Chapter 13: Spendthrift? Fish Soup?
I ran into calamity today so I must get rid of the bad luck. It seemed like I haven’t been visiting the shrines enough in the past few days, and prayed a few times less than I should have.
I pondered a bit and immediately had the driver turn toward the Buddhist temple to burn incense.
Lu Ying followed me with a basket of joss sticks while I started praying starting from the Sakyamuni Buddha in the main hall of the temple. Medicine Buddha, Maitreya, Guanyin, four heavenly kings, eighteen arhats… I prayed to each one as I went around. I was in front of an unknown statue when I heard a weak voice mumbling next to me, “Please bless me with a good husband like Brother Yanzhen who is handsome and talented.” A moment after, she added, “Let the Shen family’s whatever miss not have a good ending.”
I looked up to see the deity consecrated on the shrine. It was Guanyin, and she was even carrying a baby, representing the Goddess of Fertility. I turned again to see that the worshipper was a charming and bright young lady around eighteen years old. I thought she didn’t have as many life experiences as me since she was so young so I told her with good intentions:
“Miss, the Goddess Guanyin in front of you is in charge of delivering sons. If you are praying for a fated marriage then the Immortal Yue Lao in the matchmaker shrine next door is more useful.” I thought a bit and sincerely advised, “Also, as far as I know, all the deities only protect and do not manage matters of cheating and harming others.”
The young lady squinted her eyes at me, snorted, and arrogantly said, “This Prin… If this lady made requests, who dares not manage them?!”
That tone… It was a bit familiar.
Before I could figure out how it was familiar, she arrogantly lifted her chin and left. Following behind her was a pair, one male one female, with distinct footsteps that mark them as trained. The trio disappeared instantly in the web of people in the main hall.
“Miss, Lu Ying just heard that person adore Young Master… Uh, no, it’s Lord Uncle. She also cursed Miss!” Lu Ying clenched a few thick incense sticks and pouted, making a funny face.
I rubbed off the ashes on her sleeve while lowering my head to hide a smile.
Pei Yanzhen was a disastrously gifted scholar and Song Xiyuan was an outstanding moneybag, neither was good. Who told me to be so unlucky as to marry them back to back? It wasn’t a big deal to have a young lady curse me since it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Except, I only heard it as rumors before. Today, personally hearing someone sincerely curse me left me a little unsettled. I pushed the blame to Pei and Song, the two culprits.
“Little Lu, let’s go.” I got up with my big belly and left the hall.
“Miss isn’t burning incense anymore?” Lu Ying followed along noisily.
“Not burning. We’ll buy a little person.”
“Ah? Little person? What little person?” …
Exiting the Buddhist temple, I walked around the shrine and found Immortal Wang’s stall, as expected. His deceitful mouse-like eyes saw me and suddenly lit up. He intimately said, “Shen Eldest Miss came to pray? Did you come here for a divination or joss sticks today?”
This Immortal Wang was usually found by the temple as a fortune teller and set up a stall on the side to take advantage of the area. Although his stall looked small, it had a complete array of goods from candles, offerings, and talismans to paper money, dolls, and wooden swords. These were originally ordinary goods, but because he had a glib tongue, he talked as if his items came from the heavens. Gullible worshippers were misled and ended up paying twice as much for his products. Although he was unscrupulous, he was also able to chat about anything, so I recognized him when I frequently visited the temple during the time I left the Song family. I came by to listen to his speeches as a pastime.
Today I wasn’t here for his speeches. Getting right to the point, I said, “Give me two male paper dolls.”
Immortal Wang looked around. Vexed at not being able to cover my mouth, he said, on guard, “Hey, my Shen Eldest Miss, you can buy but can you not disturb my business? Now, it’s different from the past. With Master Pei, who can’t bear to see this type of strange magic, sitting in the magistrate position, investigations on witchcraft are strict…”
He suddenly stopped, remembering that Pei Yanzhen was my uncle. He supplemented, “Of course, having Master Pei as the magistrate is our fortune.”
