Chapter 17: Fourth Master Qin

Miss Yan said: “Master Han is the legitimate son[1] of the Jinling County magistrate’s assistant, 2 years ago he entered state school, with Fourth Master Qin, Master Zhang, were all our regular customers at Caixiu House.”

Wan Lu suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, “That Fourth Master Qin can’t be the legitimate son of Qin Shangzuo?”

Shangzuo was the subordinate officer of Suzhou’s provincial governor, assisting the provincial governor, even though he did not have a specific duty, but state officials were fourth rank and above, while the county magistrate assistant was only eighth rank, no matter whether it is ranking or status he was above not just by one or two points, it is said that officials above by one rank crush people to death[2], even if Fourth Master Qin really beat Master Han to death, whether he can be convicted or not was hard to say.

“That’s right.” Miss Yan rubbed at her temples tiredly, continued answering Ran Yan’s question, “Master Han had no wives or concubines, I hear that his home has two personal maidservants, one is already pregnant, about 8 months, the other I have not heard anything.”

Ran Yan thought to herself, 8 months pregnant, the chances of infection decreased a little, but hopefully this Master Han amassed some good deeds points[3] for himself, and left behind healthy blood (referring to his child).

“The heavens is really impartial, the person died but managed to leave behind a thread of hope[4] for their family.” Wan Han sighed.

Hong Xing with raised brows[5], her eyes still containing undried tears, laughed mockingly: “It’s all very well saying that, their family only has this one son! Fourth Master Qin does not have such good luck, just was about to be engaged to the Ran family’s legitimate daughter, it’s a pity, with this matter, the Ran family most probably would reject the match.”

Perhaps because she knew she had this difficult illness, Hong Xing’s words contained a sense of self-deprecation and self-pity, that kind of carelessness[6], made people feel even more downhearted.

On the other hand, Wan Lu and Ran Yan hearts jumped, Wan Lu hurriedly said, “Ran family, can it be Suzhou city’s Ran family? Which legitimate daughter?”

Hong Xing returned, “How many Ran families are there in Suzhou city, and doesn’t the Ran family only have one legitimate daughter? Who else is there?”

Miss Yan’s heart paused for a beat, she looked meaningfully at Ran Yan and calmly changed the topic, “Great Doctor, about our illness…”

“Use my prescriptions for the time being, at the very least it will delay the symptoms, I will go back and dispense the medicine. Another thing, your towels, teacups and so on, need to be separate from others, it’s better if you decrease contact with others as well, especially physical contact. Wait patiently for me to prepare the medicine.” Ran Yan seriously exhorted.

Miss Yan gave Ran Yan a sidelong glance, she could vaguely guess at Ran Yan’s identity, a noble lady, finding out that her future husband frequented a brothel, moreover caused an incident, could actually remain so calm, it was genuinely commendable.

Miss Yan raised her hands and clapped twice, a servant carrying a tray entered and placed it on the small table.

“These are five-tael-ingots, in total it’s 50 silver taels, to be given as pre-payment, if we retain our lives, we will naturally remunerate even more.” Miss Yan unwrapped the red silk on the tray, displaying 10 ingots of similar sized silvers.

(T/N: 1 silver ingot = 5 taels)

Ran Yan in her heart wanted to ask for more, but she had always stuck to her principles when doing things, “We’ve agreed that the treatment fee for one person is 20 taels, half before treatment and half after, now it’s three people, so I’ll take 30 taels. Wan Lu, collect the money.”

Wan Lu was still thinking about the matter regarding Fourth Master Qin, how could she have the presence of mind to care about money matters, Ran Yan asked her to collect 30 taels, thus she took 6 silver ingots from the tray.

“I’ll take my leave now, if there are any abnormal symptoms, just send a messenger to Zhou village to look for me.” Ran Yan stood up and said.

Miss Yan, Hong Xing and the rest personally saw Ran Yan out of the back door, and even ordered the servants to lead them out of the alley before returning.

Once the servants left, Wan Lu could not wait anymore, impatiently said, “Miss, that Fourth Master Qin has actually caused a death, indulged in debauchery, and we don’t even know if he has been infected by this complicated disease, how can Master (Ran Yan’s father) entrust your whole life to this type of person!”

“Let’s observe quietly for now, maybe a’ye doesn’t know of this matter yet, after all Fourth Master Qin’s family circumstances is not bad.”

A’ye, is the form of address towards fathers in the Tang Dynasty, Ran Yan thought in her heart, perhaps between the original owner (the previous Ran Yan) and her father some familial affection still exists.

“Miss is right, Master still dotes on you, now that you’ve recovered, why not go back home.” Wan Lu fretfully grabbed Ran Yan’s shoulders, “It’s better than being ordered about now!”

“If I go back won’t second wife[7] just take charge of my wedding matters?” Ran Yan had always believed in relying on herself instead of others, moreover, if her a’ye really treasured her, why would he follow stepmother’s urging and send her to village estate?

