Qiuning. Then, she turned to Cai Lian, “Yesterday, Master mentioned that with the weather getting hotter, he bade me bring his collection of fans to Madam’s place. I nearly turned the whole place upside down looking for them. Do you know where they are stored?”
Cai Lian laughed and said, “No wonder I could not see a hint of your shadow even though the rest of the servants have arrived. You were busy looking for the Master’s fans. Well, I know where they are stored, I shall go and fetch them right away~!”
With that, she turned around and left the room.
Fu Qiuning took a glance at the property deeds in the chest before shutting the lid on them. “If these deeds are genuine, looks like Lord Husband has several thousands of [2] hectares of land in his name… If this is merely private property, what does the land belonging to the public fund look like…”
Bi Yu chuckled and said, “Why do you think everyone is so eager to become an official, and then aspire to gain noble titles after that? Aren’t they all chasing after wealth and status? On the other hand, our estate has existed for generations and engaged in many secret businesses. That is why we have such immense wealth and prosperity. An ordinary duke or prince’s estate may not even be so prosperous.”
“I see,” Fu Qiuning nodded slowly. She thought: [a] With so much money, land, and power in his hand, he could not even be bothered to send a sack of grain or a roll of coarse cloth to Night Breeze Pavilion in the entire six years we were exiled there. This Jin Fengju likes to complain about how ‘far’ Night Breeze Pavilion is from his private harem, but isn’t the property still within the marquisate’s estate? To think that he could not be bothered to send even a standard gift of food and clothing during the new year or anything while sitting on so much wealth…
[a1] Fu Qiuning stared at the two boxes of deeds and banknotes with shadowed eyes. She understood that this was Jin Fengju’s way of purchasing her favour. To be given so much money and property now… what did he want from her? So, what if he gave her all this money now? Isn’t it like adding flowers to a brocade cloth? During those cold winter months, they did not even get a single lump of coal from the public fund or from her excessively rich husband. As she pondered this, she felt as if her guts were tied into a hundred knots, and she could not describe the exact feeling she was experiencing.Bi Yu’s sudden laughter interrupted her thoughts, “Is that Cai Lian slacking off again? Why hasn’t she returned yet? Has she gone to pretty herself up again?”
Fu Qiuning [a2] blinked at Bi Yu. “You say that… Cai Lian had gone to pretty herself up?”
Bi Yu tittered again, it sounded a little nervous this time, “Master’s orders came so suddenly that we barely had time to dress properly, how could we dare to pretty ourselves up when Master ordered us to complete this matter quickly?”
There was an expectant pause after that, which Fu Qiuning did nothing but frown into the distance. She finally noticed that Bi Yu had nothing in her hair, not even a simple pearl hairpin. Come to think of it, Cai Lian was also the same.
Believing that she had annoyed Fu Qiuning, Bi Yu quickly continued, “Besides, how dare we show off in front of Madam? Wearing too many accessories would simply be an eyesore to Madam.”
Fu Qiuning blinked slowly at this maid. Then, she took another look around the room. The once moderately plain room was now littered with things. There were opened boxes of accessories as well as gold, silver and copper coins everywhere. That’s right, per the usual arrangement, she should be rewarding these maids for their hard work. Cai Lian’s aggressive flattery and Bi Yu’s nervous hinting finally reached her, and she smiled gently at the maid, “No need to make others blush with these words. I know full well that my appearance cannot be compared to the other women in the Young Marquis’ harem.”
While Bi Yu protested, she rummaged through one of the jewellery boxes from the cabinet and took out a gold hairpin decorated with golden flowers. She handed the hairpin to Bi Yu, saying, “Put this on. The unique cluster of flowers and the pearl centre compliments your looks well.”
Bi Yu hastily declined, but Fu Qiuning decisively placed the pin into her hands. “What are we but women belonging to one man? Your beauty also brings radiance to my face. As for Cai Lian, she had given me a precious hairpin of hers, but I have yet to give her anything in return. What do you think of these jade emerald bracelets? Do you think these would suit her fair wrists?”
“They are too precious,” Bi Yu said.
Just then, footsteps were heard and Cai Lian entered with a sandalwood box in her hands. Fortunately, the box only contained fans. Even so, considering how well they were kept, they were clearly precious to Jin Fengju, if not valuable for their art or material.
Since the person in question had arrived, Fu Qiuning bestowed the jade bracelets to Cai Lian, who also protested. It was only after some persuasion from Bi Yu that she reluctantly accepted them. A few more exchanges later, the two bedroom maids left Elegant Mansion.
