Chapter 214: Sightseeing
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Lots of people ‘smiled and said’ here.
Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “Don’t be too happy just yet. We still have to get through the All Nations Cultural Festival. Not to mention, this place belongs to the Second Old Master’s family. It is not like we could just stay here and not let them move in, right? When the time comes, who knows where we shall practise?”
Official Lin smiled and said, “Once the All Nations Cultural Festival is over, Huangmei Opera will become very popular all over the country, which means we no longer have to practice in secret. I believe the Emperor will grant us a special location just for the development of the opera. However, if it is situated within the palace, it does not seem right to make Madam rush back and forth all the time.”
Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “This can all be discussed later. There is no need to overthink it now.”
Even so, Official Lin was already incredibly ecstatic at being in charge of this first Huangmei Opera project, which would not only be popular with the masses, but also launch her career and solidify her position within the palace. To hear that this beloved Madam would have even more operas hidden away, she became almost dazed with ecstasy. For a moment, she stood in place, staring at her own bright future before hastily smiling and changing the topic for everyone’s sake.
Let us speak of Jin Fengju’s side.
He had just entered Lingji Palace with his sons and nephews. The Lingji Palace was once a Taoist temple built solely for the imperial family. Later, when it was struck by lightning, the Emperor ordered the temple to be moved elsewhere. Still, since the location was left open, he had builders and craftsmen construct a building which now housed the main hall for the All Nations Cultural Festival. To show off the majesty of his great nation, the building was resplendent with intricate murals and gorgeously carved beams and pillars.
[1] The actual structure was a four-storey tall, circular building with three sides meant for the audience facing the stage. From the second floor onwards, there were no installed seats. Instead, there were tables and chairs meant noble clans to sit with their families in small groups. Only the first floor had installed chairs meant for rich merchants. Below the installed chairs were plain steps that led down to the pit of the building. Ordinary commoners were expected to sit on the steps if they were lucky enough, but most would just sit on the floor and crane their necks to watch the show. The floor and steps alone could accommodate a thousand people.
Depending on their abilities, some might even cling to walls and rafters for a better view. However, since the Emperor would be present, order had to be strictly kept. At every All Nations Cultural Festival, screening the commoners alone required great effort.
Jin Fengju glanced around the Lingji Palace once. The place had been swept clean. It was currently fairly quiet since the excitement was all happening outside. He turned to the guards next to him and said, “Yang Ming, take a few guards with you and take the children around for a bit. Let them have a little fun and buy whatever they want, so long as it is not too excessive. Make sure to keep an eye on them and not let anyone be separated.”
Although it was a tough job, how could Yang Ming complain? He saluted with cupped hands and said, “Please be at ease, Young Marquis. This subordinate shall protect the young masters with my life.”
As soon as he was done speaking, Jin Fengju shook his head, saying, “No need to be so serious. What ‘to the death’? In this land of great peace and prosperity, I don’t believe that a reckless scoundrel like that would actually appear. If they did, it must be heaven’s way of allowing all of you to gain merit.”
Yang Ming and the rest of the guards laughed heartily at their superior’s joke. Once they were done laughing, the guards split themselves up, leaving a few with Jin Fengju while the rest of the dozen-plus guards left Lingji Palace with Jin Changfeng, Jin Zhenyi and the others.
The guards led the young masters to the [2] side of the Lingji building to an area that was so flat that a horse could gallop across it without problem. Only, it could not have done so today because the flat land was now covered in booths of all kinds. There were booths selling food, toys, jewellery, rouge and more. There were even booths with artists painting a sitter’s likeness and booths with scholars telling stories situated next to booths where musicians strummed their instruments.
In short, it was all very vibrant and exciting. The children had never really been out of the estate before. When faced with such a great variety of wonderful things to see, they did not know where to start looking first. Suddenly, Jin Zhenyi spotted a booth where pieces of fried dough were turning golden brown in a large vat of oil, and he said, “I’ve tried these before, it’s made from glutinous rice! It has sesame seeds on the outside and a sweet filling, very sweet and fragrant, different from the ones we have at home.” After that, he ran off. Two guards hurried after him. Not long after that, [1a] Jin Zhenyi returned to their group with two large paper bags.
After handing out the fried dough to his brothers, Jin Zhenyi took a large bite of his Sesame Dough Ball and hissed from the heat. He exclaimed, “This is really good, eat them quickly. If we all like it, let’s get some for our sisters.”
