Chapter 11 - The Love Beans
In the Earl of Xining's residence, upon hearing that she had to move back to the White Peony Courtyard, Cui Dai threw a big tantrum in front of her mother's servant: “You’re making things up! I’ve lived here for over ten years, mother would never make me move back!”
The servant was very embarrassed: “Young miss, this is indeed what the lady ordered, I, I don’t dare lie to you!”
“I know you wouldn’t dare lie to me.” Cui Dai sulked for a while, but still considered that the servant was someone her mother trusted, so she asked suspiciously: “Did mother only say that I have to move back to the White Peony Courtyard, nothing else?”
The servant wanted to say something but hesitated.
“Speak plainly, don’t worry.”
“Well...” She said with difficulty: “The young miss in the south courtyard is getting married, to the Prime Minister's eldest son, the top scholar of this year's exam. Following the lady's intention, it would be improper for her to continue living in that shabby small courtyard. So now, young miss, the lady ordered that you move out first, and that young miss will move in after.”
“I don’t agree!”
“What can be done if you don't agree?” The Earl of Xining's wife walked over, surrounded by servants.
“Mother?”
Seeing her, Cui Dai rushed over as if seeing a savior, and pulled her mother's arm: “Mother, didn’t you say this courtyard is for me to live in? I've only lived here for a short while, how come she's getting married and I have to move out first?”
The Earl of Xining's residence was so big, there were plenty of places to live, why couldn't Cui Ti, a blind girl, live anywhere else?
“Actually she really can't. She's not only your elder sister now, but also the future wife of the Prime Minister's eldest son, the daughter-in-law of the Prime Minister's house. The best courtyard in the residence should be given to her. Otherwise when the Prime Minister knows he would be displeased.”
“Since when does the Prime Minister's displeasure mean I have to move out? What kind of logic is this?”
The Earl of Xining's wife looked at her spoiled daughter, and helplessly sighed: “If the Prime Minister is displeased, not only do you have to move out, our whole Cui family would have to move out.”
Cui Dai was dumbfounded: “That serious?”
“Be good, don't make trouble unreasonably.”
With one sentence she pacified her unruly little daughter. The servants who lived in the north courtyard saw that the young miss had no choice but to move out, and drooped their heads dejectedly as they started busying themselves.
Cui Dai sat on the swing set, her face twisted with jealousy.
She knew that Cui Ti’s marriage was a great one, but didn’t expect it to be this significant. She tightly grasped her handkerchief: “Mother, from now on do we have to flatter her?”
The Earl of Xining’s wife remained silent.
A daughter before marriage is still one's daughter, but after marriage, she would properly be the young madam of the Pei family, and the bright future of the top scholar son-in-law was only just beginning, who knew how far he could go?
With a Prime Minister for a father, how badly could his son do?
“It won't be like that, that for my whole life I'll have to bow to her? I cannot accept that! Mother, I cannot accept that!”
She whined while clinging to her mother.
"Alright, alright, she has her marriage, you'll have yours. A good marriage doesn't depend on having an even higher status in-laws."
Cui Dai was annoying her mother, who was already feeling turbulent herself and had no energy to console her daughter. After tidying up the courtyard, she brought her young daughter back to the White Peony Courtyard. Making sure the two groups of people won't make trouble for each other, she didn't even rest before hurrying to handle Cui Ti's wedding matters.
"Miss, we've arrived at the Agarwood Courtyard."
Childhood memories had long faded away with time. Coming back to this place again, Cui Ti didn't feel particularly good or bad, after all this was a place of sadness for her. No matter how beautiful or spacious, she couldn't see it anyway.
Bai Ge helped her through the door: "Miss, watch the steps."
The elegant and magnificient Agarwood Courtyard, Cui Dai absolutely refused to move from, and Cui Ti didn't wish to live in the rooms where she had stayed either. So the Earl of Xining's wife specially replaced all the furniture, at least so Bai Ge wouldn't see any traces of previous occupants.
This counted as the mother doing a good deed for her daughter.
It was not yet the third month, moving here from the dilapidated south courtyard. All she needed to do now was live peacefully in the Agarwood Courtyard until she gets married.
Cui Ti was impatient with entertaining the flattering guests that came to visit, so she went to hide in the study.
A window was open in the study, letting the spring scenery shine in, shining on her fair petite face. The two maidservants on each side coldly looked on, deep down rather disdainful.
