The Rebirth of an ill-Fated Consort
chapter-37

The house was exceptionally quiet. Jiang Ruan calmly stood there with a faint smile on her face, yet, her gaze seemed to reveal a streak of grief. In comparison with the pity that Jiang Su Su evoked in others, her quietude caused others to feel an urge to probe further.

The smile on Xia Yan’s face had stiffened as her hands tightened into fists inside her sleeves. At first glance, this comment from Jiang Ruan seemed benign, yet, it soundlessly and wordlessly found fault with Jiang Su Su’s lack of courtesy. Who would make things difficult for a girl who had just returned home and longed for familial love?

As expected, one could see that the Old Jiang Madame’s gaze had become gentler as she looked upon Jiang Ruan. Xia Yan had yet to respond before Jiang Su Su heard the Old Madame’s displeased voice echo, “Su niang, your da jiejie has only just returned home. Coming to see me, this zumu, is something right and proper to do. Don’t you cause trouble.”

For a split second, Jiang Su Su was stunned because, indeed, what she had said earlier was deliberately targeted against Jiang Ruan. However, she had been confident that the Old Madame would not rebuke her at all. In all these years, she had been cleverly adorable and thoughtful and the Old Jiang Madame had always extremely doted on her. Yet, today was the first time she had gotten angry at her. When all was said and done, however, she was still of a young age, therefore, Jiang Su Su concealed her emotions with some difficulty as she gave a forced smile, “I am sorry, Da jiejie. Su Su did not do it on purpose. Da jiejie, don’t be upset, alright.”

“You and I are sisters, how could I be angry,” Jiang Ruan replied gently.

The Old Jiang Madame was even more satisfied as she stated, “You two sisters both need to support each other. The eldest girl[1] did well today.”

[1] Dà Yātou ( 大丫头 ) – Eldest Girl

Xia Yan smiled as she stepped forward, “Naturally, Ruan niang is a good girl. However, Ruan niang, I heard that Lin Lang caused you to become angry today, seemingly for the sake of a servant. This still needs to be handled by the Old Madame. How did this all come about?”

Jiang Su Su was still curled up at Old Jiang Madame’s side, it was just that, at this moment, her posture was not as natural as when she had first come into the room. The Old Madame also looked towards Jiang Ruan and was evidently waiting for her explanation.

Jiang Ruan then compliantly recounted the whole sequence of events of what had transpired outside Yan Hua Yuan. Her tone was steady and she did not leave out even a single word of the conversation between Lin Lang and herself as she retold her version of the events. Honestly speaking, she did not embellish but factually reiterated, making one trust her words even more. When she was done speaking, she looked towards the Old Jiang Madame, “Old Madame, at the time of my ownmother’s passing, I was bed-ridden and only heard mentions of Zhou momo leaving the fu. Yet, unexpectedly, I happened to see a glimpse of her today. I believed that at the time, that audacious maid had mistakenly said something wrong. However, was I too unaware that Zhou momo, who was my wet nurse, had fallen into this particular state?”

Xia Yan lightly sighed, “Ruan niang, at that time you were still young, and there were some matters that I had not wanted to tell you about. Actually, when Jiejie passed away, Zhou momo had not really left the fu. Rather, she was preparing to leave after stealing Jiejie’s head ornaments first. Our Jiang fu is the least tolerant about thieving servants, moreover, Zhou momo was also your wet nurse. Afraid that your illness would be aggravated while you were broken-hearted and disappointed, I then discussed the matter over with Master[2], and had Zhou momo punished. All this, I have never told you,” Xia Yan stated as she looked at her with sincerity, “Now that I have told you, I am sure you will understand. Right here and now, Mother will take the blame and compensate you for the loss of your servant, but this servant truly deserves to be punished. Even if you misunderstand me, I will not regret the decision that I made at that time.”

[2] Lǎoyé ( 老爷 ) – (respectful) lord / master

With drooped heads, Cai Que and Du Juan had listened without a word or movement. Here, they had no right to speak. But, inwardly in their hearts, they reflected. As expected, the furen’s words were watertight. With a single statement, there was nothing the eldest young lady could refute.

Jiang Ruan shook her head, “Mother voluntarily dealt with the servant of Mei Qing Yuan, and for five years, had yet to ever tell me about it. Still, this was all for my sake, how could I blame Mother?”

