Girl meets grandmother
In the blink of an eye, a rooster turns into a duck. Uh, no, time flies. It's the 20th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, and he's finally won the war. Even before the army returns, the emperor hastily upgrades the titles and salaries of his four concubines just days before the Lunar New Year. It's said that these four were promoted on the same day: Concubine Hui, Concubine Rong, Concubine Yi, and Concubine De.
Damn! The Four Heavenly Kings of the Harem!
Master Kang, you can do it! Do you have so many Mrs. Kangs cooking your homemade beef noodles? My mother has no time to bother going to your house to kowtow to your concubine!
Snowflakes drifted down, and the 20th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign was almost over. By the 19th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Shujia had memorized her elementary textbooks, including the Three Hundreds, Thousands, and the "Youxue Qionglin." This year, she also memorized the entire "Analects" and started reciting "Mencius." Her handwriting was also becoming more formal. Unexpectedly, Mr. Shuxu's Manchu writing was excellent, saving everyone a lot of trouble.
Xiluotai and the maids could speak Manchu, and she could also write Mongolian, but none of them could write Manchu, even though Manchu was adapted from Mongolian. When Mr. Jiang arrived, Xiluotai sent someone to tell him, "It's enough for the girls to learn a few characters, but they need to learn Mandarin well. This is what Mafa, the child, values."
The addition of Manchu language classes slowed down the pace of Chinese language instruction. Xiluo Te also hoped Mr. Jiang would teach her a little math, like memorizing the multiplication table. Seeing that the employer's requirements were modest and that they wouldn't test a girl on eight-legged essays, Mr. Jiang followed suit. Shujia returned all her advanced math skills to the teacher, but she still had basic math skills—she didn't need to learn them. She also kept the abacus she'd learned in elementary school, so it wasn't too difficult.
What stumped her was Manchu. She could speak it just fine, mainly because she had the language environment, but writing it was a real challenge. Speaking it doesn't guarantee writing. To those who don't understand, it looks like nothing more than vertical bars, circles, and dots, which takes a lot of effort. Even English, no matter how difficult, has clear letters. Writing Manchu requires a brush... Shujia could almost see back to the miserable days when she'd spent more than two months writing her name... Faced with this challenge, Shujia finally committed to learning to write.
Mrs. Xiluo thought it would be best for her to start needlework next year, as she wouldn't learn much now. This bought her a lot of time; she could use it to review her lessons in the afternoons while Shuxian took time to sew. Naturally, her progress in academic subjects was much faster, even surpassing Shuxian. With a better foundation and more time, if she still couldn't match Shuxian, Shujia could... wholeheartedly acknowledge Shuxian as a child prodigy; she would never admit she was stupid.
As Shujia's cultural prowess grew, the lights in Shuxian's room went out later and later. One night, after Shujia had retreated, she overheard two maids talking. Chunxi and Xiaxi lowered the curtains, assuming Shujia was asleep, and quietly spread out the blankets. The two of them slept on the floor, covered in thick felt strips. There was a kang and a fumigation cage in the room, but it wasn't cold.
Two maids had a bedside chat.
Chunxi whispered, "Hey, have you heard? The eldest girl over there is sleeping later and later."
Xia Xi: "You just found out about this? In the summer, Xiaorong in the eldest girl's room told me that the eldest girl reads books and does needlework every night." His expression was probably one of contempt.
Chunxi was not angry and asked, "Do you know why?"
Xia Xi said indifferently, "The eldest daughter is a concubine's daughter, so she has to work hard if she wants to make a name for herself. But she's not being spared for nothing. I heard she can already cut purses and knit lace by herself, and she can also embroider flowers."
Chunxi began to despise Xiaxi: "You don't know anything. I heard Shaoyao in the Madam's room say that the Madam said that our daughter is much better at studying than the older one. I think the older one feels that she can't compare to our daughter and is afraid of losing face."
Xia Xi: "Now that you mention it, I remember it too. They say our daughter is three years younger than the eldest daughter, but she's not inferior to her in any way. The eldest daughter originally heard people say that her aunt's child was a bit... Now, I'm afraid she's even more assertive, isn't she?"
Shujia's feeling of 'using a 4Mbps broadband connection and a cheat to compete with the terribly slow-moving campus network users' grew stronger, and so did her guilt. She'd accidentally... irritated a young girl's heart! If her mind became warped because of being outmatched by a cheat, that would be a grave sin.
Shujia had no peers around her to compare herself to, so she subconsciously followed Shuxian's example. She did whatever Shuxian did. It was a simple thing for her mental age, so she didn't realize there was anything wrong with it. She had been away from her childhood for a long time and had no memory of what a normal child was like. She curled up in her bed and drew circles. What should she do? ! ! Perhaps, in these unreliable times, she still didn't want to slow down. It would be good to have more capital to protect herself! In these days when even the emperor is shaking the land, it's better for a little girl to take it easy. After going around in circles, she returned to the starting point. Shujia tugged at the corner of the quilt in frustration. Okay, she admitted that she found herself to be quite selfish and not a saint at all.
I didn't fall asleep until the clock struck eleven.
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Perhaps or perhaps not, Mrs. Xiluo knew the girls' thoughts, but she didn't show it. After all... there was a difference in status, wasn't there? Furthermore, it was the end of the year, and she had a lot on her plate. The Three Feudatories had been pacified, her father-in-law was coming home, and his residence needed to be cleaned up. She also needed to inspect the earthquake damage to ensure it was truly as good as new, replace any damaged furnishings, and provide compensation to the families of deceased servants. She had already given New Year's gifts to relatives, and the gifts from various places also needed to be checked and distributed.
