Golden Age Legitimate Fei

CHAPTER 1: BREAKING OFF ENGAGEMENT? BESTOWING MARRIAGE?
“Xiaojie (小姐 – Young miss / lady)! Xiaojie, something bad happened!”

In a sparsely furnished yuanzi (院子 – a small residence within a family residence compound) that looked quiet and secluded, a light green figure rushed into the inner room like the wind. The wind chime hanging on the door let out a peal of jingling sounds.

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院子 – yuanzi
Inside the simple yet elegant room, a slim figure was sitting and facing the half-opened window. The needlework in her hands didn’t stop at all despite the disturbance of the sudden entrance of someone else. The young woman waited until the little yatou (丫头 – young maidservant) started panting for air before putting a stop to the needlework in her hands and turned around with a smile, saying, “What matter has caused you to be this flustered?”

The woman’s appearance was serene and elegant. It was just that besides the trace of a delicate appearance in the eyes, there was also some unexpected nimbleness and astuteness along with it. She was fully dressed in plain clothes and her long hair was held together with only a single jasper hairpin (example). If others were to see her, they would have found it hard to believe that this woman was actually the dignified eldest di (嫡 – legitimate / of the official wife) daughter of the Shangshu fu (尚書 – title or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence | 府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together).

“Xiaojie! You still have the mood for embroidery. Don’t you know…don’t you know you’ve had your engagement broken off by Li wang (王 – imperial prince)!” The little yatou grabbed the embroidery from her hands, anxiously stamping her feet. Ever since Li wang broke off the engagement three days before, she had been so anxious she could catch fire. Yet on the contrary, her household’s xiaojie looked like she didn’t even care about the matter.

“Qing Shuang, Li wang already broke off the engagement three days ago. Isn’t your anxiety now a bit too slow of a reaction?” Not caring about her rude movement, Ye Li looked at her own household’s little yatou in amusement.

“Xiaojie!” Qing Shuang blew her top as she stared at their household’s xiaojie. “I’m definitely not anxious because of Li wang.” Her household’s xiaojie herself didn’t care about Li wang so what would be the point of her caring that much about such matter? But… “Aiya, xiaojie. The emperor has bestowed a marriage upon you! Laoye (老爺 – master / lord of the household) wants you to go out to receive the edict.”

“A bestowed marriage again?” Ye Li was startled for a moment and could not help but frown. She originally thought that due to Li wang breaking off the engagement, she would be able to live in peace for the next few years. After all, there weren’t many people willing to marry a woman whose engagement had been broken off by the other party in this era. “Our family is only a Shangshu fu and nothing more, why would the emperor be this attentive?” Three days ago she had been subjected to a broken off engagement, three days later was bestowed a marriage again. Is it because the emperor regarded Shangshu fu as too valuable or is it because he considered the man who had broken off the engagement to be displeasing to the eye?

Qing Shuang reddened with anger to the point of gritting her teeth from resentment. “It’s Ding wang! For sure it was da xiaojie (大小姐 – eldest young miss / lady) who incited the emperor. Ever since she was young, she loved to bully xiaojie and now she actually…actually let xiaojie get betrothed to Ding wang. Wuwu…..”

Ye Li helplessly looked at their own household’s yatou. This yatou who loved to cry being named “Qing Shuang” was surely in vain.

(清 – qing – clear / quiet / pure | 霜 – shuang – frost / frosting)

“Okay la, these kinds of words shouldn’t be carelessly said outside. Let’s go to receive the edict.”

Ye Family Hall

“Feng Tian (奉天 – old name for a place in North-East China) to accept the mandate of Heaven, Emperor’s imperial order says: The Ye clan’s eldest daughter Ye Li is intelligent and virtuous, to have both talent and virtue as a good match. Specially betrothed to Ding guowangye* Mo Xiu Yao as his zhengfei (正妃 – main imperial consort wife / official wife of an imperial prince or “王 – wang“). Select a propitious day to get married. By the Emperor himself.”

((*Note: The title used here is “国王爺 – guowangye“. “王 – wang” refers to an imperial prince. “国 – guo” means nation or country. “国王 – guowang” means king according to MDBG. I guess it could mean nation’s imperial prince in this scenario, but I’m not completely sure about this and it might mean something else in this historical / cultural context.))

