Still trying to figure stuff out like whether there should be a schedule. But the website needs re-organizing. Suggestions?
Chapter 2 Red Chamber (2)
They had to return to the Lin Family, but Lin Yu Tong did not know the timeline right now. Was it the time that Jia Min was dead, Dai Yu had gone to the capital, or Lin Ru Hai was fatally ill?1
Each situation would have a different solution.
Also, no matter how much urgency she felt, she could not show it. Otherwise, people would look down at her, and it would not be easy to deal with in the future.
The thoughts flashed through Lin Yu Tong’s mind and then she gave a self-deprecating smile. “I knew that my life is not good! So many years, you did not search for us. Now you search for us, you must have a reason for having to search. What has happened in your residence? Do not keep it a secret from me. Good things do not happen to us.”
Steward Lin was slightly embarrassed. He coughed and explained, “Eldest Miss, do not misunderstand the master. For these years, the master did not know that Eldest Miss and Eldest Young Master existed.”
He was already calling them Eldest Miss and Eldest Young Master. This was an experienced person who quickly climbed whatever ladders he got.
Lin Yu Tong did not change expression and just kept listening to him.
“Back then, we do not know who spoke in front of the two concubines, saying that the mistress was going to harm them. The two concubines were afraid, and asked to leave the residence. The master did not stop them and even gave them each two hundred taels of silver.” Steward Lin frowned and spoke.
“This is not right!” Lin Yu Tong sneered. “The two concubines just realized they were pregnant, but before the physician confirmed it, someone immediately came with word from the mistress for them to go to the temple outside the city to pray. But when they left the city, they were abandoned outside. They knew the power of the mistress, and did not dare to go back to die.”
Steward Lin stilled. “Did the two concubines say that?”
“Would I be making it up? This must have gone through someone else’s hands. They really deceived both their superiors and inferiors.” Lin Yu Tong was not polite and laughed coldly.
Steward Lin said, “This…… This old servant did not know.”
Lin Yu Tong nodded. “Just matters of the past. Regardless of what the past is like, the result has been forged. There is no interest in pursuing it further. Could you punish the mistress? However, how did you learn of us siblings?”
Steward Lin sighed in relief. As long as they did not dwell on the question. He said, “The master’s wet nurse sent a letter a few months ago. She is old, and feared that she does not have many days left. She was worried for Master’s children……” At this, he was slightly embarrassed. If not for the difficulty in having children, he would not have searched, and Master would not be so urgent he was gripping onto straws like a drowning man.
Lin Yu Tong did not even twitch an eyebrow and just listened to him.
“In those years, Mistress was not in good health. She ate a lot of medicine and drank a lot of tonics in order to have a child. She had no energy to take care of Master’s inner courtyard and so this granny was in charge. Granny knew a bit about the two concubines likely being pregnant. The timing was a coincidence. Granny’s daughter-in-law was giving birth then. She thought, after finishing this matter, she would come back and call for the physician to confirm and tell Master the good news . But in just half a day of time, when she came back, she heard the two concubines had asked to leave the residence. At the time, she thought it fishy, but there was no proof. She could not accuse the mistress of the house. At the time, she wanted to find the two concubines and get the bottom of the matter. But before she found them, Mistress had good news, and the matter was delayed.”
“Then later, Miss was born. But she was born sickly. A Daoist said that she and someone in the family had attributes which conflict. The family let go of a group of people. Even the master’s wet nurse retired. When she left, she was sent back to the old home in Gusu.”
“When the granny settled in Gusu and asked people to search for the two concubines, it was two years later. The mistress was pregnant again, so no matter how ignorant the granny was, she did not dare to make trouble at this time.”
“Later, the mistress gave birth to a di-son. 2The granny saw the Lin Family had a son, and stopped thinking about this.”
“But who would have thought the son was short-lived and died at the age of three. The mistress could not survive the shock and passed away as well. Miss was sent to the paternal family of the mistress to be raised up in the capital, and Master is more depressed by the day.”
