Chapter 19: Beauty

Ran Yan felt a burst of headache, there was not only Ran Meiyu this evil creature, there was also this even worse scoundrel!

Ran Meiyu was nothing, no matter how harsh or unreasonable she was, her relationship with Ran Yan was only perfunctory[1], let her jump around as she wished, but this Fourth Master Qin was not the same, as long as there was no fixed destiny, this scoundrel could really become her husband, then her days after will be difficult.

“Seventeenth Miss Ran?” Qin Musheng’s chest of anger was extinguished by half, with a pondering gaze looked at Ran Yan, “I heard that the Ran family’s legitimate daughter was an invalid, but today I see that you’re actually so lively, scolding people with ample energy…”

While saying that, he actually flippantly pulled apart the black muslin cloth attached to Ran Yan’s veiled hat.

Ran Yan did not expect him to suddenly act in this way, stepped back too late, the black muslin was lifted to show a small gap, through this gap, it was enough to allow Qin Mushing to see Ran Yan’s features clearly.

The curve of two slightly knitted dark brows disappearing into the hair on her temples, her crow-black cicada temple hair[2], the noon sunlight shone through the narrow gap and fell on supple cheeks[3], outlining half of her beautiful face, her long lashes were like faintly trembling butterfly wings, her crossed-collared blouse that had just been grabbed had come undone a little, revealing a pale and delicate neck, under the bright sunlight, it glistened and shone.

cicada hair.jpg

In just an instant, the black muslin fell back down, this hurried glimpse, stunned Fourth Master Qin who had perused countless women. When he wanted to reach out again, Ran Yan already backed far away.

Qin Musheng finally managed to react, his heart could not stop the glee, he originally thought that this marriage was on the Ran family’s insistence, pushing a terminally ill invalid onto him, he never thought that she was actually a beauty! He had seen Sixth Miss Qi who was known as Suzhou’s number one beauty, compared to his future wife, there was a large difference.

Ran Yan did not wish to linger, calmly said to Ran Meiyu, “I am leaving first, we will meet again.”

These words were not without threat, but Ran Meiyu did not notice, but she didn’t know why, her heart jumped a little.

“Seventeenth Miss!” Qin Mushing remembered that he hit Wan Lu in anger without reason, afraid that Ran Yan will resent him and reject this marriage, quickly chased her saying, “Everything has been going badly for me these days, feeling frustrated, I hit your servant, I was wrong.”

Qin Musheng serious appearance when bowing in apology, plus his attractive and righteous countenance, even Wan Lu couldn’t believe that he really hurt someone because things were not going well for him.

Ran Yan had met many sanctimonious people, just by listening to the rumours regarding Qin Musheng today, he already knew that he was an extremely emotional, easily angered person, even if he was genuinely apologising at this moment, in the next moment he could because of something else fall out with someone and become hostile, this type of person, Ran Yan concluded that she was unable cater to him.

“Since this Master has apologised, we naturally will not take this matter to heart, farewell.” In Ran Yan’s eyes, if you’ve hit someone it means you’ve hit them, it doesn’t matter what reason you come up with, otherwise if you killed someone because your mood isn’t good, then you don’t need to take responsibility? It’s just that she did not want to be further entangled with Qin Musheng.

Ran Yan tugged at Wan Lu and hurriedly disappeared into the crowd.

Qin Musheng was in a very good mood, how could he take to heart Ran Yan’s scolding, he rushed home quickly, thinking to himself, I have to ask father to make this wedding happen! That Seventeenth Miss Ran’s appearance, not just Sixth Miss Qi was unable to compare to it, even if you searched the whole Tang Dynasty, you could not even find a few. It is unfortunate[4] that she had been ill for so long and did not leave the house, otherwise how could this face not be well known?

The two parties involved had left hurriedly, leaving behind a whole house of people looking at each other. The crowd could not help speculating, how stunning this Seventeenth Miss Ran’s appearance must be, to be able to ensnare playboy[5] Fourth Master Qin like this!

In the group of noble ladies, a young lady with a pale blue ruqun looked towards the direction Ran Yan left, murmured, ” Seventeenth Ran…”

Until the shadow of Orchid House could not be seen, then only did Ran Yan slow her steps, walking towards the clinic with Wan Lu.

“Miss, Fourth Master Qin…” Wan Lu’s days on the country estate, were extremely peaceful, today’s sudden ups and downs, made her feel a little out of it, also Ran Yan’s behaviour was no longer timid like before, instead it seemed to be quite impulsive, “Miss, Fourth Master Qin had already hit me, why did you provoke him? If the marriage really happens later…”

“He already hit a person, what’s wrong with me scolding him with one or two sentences?” said Ran Yan coldly. She had not acted on a moment’s impulse, if the Ran family could not even cover up this small matter, then she would not have needed to stay under the protection of this big tree, and would have packed her bags and left long ago.

