Chapter 38 - Making Clothes

The Old Jiang Madame had always been a follower of Buddha. After hearing what Jiang Ruan had to say, she said, “Eldest girl is right. Jiang fu is not a place where sympathy and kindness are absent. That someone would have her eyes dug out under your very nose does not speak well of you as the manager of the household. Since she is just an insignificant servant, there is no harm in assigning her to the eldest girl’s residence. No matter what, the servant is also one of her people, so it’s right to leave her to deal with the matter.”

Jiang Ruan smiled and said, “Thank you, zumu.”

Xia Yan was stunned, but quickly recovered and said, laughingly, “Since this is what Mother has decreed, I will not pursue the matter any further. However, when Jiang Ruan brings this servant into her residence, what will she have her do? Will the servant be assigned to dispose off the night soil there as well?”

Jiang Ruan could not hold back her laughter. “Mother worries too much! As Zhou momo is now a member of my residence she will resume her duties as a personal servant, just as she was previously.”

Xia Yan’s eyes flashed. “Ruan niang, you are an unmarried woman. It would not be good for outsiders to know that the personal servant by your side is blind.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Jiang Ruan continued, “Not everything in this world can be discerned just by outward appearances.”

“That’s enough,” the Old Jiang Madame said with a touch of impatience. “Eldest girl is still young, she doesn’t need to go out of her way to project a good image. As long as she is comfortable with the servant, it is fine. It is too early to worry about it now.” She looked Jiang Ruan up and down, and frowned. “In a few days’ time, the wife of Assistant Minister[1] Shen will be hosting a birthday banquet, and has issued a collective invitation to all of the young ladies from Jiang fu. You, as the mother, should not just concern yourself all day with the running of the Jiang fu. You should have arranged for this eldest girl to have new clothes already. Take a look, what kind of clothes is she wearing today? If others were to see her right now, they would say that our Jiang fu is mistreating our di daughter.”

[1] Shi liang ( 侍郎 ) – An ancient official title, assistant minister. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the vice-president of one of the Six Boards.

Even with her return to the Jiang fu, Jiang Ruan had not changed her previous way of dressing, and was still wearing her old, dark green jacket patterned with water caltrops. Although her features were bright, and the old clothes added several degrees of colour, the stark contrast between her and Jiang Su Su was immediately noticeable. Jiang Su Su mostly favoured white clothes and extremely simple adornments. At first glance, she looked plain and elegant. However, upon closer examination, all her clothes, without exception, were made of expensive silk, and the embroidery on them was of the highest quality. Although the few head ornaments she wore looked simple, they were all considerably expensive. Looking at her, it was clear that she was a well-cared for and meticulously raised young lady from a wealthy family, well-bred and refined in temperament.

“Although Ruan’er can not be compared to Su’er, you, as the stepmother, should still have her concerns at heart,” the Old Jiang Madame reprimanded Xia Yan.

Xia Yan said, ashamedly, “This is all daughter-in-law’s fault. Over these past few days, even though Ruan niang had returned, daughter-in-law was paying attention to the matters of the Jiang fu, and forgot all about Ruan niang. Later, daughter-in-law will ask the seamstress from Ruyi Lou (a clothing shop) to come and measure Ruan niang for some new clothes. How can our Jiang fu’s di daughter not look magnificent?”

In just a few sentences, Xia Yan had indicated that she had been busily involved with the Jiang fu’s matters lately, and said that she would call for the seamstress immediately. In this way, she had more or less shown that she was able to recognise her wrongdoings and change for the better. Thus, the Old Jiang Madame let go of her worries. After a few more words of reprimand, followed by some words of self-deprecation, Jiang Ruan and her entourage left the residence.

Jiang Su Su stood at the door and called out to Jiang Ruan. “Da Jiejie, won’t you visit Su Su’s courtyard and stay for a while?”

Jiang Ruan replied, “Another day. There are still some matters which I have to take care of.”

“Does Da Jiejie not like me?” Jiang Su Su said, helplessly. “What has Su Su done wrong?”

“How can that be?” Jiang Ruan looked surprised. In a gentle tone, she continued, “I am your di older sister, you are my younger sister, how can it be that I don’t like you? Don’t be overly sensitive.”

Jiang Su Su’s expression did not change. She lifted up her head and said, “On hearing Eldest Sister’s words, my heart feels at ease. In a few days, when we visit the Shen ladies at their residence, I will take good care of Eldest Sister.”

After Jiang Su Su had walked away, Lu Zhu stared at her back and said, “Miss, why does Second Miss give off such strange vibes?”

