Golden Age Legitimate Fei

Chapter 3: Jiumu arrives

Chapter 3: Jiumu arrives

Fu Imperial Capital

"Xiaojie , Xu furen has arrived."

Ye Li raised her head and just so happened to see her own second jiumu (舅母 – aunt who is the wife of maternal uncle) coming in from outside. She quickly got up and greeted, "Second jiumu."

Xu furen this year was only maybe thirty-six or thirty-seven and her properly maintained appearance could only be described as delicate and pretty, but the temperament she naturally exuded from head to toe ill.u.s.trated her upbringing due to her prestigious family background.

Wrinkling her eyebrows as she stared around sizing up Ye Li's room, she couldn't help but frown and prod her forehead, saying, "Jiumu and jiujiu (舅舅 – maternal uncle) already told you to move to jiujiu's home, but you stubbornly don't listen. Now you look at the state of where you're living, how does it look? You look at the matter of your wedding...you deliberately want your mother to feel uneasy even from beyond the grave, don't you?"

Ye Li rubbed her forehead and pulled Xu furen to sit down, saying, "It hasn't been easy on jiujiu these years, not to mention zumu (祖母 – respectful or intimate way of addressing grandmother) and fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father) are still around. Where can you find daughters moving to live in their jiujiu's homes? It would only gratuitously cause bystanders to mock muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother) for not knowing how to raise this daughter."

Ever since the current emperor ascended the throne, he had taken the opportunity to forcefully suppress the old subjects of the late emperor's reign. Waigong (外公 – maternal grandfather) and da jiujiu (大舅舅 – eldest maternal uncle) as well as Xu shi's (氏 – clan name / maiden surname) clansmen had withdrawn from the officialdom one after another. Now, there was only second jiujiu who was still in the Imperial Hanlin Academy as a third-rank member. From an outsider's perspective, the hundred year old large and influential clan of Xu shi had long gone downhill.

Seeing Ye Li talk like that, Xu furen couldn't help but sigh, saying, "Just seeing you give yourself grievances like this, if your waigong were to know this, he would feel really distressed."

The Xu family for several generations have composed more of men than of women. When it reached Xu laodaye (老太爺 – respectful form of elderly gentleman / esteemed father), for this generation he only had Ye Li's mother for a daughter. Naturally, she endeared him a thousand times and he doted on her for ten thousand*.

((*Note: The exact words used here were "千疼万宠 – qiantengwanchong", which literally means "thousand endeared, ten thousand to dote on / spoil / pamper / favour". One can tell that it means laodaye really loved and doted on Ye Li's mother. It sounds like an idiom, though it is not listed on MDBG.))

If he were to know that his only waisunnu (外孫女 – granddaughter through female descendant) had suffered this kind of grievance, according to Xu laodaye's temper, was only afraid he will want to rush into the capital to put pressure on his son-in-law to properly chew him out.

Ye Li laughed and said, "How can there be any grievances, Li er definitely wouldn't allow my own self to suffer."

Xu furen looked at her with concern, saying, "Now, your wedding...Ding w.a.n.g is really not a good match. Your younger sister really isn't like a person, she stole her own elder sister's husband, she as a big family's xiaojie is also capable of doing this kind of thing?"

Ye Li fluidly glanced around, completely unlike her usual weak and frail-looking demeanor she used in the fu and shallowly smiled, "Ding w.a.n.g also has Ding w.a.n.g's benefits. There is no need for jiumu and jiujiu to worry for Li er."