BXBX NOVEL Chapter 124 - Palace Rebellion (2)
Chapter 124 : Palace Rebellion (2)
Zisu carried a bowl of shrimp and tofu thick soup as she called out when she finally arrived at the entrance, “Miss, your midnight snack is here.” Yuxi demanded to have midnight snacks every night, since her study tasks were so heavy that her body could not bear them without eating food taken late at night.
When Yuxi heard Zisu’s voice, she put down the history book, rubbed her temples and said, “Come in!”
As Zisu waited for Yuxi to finish her midnight snack, she suggested, ”Miss, let’s not continue reading today, and take an early rest!” Zisu actually had some trouble understanding Yuxi. What was the point of bothering oneself to learn so many things? They were not going to be that useful even after one learned them. It was also based on this idea that Zisu always advised Yuxi to rest more and not to read so many books, which, unfortunately, had very little effect.
Yuxi thought for a moment and nodded, “Then, prepare hot water.”
Zisu was overjoyed, since this meant that Yuxi was going to bed. She also didn’t ask why Yuxi could be convinced this time around as she hurriedly responded, “I’ll instruct them to prepare hot water.” The fact that Yuxi slept so late every day caused the few people who waited on her and the kitchen people to also sleep this late.
After showering and dressing herself, Yuxi laid down on the bed, looked at Zisu, and said, “Let Zijin be on duty tonight.” With Zijin on the side, she felt more at ease.
Zisu knew that Yuxi was feeling afraid in her heart, so she didn’t say anything. She just dragged Zijin outside and talked to her for half an hour about the things that needed her to pay attention during night duty. She was also worried that since Zijin had been out for so long, she might have forgotten about the rules and taboos of the residence.
It wasn’t until Yuxi was calling for someone from inside the room that Zisu let Zijin go, “Be careful at night, I’m afraid that Miss will have nightmares again.” Yesterday, Kufu was the one who was keeping watch but she slept like a dead pig. When Miss had nightmares, Kufu didn’t even know about it, which showed that she was really too incompetent. If Kufu knew about Zisu’s complaint, she would seriously feel very aggrieved.
Zijin listened attentively to Zisu’s words, and once she had done listening, she said, “Zisu Jiejie¹elder sister, and informal way to call a girl /woman who is much older or more senior don’t worry, I will wait upon Miss well.” In fact, she hadn’t forgotten any of these matters.
Zijin walked into the room, and readied to blow out the tung oil lamp on the table.
Yuxi reminded Zijin, “Be vigilant tonight, okay?” She was afraid that there would be the rustle of leaves in the wind²Chinese idiom : a sign of disturbance or trouble from outside and all the people of the inner courtyard would know nothing about it. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.
Seeing how scared Yuxi was, Zijin thought for a moment and suggested, “Miss, why don’t I ask Shuang Jie³elder sister, short form for Jiejie and Xue Jie³elder sister, short form for Jiejie sleep in the outer room while the three of us take turns keeping watch?”
Yuxi thought this idea was very good, “Then you go arrange it!”
When Deng Xue heard Zijin’s words, she was somewhat surprised, “It was only a dream. She would go as far as being this afraid?” When she looked at Fourth Miss, she didn’t seem like a timid person! Why would she suddenly become scared and disturbed just because of a nightmare? Well, for these girls of rich families to be this scared because of their dreams, if they had to work outside for a living, it could be estimated that they would not be able to make a living even for a day.
Deng Shuang swept a glance at Deng Xue and saw that she had lower her head, before she asked, “Zijin, what are the rules in keeping watch for Miss?” Since they were already employed, naturally, they should follow the orders from the master’s house.
Zijin shook her head, “Miss is very easy to be waited upon, so there’s nothing particularly taboo matters.” There was no better master to serve than her Miss.