Everyone of the Ye clan gave thanks in unison. The eunuch delivered the imperial decree over to Ye Li‘s hands with a smile and said, “Congratulations to Ye furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife), congratulations to Ye xiaojie.”

Ye Li received the imperial decree and endured the eunuch’s ear-piercing laughter with an indifferent smile, saying, “Thanks to gonggong (公公 – term used to address a eunuch), I have troubled gonggong.”

The eunuch responsible for delivering the imperial decree looked at Ye Li somewhat surprised. It was reported that the Ye family’s di third* daughter was known in the capital as the sanwuqianjin (三无千金 – derogatory nickname used in the novel to describe a noble daughter lacking in three areas: looks, talent, and virtue), famous for lacking talent, looks, and virtue.

((Note: Ye Li is the third daughter in the family, but the first to be born from a di wife.))

However, looking again at the girl in front of him who was although inferior to the palace’s Ye Zhao Yi‘s garish and beautiful disposition and also didn’t have the unparalleled good looks of the capital’s number one beauty fourth xiaojie of the Ye family, but she could still be considered a rare kind of a quiet and exquisite beauty. In addition, she had a graceful bearing and her manner of speech was magnanimous. How was she anything like Ye Zhao Yi described in having no sense of propriety and was someone who couldn’t be seen in public?

Taking a glance at how unbridled all the members of the Ye family at the side were in their schadenfreude*, the eunuch responsible for delivering the imperial edict was already clear in his mind. Although he somewhat felt sorry for this Ye xiaojie, this kind of matter wasn’t something he as a eunuch would be able to take care of, to make a sound and then not dare to conveniently take one’s leave at the same time.

((Note: The actual words used here was “幸災樂禍” (xingzailehuo) which literally means ‘to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster’, an idiom meaning to rejoice in others’ misfortune / schadenfreude))

The Ye family’s zhumu (主母 – owner ‘mother’ / mother in charge of the household) attentively had the guanjia (管家 – housekeeper / butler / person managing a household) personally send off the person, before casting a sidelong glance at Ye Li and pretended to smile affectionately, “It is with good fortune that the emperor is brilliant and sage-like, to have given third xiaojie a good marriage again. Otherwise…” Otherwise how would a woman who had a broken engagement be able to get married?

Ye Li‘s complexion was as usual, laughing coldly on the inside. A good marriage, thinking that she didn’t like going out and thus didn’t know anything. When Ding wang Mo Xiu Yao was eighteen, he had been seriously injured to the extent that both his legs were crippled and his looks were completely destroyed. Since then he had been lingering in the sickbed. He had once married two zhengfei (正妃 – main imperial consort / official wife of an imperial prince) in succession; one accidentally died from drowning in less than half a month of getting married, the other was frightened to death on the wedding night. There were rumours that said it was due to seeing Ding wang‘s face that led to her being scared to death. If it weren’t for that, depending on Ding wang‘s identity and status, how could he have reached the age of twenty-five and still not have a zhengfei?

“It is as furen (夫人 – lady or madam of the house / wife) said. No matter what is said about Ding wang, he is still a first-rate succeeding wangye (王爺 – term for addressing an imperial prince). Indeed it is Li er (儿 – term of endearment for one’s child) rising up socially.”

The Ye family’s zhumu‘s (主母 – owner mother / mother in charge of the household) face stiffened before looking at Ye Li and saying, “Since you know that, you should get yourself properly prepared to get married. Do not bring shame to our Shangshu fu‘s reputation. After a few days, your fourth younger sister will also be getting married. The fu will be very busy in these following days.”

“I know. I have allowed furen to feel troubled.”

“I am this Ye family’s zhumu. I will naturally feel troubled over these matters.” The Ye family’s zhumu said. Seeing Ye Li‘s calm demeanor, she snorted out loud before walking away.

