Chapter 215: Gifts
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Gumihou: Delete the angel-guanyin-celestial goddess-Mary Sue-wow like amazing-halleluja-AR Qiuning [a]
“Concubine Xu has a good eye for people,” said Fu Qiuning as she handed the account books back to Bai Lu. [a] “You have managed these properties very well. However, I noticed have some trouble with the people?”
Bai Lu smiled and replied, “It is just some petty greed. Madam Concubine indulged them a little too much in the past. This maid made used Madam Concubine’s current situation as an excuse to knock them around a bit. It is best for everyone if the property shows a little more profit.”
“I see that you know your way around words. Continue to manage these properties. [a] As for the rest of you, go and bath and change your clothes. It should be dinner time soon.”
“Wait!” Jin Zhenyi hopped up. “Mother, I- we bought something for you! Look, I, er, just forgot earlier.”
He blushed, scuffing his foot on the floor as his brother and sisters laughed behind their hands.
Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “Well now, I’m glad to hear it. What did you buy for me?”
[b] “That’s right, show us! I want to see it too!” said Jin Changjiao. Jin Xiunan nodded beside her.
Jin Zhenyi and Jin Changfeng ran outside and soon, a few of the junior male servants entered carrying all kinds of exquisitely crafted porcelain flower pots. Every one of them was not large at all. Some were fan-shaped, some round, and others oval. All were adorned with intricate depictions of flowers, birds, and landscapes, making them exceptionally beautiful.
“When I saw these, I thought of Mother,” said Jin Changfeng.
“I don’t know why you think Mother would like them, but he insisted,” Jin Zhenyi sniffed. “I guess some of them are pretty enough even though we can’t plant anything in them.”
Fu Qiuning was genuinely surprised and delighted. These little flower pots were similar to those she had seen at flower, bird and fish markets [c] from her previous life. Although they were small, the exquisite craftsmanship set them apart. Just by planting a single cactus or some small leafy plant and placing these on a table would turn them into charming additions. Though these porcelain were fired in common kilns, they were nevertheless more exquisite than their modern-day counterparts.
The look of joy on Fu Qiuning’s face was enough to make Jin Changfeng and Jin Zhenyi happy. [a] She smiled at them and said, “Who told you we cannot plant things in them? These little pots are already pretty enough by themselves, but when planted with simple little plants, their true charm would be brought out. Naturally, plants like Chrysanthemums cannot live in shallow pots like these, but tiny fragrant herbs would make themselves right at home here.”
It was at that moment that Jin Fengju entered the room with a laugh to say, “I heard voices from the courtyard. What is making you so happy?” When he noticed the various small flowerpots, and more importantly, Fu Qiuning’s joyful expression, he nodded at the children and sighed dramatically, “At least your mother did not waste her worries over you. To be filial to your mother is the right thing to do. When you grow up, you will realise just how much she has done for you.”
[b1] The children exchanged a look with each other before saluting their father respectfully. Privately, they thought: We don’t have to wait until we grow up to know how much Mother had done for us, we also know how much you have done for us.
[b1] Having done his duty in showing care for his offspring, Jin Fengju waved for the children to leave. He wanted to spend more time with Fu Qiuning and the little brats were just in the way. Once the children had filed out of the room, he quickly sat next to Fu Qiuning and beamed at her, asking all kinds of questions about the preparations for the Huangmei opera.
Fu Qiuning truthfully answered that everything was in order and received a wide beam as Jin Fengju said, “Tomorrow, I shall go to the palace and escort the Emperor and Empress Dowager to Lingji Palace. Eldest Brother is expected to return tonight and he shall arrange matters for Old Madam and the rest of the ladies.”
‘Eldest Brother’ here was Jin Luanfeng, his cousin and the son of Jin Shi. He referred to his own older brother, Jin Luanfeng, as ‘Elder Brother’.
The rest of the night passed without anything new to be added.
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Early the next morning, Jin Fengju set off for the palace. Jin Luanfeng, who had rushed home just the night before, had no time to rest. A busy morning later, the Duke of Jing’s estate saw 20 to 30 carriages lining up in a single file just outside the gates. The sight was truly spectacular.
Various maids and matrons came out first with bundles in their arms as they got onto the carriages in the back. Later, the masters came out in a procession, with Old Madam Jin, Madam Jiang and Madam Fang being carried out ceremoniously on palanquins to the largest and grandest carriage right at the very front.