“The granny is not in good health so this old servant came to search. If found, if well, then the master will be told. If not found, or an accident had occurred, this old servant does not dare to say in fear the master will be more disheartened and regretful.”
“A few days ago, this servant found success and reported to the master. Master is very happy and was able to get up immediately. He was originally going to come in person but his health……really cannot make it.”
“So, Master had this old servant come to invite Eldest Miss and Eldest Young Master back to the residence.”
Steward Lin cried, so pitiful, as he spoke of how Lin Ru Hai had no sons, how no one would inherit his wealth, and how sad it was.
Lin Yu Tong asked curiously, “How come you are so sure that we are children of the Lin Family?”
She was very curious. There were no DNA tests right now. Would there be a test by blood?
Steward Lin was very content. “Miss looks the exact same as the old mistress back when she was young.”
The old mistress was Lin Ru Hai’s mother, and this body’s grandmother. Lin Yu Tong was shocked by this throwback.
This old steward had been with the Lin Family for his entire life, and must have been very familiar with the old mistress back when young. Otherwise, he would not have said such a thing.
Lin Yu Tong could not avoid touching her face. If it really was the case, the servants of the Lin Family may have a great deal of acceptance of her. Even Lin Ru Hai would think more highly of her.
Steward Lin looked at Lin Yu Yang. ” Eldest Young Master is very similar to Master. This old servant will not be wrong.”
Lin Yu Tong sighed with relief inside. This was good. As long as their identities were not doubted when the time came.
She focused and said, “In other words, the Lin Family only has no masters left now, one bedridden, and the other living far away in the capital with someone else.”
Steward Lin choked. This eldest miss really spoke directly.
He heard the young girl sigh, “I know I just do not have a good fate. Just one liability is enough for me. Now I have two more.”
The liability Lin Yu Yang stiffened his face. “Sister! I am grown up now.”
Lin Yu Tong glared and indicated for him to shut up. Then she looked at the Steward Lin with a pained expression. “Okay! If it is all good, I am really not willing to go back there to annoy people. But it is my father, I cannot just leave him alone. I am able to support my younger brother, so I will be able to support my father. And that younger sister, if she does not mind hard days at home, I will support her when she comes back. There is no brocade garments and meals of jade, but I can provide crude tea and unseasoned rice.”
Steward Lin stilled. He felt the words were not right. Had Eldest Miss misunderstood something?
But then he was moved. Look! The girl would even support a sickly father for nothing. She really was a kind person.
Lin Yu Yang had some understanding of his elder sister’s personality. With her miserly temperament, she did not have such virtue to support a person for nothing.
No need to say it. She was pretending for others.
See! This was the guileless heart of a newborn.
Steward Lin wiped his tears away, moved. “This one will definitely tell Master of Eldest Miss’s filial piety. Our family is not in such difficult straits.”
Lin Yu Tong looked like she did not care and was prepared to take over the bad situation. “When are we going to travel? You have to give us time. I need to take care of the matters at home.”
Steward Lin nodded. “Of course the earlier the better. Master is still waiting.”
Lin Yu Tong acknowledged and said in a easy-going manner, “Then we will leave tomorrow.”
Steward Lin was overjoyed. “This old servant will come for you tomorrow.”
After seeing away Steward Lin, Lin Yu Tong heated up the food. The siblings ate and then sat together to talk.
Lin Yu Yang said, “Sister! What are you planning?”
Lin Yu Tong said with a smile, “Of course we are returning! You study well, this sister knows this. People like us without no background have to rely on ourselves in order to make it through the imperial examinations. 3 We work for a lifetime, and will not get as high as the starting point of others.”
“But our father is different. You must know, in Yangzhou, there are just a few important families. Also, he is born of a marquis, from a scholarly family, placed third in the imperial examinations,4 Lin Ru Hai.”
