Chapter 39 – Flower head pieces
Yu Tang laid feebly on the bed, and through the folding screens, she listened to the white, chubby-faced, smiling imperial physician Wang Bo speaking to Yu Wen. “It’s nothing serious! A young lady that’s carefully raised in the family since young, suddenly coming out to eat and drink frivolously, of course her stomach couldn’t handle it. There is no need to prescribe any medicine, she just has to fast for two days. In the future, such spicy food should be consumed sparingly.”
Yu Wen regretted it so much that he bowed low and nodded his head in agreement.
Wang Bo remembered their family’s situation and asked with a smile, “Has your wife’s illness improved? Old man Yang seems cold and aloof, but that’s because he’s a good physician, with brilliant medicinal skills. His prescriptions should not be inaccurate.”
Although he and Yang Douxing went to see Madam Chen the previous time, it was Yang Douxing who wrote the prescription.
Yu Wen answered. “I remembered the kindness shown by both of you! A few days ago, I even went to the temple to pray for peace for you two. If not that both of you still had good health, I would have even set up longevity placuqes!”
“Hahahaha!” Wang Bo laughed broadly as he replied, “I don’t need that, but Yang Douxing loves anything that spreads his fame. The next time you meet him, you must mention it to him. Although he doesn’t show it on his face, but in his heart, he would be very pleased.”
Cultured, educated men often downplay their contemporaries, so peers that compliment each others were few and far between.
This kind of statement was hard to respond to. Yu Wen stammered out a few words of vague agreement and then commented, “Both of you are busy people, it’s a privilege to meet you again, it’s not often that we get to see each other.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Wang Bo grinned, “The Grand Madam of the Pei family hasn’t been feeling well these days, so Yang Douxing can be said to be living in Lin’an now. If you have anything, you can go directly to the Pei’s residence to request for him.”
This time, wasn’t it also the Pei family’s namecard that brought him here in the middle of the night?
The people of the Yu family were all flabbergasted, and then became a little happy.
With such a renowned physician nearby, although they may not necessarily need his help, but it definitely helps to bring some peace of mind.
Yuwen thanked him profusely, making Wang Bo pleased, and only then sent him away. After returning, despite it being early autumn, his forehead already had formed beads of sweat. “Ai, these renowned people, none of them are easy to deal with.”
Yu Yuan quickly poured Yu Wen a cup of tea, and thanked second supervisor Tong again.
When second supervisor Tong saw that there was nothing more to do here, he smiled and said his farewells. “If there is anything else, just ask the innkeeper to send word to the store in front. We are from the same hometown, so we should help each other more when we’re out and about, you don’t have to be so polite with me.”
Yu Wen and Yu Yuan thanked him again, and personally sent Second supervisor Tong out, and saying, “When my daughter gets better in the next few days, I will personally offer my thanks to Third Master Pei again.”
This wasn’t up to second supervisor Tong to decide on this.
He smiled in reply, said a few parting words, such as “take good care of your child” and went away to rest.
Knowing that Yu Tang was fine, Yu Wen and Yu Yuan’s hearts finally felt at ease, and Yu Yuan even had the mood to poke fun at Yu Tang, ” You see? You didn’t control yourself previously and this happened. After this, you should learn how to exercise some self-restraint.”
Yu Tang laid there weakly, looking up at Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan felt sorry for her and went to pour a cup of warm water and helped her up so that she could drink.
Yu Tang kept her mouth closed and begged her elder cousin pitifully, “I’ve already drunk two pots of water, if I keep drinking, my stomach will become a water balloon.”
“Serves you right!” Yu Wen laughed after hearing that, “Who asked you to be so disobedient?”
Yu Tang cried out indignantly, saying, “Was it me being disobedient or was it that you did not inform me about this beforehand? I didn’t know that eating too much of those things would cause such an adverse reaction. I’ll go back and tell Mother that you took me out but didn’t care about me and let me eat without care.”
“You dare?” Yu Wen really did not want to make Madam Chen anxious with worry, so he said sternly, “If you go back and dare utter a word of this to your mother, I wouldn’t take you along with me anywhere else in the future.”
Yu Tang hmphed twice to show her dissatisfaction, and then negotiated with her father, “Then you can’t say I ate until my stomach hurt from the food at the night market when you return home.”
Yu Wen was startled.
Yu Yuan laughed loudly and explained it to him, “Uncle, you’ve fallen for Ah Tang’s trick. She just didn’t want you to tell anyone that she had a bad stomachache due to the food she ate at the night market.”
