Chapter 333: The Handbook of Household Struggles
A new day.
Today, Qin Luoxia had to go visiting relatives again.
Today, she was going to visit The Dong Family.
Because of yesterday’s Earthquake.
Ordinarily, as the future son-in-law, Jiang Feng should have gone to check on his father-in-law’s household.
But since Jiang Feng was not in the capital, Qin Luoxia had to go.
After all, they were future in-laws.
Besides, the New Year was approaching, and they needed to deliver New Year’s gifts before the holiday.
Qin Luoxia felt it was better to go in person.
However, there was still a Grand Princess Mother-in-law in the estate.
One should consult their elders before doing things.
As it turned out, the Grand Princess didn’t even get up for breakfast…
Truly worthy of being from the Imperial family.
Rumor had it that the Emperor didn’t like morning court sessions simply because he didn’t want to get up early for breakfast.
This was something Qin Luoxia couldn’t quite understand.
If you don’t get up in the morning, doesn’t that mean missing a meal? What a loss.
Qin Luoxia learned that her daughter had slept with Princess Grandma, so she quietly asked her what was wrong with the Grand Princess. Was there something lacking, or was she unhappy?
Mianmian, who had slept very soundly, was a spirited little girl with a big smile and a full belly.
“Princess Grandma said she didn’t sleep well. She kept dreaming in the middle of the night that she was falling off a cliff, so she needs to catch up on sleep.”
Qin Luoxia felt a bit guilty hearing this. Could it be that because Princess Grandma asked her where she got the snake gall yesterday, and she said it was from below a cliff, it caused Princess Grandma to dream about it?
Forget it, forget it. Let her Mother-in-law continue sleeping.
She couldn’t manage her Mother-in-law anyway, so she had the servants prepare the food.
She was taking Mianmian to visit relatives today, so she let Cong Geer stay at home.
Cong Geer was very happy about this; he didn’t like activities like visiting relatives.
Sitting there blankly listening to adults chat was boring, and if the conversation turned to him, he still had to smile and respond.
But Mianmian loved visiting relatives.
She couldn’t wait to gossip and chat with the adults.
After happily finishing breakfast, she got dressed up in festive clothes and went with Mother to visit relatives.
Qin Luoxia had prepared generous gifts. She brought her little daughter along thinking that Mianmian could get to know Miss Dong; she had heard that Miss Dong was gentle and graceful, and she wanted Mianmian to learn from her.
They arrived at The Dong Family estate.
Madam Dong received them.
Last time, she didn’t know the other party was from the Imperial family, but fortunately, she hadn’t been negligent.
This time, knowing the other party was from the Imperial family, Madam Dong was a bit nervous.
Just as commoners have a filter when looking at the powerful, the powerful also have a filter when looking at the Imperial family.
The class divide was clear.
Crossing class lines was extremely difficult.
In stories, one always sees commoners studying, passing the imperial examinations, becoming officials, and gradually growing powerful to become wealthy families.
Such people are the minority, which is why their stories are repeatedly used as classic inspirational tales and told to people throughout history, leading to survivor bias where people think this is the norm.
In reality, it might be that the sons of wealthy and powerful families enjoyed higher education, achieved good exam results, and had famous teachers and elders protecting them along the way, leading to a smooth official career.
There are no ordinary scholars; being able to study already means one is not ordinary.
There is no compulsory education; all education is non-compulsory.
“Humble origins” refers to families with low influence or declining prestigious clans. Their ancestors might have held positions like the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers, Censor-in-Chief, or been incredibly wealthy.
Commoners are not worthy of being called “Humble origins.” We who go to work without permanent positions are usually called “rogues” (having no house or status, and having no proper profession).
In short, most commoners who turn their lives around can write autobiographies that last through the ages.
The reason Jiang Changtian, who was expelled from his family, was legendary and yet unaccepted, was because he was originally the son of a humble family, became a “rogue” after being expelled, yet climbed to his current position.
The Dong Family came from a prestigious background, while the Jiang Family could be considered newcomers to the Imperial Court before Jiang Changtian acknowledged his ancestors.
Therefore, that The Dong Family could look favorably upon the Jiang Family and marry their daughter “down” was inconceivable to many. This was also why Vice Minister Liu’s family, upon hearing rumors, kept coming to visit, as they felt the Jiang Family was unworthy.
The Dong Family had originally only planned to marry their daughter “down” with a large dowry so she could live a stable life. Instead, they were suddenly accused by people in the capital of being calculating, saying that a daughter who had broken an engagement had latched onto the Grand Princess’s eldest grandson, with a limitless future.
The jealous Madam Liu even cursed at home, wishing for Jiang Feng to die on the battlefield and not return, just to show everyone that Miss Dong was cursed to doom her husband, and whoever touched her would have bad luck.
Qin Luoxia brought Mianmian to visit.
She brought New Year’s gifts: a full set of skincare and toiletries.
The packaging was very exquisite.
There was also essential oil perfume that had not yet been sold to the public.
The bottles themselves looked extremely valuable.