The important event of marriage, to be decided by parents via matchmakers[6], even though it is not wrong, but this is the Tang Dynasty! No matter if it was the law or the culture, they both allowed the freedom of choosing whom you married, this marriage, still had a little leeway for redemption. (T/N: meaning that there is a chance for the marriage to be cancled)

“Ai! Fourth Master Qin is a little dissolute, otherwise with his appearance and family background, how many ladies would be willing to marry him.” Wan Lu sighed.

Ran Yan looked at her indifferently, “Your accuracy in judging people is really poor, how is he dissolute, he’s an absolute degenerate.”

Both of them entered the clinic and let the doctor on duty feed Wan Lu medicine, then grabbed a few doses of medicine to reduce swelling, and headed back to the estate.

Due to the complicated situations she encountered today, Ran Yan was still thinking about the matter regarding extracting penicillin, and so did not have the mood to wander around, Ran Yan randomly picked out a bolt of good cotton cloth, and a few bolts of silk, satin, muslin.

Cotton was comfortable to wear, sweat-absorbent, sewing a few underclothes[7] for the summer, if worn as home clothes it would be the best, whereas the silk and muslin were usually used for shirts[8] and skirts, while satin was used to make jackets because it was thick.

She spent 20 taels, settling the spring and summer clothes for the three of them (mistress and servants), and also bought two top quality ready made clothes to pay respect to her newly acknowledged shifu[9].

One tael of silver had the buying power of thousands of yuan in the modern era, 20 taels was like a blood battle[10].

After buying a large pile of things, the two of them hired a carriage in the city, and returned back to the country estate. 20 taels of silver did not feel like much in your hand, but after exchanging it for goods, filling up the whole carriage, it gave a sense of accomplishment.

Ran Yan’s mood also improved slightly, thinking in her heart, actually if there was not this troublesome marriage issue, relying on her medical skills alone as a livelihood, this kind of leisurely and carefree life is also quite good.

Returning to the residence, Wan Lu directed the horse carriage into the courtyard before calling Miss Xing to unload the things together.

After unloading, Miss Xing stared at the pile of cloth, only snapping out of it after a long while, and asked Wan Lu, “The main courtyard sent goods?”

Miss Xing had seen the world[11], she knew that although these things were not the best, but it truly was not little either, that second wife at the main courtyard was miserly and petty-minded, even if she added up the things that had been sent for the past two years it was not as much as these.

“How would they be willing to part with these, these are hard-earned by Miss!” The swelling on Wan Lu’s face had reduced by quite a bit, she had long forgotten about the pain, radiant with delight informed Miss Xing how capable their family’s Miss was, how outstanding her bearing was, including Ran Yan’s dreams, she said it all at once.

Unexpectedly, Miss Xing who overthought everything was not doubtful, instead towards the absurd notion of “guidance from a celestial being in a dream” she believed firmly without doubt, Ran Yan found it a little difficult to understand. But thinking about it, time travel was real, whether celestial beings existed or not, it was not certain yet.

“Since it is the guidance of a celestial being, it should be a good thing, only after you have cured those prostitutes, you cannot have further contact with them anymore, after all if word spreads it won’t be good.” Eyes brimming with tears, Miss Xing held onto Ran Yan’s hand and beseeched.

Miss Xing’s concern warmed Ran Yan heart, she had never been an emotional person, but at this moment she felt moved, not knowing what words to say, she reached out to gently hug Miss Xing.

Before, Ran Yan was afraid Miss Xing would be suspicious, now only did she understand, Miss Xing and Wan Lu with the original Ran Yan were dependant on each other for their lives, mutually relying on each other, this deep and intimate relationship, no matter how Ran Yan changed, they would never doubt their family’s Miss.

“Miss Xing, in the past I was ignorant, in the future, I will protect Wan Lu and you.” Ran Yan said slowly.

[1] 不疼不痒: lit. doesn’t hurt, doesn’t tickle (idiom); sth is wrong, but not quite sure what / fig. not getting to any matter of substance / scratching the surface / superficial / perfunctory

[2] 蝉鬓: most common hairstyle for married Han women in the past, the hair on their temples were thin like cicada wings and black like the cicada’s body. Commonly used to describe hairstyles of beautiful women in the past.

[3] 凝脂般: lit. cheeks resembling congealed fat. er.. not very flattering, so I changed it to supple instead lol

[4] 亏得: means luckily, thanks to. but can also be used sarcastically.

[5] 遍阅群花: couldn’t find the meaning for this. direct translation is something like “gathering flowers while reading/browsing”?

[6]父母之命媒妁之言: not really sure how to translate this

[7] 中衣: clothes worn underneath traditional robes (innerwear). usually white in colour.

[8] 衫子: wide sleeved top worn commonly worn by women

[9] 师傅: master/teacher

[10] 血拼 (xue pin): sounds like “shopping”, means “blood battle” – indicates the pain of spending money when shopping.

[11] 见过世面: worldly/experienced/seasoned