Chapter 2 - A Secret
————————————————-
Bai Xi cursed. Shit! She had unexpectedly been caught in the middle of an explosion and died. Her body should have been disintegrated, but surprisingly, due to some mishap, her soul had ended up in an intact corpse. God had given her another chance and let her be reborn as compensation.
Bai Xi never expected that this body would hold the same name as she had in her previous life. This must be destiny. Furthermore, this body was 10 to 15 years younger than her previous self. The way this god showed his kindness… Only, why did she get reborn in a place she had no knowledge of? What place was Xi Yue?
Here, she knew she had one very doting grandfather. Her grandfather was Xi Yue's accomplished general, whose fame was widespread. However, after her grandmother had passed away, her grandfather had resigned his post and planned to live the rest of his life with his family.
With regards to her father, he was employed by the current prime minister. Her father was in charge of military administration and commanded the army. His power was not in the least bit small, and he doted on her to the extreme. She had been told that her mother died shortly from unknown causes after giving birth to her. She didn't know much more than that since nobody was allowed to speak of it, or they would be beaten to death.
"Damn…" Bai Xi sighed heavily. She couldn't remember how many times she had sighed.
"Young miss, why are you getting out of bed? You should not move around in case the wound opens up again. You will worry the old master."
"Mm, Bao Mu1 has returned." Bai Xi sighed. She remained leaning against the door, not wanting to return to the house.
"Young miss, this servant's name is Mu Qiu, not Bao Mu." After delivering the meal, Mu Qiu went to help Bai Xi.
"Yes, yes, you are named Mu Qiu, not Bao Mu. But I still feel that the name Bao Mu is appropriate." Bai Xi didn't want to explain what 'housekeeper' meant, and she didn't want Mu Qiu's support either. Rather, she wanted Mu Qiu to immediately go back to the house. She had already been recovering for 10 days and the wound had scarred over. Besides, the injury didn't mean much to her.
Mu Qiu was the servant who looked after this body. Since the two of them grew up together and were very close, Mu Qiu was completely loyal to Bai Xi. Mu Qiu came off as honest and concerned about her, and really liked to nag, particularly about the wound she recently suffered. From the first day she woke up, she never got a day of peace and quiet. So, she wanted to give the nickname of Bao Mu to Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu was tired. After the young miss woke up, she liked to play tricks on her. The young miss didn't seem like her previous self - she talked a lot, jumped a lot, and laughed a lot more.
"Right, what happened to you?" Bai Xi said before she ate a mouthful of fish. Although the fish tasted good, if she ate too much, she would get sick of it. Three out of the five dishes contained fish, but all were cooked differently. Did this body really love to eat fish?
"This servant asked about the government official, and the facts were the same as what the old master said. They discovered young miss when young miss had already fallen, and the blood just kept flowing. If they had found young miss too late, young miss, I suppose…" Mu Qiu recalled that day when the young miss returned. Even now, Mu Qiu's heart still trembled.
After hearing those words, Bai Xi frowned. She recalled that day when she took the chance to jump into the interior of the carriage. There, she realised that she had fainted upon entering the carriage, most likely due to the poor condition of her body at the time since she had pushed herself too far.
However, when she woke up, she discovered that she had a large bruise on her forehead in addition to the sword wound. She was certain that she received the bruise when she jumped into the carriage since she didn't have it beforehand. So, either she passed out when she collided with something inside the carriage, or the person inside knocked her out. The latter reason seemed more suspicious, but it would be good if it was not the latter reason, otherwise…
However, it boiled down to one thing. Who wanted to kill the previous owner of this body? Without rhyme or reason, why did the previous owner suddenly end up outside of the city? There were a number of skilled retainers that went with this body, since venturing outside the city was dangerous. But her grandfather and father did not know about the venture, and neither did Mu Qiu, who was constantly around her. What secret was this body hiding?
"Young miss, a moment ago, this servant heard the steward say that tomorrow, young master will arrive in the capital, but young master will need to pay a visit to the imperial palace before returning home in the afternoon." Mu Qiu looked over to see Bai Xi suddenly lost in thought. Mu Qiu mistakenly believed that the family's young miss was letting her imagination run wild since she slowly began to laugh.
"Oh?"
"Eh?" Upon seeing Bai Xi's reaction, Mu Qiu was inwardly terrified. Hadn't the young miss been counting the days, waiting for the young master to come back home? Why was she suddenly dismissive now?
"Don't prepare these kinds of light dishes next time. They are tasteless. I want to eat more good meat and seafood, but no more fish. Greasy food." She was a standard carnivore. For the sake of her wound, she had to eat all the delicate and light foods. She could and had endured it, but now there was no need to tolerate it again.
"Eh?"
"Can I not, dear Bao Mu?" Bai Xi smiled at the surprised expression on Mu Qiu.
"Y-you can." Mu Qiu was dumbfounded, finding it difficult to believe what Bai Xi had just said.
Bai Xi nodded, satisfied, and then she continued eating her meal.
Mu Qiu recovered from her daze and blinked. After she confirmed that the young miss was indeed the young miss, she closed her mouth, which was open large enough to fit an egg in. So she didn't mishear her young miss. Before, the young miss would say eating meat would make her fat, and she would worry about being ugly. But… finally… Mu Qiu laughed. The young miss had come around and did not care about her appearance anymore.