Naturally, the ingredients used for the food outside of their mansion could never be compared, but the atmosphere of festivity made whatever they were eating even more delicious. Not to mention, although it was the same type of food, dishes cooked by different people rarely tasted the same. Therefore, these pampered young masters enjoyed themselves a lot as they squeezed over to buy more from the fried dough stall and bought two paper bags of Sesame Dough Balls for their younger siblings. These were handed over to the servants to hold while the young masters continued to explore the fair.
There were all kinds of food stalls along the way selling things like Fried Stinky Tofu, Fried Meatballs, Fried Dough Twist, Pan-fried Buns [3], Hand-pulled Noodles, Red Bean Cakes and more. As the boys explored the stalls, their little bellies bulged from having eaten too much, regretting that they had eaten too well that morning and could not eat more. Jin Ming and the rest of the junior servants worked hard to advise their little masters, trying their best to persuade them not to eat more, but subtly.
To avoid missing out, the boys begin buying whatever food they would have liked to try, but could not eat at the moment, causing the servants trailing after them to juggle more and more packages. It wasn’t until Jin Ming hurriedly returned with more spare coins for the boys to keep shopping that he produced some large cloth bags from his person with a smile, saying, [2a] “Goodness, I have forgotten that Second Madam Ning gave these to me before leaving. Here, let us place the shopping here.” The junior servants quickly coordinated the items in their arms to place the heavier stuff at the bottom of the bags and carefully arranged the fried dough items at the top. In fact, two servants were designated to carry the delicate, but not quite valuable things while the rest lug their goods after the young masters.
The boys eventually reached the area where rouge and powder stalls were manned by fragrant and dolled-up women who smiled from behind the stalls. The boys knew enough about rouge and powders to realise that the ones sold at the stalls were vastly inferior to the ones their sisters had, even the concubine-born sisters had better powders and things, so they ended up not buying anything. Instead, they headed towards stalls selling craft items: Baskets in different shapes and sizes, tree root carvings of Buddha, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea as well as brush holders with novel and interestingly carved patterns, hand-stoves made from clay, clay figurines, candy figurines and more. When the young masters finally stopped shopping, it was getting dark and they headed towards Lingji Palace with great satisfaction.
[2a] Luckily, Jin Ming was savvy enough to have some servants move the heavier items to the carriage quickly, or the junior servants would have been even more overburdened. As it was, when the boys finally met with Jin Fengju, the servants were still carrying all kinds of items in their arms behind their young masters. The snacks in particular were not moved to the carriage in case the young masters wanted to eat them.
Jin Fengju was startled by the amount of things carried by the servants as well as the boys. [4] Jin Zhenyi looked fatter for one thing, clearly having stuffed his pockets full of unknown treasures while Jin Changfeng had a small cloth bag in hand. At the sight of them, Jin Fengju laughed and half-cursed, “This is all Qiuning’s doing. She is too soft-hearted and must have given you money seeing that this is your first trip outside. Otherwise, where would you find the money for all of these?”
[4a] Jin Changfeng and Jin Zhenyi exchanged a look. Then, they glanced at their cousins and brothers. Mother only gave the two of them money, not the rest. So why is this cheap dad going on and on about Mother giving ‘all of us’ money?
Finally, Jin Zhenyi said, “We bought some things for our sisters since they couldn’t come.”
[4b] Jin Fengju beamed and said, “Qiuning is such a kind-hearted person, to think of your sisters in their absence.”
[4b] All the boys smiled reflexively at that. It would not do to offend the person who brought them out for this trip, so they should just smile and nod. Just then, Jin Ming spoke up, “The young masters also gave copper coins to the beggars they encountered.”
[4b] “Oh?” said Jin Fengju with a slight frown, [2b] wondering how on earth beggars got into the palace in the first place and his sons being near those dirty people.
[4b] “… Mother said it is good for accumulating good karma,” said Jin Changfeng.
“I see!” all thoughts of how dirty beggars happened to be inside the palace disappeared at the mention of Fu Qiuning. “To think that Qiuning even considered this. Well, you may give your things to the servants. They will send them back to the estate for you first.”
Jin Zhenyi clutched at the things he had hidden in his chest, looking a little panicked. This amused Jin Fengju so much that he aimed a kick at the boy and said, “Don’t bother crying. If you are well-behaved, I shall take you for the Autumn Hunt.”
This obviously cheered Jin Zhenyi up.
[5] Jin Fengju felt very proud of himself. He thought: I may employ a thousand tricks before Fu Qiuning, but in front of my sons, I am a strict and just father. Otherwise, that in Zhenyi would not be so afraid of me.