“Don’t tell me rubbish. I’m only asking if you have paper dolls. If you don’t, I’ll go to another shop.” I interrupted him.
He immediately switched gears and said, “Yes, how could I not have it? Even if it’s a no, for the Shen Eldest Miss, this Wang will turn it into a yes.” While chattering, he carefully rummaged through the stall’s bottom for a black cloth bundle. He unwrapped it, fished out two paper dolls, and secretively handed them to me. Displaying a few needles, he softly said, “If Miss Shen wants to curse someone then simply write their birthdate on it and stab it with the needles. I guarantee that it’s effective and the spot you stab is the spot where it hurts. One silver each.”
I examined the paper doll when I heard a bright voice beside me, “What is this thing?”
I turned and saw it was the young lady from the temple earlier. She stared at the dolls in my hand with round curious eyes. That Immortal Wang, seeing a customer come up by herself, immediately explained the uses of the paper doll. The young lady listened with bright eyes and said she was buying a female paper doll.
I said toward Immortal Wang, “Between us two, we are buying three dolls from you, so lower the price a little. Make it fifteen coppers each.”
Immortal Wang twisted as if a piece of his flesh was cut off, “This price was cut a little too ruthlessly. Seeing as you’re a frequent customer, how about twenty coppers?”
“Fifteen,” I asserted.
Unexpectedly, the young lady not only didn’t appreciate the gesture, she even shot a glance at me and said with eyes filled with despise, “Haggling over every cent! How vulgar!” She allowed the person behind her drop off a shining piece of silver and swaggered off.
And that was why people can’t do good deeds.
I sighed and turned to leave when Immortal Wang shouted, “Miss Shen, you still haven’t paid.” I turned around to stare at the ten-silver piece and said, “Didn’t that spendthrift cover my portion as well?”
Immortal Wang smiled, embarrassed, “Miss Shen sure knows how to go with the flow…”
I originally thought my bad luck would decrease after going to the temple, but when the carriage stopped in front of my house, I saw an extra layer of wooden-faced guards along the walls. The housekeeper saw me get off the carriage and slipped over quietly, “Miss, the Emperor is here for the evening meal. We can’t use the main gates now. The Old Master instructed me to let you in through the side door.”
I just knew the Emperor would not forget to mooch off of our Shen family even though he was living with the Songs. I didn’t know how much money, besides this dinner, we would have to spend for the Emperor to be satisfied… I shook my head as Lu Ying led me back to my room through the side door.
I still hadn’t warmed my seat when someone outside announced, “The Emperor bestows a feast–“
Leaving the room, I saw a pale eunuch standing outside, “His Majesty invites Miss Shen to take a seat. Miss Shen, please follow.”
I stared blankly, then responded in thanks before following him to the dining room. In the room, though, I didn’t see the original round table, but instead, it was exchanged for a long mahogany table. At the head of the table was the Emperor with Pei Yanzhen sitting to the right and Daddy and Song Xiyuan on the left. The table was full of plates of gourmet Jiangnan food with a pot of hot soup in the middle. The sight was a thorn in my eyes.
I bowed, “This commoner pays respects to Your Majesty. Thanks to Your Majesty for bestowing a feast to this lowly one. Long live Your Majesty.” To think, now even just eating a meal at home, I had to receive imperial favor and shed tears of gratitude. It really was exhausting. I regretted leaking out being able to buy the paper doll outside the temple.
Sitting down, I heard the master of the table say, “The fish soup was just served and it’s really fresh. Eunuch Cao, ladle a bowl for Miss Shen.”
Daddy’s eyebrows twitched and Pei Yanzhen’s complexion changed. Song Xiyuan’s fingertips moved, then with smiling eyes, he said, “I heard Your Majesty personally caught this fish today. Miss Shen has great luck for Your Majesty to bestow a bowl of soup. May Xiyuan receive a little of your favor and be so bold as to request a taste of how fresh the fish is?”
That Eunuch Cao calmly ladled me a bowl of soup as ordered. In the entire room, besides the sounds of pouring liquid, there was silence.