There was suddenly a voice. "Oh, fourth younger sister, I said that it isn't time to come to Xi Yuan2. You see, second older sister is currently eating her meal. We are going to disturb second older sister's meal."
"What third older sister said is right."
Although the two of them said such things, they showed no signs of leaving. On the contrary, they took a step into her room.
Although they entered noisily, Bai Xi did not pay attention to them. Only when she finished eating did she put down her chopsticks and look towards them. They should be her younger sisters. While they were sisters in name, their birth mother was a concubine.
"Mu Qiu, they came to eat a meal. Prepare two sets of tableware."
"You…" Did she think they actually wanted to eat that meal? Who wanted to eat that kind of meal, and to eat the leftovers from their ugly elder sister? Bai Lin, the third older sister, pushed those thoughts back and said with a faint smile, "Hehe, fourth younger sister and I have already had our meals. The main reason why we came to visit today was to check up on second eldest sister. We heard that a few days ago, second eldest sister received a heavy injury."
"Oh, third younger sister and fourth younger sister are really too kind." It had already been 10 days and only now they came to check on her. Some kindness that was.
"I don't know who sent those assassins. For someone to actually want second older sister's life… I heard that second older sister's elite guards all died. Heaven really helps the worthy, second older sister, to be able to escape the assassins in one piece," said Bai Xi's fourth sister, Bai Ling Long.
"Mm, heaven really does help the worthy." Bai Xi nodded her head. She pretended not to hear the implication behind those words. For her 'elite' guards to all die… Actually, their martial arts skills were average, mediocre at best, so it was a surprise that she hadn't died and somehow managed to escape with minimal injury. Did they want to say that her reputation had suffered?
"Yes, second older sister can rest assured. Father and grandfather have already sent people to investigate those assassins. Presumably, it won't take them long to bring the assassins to justice." How was this ugly woman not killed? Bai Lin wondered.
"Mm."
"Right, second older sister, I heard that eldest brother will be returning tomorrow." Bai Ling Long and Bai Lin took control of the conversation and smiled at each other.
"…"
"Eldest brother was incredibly concerned for second older sister. Presumably, eldest brother received father's message and knows that second older sister was injured. He must have hurried back home after his military duties at the border." A flash of satisfaction passed through Bai Ling Long's eyes. She would get to see that ugly woman's enraged appearance.
"Fourth younger sister, what you said is only half right. Eldest brother certainly treats second elder sister with great concern. However, this time eldest brother returned quickly from the border primarily for the sake of older sister Xue3. I heard that early next month, eldest brother and older sister Xue will have a large wedding. What's more, the emperor has sanctioned the joyous marriage. Without a doubt, eldest brother quickly came back to prepare for the wedding," Bai Lin said to Bai Ling Long, but her gaze was focussed on Bai Xi's every move.
"Eh?" The two women looked at each other before turning to look at the person in front of them with smiles on their faces.
——————————————
1. Bao Mu (保姆) is a more modern term for housekeeper, so Mu Qiu doesn't realise the meaning of it.↩
2. Xi Yuan is the name of Bai Xi's courtyard. The literal translation is Bright/Merry Garden.↩
3. The use of older sister here is meant as respect. Bai Lin and Bai Ling Long are not related to Xia Xue.↩
——————————————
Mu Qiu (慕秋) - her name means Yearn-for Autumn
Bai Lin (白琳) - her name means White Beautiful-Jade
Bai Ling Long (白玲瓏) - her name means White Exquisite (clever and nimble)
Translator (Jal) comments:
I have added two more Chinese idiom meanings to the first page. I completely forgot about them last time!
With regards to the Chinese idioms, would you prefer if I translate them to an english equivalent when possible and put the Chinese in the footnotes, or leave them as their Chinese translation, and then explain them in the footnotes?
Release schedule has been tentatively set to 3:30 pm Friday, AEST (GMT+10).
Editor (Prisma) comments:
Prisma to Jal on the morning train to uni: *Asks a question about liking poodles, which neither of us like*
Jal: Did you ask me if I like hoodoos?
Prisma: Well no, but now I’m changing my question. Would you rather have a sentient hoodoo or a poodle as a pet?
Jal: Wait what
Prisma: The sentient hoodoo looks like Probopass btw, I mean, it is a Probopass.Probopass
Jal: Uh… I have… No idea???
Prisma: Okay then. Imagine you are sitting down at home. Something furry brushes your arm. Is it a poodle or Probopass’ mustache?
Jal: POODLE. I PICK POODLE.
[Later that day]
Prisma: Hey, I’m designing logos maybe for the Translation WordPress. Do we want a bubble tea anywhere in it?
Jal: That’d be good. But please no face on the bubble tea.
Prisma: I wasn’t even thinking about that. But now that you mention it, I’ve got a great idea.
Jal: ABSOLUTELY NO FACE. Or face like things.
Prisma: YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT.
Jal: DUDE
Prisma: *sends over a draft idea*
Prisma: Awwwwwww yeaaaaahhhhh
Jal: ABSO-F***ING-LUTELY NOT
Prisma: Omg I’m laughing so hard
Jal: NO. NO. NOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOO
Prisma: Dude, just you wait until I colour this bad boy.
Jal: F***ing no to the bubblepass.
[In the end, we decided not to have a logo.]