Since the day was expected to be exciting, the streets were already packed with people. However, when the commoners saw [a2] the glittering line of carriages coming through, who on earth would dare obstruct their way? Not everyone knew who was in those carriages, but from the grand procession, it was clearly not someone ordinary folk could offend. The people scattered in the wake of the long line of carriages, they whispered excitedly at each other, and wondered just which household would be so ostentatious.
The procession arrived at Lingji Palace to find that many people had already gathered there. This time, thanks to Fu Qiuning’s [a3] contribution, women were allowed to sit closer to the Empress Dowager, while the men accompanied the Emperor and sat according to their respective statuses and ranks. Around 9 o’clock in the morning, the performance began with the sounds of gongs and drums, and the curtains of the All Nations Cultural Festival slowly parted.
As the host country, the Great Ning’s <<Celestial Couple>> was scheduled as the final act. The opening act, as well as all subsequent performances from various countries, were chosen by the Great Ning Dynasty. Naturally, the acts were all very dazzling and awe-inspiring, leaving the audience spellbound.
There were remarkable horseback stunts from the grassland countries, rudimentary magic tricks from overseas nations, astonishing acrobatics from a small southern state, and a variety of peculiar opera and dance performances. The overwhelming variety of performances left the audience bewildered and captivated.
The performances continued all the way until dusk, and the day’s program concluded with a total of seventy-six countries participating. On the way back, the streets were filled with excited crowds and loud discussions. The atmosphere could be said to be nothing short of bustling.
After finally escorting Old Madam Jin back to her courtyard, Fu Qiuning had to stay with her and participate in the chatter on the day’s happenings before everyone was finally allowed to return to their own courtyards. Fu Qiuning reached the gate of Elegant Mansion with the children, Yu’shi, Luo’shi and Jin Yanfang as well as a few others.
She turned to Jin Yanfang with a smile and said, “Will Younger Sister come and sit for a while? I will have the junior maids prepare some snacks for you. I believe dinner will also not be served this early since there are many servants who asked for leave to enjoy the festivities.”
Jin Yanfang smiled and exclaimed, “No, no, no. I simply do not have your energy, sister-in-law. Right now, my waist and back are aching, especially after sitting for so long. Let me return to Pillow Moon Pavilion to relax.” As she led the Feng sisters and her two children to bid farewell, Fu Qiuning watched them leave, thinking: Waist and back aching after sitting for too long? Aren’t you ancient ladies champions at sitting around doing embroidery, scheming and looking pretty? Whatever, ever since Jin Fengju had messed with the Feng Sisters a few weeks before, Jin Yanfang has suddenly become a lot less sociable. Before this, she would find every reason to sit at my place, yet nowadays, it is the opposite. Whatever, not my problem, let’s consider this a blessing.
Fu Qiuning led her entourage into the Elegant Mansion with many thoughts occupying her mind. Yu’shi, Luo’shi and the rest of the ladies, including Jian Feng and Yu Jie, excused themselves to rest. As for the children, all four of them ran to Jin Changfeng’s room to chatter with each other on the kang bed about the day’s adventure. [a4] Fu Qiuning walked past the room to smile at the warm atmosphere within before heading to the back garden to sit and reflect on life.
As dusk approached, right as Jian Feng had just received a message that dinner would be served soon, Jin Fengju entered and, upon seeing Fu Qiuning’s maid, he smiled and asked, “Where is your Madam? Is she too tired to get up?”
Jian Feng smiled and replied, “Master underestimates our Madam. At this moment, she is more excited than anyone else. Luo’shi and Yu’shi are utterly exhausted, and the young masters and young mistresses have all gone for a nap. She does not have a single person to talk to as we maids are still ever so busy. She is probably relishing the experience on her own right now. Madam said the All Nations Cultural Festival is incredibly fascinating and that she wants to attend again tomorrow.”
“She wants to go tomorrow as well?” Jin Fengju exclaimed, then shook his head and smiled, “She is really full of energy. I kept saying how exhausted she must be after this whole day, but who knew that she would still be so spirited? If you do not believe me, just keep watching, the people going to the Festival tomorrow will be less than half.”
“How could that be? With such wonderful performances, surely the seats would be full every day?” [d] said Jian Feng.
