Chapter 3.2 Look After

*

Tantai Jin’s fever finally subsided at dawn. The young man’s eyes remained closed, but he wasn’t shivering anymore. Su Su threw away the cloth and melted snow. 

She hugged her quilt and plunged back into her bed. I’m so tired.

When the day broke, Chun Tao lifted the bed curtain to help Su Su wake up.

The servants were particularly apprehensive of this task as the Third Miss had a nasty temperament. There was once a servant who had woken her up and suffered thirty strokes as a result.

Chun Tao was always pushed to do this task as she was young and had an honest nature. She trembled and called out to the Third Miss. She felt as if her heart was in her throat……

The girl woke and groggily sat up in bed. Chun Tao hurriedly assisted her with putting on her clothes. The Third Miss yawned and rubbed her eyes.

There was even a small tuft of antenna-like hair standing up on her head.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Ubwd Mys aykple bla tygl iwknjzu. Wsa vbl qkapv vkxl, pbl qlzv vbyv bla Mbkae Ykpp’p yrrlyaydnl oyp ps psqv yde nwvl. Ubwd Mys qswde kv yxwpkdt. Ohld bla qllzkdt sq qlya bye xspvzu hydkpble.

Fwarakpkdtzu, vbl Mbkae Ykpp eked’v alrakxyde bla yv ydu rskdv ewakdt vbl rasnlpp.

Fw Fw eked’v tlv ldswtb pzllr yv dktbv, yde pbl bye vs tlv wr lyazu vbkp xsadkdt. Fbl zssjle wdela vbl cle yde pyo vbyv Mydvyk Kkd bye ekpyrrlyale, pbl eked’v jdso obld bl bye zlqv.

Mbl xyke, Dk Dk, oyp oykvkdt swvpkel yde csole. “Mbl Qldlayz yde vbl Xze Yyeyx yal oykvkdt qsa usw vs lyv vstlvbla.”

Fw Fw dseele bla blye.

Fw Fw zssjle yaswde vbl Zl Wyxkzu’p calyjqypv vyczl, cwv Mydvyk Kkd oypd’v vblal. Fbl vbswtbv ycswv jllrkdt vaynj sq vbl lhkz vbkdt yde ypjle Ubwd Mys ycswv kv kd y zso hsknl.

Ubwd Mys pyke, “Ykpp, byhl usw qsatsvvld? Zsw esd’v yzzso vbl bspvytl rakdnl vs pbyal vbl pyxl vyczl okvb usw. Rdpvlye, usw vsze bkx vs ts vs vbl plahydvp’ assx yde lyv okvb vblx.” Fs, Mydvyk Kkd’p keldvkvu oyp kdyeliwyvl kd Zl Dk Ew’p lulp.

Fw Fw czkdjle bla lulp. Elzz, yzaktbv. Mbkp oyp hlau rsolaqwz.

Su Su secretly observed the entire Ye Family.

The Old Madam was sitting in the main seat. Next to her sat a heroic and serious man. He was General Ye, Ye Xiao. Ye Xiao was thirty-eight years old this year. He grew a beard which gave him a more serious and upright appearance.

It was many years after his first wife passed away, and he hadn’t remarried.

According to Ye Xiao, those who fought on the battlefield lived on the edge. They didn’t know when they would die, so there was no need to take a first wife and make her live anxiously.

It was nicely said, but Ye Xiao still had three concubines.

Su Su’s eyes scanned over the faces of the three aunts¹姨娘 (yí niáng) – a title used to refer to concubines, and I used ‘aunt’ here as if we are in a modern setting, we would call a stepmother ‘aunt’ too unless they were very close to their stepmother. The three of them were different, and each of them had their own merits.

There were four sons and three daughters in the family. Other than Su Su, the only legitimate daughter, her other siblings were all born by concubines. The second son and his mother were the most ominous and awkward.

The first son and the third son were born by Aunt Lian. Aunt Lian was Ye Xiao’s bed servant when he was young. She was older than Ye Xiao by two years and had an average appearance. However, she had a high position in the residence since she had given birth to the first son. Usually, the Old Madam would let her help manage the residence’s affairs.

Aunt Du had slanted eyes, and her eyebrows gave off the impression of belonging to a poor family. She was the mother of the Second Miss, Ye Lan Yin, and she was also the most brightly dressed among them. However, the Old Madam disliked her the most.

