Chapter 258: Sky High Reasonable Resentment
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou: Looks like Author White Pear Flower is not knowledgeable about milk in ancient China or a proper cat’s diet. Also, thank you to hyoka and Meiyu for their thoughts on canned milk in China. It cleared up some mysterious descriptions.
Proofread by Pill Bug
Fu Qiuning set her teacup down to stare at Jin Zhenyi, “No matter what you think of your second mother, it is best to be courteous.” [1] [1a] It was bad enough to see the father being so callous about a woman’s life, and she did not want to see the same ugliness appearing in the child. Sure, it was probably quite reprehensible for a woman to ‘betray’ her husband by spying on him for an opposing faction. However, Jin Fengju appeared to have forgotten that women in this era had little agency of their own.
[1b] Then again, this was the same man who ostracised and cast out a defenceless woman to die in a remote corner of his estate just because he found it demeaning to be forced into a marriage by her father and grandfather. This was why Fu Qiuning still could not fully invest her emotions in this man. Who knew that if one day, someone were to make use of her name to harm his family, would he still take her side unconditionally like this? It was easy for a man to declare his wholehearted love for a woman who was ‘flawless, benevolent, good’ and all the other positive adjectives. However, she could not trust that he would not suddenly turn his face away once he found her to be dissatisfactory. [1a] After all, he turned away from his own cousin the moment he found out she ‘betrayed’ him without any hesitation. Personal feelings aside, she was the daughter of a duke and his own cousin… considering the age of her children… she must have married him when she was very young, barely out of her teens so the thought of her marrying him out of some kind of convoluted plan to trick him was… stupid at the very least.“A-anyway, since we are all going to live together, are we all going to stay in the same place? You know that girls and boys can’t stay in the same room, right?” said Jin Zhenyi.
[3] “You’re right. Of course, arrangements shall be made accordingly,” said Fu Qiuning absently. [3] “Meh, at least it will be bigger than those miserable little cages on that ship,” he muttered. [3] Fu Qiuning thought she should reprimand him for that, but… she was of the same opinion. In fact, she was not looking forward to the trip back on a ship again. No matter what, she would try to insist on overland travel later. [4] Just then, Chuang Hua came in with a large bowl of rice mixed with fish soup and several pieces of fish. Seeing that they noticed her, the maid bobbed and said, “This maid is looking for the old cat to feed her, but cannot find her anywhere. She disappeared and… Oh, there she is. No wonder I could not find her earlier.”A large black and brown tabby stalked out from underneath Fu Qiuning’s chair. It ran towards Chuang Hua, obviously having smelled the fish. Chuang Hua set the bowl down and the cat quickly chomped on the food.
Jin Zhenyi giggled and said, “The cat must have sensed that Honoured Mother is the real master of this place and decided to curry favour with you. How shallow, ah.”
Fu Qiuning also had not expected the cat to hide itself under her chair. She said, “If what you say is true, she must have quite a discerning mind. Since all of you have her kittens, I shall keep her with me.” [5] Then, she frowned at the still happily eating cat and said, “There is something strange about that cat, she is a little too lean to have just given birth. Bring that creature over here.”
[5a] Chuang Hua gingerly picked up the cat. Oddly enough, the cat allowed her to pick it up, even though it was in the middle of eating. Fu Qiuning’s suspicion of this case increased when she placed the cat on her lap and it stretched itself luxuriously, showing off a pair of prominent balls that were not supposed to be on any female cat. [5a] “… This fellow, is a fellow,” she said. Then, she looked at the scandalised children at the table. “Your ‘mother cat’ is a boy cat.” [5a] “Th-that can’t be!” Jin Zhenyi squeaked. “That old cat was the one with kittens when we found them!” [5a] “Have you ever seen a female cat with these?” Fu Qiuning pulled up the cat’s hind legs to show the children a pair of fuzzy- [5a] “Madam!” nearly all of the maids shrieked. [5a] Jin Zhenyi looked like he had whited out. [5b] “Now that we know that this fellow is not a mother, we will have to do something about the kittens’ diet. Since we do not have a mother cat, we will have to search for an alternative diet…” [5b] “Shall we prepare some warm milk for the kittens?” Jin Changjiao eagerly suggested. “I am sure there is some cow or goat’s milk in the kitchen.” [5b] Fu Qiuning gave her an exasperated look, “Cost of milk aside, cats cannot properly digest milk from other animals. It is better to give it broth made with fish bones along with fish meat and a little rice porridge. Also, do you have any idea how much milk costs?” [5b] Jin Changjiao pouted, but quickly subsided in place. The reason why Fu Qiuning even saw milk regularly was due to the Western pastry chef that Jin Fengju had specially hired for the estate. Somehow, news had gotten around that milk was ‘good for health’ and even Old Madam started drinking it regularly. Fu Qiuning had been mildly horrified, but kept her mouth shut out of some vindictive glee. After that, it was always easy to tell who had been drinking a lot of milk because their farts were particularly smelly… Lactose intolerance is a thing that also plagues these pseudo-Chinese people.Once the maids had gone off to make the special fish broth and rice food for the kittens, Fu Qiuning noticed that it was getting late and picked up the tom cat to bed with her. Just as she was about to settle in for the night, an old matron came running over to say, “Madam! There are some people at the gates with their luggage and things clamouring to move back into the yamen! What should we do?”
