The Royal’s Little Lady

T/N: Second update of the day. I think Xiao Heng must be regretting that he didn’t go to pick up Sui’er personally at the beginning haha~ Anyway, enjoy~ One more update to come your way soon

 

Gu Sui’er’s mother had no knowledge about a Marquis residence so she asked worriedly: “There are two Young Madams in the residence apart from the Old Madam and the Madam? Since the number of people is so large, are there adequate rooms for everyone? You are the youngest so you must not have to live in the north house, right?”

 

Gu Sui’er pursed her lips and smiled: “Mom, we all live in north houses!”

 

Back in their hometown, the principal house of the residence should be the north house facing the south. Such was the best. Generally, the elderly Madams lived in these houses. Then, her son and daughter-in-law lived in the east and west houses. Finally, those who were of the lowest standing lived in the south houses facing north2T/N: So, the traditional type of Chinese housing is called ‘四合院’ (sìhéyuàn) because it has buildings facing all the four major directions, kinda like the Chinese version of a quadrangle style architecture (四 or sì meaning four, 合 or hé meaning close/ join/ round and 院 or yuàn meaning courtyard). It mostly takes the north house (the building facing south) as its principal house. There are three other houses: the south house (the building facing the north), the east house and the west house. The construction of sìhéyuàn explains the stringent hierarchy of the ancient times while following feng shui. The principal house was inhabited by the head of the family, and his or her eldest son lived in the eastern-wing (or east) house, which was believed to be better than the western-wing (or west) house. The opposite house (the south house) was the servants’ quarters, while under some special circumstances like the family having a spinster-daughter, a divorced daughter or a widowed daughter-in-law who had failed to give birth to a male offspring, the south house will be their place of living. A sìhéyuàn dates back to the time as early as 2000 years ago, the Western Zhou period. [Source: chinatourguide.com] .

 

Gu Sui’er’s mother was stunned: “Everyone lives in the north house? There are so many north houses3T/N: Consider each of these sìhéyuàn a separate courtyard inside a much larger residence. So, all the masters of the courtyard get to live in the principal north house. ah!”

 

Glancing at Gu Sui’er’s clothing and the embellishment of the carriage that were truly gorgeous, she was endlessly amazed.

 

She knew that Gu Sui’er married into a rich family, but she never expected them to be so wealthy. It seemed that her Sui’er was leading a good life.

 

When she looked at Guizhi at the side and nodded, Guizhi hurried to greet respectfully: “Madam.”

 

Gu Sui’er told her mother: “This is the maid who serves me, she is called Guizhi.”

 

Gu Sui’er’s mother was even more amazed. She couldn’t help taking a few more glances at Guizhi: “Such a charming girl.”

 

What she mused inwardly was that this charming girl turned out to be a maid.

 

When Guizhi heard this, she pursed her lips and smiled lightly.

 

Her appearance was ordinary. No one had ever praised her for being charming; this was the first time she was praised as such. Moreover, from this Madam’s tone, she could discern that she really thought herself to be charming.

 

“Madam, I do not dare be called charming. Of the maids in our yard, I’m the most unattractive one. I know it myself.”

 

Gu Sui’er’s mother said, “It is not just about appearance, I feel comfortable just by looking at you. You look like a girl from a scholarly family.”

 

Guizhi was taken aback upon hearing this.

 

She was indeed the daughter of a family with a literary reputation, but she never thought that it would be perceived by this Madam from the countryside who met her for the first time.

 

Guizhi smiled: “Surely you jest, Madam.”

 

Gu Sui’er’s mother said a few more words to Guizhi before continuing to seek with her daughter. She asked about the situation in the residence and how life was there. Listening to Gu Sui’er’s answers, she clicked her tongue repeatedly in astonishment. 

 

At this moment, Jiang Zheng and Hu Tie, who were escorting the carriage, noticed a person riding towards them. His whole body was wrapped in a purple, velvety sable cloak. It was Xiao Heng.

 

Immediately, they pulled the reins of their horses and motioned the carriage to halt. They dismounted from the horses and walked forward to greet Xiao Heng.

