Chapter 256: Spoil
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
[1] The servants had been trembling with fear until Fu Qiuning was done speaking. It was only after Yu Jie returned with a bamboo board and all the children were punished and sent away that they finally felt they could breathe.
As for Yu Jie, because she could not bear the thought of hitting the twins, she ended up only smacking their hands lightly with the board. Moreover, knowing that her mistress valued fairness above all else, she could not be too harsh with the other children as well and lightly struck their palms.
Fu Qiuning noticed this slack, of course, but she turned a blind eye to it. Once all the children had been ‘punished’, she said, “Well? What have you learned today?”
[2] The children looked at each other for a moment. Jin Zhenxuan and Jin Xiuzhen looked confused, while the four that had been staying with her looked thoughtful.
[2] Finally, Jin Changfeng stepped forward to say, “I should keep a closer eye on my brother… and the rest of my siblings. Also, if I cannot advise them, I should try and restrain them to stop them from their reckless behaviour.”
[2] Fu Qiuning gave him a sympathetic look, “You understand that if you try to restrict your brothers and sisters’ movements, they could hate you for it?”
[2] “This… I shall try to explain my actions the best I as I can…”
[2] “Very well, communication is a two-way street, it is good enough that you understand this much. What about the rest of you?”
[2] Jin Changjiao said, “I am the eldest girl and should act responsibly as well. Although, I must say, Xiunan is certainly more mature than I am!” she said with a cheerful smack on Jin Xiunan’s back. The poor girl had a bewildered look on her face, unsure whether to be gratified or annoyed.
[2] “If only Elder Sister would listen to me more,” Jin Xiunan muttered.
[2] “Hehehe, this foolish elder sister will certainly take your wisdom into consideration~!”
[2] Jiang Wanying’s children looked at the two sisters with clearly bewildered eyes. They had never bantered in such a friendly way before; it was always knives hidden in sweet words…
[2] Fu Qiuning looked at Jin Zhenyi, who laughed awkwardly with one hand rubbing the back of his head like the delinquent he often was. “I will do my best to listen to my brother and sisters?”
[2] Fu Qiuning sighed, “It is not a bad thing to be… spirited, but you must think of your own status and why you will be targeted as a kidnap victim. Do not forget your status, it comes with many privileges, but there are just as many dangers attached to it.”
[2] That sobered up the atmosphere a bit. Finally, Jin Xiuzhen ventured to ask, “H-honoured Mother, what about our kittens?”
[2] At that, all eyes zeroed in on the basket of kittens and the happily purring mother cat.
[2] “Tell me now, what do you think of the kittens? Are they to be your pet, your companion or your property? Regardless of what they are, once you have taken them into your care, you are responsible for their well-being. While you do not have to take care of their every need, you are not to mistreat them or hurt them for your pleasure. If you happen to be angry with each other, you are allowed to yell, scream or talk it out, but destruction of property and cruelty towards each other’s pets are not allowed. Understand?”
“Understood!” Jin Zhenyi and Jin Changjiao yelled. The rest followed a little more subtly.
[3] “Alright, now collect your charges, make sure to take responsibility for their lives,” said Fu Qiuning as the children rushed over to the basket. The kittens had already been wiped dry and kept warm by the junior maids. Thankfully, though the kittens were small, they were not newborns. They looked like they were just shy of a month old. The mother cat stood by the basket, anxious and watchful. [3a] Fu Qiuning did not bother to remind the children about the care and feeding of the kittens because, like the random pet birds and other creatures that littered the estate, the servants would end up taking care of whatever animal that their master decided to take in as pets.
The cat watched anxiously as one by one, her kittens were taken away. It followed after the children and later, when the children split up into their individual rooms, it headed towards Jin Zhenyi’s room.
Fu Qiuning knew this because the maids were more than happy to report on the movements of the cats.
