Higher Level Wife – 248 – Yu Jie’s Marriage

Chapter 248: Yu Jie’s Marriage

Author: White Pear Flower

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

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

Gumihou: Pill Bug is unwell and could not help with the translation and editing for the foreseeable future for the time being. So, please bear with the weird grammatical errors that is all Gumihou’s fault…

This was probably meant to be a ‘heartwarming’ chapter with a lot of ‘smiled and said’ as well as ‘everyone laughed’ moments. It was… well… 

 

Jian Feng attempted to act with restraint, but her voice was brimming with excitement as she said, “Isn’t it so? Looks like Madam has figured it all out~”

Then, when Fu Qiuning did not say anything else, she skipped away from the room. Clearly pleased with herself and her incredible detective skills [1]. She thought: while I have not served as long as Aunt Yu or Yu Jie, I am just as bright as Yu Jie but with a steady temper like Aunt Yu. Now that these two maids had been married off, Madam would rely on me more.

 

Three days later, it was the dawn of Yu Jie’s marriage. As a slave, she naturally could not start her wedding procession from the Duke of Jing’s estate, therefore arrangements had been made by Jin Fengju for her to stay in a house owned by Jin Fengju outside of the estate. All of her dowry and other wedding paraphernalia had been sent to this other property and all the groom had to do was pick her up from this location on her wedding day.

That said, the groom had to go through all sorts of little trials and etiquette set up by the maids [2] before he was allowed to collect his bride. Jian Feng and Qiu Yu were part of the bride’s entourage who guarded the door and devised the trials to make things difficult for the groom.

As for Fu Qiuning, she could not even leave the estate to join the fun [3] even though she was probably the closest person to Yu Jie. She sat by the window overlooking the garden as she imagined what must be happening at the bride’s location. [3a] Eventually, junior maids Chuang Hua and Bing Ling as well as the rest of the maids who had not gone to the wedding walked into her view. They were busy feeding the pretty songbirds and watering flowers, even as they chatted to each other about the excitement that must be happening at Yu Jie’s wedding.

Fu Qiuning called out to them, saying, “Did I not give everyone a day off for the wedding? Why are you all here now? If you leave too late, you will miss the wedding banquet.”

Chuang Huan giggled and said, “Why is Madam so anxious? It is not the lucky hour yet, so even if we get there early, there will be no banquet. It is better to finish all of our chores now before setting out. Ah, that’s right, I heard that the chef who prepared Aunt Yu’s wedding banquet had been invited to prepare Yu Jie’s banquet as well. Since Madam had enjoyed the Big Wok Dish last time, why don’t this maid ask Elder Sister Yu Jie to send some over?”

Bing Ling also beamed and said, “Now, now, there’s no need to act sweet before Madam. Don’t you think Elder Sister Yu Jie would have already made arrangements to send the food over?” She set her little teapot down and turned to the twittering maids to say, “Right, let us now put away our tools. Two of you will look after the place while the rest go to the wedding banquet.”

Fu Qiuning’s [3b] eyebrows rose at Bing Ling’s rather high-handed attitude. However, she said nothing since it was mostly in line with her own thoughts. Still, she should probably keep an eye on this one, just in case. This Bing Ling girl was one of the first maids to enter into her service along with Chuang Hua. That was about… a little over a year ago [3c]. [3d] The junior maid is now fourteen years old… To be fair, even in modern China, child labour is a social issue. Even so, as someone in the opera industry, an ‘actor’ was someone who had to train from a very young age. Children as young as four or five would enter her school and, depending on their tenacity, talent and luck, very few would eventually end up treading the sacred boards of the stage.

[3d] Therefore, Fu Qiuning had no real issue with young girls working, especially since the jobs they were required to do were not hard labour. Still, it was odd to think that this barely teenage girl in front of her would be expected to marry in four or five years.

Eventually, the maids left with only Chuang Hua and Bing Ling to watch the courtyard. For now, Elegant Mansion was quiet. Fu Qiuning wandered through the hallways on her own, unexpectedly free from inquisitive eyes for once. She eventually found herself standing in the middle of the room that had been designated to hold Jin Fengju’s private treasures. From the way he had spoken, Jin Fengju seemed to expect her to stay within the estate after he had been ‘banished’ away.

[5] On her part, she was determined to set out with him no matter what. Not out of some weird obligation or love as he might imagine, but… she had been in this world for more than half a decade already, but had barely gone past the walls of this city. It was thanks to her work with the opera that she even managed to move around a little more freely than the rest of the so-called ‘noblewomen’ of the family, but it was still not enough for someone who used to take trips at least once every year. Not to mention, if she was truly determined to make her way on her own, without the help of Yu Jie or Aunt Yu now that these two were married away, she would have no one to guide her in the ‘commoner’ part of the world which she would have to navigate one day.

