Four Seasons Brocade – CH 001

Chapter 1 ☆、 Peach Blossoms in Full Bloom, Flowers Rekindled

Ah Wu sat before her dressing mirror, carefully and lovingly combing her long, black, lustrous hair.

Zi-Shan, who had just brought in water to wash her face, could not help but raise an eyebrow and ask Zi-Yan, who was serving her in the room, “Still combing? I’ve already brought water three times.”

Zi-Yan anxiously gestured for Zi-Shan to be quiet.

Everyone in the room knew that since Sixth Young Lady recovered from her illness a few days ago, she had developed a strange habit: she loved to sit in front of her dressing mirror all day, lost in thought. Because the Old Madam pitied her frail health and exempted her from the morning and evening greetings, she could sit in front of the mirror all day long. Although she was still as quiet as before, Zi-Yan, who served her closely, could still sense the difference.

Just like before, the Sixth Young Lady was the gentlest and kindest person. Whenever a maid threw a tantrum, she not only would not scold her but would instead, as the mistress, humbly apologize to the maid. Based on what Zi-Shan had just said, if it were before her illness, the Sixth Young Lady would definitely have come to apologize and hurriedly washed her face; she would not have let Zi-Shan fetch water so many times.

But now, when Zi-Shan went to persuade the Sixth Young Lady to wash her face, she merely dipped her fingertip into the basin to test the water temperature, then frowned and withdrew her hand.

Zi-Shan took the basin back, turned her back to Zi-Yan, and gave her a wink. The two walked out together, and when they reached the wall, Zi-Shan could not help but get angry, saying, “What is the young lady doing? If she has any complaints, just say so openly. Why torture people like this?”

Zi-Yan pressed her hand down, signaling Zi-Shan to be quiet.

Zi-Shan shook off Zi-Yan’s hand and curled her lip towards the east wing, where the Sixth Young Lady lived. “Does she think she’s so noble? Just because she’s recovered from an illness, she thinks she can compare to the Fifth Young Lady? Does she not remember that the Fifth Young Lady is the legitimate daughter of the eldest son of the main branch and a renowned, talented woman in the capital? Even the Fifth Young Lady is not as picky as her.”

Zi-Yan exclaimed, “Oh dear! How can you talk like that? Although our Third Master is born of a concubine, the Sixth Young Lady is still the apple of his and Third Madam’s eye. Our Madam may not be able to control others, but we are all under her control. I see that now that the Sixth Young Lady is better, her behavior is different. You cannot serve her as casually as before.”

Zi-Shan scoffed, unconcerned. “What different behavior? Is she not just trying to imitate the Fifth Young Lady’s mannerisms? How laughable! What did Young Master Lun say about the Sixth Young Lady last time?” Zi-Shan smiled wryly.

Zi-Yan, however, did not find it funny at all. “You are so stubborn! Normally, you’d say that directly to the young lady. Why did you drag me out here to complain?”

Zi-Shan, somewhat embarrassed, said, “I will go get some water.”

“Hey, wait! You’ve served the young lady so many times, and she’s still not satisfied. Why not stop being lazy and bring the kettle? We can add water inside, so you do not have to run around again.” Zi-Yan hurriedly chased after Zi-Shan.

While Zi-Shan and Zi-Yan were chatting outside, Ah Wu was still combing her hair inside, gazing at herself in the mirror, unable to get enough of her reflection. She could not believe how someone could be so beautiful; she could look at that face for a lifetime and never tire of it. Although she was only six or seven years old, her features already showed signs of future beauty.

If it were not for this face, for being reborn into this kind of family, this lowly status, she would gladly die again.

In her past life, she was born into an extremely noble family. Her mother was the reigning Imperial Princess, and the Emperor was her maternal uncle, who doted on her. Unfortunately, she was destined for misfortune, suffering from frail health from a young age. Tonics poured into her body like water, yet to no avail.