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Back in their own room, Cai Lian immediately complained, “Bi Yu, is your memory too short? Have you forgotten how Master scolded us over a single buyao that I gave to Madam? To think you dare to reach out a hand for Madam’s things? Do you even want to stay in this estate anymore?”
Bi Yu smiled and replied, “You are now fearing the rope for ten years after having been bitten by a snake once. [3] You are usually clever and sharp, but I fear you cannot see the situation clearly as the person involved in it. Master reprimanded you for gifting someone above your status with your belongings. I begged her for things as a servant, therefore all is well.”
Frustrated, Cai Lian muttered, “I heard that Master gifted my buyao to that slut Yu Jie…”
Bi Yu calmly responded, “That’s because he did not want a servant’s gift on his beloved’s head. Now that the gift has gone to Yu Jie, the matter is considered settled. As for the gifts from Madam, take a look at your bracelets, do you think they are any inferior to your buyao? That Madam is willing to gift us things more precious than the buyao shows that all had been forgiven. Don’t you think we should be grateful for this?”
Cai Lian squirmed a little uncomfortably, but then a smile bloomed across her face, “You cunning little slut, you’re right. What the master hates most are greedy women who forgot their places. I had indeed forgotten my place…”
[b2] “I think… you believed that Second Madam Ning is someone easily manipulated and tried your luck,” said Bi Yu gently. “You are fortunate that Master is someone who values loyalty and long service. Let us not overstep our bounds anymore and maintain our role through loyalty and good service.” [b3]Cai Lian went still, “Bi Yu, do you think… Master would ever look our way again?”
Bi Yu sighed, “We are merely bedroom maids. Moreover, we are already old as bedroom maids. That we could still remain within this estate is already too good for us. Other households would have replaced us with younger, prettier bedmates.”
When Cai Lian said nothing, she continued, “Not to mention, after Master acknowledged Second Madam Ning’s position, he barely visits Second Madam Wan, Concubine Huo’shi or Concubine Yue Lan’s chambers anymore, let alone the two of us. Are you really willing to live as a spinster or a widow? Don’t you want to have your own family, a husband to spend your life with, and children to love, spoil and care for?”
Cai Lian curled her fists. Beneath the shock and bewilderment, a sudden feeling of longing arose within her.
[Gumihou: A festival of deletion. About 1000 words had been deleted or replaced]
[a] Replaced AR Qiuning’s ‘this family is so awesome~~!!’ with reality.
Fu Qiuning nodded, thinking: It seems that the Jin family, from the eldest to the youngest, all have their own private savings. But when it comes to critical moments, they can still unite as one. It’s no wonder they have managed so well. It’s quite amusing to think that my grandfather and father used me to slap their faces by marrying me into their family. Looking back now, what was that even worth? Perhaps, at that time, the marquisate’s reputation might not have been so good, but their hidden wealth was already enough to cover the heavens.
[a1] Destroy the romance. Replace the ‘awww’ with ‘… …’Mulling it over, Fu Qiuning decided to keep the property deeds and other documents as well. She understood that this was Jin Fengju’s way of showing his sincerity to her. From now on, they would be united as a couple, and not only was he her greatest backer, since he handed these things to her, but she was also his.
[a2] General reduction of ‘awww’ and ‘skipped heartbeat, kyaa~~’ [b] Deleted over 200 words explaining why Fu Qiuning is so, so intelligent and why harem politics is so, so complicated~~ [b1] Deleted over 400 more words explaining why Fu Qiuning is so, so intelligent and why harem politics is so, so complicated~~The explanation was done by a maid that was described as ‘simple and loyal’ in a previous chapter and had spoken like, close to zero words before this chapter.
[b2] Deleted over 200 more words explaining why Fu Qiuning is so, so intelligent and why harem politics is so, so complicated~~ [b3] Deleted over 200 words explaining why Jin Fengju is so, so in love and wonderful and like, wow~~
Pill Bug TL Notes:
[1] 银票 Banknotes, an old form of paper money. “This banknote can be exchanged for xxx taels of silver”. [2] 顷地 The ancient 顷 “hectare” is actually 10/3 x bigger than a modern 顷. Modern hectare = 10,000 square metres, ancient hectare = 33,333.33 square metres. That is absolutely a HUGE area of land! [3] 一朝遭蛇咬十年怕井绳 AKA “Once bitten, twice shy”.
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