The fifth month was the most pleasant time of the year. After breakfast, Yuxi took Liu-er for a stroll in the garden. The fifth month w...
The fifth month was the most pleasant time of the year.
After breakfast, Yuxi took Liu-er for a stroll in the garden. The fifth month was also the season when the locust trees bloomed. In the Wangfu garden stood a nearly two-hundred-year-old locust tree. Because of its great age, the tree had been spared. Its waist1 was so thick that three grown adults would have to join their arms to encircle it, and it stood nearly two metres tall.
A gentle breeze blew past, carrying the enticing fragrance of locust blossom. Liu-er stopped walking and looked up at Yuxi. "Mom, nice, nice."
Yuxi smiled. Liu-er only spoke up when she was genuinely interested in something. Pointing towards the towering locust tree not far away, Yuxi said, "Do you see those little flowers on the tree? That nice smell comes from those little flowers." The fragrance of the locust blossom penetrated straight into one's heart2. Yuxi was also very fond of this natural fragrance.
Clusters of locust blossom, like white jade, adorned the branches in great abundance. As they approached the tree and looked up, the blossoms resembled a flock of butterflies spreading their snow-white wings. They were extraordinarily beautiful.
After looking up, Liu-er cried out happily, "Mom, the little white flowers are so pretty! I want flowers!"
The servants could not damage anything in the garden unless it was already spoilt and needed to be removed. Not even a single blade of grass or tree could be destroyed. So the servants could only pick the locust blossoms by standing on tiptoe.
Meiyun, who was standing nearby, said, "Wangfei, the locust blossoms growing on the lower branches aren't as lovely as those higher up. Let me climb the tree and pick some for Second Young Miss!" She had often climbed trees to pick locust blossoms back when she lived at home, so climbing trees was like riding a light carriage along a familiar road3 for her.
Yuxi refused without a moment's hesitation. What if Liu-er saw Meiyun climbing the tree and decided to copy exactly what she had seen? Of course, given Liu-er's temperament, the possibility was very small, but the danger still existed. Having one Zaozao was already enough to wear her out. If another one came along, it would be the death of her.
Yuxi instructed Hongdou, who had accompanied them, "There's no need to go to all that trouble. Just pick a cluster for her. Later, have someone gather more so we can make locust blossom rice🔗 and locust blossom cakes." Locust blossom rice was quite delicious, and Yuxi really enjoyed eating it. As for the locust blossom cakes, they were Zaozao's favourite.
Hongdou picked two clusters, handing one to Yuxi and the other to Liu-er. Yuxi glanced at Liu-er, then plucked a small blossom and held it in her mouth. The petals left behind a fragrance that seeped into her senses.
Seeing this, Liu-er imitated Yuxi and plucked a blossom to put into her own mouth. Soon afterwards, she exclaimed, smiling delightedly, "Mom, nice, nice. I like the nice smell!"
Yuxi smiled and told her, "Don't eat too many of these little flowers. You can have some cakes made from them later." Liu-er wasn't particularly interested in cakes and pastries. She would eat them if they were available, but otherwise wouldn't seek them out. Instead, she loved eating fruit. She enjoyed all kinds of fruit, which was why her skin was so dewy and tender.
Liu-er hurriedly requested, "Mom, I want little flowers in my room." That way, her room would smell nice, too.
It was only natural for a young girl to like flowers and pretty things. Yuxi smiled and replied, "All right. From now on, Mom will have someone pick little flowers and put them in your room every day."
After strolling through the garden for a little less than half a quarter of an hour, the mother and daughter returned to their courtyard. Yuxi entrusted Liu-er to Momo Quan and headed to the front courtyard. She was now three months pregnant but had not deliberately told anyone. Moreover, she had worn loose-fitting clothes throughout this period, so none of the officials who came to report matters to her had even noticed.
Momo Quan said, "Wangfei, you're already three months pregnant. It's time to send the good news to the Han family." If they delayed any longer, it would be considered disrespectful.
Yuxi had been so busy that she had completely forgotten about it. She nodded. "Let Mama Lan go on my behalf. Feng Jiangjun sent quite a few things over a couple of days ago. Choose some of the better ones to send along." It had to be said that Feng Dajun really knew how to conduct himself. Throughout the past year or so that he had been in Xihai, he had been sending things over every so often. Nothing was particularly valuable. Aside from the medicinal herbs, everything else was local specialities.
Momo Quan nodded. "Even though you've passed the three-month mark, you still need to take things gently4. Don't force yourself to be stronger than you are." Yuxi had to deal with affairs outside the household while also managing matters within the inner residence. Yet she refused to listen to advice. It truly gave one a headache.
