Chapter 257: To Handle
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou: Lalalala~ casually slashes over 500 words out of this chapter~
Proofread by Pill Bug
[1] Satisfied by the success of her mission, Yu Jie smugly turned around to lead the woman through the West Corner Gate. After they had stepped through the gate, the servants drove the remaining onlookers away as was appropriate. It was bad enough that her Madam was disturbed by the dirty unwashed, to think that one of those peasant women actually dared to disturb her mistress’s rest by making a fuss at the estate door! What gall.
The woman trailed after the Yu Jie all the way through to the inner court and towards the flower hall. A maid joined them with a set of clothes in a basket to say, “Our Madam is changing her clothes. She said that if the guest’s clothes are wet, to have her change into these dry clothes so as not to catch a chill. Madam said that these are new and should fit the guest well. It is best for the guest to not be courteous and accept this gift.”
The woman, the guest, hurriedly declined. But of course, the maid insisted. After looking down at her coarse mud-splattered clothing, the woman decided that the clothes were probably a way for the ‘Madam’ to save her eyes and decided to accept this gift. The woman changed and stepped out to find Fu Qiuning sitting in a chair, a tea set already laid out on a table.
[2] Fu Qiuning sat be the table, waiting for the woman to appear. At the sound of hesitant footsteps, she turned and waved for the woman to come forward.“Come,” she said. Then, she turned to the maids, “Bring some snacks.”
“I respectfully greet Madam,” said the woman with a clumsy salute.
“Judging from your age, I should address you as ‘elder sister’,” said Fu Qiuning evenly. “What is this elder sister’s name?”
“Th-this one dare not… this one is called surname Bai-Zhang.”
“Sister Bai-Zhang,” said Fu Qiuning evenly. “Sit down, please. I invited you here to inquire after a few things.” [3] The maid set down a few dishes of snacks on the table, but it looked like Bai-Zhang was too anxious to even swallow her tea.
[4] “I shall be direct, was the performance at the West Corner Gate due to people being moved out of this place?”Zhang-Bai’shi had not expected Fu Qiuning to be this direct, and for a moment, she didn’t know what to say. Seeing her hesitation, Fu Qiuning said, “I understand that there are some who are unhappy with our presence?” [4a]
Zhang-Bai’shi’s heart skipped a bit and she hurriedly said, “No, no, Madam, in fact, the one wronged is Lord Jin…”
Now that was curious…
“In what way is Lord Jin wronged?” asked Fu Qiuning, honestly curious how this woman would answer her.
“This…” although the Madam’s questions had been short, they pierced through layers of meaning right into the heart of the matter. How should she answer? She thought that things would be over once she said something agreeable to the Madam, but who would have thought that she would have to explain her answer?
What should she say?
Moreover, she was still occupied by concern for her sick child…
In the end, she decided to be frank and said, “Madam is understanding. There were five households residing within the estate. When we received word that the Marquis would be taking up a position here… and though he was assigned to this place by the Crown Prince and would not be expected to stay long… that he would most likely be called back to the Capital once the Emperor returns to the capital, he is still a venerable noble of utmost importance. Therefore… Therefore, after discussing among ourselves, we thought about how the Marquis, Madam, and the young master and young miss are all noble individuals. How can they live under the same roof as us? So, we decided to move out…”
[4c] Fu Qiuning stared at her incredulously. She thought: What is this incredibly stupid…“M-madam?”
“Are you stupid?” she said.
Bai-Zhang’shi flinched back, clearly offended. “No, I mean, of course not! That is…”
[4d] “Are the people who make decisions in those five households stupid?” at this point, Fu Qiuning was just thinking out loud. It was such an incredibly, unnecessarily stupid move that she had to wonder whether those bunch of people had deliberately moved out of the incredibly large mansion just to make trouble for people- [4d] Wait, did Jin Fengju deliberately send word to have these five households kicked out? Well, considering how self-important that man was, she would not be surprised. Especially since he needed the space for the extra 300 imperial guards… or, had those guards been sent out all over the place to ‘guard against Japanese pirates’?After all, Jin Zhenyi did manage to lead a bunch of his brothers and sisters out of the estate on a wild cat chase. So, considering how lax the security around here was…
“M-madam?”
[4d] “Hm? Goodness, look at me, losing my train of thought. I shall speak to the Marquis about the households that had moved out. It is unclear whether we can all fit inside this courtyard, but needs must. Also, Yu Jie, prepare 10 taels of silver for Sister Bai-Zhang.”“Oh, but Madam…”
“The money is not for you. I heard your son is ill, yes? Use the money for him. Children are a mother’s greatest treasure. [4e]
Bai-zhang’shi half-heartedly declined a few more times but ended up accepting the silver with gratitude. After she left, Yu Jie approached Fu Qiuning to say, “Madam, are you going to invite the official’s families to move back?”