Yu Wen laughed and poked Yu Tang’s forehead, saying, “Little trickster, your eldest cousin and I will keep our mouths shut about this, so you should be satisfied now, right?”
“That’s more like it!” Yu Tang muttered in a small voice. Having drunk too much water, she needed to use the washroom again.
Yu Wen and Yu Yuan laughed aloud and asked the innkeeper to help look after Yu Tang before heading back to their rooms.
After tossing and turning for most of the night, it was nearly dawn before Yu Tang finally managed to fall asleep, and when she woke up, she felt so hungry, but both Yu Wen and Yu Yuan were no longer at the inn.
The innkeeper’s wife was a woman in her forties with an honest-looking face. She smiled and brought in some warm water for her, saying, “Drink some water. Your father and your brother repeatedly told us before they left that you can’t have any food, only warm water. Just bear with it for a while, you will be fine tomorrow.”
Yu Tang felt that she really was turning into a water balloon. Her stomach was full of water, she could even feel it shaking as she moved. She refused the water from the innkeeper’s wife and asked her , “Do you know where my father and brother have gone?”
“They said they were going out to have a look around.” The lady innkeeper didn’t force her and smiled as she placed the cup of warm water on the small stool next to her bed, saying “They said that if you are awake, you should rest in the room. They’ll be back in the evening.”
Did they go to visit that skilled master surnamed Qian?
Yutang didn’t dare to ask further, as she was afraid someone would find out what was going on, so after exchanging a few pleasantries with the lady innkeeper, she pretended to yawn.
Upon seeing it, the lady innkeeper immediately got up to leave, saying “You can rest first, just call me if you need anything.”
Yu Tang thanked the lady innkeeper. After she left, she only felt hungrier, but regrettably she couldn’t eat anything.
She counted the silver her mother had secretly placed in her purse behind her father’s back before she left home and felt that she had really suffered a huge loss this time.
She suddenly felt as if she had returned to the cage of the Li family in her previous life – because she had promised the Li family that she would honor her widow chastity vow, she strictly kept the rules of widowhood, and to be mindful of her conduct at all times. Although she kept her promise, but the Li family reneged …… thinking of this, those unhappy thoughts that she had suppressed in her heart burst forth like water out of a dam, and could not be stopped.
She did not want to stay here like this.
She wanted to go out for a walk, or find something to do.
In her previous life, how did she pass those miserable days?
Making flower head pieces.
Yes, making flower pieces.
Making all kinds of flower head pieces.
When she accepted the Li family’s proposal, she didn’t think too much of it, thinking that a person’s life was short – just a few decades and it would pass by as if in the blink of an eye. If she could repay the kindness of her eldest uncle’s family, and one of their two families can survive, what does it matter if she is just a little bit tired? When she really began to observe widowhood, only then did she know how arduous it was to get through each passing day. From the sunset to sunrise, from the sunrise to the sunset. A quarter of an hour, two hours, every day only counting the hours. She felt that she couldn’t go on with her life, she was so restless that she could not do anything well and lacked interest in anything. Growing flowers, embroidery, sewing clothes, she tried them all, but it didn’t work.
Until the Dragon Boat Festival one year, the Li family’s little maid named Bai Xing quietly sent a date red embroidered velvet flower head piece to her, and softly said to her. “I know you can’t wear it, but you can keep it to look at it when you have nothing to do.”
It was a very ordinary flower piece.
It was made to look like a camellia flower.
It was the size of a wine cup.
The wire branches weren’t wrapped well, revealing some rust spots.
Its workmanship was very rough.
While she was in her maiden home, even Shuangtao wouldn’t buy such a thing.
But it was this flower that she took out from time to time to see.
The dark red color of dates, with fluffy petals, actually helped to gradually sooth her irritation.
She began to wrap fine thread to hide rusty spots to make flower branches, and used green light summer cloth to make calyx …… later, she began to make flower head pieces for the little maids.
Hangzhou silk, velvet, woven gold, coarse cloth, fine cloth …… lilac, lilies, jasmine, peony…… the size of a wine cup, a covered tea cup, or a thumb …… copper beads, gilded silver beads, glazed beads …… Later she even got so experienced and made these flowers so realistic, that she hung her magnolia flowers on a balsam fir tree in the sixth month……
Most of her time was spent on making such flower head pieces.