The Emperor warmly looked at Song Xiyuan, and after a while, he smiled and said, “Why not? Eunuch Cao, give this bowl of soup to Third Young Master first, then pour another for Miss Shen.”
“Yes.”
Song Xiyuan held a spoon, slightly lowered his head to blow on the soup, and calmly scooped a spoonful to bring to his mouth. He closed his eyes to enjoy the aftertaste, then opened them to express, “Delicious indeed. In the twenty years of this commoner’s life, this is the first time thinking carp fish soup is so delicious.” He then drained the bowl in a praising manner with a somewhat revered look.
The Emperor smiled from his flattery.
Looking up, I saw Daddy and Pei Yanzhen secretly staring at Song Xiyuan. Pei Yanzhen held his chopsticks so tight his knuckles turned white.
A few minutes later, the three relaxed for some reason. I inexplicably glanced at Song Xiyuan’s usual ruddy face, then lowered my head to drink my own soup.
I felt tired running around the whole day. After eating the falsely advertised feast, which was really a dinner prepared by my Shen family, I washed up and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, there was a sharp pain in my stomach that hurt so much I couldn’t make a sound. I stretched out my hand to knock down a ceramic cup on the headboard. The disturbing sound attracted Lu Ying who was in the outer room.
“Miss, Miss! What happened? Someone, hurry! Miss is about to give birth!”
In a moment, servants, Daddy, aunts, doctors, midwives… people were coming and going in turns…
“Is she about to give birth?”
“Did Miss Shen eat labor inducing herbs?”
“Miao’r, ah…”
“Miss, hurry. a little more strength!”
…
The pain was still tolerable in the beginning as it only came in bursts. Later on, it was dreadful. It felt like someone split me open with a hatchet. It also felt like the Black and White Impermanence, those subordinates of Yama, chained me up and was dragging me down…
I stared at the mosquito net above me, watching the lights become fuzzy or dazzling. When I vaguely felt like I was about to ascend, a cry came out.
Earth-shattering.
Chapter 13: Spendthrift? Fish Soup?
I ran into calamity today so I must get rid of the bad luck. It seemed like I haven’t been visiting the shrines enough in the past few days, and prayed a few times less than I should have.
I pondered a bit and immediately had the driver turn toward the Buddhist temple to burn incense.
Lu Ying followed me with a basket of joss sticks while I started praying starting from the Sakyamuni Buddha in the main hall of the temple. Medicine Buddha, Maitreya, Guanyin, four heavenly kings, eighteen arhats… I prayed to each one as I went around. I was in front of an unknown statue when I heard a weak voice mumbling next to me, “Please bless me with a good husband like Brother Yanzhen who is handsome and talented.” A moment after, she added, “Let the Shen family’s whatever miss not have a good ending.”
I looked up to see the deity consecrated on the shrine. It was Guanyin, and she was even carrying a baby, representing the Goddess of Fertility. I turned again to see that the worshipper was a charming and bright young lady around eighteen years old. I thought she didn’t have as many life experiences as me since she was so young so I told her with good intentions:
“Miss, the Goddess Guanyin in front of you is in charge of delivering sons. If you are praying for a fated marriage then the Immortal Yue Lao in the matchmaker shrine next door is more useful.” I thought a bit and sincerely advised, “Also, as far as I know, all the deities only protect and do not manage matters of cheating and harming others.”
The young lady squinted her eyes at me, snorted, and arrogantly said, “This Prin… If this lady made requests, who dares not manage them?!”
That tone… It was a bit familiar.
Before I could figure out how it was familiar, she arrogantly lifted her chin and left. Following behind her was a pair, one male one female, with distinct footsteps that mark them as trained. The trio disappeared instantly in the web of people in the main hall.
“Miss, Lu Ying just heard that person adore Young Master… Uh, no, it’s Lord Uncle. She also cursed Miss!” Lu Ying clenched a few thick incense sticks and pouted, making a funny face.
I rubbed off the ashes on her sleeve while lowering my head to hide a smile.