 

Gu Bao’er and Gu Sui’er’s father were in the carriage behind. They had also noticed Xiao Heng but seeing that Hu Tie and Jiang Zheng, these two dignified men getting off their horses to greet him, they concluded that he must be someone extremely powerful. Therefore, they got off the carriage and imitated the two guards’ stance of greeting.

 

Xiao Heng gazed at Gu Sui’er’s father. He seemed to be about forty years old and looked like an ordinary, compliant farmer. Then he took a look at Gu Bao’er. He had heard that this boy was currently thirteen years old. He was born with thick eyebrows and big eyes that were filled with energy. He had a very robust build like a tiger.

 

Xiao Heng spoke to Gu Sui’er’s father first: “You need not be so courteous.”

 

While talking, he asked Gu Bao’er: “You are already thirteen this year, right? You used to practice martial arts in the Escort Bureau, did you make any progress?”

 

As soon as he started speaking, the father and son were perplexed. They wondered why this man, who was so honorable, spoke so kindly to villagers like them.

 

Compared to his father, Gu Bao’er could be said to have more experience in these situations. He cupped her hands and bowed: “Replying to gongzi4Gongzi [公子] – A general way of addressing the son of an official or any noble., Bao’er is thirteen years old, and has indeed been practicing martial arts in the Escort Bureau. After more than half a year of training, Master said that I have made great progress.”

 

Gu Sui’er’s father also bent over and nodded repeatedly while peeking at Jiang Zheng for help.

 

It was Jiang Zheng who took Sui’er over from her hometown; he was the one they knew the best. The result was that they subconsciously began relying on him.

 

When Xiao Heng saw this, although his expression remained calm and collected, he actually felt somewhat unhappy.

 

Jiang Zheng had been by Xiao Heng’s side for many years, so how could he not be aware of his master’s temper? Nonetheless, the father and son were still looking to him for help.

 

He had no choice but to bite the bullet: “This is our third gongzi, the third Young Master of the Marquis residence, Sui’er girl—”

 

He felt somewhat wrong when he said this, so he paused quickly and changed his words: “Young Mistress is third Young Master’s woman now.”

 

It could be said that he was quite prudent with his words because he took everything into consideration.

 

After all, Gu Sui’er was just a concubine so he couldn’t possibly say that she married the third Young Master. But in front of her father, it was hard for him to say that she was merely this third Young Master’s concubine. Since it would not be a pleasant thing to hear, he could only say “third Young Master’s woman5T/N: He doesn’t exactly say “third Young Master’s woman” because what he says is “在三少爷房里” (translates to “in third Young Master’s room”) and that doesn’t make much sense in English. That’s why I used the closest expression I can presently think of.“.

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1T/N: Guizhi doesn’t really call Gu Sui’er’s mom ‘Madam’. Instead, she calls her ‘太太’, which translates to ‘Mrs.’ or ‘married woman’. I couldn’t figure out if that would be fitting enough in English so I changed it to Madam.2T/N: So, the traditional type of Chinese housing is called ‘四合院’ (sìhéyuàn) because it has buildings facing all the four major directions, kinda like the Chinese version of a quadrangle style architecture (四 or sì meaning four, 合 or hé meaning close/ join/ round and 院 or yuàn meaning courtyard). It mostly takes the north house (the building facing south) as its principal house. There are three other houses: the south house (the building facing the north), the east house and the west house. The construction of sìhéyuàn explains the stringent hierarchy of the ancient times while following feng shui. The principal house was inhabited by the head of the family, and his or her eldest son lived in the eastern-wing (or east) house, which was believed to be better than the western-wing (or west) house. The opposite house (the south house) was the servants’ quarters, while under some special circumstances like the family having a spinster-daughter, a divorced daughter or a widowed daughter-in-law who had failed to give birth to a male offspring, the south house will be their place of living. A sìhéyuàn dates back to the time as early as 2000 years ago, the Western Zhou period. [Source: chinatourguide.com] 3T/N: Consider each of these sìhéyuàn a separate courtyard inside a much larger residence. So, all the masters of the courtyard get to live in the principal north house.4Gongzi [公子] – A general way of addressing the son of an official or any noble.5T/N: He doesn’t exactly say “third Young Master’s woman” because what he says is “在三少爷房里” (translates to “in third Young Master’s room”) and that doesn’t make much sense in English. That’s why I used the closest expression I can presently think of.