Yutang closed her eyes.
Since her rebirth, she felt that she should be like a newborn baby, forgetting all about her former self.
Especially those habits that she developed in the Li residence.
Not only did she not make any flower headpieces, she did not go to the Li family to seek revenge, nor did she go to Ku an Temple where she died to have a look.
However, things that have happened did happen. It was carved in her bones and flowed in her blood.
She couldn’t change it, nor could she forget about it.
Suddenly Yutang wanted to make a flower head piece.
Something small, pink, with numerous petals, cascading style, in a shape of a camellia. On top of its petal would rest a small beetle, pea-sized, lifelike, lying on the stamen of the camellia flower, and this head piece would be placed in her hair.
That was something that she had never worn after the death of Li Jun.
Yutang was like a parched traveler, unable to resist the longing in her heart.
She got up to dress up.
The young girl in the bronze mirror staring back at her had eyes as bright as stars, as though they could light up the entire night sky.
She slowly inserted a beaded flower in her hair, put on a veil, and got up to find the lady innkeeper. “Do you sell copper wire and silk cloth around here? I want to make some flowers headpieces.”
The lady innkeeper knew that she was the well-bred daughter of a scholar’s family. However, there are many scholar families who need their women to do needlework in order to have food, clothing and other necessities. She gave Yu Tang a sympathetic look and pointed to a small lane outside the door. “From here, turn left at the first crossroad, there’s a street that sells flower head pieces, combs, hats and purses.”
Not only were such things sold, but they also had materials to make these things that they sold.
There were stores that collected these things and also merchants that sold them.
Thinking that Yutang’s family was familiar with Pei’s family, the lady innkeeper also asked a young attendant boy to follow her, instructing him “Help her carry her things and lead the way.” If they encountered any perverts, he could also threaten him or call someone to help.
Yu Tang thanked her repeatedly, and was led out the door by the boy.
It cost her three taels of silver, and half a day’s work, but she managed to buy a large pile of copper wires, gilt-silver glazed beads and a pile of various bits of cloth back.
After drinking some water, she sat down in front of the window in the guest room and began to make flower head pieces.
The familiar tools, materials, colors …… Yutang’s heart calmed down, and she didn’t feel tired nor hungry anymore.
Chapter 39 – Flower head pieces
Yu Tang laid feebly on the bed, and through the folding screens, she listened to the white, chubby-faced, smiling imperial physician Wang Bo speaking to Yu Wen. “It’s nothing serious! A young lady that’s carefully raised in the family since young, suddenly coming out to eat and drink frivolously, of course her stomach couldn’t handle it. There is no need to prescribe any medicine, she just has to fast for two days. In the future, such spicy food should be consumed sparingly.”
Yu Wen regretted it so much that he bowed low and nodded his head in agreement.
Wang Bo remembered their family’s situation and asked with a smile, “Has your wife’s illness improved? Old man Yang seems cold and aloof, but that’s because he’s a good physician, with brilliant medicinal skills. His prescriptions should not be inaccurate.”
Although he and Yang Douxing went to see Madam Chen the previous time, it was Yang Douxing who wrote the prescription.
Yu Wen answered. “I remembered the kindness shown by both of you! A few days ago, I even went to the temple to pray for peace for you two. If not that both of you still had good health, I would have even set up longevity placuqes!”
“Hahahaha!” Wang Bo laughed broadly as he replied, “I don’t need that, but Yang Douxing loves anything that spreads his fame. The next time you meet him, you must mention it to him. Although he doesn’t show it on his face, but in his heart, he would be very pleased.”
Cultured, educated men often downplay their contemporaries, so peers that compliment each others were few and far between.
This kind of statement was hard to respond to. Yu Wen stammered out a few words of vague agreement and then commented, “Both of you are busy people, it’s a privilege to meet you again, it’s not often that we get to see each other.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Wang Bo grinned, “The Grand Madam of the Pei family hasn’t been feeling well these days, so Yang Douxing can be said to be living in Lin’an now. If you have anything, you can go directly to the Pei’s residence to request for him.”
This time, wasn’t it also the Pei family’s namecard that brought him here in the middle of the night?
The people of the Yu family were all flabbergasted, and then became a little happy.
With such a renowned physician nearby, although they may not necessarily need his help, but it definitely helps to bring some peace of mind.
Yuwen thanked him profusely, making Wang Bo pleased, and only then sent him away. After returning, despite it being early autumn, his forehead already had formed beads of sweat. “Ai, these renowned people, none of them are easy to deal with.”