[5] Fu Qiuning cast her a look. She then stood up and looked out the window and asked, “Do you know how many houses and courtyards there are in this estate?” [5] “Umm,”“Feng’er and Jiao’er, as well as the rest of Elegant Mansion’s residence, can all stay in one courtyard, of course. However, we still have to take into consideration Second Madam Ning and her people, not to mention the Master’s other women and children as well. Frankly, I still can’t believe we brought eight out of nine of his children to such a dangerous place…”
[5] “Madam, this-” [5] “It won’t take up that much space,” Jian Feng cut in eagerly. “As you said, the Elegant Mansion residents can all live together. The maids and servants can sleep wherever, it would not be as bad as being on that cramped ship…” [5] Fu Qiuning grimaced, “Ugh, don’t remind me of that place, I still can’t believe someone had the cheek to call it a treasure ship, and to stick so many sails on it too.” [5] Jian Feng coughed. She, as well as the rest of the maids, were all familiar with their Mistress’s dissatisfaction with the ship. Even Jin Fengju had stopped talking about how great the ship was after several disbelieving glares from her. [5] “Madam, there is only one issue,” said Jian Feng. [5] “Only one? I can already envision more than 10, but go ahead.” [5] “That is, Second Madam Ning would have to move into this courtyard as well.” [5] “… let the Marquis handle that. It was his official friends who caused this blunder, and that person is his secondary wife. I wash my hands of it all.” [5] “Oh, but Madam, surely as the housekeeper, this is something that Madam should handle?” Yu Jie asked suggestively. [5] “If you’re looking for the housekeeper, go track down Second Madam Ning.”She was sick and tired of all this pointless drama.
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The original residents of Elegant Mansion had their dinner together. Jin Zhenyi, Jin Changjiao and even Jin Xiunan had a kitten on their lap as they ate. Only Jin Changfeng came in properly with nothing occupying his hands. Did he not choose a kitten for himself after all?
Now that everyone had eaten, Fu Qiuning said, “Children, unfortunately, you may have to move into this residence later.”
[6] “Move back?” Jin Changfeng, the only one paying attention to her, asked. [6] “Indeed, there may have been some mistake about the Marquis family kicking people out of their residence… regardless, it all depends on your father’s decision. Let him decide who he wishes to offend.” [6] At the mention of their father, everyone at the table, including Concubine Luo and Yu [6a] looked up seriously. [6] “Will we really have to move?” Jin Zhenyi whined. “I was just starting to enjoy all that space after that cramped ship.” [6] “Needs must, but we will only know by tomorrow,” said Fu Qiuning. [6] “I don’t mind us all staying together,” said Jin Changjiao. “It’s good fun.” [6] “What about, heheh, Second Mother?” Jin Zhenyi snickered. “She’s going to be soooo angry~” [6b]Fu Qiuning sighed.
[Gumihou: Deleted about 500 words at a minimum.]
[1] Yu Jie being smug about a successful ‘mission’ should be canon [2] POV was all mixed up, so set it to FQN’s POV with a touch of realism that is not overly ‘Look at me! I’m such a benevolent angel Buddha Mother Theresa!’. Not to mention the utterly unnecessary ‘If ebil Jiang Wanying had been here etc etc and on and on’ [3] Reduce bits where it’s all ‘Ohmaigadd, FQN soooo kleber~~’ [4] There was a ‘woah this Madam is so direct’, when in reality, AR Qiuning meandered around the topic for a few dozen words. Deleted 150 words of nonsense for this to be actually true [4a] Delete 100 words of kleber bla bla bla [4b] Delete 200 more words of dumb talk meant to sound kleber
Seriously, this is what I deleted just for [4b]
Before she could finish, Fu Qiuning waved her hand and shook her head. She said, “That’s not how it should be said. Although he is a Marquis, now that he has become an official here, he naturally needs to follow the rules of being an official. Even though I have been confined to the Jingguo Marquis’s mansion and rarely step outside, I still know that the civilian yamen is not the only authority. Quanzhou, originally a prosperous place by the sea, has suffered greatly in recent years due to pirate attacks. The woman who caused a scene earlier may seem unbearable, but her words actually carry some meaning. It seems that the officials here are very responsible. If that’s the case, we shouldn’t further oppress them. Our Marquis does have some wealth, but for other officials who rely solely on their salary to support their families, appease the people, and help the poor, it’s clear that they are struggling. If they are forced to move out of this back hall, where will they find a foothold? Sister Zhang, you have enlightened me, and I have my reasons. Otherwise, if this action causes the officials in the yamen to feel disheartened while our Marquis remains oblivious, sister should think about who it would be fair to.”
[4c] Also, who this?Before she could finish, there was a loud bang on the table. It turned out that Fu Qiuning had knocked on the table. Zhang’shi immediately went pale with fright and dared not speak. Fu Qiuning stood up, panting heavily. She suppressed her anger and personally helped her up, saying sternly, “This matter is extremely inappropriate, absolutely unreasonable. I will send someone with Sister to personally invite those officials back to live here. The Marquis and the other gentlemen are colleagues, and they should support each other in external matters. We, the wives, should naturally be harmonious.”
Fu Qiuning: I have no idea who that person is
[4d] Reasonable reaction in place of [4c] [4e] Deleted 210 more words of AR Qiuning’s self praising+author praise [5] Instead of directly doing a ‘goody two-shoes me’ move, have Yu Jie do some calculations first. [6] Break the news to the kids in a natural way, that is not a repeat of the ‘goody-goody Qiuning’ [6a] Since we brought them, might as well mention them. [6b] Deleted Jin Zhenyi’s sudden long winded eloquence. About 80 words.
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