Chapter 49 - The Third-Place Youth Flower Snatcher (1/2)

Jiang Chao was attired in an indigo dyed straight-cut Changpao embroidered with gold stripes which, in contrast, made his usually high-spirited look seem more steady and brought about a hint of nobility to him. Although he deliberately tried to mask it in his manner of speech and his bearing, essentially, he had the air of a person from the bureaucracy. In Jiang Ruan’s eyes, this seemed shameless and disgraceful; however, in the eyes of the Old Jiang Madame, this appearance of his was extremely pleasing. The stern expression on her face also had a trace of an affectionate smile, “After the passing of the New Year, Chao’er would then need to participate in the imperial examinations; did the teachers of Imperial Academy say anything?”

Indigo Chang pao (without the gold embroidery stripes)

An enormous smile appeared on Jiang Chao’s face, though he made an extreme effort to suppress it, as he replied, “They did not say anything.”

Jiang Quan shot Jiang Chao a quick glance as he continued, “Passing the imperial examination will not be an issue, it’s only uncertain how you would rank. Whatever the case, everything that should be put in order (bribes)[1] has already been settled.”

[1] Dǎ dian ( 打点 ) has been previously translated in other terms and meanings in past chapters. Here, it does not only refer to bribery, but it also refers to the use of money to take care of his son and lobby/to influence his son’s ranking.

As a glint flashed in her gaze, the Second Yiniang covered her lips and smiled, “That truly is great. Both of furen’s children are alike, they are capable of creating literary works. At this exam, the Second Young Master would inevitably obtain scholarly honour. As qieshen[2] sees this, he would definitely be nothing but the top scorer then.” Although the Second Yiniang did not like Xia Yan, still just for appearances while Jiang Quan was in the fu, she would always feign and put on a complete facade. Moreover, while she flattered and praised Jiang Chao, the Old Jiang Madame would also be happy. Therefore, saying such pretty words would unlikely put her at a disadvantage.

[2] Qiè shēn ( 妾身 ) refers to the deprecatory self-reference for concubine women and often means I, myself. This is phrased as such to emphasize referring back to oneself. In this case, it is Second Yiniang’s opinion in her own dismissive, deprecatory way similar to how intensive/emphatic pronouns are used in English.

As expected, the Old Jiang Madame remarked, “Silly, this sort of talk should not be carelessly spoken.” Yet, what appeared on her expression was a look without any condemnation and seemed rather joyful. Jiang Chao followed suit and smiled as Xia Yan gently pushed Jiang Quan. As every person in the room began to smile and laugh, they really seemed like a harmonious and affectionate family.

Just at this time when everyone was in an amicable and friendly mood, abruptly, a voice interjected, “What is everyone talking about, to actually laugh and smile this joyously?”

Jiang Ruan’s lips lightly curled and from outside the door, a beautiful married woman walked unhurriedly into the room. In contrast with Xia Yan and the other few yiniangs, she seemed to appear extremely youthful. Dressed in an absinthe green, thin cotton top with embroidered clouds and a goose on it, she had donned an embroidered skirt filled with butterflies flying in the mist and clouds. Combed into a topknot bun, her hair had been braided into a fancy layered pattern that seemed like numerous flowers bunched together. However, she did not accessorize it with a hairpin but merely had a branch of a light yellow plum blossom in it. With a faint smile gracing her face as she walked forth, she had a sort of misty-soft beauty. Unexpectedly, unlike the usual tenderness and suppleness of the furens of government officials, her delicate bearing did not have the slightest trace of artificiality and seemed as if it had been deeply engraved into her very bones.

Image result for chinese traditional flower hair bun

Layered top knot bun that seems like flowers (but without the accessories)

Yellow plum blossoms

The embroidered goose among clouds (similar to what may be embroidered) on the cotton top

This precisely described the Fifth Yiniang, Hong Ying[3]. Regardless of any protests or obstruction given, Jiang Quan, a person who had quite a reputation, had stubbornly bought this star courtesan[4] from the Fireworks district[5]. Initially, he had wanted to gift her to a superior, however, she had eventually become the Fifth Yiniang in the fu. Due to this, considerable harm had been brought to Jiang Quan’s reputation. At that time, there had been rumours that Xia Yan had even made some noise over this with him, but finally, the matter had remained unresolved. Still, when all was said and done, Hong Ying had caused some seedlings of discontent to sow in between Jiang Quan and Xia Yan. Now, although this gap in between them seemed negligible, it still remained a vulnerable area that could be properly exploited.

[3] T/N: ‘红缨’ Hong Ying’s name has the characters that means red and tassel, similar to how her beauty can be literally translated and described as a misty, vapoury beauty that has weighed down or hung down. Kinda like a red tassel that hangs and attracts your attention as a decorative element.

[4] T/N: ‘清倌儿’ This refers to Hong Ying’s former status as a star courtesan, who had been sold as a slave and prized for her virginity or her skills in artistry such as in the art of dancing, singing, drawing, reciting and composition poems, the chess game Go or playing the guqin. This signifies that she is a prized possession of the pleasure house and essentially, the star performer and attraction there. In addition, she must have the appearance and the figure to match her status as a courtesan or as the trump card to lure in big-time customers, the matron would have a beautiful woman, who does not have much talent and still had her chastity, to sell her first time away.

[5] T/N: ‘烟花之地’ This is a euphemism meaning the prostitution area or the red light district, also commonly known there as the fireworks district.

In her past life, by the time Jiang Ruan had returned to the fu, Hong Ying had already reached the point of being a rival to Xia Yan that could equally match up on par with her to the point that no one was able to look down on her in the fu. Nevertheless, due to Xia Yan being pregnant once more, Hong Ying had then bribed some servants to induce Xia Yan into a miscarriage. However, in the end, she was unsure of what happened but her plot had been exposed. Jiang Quan had become furious and then had Hong Ying confined to her courtyard. Yet, Hong Ying had, by her own accord, ultimately hung herself.

Now that she thought about it, although matters had come to a head, Jiang Quan still had not had Hong Ying beaten alive but merely restricted her to her courtyard. In all likelihood, he might have some genuine feelings for Hong Ying then. Thus, it seemed rather suspicious that without rhyme or reason, Hong Ying had hung herself in the firewood storage room. One could not help but suspect that this could have been Xia Yan’s doing. In her past life, Jiang Ruan did not have much contact with Hong Ying due to the degree of absolute hatred and loathing Xia Yan had for Hong Ying. Now, it remained that Jiang Ruan herself still had no clue of what sort of person Hong Ying was.

With Hong Ying’s presence, when Jiang Quan’s gaze fell upon her figure, the expression on his face slightly became gentler as he said, “We were talking about some of Chao’er’s matters.”