Jin Changfeng watched their antics from the side, not feeling much of anything. No matter what happened, Mother was his true benefactor, and his actions reflected her will. As for the other children, they all felt that this father/uncle of theirs was a little different that day and were unsure what to make of it.
After the day’s excitement, the boys returned home to find that Fu Qiuning was not at Elegant Mansion. The children adjourned to Old Madam’s place, reuniting with their sisters and chattered about their experience during the day. The servant boys brought in their merchandise and the siblings and cousins shared out the goods they had bought. The girls happily accepted cloth bags filled with things their brothers and cousins bought for them.
It had been a long time since Old Madam Jin experienced such liveliness in her halls. She was so happy that her lips stretched from ear to ear. Jiang Wanying, Huo’shi and the rest of the ladies kept making jokes and clever remarks, causing the entire hall to fairly shimmer with delighted cheers.
In the midst of this sparkling atmosphere, a servant called, “Second Madam Ning has arrived!”
The door curtain parted and Fu Qiuning walked in. [1b] Old Madam Jin laughed and said, “You must have hurried over, even forgoing taking your customary nap. Are you here to see what good things your sons bought for their sisters?”
Everyone laughed.
Encouraged by the reaction, Old Madam Jin continued, “The children came here just to make me happy. I trust that you won’t fault them for it? That’s right, tomorrow is the All Nations Cultural Festival, so everyone should go back quickly and get themselves ready. This is a once-every-three-year treat, a rare and special event. Our family must look their best for the Festival. No need to come here for dinner, I still need to have Luo Cui help me tidy up here.”
With the Old Madam’s permission, everyone left. Naturally, Old Madam Jin had Fu Qiuning stay back so that she could question her more about the Huangmei Opera. She smiled and said, “I intended to enter the palace last time, but was thwarted by a stomachache. How my heart had flown out to be there, ah. After that, I could only suppress my wishes and wait to watch the whole show with others.”
Fu Qiuning nodded with a sympathetic look on her face and some basic pleasantries. Old Madam chattered on a bit more before finally sending Fu Qiuning and the four children away.
On the way to Elegant Mansion, Jin Zhenyi hopped forward to say with a smile, “Mother, we all bought something for our sisters and female cousins. I even bought something for you, but they were snatched away by the girls. I swear, they are all so excited…”
Jin Changfeng coughed pointedly, hinting for Jin Zhenyi to shut up, but the child did not get the hint. Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “That’s fine, so long as you bought things for your sisters and other siblings. Oh, and if you happen to buy something for Concubine Xu, be sure to set it aside. We can have someone send it over to the farmstead later. [6]”
[6] Jin Zhenyi ducked his head. He felt like… he had been kicked in the legs by Fu Qiuning’s words. It hurt, but at the same time, felt good as well. Unlike that time when Jin Fengju had kicked him, he felt oddly subdued but grateful at the same time. He tried to think of something smart to say, but all that came out of his mouth was:
“Yes, Mother.”
[6]
[Gumihou: Look at everyone planting flags…at this point, I half expected JFJ to turn to the camera and give a thumbs up for a ‘good dad’ act]
[1] Delete pointless mentions of JFJ (seriously, it was really pointless)
[1a] The author somehow used ‘Jin Fengju’ instead of ‘Jin Zhenyi’ here… (didn’t I say pointless?!!)
[1b] Fu Qiuning was suddenly given Old Madam Jin’s role. Switched out ‘Fu Qiuning said’ with ‘Old Madam Jin laughed and said’.
[2] Logistics unclear, make it less unclear
[2a] Give a little more recognition to stewards on dealing with the logistics of shopping. I can’t believe that the author actually went with the ‘Oh noes, no plastic bags~~’ and ‘Oh look, innovative cloth bags from our great and sparkly Madam!!’
[2b] Address the logistic issue of why there are beggars inside the palace…
[3] Pan-fried Buns – https://itsmydish.com/steam-fried-bun
[4] Give the boys a bit more role than ‘the few boys’
[4a] Address loophole, even if it’s in the mind
[4b] Make it so that the boys are aware that JFJ is clearly bias
[5] Bad Dad
[5a] Seriously, what is this: Don’t look at the thousands of tricks Jin Fengju used in front of Fu Qiuning, in front of his sons, he was definitely a strict father, otherwise Jin Zhenyi wouldn’t be so afraid of him.
You don’t have to be a ‘strict father’ for kids to be afraid of you. Being an unreasonable asshole who casually kick your children around could also make them afraid of you
[6] Deleted close to 400 words that basically contributed to ‘Wow, mOthEr ish sHoOoOo gReAt’
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