HomeA Cup of LoveYi Ou Chun - Chapter 1

Yi Ou Chun – Chapter 1

The spring in Hengtang always brought endless rain. During the Awakening of Insects, thunder rumbled within the clouds above. When Heaven cleared its throat, booming echoes would roll across from all directions, sweeping over the great earth.

Qingyuan sat in the passage brewing medicine. The medicinal pot bubbled “glug-glug,” its steam pushing against the lid with crackling sounds. She turned to look outside, where neat white lines of rain poured from the eaves onto the bluestone tiles, creating a lively mortal scene together with the sounds of simmering medicine.

The little maid remained anxious because Qingyuan had taken over her task, continuously pleading: “Fourth Young Miss, please go rest inside. This servant will call you when the medicine is ready.”

Qingyuan fanned unhurriedly with her cattail leaf fan, ignoring the words while instructing Baoxian beside her to fetch the medicine cup.

Baoxian acknowledged and left. Being tall, once she departed, the little maid behind her became visible. The young girl stood with slightly bent knees, eyes filled with a pitiful expression as she gazed at Qingyuan. Qingyuan smiled and said, “I’m doing this out of filial piety. I’m sure everyone can understand. If anyone asks, I’ll explain myself – you won’t be implicated.”

The little maid finally fell silent, though her face remained blank as she continued staring. At just over ten years old, she hadn’t yet learned to hide her admiration. She simply thought the Fourth Young Miss was so beautiful, and had thought so since the first day she returned.

A young lady’s beauty generally falls into two categories: one fluid, and one statuesque. The Fourth Young Miss belonged to the latter. She was like an exquisitely polished jade disc, her natural patterns visible wherever she stood. Like now as she brewed medicine – though the weather remained chilly, it was particularly warm by the stove. The firelight from the furnace filled her embrace, bringing a peaceful flush to her cheeks that, dampened by sweat, made her complexion even more silk-like. Hers was an unhurried beauty, one that grew from her bones and couldn’t be lost even in a fall. Especially when she smiled, with those shallow dimples at her lips and that neat row of snow-white teeth. The little maids often compared notes amongst themselves – not about themselves, of course, as servants had nothing to compare, but about young ladies of similar status.

With many sisters, even a household becomes like the wider world, each with its territory and sphere of influence. Like these servants, belonging to different branches of the family – except for those doing miscellaneous work under the supervision of several Matrons, everyone else had their place. As servants, the most important thing was to know one’s master and protect their interests as part of their duties. Usually, the different branches didn’t yield to each other, but when it came to comparing the young ladies’ looks, few would speak against their conscience. The Xie family originally had three young ladies, with the Second Young Miss being the most beautiful, until the Fourth Young Miss came and the Second Young Miss became the second most beautiful.

“Fourth Young Miss is slightly prettier,” said Matron Jiang, who had the sharpest eyes and most discerning taste. Though called a Matron, she was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight, the youngest among the matrons. She was capable and skilled at grooming, using hair oil to make her bun so sleek that, as they said in the southern dialect, even flies would slip off. Someone who loved beauty naturally had a superior judgment of beauty, and hearing such words from her proved Fourth Young Miss was truly beautiful.

However, Heaven is always fair – gain here means loss there. Fourth Young Miss hadn’t grown up in the manor; specifically, she had been lost outside for fourteen years, only returning to the Xie family last month.

Without roots, she inevitably faced contempt, and here beauty became a burden. Someone sneered, “Fourth Young Miss looks exactly like Consort Jin as if carved from the same mold.”

A beautiful face led to two possibilities: either harming others or being harmed. They said years ago when a great incident occurred in the manor, Fourth Young Miss’s birth mother, Consort Jin, had poisoned another favored concubine of the Master. The Master dealt with it behind closed doors – it should have been a death sentence, but the Mistress pleaded for mercy, and she was merely driven out of the manor.

