Chapter 3: Not leaving, this sister’s no pushover (2/2)

A maidservant approached, lowering her head to speak by her ear. “Mistress, the new bride is asking what time tomorrow she should arrive?”

Grand Concubine Yi’s hand stiffened in the middle of her play, whirling her head around. “Who did you say was asking?”

“The…the new bride,” the maidservant replied in a low voice.

“What nerve!” Grand Concubine Yi was bewildered, but more engrossed in playing mahjong than the matter at hand. Casually she replied, “At Yǐ[3] hour, like before.”

So what if she’d asked about the hour? When tomorrow came, they’d make her late again.

—

“Yǐ hour,” Nanny Wang reported to the bridal sedan.

No one expected that Han Yunxi would reply with the three icy words: “Stay and wait.” Quite a few people around them had sensed that something was off about this young Miss Han.

“What?” Nanny Wang raised her voice abruptly. “A new bride can’t be like this. We can’t block someone’s gates, right? They’ll laugh at us! No, this is no good, there’s no such logic! What kind of person comes to a family’s doorstep and waits to get married?”

“You’re the one who said that we can’t turn back. What now, you want to curse me to be divorced and returned to my home?” Han Yunxi asked coldly.

Weren’t these Nanny Wang’s own words?

“Those who can’t wait can leave. If you can’t get your wages after returning to the Han house, don’t come looking for me.” Han Yunxi reminded them helpfully.

The hired help looked at each other, not expecting the new bride to be so fierce. None dared to leave, but all sat down in place to wait with her together. Seeing that no one was backing her up, Nanny Wang could only settle down by the sedan chair. She had the irresistible urge to lift the hanging door curtains and see the new bride for herself. Was she really as ugly as the rumors said? And as cowardly and self-abasing? They didn’t switch her with someone else, right?

After a moment’s hesitation, Nanny Wang nervously reached out a hand…

-o-

[1] Grand Imperial Concubine (太妃) －taifei, in this case it refers to the concubine of the previous emperor and the mother of the Duke of Qin (Long Feiye). Will be referred to as “Grand Concubine Yi.”

[2] Yi (宜) －surname of #1. Yi means “suitable, appropriate, fitting”, or a negative version of “should, ought to.”

[3] hour of Yǐ (已时) －yishi, which in Chinese time rests between 9~11AM.