Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 11

Hiya! I’m back! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 🥳✨

After giving it some thought, I don’t think anyone got the message from the notice board on the sidebar, lol…so I’m releasing one chapter today to let you all know that chapters 12-20 will be released on the 6th of January. My original plan was to make the release on Christmas Day, but since it was the holiday season, I was too caught up in personal matters that I couldn’t finish translating the chaps in time.

I know y’all waited long for the new translated chapters, and I’m sorry for being so slow. 2020 has been a rough year for all of us, so I hope entering 2021, things will become better and that y’all can still find joy and happiness. Of course, I, too, will try to do my part and do my best to update as regularly as I can. But life can be a bit of a bummer, you know? 😂

Anyway, I’ve re-read the previous chapters and added some trivia for new readers to c-novels (it’s mostly just me rambling on about stuff lol. Just thought it might be interesting to some readers…). Between now and the 6th of Jan, some of you might want to reread the previous chapters, too (because it’s been a looooong time since the last update), so hopefully the extra trivia can make it less boring.

I have slightly proof-read the translations too, but will still need a better proof-reader, haha…I have a bad habit of switching between past and present tense 🤓😢

Oh! And in case you didn’t noticed, I also changed the website’s layout. New Year, new theme —of course 🥰

Happy reading and see y’all again on the 6th! xx

New glossary:
→ huáng shàng ≪皇上≫ — (the) Emperor / His Majesty

→ lǎo nú ≪老奴≫ — lǎo means old, nú means slave. sometimes, old-aged servants use this term to address themselves.

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Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 11^{Slightly edited.}

After finishing their discussion, the couple had no other topics to talk about.

Ah Nan was sitting in the middle of the bed. As she had just woken up from her afternoon nap, still wearing her loose white underclothes. Her hair was also uncombed. One can say that she does not have a tidy and neat appearance. While sitting in front of her husband to discuss the matters he brought up, it was hard to avoid feeling a little nervous. She was afraid of doing something wrong which might result in herself having a bad impression in front of him.

Su Wang’s aura was too intimidating. She didn’t know how to relax.

Chu Ba Ning pondered and thought about if any other things needed to be discussed. When he was certain that there was nothing else, he voluntarily relaxed for a moment. It was only after when he had just finished thinking, he noticed that his new wang fei was somewhat looking nervous. She seemed very confused as she was unable to sit still. Su Wang realised, then, that he did not like to see how his wang fei was being so distant and polite to him. Since she has become his wife, therefore is now his, he was hoping that she would be able to drop the formalities in front of hm.

The only problem is that Chu Ba Ning is not a person who knows how to coax a woman. He was born with a very serious temperament, so he could only use his seriousness to express, “Ah Nan, we have just gotten married. No need to feel restricted. When you need anything, just fetch a maid to go find Butler Qin to help you.”

Ah Nan believed that if she really listens to his advice, then she is probably a person with a head made out of wood. She wouldn’t have simply responded an obedient “Yes” if she hadn’t considered saving her husband some face.

Again, there was silence.

Chu Ba Ning could only stand up and said, “Take a rest,” and then left to the study room.

After he left, Ah Nan heaved a sigh of relief. She immediately called for Ru Cui to help her change her clothes.

It has been fifteen years since Ah Nan was reincarnated into this world. It has also been fifteen years since she became the daughter of the imperial chancellor. Although she does not have the wealth and entitlements that a legitimate child has, she is still the young mistress of the family —born with a silver spoon in her mouth, clothes made ready for her to wear —she has long been raised to form the habit of acting like a very standard young lady from an influential household^[1], unable to do things without a servant in attendance. But who would’ve guessed that she ended up being married to a wang ye who has severe cleanliness issues, doesn’t like connecting with people and doesn’t like people coming in contact with things that belongs to him? Naturally, Su Wang does not like anyone touching Ah Nan, since she is considered as his object after being married to him^[2].

Ah Nan’s face was stained with tears as no one served by her side. She is really not used to it! Though it seems like she is spoilt, this was the norm and is allowed in this feudal society. Why is it that after marriage —this advantage is taken away from her? When she wants a maid’s service, she’d have to wait for her husband to be absent. If not, he’ll be afraid that the maid is too dirty and will not allow her to enter the room.

