Chapter 4
She watched as dawn broke. Estimating that it was around 5 or 6 in the morning, Cheng Jin (her name will subsequently be changed to Ah Luo) climbed out of bed and looked at the thin, tight-skinned clothing she was wearing which was highly unsuitable for exercising in.
Xiao Yu also awoke and asked Ah Luo, “Young Miss, why did you wake up so early? It’s only mao shi (5-7am) , normally you wake around chen shi (7-9am).”
Ah Luo inwardly recited the Twelve Earthly Branches in her heart, thinking that she needed to be familiar with the system they used here to designate time. Smiling, she responded, “Having passed the test yesterday, I was too happy and couldn’t sleep. Xiao Yu, can you make me an outfit?”
Xiao Yu carried over some water for her to wash her face. While combing her hair, she asked, “What kind of clothes does Young Miss want? Xiao Yu can make it.”
Ah Luo smiled, “I’ll draw it for you in a moment. By the way, Xiao Yu, do I need to give… do I need to pay my respects in the morning?” Ah Luo still wasn’t able to call her mother yet.
Xiao Yu chuckled and said, “Mistress enjoys tranquillity and likes to pass the time by embroidering alone. She goes to Eldest Mistress’ quarters to say her morning greetings during chen shi, then stays in her room when she comes back. Young Miss doesn’t need to go.”
Baffled, Ah Luo went on to ask, “Who should I look for if I wish to learn?”
Xiao Yu was very surprised, “Eldest Miss and Second Miss both have private teachers. Third Mistress and Fourth Mistress are both proficient in the four arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Young Miss, you have driven away several teachers and Mistress has said that she will wait until you wish to learn before requesting another teacher. However, Young Miss, our Mistress is actually a talented woman. She knows everything.”
Ah Luo smiled. How wonderful, she already had a teacher on hand! She said to Xiao Yu, “I feel uncomfortable after lying down for so long and want to move a bit. Take me out and show me around! When my beautiful mother returns, I will ask her to teach me!” With the addition of the word ‘beautiful’, Ah Luo felt that it rolled off the tongue much more smoothly.
Xiao Yu agreed with a smile. With her hairstyle pinned up in place, Ah Luo was unable to hold back and pulled Xiao Yu out past the courtyard gate. Xiao Yu was infected by Ah Luo’s excitement and laughed, “Young Miss never left the courtyard before, preferring to be alone. How come you’ve suddenly changed?”
Ah Luo raised her head and looked at Xiao Yu, “I can’t bear to see my beautiful mother crying. I won’t let her stay in this garden forever and grow old. Xiao Yu, you have to help me, we can’t let others bully us.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yu’s eyes turned red. She led Ah Luo around, patiently telling her about the house. Ah Luo suddenly remembered that she didn’t even know her own surname. Tilting her head to the side, she said to Xiao Yu, “Third Mistress’ daughter, Eldest Sister Li…something… Lei, and Fourth Mistress’ daughter, Second Sister Li…something… Fei, are both quite arrogant.”
Xiao Yu glanced to the left and right to check that there was no one around, then said to Ah Luo, “Young Miss, Third Mistress and Fourth Mistress both come from powerful families, you mustn’t refer to Eldest Miss and Second Miss like this. If people heard, they will say that the Seventh Mistress didn’t teach her daughter proper manners.”
Ah Luo took the opportunity to ask about Third Mistress’ and Fourth Mistress’ circumstances. She learned that one was the daughter of a concubine of Zhang landlord in Feng City, while the other one was the cousin of the Vice Minister of Public Works. The other mistresses all came from unsullied families, only Seventh Mistress came from a brothel. She was bought with a lot of money and gifted to Father Li as a concubine for her first night, it was no wonder that the others looked down on her.
Ah Lei’s full name is Li Qing Lei, Ah Fei is Li Qing Fei, and Ah Luo is naturally called Li Qing Luo. Ah Luo sighed again. Without even mentioning being the offspring of a concubine, her mother was from a brothel. With such low status, it was likely that a dog belonging to Eldest Mistress would be more respected than Seventh Mistress.
After walking around for a long while, they had been all over the inner hall and Ah Luo roughly understood her situation. Leading Xiao Yu back to her room, she sent her off to see if Seventh Mistress had returned.
She picked up a brush and drew a general map of the residence. As expected, Begonia Garden was really remote, located next to the vegetable garden. Behind the house was a large bamboo forest and past that was the wall. Ah Luo felt very satisfied, in a position like this, if she wanted to climb over the wall and sneak out in the future, she wouldn’t be discovered.
When Seventh Mistress heard that Ah Luo had woken up early and wanted to learn, she excitedly came over and asked, “San’er, what do you want to learn? Why do you want to learn, tell Mother!”
Ah Luo looked at the enthusiastic and warm eyes on Seventh Mistress’ face, then walked over to grasp the lower hem of her gown and said, “Mother, I don’t wish to master my studies, just enough to bluff my way through. I can’t let others look down on us anymore!”
Seventh Mistress’ eyes reddened, “I always knew, how could my daughter be an idiot?! Being able to create such a good poem after observing the begonia in the courtyard, San’er, you have intelligent roots.”
Ah Luo smiled wryly, she didn’t have intelligent roots, so she had to develop them now.
From that day on, Seventh Mistress taught Ah Luo the zither and calligraphy. Ah Luo discovered that this child’s brain was very quick and receptive, gifted with an extraordinarily retentive memory. Combined with her 22-year-old mind, she was able to understand anything after Seventh Mistress taught it once. Having learnt to play the zither, Ah Luo found that being able to play was also a good thing. With her voice changed, time passed quickly as she played her favourite songs from the modern era. Like this, she spent more and more time practising on the zither.