“That cat is quite interesting,” Yu Jie gushed. “Look at how smart and human-like she is! It if were not for its thin appearance, I would suspect it for a cat spirit. It appears to understand human speech and knows enough to find Young Master Yi to rescue her kittens. This is no ordinary for a cat.”
“Hmm, you are right about the cat being clever. It could stay here and be a good mouser,” said Fu Qiuning. “I heard that the south tends to have more vermin too, so having cats around will be helpful.
Yu Jie chuckled and said, “When we were in the capital city, Second Elder Madam kept a big tabby cat. I occasionally went over to pet it and liked it very much. This old cat may be thin now and its fur may lack lustre, but after being taken care of for a while and fattened up, it will become a good cat. Now that I think of it, why don’t we have a cat?”
Fu Qiuning shrugged, “Who knows?”
In fact, Fu Qiuning had some ideas. The Old Madam had once brought up the fact that Jin Fengju feared cats to her. She had no idea how they had arrived at the topic, but considering how the content had been ‘everyone has something that can bring them down’ and ‘even the most formidable person may still have fears’, the old woman was probably trying to coax Fu Qiuning into feeling sorry for her grandson or something.
If that cat phobia turned out to be true, it may be a good idea to cultivate a good relationship with this new employee. While she was occupied with her thoughts, she was suddenly interrupted by sounds of crying and cursing.
Fu Qiuning sighed, thinking: What now?
Catching sight of her Mistress’s displeased expression, Yu Jie charged outside to yell, “Who is this ignorant person? How dare they act so recklessly in front of the yamen? If they have a complaint, why don’t they beat the drum? Why are they crying here?”
Before Yu Jie could fill the air with more curses, Fu Qiuning said, “Let us go and take a look.”
“Madam, how can you handle such matters yourself? Let us send someone to find out what is happening first. Although the people at the government office have dispersed, there should still be a few guards at the gate, right? They can talk to whoever it is and resolve the issue without Madam’s involvement. Madam is the Marquis’ wife and a Fifth Rank noblewoman, how could Madam stoop down to those people’s level,” Yu Jie exclaimed.
“Stoop down to their level?” said Fu Qiuning. In fact, she was amazed that such words even came out of her maid’s mouth. Did she not remember that less than 3 years ago they were selling embroidered sachet packets for money?
Still, there was no point talking to this maid, especially since she had ascribed to some weird noble ideals. Instead, she stood up and walked out. Yu Jie could only trail protestingly behind her, only stopping to grab an umbrella to hurriedly escort her. Jian Feng ran after them from the back, two umbrellas in hand.
[4] “You, direct the way,” said Fu Qiuning to Jian Feng. It would be humiliating to stride forward so confidently only end up in the kitchen or something.
[4] Jian Feng led them to the West Corner Gate. The only reason why Fu Qiuning knew this was because there was a plaque with the words ‘West Corner Gate’ above the entrance.
A large had gathered around a few women. One stood with a gloomy expression while another tall and much fatter woman was sitting on the muddy ground and was wailing as though someone had killed her child. She howled, “Unbearable! Life is unbearable, ah, ah!! I slogged and toiled at the yamen for a few coins and even gave alms to the poor from time to time. Though some say that there are those who are too poor to even afford watery congee, no one spared a glance when this charitable old woman was about to die with her children. Now we do not even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, how can we continue to live like this ah ah ah?! How can we live ah ah!”
[5] Fu Qiuning’s eyebrows rose at this. For someone who is ‘starving’ she sure is energetic and… healthy looking. The folds of her fatty chin trembled at every renewed howl.
The onlookers stared at this spectacle with a jaundiced eye. When they noticed Fu Qiuning, some of them lowered their heads while others turned around to disappear into the crowd. Fu Qiuning took note of this before standing in place to enjoy the spectacle. It was still drizzling, so the fat woman became more mud-covered the more she splashed about on the ground.