“Such birth, background, connections, these are things we can see but not access.”
“Also, in life, we have to pay back some karma. No matter if they raised us or not, we cannot forget the favor of birth.”5
“He is terminally ill now. Even if he passed away, he has no heir. We, as children of his, have to fulfill our duties.”
Lin Yu Tong spoke solemnly and Lin Yu Yang nodded. He understood inside, his elder sister was likely considering more for his future.
From young, he lived hard days. If not for his sister, he would not have survived, much less going to school now for the imperial examinations.
The eldest sister was like a mother. He would listen to his sister.
Lin Yu Tong thought of the situation they would face in returning to the Lin Family. She had to tell her brother more about the family matters. “You heard Steward Lin’s words as well. The deceased mistress of the Lin Family was not easy to get along with. If she is alive, we cannot step into the gates of the Lin Family.”
Some anger appeared on Lin Yu Yang’s face.
As a woman, Lin Yu Tong could understand the dislike a wife had towards concubines and shu-children. But right now, on the other side, Lin Yu Tong decided to completely abandon this style of thinking.
“The mistress of the Lin Family is called Jia Min. She comes from the Rong Country Ducal Jia Family.” Lin Yu Tong asked, “Have you heard of the Jia Family?” 6
Translator Ramblings: The footnotes got a bit long this chapter. Part of it is this is because this author was writing for an audience that knows Dream of the Red Chamber at least generally, even if they never studied it in school, and so the audience knows the most famous families and relationships. I guess it’s a bit like knowing the plot of Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet?
Also, suggestions on reorganizing the site? The desktop toolbar looks very crowded.
- Grafting Life Chapter 1 Red Chamber (1)
- Grafting Life Chapter 2 Red Chamber (2)
- Grafting Life Chapter 3 – Red Chamber (3)
- At the start of the Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Min is dead when Lin Dai Yu is six. Lin Dai Yu lives with her maternal grandmother in the capital in order to raise her. Lin Ru Hai passes away in chapter 14, and Lin Dai Yu is orphaned as a result. ↩
- di: the son of the wife. Sometimes translated as legitimate or lineal. ↩
- Officials and bureaucrats are selected from scholars who make it through the imperial examinations. There were county-level, provincial-level, and capital exams. The exams were one of the few ways people could move up in social strata, ie, from farmer to scholar/aristocracy. ↩
- Third in the final capital exams is usually called tanhua as a nickname. During the Tang Dynasty, a banquet would be held in the palace called the ‘Flower Exploring Banquet’ for the graduates who had passed, and would select a few of the handsome scholars as ‘flower envoys’ They would select flowers from the gardens, and then welcome the first ranking person. But later, the term evolved to refer to the third ranking person, and the common practice was to selected a young and handsome (but learned) examinee as the third-rank. Such a title for Lin Ru Hai shows he is a very capable scholar and also handsome. ↩
- There is the ‘favor of being born’ and ‘favor of being raised.’ Filial piety is an important Confucian concept, leading to the general “children should respect their parents” thinking. The two kinds of “favors” are different, in that an adopted child will owe the “favor of being raised” to the adopted parents, but then the “favor of being born” is owed to the birth parents. So while Lin Ru Hai did not help raise the two siblings here, they still “owe” him the “favor of being born” in the eyes of world. ↩
- In the story, there are said to be “Four Princes and Eight Dukes” who have been important in the dynasty. The Jia Family occupies two of the dukedoms, as Duke Rong (glory) and Duke Ning (peace/serene) as they once helped the founding emperor fight and found the dynasty. There are four main families, Jia, Shi, Wang, Xue, who ally together through marriages. The Jia Family’s two dukes were once comissioners of the capital’s military units, and held other important military positions, The Shi Family has two marquises, and were once the leader of the civil officials. The Wang Family is another military family, while the Xue Family are imperial merchants. ↩
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