Chun Hua and Bi Yue were the maidservants the Earl of Xining's wife had specially chosen to serve Cui Ti after her marriage. In her previous life Cui Ti had suffered much under these two.
Bai Ge had clashed with them more than once, the fiercest time even alarmed Pei Xuan returning home late at night. Pei Xuan without saying another word sent them to a deserted manor of the Pei family, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Going to that deserted manor, they probably wouldn't have lived long.
Cui Ti had no intention of bringing those two into the household again.
This was a perfect opportunity granted by fate for her and Pei Xuan's fulfillment, she didn't wish for even a shred of imperfection to be carried into their new home.
"Miss, close the window, a bird flew in."
The beautiful feathered bird landed on Cui Ti's shoulder. Cui Ti smiled: "I'll only be bringing Bai Bai as my maidservant after marriage, you two should go find my mother and seek other arrangements."
Chun Hua and Bi Yue couldn't believe their own ears. They kneeled down with their skirts gathered: "Miss, what wrong have we done?"
"I'm not your mistress, since I can't see you crying to me is useless, you shouldn't cry."
"Miss, spare our lives!"
Cui Ti thought: She was doing this precisely to save their lives. Even being a maidservant in the Earl of Xining's residence they could barely survive, following her to the Pei household, they'd become more unbridled.
She was blind, unable to see, but could still sense quite a bit relying on intuition. She was clear that these two wanted to climb into Pei Xuan's bed.
Pei Xuan had endured her maidservants' disrespect again and again for her sake, until his patience ran out and he took the chance to take their lives.
This time, she didn't want Pei Xuan to suffer even a little grievance because of her.
"I don't want you two, if you don't leave, I'll tell my mother."
She groped for her bamboo cane and headed out the door. Chun Hua's eyes turned red with anxiousness. She grabbed Cui Ti's wrist with one hand, looking fierce and sinister: "You cannot go!"
She pulled so hard that Cui Ti almost fell over. Bai Ge happened to return and saw this scene, anxiously thinking her heart could catch fire: "How bold, to disrespect the young miss, how many heads do you have?!"
Chun Hua was thrown into confusion, while Bi Yue turned pale: "Mis, miss, don't drive us away..."
Cui Ti's wrist showed a ring of red finger marks. Bai Ge went over to examine them, angered enough to kick at Chun Hua: "My miss is the top scholar's wife, even the top scholar has never mistreated her like this, yet you servants dare bully your mistress?!
"I see this cannot be allowed, I was only gone for a short while, in the blink of an eye you plotted to knock down my mistress violently, this is what I saw, who knows what I didn't see!"
This was the first time in over a decade that Bai Ge so decisively acted domineering. Cui Ti didn't stop her.
In her previous life Chun Hua had smashed Bai Ge's head with a vase. Bai Ge kicking her once was already showing restraint.
In less than half a day, the Earl of Xining's wife looked at the two maidservants who had been returned, feeling her temples throb in anger. She suppressed her irritation and asked Cui Ti: "What is the meaning of this?"
Cui Ti raised her hand to show the ring of red that still hadn't faded. The Earl of Xining's wife's expression changed slightly: "Who did this?"
Chun Hua knelt shivering on the ground.
With Bai Ge there was no need to say much about what had happened. The Earl of Xining's wife could easily infer the whole story based on her ample imagination. Her expression stiffened, anger welling up with nowhere to vent: "Come!"
The recently promoted first-rank maidservant was demoted to the lowest position of laundry maid in the residence within a few hours. After this matter, all the servants and maids in the household didn't dare peek through the door cracks again.
Things were different nowadays. That blind girl had truly risen in status.
The Earl of Xining's wife still wanted to assign more people to serve Cui Ti, but was gently declined by her.
Rather than bringing irrelevant people into the household causing turmoil, she would only bring Bai Ge.
Compared to the Earl of Xining's residence that felt cold and unfamiliar, Cui Ti was more suited to life in the Pei household.
She didn't know to quit while ahead, directly angering her mother into slapping her in the face.
Slapping her face or not, it may have worked on others, but for Cui Ti it didn't make much difference. With a blind person, cold face, smiling face, fake smiles, the differences weren't significant.
Out of sight, out of mind.
In the White Peony Courtyard, upon hearing that her mother had punished the maids on Cui Ti's behalf, Cui Dai slammed her palm on the table: "Look how arrogant she's become!"
