The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 34: I Have Returned

When Zhao Mei was still alive, Jiang Ruan had sprawled on her knees watching Jiang Xin Zhi practising his swordplay, the japonica flowers drifting down one by one. That scene had truly been beautiful. Now, things remained the same, but the people were gone. Zhao Mei was long dead and she did not know whether Jiang Xin Zhi was dead or alive. Of her own flesh and blood, she alone was left.

Jiang Ruan smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and resumed reading the book in her hand. However, at this time, Bai Zhi hurried in, and whispered, "Miss, bad news. Lian Qiao and the people from Yan Hua Yuan are in a disagreement."

"How could this be?" Jiang Ruan frowned as she asked. "Lian Qiao is anxious and impatient in character, but everyone knows this. How could it be that a disagreement could arise on the first day itself?"

Lu Zhu had put down her embroidery work and was looking at Bai Zhi.

Bai Zhi paused and looked at Jiang Ruan hesitantly before saying, with some difficulty, "When this servant and Lian Qiao returned to Jiang fu, we saw the people from Yan Hua Yuan disciplining one of the servants. At first, we didn't pay attention to it, but later, Lian Qiao caught a glimpse of the servant's face . . . It was . . . it was Zhou momo."

"Nai niang [2]?" Jiang Ruan asked in surprise.

Zhou momo had been Jiang Xin Zhi and Jiang Ruan's wet nurse, whom Zhao Mei had brought from her maternal residence when she had married. After Zhao Mei passed away, the people at Jiang fu said that Zhou momo had beseeched them to let her retire and leave Jiang fu as her mistress was no longer there. From that time onwards, nothing had been heard of her. In her previous life, Jiang Ruan had also never seen Zhou momo again. However, how is it that Bai Zhi was now saying that Zhou momo was still at Jiang fu?

[2] Nǎiniáng ( 奶娘 ) - wet nurse

Lu Zhu, being clever and quick on the uptake, was able to surmise Zhou momo's importance from the conversation. She said, "Why would Lian Qiao jie raise a ruckus with these people? Could it be that Zhou momo was being badly bullied?"

Bai Zhi faced Jiang Ruan's sharp gaze, and said with difficulty, "Zhou momo, she . . . She is blind. When this servant and Lian Qiao saw her, she was throwing out the night soil[3]. The people from Yan Hua Yuan said she had smeared night soil on the new clothes that the mistress was preparing to wear for her visit to Jun Wang Fei [4]. Therefore, because they wanted to punish her, they forced Zhou momo to eat the contents of the pail."

[3]Ye xiang ( 夜香 ) - lit., night fragrance. Definitely a euphemism, as it refers to human excrement. There being no flushing toilets at that time, human waste was deposited in a bucket, and it was a lowly-ranked servant's task to dispose of the contents. I've used the term 'night soil' as that's how it's referred to in my country; up until the late 1960s 'night soil cars' (with 36 'compartments') were still in use, with 'night soil collectors' going around the different districts to pick up buckets of 'night soil' in the outhouses and replacing them with empty buckets.

[4] Jun wang fei ( 郡王妃 ) - probably refers to the wife of the Prince of the Second Rank. 郡王 is an ancient Chinese title first seen in the Western Jin Dynasty. It is one of the titles given to direct male-line descendants of the Emperor, and is usually translated as 'Prince of the Second Rank', second only to the 'Prince of the First Rank' or 'Prince of the Blood'. 

Jiang Ruan's eyes narrowed, and one could feel the fury suddenly emanating from her entire body. Even Lu Zhu, who had never met Zhou momo before, could not help but cover her mouth in horror and spit out in indignation, "This kind of bullying is really too much!"