Ran Yan petted Wan Lu’s hand and said, “Listen to me, living on the estate, I still can earn some money for myself, if I go back home penniless, wouldn’t I still be in stepmother’s hands, besides, I also don’t want to call her mother.”

Just now Wan Lu was busy worrying about Ran Yan’s marriage, actually forgot that on this trip, they actually earned 30 silver taels, if they used it carefully, it could last two years.

“Miss…” Wan Lu touched the silvers in her skirt pocket, said hesitantly.
“You want to ask me how I have medical knowledge right?” Ran Yan had already thought about an excuse early on, and was just waiting for Wan Lu to ask, “Actually I don’t have any medical knowledge, but when I was dreaming, someone told me a few methods to save people.”

Ran Yan saw Wan Lu’s dumbstruck look, got closer to hear and said quietly, “Otherwise, how could we have come across a patient the moment we entered the city? Afterwards how could we earn 30 taels so easily?”

All these coincidences, Ran Yan deliberately mentioning them, Wan Lu actually felt that it was arranged by the heavens, excitedly said, “The heavens are also helping Miss! Does that mean we don’t need to worry about marrying Fourth Master Qin?”

“The heavens will not biasedly help anyone, stepmother bullied me, so the heavens pitied me, how can I rely on the heavens on every matter? Fourth Master Qin’s matter has not come to an end yet, let’s find out clearly first before deciding.” Ran Yan was also uncertain, newly arrived in the Tang Dynasty, suddenly faced with such a situation, she also did not know how to handle it for now, hesitated for a time, and said, “Let us wander around first and try to find out more about this matter, then go back and discuss with Miss Xing.”

The two arrived at the main road, it was already almost noon, they looked for a restaurant[8], planning to eat lunch before buying some necessities and returning home.

The restaurant’s name was poetic, it was called “Orchid House[9]”, three stores wide, two storeys tall, white walled and black tiled, interlocking eaves[10], the floral patterned ebony doors engraved with a picture of orchids, the origin of the restaurant’s name.

The wine banner[11] fluttered outside the second floor windows, “Orchid House” these words were bold and forceful, had the feel and style of the great Wang[12] (Wang Xizhi[13]), making this restaurant seem filled with elegance. Legend said that Taizong highly praised Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, so everyone imitated him, it seems that the common people were also largely influenced, people thus seem to be biased towards Wang Xizhi’s writing.

Stepping into the restaurant, immediately a waiter came up to greet them, “Both ladies, please come this way.”

The waiter had a good eye, roughly examined Ran Yan and Wan Lu’s manner of dress, guessed that they would not want a private room, thus led them both to a table by the window, “This so happens to be blocked by the stairs, these few small tables can’t be seen from the outside, it’s extremely quiet.”

“Miss, why don’t we sit in a private room?” Wan Lu’s heart ached a little for Ran Yan, she was actually a noble lady, but needed to reveal her face so.

Going in, sure enough there were only three small tables, two of the were already occupied, mainly dressed like scholars, Ran Yan felt very satisfied, they did not need to waste money to sit in a private room, thus said, “This place is not bad, let’s just sit here.”

Without waiting for Wan Lu to speak, she went ahead and sat on the mat. Wan Lu could only follow and sit kneeling.

“Both ladies, the dishes are written on the wall, please have a look and see what you would like to order,” the waiter said.

Ran Yan separated the black muslin veil, looked at the small bamboo plates hanging on the wall, written on them were the names of all sorts of wine, soup and dishes, she then ordered two bowls of Chinese plum soup first, before allowing Wan Lu to order a few dishes.

Not long after the waiter left, they heard waves of delicate laughter from the second floor, from time to time a few sounds of the zither, attracting a few scholars beside them to stick out their heads to look.

“It’s the Orchid gathering, the city’s talented and beautiful ladies are probably all upstairs, to be able to obtain a favour, zeze[14]…” a scholar wearing a white robe raised his head and downed a cup of wine, said: “Then our lives would not have been in vain!”

[1] 嫡子: similar to 嫡女 – meaning the son of the first wife.

[2] 官高一级压死人: those higher in rank oppress those under them/have absolute power.

[3] 阴德: good deed to the doer’s credit in the nether world. like good karma?

[4] 一脉烟火: a pulse of smoke fire – referring to his child.

[5] 媚眼一挑: one dictionary said it means coquettish eyes but it doesn’t fit this situation

[6] 漫不经心: careless / devil may care / absent-minded / indifferent

[7] 继室: actually means second wife of a widower

[8] 酒肆: a drinking place (like a bar/pub) or a liquor store

[9]雅兰舍: elegant orchid house/residence

[10]斗拱: a unique structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese architecture. link

[11] 酒旗: to picture

[12] 大王: Wang: surname of Wang Xizhi but also means king

[13]王羲之: Wang Xizhi (303-361), famous calligrapher of Eastern Jin, known as the sage of calligraphy

[14]啧啧: sound of clicking one’s tongue (equivalent to tut-tut)