Chu Wang Fei Chapter 18: Choosing yatou

Glossary
嬷嬷 mama – an older female servant
奴婢 nubi – slave servant girl; often used by servants speaking to their masters
老 lao – old
老奴 laonu – old slave
丫头 yatou/ 丫鬟 yahuan – servant girl
妹妹 meimei – younger sister;
姐姐 jiejie – elder sister; can be added to names to show respect or a close relationship;
夫人 furen – legitimate wife, missus;
小姐 xiaojie – young miss; usually from a good family, but can be used to refer to any young girl
姨娘 yiniang – concubine, not the legitimate wife; added to the end of the maternal name to show their (lower) status compared to the wife
(TL Note: Sorry for being late!)
“Hong Xiang, has laoye returned today?!” Having learnt her lesson from last time, Su Qing was unexpectedly much more obedient recently!
However, while she couldn’t leave herself, she constantly sent the yatou by her side to go out, thinking up every possible method to have them attract Yun Xuan Zhi to visit her Feng He Yuan!
Hong Xiang had barely stepped into the room when heard Su Qing‘s inquiry. Her steps slowed slightly as she carefully raised her head to examine Su Qing‘s expression before she answered somewhat fearfully, “Reporting to yiniang, laoye just returned, but has already been invited to Xiang He Yuan by Liu yiniang!”
Pa…… A jasper teacup was suddenly thrown at Hong Xiang’s feet, scaring her until she didn’t dare to move forwards. She could only hide beside the entrance, pulling tightly at the door cotton curtains both hands, and keep her eyes lowered, not daring to look at Su Qing‘s vicious expression!
“What are you hiding for? Hurry up and get over here!” Seeing that Hong Xiang was scared to the point of kneeling on the floor, Su Qing recalled her earlier answer and only felt a wave of anger rising from her chest. She felt, now that she was in dire straits, even a lowly yahuan had the courage to talk back to her!
Thinking that way, Su Qing immediately pulled out a jade silver hairpin from her hair and tightly gripped it in her palms. When Hong Xiang got closer, she used one hand to pull at the yatou who was dragging her feet, as another hand began to stab at Hong Xiang’s cheeks with the sharp end of the hairpin……
“Yiniang… Yiniang… Please spare me……” In just a moment, blood covered Hong Xiang’s face. The pain caused her to involuntarily cry out loud and beg for forgiveness!
But Su Qing was determined to punish her as she gave Wang mama by her side a meaningful glance. Wang mama then immediately walked over, restrained Hong Xiang’s struggling body forcefully with one hand, while pulling back her hair with another, forcing her face upwards to make it easier for Su Qing to hit her!
“Cheap wench, who thought you to say yiniang? Our furen is xiangye’s favorite, in the entire fu, who dares to disrespect her? You sure are clever, picking up the manners from the other side, changing furen‘s title at your whim!” While Wang mama scolded, her right leg didn’t idle as she used all of her strength to kick at Hong Xiang’s waist, causing so much pain that the poor girl’s tears were falling like the rain. Even so, she didn’t dare to cry out loudly and could only plead piteously……
“Wang mama, that’s enough, after today’s lesson, see if she will dare in the future!” Tired of beating and scolding, Su Qing stamped on Hong Xiang’s chest with one foot, then handed over the hairpin to Wang mama. She picked up the teacup on the table and calmly took a sip!
Wang mama still felt like taking one extra step, and trampled Hong Xiang until she was flat on the floor before she tidied up her somewhat disheveled clothes. Pulling out a silk handkerchief from her bosom, she wiped the blood clean off the silver hairpin, then, carefully replacing it in Su Qing‘s hair, she somewhat meaningfully said, “Furen, this could be letting that Liu Han Yu slut get a huge benefit! Being grounded for half a month, just these few days, even laoye’s spirit got hooked away by her! Adding on that person in Qi Luo Yuan, we can’t just sit around and wait for death!”
Su Qing quietly listened to Wang mama‘s words. This wet nurse who had followed her into the xiangfu from her maternal family, was naturally heavily relied upon by Su Qing. That’s why, after Wang mama finished, she nodded a few times.
