Chapter 247: Garden Tour
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Balancing an honest love of garden in general with ‘iyann~~ kyun~ kyun~!’
[1] In fact, Fu Qiuning really wanted to visit the garden. She had heard that it was filled with exotic flowers of all kinds, and she always did have a weakness for beautiful gardens. However, if she were to show more than the slightest hint of interest, who knows what kind of conclusion Jin Fengju would draw from it?
Jian Feng and Qiu Yu were ecstatic. [2] The Imperial Gardens! Although they were not particularly well versed with the geography of the estate (it was just too big!) they knew enough that anything with the word ‘imperial’ attached to it must be something very exclusive and important. Their Madam must be extremely favoured to receive this kind of honour.
When Fu Qiuning said, “I will need escorts. Your Master especially mentioned bringing the Feng sisters and cousin for a stroll. Although people without proper status are not allowed to set foot inside the imperial garden the Emperor only strolled through that place once and had most likely forgotten about it anyway. [3] So, be sure to call them when we head out.”
[3] Naturally, Jian Feng and Qiu Yu were ecstatic to hear that they would be visiting the very special ‘Royal Blessed Garden’ and rushed off to gather the other women over. If what Madam said is right, this would be their one and only chance to visit this garden! To think that Madam would even put on the phoenix hairpin which she had been avoiding all this while, just how unique that place must be?
As expected, the group quickly assembled themselves. Aside from Fu Qiuning’s closest maids and the Feng sisters (and cousin), Jin Yanqiu also came with them. Fu Qiuning had the maids lead a line of women to the entrance of the Royal Blessed Garden. As expected, the servants and matrons guarding the place recognised her immediately as the most favoured woman in the entire estate. Not only that, but Her Majesty the Empress Dowager also favour her very much.
This was why, when Fu Qiuning pressed forward to enter the garden even after they had given the standard spiel about how outsiders are not allowed into the garden and so forth, they allowed it after that token protest. Not to mention, if they say nothing to anyone, who would know it?
Thus, Fu Qiuning gained access to the so-called forbidden garden which had been built especially for the emperor’s one visit to the Jin Clan estate.
As soon as she stepped through the gate, Fu Qiuning could immediately feel just how much time and effort had been [4] wasted on this white elephant. A garden is only valuable when opened to be admired by the general public. Not hidden away and guarded as though normal people’s eyes were unworthy.
The gate was made from huge Taihu stones with charming plants and flowers planted in various natural holes in the rock. Not all of the holes were covered with plants, but there were enough to pull one’s interest to the rock surface.
Beyond the rockery was a path that called to mind a phrase written by [5] Jia Baoyu, the precious heir of the family in <<Dream of Red Chamber>> when he visited the Grand View Garden [5a], the line read ‘a winding path leading to seclusion’. As she contemplated the path, Feng Zhenzu happily cosied up beside her to say, “Sister Ning, let us enter the garden through this path. Although we could explore the garden by walking along the corridors, it would be like admiring flowers on horseback. Since we do not have much time, how about we take this mysterious path and see where it leads us?”
Fu Qiuning, who was already tempted to go on that unmarked road, nodded agreeably. “Very well, let us take this road.” Since there are so many people with her, it would be impossible for her to get lost [6].
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After the morning court, Jin Fengju returned to the estate. When news of Fu Qiuning and a few ladies having gone to the imperial garden, he made a show of being angry, throwing a few things around and ordering servants to ‘go find those people’. Later, he also ordered people to be careful about not spreading rumours before heading towards Madam Jiang’s residence.
At this time, Madam Jiang was at the Buddhist hall. When she heard that her son had come to visit her, she came out of the hall to see him. By then, Jin Fengju had sent all the servants out and even closed the door himself before finally coming over to sit before his mother. He sat in silence for a long while before saying, “Today, Qiuning did something outrageous. Once the news reaches you, you should make a show of scolding her in front of others. However, know that she acted under my instructions. She is acting according to my instructions to bring about the desired result. If Elder Madam does not understand the reasoning even with this much information, there is no need to question me about it. I only inform you as much so that you do not unnecessarily offend her over this.”
These words [7] hurt Madam Jiang to the core. However, she still ventured a few questions. After all, no matter what, she was still his mother. Surely, she could at least expect some courtesy?