Pei Yanzhen was a disastrously gifted scholar and Song Xiyuan was an outstanding moneybag, neither was good. Who told me to be so unlucky as to marry them back to back? It wasn’t a big deal to have a young lady curse me since it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Except, I only heard it as rumors before. Today, personally hearing someone sincerely curse me left me a little unsettled. I pushed the blame to Pei and Song, the two culprits.
“Little Lu, let’s go.” I got up with my big belly and left the hall.
“Miss isn’t burning incense anymore?” Lu Ying followed along noisily.
“Not burning. We’ll buy a little person.”
“Ah? Little person? What little person?” …
Exiting the Buddhist temple, I walked around the shrine and found Immortal Wang’s stall, as expected. His deceitful mouse-like eyes saw me and suddenly lit up. He intimately said, “Shen Eldest Miss came to pray? Did you come here for a divination or joss sticks today?”
This Immortal Wang was usually found by the temple as a fortune teller and set up a stall on the side to take advantage of the area. Although his stall looked small, it had a complete array of goods from candles, offerings, and talismans to paper money, dolls, and wooden swords. These were originally ordinary goods, but because he had a glib tongue, he talked as if his items came from the heavens. Gullible worshippers were misled and ended up paying twice as much for his products. Although he was unscrupulous, he was also able to chat about anything, so I recognized him when I frequently visited the temple during the time I left the Song family. I came by to listen to his speeches as a pastime.
Today I wasn’t here for his speeches. Getting right to the point, I said, “Give me two male paper dolls.”
Immortal Wang looked around. Vexed at not being able to cover my mouth, he said, on guard, “Hey, my Shen Eldest Miss, you can buy but can you not disturb my business? Now, it’s different from the past. With Master Pei, who can’t bear to see this type of strange magic, sitting in the magistrate position, investigations on witchcraft are strict…”
He suddenly stopped, remembering that Pei Yanzhen was my uncle. He supplemented, “Of course, having Master Pei as the magistrate is our fortune.”
“Don’t tell me rubbish. I’m only asking if you have paper dolls. If you don’t, I’ll go to another shop.” I interrupted him.
He immediately switched gears and said, “Yes, how could I not have it? Even if it’s a no, for the Shen Eldest Miss, this Wang will turn it into a yes.” While chattering, he carefully rummaged through the stall’s bottom for a black cloth bundle. He unwrapped it, fished out two paper dolls, and secretively handed them to me. Displaying a few needles, he softly said, “If Miss Shen wants to curse someone then simply write their birthdate on it and stab it with the needles. I guarantee that it’s effective and the spot you stab is the spot where it hurts. One silver each.”
I examined the paper doll when I heard a bright voice beside me, “What is this thing?”
I turned and saw it was the young lady from the temple earlier. She stared at the dolls in my hand with round curious eyes. That Immortal Wang, seeing a customer come up by herself, immediately explained the uses of the paper doll. The young lady listened with bright eyes and said she was buying a female paper doll.
I said toward Immortal Wang, “Between us two, we are buying three dolls from you, so lower the price a little. Make it fifteen coppers each.”
Immortal Wang twisted as if a piece of his flesh was cut off, “This price was cut a little too ruthlessly. Seeing as you’re a frequent customer, how about twenty coppers?”
“Fifteen,” I asserted.
Unexpectedly, the young lady not only didn’t appreciate the gesture, she even shot a glance at me and said with eyes filled with despise, “Haggling over every cent! How vulgar!” She allowed the person behind her drop off a shining piece of silver and swaggered off.
And that was why people can’t do good deeds.
I sighed and turned to leave when Immortal Wang shouted, “Miss Shen, you still haven’t paid.” I turned around to stare at the ten-silver piece and said, “Didn’t that spendthrift cover my portion as well?”
Immortal Wang smiled, embarrassed, “Miss Shen sure knows how to go with the flow…”
I originally thought my bad luck would decrease after going to the temple, but when the carriage stopped in front of my house, I saw an extra layer of wooden-faced guards along the walls. The housekeeper saw me get off the carriage and slipped over quietly, “Miss, the Emperor is here for the evening meal. We can’t use the main gates now. The Old Master instructed me to let you in through the side door.”