Deng Xue said, “In fact, Miss is afraid of thieves coming in, not of someone making mischief inside the yard. I don’t think we sisters need to go to the Miss’ room to keep watch at all. The situation will still stay the same here anyway.” What kind of people could break in really deep into the residence? Really, Deng Xue didn’t even know how to spit this matter out anymore.
Zijin thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll go ask Miss.” It was still up to Miss to decide.
Yuxi also knew why the two sisters didn’t come, but she restrained herself, “Okay, then just follow what Miss Deng had said.”
With so many things hidden in her heart, Yuxi kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She made Zijin light up the lamp as she took her medical book and read it. She was hoping that this would make her sleepy, but this time it didn’t work. Even if she kept reading the medical book, she still couldn’t sleep.
Yuxi simply stopped reading the medical book and drew Zijin in to talk about her daily life, “Have you ever had a hard time in the Deng family over the past two years? It’s looked like you have been under the sun a lot?” For Zijin to be this dark after being under the sun, she didn’t know if Zijin would be able to go back to how she looked before. If Zijin unable to do it, Yuxi would have to help in providing thick dowry for her.
Zijin unconsciously touched her face, “I didn’t feel it was anything while I was with the Deng family.” But as soon as she returned to the residence, she was a little embarrassed to see how fair-skinned Zisu and Kufu were.
Yuxi asked, “Will you return there in a few days?”
Zijin answered without thinking, “Of course I will go back. Miss has paid all my tuition this year, so I shouldn’t waste all the spent money.” Although Deng Shi taught her martial arts, she did not like Deng Shi. Without her, Deng loved money too much. The tuition fee of five hundred tael⁴1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) a year was already sky-high, and even an extra one hundred tael⁴1⁄16 of a catty jīn [斤] (old) for accommodation and meals. It was not like there would be plenty of meat and fish⁵lavish meals every day, they were just ordinary meals that were charged with so much money. This was clearly taking Miss as someone who was a spendthrift and foolish!
In fact, Zijin knew very well in her heart that it was not true that her Miss did not know, but in order for her to learn her skills, her Miss pretended to be deaf and dumb⁶Chinese idiom : feign ignorance. After all, it was not that easy to find a female master. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.
Yuxi nodded her head and said, “It is good for you to make your own decision on this matter. Tell me about your life at Deng’s house. Is there anything particularly interesting?” She didn’t want to listen to anything on martial arts since it wasn’t that useful to her.
Deng Shi was an armed escort, and she always went out to escort goods, thus, her behaviour was very much bold and shrewish. This also affected Deng Shuang and Deng Xue, which led to Zijin often following the Deng sisters out to deal with things. Naturally, Zijin would have more contacts with the outside world.
Yuxi listened with fascination. Although she also often went out to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival, it was far from as lively as the one that Zijin saw.
The two did not know how long they had been talking, when Zijin suddenly realised it was already late, “Miss, you have to get up early tomorrow, so you should go to bed!”
Yuxi was indeed a bit sleepy too, “Then you should go and take a nap for a bit too.”
Yuxi, who had just fallen asleep, was pushed awake by Zijin. When she opened her eyes, she saw a panic Zijin, “Miss, you must wake up.”
Yuxi swiftly got up and asked while dressing, “Did any bandits manage to get in?”
Zijin shook her head and explained, “No, but I think the sound outside is a bit wrong…” Before she finished her words, the two Deng sisters rushed in.
Deng Shuang informed, “Fourth Miss, the situation outside is not right.” The two of them just went out of the courtyard and saw many bright spots of lights in the outer courtyard. If she didn’t guess wrong, those were torches. Something big must have happened, that was why so many torches had been lit.
Yuxi didn’t have time to think much at this point either, and she immediately shouted, “Quick, go to the courtyard and call everyone up.”
When Yuxi had dressed herself up and walked to the yard, all the maids and old women servants were already up. She instructed Zisu, ”Zisu, you take them all and hide inside the garden rockeries. Don’t come out until dawn.”
Zisu’s face changed dramatically, “Miss, what happened?”