Jin Fengju laughed and shook his head, saying, “I just came from Health & Longevity Court. The Old Madam, the Elder Madam, Second Elder Madam, Aunt and the others said that they would not be going tomorrow, and would only go the day after tomorrow to watch <<Celestial Couple>>. They are all too exhausted to move. Only some of the young maids might still want to go. If your Madam does not mind being tired, she can take them with her tomorrow.” [a5]
Jian Feng laughed and said, “If Madam still wants to go tomorrow, I shall ask her to bring all the young maids from the courtyard. Yu Jie and I will not be going. Our legs have turned into jelly from standing all day. If the young maids enjoy standing around, then let them stand there.”
Jin Fengju laughed and replied, “Pei, you still have the face to say that your legs turned to jelly after standing for a day. If others heard this, they would think that you have been living as a Young Miss at Elegant Mansion. It was just standing around for a few hours.”
Jian Feng laughed in reply, “Master, don’t rush to rebuke me. If you don’t believe me, just watch, how many maids will be able to endure it tomorrow? Most of them will probably be young maids, only looking forward to watching the day’s excitement.”
After listening to their playful banter for a while, [e] Fu Qiuning removed herself from the bench where she had tucked herself in to decompress from the day’s event. She smiled mockingly to herself: no wonder the esteemed Young Master of the Jin Clan was so popular. He probably flirts on reflex with all women just like that. Well, none of my business who the Young Marquis flirts with. Maybe Jian Feng can do me a favour and capture his attention a little.
Leaving the two to chatter enthusiastically together, she made her way to Jin Changfeng’s room and found that the children had slept in a pile on one kang bed. She smiled and shook them awake, noting that Jin Zhenyi had a trail of drool creeping down one side of his chin. It was almost time for the evening meal by then, they could all sleep after eating and changing their clothes.
The next day, as Jin Fengju predicted, there were significantly fewer people at the Festival. Fu Qiuning collected the children who turned up at Elegant Mansion along with the four staying with her and made their way in several carriages to Lingji Palace. Nearly all of Jin Fengju’s children were there, aside from Jin Xiuru who sent word that her stomach was not feeling well. Jiang Wanying, Huo’shi and all the mothers claimed fatigue and entrusted their children to her.
“In my past life, they used to call me King of Children [f]. As a teacher of traditional arts, people would naturally associate me with the teacher who had been unexpectedly yanked from his fields to teach in a classroom. Well, I have been yanked from my comfortable, if hard life tiling fields at Night Breeze Pavilion into taking care of my husband’s children born from other women… goodness, I’m basically a teacher leading a field trip again…
[Gumihou: Naturally, Gumi does not let go of any opportunity to take a stab at a certain someone]
[a1] Delete 110 words of angel, goddess, amen AR Qiuning
[a2] Deleted unnecessary mention of the Jin Household
[a3] Deleted: due to Jin Fengju and Fu Qiuning’s relationship
Because f*ck FQN’s personal contributions, right?
[a4] Deleted lonely Qiuning, because that’s just bait for super-handsome-like-so-shiny-man-Fengju to come rescue from aloneness
[a4] Deleted an entire 250 words of wow, FQN is so wise, so modern, yet so quaint, lol, so cute, like wow
[b] The girls were mysteriously not there, so put them back
[b1] The children being aware of JFJ’s hypocrisy
[b2] Add details re: the kids
[c] They are actually ‘Flower, Bird, Fish and Bug markets’ but most videos only show the latter three, so it’s hard to verify Fu Qiuning’s claims.
If you’re interested in a glimpse of this place, check out a video by PKU Lila https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Ko4jAJZBA
[d] It was originally ‘Jin Fengju’ who exclaimed in surprise at the news that fewer people would go. The whole paragraph was a mess, the author was probably half asleep when writing that bit. The speaker was probably supposed to be ‘Fu Qiuning’, but logistics-wise it was… not impossible, but that cheerful tone could only belong to AR Qiuning.
[e] Hey, since Gumi has deleted so many things, let’s add some derisive mockery as spice
[f] King of Children – probably referenced the film 孩子王 – the story was about an unschooled young man, labouring in the countryside under Mao’s reign
https://letterboxd.com/film/king-of-the-children/
That or the brand name for children’s products. It’s probably the film option
Pill Bug TL Notes:
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