Jin Fengju thought for a moment before saying, “It is possible that the Crown Prince may not tolerate having me watch his every move in the Capital. Rather than letting him cause trouble for me, it is best to manufacture a pretext for him to banish me away as soon as possible. Mother, you are my own blood mother and have been living within the Jin Dukedom estate for decades. Because of this, I trust you enough to tell you this much. However, you must keep this to yourself and not breathe a word to anyone else. Our clan is in a precarious situation now and there are many things that I cannot tell you. In short, I shall speak with Father and Old Ancestor about this, but only the three of you know about this plan. If it was not for fear that you would worry unnecessarily, this son would not have revealed even this much to Mother.”
It was all too [7a] complicated for Madam Jiang, but she knew enough to realise that the imperial court was a dangerous place and that her brilliant son was the one with the smarts to know what to do. After all, what does a female from a noble family do to help her son? In the end, the best thing she could do for him was to nod and agree to do everything as he said without any question. Madam Jiang moved the prayer beads in her hands nervously and said in a soft voice, “Now that the emperor’s decree had fallen upon us. Fengju, even Mother understands the consequences of this decision even without you telling me. Your elder sister is my blood daughter, thus, the torment in my heart is no worse than yours. Now that you have spoken thus, I recall that your father appears quite grim these days. Therefore, I have only one question for you. Do we still have leeway to do anything at all?”
Jin Fengju smiled and said, “There is no need for Madam to worry about these things. Just rest assured and chant Buddha’s sutras. Should my cousin sister come by to pay respects…”
[7a] Madam Jiang was quick to answer, saying, “No need to worry. Even if she comes by to visit, I shall not say anything to her. That child is my niece and though I am partial towards her, I also understand her character. She is daring and reckless, with an unsteady temper. If by chance, others were to find out, it would not be good. There had already been two suspicious matters, I too worry about the safety of our estate.”
Jin Fengju privately sighed as mentally chided his mother: Mother, ah, Mother, your trusted niece is the one that has heartlessly sided with the enemy and is now intending to bring ruin upon your son and the Duke of Jing estate.
Even so, he still smiled and said, “Since Elder Madam has spoken thus, this son has nothing more to worry about. With Elder Madam’s social status, it is good enough to fast and chant Buddhist Sutras for the good of the family. Even so, there is no need to be overly strict with your fasting. Even fish meat has its own benefits. Elder Madam is neither a nun nor a monk, so there is no need for strict observances.”
Madam Jiang smiled reflexively [7a] at her beloved and most promising son. While it pained her to hear the subtle disdain in his voice, it was also true that she would be of no help to him at all as a wife and woman of the family. She could only smile and say, “Then, you should go about your business quickly. You have so many great things to accomplish, goodness, where would you even find the time to bother with me.”
After that, Jin Fengju left. Madam Jiang stood in place alone for a little while longer before returning to the Buddhist hall.
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That evening, Jin Fengju made his way purposefully towards Elegant Mansion to lose his temper at Fu Qiuning. [8] After standing in place and listening to his abuse for a while, Fu Qiuning nearly rolled her eyes at the high-handed language used to make the ‘scolding’ appear more authentic.
When Jin Fengju finally paused to catch his breath, she tipped her head just 10 degrees to the side and said, “I see, so Lord Husband has decreed that I am at fault here, is it? Well then, you are welcome to send me back to Night Breeze Pavilion to live or perish of my own ability.”
There were audible gasps of horrors from the maids around her. [8a] Especially when Jin Fengju turned from white to green, then white again at the very mention of ‘Night Breeze Pavilion’. He imperiously waved his hand for the maids to leave. However, before the last of them scuttled away, he loudly said, “My good Second Madam, do not bring up past matters to try and upset me. You are generally quite intelligent, do you not know that times have changed? Although I have the favour of the Emperor, what status do I have before the Crown Prince? Although what you have done may appear trivial to you, this could blow up to be a big matter, do you still not understand your sin?”
Fu Qiuning may or may not have said something in retaliation. However, none of the maids would ever know because the door had already closed. The anxious maids circled the corridor for a little while, worried but unable to do anything. In the end, when no shouting was heard and nothing was thrown, they all went about their chores, feeding the birds, tending to the plants and making arrangements for tonight’s dinner.
That evening, as the couple lay in bed, with Fu Qiuning staring at the ceiling as usual, [9] Jin Fengju sidled closer to say, “My dear Qiuning, ah. That little play just now was so tiresome. You know I would never abuse my authority like that, right? Come now, cheer up.”
[9] “Do I seem upset to you?” asked Fu Qiuning listlessly, still waiting to see whether tonight was a ‘working night’ or not.
[9] “Naturally! Well, I can see why you must be nervous. It is almost certain that the Crown Prince will send me to the shores of Fujian. Alas…”
[9] “Alas,” Fu Qiuning echoed since an answer was expected.