I just knew the Emperor would not forget to mooch off of our Shen family even though he was living with the Songs. I didn’t know how much money, besides this dinner, we would have to spend for the Emperor to be satisfied… I shook my head as Lu Ying led me back to my room through the side door.
I still hadn’t warmed my seat when someone outside announced, “The Emperor bestows a feast–“
Leaving the room, I saw a pale eunuch standing outside, “His Majesty invites Miss Shen to take a seat. Miss Shen, please follow.”
I stared blankly, then responded in thanks before following him to the dining room. In the room, though, I didn’t see the original round table, but instead, it was exchanged for a long mahogany table. At the head of the table was the Emperor with Pei Yanzhen sitting to the right and Daddy and Song Xiyuan on the left. The table was full of plates of gourmet Jiangnan food with a pot of hot soup in the middle. The sight was a thorn in my eyes.
I bowed, “This commoner pays respects to Your Majesty. Thanks to Your Majesty for bestowing a feast to this lowly one. Long live Your Majesty.” To think, now even just eating a meal at home, I had to receive imperial favor and shed tears of gratitude. It really was exhausting. I regretted leaking out being able to buy the paper doll outside the temple.
Sitting down, I heard the master of the table say, “The fish soup was just served and it’s really fresh. Eunuch Cao, ladle a bowl for Miss Shen.”
Daddy’s eyebrows twitched and Pei Yanzhen’s complexion changed. Song Xiyuan’s fingertips moved, then with smiling eyes, he said, “I heard Your Majesty personally caught this fish today. Miss Shen has great luck for Your Majesty to bestow a bowl of soup. May Xiyuan receive a little of your favor and be so bold as to request a taste of how fresh the fish is?”
That Eunuch Cao calmly ladled me a bowl of soup as ordered. In the entire room, besides the sounds of pouring liquid, there was silence.
The Emperor warmly looked at Song Xiyuan, and after a while, he smiled and said, “Why not? Eunuch Cao, give this bowl of soup to Third Young Master first, then pour another for Miss Shen.”
“Yes.”
Song Xiyuan held a spoon, slightly lowered his head to blow on the soup, and calmly scooped a spoonful to bring to his mouth. He closed his eyes to enjoy the aftertaste, then opened them to express, “Delicious indeed. In the twenty years of this commoner’s life, this is the first time thinking carp fish soup is so delicious.” He then drained the bowl in a praising manner with a somewhat revered look.
The Emperor smiled from his flattery.
Looking up, I saw Daddy and Pei Yanzhen secretly staring at Song Xiyuan. Pei Yanzhen held his chopsticks so tight his knuckles turned white.
A few minutes later, the three relaxed for some reason. I inexplicably glanced at Song Xiyuan’s usual ruddy face, then lowered my head to drink my own soup.
I felt tired running around the whole day. After eating the falsely advertised feast, which was really a dinner prepared by my Shen family, I washed up and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, there was a sharp pain in my stomach that hurt so much I couldn’t make a sound. I stretched out my hand to knock down a ceramic cup on the headboard. The disturbing sound attracted Lu Ying who was in the outer room.
“Miss, Miss! What happened? Someone, hurry! Miss is about to give birth!”
In a moment, servants, Daddy, aunts, doctors, midwives… people were coming and going in turns…
“Is she about to give birth?”
“Did Miss Shen eat labor inducing herbs?”
“Miao’r, ah…”
“Miss, hurry. a little more strength!”
…
The pain was still tolerable in the beginning as it only came in bursts. Later on, it was dreadful. It felt like someone split me open with a hatchet. It also felt like the Black and White Impermanence, those subordinates of Yama, chained me up and was dragging me down…
I stared at the mosquito net above me, watching the lights become fuzzy or dazzling. When I vaguely felt like I was about to ascend, a cry came out.
Earth-shattering.