Ah Nan allowed her maid to help her walk to the living room where she sat on the headmaster’s seat. She leaned on a warm tiger skin cushion before asking a servant to put a room divider^[3] in front of her and asked for Butler Qin’s presence.

Recently, Butler Qin has been in a very good mood. Although he is very old now with lots of wrinkles on his face, he feels very delighted that he was able to wait to the day when his dear wang ye is married. With the thought that in a matter of time, he will be able to hold a little master in his arms, his spirit could not be any merrier. When he moves, he does not show any signs of decline of an old man. Contrarily, his steps are as strong and steady as that of a growing teenager. His kind and chubby face were no different from Maitreya Buddha^[6].

Butler Qin faced the room divider, tilted his body to the front a little to do his greeting, respectfully asking, “Wang fei, you asked for nu cai?”

“Butler Qin, no need to be too polite!” Ah Nan then used a low voice to order a maid to make a gesture to Butler Qin so that he could take a seat for a talk. Seeing that the man was old, hair greyed, she couldn’t help but expressed some respect to him —not doing so would make her feel like she has sinned. She’d rather give him some face and let him sit.

Butler Qin tried to refuse many times without any success. He could only carefully take a seat with only half of his bottom on the chair.

“Butler Qin, wang ye just informed me that huang shang has gifted our manor two imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Institute. Which place would be good for them to settle in?” with a humble attitude, Ah Nan gently asked.

Ever since Su Wang turned fifteen-years-old and moved into this manor, Butler Qin was always the one who took charge of housekeeping the Su Wang Manor. Ah Nan is a new bride, and though she has Ru Bi as her spy, she is still yet to be familiar with the arrangements and settings at the Su Wang Manor. Of course, she is careful not to do as she please, bearing in mind to save the old man some face and opt to summon him over to ask for his opinion instead.

Butler Qin listened to the sweetness and softness in Ah Nan’s voice. Reminded that she has just had her coming-of-age ceremony and is only a secondary child, it makes one feel a little sorry to see that despite her circumstances —she still appears to be very pure-minded and knows her place. One can only possess some hatred for not being able to help her solve all her problems. Of course, this is the wang fei who has just been married into the Su Wang Manor and has since overcome the wedding night. She will probably be the only wang fei too. Based on all of this, Butler Qin’s attitude was very respectful. He didn’t want to use his age to excuse himself for any careless act.

Butler Qin thought for a moment before speaking, “Wang fei, what do you think if we have the two imperial physicians stay at Qiu Rong Yuan^[4]? The distance between Qiu Rong Yuan and Shuang Rong Yuan is quite close. It’s also close to the living room in the West Wing. Besides, that is where Imperial Physician Wang is staying. It’ll be convenient for the three to have each other’s company.”

Butler Qin naturally knew the reason why the Emperor bestowed the imperial physicians. Truthfully speaking, Butler Qin has been feeling a little uneasy since the wedding ceremony. Wang fei even unintentionally had an accident, which made him really worried. He was afraid that after so much hard work to gain a wang fei, something inauspicious would happen to ruin it all. By then, their wang ye will have to go back to his lonely life. Not only that, he will become the Chu Dynasty’s laughingstock.

“Hm, that’s very good. Just follow that arrangement,” Ah Nan turned to the side and faced Ru Bi. Giving a nod, she had the maid go make the arrangements before chuckling and said to the butler, “Butler Qin, I have just been married into this household, there may be many things I still don’t understand. I sincerely hope you can help guide me in the future.” After she finished speaking, Ru Cui went to get a pouch that the Imperial Chancellor’s wife had prepared for Ah Nan before the wedding so that she can use it for purposes like these.

“This is what nu cai must do!”

Butler Qin did not refuse and respectfully accepted the gift, his fingers silently stroking what was inside the silk pouch. It was a white jade^[5] —a gift expected from a lady of an imperial chancellor. Although she is still young, she knows the way to manage things. Overtime, matters within the Su Wang Manor can be entrusted to her with ease.

The old butler accepted the gift, replying, “Wang fei, you’ve entered the manor for two days already. Originally, it should’ve been on the first day when the servants would come to greet you so that you can know their faces. Who would’ve thought… Wang fei, how about lao nu will now ask for all the servants and mo mo to come over to let you familiarise with them. In the future, it would make it easier for you to assign them orders.”

Ah Nan nodded. This is how things should be. If not, this would be such a great joke for the ordinary folks —to know that she has been married into this household for a couple of days already; the manor’s maids are yet to know that she is the main mistress.