Until one day, Seventh Mistress heard her playing a song called <Water Melody> and burst into tears, crying into her silk handkerchief until it was drenched. Choking with sobs, she said to Ah Luo, “San’er, this song truly sounds wonderful. There are emotions in your music, you play much better than your elder sister.”
Ah Luo was unconvinced and asked Seventh Mistress, “Isn’t it because this song is good? It’s not because of my qin skills.” After saying this, she played <Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms>. Ah Luo thought that it could be compared properly this way.
Unexpectedly, Seventh Mistress proudly said, “Your mother has been playing the zither since she was four years old and is second to none in Feng City. Do you doubt the power of your mother’s ear? Just like this Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms song, your notes illustrate the plum blossom’s arrogance even more. I am proud of my daughter.”
Ah Luo sighed. To receive praise from the best zither player in Feng City, it must be true. She spoke quietly to Seventh Mistress, “Mother, don’t let anyone else know about this. Can Ah Luo only play for mother?”
Seventh Mistress replied with a smile in her eyes, “Are you afraid of stealing your eldest sister’s spotlight, and never having peace again?”
With a deliberately straight face, Ah Luo said, “I only play for music. If I play better than her, how can I bear it if they ask me to play the zither every time they have distinguished guests?”
Seventh Mistress pinched her cheeks and pulled her into an embrace, “San’er, you’re truly clever! Mother can’t love you enough!”
Ah Luo also became more and more fond of this beautiful mother. Kindhearted and affectionate, and most importantly, her heart. She thought, in the future, she would definitely take care of this young mother!
Ah Luo woke up early every morning, donning the large gown and wide pants made by Xiao Yu and started to warm up with a run. When she reached the bamboo forest behind the house, she made Xiao Yu stand guard outside while she practised the karate she had learned in the modern world by herself. Every evening, she would do half an hour of yoga before going to sleep. At first, Xiao Yu looked at her strangely. Ah Luo levelled her gaze at Xiao Yu and said, “If you really want to repay my mother’s kindness, don’t mention this. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what I’m doing, just remember that it’s for the sake of our future.”
Xiao Yu nodded in agreement, watching as Ah Luo’s face reddened more and more, her footsteps becoming light and nimble. She felt that the way Young Miss took care of her health was truly beneficial, so she didn’t say anything.
In a blink of an eye, it was time for the three-month test again. Ah Luo watched indifferently as her eldest and second sisters showed off their talents in zither and calligraphy. She then lowered her head and sang a melody with good lyrics yet out of tune. Father Li presumed that the poem Ah Luo recited last time had been taught by her mother to gain his favour so that he would visit her, and that she didn’t let Ah Luo study any other poetry. Now that he saw her learning how to sing, he happily gave a few words of encouragement.
All the other mistresses also assumed this was the case and detested Seventh Madam even more, feeling that she was shamelessly using her daughter to seduce the master. Fortunately, Master Li Xiang was constantly being watched by Eldest Mistress. Along with being pestered by several other concubines, he had only visited Begonia Garden once or twice. Begonia Garden was remote and Li Xiang always felt that Seventh Mistress was rather cold, so he lost motivation. The other mistresses also felt at ease, laughing at how Seventh Mistress’ methods from the brothel were ineffective at charming the master.
In every subsequent test, Ah Luo would play chess for a while, or do a little embroidery, or play the zither, without mastering anything in particular. Li Xiang saw that she learned a lot yet could not become proficient in any of the skills. No matter how he reprimanded her, Ah Luo would try out a new skill in the next test then say extremely pitifully, “Ah Luo will do as father says and study hard for the next three months. I am new at XX, father please evaluate.” Of course, she would neither progress nor retrogress. Li Xiang would make her specialise in one skill, however, she could never reach Qing Lei’s and Qing Fei’s levels, so he could only shake his head inwardly. The gazes of the other mistresses gradually softened.
Seventh Mistress asked Qing Luo, “San’er, until when are you going to conceal your skills?
Ah Luo smiled, “Mother, in the art of war, before fully maturing, we cannot go against those we know we cannot win. Don’t you think that apart from Eldest Mistress, the other childless mistresses prefer me to eldest sister and second sister?
Seventh Mistress cheerfully thought that she could rely on this clever daughter for the rest of her life.
Ah Luo realised it had already been six years since she arrived here. She had long given up on thinking that she would return to the modern world one day and the only thing she thought about was how to stand on her own feet here. She needed money and after pondering it for quite a while, Ah Luo decided to open a restaurant. After earning enough money, she would take her beautiful mother, Madam Zhang, and Xiao Yu to visit the other four empires. Such a journey would have been impossible in the modern times. Perhaps she would meet someone one day, if they married then they so be it. If she didn’t meet anyone, then it would be fine to be a restaurant owner for the rest of her life.
With this thought in mind, Ah Luo entered the ocean of knowledge of a different space-time continuum. Combining modern and ancient knowledge, she felt that if she went back one day, she need not do anything else but open an antique shop, and she would earn money like crazy.
Like this, Ah Luo turned 12 years old. Li Qing Lei was now 16 and Li Qing Fei was 14.
The reputation of the two female geniuses in the Li Xiang Family unwittingly spread like wildfire and as early as two years prior, the number of people who came to ask for the hand of Li Qing Lei and Li Qing Fei in marriage was so great that they almost broke the raised threshold of Li Xiang’s residence. Third Young Miss Qing Luo was rarely known by people. Li Xiang merely shook his head and said his daughters were too young, so he loathed to marry them off so early.
However, Feng City’s Peach Blossom Banquet would be held in spring this year and Li Xiang received an invitation from Princess Hu Guo.