Yuxi also didn’t have time to explain, ”Don’t ask so many questions, just do as I say. It’s colder inside the rockeries, so you guys hurry back to your rooms and get two thick clothes.” It was cold inside the rockeries during summer, not to mention the fact that it was still in the fourth lunar month, and if one only wore this kind of thin clothes while being in the rockeries in the middle of the night, one would definitely catch a cold.
Zisu didn’t want to leave Yuxi and said, “Miss, let Kufu take them to the garden and I will go with Miss.” Live or die, she would follow her Miss.
Yuxi knew that Zisu was being temperamental, but at this time she didn’t want to let Zisu give her additional troubles, “Do as I say. Zisu, I’ll leave this matter to you, I’m going to the main courtyard now.” After saying this, she led Zijin and the Deng sisters towards the direction of the main courtyard at a brisk pace.
Maidong looked at Yuxi, who had disappeared in a blink of an eye, and busily asked, “Zisu Jiejie¹elder sister, and informal way to call a girl /woman who is much older or more senior, what should we do now?”
Seeing Yuxi left, Zisu steadied herself and looked at the people in the yard. First, she told them to go back to their rooms and put on thick clothes, then she divided them into three teams. Maidong took the first team to the bedroom to get the jewellery, and Kufu took the second team to the study to get the books and the four treasures. As for Zisu, she, on the other hand, took the last group of people to the warehouse.
Although the maids in the courtyard did not know what had happened, they could see the danger from Yuxi’s expression, so whether they were wearing thick clothes or taking things, their movements were all very fast.
The jewellery was the fastest to be gathered, as most of the jewellery were put in boxes except for the ones on the dresser; Kufu often cleaned the study and knew that inkstone and ink were the most valuable things in the room. She told the people to only take the valuable things and gave up the others, while she took several of Yuxi’s medical books; as for the warehouse, naturally, it was Zisu who was the most familiar with it, and she clearly knew the most valuable ones inside.
A few minutes later, everyone was holding something in their hands. Those who didn’t know would think that they were fleeing. Zisu was carrying a large bundle on her back and a box in her hand. “Go, go to the garden,” she said. There were many rockeries in the garden. It would be hard for people outside to find people hiding inside, hence, it was the safest hiding place ever.
When the group of people nearly arrived at the entrance of the garden, a shriek suddenly could be heard. Zisu, seeing that the situation was wrong, immediately cried, “Quick, quick, hide in the rockery and we will be safe.” Fortunately, their reaction was very fast and there was no one in the garden at that time.
At this time, everybody was feeling really scared, and when they heard Zisu’s words, they immediately followed her fleeing toward the entrance of the garden.
Soon, the group of people went into the garden. By this time, the clutter outside was growing louder, with cries and panicked cries for help, as well as pleas for mercy. Seeing that the crowd was moving slowly, Zisu lowered her voice and said, “Quick, don’t dawdle.” Even if they went out there, they couldn’t help much as they lacked the strength even to truss a chicken⁷Chinese idiom : weak.
Zisu often accompanied Yuxi to take a walk in the garden, so she was very familiar with the layout. The group of people quickly drilled themselves among the rockeries, and since no one was dared to remain at the entrance, everyone moved towards the deep inside of the rockeries. They didn’t stop until there was no more way for them to go.
Kufu cried, “Zisu Jiejie¹elder sister, and informal way to call a girl /woman who is much older or more senior, what exactly did you say happened?” The scream just now had stunned them all.
Zisu lowered her voice and said, “Don’t talk. I’m not sure anyone will come soon. If anyone leads someone to come here, all of us will die.” Miss had asked her to bring these people here to save their lives.
Kufu did not dare to cry this time, while the others covered their mouths, did not dare to make any noise.
Zisu saw that the crowd didn’t make a sound, therefore she didn’t speak anymore. She was worried about Yuxi, and wondered how her Miss was currently doing.