[9] “It is only natural. After all, the Crown Prince would not want a mediocre nobody like me, ever since I expressed my refusal to join him and reveal my true intentions. He has harboured murderous intentions towards me ever since and therefore would undoubtedly send me somewhere dangerous where it is easy for me to lose my life. Looking at the big picture, aside from personally leading an army to the battlefield like the Emperor, southeastern coastal areas, where else can I meet my end normally?”
[10] Fu Qiuning thought: Is this confidence or overconfidence? Is there a difference? After living here for so long and living as though I am in the middle of a play acting out a noble house intrigue life… I can’t tell any more.
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The next day, Fu Qiuning got together with the rest of her maids to further discuss Yu Jie’s marriage when she received a message that a concubine from the Crown Prince’s residence had arrived at her doorstep. [11] Feeling more annoyed than ever, she privately rolled her eyes even as she gave the orders to let Fu Qiulan in.
When her so-called sister entered, Fu Qiuning stood up to smile and said, “Now that former Prince Lie has now risen as the Crown Prince, my sister, a former lesser concubine, has ascended to become the concubine of a more prominent person. This is truly a cause for celebration. Once His Highness takes the throne, my sister will surely rise even further.”
“There is no need for Elder Sister to say such things,” Fu Qiulan said. She no longer had that pitiful look about her and only made some small talk. The questions she asked were:
“How is Sister’s life recently?”
“Has Sister ever been bullied?”
[11] Unwilling to play her game, Fu Qiuning kept her answers short and to the point.
“Daily life is fine, if a little boring,” there was nothing much to do with all the maids eagerly doing everything from cleaning to grooming. No wonder the idle rich became vicious schemers. There was nothing else to occupy their minds or hands.
The idle chatting continued and eventually, Fu Qiulan said she wanted to meet with Concubine Luo and Concubine Yu. However, Fu Qiuning blocked this by saying that both women were resting in their quarters due to poor health.
In fact, Fu Qiulan had no real interest in those two abandoned old concubines. What use could they be to her? The royal concubine of a Crown Prince?
After chatting a little bit more Fu Qiulan bid her farewell and left. Once she was gone, Fu Qiuning called Jian Feng to her and asked, “Well? Did this person also visit Clear Soft Pavilion before coming here?”
[Gumihou: The plan is ridiculously convoluted and needlessly complicated. Although I guess this kind of complicated scheme makes him feel more clever than he actually is. Also, I think the author’s mind is probably burning up trying to make this a super cool scheme chapter]
[1] Moved the final paragraph from the previous chapter to here, minus the OOC ‘I gotta dress prettier than the flowers, hyuk hyuk’
[2] Give a reason for the maids’ happiness aside from ‘yay Madam!’
[3] ‘They most likely have forgotten about this garden’ is mentioned once in the previous chapter and at least twice in this chapter.
[4] Instead of ‘uwaah~ so awesomely expensive~’ go with ‘tch, what a waste of money’
[5] Insert detail re Jia ‘Baoyu’ on the who, what and why
[5a] Grand View Garden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguanyuan
There’s actually a replica of this garden in Beijing!! It covers an area of 32 acres (13 hectares). The single ladies of the Dream of Red Chambers lived in this garden, probably a reference for the Yong Cui Garden in this novel
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/grandview.htm
[6] Author appears to have forgotten that she had made Fu Qiuning someone who gets lost easily.
[7] He is blatantly calling her intelligence into question, make it more obvious instead of making it all about JFJ being so clever and his mother is like, so dumb lol.
[7a] Madam Jiang is stupid, but even stupid people can sense it when they are being belittled
[8] The entire theatre is needlessly melodramatic. Deleted 100 words of unnecessary blathering on FQN’s side
[8a] Deleted 50 words of ‘maids thought [8] was awesome sauce’
The maids were just there to repeat everything AR Qiuning had just vomited out earlier, which was actually a summary of ’the scheme’. A hot air balloon with a flying message is probably more subtle than this.
[9] Have a more realistic pillow talk. None of this ‘uwu’ from Actual Qiuning
[10] Deleted this overly sweet uwu: Fu Qiuning nodded. Since Jin Fengju was already confident, she didn’t say much anymore. Closing her eyes, she secretly compared Jin Fengju to the protagonists in time-travel novels and found astonishing similarities. They all had remarkable appearances, foresight, the ability to anticipate and turn adversity into advantage. As she thought about it, she couldn’t help but smile faintly.
[11] Deleted more of AR Qiuning ‘wow, I so kleber’ moments. Readjusted the ‘sisters meeting scene’ into something more realistic
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