As for her appearance, while not bad, it could not withstand years of illness. No matter how fine the shampoo or how vibrant the rouge, it could not cure her thinning hair and sallow skin.

Because of that face, even though she was the Princess Kangning, the title of Princess bestowed upon her by her maternal uncle, and renowned for her talent, she could never compare to her second cousin, who possessed only a pretty face. No matter how hard she tried or how well-behaved she was, everyone still preferred her second cousin, Gu Xihui, one of the two beauties of the capital.

Back then, Ah Wu and Gu Xihui both admired the Second Young Master Tang Jinshan, the most talented scholar in the capital and a Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, yet the great Tang Jinshan chose the good-for-nothing Gu Xihui at first sight. In the end, despite her noble status as Princess Kangning, she was unable to marry due to her frail health and received no suitors. She endured until her early twenties before passing away.

Ah Wu never expected that she would be reborn, possessing the body of the daughter of the third branch of the Rong family, the family of the Duke of Anguo.

Therefore, Ah Wu was no longer Ah Wu but had become Rong Xuan, the sixth young lady of the Rong family, whose given name was Rong Xuan and whose nickname was Wuyou.

Ah Wu was completely unfamiliar with this sixth young lady; she had never even heard of her in her previous life. She pieced together information that she was the legitimate daughter of Third Master Rong, the Duke of Anguo’s illegitimate son. Third Master Rong had two sons and one daughter, with Rong Wuyou being the youngest. However, Ah Wu was quite familiar with Rong Wan, the talented woman from the capital, whom Zi-Shan had mentioned. She was the other of the two beauties of the capital, comparable to Gu Xihui.

Ah Wu gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Though only six or seven years old, her future breathtaking beauty could not be concealed even by her youthful face. She imagined that when she grew up, she would rival even Gu Xihui’s beauty. Ah Wu could not understand how such a person was unheard of in the entire capital.

Only when Zi-Yan entered the room did Ah Wu come back to her senses. She remembered the maids’ lack of manners. Although she was the daughter of an illegitimate son, she was still a legitimate mistress of the Duke of Anguo’s mansion. These maids were so boorish and uncouth. What was Rong Wuyou, the former owner of this body, thinking? It was a shame she was called Wuyou (meaning “no worries”); in Ah Wu’s opinion, “more worries” would be more fitting.

Ah Wu, by nature, knew these people should have been punished long ago. She should have swiftly dismissed them and replaced them with new servants. However, these past few days, Ah Wu had a vague feeling that her predecessor was an extremely weak and easily bullied pushover. If Ah Wu acted recklessly, a Taoist priest would likely come to exorcise her evil spirit within days.

“Where have you been? No one even offered me a drink of water,” Ah Wu complained.

Zi-Yan secretly regretted forgetting this. After the Sixth Young Lady recovered, she no longer allowed maids to enter the room freely; all the internal services were handled by Zi-Yan and Zi-Shan.

Zi-Yan quickly bowed her head and said, “This servant knows her mistake. I will get you some water right away, Miss.”

“Bring some mint water,” Ah Wu added, no longer pursuing the matter. Zi-Yan was a sensible person, just needing a good talking-to. Ah Wu figured she could not really get rid of her, so she could only try to improve her own condition. If she were truly hopeless, she would find another way to get rid of her.

This time, Zi-Shan brought in a copper kettle, mixed water in a porcelain basin with famille rose butterflies and peonies, and Ah Wu tried it. She sighed helplessly. Maids from humble families were indeed a bit slow-witted; if you did not explain things clearly, they would not understand for three or five days.

“Fetch another basin of cool water, and put it in a celadon porcelain basin. The hot water needs to be heated a bit more; from now on, we will carry water in like this to dilute it, otherwise we will pick up so much dust on the way. Also, the cool water for washing our faces is crucial; from now on, we will use water from the well in the east courtyard. How can we use the water from the well in the west courtyard for washing clothes and vegetables?”