Yu Yuan quickly poured Yu Wen a cup of tea, and thanked second supervisor Tong again.
When second supervisor Tong saw that there was nothing more to do here, he smiled and said his farewells. “If there is anything else, just ask the innkeeper to send word to the store in front. We are from the same hometown, so we should help each other more when we’re out and about, you don’t have to be so polite with me.”
Yu Wen and Yu Yuan thanked him again, and personally sent Second supervisor Tong out, and saying, “When my daughter gets better in the next few days, I will personally offer my thanks to Third Master Pei again.”
This wasn’t up to second supervisor Tong to decide on this.
He smiled in reply, said a few parting words, such as “take good care of your child” and went away to rest.
Knowing that Yu Tang was fine, Yu Wen and Yu Yuan’s hearts finally felt at ease, and Yu Yuan even had the mood to poke fun at Yu Tang, ” You see? You didn’t control yourself previously and this happened. After this, you should learn how to exercise some self-restraint.”
Yu Tang laid there weakly, looking up at Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan felt sorry for her and went to pour a cup of warm water and helped her up so that she could drink.
Yu Tang kept her mouth closed and begged her elder cousin pitifully, “I’ve already drunk two pots of water, if I keep drinking, my stomach will become a water balloon.”
“Serves you right!” Yu Wen laughed after hearing that, “Who asked you to be so disobedient?”
Yu Tang cried out indignantly, saying, “Was it me being disobedient or was it that you did not inform me about this beforehand? I didn’t know that eating too much of those things would cause such an adverse reaction. I’ll go back and tell Mother that you took me out but didn’t care about me and let me eat without care.”
“You dare?” Yu Wen really did not want to make Madam Chen anxious with worry, so he said sternly, “If you go back and dare utter a word of this to your mother, I wouldn’t take you along with me anywhere else in the future.”
Yu Tang hmphed twice to show her dissatisfaction, and then negotiated with her father, “Then you can’t say I ate until my stomach hurt from the food at the night market when you return home.”
Yu Wen was startled.
Yu Yuan laughed loudly and explained it to him, “Uncle, you’ve fallen for Ah Tang’s trick. She just didn’t want you to tell anyone that she had a bad stomachache due to the food she ate at the night market.”
Yu Wen laughed and poked Yu Tang’s forehead, saying, “Little trickster, your eldest cousin and I will keep our mouths shut about this, so you should be satisfied now, right?”
“That’s more like it!” Yu Tang muttered in a small voice. Having drunk too much water, she needed to use the washroom again.
Yu Wen and Yu Yuan laughed aloud and asked the innkeeper to help look after Yu Tang before heading back to their rooms.
After tossing and turning for most of the night, it was nearly dawn before Yu Tang finally managed to fall asleep, and when she woke up, she felt so hungry, but both Yu Wen and Yu Yuan were no longer at the inn.
The innkeeper’s wife was a woman in her forties with an honest-looking face. She smiled and brought in some warm water for her, saying, “Drink some water. Your father and your brother repeatedly told us before they left that you can’t have any food, only warm water. Just bear with it for a while, you will be fine tomorrow.”
Yu Tang felt that she really was turning into a water balloon. Her stomach was full of water, she could even feel it shaking as she moved. She refused the water from the innkeeper’s wife and asked her , “Do you know where my father and brother have gone?”
“They said they were going out to have a look around.” The lady innkeeper didn’t force her and smiled as she placed the cup of warm water on the small stool next to her bed, saying “They said that if you are awake, you should rest in the room. They’ll be back in the evening.”
Did they go to visit that skilled master surnamed Qian?
Yutang didn’t dare to ask further, as she was afraid someone would find out what was going on, so after exchanging a few pleasantries with the lady innkeeper, she pretended to yawn.
Upon seeing it, the lady innkeeper immediately got up to leave, saying “You can rest first, just call me if you need anything.”
Yu Tang thanked the lady innkeeper. After she left, she only felt hungrier, but regrettably she couldn’t eat anything.
She counted the silver her mother had secretly placed in her purse behind her father’s back before she left home and felt that she had really suffered a huge loss this time.
She suddenly felt as if she had returned to the cage of the Li family in her previous life – because she had promised the Li family that she would honor her widow chastity vow, she strictly kept the rules of widowhood, and to be mindful of her conduct at all times. Although she kept her promise, but the Li family reneged …… thinking of this, those unhappy thoughts that she had suppressed in her heart burst forth like water out of a dam, and could not be stopped.