Ye Li had a smile on her face as she watched the Ye family’s zhumu leave, raising her eyebrows and not saying anything. Although she was the di (嫡 – legitimate / of the official wife) daughter of the Ye family, she was not born from the current zhumu Wang shi (氏 – clan name / maiden surname). Instead, she was born from Ye Shangshu‘s first wife and furen Xu shi . Xu shi came from an aristocratic family with a literary reputation. After giving birth to Ye Li, she was continuously feeling unwell. Ye Shangshu favored his concubine Wang shi who was the first to arrive* more and after Xu furen had gotten seriously ill, even the power over the fu (府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together) altogether was handed over to Wang shi. When Ye Li was seven, Xu shi took her last breath and it was also at that time that Ye Li became the Ye Li of today.

((*Note: 先進門 – xianjinmen – lit. first to go in the door [of the family/house] | Here, it is saying that Ye Shangshu already had Wang shi as a concubine before officially marrying Xu shi as his first main wife.))

After Wang shi was promoted from being a concubine to a wife’s status, for fear of others saying that she was treating the first wife’s di daughter harshly, she didn’t dare abuse her, but often ultimately made things difficult for her which was completely diffused by Ye Li‘s calm and collected persona, therefore also causing Wang furen to dislike her even more.

“Third elder sister, congratulations to you.” Some of the Ye family’s young women still in the boudoir came forward, their faces showing all sorts of expressions of pity and schadenfreude to go with their words of congratulations.

The first to speak was sixth xiaojie Ye Lin. She was the daughter of a concubine. Since she was young, she loved to tag along with and revolve around Wang shi‘s di daughters along with occasionally oppressing Ye Li to win their favour. Ye Li was generally unwilling to bother with her. It was nothing more than a shu nu‘s (庶女 – concubine’s daughter) means of survival. As long as it didn’t go overboard, she also didn’t want to dispute with a child who had just turned ten.

“What good is there to congratulate third elder sister. Having to marry Ding wang, just thinking about it makes me scared. That Ding wang is disabled as well as ugly, and even scared one wangfei (王妃 – consort princess / wife of a an imperial prince or “王 – wang“) to death. Maybe even the first wangfei was also scared to death by him. We should congratulate fourth elder sister instead. Just one more month and then fourth elder sister will be Li wangfei.”

Fifth xiaojie Ye Shan ingratiatingly looked at the capital’s number one beauty fourth xiaojie Ye Ying, her eyes unable to conceal her envy and jealousy.

Ye Ying was indeed worthy of being called the capital’s number one beauty with eyebrows like willow leaves, eyes like limpid autumn waters, an exquisite and absolutely beautiful jade-like complexion that would radiate everywhere, and her every move held a kind of feminine and graceful charm that made people want to take pity on her.

It was just that this kind of gentle and beautiful appearance in the eyes of Ye Li who had seen enough of countless beautiful people in her past life was lacking a certain breathtaking quality to it.

“Everyone is sisters here, it’s not about what to congratulate and what not to congratulate. In the future, mother for sure would also choose an ideal husband for fifth younger sister and sixth younger sister. ” Ye Ying said softly, her voice gentle and sweet-sounding, her breath smelling like orchids, and her every move carrying a kind of grace that could make people get addicted. Everyone who was looking once again felt a burst of envy growing without restraint. “As for third elder sister, the matter of Li wang…still hope that you can forgive me.” Her autumn eyes filled with apology as she looked at Ye Li.

Ye Li showed Ye Ying a generous smile, saying, “It’s alright, it’s probably that Li wang and I do not have the fate to be together. We cannot always–because of a man–sever our relationship as sisters, right?”

Ye Ying was startled for a moment as she was unable to get the reaction she wanted, making her feel unreconciled. Three days ago, she originally thought that receiving news of her broken engagement would cause her to be in so much pain that she’d want to die, but what made Ye Ying completely disappointed was that her very own third elder sister was only silent for a moment before saying that she understood and then just went back to her room on her own to take a rest. Today, she once again didn’t see even the slightest haggard look. Li wang after all was the ideal husband that all the unmarried daughters of noble houses dreamed about, she didn’t believe that she really wasn’t upset about it!

It was only after awhile that she showed a shy smile, saying, “I know that third elder sister dotes on me the most. In the future, if third elder sister has any kind of difficulties, you can go to Li wang fu to find Ying er.”

Ye Li faintly complied, too lazy to look at the barely concealed pleased look on her face. Bidding farewell to this pile of sisters itching to oppress her, Ye Li brought Qing Shuang with her to slowly walk back towards her own xiaoyuan (小院 – a small residence within a family residence compound / another term for yuanzi ‘院子’, pictured above).