Madam Dong was still a bit worried that after the other party became Imperial relatives, they might neglect her daughter.
However, the gifts her daughter had received during this time far exceeded her dowry.
It was clear the other party valued her.
She was also worried about whether her own daughter, Dong E, would be a good match; a Vice Minister’s eldest daughter-in-law and a Grand Princess’s eldest grandson’s wife were different.
Her daughter had been raised by her to be innocent and lively; while not completely naive to the ways of the world, she was close to it.
When a daughter is about to marry, one worries that she will suffer if she marries poorly, but also worries that she will suffer if she marries too well.
Fortunately, Madam Jiang came over, just like last time.
She was still a spirited and heroic lady.
She hadn’t changed at all.
When Madam Dong saw Madam Jiang like this, her eyes lit up with stars.
This made Mianmian a bit puzzled; Madam Dong looked very much like a “fan” from her own era, with light in her eyes.
When Madam Dong saw Mianmian, she hugged and squeezed her, praising her for being pretty.
Then Mianmian also saw her future sister-in-law.
Upon first meeting, she felt as if this person was already her family.
Their auras matched well.
She was a bit like her older sister, but seemed slightly more gentle and quiet.
Her eyes also had light; she was a lively young lady of a prominent family.
Qin Luoxia greeted her in the formal manner of a lady of high standing.
Then Dong E took Mianmian off to play.
Madam Dong pulled Madam Jiang aside, happily talking about private matters.
Madam Dong was very direct.
Qin Luoxia liked interacting with such direct people.
Chatting with her had no pressure.
Qin Luoxia said she had come late because Princess Grandma was at their home last night.
Madam Dong was very curious about Princess Huiyun.
Basically, Madam Dong’s generation grew up with the legends of Princess Huiyun told by their parents.
“I heard Princess Huiyun is very arrogant, keeping people at a distance, and doesn’t easily pay attention to others. Is she very difficult to serve?”
Qin Luoxia thought of Princess Grandma, who would throw herself into her arms and weep “ying ying ying” when her husband wasn’t there… Arrogant? Keeping people at a distance? Not paying attention to others?
That didn’t exist.
“Not at all. Mother is very kind, and she doesn’t need anyone to serve her.”
Madam Dong nodded, with an “I understand, I understand” expression.
Her own Mother-in-law also looked quite kind on the surface and didn’t need her to serve her, but she just found her clumsy.
Fortunately, when her Mother-in-law was around before, they didn’t live together.
Every family has its own difficult problems.
Madam Dong worried that Madam Jiang was from Jingzhou and didn’t understand the twists and turns of the capital. The in-law looked like a heroic swordswoman, so surely she wouldn’t understand the intricacies within.
Being from a prestigious family, Madam Dong truly liked her in-law and, with all her heart, prepared to share her experience in “household struggles” with Madam Jiang.
The old nanny behind Madam Dong looked up at the ceiling; the flower patterns on the ceiling were quite nice.
Madam, you don’t need to teach her, really. Jiang Family’s legitimate daughter, Jiang Yu, has every action of hers become a template for household struggles in the capital. She has quite a few old friends who have earned enough money for their retirement just by teaching courses analyzing the actions of Madam Meng.
How could the Mother of such a girl not understand anything?
The one who doesn’t understand is you.
Inside the old nanny’s body, a “Nanny A” was twisting and shouting, only to be knocked unconscious by a “Nanny B” with a stick.
Madam Dong spoke very seriously. Truth be told, she had never taught anyone else before. She didn’t teach just anyone; she just felt a connection with Madam Jiang.
“The ‘Courtesy Before Force’ method… the ‘Create Trouble’ method… blah blah blah…”
When Madam Dong was married, her husband, Minister Dong, gave her a book summarizing methods for dealing with her Mother-in-law. Madam Dong had never memorized a book in her life, but she had memorized this one. Today, under the sudden admiring gaze of her in-law, she recited it to her.
Passing the torch.
Qin Luoxia nodded while listening, thinking, people in the capital are truly amazing. One must not underestimate the women of the capital; they are hidden dragons and crouching tigers. For the matters of Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in the inner courtyard, they have even come up with military tactics. Amazing, amazing.
I wonder if my future daughter-in-law, Dong E, is that formidable.
In the courtyard, Dong E took Mianmian, climbed a small ladder in the backyard onto the wall, and they were breaking icicles off the roof together.
Dong E held a cluster of icicles up to the clear blue sky above and asked Mianmian: “Look, I’m holding a cloud in my hand.”
Mianmian happened to be looking from a downward angle, and sure enough, that cluster of ice, under the sunlight, looked just like a cloud in the sky.
“Sister-in-law, I have one too.” She picked a long icicle and said to her sister-in-law: “This is a sword. It kills without a trace, because it melts after the killing.”
Dong E looked amazed; her sister-in-law was so smart.
“Then if I hide some poison in the ice and someone eats it, that counts as traceless too.”
“Sister-in-law, you don’t need ice to poison someone; water is fine. Water is too clean, or noodle soup, bird’s nest soup, or something like that would be better.”
Thank you for reading + listening 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
