FSCGL Chapter 13

Terms used in Chapter 13

三姐 (san jie) – third older sister.
四妹 (si mei) – fourth younger sister.
小姐 (xiao jie) – young lady.
公子 (gong zi) – an honorific for a noble’s son.
夫人 (fu ren) – the official wife of an official, the matriarch of a family.

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Ruan san niang went in alone while leaving her maidservants outside. The moment she stepped in, she saw the wafting fragrances of the meat dishes on the table, and she felt a faint hunger rise in her stomach even though she had just consumed her lunch.

Three meats, one vegetable, one soup.

How sumptuous.

“Si niang, your meal treatment is truly marvellous, you actually have three meats and one vegetable.”

Ruan san niang’s tone of voice was full of envy as she seated herself beside Ruan Xi like she was well at home. Smilingly, she said: “Si mei, you don’t mind if I eat with you, do you?”

Ruan Xi: “……”

Ruan san niang had already been through for three lifetimes, was it really alright for her to be this negligent? Then, her thoughts turned; Ruan san niang felt secure in the knowledge that she had a strong backing because she possessed a disease-curing system ability, and she even had the achievement of curing a certain wangfei of the infertility medicine she had been afflicted with inside the novel.

• 王妃 (pinyin: wang fei) – the legitimate wife of a Qin Wang or Jun Wang, who is essentially a man from the imperial family with one of the highest status. [Read more in the Glossary]

Although the novel only wrote that Ruan san niang treated the illnesses of others, she should be able to use the curing system function on herself.

After coming to this conclusion in her mind, Ruan Xi did not reject Ruan san niang’s request to partake in the meal with her, lest she exposed herself.

However, she was afraid that her legitimate mother was bound to go insane once she learned that Ruan san niang had eaten with her.

Ruan Xi was waiting to see the vexations it would bring her legitimate mother.

“I do not mind. Su Yu, prepare another bowl and a set of cutlery for the Third Young Lady.”

Su Yu and Su Zhu knew that there were issues with the dishes, but they could only maintain their silence upon seeing the Third Young Lady ‘cast herself into the net’. If it were not for the fact that their Young Lady could sense the issues in the food, their Young Lady’s body would have been ruined by someone else while they were none the wiser.

Hence, the pair of maidservants were extremely indignant and helpless with regards to the Furen’s actions.

But if the Furen knew that the Third Young Lady had “also” eaten the problematic food…

They immediately became animated.

Su Yu fetched a clean set of cutlery swiftly and dished out a bowl of white rice for Ruan san niang.

Ruan san niang started eating on her initiative and her chopsticks moved over to the glossy-looking pig trotters which were braised in soy sauce.

Ruan Xi’s gaze glinted slightly. Ruan san niang actually chose the dish with additional ingredients on her first try.

“San jie, have you not eaten lunch yet?”

Ruan san niang bit into her pig trotter happily as she shook her head: “I’ve already eaten, but I’m feeling hungry again.” With the abilities she possessed, her appetite had increased by a wide margin, but there were Mamas staring at her for the past few days so she could not eat her fill and had to allay her hunger by consuming some pastries after her meal.

Ruan Xi: “……”

Ruan Xi drank a small bowl of chicken soup before using her meal, all while ensuring that she avoided the drugged vegetable dish and the soy sauce-braised pig trotters like she usually would.

Whereas Ruan san niang ate with relish and her mouth was glistening with oil. While she still wanted to eat more even after two bowls of rice, she saw that her fourth sister only ate a bowl of rice and few self-servings of the meat dishes before she placed her chopsticks down and began wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief. Secretly, Ruan Ning inwardly mumbled about how her fourth sister had a stomach of a sparrow.

“Si mei, why did you eat so little, it’s too wasteful.” Ruan san niang had a face of disapproval.

Ruan Xi put down her handkerchief and took a sip of the green tea that Su Yu poured for her before she smiled and replied: “Eating a bowl of rice is enough.”

In her mind, she was secretly amazed by Ruan san niang’s large appetite.

Upon careful scrutiny, Ruan Xi discovered that in three short days, Ruan san niang seemed to have gone through substantial change, and her entire person looked extremely confident.