She had planned to bribe those two maids to make trouble for Cui Ti.
As the days passed one by one, after going through the processes of proposal, asking the name, and presenting betrothal gifts, they arrived at the presenting of the bride price. The bride price was the groom's side giving gifts to the bride's side, also called "presenting the grand gifts".
For the Prime Minister's eldest son's wedding, carriage after carriage of bridal gifts were sent to the Earl of Xining's residence, putting great pressure on the Earl and his wife.
The Pei family valued this marriage so highly that in recent days the Earl of Xining's wife's hair kept falling out. Finally the couple discussed and decided to allocate several stores originally prepared for Cui Dai to Cui Ti.
At the time, marrying off a daughter emphasized marrying up. But marrying up to the Prime Minister's house, if the new bride's dowry was inadequate it would provide gossip fodder, the Prime Minister would be displeased.
Not just the Prime Minister being displeased, the top scholar son-in-law would also harbor resentment.
The dowry grew by ten then twenty percent, and because the Earl and his wife felt guilty, the list which was only 1 chi long at the beginning became 2 chi 3 cun, lengthening to the point the Earl of Xining's wife felt heartache just looking at it.
The Earl of Xining laughed at his wife's shortsightedness. To gain in-laws with the Prime Minister's house, what was there to feel unsatisfied about? Many in Xi Jing must be envious of him.
After presenting the bride price came selecting an auspicious date. Selecting an auspicious date was having a fortune teller choose a good date and time, then informing the bride's family.
This step was made irrelevant by one sentence from the Prime Minister.
When proposing the marriage for his "son", Pei Rufeng arbitrarily set the date to May 5th. As Prime Minister his spoken word decided what the real auspicious day was, regardless of the actual date.
Going through the steps, by the end of the third month and into April when the crabapple flowers bloomed,
Pei Xuan lovingly held the jade ruyi the bride's family had sent over, joy written all over her face: "Mother, look at this ruyi, isn't the quality extremely good?"
Pei Shi gave her a resentful look: "Having a wife made you forget your mother. You've been holding it for so long, it's not necessarily something Miss Cui sent over."
As the Prime Minister's eldest son, what fine objects had she not seen?
Yet she still couldn't put down this jade ruyi: "I know that. The Cui family wouldn't dare to brush me off. This jade ruyi was the thank you gift you gave Miss Cui last time. She returned it to me at the presenting of betrothal gifts. Mother, doesn't this mean she likes me a little bit too?"
This "son" was hopeless.
Pei Shi was too lazy to watch her silliness, and closed her eyes.
Unable to find anyone to share the joy of her upcoming marriage, and not appropriate to take the jade ruyi to drink with Song Zizhen and Zheng Wuji, Pei Xuan could only return to her room to admire it properly.
"I wonder if she's wearing the bracelet I gave her, it must look good on her fair wrist."
...
In the Agarwood Courtyard, Bai Ge glanced at her serene and beautiful mistress, and felt sour enough to make her teeth fall out.
"Miss, you've wrapped those red beans into a flower shape, spare them already."
"...":
Cui Ti's face flushed slightly, using her sleeve to hide the red beans threaded on her wrist, pretending: "I was just checking if they were tightly strung."
"They're tight, definitely tight."
It was only the fourth month, yet Bai Ge had somehow found a feather fan which she fanned vigorously, looking self-important. From her satisfied expression it was easy to understand the principle of when one gains the Dao even chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.
She was gossipy by nature. Cui Ti didn't want to entertain her at first, but thinking some more, she brushed her fingertips over the plump, round, full red beans, and uncertainly said: "Did I really wrap them into a flower?"
These were gifted by Pei Xuan after all.
While the jade ruyi she gifted was fine, if the red bean bracelet wilted first, how embarrassing.
Bai Ge waved the feather fan, stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly: "I say Miss, your heart already isn't in this Agarwood Courtyard! The wedding is in May after all."
"Nonsense." Cui Ti's pretty face turned red as she subconsciously reached to touch the longing beans on her wrist.
She had just touched it a couple times when she hurriedly stopped her restless hand.
She mustn't keep touching it.
If it wilted, Pei Xuan might misunderstand.
Cui Ti held her sleeve, her cheeks burning hot: she didn't, didn't like him that much!