On the way, Qing Shuang continued muttering apprehensively in indignation. “What did fourth xiaojie even mean by that, it was obviously her who stole Li wang, but was still acting all sympathetic back there. Really makes one feel disgusted!”

Ye Li turned around laughing at her. “Okay la, if people were to hear this, be careful you might get punished*. It really doesn’t matter to me whether I get married to Li wang or Ding wang ah.”

((*Note: What she really said was “小心你的皮肉疼” (xiaoxinnidepirouteng) which literally means “Be careful your skin and flesh will hurt”. It sounds rather awkward to say it in English, so I amended it to be a bit more straight to the point as it does seem to allude to getting physically punished.))

“How can it not matter to you?!” Qing Shuang stared at her, “Li wang is known in the capital as a distinguished and admirable gongzi (公子 – son of nobility / young man), the emperor’s own little brother. Who doesn’t know that Ding wang is crippled in both legs, his looks destroyed by the serious illness he is bedridden with to the point of being…uh…” Thinking that Ding wang will soon become her own household’s xiaojie‘s husband, Qing Shuang strove hard to swallow back the word “trash”.

“So what?” Ye Li raised an eyebrow, look amusedly at Qing Shuang. “Is it possible that after seeing how Li wang looked, you wanted to follow me in my marriage to go become a yiniang (姨娘 – normal concubine)?” Whether or not he was handsome, Ye Li didn’t care enough to know. Even if her former fiancé was said in the capital to be like the four legendary beautiful men of lore*, but that Mo Jun Li‘s character would definitely not be better than that of Ding wang.

((*Note: Normally, people talk about the four legendary beauties (of China) – 四大美女 (sidameinu) – which refers to Xishi 西施, Wang Zhaojun 王昭君, Diaochan 貂蝉 and Yang Yuhuan 杨玉环 (a.k.a Yang guifei – 杨贵妃). In this case, it refers to the male equivalent: 潘安 (Pan An), 兰陵王 (Lan Ling Wang), 嵇康 (Ji Kang), and 卫玠 (Wei Jie). These men were said to have a common feature, which is that they have both good looks and talent, as well as possess other noteworthy skills. It was also said that when they go travelling, there would be a large mass of people flocking to see them.))

She didn’t hear about the news of Mo Jun Li and Ye Ying fooling around together before, but the motivation and mentality behind Mo Jun Li having to wait till it was nearing the date of the wedding before only then breaking off the engagement was worth pondering over. Thinking until here…for the emperor at this time to betroth a woman with a broken engagement to Ding wang likewise was also worth thinking about. ‘Intelligent and virtuous, to have both talent and virtue as a good match’…in the capital, who didn’t know that the Ye family’s third xiaojie was famous for having an ugly appearance, her talent an oversight, and inelegant in the feminine arts–the sanwuqianjin (三无千金 – derogatory nickname used in the novel to describe a noble daughter lacking in three areas: looks, talent, and virtue)?

Was it saying that she, the sanwuqianjin, and the Ding guowang said to be trash are very well-matched?

“Xiaojie!” Qing Shuang flushed with anger as she stamped her feet. “I definitely don’t want that! Qing Shuang would rather marry a nucai xiaosi (奴才|小廝 – slave | male servant) than to become a yiniang.” The most important was that she would definitely not become her own household’s xiaojie‘s husband’s yiniang.

Qing Shuang‘s mother was originally the shiqie (侍妾 – a concubine lower in rank from a “侧妃 cefei – secondary wife, ranked below the main wife” but not considered to be a low rank) of a rich family’s household. After her father passed away, she and her mother were kicked out of the household by the zhengfang (正房 – primary wife) to live on the streets. After Qing Shuang‘s mother had died from a serious illness, she had almost been sold into a brothel. Luckily, she was bought by xiaojie who even gave her the name “Qing Shuang” and taught her how to read and write. Qing Shuang wasn’t someone who kicks their benefactor in the teeth and she will never forget this kindness.

Seeing the little yatou (丫头 – young maidservant) getting really impatient, Ye Li couldn’t hold herself back from laughing out loud. “Okay la, can’t I even make a joke?”

“Xiaojie…..”