Ruan san niang did not continue to persuade, choosing to polish off the rest of the dishes on the table.

It was more comfortable to eat over at her fourth sister’s place; when she was eating by herself, her maidservants and Mamas were staring, so she had to abide by the meal protocols to eat which soured the experience, and she was not allowed to eat more.

Ruan san niang’s thoughts turned as she said smilingly, “Si mei, I have decided, I’ll be eating with you from now on.”

Naturally, Ruan Xi could not ask for more. Her legitimate mother was going to vomit blood in anger, that much was certain, so she smiled and agreed to it.

“Sure!”

After the meal, Ruan Xi and Ruan san niang moved to the short couch while Su Yu and Su Zhu remained outside to clear the table.

Ruan san niang drank her green tea as she glanced at her fourth sister whose sitting posture was etiquette-abiding, then she remembered her maidservant Yao Hong saying that Wen gongzi had dispatched his servants to send over a great deal of good medicinal herbs today so her fourth sister could nourish her body.

Although she did not have to use it, it did not stop Ruan san niang from feeling jealous to the point where her eyes went red.

There was no harm if there was no basis for comparison; for comparing a person to another person would anger the person to death. When she married Qi Yue An later, she definitely had to instruct him on this regard properly.

• 人比人, 气死人 (pinyin: ren bi ren, qi si ren) – a proverb which states that constantly comparing oneself to others will only make one angry.

That was what Ruan san niang thought inwardly. When she remembered her reason for visiting today, she leashed those thoughts.

“Si mei, this matter has been stewing in my heart for a good number of days. If I don’t say it out loud, my heart will feel discomforted. The truth is that during the few days where I was throwing a fit about breaking off the engagement, Father tried to negotiate the matter with Marquis Huaiyang, and Marquis Huaiyang also consented it, under the condition where you replaced me in the marriage contract. I did not have the heart to do that. No matter what is said, you are my younger sister, how could I let you jump into the fire pit? Hence, I said that I wouldn’t break off the engagement, so Father became angry and said he would no longer care for me in the future.”

Ruan san niang spoke about the words that Earl Chengyi said last night, adding more scenes for herself without the slightest sense of shame. After she was done, she looked at Ruan Xi with pitiable eyes.

“Si mei, I have made a huge sacrifice for you.”

Ruan Xi refreshed the cognition she had of Ruan san niang once more as she pretended to be shocked: “Such a thing occurred?” But she actually found it amusing in her heart. It was clearly Ruan san niang who could not bear to part with Qi Yue An and his promising and bright official career. Why did it become a sacrifice that she made when it came out from her mouth?

Furthermore, Qi Yue An was originally Ruan san niang’s fiancé, alright?

Ruan san niang’s acts were steadily increasing but the most central aspect of each instance was that only the broth changed while the old medicine remained the same, and she was still fond of performing in front of her.

Since she had no way of stopping it, Ruan Xi could only treat it as entertainment that she was watching in her leisure.

“There was. Father was still angry about this matter last night. Si mei, don’t just look at how well Father treats you right now, as a matter of fact, it is only because of Wen gongzi and the Wen Family behind him. When Father and Marquis Huaiyang lifted my marriage contract, I initially thought that he was doing it for my own good, since I’m the legitimate daughter he dotes on the most, but I later learned that everything was false.” Ruan san niang became more and more agitated as she spoke.

“In Father’s eyes, there is only the interests of the Earl Residence and his official career, we daughters are merely the tools he uses to gain marriage alliances.”

With a face full of indignance, Ruan san niang “exposed” their scum father’s original disposition to Ruan Xi.

Meanwhile, Ruan Xi noticed that Ruan san niang was getting more worked up as she spoke so she poured some tea for her. Then, Ruan Xi continued to listen to her criticise their Earl Father with deep interest.

Ruan san niang drank a mouthful of tea before she continued to speak.

“Si niang, Father is treating you well now because Wen gongzi likes you and has his heart set on you. When you eventually marry into the Wen Family, he will suck your blood and make you the backer of the Earl Residence.

“Si mei, you can’t stupidly allow yourself to be overwhelmed with gratitude because of a small benefit that Father gave.