The old servants all remembered that scene. Consort Jin was only allowed to take two pieces of personal clothing; all jewelry and valuables were confiscated. Two matrons dragged her to the street and slammed the main gate shut. With her natal family in decline, Consort Jin had nowhere to go. She clung to the gate crying injustice, her voice so shrill it was haunting to hear at midnight.

Later it was said an elderly couple without children took her in. A few months later she gave birth to a daughter – the current Fourth Young Miss. Consort Jin’s fate was bitter; she died soon after. As for why they didn’t bring Fourth Young Miss back then, the masters had their considerations. The Xie family was of distinguished status, with generations of high officials. The Master was currently serving as Military Commissioner of Jiannan, at the peak of his official career, and didn’t want additional complications. As Consort Lian said, “Who knows if she’s the Master’s flesh and blood?” After all, the child was born outside, and even if the timing matched, if there was any mistake, the Xie family would become the laughingstock of all Sheng Prefecture. So they preferred to leave it vague and unmentioned.

Why bring her back now? Because the household was troubled. The Old Master who practiced Taoism suddenly passed away, and two months later the Eldest Young Master fell from his horse and lost consciousness, taking a day and night to wake. Soon after, the Old Mistress fell ill with coughing and headaches that hadn’t improved in three months. Someone said they heard crying from Consort Jin’s former courtyard – surely the Consort’s unresolved grievance demanded Fourth Young Miss’s return to her ancestral home.

The Old Mistress believed in such things. She had someone calculate Fourth Young Miss’s birth date and time, and the fortune teller said this destiny would greatly benefit the family’s prosperity. Only then did they send someone to formally request her return. The elderly couple who raised Fourth Young Miss, though not of high status, were good people. At first, they were unwilling to let go, and the Xie family nearly had to report to officials before they painfully parted with Fourth Young Miss and allowed her return.

The little maids were extremely interested in those spicy years, asking: “Was that short-lived consort poisoned by Consort Jin?”

After a moment of silence, Kitchen Matron Shang came out, coughing and spitting loudly, fiercely calling out to Shuangxi: “What time is it? Still haven’t washed the rice! Watch out for the whip!”

Everyone scattered in shock, and that question remained unresolved, never mentioned again to this day. However, regarding Fourth Young Miss, the little maids remained captivated by her beauty, always eager to steal a few glances when possible.

Fourth Young Miss had a good temperament. When she noticed, she would half-close her eyes and ask: “What are you looking at?”

The little maid stammered, then suddenly had an inspiration: “Fourth Young Miss’s velvet flower hairpiece is so beautiful.”

She responded with an “Oh” and said, “I’ll teach you how to make one later,” winking with corners of her eyes and brows full of smiles.

That wink brought joy even to the rough-handed maids’ hearts. Seeing Baoxian approaching with the medicine cup, they immediately offered eagerly: “Be careful not to scald Young Miss’s hands, let this servant help.”

Qingyuan said it wasn’t necessary. The medicine pot was too heavy for a half-grown child to carry. She put down her fan, rolled up her sleeves, and poured a bowl herself. Steam rose along the sides of the cup, the bitter fragrance filling her face.

A small enamel box the size of a palm lay on the tray. She opened it to check inside, then closed it again. Turning to walk toward the main hall, she passed through the connected chambers of the southern-style house, linked by delicate corridors. On rainy days, the blue bricks underfoot absorbed the water, spreading out in a dark, glistening shade.

Like all prestigious families, the Xie household strictly observed seniority and hierarchy, so the Old Mistress occupied the largest and most imposing chambers in the manor. But such dead things as rooms were connected to people’s fortunes – rooms reflected their occupants. The Old Mistress’s main chamber, with its blue tiles and white walls, had a deep courtyard that truly made one feel as if at the bottom of a well when looking up. Combined with the weather and red wooden furniture, the room appeared even deeper and darker, with an old, rotting atmosphere twisting out from every corner, wrapping around people like a net.

The Old Mistress’s maid Yuejian came to receive her, politely saying: “Troubling Fourth Young Miss again,” while reproaching, “These medicine-brewing maids are getting increasingly lazy.”