Fu Qiuning yawned, “Oh, that has nothing to do with me. I am going to bed now.”
“Madam!”
“Who authorised their moving in any way?”
[6] “Th-they say that Madam is the one who authorised…”For a moment, Fu Qiuning stood in place with the tom cat flowing down her arms like some sort of liquid creature. Finally, she sighed and said, “Whatever, let them come in. We will sort it out tomorrow. Let Second Madam Wan know too. Send a runner to the Marquis as well while you are at it. I don’t care any more.”
The matron could only hem and haw in place while Fu Qiuning left the room.
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[6] In her bedroom, Fu Qiuning sat in place while Jian Feng removed her hairpins. After a while, Jian Feng said, “Is this really alright, Madam?” [6] “Would what be alright?” [6] “That is… Madam never authorised these people to move into the estate…” [6] “Even so, they were audacious enough to move in on my name. Therefore, they must have some inkling of my influence. In short, they did their homework and were rewarded for it. Who am I to judge?” [6] “But, the Master…” [6] In fact, Fu Qiuning was also curious about what Jin Fengju’s reaction would be. She was 95% sure that he would praise her for benevolence etc etc whatever, because as of then, she, Fu Qiuning, was the wife who could do no wrong, while Jiang Wanying was the traitor harlot who could do no right. [6] In a way, it provided an opportunity for her to test him. After all, by ‘giving permission’ for these people to move back into the yamen compound, she was basically letting everyone know that the ‘Marquis’ wife’ was making decisions outside of his permission. How he would react at that was… inconclusive. [6] On the surface, he would have to support her decision no matter what to appear like a united front against ‘harlot traitor Jiang Wanying’ as well as the rest of the Quanzhou officials. It would be enlightening to see how he would treat her from now on.
Jian Feng was rightly anxious as she said, “Madam, the Master’s side is one thing. I am sure he would support Madam’s decision no matter what. However, I believe that Second Madam Wan would be difficult to deal with. Other matters can be overlooked, but I am afraid you will be subjected to her temper later. This servant cannot bear even the thought of it…”
Fu Qiuning laughed out loud. She could not help it. No matter what she, Fu Qiuning, did now, it would never be seen as a sin with Jiang ‘the traitor’ Wanying around. Whether it was intentional or not, Jin Fengju had already cut ties with his cousin and two other concubines for various reasons.
“No need to speak of this any more, just prepare me for sleep.”
Jian Feng was filled with questions, but there was no way for her to confirm her thoughts one way or the other. In the end, she could only quietly help her mistress change clothes and get the bed ready.
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The next day, the four children moved into her courtyard along with their assorted luggage and maids. Some of the higher-status maids would have to room with Concubine Luo and Yu, so the courtyard was really cramped. While they were in the middle of sorting people out, Jin Xiuzhen came running with Jin Zhenxuan.
[7] The two children stopped in front of her, eyes reddened and puffy. [7] “Yes?” asked Fu Qiuning. [7] “This… that is… Honoured Mother,” Jin Xiuzhen started. [7] “Sister, no!” Jin Zhenxuan shouted. [7] Fu Qiuning quirked up an eyebrow and waited. Finally, Jin Xiuzhen said, “Honoured Mother, you say that these kittens belong to us. So, we will keep them.” [7] “Alright,” said Fu Qiuning slowly. [7] “Then…”Before she could say anything else, a maid called out, “Madam Wan has arrived.”
At this, Jin Xiuzhen scuttled around Fu Qiuning, and ran towards the inner room with the two kittens in her arms. Jin Zhenxuan stood in place for a moment, at a loss for what to do. However, he soon gathered himself and ran after his elder sister, leaving Fu Qiuning to face the wrath of Jiang Wanying, who happened to enter the living room at that moment, escorted by Xia Yue. [7a] [7b] “Little Sister, welcome. I trust that you are here in search of Third Young Master and Second Young Miss?”
Jiang Wanying gave her a measure stare before saying, “I am sorry to say that I have spoilt my children rotten. I take full responsibility for their selfish and stubborn nature. To think that Second Young Miss would threaten to move here if I do not allow them to keep those wretched things… well, if they wish so much to stay here, I shall give them my blessing. Should they turn out half as well as the twins, I shall be content.
Now that I am here, there is one other matter I wish to bring up. Yesterday morning, more than half of the courtyard was empty. However, this morning, I noticed that it is now overflowing with people. How is it that those families are now here with us? Just what is going on? Why was I not informed of this? How could we just have random people move into the house overnight without supervision…” [7c]
Fu Qiuning sighed, “It is as you said. These people used my name to move back into the residence after throwing a huge fuss at the West Gate. They were the ones who moved out voluntarily in the first place, but [7d] then decided to slander our clan and tell everyone that we kicked them out. How stupid is this situation? Not to mention, I never gave anyone permission to move in, but for some reason, they all trooped back in after I had the servants escort the troublemaker off the premises. I think we had better have a look at the security of this place. [7d] Earlier yesterday, the children left the yamen grounds with only a few servants with them to follow after a cat. Not a single one of the guards or doormen stopped them. How can this be? I could only thank Buddha for preserving their life and that all six of them came back in one piece. Otherwise, I have no idea how to explain the disappearance of the children to Lord Husband.”