Xia Yan’s complexion was rather unpleasant, yet, when she saw that Jiang Ruan’s complexion showed even more sincerity than hers, it seemed that she had not realised the hidden mockery behind her own words. In her heart, Xia Yan stifled a breath. Jiang Ruan then continued, “Nonetheless, I have one matter that I am still unclear about and that is about the servant who committed the crime of stealing their master’s wealth and head ornaments. It seems unlikely that punishments such as gouging out a criminal’s eyes or eating night soil would be meted out to the culprit at all. After all, the Jiang family is also considered to have a literary reputation. How could we have doled out such bloody punishments?”

“Gouging out eyes, eating night soil?” The Old Jiang Madame frowned, “What is the meaning of this?” She was a person who practised Buddhism[3], therefore, in some matters, she had her own views. Previously, she had always turned a blind eye towards Xia Yan’s methods as she knew that Xia Yan was not one who was easy to deal with. Yet, it appeared that this furen was unlike her usual soft-spoken self. She too, could be this ruthless towards a defenseless wet nurse. And so, what this furenhad done had already touched her bottom line.

[3] Nianfo or 念佛 are simply forms of mindfulness which are essentially methods of meditating upon Amitābha Buddha.

Xia Yan’s voice remained gentle, “It is not like that. It is precisely because I kept in mind that Zhou momo was Ruan niang’s wet nurse, that I too did not have the heart to chastise her too heavily. So, I had her sent to the washing room. Who knew that in the washing room, Zhou momo still kept her habit of pilfering and a dispute occurred between her and the other servants . Her eyes had been gouged out and the washing room could no longer tolerate her. Therefore, she could only work as a night soil collector.”

“So that was how it was,” Jiang Ruan spoke thoughtfully, “Then where is that person who gouged out Zhou momo’s eyeballs now?”

“They were beaten with a plank and expelled out of the fu.” Xia Yan remarked, “As for eating night soil, that was that servant girl, Lin Lang’s own decision. I have already severely chided her.”

With this sort of action, contrary to what the situation looked like, she was made to appear like an able and virtuous wife with good moral conduct who worked for the benefit of everyone. Indeed, she had presented herself as faultless, and that it was entirely Jiang Ruan who had been making a mountain out of a molehill. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly, “Mother is truly wonderful because if it were me, I might not have been able to do any better. It’s just that, since I have now returned and Zhou momo’scrime was not a severe one, she could still be considered as my Mei Qing Yuan… No, one of Ruan Ju’s people. May I have Mother make a decision and permit Ruan niang’srequest?”

Without waiting for Xia Yan to speak, Jiang Su Su immediately spoke out, “Da jiejie, if you want Zhou momo to return to your courtyard once more, are you not afraid that she might filch things?”

“Ruan niang, I know that you are a kind-hearted child, but with Zhou momo’s moral character, she truly is not suitable to accompany you. Furthermore, she has become blind, thus assigning her to the Ruan Ju would merely be her living as a parasite. Would you really want to keep a servant that you must serve instead of the other way round? Then, wouldn’t the Jiang fu become a laughingstock? Doesn’t the old furenthink so too?”

“That’s right.” The Old Jiang Madame nodded.

Jiang Ruan added, “It’s because I am doing this for the Jiang fu, that I am pursuing matters along this line of action. The Jiang fu has always been morally upright and has greatly executed matters within the rules and regulations. Now under everyone’s nose, Zhou momo, a perfectly healthy person, has lost her pair of eyes. The next time, there might be someone else and they may not only lose a pair of eyes. If this was spread around, how would others look upon our Jiang fu. They would simply say that the Jiang fu is extremely disordered and that Mother cannot manage the household well. If Zhou momo truly does begin to steal in the Ruan Ju, then I would be the first to send her to the authorities. However, if she is able to turn over a new leaf, then I would consider it as the predestined fate to maintaining a master and servant relationship between us. Moreover, a person being blind does not mean that they cannot do anything at all. In this world, there are many things that we are unable to see from birth, nevertheless, aren’t we able to live well just fine?”

While she was speaking, she noticed that the Old Jiang Madame’s expression had somewhat relaxed and once more, Xia Yan had heard the implied overt and underhand mocking remarks of her own unfavourable management of the household. Xia Yan’s eyebrows furrowed, “Certainly, this is not permissible.”

“Mother,” Jiang Ruan interrupted her as she placidly said, “Everything has its own cause and effect, so it could be considered as a good deed for the future generation. In one’s lifetime, it would be best not to have one’s bad deeds multiply.”