Qingyuan said it wasn’t so: “I wanted to do it myself. The doctor recently changed the prescription, instructing that a Sichuan fritillary bulb should be added halfway through brewing. I worried the maids might not get the timing right, so I preferred to watch it myself.” As she spoke, she walked toward the inner chamber, asking, “Is Grandmother awake now?”

Yuejian said she had just woken. She raised the tall bamboo curtain high, and the maid standing inside took the tray, softly announcing: “Old Mistress, Fourth Young Miss has brought your medicine.”

A cough came from the large bed, the gauze curtains moving slightly. The Old Mistress reclined against the headboard, only a blurry silhouette visible.

Qingyuan stepped forward, gesturing for the maid to present the medicine, and said softly: “Grandmother, the doctor says since you were ill all last winter, now that the weather is warming, you should recover well. Today he wrote a new prescription, changing several medicines. After two more doses, we’ll see the effects.” She mounted the footstool with the medicine cup, waiting for the Old Mistress to take it, pulled out a handkerchief to place on the bedding, and then brought over the enamel box.

The Xie Old Mistress was an extremely imposing matriarch. The Old Master had never managed household affairs; everything in the manor was decided by the Old Mistress. Young and forceful in her earlier years, she had slightly tempered her fierce nature in old age, but her remaining authority still made daughters-in-law and grandchildren somewhat afraid of her. Unless for morning and evening greetings, it was rare to see children and grandchildren in her courtyard. When she was well, their absence went unremarked, but once ill, she felt many regrets.

Only this granddaughter, brought back midway through life, showed more consideration, the Old Mistress thought with lowered eyelids. The bitter and astringent medicine was like this unsatisfactory life, scraping the throat as it went down. Her trained maids were all proper people, too proper to be creative – they only knew not to offer water after medicine, lest it dilute the efficacy, letting the sourness and bitterness spread at the root of her tongue before swallowing. The Old Mistress was proud and naturally wouldn’t say anything, but since Qingyuan’s arrival, after medicine, there was always one of her self-preserved plums, its perfect sweetness smoothing over the raised thorns on the taste buds.

The Old Mistress finished her medicine with anticipation, watching Qingyuan open the enamel box lid and feed her the plum.

In the dim light, corner lamps burned in all four corners. A pair of plain hands, and a graceful face – standing in the wavering light, she appeared especially elegant and lovable. Seeing this face, the Old Mistress vaguely recalled her birth mother, the former Consort Jin, who had never been one to push herself forward. As Xie Shu’s official rank grew higher, his concubines increased, and the Old Mistress had stopped managing his household affairs since his marriage, only knowing that in the end some died and some were driven out, leaving just one wife and two concubines.

Qingyuan’s mother was a loser in the battle for favor, a returned concubine bearing the weight of crime. With such a mother, this child’s fate was very thin as well.

The Old Mistress turned her gaze away: “From now on, you needn’t do such tasks yourself, just take care of yourself. A young lady of a great family should maintain the bearing of a great family’s young lady.”

Qingyuan heard and acknowledged, pausing slightly before continuing: “Granddaughter didn’t have the chance to show filial piety before Grandmother from childhood, now that I’ve returned, I should naturally attend at Grandmother’s bedside. It’s just that I’m clumsy and fear I won’t please Grandmother, but since Grandmother has spoken, I’ll be more mindful of my conduct from now on.”

She gave a slight bow and retreated from the inner chamber. Such cold treatment wasn’t new – she had to endure it even if it meant grinding her teeth to powder.

Baoxian came to meet her, and she smiled, saying “Let’s go back.”

Just as they rounded the screen, they met a managing matron hurrying in, who quickly bobbed a curtsy to her before heading to the inner chamber.

The matron’s voice was loud, carrying to the doorway as she reported that the Prefecture Commissioner’s wife had come requesting to see the Old Mistress and Mistress, having urgent matters to discuss with the Old Mistress.

Baoxian glanced at her mistress. Qingyuan’s face remained calm as she continued walking, lifting her skirts to step over the threshold.

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