At the mention of the child, Yuxi touched her belly and commented, "This child has been very well-behaved. It's already been three months, and I haven't felt the slightest discomfort. This pregnancy has been much easier than when I was carrying Zaozao or Liu-er." When she was pregnant with Zaozao and Liu-er, she suffered from morning sickness for a long time. With this child, however, she had experienced no symptoms whatsoever, making the pregnancy remarkably easy.
Looking at Yuxi's face, which was as fair and white as jade, Momo Quan felt a flicker of anxiety. As the saying went, sons make their mothers ugly. In contrast, daughters make their mothers beautiful5. Moreover, this child had been so obedient that it might well be another girl. Yuxi already had two daughters. If she gave birth to yet another girl, there was no telling whether certain people might start harbouring crooked thoughts6. Although they posed no threat, dealing with such people would still be troublesome.
Seeing Momo Quan's expression, Yuxi smiled and stated, "Momo, whether it's a boy or a girl, the child will be Wangye's and my bones and blood7. We will love the child just the same. As for what outsiders think, we won't pay any attention to it." The problem was that worrying about it wouldn't change anything anyway. In truth, Yuxi also hoped the baby would be a boy, as this would relieve a great deal of pressure. However, she couldn't decide that for herself, so she could only let nature take its course.
Momo Quan nodded. "It's best that you can think this way. Your health has already recovered. Even if this baby is a girl, you can simply have another child. Sooner or later, you'll surely give birth to a son."
When Qiu Shi heard Mama Lan say that Yuxi was already three months pregnant, she was deeply hurt. "Such an important matter, yet she only tells me now. She must still harbour resentment towards me!" Qiu Shi had never imagined that the matter involving Ye Shi would make Yuxi hold a grudge for so long.
Upon hearing this, Mama Lan hurriedly replied, "Old Madam, Wangfei doesn't resent you. She's just been busy from morning till night every day, even while she's pregnant. She was afraid you'd keep nagging her if you found out, so she didn't dare tell you." Mama Lan had attended to many pregnant women before, but Wangfei was the only one who worked as though her life depended on it. Strangely enough, all her children had developed perfectly well. On the other hand, those pregnant women who did nothing but concentrate on nurturing their pregnancies seemed to encounter all sorts of problems. Later, when Mama Lan discussed the matter with Momo Quan, Momo Quan explained that doing nothing but tending to one's pregnancy made it easy for one to indulge in excessive, unfounded worries and anxious thoughts, which were detrimental to the pregnancy. For someone like Yuxi, having things to occupy her mind was actually beneficial. Of course, the main reason for this was that Yuxi was physically healthier than those madams and young mistresses who spent their days cooped up in the inner courtyard and seldom exercised.
Qiu Shi was still deeply upset. "In the past, even if Yuxi had been afraid of my nagging, she would never have hidden something like this from me." Ultimately, it came down to Yuxi being dissatisfied with her over the matter with Ye Shi, which had made them grow distant.
Thinking of this, Qiu Shi softly added, "People always say that a mother and daughter never carry a grudge overnight8. Yet it's been almost half a year, and she still hasn't calmed down." What Yuxi had done this time had truly hurt Qiu Shi's feelings.
Mama Lan sighed inwardly. Even now, the Old Madam still didn't realise that the Fourth Miss, who had once tried to please her in hopes of securing a better future, was no longer the same young girl. She was now a Wangfei, a woman who held life and death over several million people in the northwest. "Old Madam, don't you know what kind of person Wangfei is? The reason she hasn't come to see you recently is that she's genuinely been very busy. Even now, with her belly growing bigger, she still has a mountain of government affairs to deal with." In Mama Lan's opinion, Yuxi was pushing herself far too hard. The problem was that neither Wangye nor Momo Quan tried to stop her, so Mama Lan could hardly say anything herself. In particular, now that Yuxi was three months pregnant and showed no signs of discomfort, Mama Lan was even less inclined to say anything further.
Qiu Shi sighed. "Ever since she was little, that child has always tried to force herself to be stronger than she is. Even after becoming a mother, she hasn't changed." It was true that Yuxi had always pushed herself. Back then, for the sake of her studies, she had practically staked her life on it.
Having said that, Qiu Shi continued, "Very well, I'll go and see her the day after tomorrow." She was going to the temple shortly to listen to a distinguished monk explain the Buddhist scriptures, and she wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow.
Hearing this, Mama Lan suddenly realised why Wangfei hadn't visited the Old Madam once in the past six months. Under normal circumstances, a mother would certainly visit her daughter as soon as she heard she was pregnant. Besides, the two households were not far apart, only a quarter-hour's journey. Then there was the matter involving Ye Shi. What family would not have immediately terminated a pregnancy conceived during the mourning period? Ordinarily, upon learning of such a thing, the Old Madam should have found a way to do so. Instead, she pleaded with her Wangfei to let the child live. By doing so, she had not only placed Wangfei in a position of unrighteousness9, but had also put the Eldest Master in a situation where both advancing and retreating were difficult10. However, Mama Lan was merely a servant and could not put her beak into11 her masters' affairs. "All right, I'll tell Wangfei about this when I return. I'm sure she'll be very happy when she hears this."