“What is so strange?” Jiang Ruan asked.

Lu Zhu pondered briefly. “I don’t really know, I just feel that she and furen are too good-tempered. With the situation just now, any other person would have flown into a fury, yet Second Miss and furen kept smiling, and were so polite. How can there be such people in this world? Even a clay figure has some degree of rudimentary emotion.

Jiang Ruan smiled faintly. Xia Yan was well-educated and capable of sound judgement; Jiang Su Su was elegant and refined. For the both of them, their reputations were the millstones around their necks. In order to preserve their noble skin, they would not do anything that would cause them to lose their dignity, and would always be appropriately magnanimous when others were around. Just now, she had repeatedly emphasised her identity as the eldest di daughter, would Jiang Su Su have experienced great difficulty holding back her ire? Regardless, this was only the beginning.

Xia Yan acted quickly. By afternoon, the seamstress from Ruyi Lou had arrived at Ruan Ju. She was a young lady named Liu Ru Yi. Ruyi Lou was one of the best shops in the capital for made-to-order clothing, specialising in clothes for the young ladies of the rich families in the capital. The affairs of the young Miss of the Jiang family had been the talk of the capital for some time now, so Liu Ru Yi was also very curious about this Miss Jiang.

When she arrived at Ruan Ju, she saw the two large, flamboyantly written characters, “Ruan Ju”, on the plaque at the entrance of the courtyard. The characters were remarkably imposing, and the brushstrokes were both refined and free-flowing. They seemed like a sword, which had yet to be drawn, harbouring the hint of a sharp edge. Liu Ru Yi was accustomed to doing business on a daily basis with rich and influential families, so she had quite substantial knowledge of the essentials of calligraphy and scholarship[2]. Upon seeing these characters, she could not help but sigh in admiration. In the capital, the calligraphy of the Eighth Prince had always been praised as being refined and elegant, but she felt that the characters on this plaque were similarly exceptional.

[2] Wen fang si bao ( 文房四宝 ) – lit. the four treasures of the study i.e. writing brush, ink stick, ink slab, and paper. These are the four items necessary for calligraphy, which is also a display of scholarship – as you can imagine, only the upper classes had the money and means to study and practice calligraphy.

Plaque at the entrance looks something like this

When Lian Qiao, who was ushering her into the residence, noticed Liu Ru Yi staring intently at the entrance plaque, she smiled and said, “This was written by the mistress of our residence.”

Liu Ru Yi smilingly said, “Very well written.” As one could tell a person’s character by their brushstrokes, Liu Ru Yi had already gained a favourable impression of this young miss of the Jiang family, whom she had yet to meet.

After entering the residence, Lian Qiao announced, “Miss, Liu gugu[3] from Ruyi Lou has arrived.”

[3] Gugu ( 姑姑 ) – Aunt. Refers to paternal aunts (a father’s sisters, whether younger or older), but is also a respectful term of address for ladies older than oneself.

Jiang Ruan put down the book she was holding and looked up. Liu Ru Yi was stunned. Even though she had visited the residences of many nobles and influential people to make clothes, and had seen no small number of beautiful women, she could not help but be amazed when she saw Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan had grown tired while reading, and was reclining on the soft couch. Her entire body seemed comfortably ensconced, and as she lifted up her eyes, she gave off an aura of unconscious indolence. However, her charming eyes, rising up, also contained a cold severity which she had yet to conceal. The effect was like that of a cool and elegant Chinese rose, attractive in the very coldness of its manner.

Soft couch (ruǎn tà 软榻)

Chinese Rose (rosa sinensis)

She immediately gave Liu Ru Yi a small smile, at which point the aura of coldness instantly disappeared, to be replaced by the bright gentleness of spring water. “Liu gugu.”

Liu Ru Yi also concealed her amazement and smiled. “I am here to make clothes for Miss Jiang. Here are several bolts of satin; Miss Jiang may kindly select a bolt.”

The bolts of satin displayed on the table were all made of first rate silk thread, and were of an assortment of colours: the sky after rain, the essence of autumn, honey peach, bright pink, delicate yellow. All were colours a young lady would feel delighted to wear. These colours that Xia Yan had chosen for her were all vibrantly bright, and she had not chosen in error. Clearly, anyone wearing clothes of such colours would instantly become a foil to Jiang Su Su. The more vivid the colour, the more Jiang Su Su, with her white-clothed figure, would float like a fairy. The contrast would be completely unfavourable to Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan pointed at a bolt of bright red satin right at the centre and said, “That one.”