She did not want to stay here like this.
She wanted to go out for a walk, or find something to do.
In her previous life, how did she pass those miserable days?
Making flower head pieces.
Yes, making flower pieces.
Making all kinds of flower head pieces.
When she accepted the Li family’s proposal, she didn’t think too much of it, thinking that a person’s life was short – just a few decades and it would pass by as if in the blink of an eye. If she could repay the kindness of her eldest uncle’s family, and one of their two families can survive, what does it matter if she is just a little bit tired? When she really began to observe widowhood, only then did she know how arduous it was to get through each passing day. From the sunset to sunrise, from the sunrise to the sunset. A quarter of an hour, two hours, every day only counting the hours. She felt that she couldn’t go on with her life, she was so restless that she could not do anything well and lacked interest in anything. Growing flowers, embroidery, sewing clothes, she tried them all, but it didn’t work.
Until the Dragon Boat Festival one year, the Li family’s little maid named Bai Xing quietly sent a date red embroidered velvet flower head piece to her, and softly said to her. “I know you can’t wear it, but you can keep it to look at it when you have nothing to do.”
It was a very ordinary flower piece.
It was made to look like a camellia flower.
It was the size of a wine cup.
The wire branches weren’t wrapped well, revealing some rust spots.
Its workmanship was very rough.
While she was in her maiden home, even Shuangtao wouldn’t buy such a thing.
But it was this flower that she took out from time to time to see.
The dark red color of dates, with fluffy petals, actually helped to gradually sooth her irritation.
She began to wrap fine thread to hide rusty spots to make flower branches, and used green light summer cloth to make calyx …… later, she began to make flower head pieces for the little maids.
Hangzhou silk, velvet, woven gold, coarse cloth, fine cloth …… lilac, lilies, jasmine, peony…… the size of a wine cup, a covered tea cup, or a thumb …… copper beads, gilded silver beads, glazed beads …… Later she even got so experienced and made these flowers so realistic, that she hung her magnolia flowers on a balsam fir tree in the sixth month……
Most of her time was spent on making such flower head pieces.
Yutang closed her eyes.
Since her rebirth, she felt that she should be like a newborn baby, forgetting all about her former self.
Especially those habits that she developed in the Li residence.
Not only did she not make any flower headpieces, she did not go to the Li family to seek revenge, nor did she go to Ku an Temple where she died to have a look.
However, things that have happened did happen. It was carved in her bones and flowed in her blood.
She couldn’t change it, nor could she forget about it.
Suddenly Yutang wanted to make a flower head piece.
Something small, pink, with numerous petals, cascading style, in a shape of a camellia. On top of its petal would rest a small beetle, pea-sized, lifelike, lying on the stamen of the camellia flower, and this head piece would be placed in her hair.
That was something that she had never worn after the death of Li Jun.
Yutang was like a parched traveler, unable to resist the longing in her heart.
She got up to dress up.
The young girl in the bronze mirror staring back at her had eyes as bright as stars, as though they could light up the entire night sky.
She slowly inserted a beaded flower in her hair, put on a veil, and got up to find the lady innkeeper. “Do you sell copper wire and silk cloth around here? I want to make some flowers headpieces.”
The lady innkeeper knew that she was the well-bred daughter of a scholar’s family. However, there are many scholar families who need their women to do needlework in order to have food, clothing and other necessities. She gave Yu Tang a sympathetic look and pointed to a small lane outside the door. “From here, turn left at the first crossroad, there’s a street that sells flower head pieces, combs, hats and purses.”
Not only were such things sold, but they also had materials to make these things that they sold.
There were stores that collected these things and also merchants that sold them.
Thinking that Yutang’s family was familiar with Pei’s family, the lady innkeeper also asked a young attendant boy to follow her, instructing him “Help her carry her things and lead the way.” If they encountered any perverts, he could also threaten him or call someone to help.
Yu Tang thanked her repeatedly, and was led out the door by the boy.
It cost her three taels of silver, and half a day’s work, but she managed to buy a large pile of copper wires, gilt-silver glazed beads and a pile of various bits of cloth back.
After drinking some water, she sat down in front of the window in the guest room and began to make flower head pieces.
The familiar tools, materials, colors …… Yutang’s heart calmed down, and she didn’t feel tired nor hungry anymore.