When Butler Qin went to summon all the mo mo in the manor, Ah Nan also asked for Ru Cui and Ru Lan to go grab some more pouches to gift to the servants.

This can be seen as the first lesson of a new bride who has just established herself at her husband’s home. Though, Ah Nan do feel that this is such a blunt way to bribe for favour! She can now understand why, since the start of the wedding preparations, the Imperial Chancellor’s wife had ordered the servants to sew a stack of pouches —it was all for the use of rewarding people.

As it seems, she still has a lot to learn in this job as the main mistress.

The people Butler Qin called in were all mo mo from first to second rank. The other low-ranked servants all stood outside the room. He hinted for Ah Nan’s personal maids to go outside to distribute the pouches, and all those servants had to do was to accept the gift and to kowtow their gratefulness from outside.

Ah Nan came close to the room divider and sat upright on her headmaster seat. In a warming manner, she greeted a few words to the group of (high-ranked) mo mo. Afterward, Ru Cui and Ru Lan gave each of them a pouch that had silver taels in them.

Ah Nan used this time to note in her mind the mo mo who had served close to Su Wang, and even noted the few who has special positions in the manor. As for the rest of the mo mo, she only swept a glance at them like that of a flowing stream.

As Ah Nan observed at the group of old mo mo. She thought about the young and fresh maids she brought along from her maiden home. She couldn’t understand what her husband the wang ye was thinking to keep a bunch of old women by his side. They make one feel emotionless (or dull) when they’re serving by the side. What kind of weird habit is this? No wonder why the people from outside the manor think that he is a homosexual……

Butler Qin looked at the two flower-like ladies beside the wang fei. Looking back at the young wang fei, he realised how white and soft she appeared, almost resembling a piece of (soft) dough. He didn’t know what was on her mind, but she had a smile very much alike to Maitreya Buddha —the sweet aura exuding from her was boundless.

After allowing the butler to take his leave, Ah Nan heaved a sigh of relief to know that she was able to give a good impression to Butler Qin from the gifts prepared by the Imperial Chancellor’s wife. Thinking about the desire to do her best in managing this manor, Ah Nan couldn’t help but quietly clenched her fists; she must do well as a wang fei and live a good life here.

Dinner time came, the servants began setting up the dining table with various dishes. As she waited for Su Wang to come back for them to eat together, Ah Nan sat by the table with her cast leg rested on a stool that was covered in a thick fox skin.

The day seems to end very fast during these autumn days. By the time Chu Ba Ning came back, the sky was already getting darker. Candles were lit in the room with his wang fei sitting right in front of a candlelight as she warmly smiled at him. After two days of resting, her apple-like face returned to its rosy colour. At one glance, it makes one want to take a bite.

After a mo mo brought a basin of water over, Chu Ba Ning washed his hands. After wiping his hands clean, he waved a hand to the maids and mo mo to ask them to leave the room. Then, he sat beside Ah Nan. The first thing he did was scooped a bowl of soup for her, and then scooped a bowl for himself before lowering his head for a drink.

Ah Nan has become used to this wang ye‘s obsession for cleanliness. He really values personal space. When there is nothing in need of urgent, he would drive the servants outside the room and turn a blind eye on them. After chasing away the mo mo and maids, he would serve himself. Seeing Su Wang’s natural and fluent ways of doing these things, as a girl from a modern era —Ah Nan was feeling really ashamed of herself.

She wasn’t sure whether she should be happy or not for Su Wang’s sake —to think of herself as an object of his possession. She was feeling very confused.

At night, Ah Nan withdrew her feet under her dress and sat on the opium bed^[7]. She was so bored to the point where she decided to look around for flies just to reach out her hands to fight against them. On the other hand, Su Wang was wearing a nightgown as he sat by the candlelight to read. His expression was full of seriousness.

Ah Nan thought for a while before picking up an embroidery frame. As she began to embroider autumn chrysanthemums, she thought in her heart: As the chrysanthemum wilts, it leaves behind only wounds……

Later in the night, Chu Ba Ning closed his book and called for a mo mo to help them with their clothes and face wash. Afterward, he carried his blushing wang fei to the bed to sleep. Out of convenience, he reached out to embrace his fragrant and soft-like dough wang fei to his chest.