I wonder if my husband will be able to come back this year to visit? Even though he's closer to home, he couldn't come back during the war unless there were special circumstances. Now that the war is over, he should be able to relax and unwind, right? My brother-in-law has to get married, and my mother-in-law is gone. As her sister-in-law, I should consider helping out. The New Year gifts for the palace have been prepared and delivered. She's carefully reviewed them over a dozen times, making sure there are no mistakes.
When the New Year came, it was still the mother and her family who were there, and the standard father was not able to come back. This year, there were more social events. Shuxian was occasionally taken to other places, but Shujia only went to her uncle's house. Her uncle's house was not far away, and according to later generations, it was probably in the same neighborhood.
Shujia and Shuxian rode in a carriage, following behind Xiluo's carriage. They entered the corner gate and changed carriages. It was said... they were going to visit their grandmother. She lived on the west side of the mansion. Shujia had been there before, but she was young then and fell asleep without paying attention. By the time she woke up, they were already on their way back, beating her chest and stamping her feet in anger.
Now that I'm awake, the feeling of drowsiness is particularly strong. The layout of a home like this is generally similar. From very early times, the Chinese have had very detailed regulations for what kind of house to live in, down to the layout, specifications, and even the number of door nails. Generally speaking, the head mother lives in the main house, and the elderly woman lives in the west wing of the mansion, perhaps similar to the layout of the Forbidden City.
That's why... my uncle's house has a similar layout to the Rongguo Mansion. My grandmother's house also has several doors and a porch. My grandfather was dead when I saw my grandmother. Oh, thankfully, her last name isn't Lin.
My grandmother had silver hair, a graceful and wealthy figure, and her appearance looked Mongolian. Although her dress was very Manchu and Han, there were already many women in the room. Xiluo Te brought her daughter in. A prayer mat had already been placed on the floor. After she bowed, she was called to the bedside for a closer look.
The old lady spoke with a distinctly Beijing accent, asking questions like how old she was and what she liked to eat. Shujia answered them one by one, and she didn't have to worry much. She didn't have to stay with her uncle anymore. There were many young women and wives standing in two rows on the ground floor, and many were sitting as well.
Shujia was introduced. Her grandmother pointed to two young (too young) girls and said, "This is your eldest cousin, and this is your second cousin." Shujia glanced at the second cousin. "Well, we're all second cousins," she thought. "That made her feel a lot more balanced." Seeing them with their hair styled like women, but still looking like high school students, made her mouth twitch.
A woman in her forties, wearing a brown embroidered satin dress and a hairpin, joined in the fun, saying, "After all, she's your granddaughter; her elegance is definitely better than anyone else's." The old woman, with a stoic expression, asked Shujia, "Do you want milk tofu?" She spoke in Mongolian. Shujia replied, "We make it all the time at home, but I've never had it at my uncle's." The woman didn't understand and choked.
The milk tofu was served, and the old lady fed her granddaughter. After she finished, she yawned and said, "I'm tired. You take the child to see your sister-in-law." The two cousins also stood up and said, "We're leaving too. It's just right for us to go with our aunt." The maid came over to clean up, and the woman had no choice but to leave.
On the way, Xiluo Te asked her niece, "Who is that?" The older cousin replied, "I don't know whose family she is from. Her husband committed a crime while fighting in the south. Now that the Three Feudatories have been pacified, the Ministry of Justice wants to investigate her. Since she has some old friendship with our family, she wants to ask my father for help." The younger cousin continued, "Aunt, I think she was the Minister of War when our grandfather was alive, many years ago. Besides, she's not a real relative."
Oh, the Three Feudatories have been pacified. Many people who made minor mistakes during the war were allowed to continue fighting, neither beaten nor killed. Now that the Three Feudatories have been pacified, the reckoning has begun. So, does that mean her family, Marfa, is in danger too?! Shujia was uneasy.
When she saw her aunt, she was not in high spirits. Xiluo said, "I ate a plate of milk tofu at my mother's place. I'm afraid I must have been stuffed." She then complained about the person who came to ring the wooden bell, "If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have had to be fed so much." They both laughed. Her aunt smiled and asked her to take her for a walk in the yard and then come back.
Shujia was very depressed. She was clearly only fed two small pieces, so how could there be a whole plate? She was not a foodie, but she was worried about the whole family.
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This worry was completely unnecessary. Master Kang needed to get his wife a promotion and was also planning various memorials. The Three Feudatories had been pacified, and Xiao Xuanzi had triumphed—a feat of martial arts that, of course, needed to be shared with the heavens, the earth, and the ancestors. My cousin said her husband, a member of the Imperial Guard, was already packing. The Emperor was taking the Crown Prince to Shengjing, and they were preparing their travel gear. Once everything was ready, the imperial decree for their departure would be issued within the next two days. The Emperor was currently in a good mood, so he probably wouldn't impose a harsh punishment.
My cousin's husband, a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel, was also busy, always counting officials who had rebelled, those who died in battle while loyal, and those killed by the rebels. He also had to calculate vacancies and select new ones. So, some of Wu Sangui's followers rushed to the front to dissipate Master Kang's anger. It seems... this military officer wouldn't be held too harshly accountable for minor mistakes.
Xiluotai felt much better after hearing what her niece said. The two nieces didn't mean to comfort her, but just chatted about family matters. When they talked about Xiluotai's hardship and her husband's exile, the two nieces consoled her by saying, "Even though we are in Beijing, we can't help much either. We are all busy with errands..." In other words, your life is not particularly difficult, everyone's husband is busy.
It was not until before dinner that Xiluo Te firmly declined to stay for dinner, saying, "I still have to take care of the family." Only then was she released.
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