As for the last one, Su Su looked over, it was Aunt Yun. Compared to the previous two aunts, she looked elegant and gentle. With a simple hairpin pinned on her head, her whole person looked like a lotus blooming out of the water, carrying an unspeakable temperament. Based on this temperament alone, she was far better than the other two aunts.

She was the mother of Ye Bing Shang and the fourth son, and she was also General Ye’s most favoured concubine. Although Su Su hadn’t seen Ye Bing Shang, she could guess that Ye Bing Shang was a beauty by looking at Aunt Yun.

The large family fully occupied the whole table.

Su Su inevitably despised General Ye a little. There was no such thing as a concubine in the cultivation realm, only a cultivator’s companion. Su Su’s mother passed away a century ago, but her father still wiped her mother’s bone flute every day.

Sometimes, he would wipe it while wiping away his tears.

Of course, there were also some evil customs, such as keeping a tripod furnace ²tripod furnace 炉鼎 (lú dǐng) – using human body as a medium or furnace to enhance one’s cultivation etc.. These things could only be done discreetly, and speaking of  them aloud was disdainful. Humans weren’t as powerful as cultivators, and they had this shortcoming of having many wives and concubines instead.

“What’s wrong with the Third Miss? Are you still ill? Why is your face so pale?” Aunt Yun asked gently, which made everyone look at Su Su.

Su Su put down her chopsticks. How could she have a decent complexion when she didn’t sleep for half the night? But this matter couldn’t be spoken about.

It would’ve been fine if Aunt Yun hadn’t mentioned Su Su’s name. However, once she mentioned Su Su, Ye Xiao put down his chopsticks and looked at Su Su with an unhappy expression. “The Empress Dowager has already been informed of the incident between you and your eldest sister at the palace banquet. So the Emperor Dowager has invited you to the palace for a visit.”

Su Su swallowed the small glutinous ball in her mouth and sighed. She wasn’t the one who did it, yet she had to carry all the blame. Sometimes, when you’re unlucky, misfortune can happen however careful you are³人在家中坐，锅从天上来 (rén zài jiāzhōng zuò, guō cóng tiān shàng lái) is a Chinese idiom with the literal meaning: people sit at home and misfortunes fall from the sky.

The Old Madam couldn’t bear to see her little sweetheart suffer grievances. Hence she immediately said, “Xiao’er, Xi Wu is still young. Last time, the conflict between the sisters must have been due to misunderstandings. Besides, the eldest girl won’t go as far as to bicker with Xi Wu. Am I right, Aunt Yun?”

Aunt Yun smiled and said, “Yes.”

Su Su can see a bit of reluctance from that smile. That’s right, her daughter was wronged but she still had to smile and forgive the culprit. Aunt Yun must’ve felt uncomfortable.

“Take care of the Third Girl well when she enters the palace.” The Old Madam told the General.

Ye Xiao sighed and didn’t dare to disobey his mother. He nodded and said, “The Empress Dowager is very forgiving, so she will not blame the younger generation. If Xi Wu’s attitude is good, then this matter shall pass.”

The Old Madam patted Su Su’s hand and motioned for her not to be afraid.

Su Su smiled at Old Madam and nodded. With General Ye here, at least the Empress Dowager won’t blame her too much.

The original owner was lucky to have such a grandmother.

After breakfast, Su Su hopped on the carriage that was going to the palace. Her mentality was not bad. She must help Ye Xi Wu to solve her troubles since she was using her body.

We must take things as they come. Su Su was prepared to be the ‘scapegoat’ heroine. She accepted her fate of being tested against the dangerous storms.

A maid came over. She bowed and said, “The General asked the Third Miss to wait for a while.”

What should I wait for?

Soon, Su Su understood. Tantai Jin came out from the other side of the residence. The young man’s lips were pale, and he looked sick.

He came from the opposite direction of the Ye Family’s main hall.

Su Su remembered what Chun Tao had said—— Tantai Jin had his meals in the servants’ room.

Su Su tried to find resentment in his eyes, since after all, she had whipped him last night.

But his expression remained calm until he approached Su Su.

He looked up, and his eyes lingered on her equally pale face for two seconds, before coldy turning away.

Su Su thought, Eh, is this right? Why isn’t this person pretending to be humble and timid now!

---

Edited by: Gaze