Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

just learned.
It’s already impressive to be able to write so much.”

Ye Jiao looked at him expectantly: “Isn’t it ugly?”

Qi Yun smiled: “It’s not too ugly.”

Ye Jiao: …

Seeing her pouting cheeks, Qi Yun squeezed her palm: “I don’t mind it.
Besides, this kind of stuff takes practice – there’s no rush.”

If Qi Yun wasn’t there, Ye Jiao would have written well by herself.
Now that Qi Yun arrived, Ye Jiao didn’t want to painstakingly suffer: “Practicing calligraphy is so tiring.” She raised her hand, showing that it was sore.

What a dainty lady.

She was the one who said she would continue, but now she’s unwilling.
Qi Yun felt that his wife suffered to the point of becoming tired.
After sitting down with her, he gently massaged her wrist.

The man’s hands have been warmed by the hand warmer – so toasty – and he was very careful when kneading her wrist.
The corners of Ye Jiao’s mouth turned up a little.

Seeing the smile on Ye Jiao’s face, Qi Yun said: “How about this: every day you can practice for an hour, and then you can eat two pieces of snacks in the evening.”

Ye Jiao’s eyes lit up, and the Little Ginseng grabbed the man’s hand: “Three pieces.”

Qi Yun smiled and nodded: “Okay.”

Ye Jiao was happy.
She dropped the brush and led Qi Yun to eat.
After she finished eating, Ye Jiao walked around the yard with the stone bud grass, helping the little thing absorb sunlight while she also digested.
After the sprouts spread out, Ye Jiao went back to the bedroom and put it down.
She took off her hair and went to take a nap.

Qi Yun didn’t have the habit of taking a nap.
He saw Ye Jiao falling asleep and went to the yard to call Xiao Su.
He asked in a low voice: “Who came here just now?”

Xiao Su was afraid of him.
When he asked this, she poured everything out like pouring beans in a bamboo tube. 

After listening, Qi Yun didn’t say anything.
He only lightly said: “Okay, I understand.”

Xiao Su: … What do you know?

Qi Yun waved his hand: “Go and call the third brother.
I haven’t seen him in a long time and I miss him.”

Xiao Su looked at Qi Yun’s wooden face.
No matter how much she looked at it, it didn’t seem like he missed Third Young Master.
However, Xiao Su didn’t dare ask any questions, and she ran away.

Ye Jiao, who was lying on the bed, slept soundly.
She didn’t know about anything that just happened.

When she woke up, she didn’t kick the shuttlecock or listen to Qi Yun teach her medical classics.
Instead, she organized herself and went to Liu Shi’s yard.

The Liu family invited the tailor lady to come home today.
Last time he said that he would cut clothes for Ye Jiao, but there were so many things that had been delayed, so they happened to do it together today.

Ye Jiao had never been measured for clothes before, but fortunately, she didn’t have to do a thing.
The whole process was to raise her arms, raise her head, and wait for the measurements before choosing two favorite colors.

When the tailor lady was sent away, Liu Shi took Ye Jiao to the garden and said to her: “You’re still young and growing; your clothes will need to be changed frequently to fit.
Every six months, if you can’t wait for the tailor to come, find some time to have someone accompany you to the tailor’s shop.”

Ye Jiao had always kept Liu Shi’s words in her heart.
She would reply obediently, whether she understood or not, and without questions: “Thank you, Mother.”

That was what Liu Shi wanted to hear, and she nodded gently to her.

At this time, a few people slipped out of Qi Ming’s yard. 

Liu Shi was full of care and love for her youngest son, but she didn’t go in at the moment.
She just stood at the courtyard gate, looked inside, and said with a smile: “Third Son told me before that he’s going to write for two hours today.
I know he’s working hard.”

When Ye Jiao heard this, her eyes widened. 

No wonder the little fox liked scholars; they’re really not like ordinary people.

She herself only wrote for an hour, but her wrists were tired.
A scholar actually had to write for two hours a day? 

People who wanted to take the top exam were different.

Ye Jiao also looked inside.
There were several large characters in the yard that were taken out to dry.

She had good eyes, and when she took a closer look, she could recognize most of the characters on it.
However, she couldn’t quite spell out the sentence that they made.

Sincerity is in the middle, form is on the outside, so the gentleman… what’s alone…

As she didn’t understand, the Little Ginseng didn’t read too much and continued to walk with Liu Shi.
When the sky was getting dark and Ye Jiao was about to return, Liu Shi had someone bring her a tureen of stewed pork rib soup.

Ye Jiao carried the earthen jar and walked back quickly, without having anyone send her off.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Tie Zi holding a stack of papers to be delivered to the small room.

Ye Jiao stopped him: “Tie Zi, what is this?”

Ti Zi immediately halted.
He was in the period of voice change, and he sounded hoarse: “Second Young Mistress, these documents are for Second Young Master.”

Ye Jiao didn’t ask about it when she heard those words.
She walked over to him and said: “Call Xiang Gong and tell him to come out to eat after finishing up.”

Tiezi nodded immediately: “I’ll remember that.”

Ye Jiao smiled and glanced at what Tie Zi was holding.
She saw the top document, and her mouth stopped unconsciously.

Sincerity is in the middle, form is on the outside, so a gentleman…

Hey, wasn’t this what Qi Ming wrote just now?

***

The author has something to say: 

Ye Jiao: Do ​​you write?

Repeater Little Stone: Write wordy words!

Ye Jiao: Do ​​you read?

Repeater Little Stone: Ready reads!

Ye Jiao: Reading or writing?

Repeater Little Stone: Eat cakey cakes!

Ye Jiao: ???

=w=

Sincerity is in the middle, and the form is on the outside, so a gentleman must be careful about his independence – University [3]

Footnotes:

[1] Literal translation is: “hand stove.” According to Baidu, a hand stove was used in ye old days to keep people warm.
In the picture below, the women are holding hand stoves.
They were mostly made of copper and equipped with charcoal fire on the inside.
I used “hand warmer” because it fit the purpose of the device better than “stove,” lol.

[2] Literal translation is: “… wu qing was gone…” instead of “internal bruises.” The term ‘wu qing,’ according to Baidu, refers to a bluish-black complexion of blood.
My interpretation is that he just looks very, very sickly but I used ‘internal bruises’ for simplicity.

[3] According to Baidu, this was part of a speech spoken by Xi Jinping.
The meaning is: if a person is sincere in his heart, he can see it in his appearance.
“Cautious independence” is an important concept in Confucianism, and it focuses on someone being cautious and careful when they’re alone.

***

Translator Notes:

Happy Lunar New Year!

It’s been a busy week eating with family/family friends, and work has been wild as well.
I’m hoping to get some alone time this weekend to translate more, since this was the last of my backlog of translated chapters.
In any case, I’ll get all the site/NovelUpdates links updated as soon as I can!