[5] Even if she was to travel with Jin Fengju outside of this place, she would at least get to interact with porters, and storekeepers and see what the world is like outside. As for the Japanese pirate issues, that was for Jin Fengju to solve and had nothing to do with her. [5a] Especially since it looked like he was pretty confident about dealing with said issue.

Her musings were interrupted by the excited voices of children coming back from school. She stepped out to find that in addition to Jin Changfeng, Jin Zhenyi, Jin Changjiao and Jin Xiunan, Jin Zhenxuan and Jin Xiuzhen were also among the children that had gathered in Elegant Mansion’s courtyard.

Fu Qiuning [6] smiled at the group of children and said, “Goodness, what is everyone doing here?”

Jin Zhenyi was the first to step forward and explain, “[6] Honoured Mother, since Sister Yu Jie is getting married today, it must be a big celebration, right? Big enough to hire that chef who makes those commoner’s dishes…”

Jin Changjiao, the other talkative child in the group, interjected to say, “My brother had nothing in his mind all morning but those commoner’s dishes. He is so distracted that teacher nearly smacks his hands with a wooden ruler.”

Jin Zhenyi was quick to turn around and snapped, “What about you? I heard that someone actually stabbed themselves with their sewing needle several times while doing embroidery. I wonder what’s on their mind?”

[6] “Hey, who are you accusing now? I’m not as greedy as you when it comes to food!” Jin Changjiao actually stamped her foot and pointed her finger at Jin Zhenyi, who stuck out his tongue and quarrelled back.

While his siblings continue to trade barbs, [6] Jin Changfeng neatly stepped around them to smile up at Fu Qiuning and say, “I fear that the dinner was so delicious last year that my brother and sister cannot refrain from their eagerness.” Then, he looked around and said, “Where are all the maids and servants? Did Mother send them all to the banquet?”

Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “It’s rare for the maids to have something to celebrate outside of the estate. Surely you children could live without having maids for a while? You still have your study friends with you, so go and study.”

Jin Zhenyi giggled. [6a] Fu Qiuning recognised the cheeky look in his eye and knew that something outrageous was about to pop out of his mouth. As expected, Jin Zhenyi said, “We’re fine studying on our own, but Sister Yu Jie’s husband must hate Mother to death for sending so many guests to feast at his banquet. The Locusts of Elegant Mansion would surely eat them out of their house and home, right?”

Fu Qiuning [6b] raised an eyebrow, “My, you are a cheeky one, aren’t you?”

Before Jin Zhenyi could come up with a smart retort, a voice said with a laugh, “Zhenyi deserves a beating. You only know that your mother had sent her people to eat, but did you know that they did not go empty-handed?”

Following that comment, Jin Fengju stepped into the room in his majestic way, [6] causing his children to scatter out of his way.

Fu Qiuning looked at him [3a] curiously and said, “You’re early today.”

Jin Fengju smiled and said, “How could I bear coming home after dark day after day? Especially when I know that we will have Big Wok Dish today.”

[3e] Jin Fengju closed his announcement with an inviting waggle of eyebrows.

[3a] “… I see,” said Fu Qiuning.

[3e] “Alas, tis true. While you may see this as a lack of dignity on my side, I came home early in anticipation of today’s meal. In fact, since neither of us could be present for her wedding, I sent Jin Ming to go on our behalf with gifts worth over 200 taels. Surely that’s enough to exchange for a single table of food? That Yu Jie is a clever one and would have surely prepared for this!”

[3a] There was a two-second pause before Fu Qiuning realised that this was meant to be a joke and that she was meant to laugh at her superior’s wit.

“Hahahaha!”

[6] This triggered the children to laugh as well. Luckily everyone had been trained at Old Madam’s place to laugh on cue.

[7] Perhaps triggered by thoughts of Old Madam, Jin Zhenyi quipped, “Maybe we can also invite the chef to come and make some dishes for Old Madam and Elder Madam? Not today, of course, but maybe after Sister Yu Jie’s wedding-”

Jin Fengju cut in to say, “That’s right, last year during Aunt Yu’s wedding, we mentioned hiring the chef to cook for us a few times a year. In the end, we had to wait until Yu Jie’s wedding to taste his food. If we don’t do anything, we may have to wait until Jian Feng’s wedding before we can eat his food again.”

“Hahahaha!” Fu Qiuning obligingly laughed. [7] The children all laughed as well even as they clutched at their schoolbags.

After laughing, Fu Qiuning turned to the children and said, “Put your bags away, there’s no need to change. Come for supper after washing your face.”

[7] Once the children left, [3] Fu Qiuning sat alone in the room with Jin Fengju. There were some attempts at conversation, but Fu Qiuning’s thoughts were too scattered to pay attention to what he was saying.