“Mama can rest assured, I won’t let those two sluts sleep on a bed of roses!” Heavily slamming her teacup on the table, Su Qing‘s pupils flashed with a fierce light, “Hmph, they really believe that taking away my authority will mean that the xiangfu is theirs? Wishful thinking!”
“That’s right! They think that the whole xiangfu has already fallen into their hands, but they haven’t realized that this estate is still firmly within furen‘s hands! Only, furen still needs to make sure to plan early, from these few times furen has confronted her, this da xiaojie is really different compared to the past. Nubi suspects, such a big change in attitude, could it really be demonic possession?” Seeing Hong Xiang was still clutching her face while softly crying in the roon, Wang mama shot a resentful glance, this time leaned closely to Su Qing‘s ear and spoke in a low voice!
Wang mama‘s words made Su Qing‘s eyes light up, a flash of malicious intent streaking across her pupils. The corners of her lips gradually curved upwards as she heavily nodded, “Mama‘s words have unexpectedly reminded me! That Yun Qian Meng met an accident in the palace, and the only thing that the palace doesn’t lack is vengeful spirits, perhaps she brought some dirty things into our xiangfu!”
These two days, Su Qing thought hard to find fault with Yun Qian Meng, but her opponent was too crafty, staying within Qi Luo Yuan all day. With her being grounded, wanting to grab ahold of Yun Qian Meng‘s shortcomings, was really not easy!
But Wang mama‘s words have unexpectedly allowed Su Qing to catch an important point!
After all, Yun Qian Meng‘s recent changes were shocking to even Yun Xuan Zhi; as long as she added some embellishment, she believed that she could firmly convince him!
As for Liu Han Yu and Yun Yan, they thought that they found a pillar of support, but who would imagine that this pillar was not the least bit reliable. When the moment comes, they’ll see how Yun Xuan Zhi will take care of them!
Thinking along those lines, Su Qing coldly smiled, lifted her hand to let Wang mama move closer and lowly briefed her on some matters……
“Xiaojie, san xiaojie came!” Liu Han Yu really did take Yun Qian Meng‘s words to heart, these few days, Yun Yan’s time spent around Qi Luo Yuan was even longer than the time spent staying at Liu Han Yu‘s Xiang He Yuan!
Hearing Mu Chun‘s call, Yun Qian Meng put down the brush in her hand. She lifted up the writing paper and lightly blew at the calligraphy, then handed it over to Shui’er waiting by her side and received a wet handkerchief from Bing’er to clean her hands before leaving for the outer hall……
Yun Yan saw Yun Qian Meng approach and immediately stood up, respectfully greeting her, “Jiejie!”
“Yan’er came, let’s sit!” Yun Qian Meng lightly smiled as she spoke. Only, her eyes were pointed at the mama standing beside Yun Yan.
It could be seen that this mama was somewhat aged, the hair on her temples had already turned white and the skin on her face was covered with faint old spots. Her clothing was plain and simple, didn’t resemble the clothing of a mama from the xiangfu. However, her humbly lowered eyes faintly shined with a clear light!
Yun Qian Meng carefully examined her for a while, but found that this mama didn’t emerge within her memories. She smiled but stayed silent, waiting for Yun Yan to speak!
“Jiejie, yiniang has been busy with household matters for the past few days and couldn’t come over to pay respects. Please be forgiving!” Yun Yan was also a clever lady. She waited for Yun Qian Meng to examine the person beside her before she gently spoke!
Yun Qian Meng retrieved her gaze as she heard Yun Yan speak, then smiled, “One family, no need to be so distant! Meimei coming everyday, isn’t it just fine to just accompany me?
But Yun Yan raised her eyes to look at the three yatou behind Yun Qian Meng. Her eyes showed a little pity as she said, “Jiejie is da xiaojie, but with only three yatou by your side, outsiders will laugh if they hear about it! Yiniang is busy today, so sent me to bring the register for Jiejie to look through, thirty servants have been conveniently transfered to let jiejie pick and choose!
Finishing, Yun Yan gave the old mama by her side a slight sidelong glance, only for that mama to immediately step forward and kowtowed towards Yun Qian Meng, “Laonu greets da xiaojie!”