“It’s like how I only have a profligate fiancé right now who can’t provide any benefits to Earl Residence, so Father gave up on me. Anyone would have feelings for the cats and dogs that they raised after a long time, to say nothing of people, but Father, he gave up after saying he would give up, his action truly chills the hearts of others.

“Si mei, you are a smart person, you would never wish for yourself to be tied to the prospering or decline of the Earl Residence’s reputation either, right? This is the responsibility of the men in the clan, what does it have to do with us?

“Si me, do you agree?”

Ruan Xi watched Ruan san niang vent her dissatisfaction and frustration quietly. With regards to the matter of their Earl Father giving up on Ruan san niang, she did not know how true it was, but she was of the opinion that their Earl Father’s course of action was, in fact, very normal.

Earl Chengyi had expended his efforts to cultivate his daughters: he allowed them to live in luxury, invited female masters to instruct them in their artistic skills, and the families that he found for them to marry into after they grew up were wealthy and illustrious as well, and there was a dowry attached. If there were no unforeseen accidents, they would not have to worry about their food and clothes for their entire lives, which meant that repaying their parents for giving birth to them and their clan for bringing them up was something they ought to do.

• 锦衣玉食 (pinyin: jin yi yu shi) – lit. brocade garments, jade meals.

It could be likened to the modern era: the parents raised their children, sent them to get an education, and when the parents were old, shouldn’t they support their parents in turn?

This was the ancient era, which was even more particular about how one person’s glory was glory to them all and how one person’s shame was their collective shame, especially when they were functioning under an institution where you were guilty by familial association.

The only humane consolation was that the misfortune could not reach married daughters, but married daughters without their families would find their days more difficult to live, and wives being cast off by their husbands to be sent back to their old families was not an impossibility either.

However, Ruan Xi remembered that Ruan san niang had transmigrated over halfway through and she did not have any deeply rooted feelings for the Earl Chengyi Residence. When she made the winds and waters rise in the previous lifetime, Earl Chengyi Residence should have taken advantage of the favourable situation to rise to prominence.

Perhaps, apart from the original owner, the inhabitants of the Earl Residence had benefitted through their association to Ruan san niang, while the person in question died in a hopelessly stupid manner. In her heart, it must be hard to calm her thoughts and her grievances were enormous.

Ruan Xi expressed that she understood but she could not show it outwardly. Most, if not all, noble daughters in the ancient era were deeply ingrained with the concepts of the patriarchal clan and family, and they regarded their families with absolute importance.

“San jie, the teacher who guided me said that before marriage, the clan is our home, we can enjoy the family’s fostering and protection. After marrying out, if we marry down, the clan will be our backing and our confidence, if we marry up, we will become the clan’s backing.”

Ruan Xi spoke in all seriousness.

Ruan san niang furrowed her brows. Was her fourth sister brainwashed by the family?

From her perspective, women should be independent and strive to become stronger, since the mountain that backed them could fall, and the people they relied on could run.

“Si mei, have you ever thought about how Wen gongzi treated you before you were engaged, and how he treated you after you were engaged?

“Wen gongzi likes you now, but no one can say for sure if he will come to like another woman in the next two years. Once he doesn’t like you, even to the extent where he doesn’t plan to marry you, Father will most definitely abandon you then, like how he gave up on me. It’s even possible that he will send you some big official’s backyard to be his small concubine to squeeze you dry of your last bit of worth.”

Ruan san niang admonished her earnestly and maternally, and the latter half of her words even tried to induce panic in Ruan Xi.

Ruan Xi: “……”

She did not believe that Ruan san niang was spreading out so much bedding just for the sake of telling her that their Earl Father was bent solely for profit such that he would treat his daughter as tools who could enter marriage alliances, how the men in the clan were all vampires, and the fact that Wen gongzi was not reliable because he could fall in love with someone else.

Ruan san niang drank another mouthful of tea to wet her throat. When she saw that her fourth sister was listening to her seriously the entire time, she guessed that she was probably persuaded by her. Immediately, she revealed bottomless and lofty sentiments:

“Si mei, the clan can’t be depended on, it’s best if we depend on ourselves.”

Ruan Xi: “……”

Which means to say, Ruan san niang was going to start something again?

Judging from her posturing, it seemed like she was planning to pull her in…

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