Fortunately, Jian Feng soon arrived with several servants bearing food boxes filled with bowl after bowl of banquet food. Fu Qiuning allowed her to set the table and arrange the food while the [7] children slowly trickled back in. [6] Jin Zhenyi and Jin Changjiao practically cheered at the sight of the full table. The other children who had not tried this ‘ commoner food’ before looked sceptical, but all of them sat quietly, waiting to be served. They were all too happy to be dining with their father.

Once the dishes were all on the table, Jian Feng bowed and said, “Yu Jie recalled that last year when Aunt Yu got married, Madam, Young Marquis and the Young Masters and Young Misses all enjoyed eating the banquet meal. Therefore, she sent an extra table worth of dishes. She also said that Old Madam and Elder Madam bestowed lucky money to her, lending a lot of face for her wedding. Having no other way to repay the generosity of the Elder Madam and Old Madam, she had the cook prepare two especially tender dishes which could be enjoyed by older people. In hopes that Old Madam and Elder Madam would enjoy it.”

Fu Qiuning smiled and said, “Goodness, it looks like you’re not the only one to send representatives with gifts to Yu Jie.”

[3] She meant it in a mocking way, insinuating that Jin Fengju and the Old Madam are practically the same when it came to the treatment of people.

Who would have thought that Jin Fengju would huff and say, “Back when Aunt Yu got married, the Old Madam sent a representative, but I heard nothing of the sort from Elder Madam. Who would have thought that at Yu Jie’s wedding…” he trailed off meaningfully, staring at Fu Qiuning with bright eyes. “This is all because Mother had seen just how well you raise children. Look at the four children you have taken in, it is clear that she admired your abilities a lot. Otherwise, she would not have bothered sending any representative to a maid’s wedding.”

Then, he quickly pointed out a few dishes for the maids to put together along with the special two dishes to be sent to Health & Longevity Court as well as Elder Madam’s place. By the time Jian Feng returned, the family at Elegant Mansion were in the middle of their meal. She hurried over to beam and made her report, “Thanks to Master and Madam’s grace, this maid had a fruitful trip to Old Madam and Elder Madam’s place. Both Madams are so happy that I was rewarded with a string of coins.”

Fu Qiuning nodded, “It’s good that you are rewarded. There is no need for you to serve us here. Hurry over to the banquet, Aunt Yu and Bai Lu would surely have saved some food for you.”

Jian Feng happily complied and rushed off.

Without the maids around, it was necessary for the children to communicate and eventually even quarrel good-naturedly together at the table. [6] Especially when Jin Fengju did not reprimand Jin Zhenyi and Jin Changjiao who led the charges. Soon, the room was quite noisy and the only thing Jin Fengju did was to laugh and say, “It is this estate’s etiquette to not talk during meals and no chatting during sleep. However, ever since I moved into Elegant Estate with all of you, I have broken both rules. And now, look at these little ones, it is as though none of them even knew such a rule existed.”

 

[Gumihou: There was a moment when ‘the children returned after having changing their clothes’ except… nothing was ever said about the children leaving in the first place, so please forgive this translator/editor for not taking this author’s writing seriously]

 

[1] Moved ‘this maid is so much better than the other maids’ thoughts from FQN to said maid

[2] It is unclear whether the ‘ceremonies’ were actually door games, but considering the lack of depth in the author’s research, readers who are unfamiliar with Chinese wedding folk ceremonies could check it out here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_wedding_door_games

https://web.ourbigday.hk/what-to-do-as-bridesmaid-at-a-traditional-chinese-wedding/

Door games in Melbourne – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w33w0fwNbQ0

[3] Gumi cast a cloud of gloom over the laughter and smiles

[3a] Realistic thoughts instead of kyaa~

[3b] Acknowledge weird maid behaviour instead of just ‘looking benevolently at them’ and smiling at their antics

[3c] Original text was ‘close to 2 years’, which… hmm, after some calculation, a little over 1 year should be more correct.

[3d] Also, replaced ‘wow, time just fly past us, eh?’ with ‘child labour-related thoughts’

[3e] JFJ being his weird self

[4] Big Wok Dish (Big Pot Dish) “大锅菜” (dà guō cài) – refers to a type of Chinese cuisine where various ingredients are cooked together in a large wok, resulting in a flavorful and hearty dish. The ingredients can include meat, seafood, vegetables, tofu, and various seasonings. The dish is often shared among a group of people and is popular for its communal dining experience.

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%A7%E9%94%85%E8%8F%9C/33223\

[5] Change from ‘uwu, I’m gonna go no matter what, hmph!’ to ‘let’s go and scout out the situation for the future’

[5a] Deleted ‘kyaa~ since he’s the ML, he will definitely win~’

[6] More natural children interaction

[6a] More natural Jin Zhenyi reaction.

[6b] Deleted Fu Qiuning was so angry that she gritted his teeth and slapped him on the head, and said bitterly: “You are the only one who can talk. At such a young age, you still know about locusts?” and replaced it with something more natural

[7] Fixed weird continuity issue re the children’s existence

 

 

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