Like that, Ah Nan was forced to sleep on the chest of a man. Her whole body was feeling red. She even curled her toes. She really wanted to yell out: Big brother, do you need to hug me to the bathroom too? You’re not going to die if you let the maids touch me…… (T/N: She meant that he didn’t allow the maids to attend her to bed)

As people would say: Life is such a fucking mess when one marries a serious-looking man with cleanliness issues!

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The next day, after getting ready, Su Wang took Ah Nan back to the Imperial Chancellor Manor.

Ah Nan sat with Chu Ba Ning on the horse carriage which had the outside view completely blocked. She was aware of the rumours about her husband. There were so many that one could lose count. It seems as though the people in the city really take joy in making Su Wang a figure of fun, believing he’s unlucky. Knowing that she didn’t have to make a public appearance, she chose not to show herself. Rumours that can be avoided, such as when she would die and how she might die, should be avoided. Although she is not sick now, rumours like those can eventually make her feel ill and abruptly die for real.

When their carriage arrived at the Imperial Chancellor Manor, Imperial Chancellor Lu was already standing at the front door waiting since early morning with his wife and three sons to welcome his noble son-in-law.

Imperial Chancellor Lu has four daughters in total. Starting from the oldest daughter who is currently a guifei in the palace —now —he has also married off his youngest daughter with such honour. Although people would say that having an Emperor as a son-in-law is the most honourable receiving in the world, but because his oldest daughter is only a concubine —the Emperor did not have to visit his concubine’s maiden home on the third day. For this reason, Imperial Chancellor Lu never really had the honour to welcome the Emperor as his son-in-law.

But having a wang ye as a son-in-law is in no way a dishonour. Especially since this is the wang ye that even the Emperor willingly pampers, and willingly give him all the honour for people to worship him. Therefore, this occasion in welcoming this wang ye son-in-law has made many people at the Imperial Chancellor Manor gather together in one place.

Imperial Chancellor Lu excitedly fixed his gaze on Su Wang’s carriage slowly coming closer to their manor. He was a little out of focus as he thought about his pitiful Ah Nan and how well she has been living (thus far in their marriage). Forget about how she had fainted on the wedding night; on the second day, she even fell and fractured her ankle. There has been no bride in history who has met such tragic incidents as Ah Nan……

Ah Nan’s bad luck has further made the heart of the Imperial Chancellor Lu, a father who loves his daughter, feel like it has a thousand wounds. For the past few days, his mind has been in a perpetual state of worry. Although the Su Wang Manor has sent someone to report news about Ah Nan’s situation, the rumours from the ordinary folks cannot be prevented. All they have not said, yet, is that Ah Nan is dead. The more he hears about the gossips, the more Imperial Chancellor Lu feels that Ah Nan is about to really die. This would make him be a grey-haired person saying farewell to the black-haired person^[8].

Su Wang’s carriage stopped right in front of the Imperial Chancellor Manor under the gaze of a crowd of people surrounding, waiting for a story to unfold. Chu Ba Ning took the led and got off the carriage. The first thing he did was faced Imperial Chancellor Lu and greeted him. This had the Imperial Chancellor Lu with his wife and sons feeling frantic as they greeted him back. They appeared to be hesitant in accepting Su Wang’s respectful greeting.

As everyone’s keen eyes waited for the newly wedded bride to get off the carriage, Su Wang turned his body and swept the carriage’s curtain —directly carrying the young woman who was wearing a pale pink dress off the carriage……

“……”

Everyone had their eyes wide opened as they stared at the royal Su Wang carry his wang fei off the carriage. Then, under the courtesy of the people from the Lu family, who were bewildered as if they’ve seen a ghost, they all entered the Imperial Chancellor Manor.

Ah Nan buried herself in Chu Ba Ning’s chest, face covered, feeling too deeply embarrassed to meet anyone. She was probably the only bride who has a husband carrying her into her maiden home on the third day of their wedding. Should she feel honoured or should she silently spit out blood from embarrassment?

After today, it would be really hard to tell what the people in the city will start gossiping about.

Su Wang’s status is very noble. Moreover, he’s the blood-related brother that the Emperor really favours. Behind him, there is also the Empress Dowager who would give him all support, even if he wants to cover the entire sky with the palm of his hand. Therefore, people from the Imperial Chancellor Manor could only endure quietly at the sight. They would rather swallow their words than find the Emperor for an explanation. Moreover, Su Wang was perhaps only carrying his wang fei into the manor because her ankle was injured……

Imperial Chancellor Lu frowned. Silently resenting, he tried his best to show a smile to show a little harmony.