Qiu Shi nodded.
After Mama Lan returned, she told Momo Quan. "It's naturally a good thing for the Old Madam to worship Buddha, but there's something about her now that doesn't seem quite right to me. She has worshipped Buddha so much that she's practically become a Bodhisattva herself." It seemed that the Old Madam Han considered her son's future to be less important than an unborn child, and that even her daughter's pregnancy was even less important than worshipping Buddha. No matter how you looked at it, something was wrong.
Momo Quan frowned slightly but said nothing. However, when Yuxi returned from the front courtyard, Momo Quan brought it up. "Worshipping Buddha is a good thing, but with the Old Madam behaving like this, I'm worried that she may eventually be taken advantage of by people harbouring other intentions." Seeing Yuxi knit her brows, Momo Quan continued, "Over the past two years, even if there haven't been a thousand people who have died at your hands12, there have certainly been several hundred. Although those people deserved to die, Old Madam Han, who has the heart of a Bodhisattva13, may not see it that way. In her eyes, your actions might constitute very grave sins. Of course, perhaps I'm merely worrying that the sky will fall, like the man of Qi14. Nevertheless, I think it's better to take precautions before something happens." Qiu Shi was not a bad person. On the contrary, Momo Quan had a very favourable impression of her. It was simply that Qiu Shi still did not fully understand Yuxi's position or the dangers Yuxi faced. That lack of understanding could easily put Yuxi in mortal danger.
Yuxi recalled her previous conversation with Han Jianming and also felt something was amiss. There were many people in this world who wanted her dead, and Yan Wushuang was one of them. He favoured schemes that could not bear the light of day15.
Last time, a lapse in security allowed the assassins to strike, and she and Liu-er only survived by sheer luck. If there were to be another assassination attempt, they could not count on being so fortunate again. Therefore, they had to take proper precautions.
Yuxi thought for a moment before saying, "I'll go and see Mom this afternoon. Then I'll have a proper discussion with Dage about this matter and ask him to persuade Mom." It would not be appropriate for her to raise the matter herself. After all, she and Mom were not mother and daughter by blood, and she needed to respect certain sensitivities. Otherwise, she might make matters worse. It would be most appropriate for Dage to lead the discussion.
Momo Quan nodded. "It's fortunate that the Han family has Han Jianming, someone who is clear-headed and understands what is going on. Otherwise, you'd have an even bigger headache."
Footnotes Full List
- 腰身 (yāoshēn) — waist; a metaphor comparing the circumference of the tree's trunk to a person's waist
- 直透人心窝 (zhí tòu rén xīnwō) — penetrate straight into the hollow of one's heart; describes a fragrance so delightful and penetrating that it seems to reach one's innermost being
- 悠着点 (yōu zhe diǎn) — go about things gently; a colloquial expression advising someone to slow down and avoid overexertion
- 儿丑母,女美娘 (ér chǒu mǔ, nǚ měi niáng) — a son makes his mother ugly, a daughter makes her mother beautiful; a traditional folk belief that a mother's appearance during pregnancy can indicate the baby's sex
- 动歪心思 (dòng wāi xīnsī) — set crooked thoughts in motion; to develop dishonest intentions or begin plotting something underhanded)
- 骨血 (gǔxuè) — bones and blood; a metaphor referring to one's own flesh and blood, especially one's biological children
- 母女没有隔夜仇 (mǔnǚ méiyǒu géyè chóu) — there is no grudge between mother and daughter that lasts overnight; a traditional saying suggesting that disagreements between mothers and daughters should quickly be forgiven and forgotten
- 陷于不义 (xiàn yú bùyì) — fall into unrighteousness; to be placed in a morally improper or dishonourable position
- 进退两难 (jìntuì liǎngnán) — difficult to advance and difficult to retreat; to be caught in a dilemma where neither course of action is satisfactory)
- 置啄 (zhì zhuó: lit. place peck) ( [likely intended as 置喙 (zhì huì)] — put one's beak in; to interfere in or offer unsolicited opinions on another person's affairs. The original uses 置啄, apparently a typographical error for 置喙
- 死在你手上 (sǐ zài nǐ shǒu shàng) — *died in your hands; to have died as a direct result of someone's actions, orders or decisions
- 菩萨心肠 (púsà xīncháng) — a Bodhisattva's heart and intestines; a metaphor for an exceptionally compassionate and merciful nature
- 见不得光的手段 (jiàn bù dé guāng de shǒuduàn) — methods that cannot be exposed to daylight; a metaphor for secretive, dishonourable or underhanded tactics that cannot withstand public scrutiny
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