[6] The fat woman was astonishingly quick as she grabbed onto the skirt of one of the fleeing women. She wailed, “What are you doing? You watch me cry without speaking a word, like dull wooden stakes. Now that someone has come from the, you plan to flee? Are you embarrassed? If you wish to flee, then flee! However, Sister Liu, do not blame me for not reminding you that although I have no home to my name, my two sons are alive and well.
Your one son has been plagued by misfortunes since childhood and is currently sick. He does not even have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Can your family afford to hire a doctor or buy medicine? If you do not cry now are you going to wait until the death of your son before wailing your grief to the heavens?”
Tears began to flow from the woman whose skirt was grabbed. However, after a glance at Fu Qiuning, she took a deep breath and forcefully tugged her skirt out of the muddy woman’s hands and said, “If you wish to make a scene, go ahead. Why drag me to it? The life and death of my son is none of your concern. You should worry about yourself instead and see if Lord Han will spare you when he returns.”
At this, the fat woman also suddenly stopped crying.
Fu Qiuning eyed the fleeing woman’s mud-covered skirt and raised a hand to stop an angry-looking Jian Feng from stepping forward. She turned to Yu Jie and said, “Bring that fleeing woman inside. As for this one, let her leave if she wishes to. If she cannot bring herself to go, have a few maidservants escort her away.”
To her credit, Yu Jie accepted the order and ran after the woman, her embroidered shoes splashing through the mud.
Yu Jie caught up to the woman quickly, saying, “A moment, please. Our Madam would have you come in for tea.”
The woman hesitated for a moment. When she saw the fat woman being escorted away, she turned pale. Yu Jie quickly stepped into her line of sight, smiled and said, “There is no need to worry, our Madam invites you most sincerely. Unlike that one, you appear to possess both knowledge and courtesy. Should you have any problems, our Madam is more than happy to listen to your difficulties. Unlike the one who rolled about the mud bringing disgrace to our estate, we trust that you are a sensible person?”
Unable to leave unless they let her go.
“Since the Marquis’s wife does not hold me accountable, please lead the way, Miss.”
[Gumihou: The ending line was meant to be overtly ‘sensible woman vs pig in the mud’, but it’s really ‘poor woman coerced by silver tongue maid’]
[1] Summarize the action without making Fu Qiuning into a saintly rainbow gorgeous like-wow being
[2] Get the children to think instead of letting them off with ‘do you remember today’s lesson?’ followed by a chorus of yeeess~~ and 180 word TED talk from AR Qiuning
Let’s spend some words on serious talk. Also, deleted the following:
“…If I find out that someone is mistreating or killing them out of anger, I won’t tolerate it. Your father also despises heartless people. As the saying goes, even small matters show a person’s true character. If you can’t treat your playmates well, how can I expect you to contribute to the family in the future? How can I expect you to respect your parents and love your siblings? If you can’t do these things, why bother being born as a human?”
Fu Qiuning’s words seemed like a lesson for the children, but she actually understood in her heart that although Jin Zhenyi was impulsive, he wasn’t capable of doing anything cruel. Therefore, her words were actually directed at Jin Zangxuan and Jin Xiuzhen. The two siblings always seemed sinister and calculating, and with a mother like theirs, even though they seemed to like the little kitten very much, if they became cruel, it would be even more terrifying than adults. So she left her words there and then brought up Jin Fengju. Even if they wanted to do such things in the future, they would have to think twice.
Oh yeah, lecturing will do wonders in keeping small children obedient. Why didn’t we do more of it?
[3] In the previous chapter and this one, per the original, the kittens were ‘held in the children’s arms’. Since I already changed it to ‘keep them all in a basket’ in the previous chapter, maintained it here.
[3a] Deleted: ‘you have to feed them and clean up after them’ because, uh, noble-born kids? With many servants? Have you forgotten? Hello?
[4] Author White Pear Flower had apparently forgotten this trait she had bestowed upon Fu Qiuning
[5] Reasonable people’s reaction
[6] Help to make realistic drama
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