On the other hand, his three futureless sons —their faces expressed reverence and admiration towards Su Wang’s seriousness. They silently thought about how —did people think that Su Wang is the most serious and orderly person? Clearly, in the man’s eyes, he did not care about the rules established in this world. It’s just, to say that he has broken rules wouldn’t be right either. At least he followed the traditions to visit the maiden home on the third day without any reluctance. Of course, their ancestors also did not say that on the third day when they visit the maiden home —that the groom cannot carry the bride……

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Translator’s notes:
lmao, Ah Nan is literally treating this whole marriage as a “job” 😂

Trivia: 
→ [1] “…she has long been raised to form the habit of acting like a very standard young lady from an influential household, unable to do things without a servant in attendance.” This is interesting because when we reflect on it, Ah Nan is actually pretty lucky and privileged after reincarnating as Imperial Chancellor Lu’s daughter. At least very lucky compared to children who are unfavoured/mistreated, or born a slave. Indeed, she is not high-born, but she is living a comfortable life!

→ [2] “…Su Wang does not like anyone touching Ah Nan, since she is considered as his object after being married to him.” I know some readers will find this line frustrating. But logically speaking, people from ancient times took favour boys over girls. It was a patriarchal society. Su Wang is a man of that time, so naturally, he would never think of Ah Nan as an ‘equal’ to him. At most, the respect that he has for her only comes from the fact that they’re husband and wife. So please erase all of your 21st century mindset when you’re reading this story to save yourself from fuming, haha.

→ [3] Room divider —is a screen that divides a room. But rather than using it as a room divider, we see in many Chinese historical dramas that the screen is usually used to hide the face or appearance of an important figure. Sometimes, a woman from a noble family would use it when greeted by many men (or just people in general) at an occasion because she does not want them looking or starring at her. I’m not so sure why Ah Nan had to use the divider, but my guess is she did not want the servants to see her injury. After all, she is a wang fei; it’s best to only show herself when she is presentable 🤷🏻‍♀️

→ [4] Qiū Róng Yuàn ≪秋容院≫ —the place Butler Qin recommended for the two imperial physicians to stay. Qiū Róng ≪秋容≫ is the name and Yuàn ≪院≫ basically means courtyard. In a manor, this ‘courtyard’ is usually a separate living space from the main residence. Most of the time, each of these courtyards has a name. Ah Nan’s courtyard is Shuāng Róng Yuàn ≪霜容院≫. To make it easier to understand, you can imagine the manor as a big land, and within that land, there are small houses.

→ [5] The jade Ah Nan gifted Butler Qin is called nuǎn yù ≪暖玉≫. It looks something like these: click!

→ [6] Maitreya is bodhisattva, believed to be the future Buddha in this world in Buddhist eschatology. The Chinese term for this religious figure is mílè púsa ≪弥勒菩萨≫. The original novel used the phrase mílè fú yībān ≪弥勒佛一般≫, which when translated directly into English, would be “Maitreya Buddha”. How comical is it when the author had Ah Nan thinks of Butler Qin having the Maitreya Buddha smile, while he also thought the same about her? 🤣

→ [7] The opium bed is basically just a traditional version of a modern sofa. It is also known as an arhat bed. The term “arhat” came from Buddhism, because when a person rests on that bed, their pose will be kind of like a Reclining Buddha. 

→ [8] “…grey-haired person saying farewell to the black-haired person.” —this is an expression of sorrow that’s translated from the Chinese proverb bái fà rén sòng hēi fà rén ≪白发人送黑发人≫. Sometimes, instead of using the word “black (hēi 黑)”, some might use “green (qīng 青)” or “blue (qīng 青)” [same pinyin and Chinese character] because the word qīng ≪青≫ also means youth. qīng ≪青≫ can also be used to describe a green-ish black colour. Note: the actual green colour in Chinese is lǜ sè ≪绿色≫, while blue is lán sè ≪蓝色≫. …Yeah, the Chinese language can be so confusing…

Anyway, the appropriate English expression that has the same meaning would be “the young perish and the old linger” or “to see one’s child die before oneself”.