If you asked how Ah Wu knew all this, it was because the structure and rules of the aristocratic families in the capital were generally similar; they usually had two wells, one in the east and one in the west, each with its own function. It seemed the Duke of Anguo’s mansion was no exception.

As Ah Wu expected, the Duke of Anguo’s mansion did indeed have two wells, one in the west and one in the east. The water from the west courtyard was used for washing clothes and vegetables, while the water from the east courtyard was used for making tea.

Only then did Zi-Shan realize that all those times she had drawn water, she had not truly understood her master’s intentions.

Zi-Shan patiently went to fetch another basin of cool water, but because she was still angry, she deliberately chose water from the well in the west courtyard. After rummaging around for half a day, she finally found a sky-blue porcelain basin with a single white plum blossom in relief and filled it with water.

Ah Wu then stirred the water with her fingertip, frowning, and said, “This is well water from the west courtyard. If you are going to be so disobedient to your mistress, you’d better go back to my mother and leave as soon as possible, lest you make a serious mistake that will implicate your whole family.”

Zi-Shan was startled, thinking that the Sixth Young Lady was truly amazing. The same well water, yet she could tell it was from the west courtyard with just a touch.

“It was my mistake; I was confused. I will fetch some more right away.” Zi-Shan dared not disobey any longer and hurriedly went to fetch more water.

But Ah Wu could not truly distinguish between the east and west courtyard water; she was just taking advantage of Zi-Shan’s unruly nature to trick her.

When Zi-Shan returned with the water, Ah Wu leisurely said, “Add a few drops of the rosewater that Madam sent to the hot water, and fetch some bath powder.”

Zi-Yan did as she was told, but she was increasingly puzzled. The Sixth Young Lady had only received one bottle of this rosewater from the Dashi ^{(Arab World)}, and she was always reluctant to use it. Why was she using it in her wash water today?

Zi-Shan helped Ah Wu by placing a white cotton cloth under her chest and rolling up her sleeves. Two maids held a towel and a washbasin beside her. Ah Wu then bent down and first washed her face with hot water and bath powder, then applied cool water to her face before finishing.

Afterwards, Zi-Yan fetched jade hairpin powder.

Ah Wu sniffed the powder. “Where did you get this powder?”

“I got it from Fifth Young Lady yesterday. Judging from her zither playing, it’s newly made this year.” Zi-Yan had pulled a lot of strings to get this box of powder, because the Sixth Young Lady disliked the powder in her room, saying it was bought from outside and contained lead powder.

Ah Wu fiddled with a little powder, rubbing it between her index finger and thumb. It was good powder, but it did not adhere well to the skin. From a distance, it looked alright, but up close, you could see the powder flaking off. The Fifth Young Lady Rong that Ah Wu had met certainly did not use this kind of powder.

“Could it be that one of the Fifth Young Lady’s maids is trying to fool you with her own powder?” Ah Wu flicked the powder off her fingertip with disgust. “I am still young and do not need powder.” Ah Wu looked at her face with satisfaction, truly possessing a radiant beauty that “disdains cosmetics for its own blemishes.”

Ah Wu rose and inspected the Sixth Young Lady’s wardrobe. There were not many clothes; most were slightly worn everyday dresses, and very few were suitable for going out to meet guests.

Ah Wu noticed a purple top with dark gold embroidered chrysanthemum patterns and gold chrysanthemum leaf trim. It looked familiar. After a moment’s glance, she remembered—the Fifth Young Lady had worn a similar jacket when she visited her that day. Another item, a light green skirt with a purple plum blossom embroidered on the collar, was also a style the Fifth Young Lady had worn.

Ah Wu felt a bad premonition. Even though they were sisters, they were not twins; why would they make identical clothes? She wondered if the Sixth Young Lady was truly foolish or pretending. With her looks, why would she need to imitate that half-baked talented woman, Fifth Young Lady Rong, in every way?