[7d] “What?! How dare those people-!” [7d] As expected, Jiang Wanying was shocked. Fu Qiuning was gratified to see that this ‘general of the household’ was suitably alarmed by this revelation instead of wasting her time being indignant over something petty.“This is why I do not like dealing with ignorant people. How annoying. I see that you have most of the children here already. That is fine, keep them with you. I shall send Zhenxuan and Xiuzhen’s maids and luggage over. Naturally, Concubine Cui and Yue Lan shall accompany me. Neither of them has been feeling well ever since that atrocious boat ride. I had planned to let them have their own courtyard here, but now that the people suddenly moved back in… well, they came here to endure hardship with Lord Husband, so endure they shall.” [7d]
[Gumihou: I fear for the day when my notes exceed the chapter. Trust me, I don’t want to do this.]
[1] Jin Zhenyi being used as a mouthpiece to slander Jiang Wanying. Stopped this nonsense at once. [1a] Also, even in the first paragraph, AR Qiuning was happily making life miserable for Jiang Wanying without remorse.
What is this horrible line?
Fu Qiuning had to compromise a bit in order to shut Jin Wanying’s mouth. After all, she was a woman destined to lose power. What was the point of arguing with her?
[2] Add detail to explain why Fu Qiuning could not trust her heart to this fickle man [3] Pressed the ‘ships are tiny’ joke, since Author White Pear Flower likes repetitive jokes, let’s use it here there, everywhere [4] Deleted pointless heartfelt moments that were just Author making FQN look good for whatever reason. About 180 words [5] Revelation that the cat is actually a Tom is probably supposed to be funny? Anyway, make it actually funny [5a] Comment on its oddly mild temperPill Bug: Isn’t this cat too happy to be manhandled?
Gumihou: You’re right, let’s talk about it.
[5b] Since I’m already correcting things, let’s go all the way and address the following paragraph:“No wonder, it turns out to be a male cat. I guess the mother cat of the litter doesn’t know where it went. It’s a pity, no wonder they’re all so weak and thin. Yujie, go to the kitchen and see if there’s any powdered milk left from the ones brought from the Capital. If there is, prepare it and feed the kittens. Tomorrow, go to the market and see if there’s any cow’s milk or goat’s milk for sale.”
Powdered milk – Powdered milk was invented in the 19th century, and sure, you may argue that ancient China may have the know-how or lost technology to make powdered milk, but hello? There is a reason why China is one of the most lactose-intolerant countries in the world, and it certainly is not from consuming a lot of milk products
Milk for kittens – Sure, we now know that milk is bad for kittens but maybe Fu Qiuning doesn’t know, but since we’re correcting things now, might as well go all the way and have the children suggest milk
This powdered milk is actually similar to the milk powder in later generations, but naturally, it doesn’t have all the fancy variations, and the taste is a bit inferior. Originally, it was brought by the Western chef in the Jingguo Mansion to be used for making pastries. Because people within the estate from the elderly to the young enjoyed it, Jin Fengju bought a lot of it from foreigners. This time, she brought a few cans while coming south, and unexpectedly, it ended up being used for these kittens.”
Gumihou: I guess these Western chefs bought these canned milk from Doraemon, the merchant from the future who could travel freely through time.
Pill Bug: Cans? They have cans in ancient China?? I thought they used sealed clay jars.
Gumihou: I wonder what they used as can openers?
Pill Bug: The first cans were opened using chisels and hammers. Can openers were a later invention.
Gumihou: Since they bought them from Doraemon, maybe they got the easy ring pull tab cans
hyoka (Discord): I lived in hong kong like 10+ years ago. People literally took the train ride over from China with luggage bags just to buy milk powder.
Gumihou: What a curious practice
Meiyu (Discord): every time we went back to China to visit our family our luggages were always packed with milk powder and honey.
Gumihou: Ah, so that’s where this mysterious practice originated from.
[6] Maintain the action, but not the intent [7] It is here. The ugliest scene of the entire novel. Denouncement of Jiang Wanying by her own children. How pitiful. Gumi will mitigate this.Jiang Wanying: I appreciate this…
Fu Qiuning: Little Sister, please know that I harbour no ill will
Jiang Wanying: Hahhh… that is the character I play here…
[7a] Deleted 250 words of AR Qiuning’s butt polishing [7b] Deleted 100 words of ‘well-meaning lecture’ from AR Qiuning. Gumi is actually super annoyed by this lecture [7c] Have Jiang Wanying be pissed off by those people for moving in ‘without supervision’ rather than being angry at them for being ‘commoners’, because come on, she of all people should understand that the original people who stayed here are officials or families of officials. [7d] Have Fu Qiuning commiserate with Jiang Wanying about these unreasonable riff-raff rather than a lecturing ‘sister, be careful what you say’ etc etc. Bring up actual problems.
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