Lovable Beauty

“Lanyin, wake up! You said we’d go watch the sunrise together. It’s not often we get to visit Mount Hua. If you don’t get up, next time we…”

Xie Lanyin was sleeping soundly when suddenly, a noisy din buzzed in her ears, the voice oddly familiar.  Xie Lanyin frowned and grumbled as she rolled under the covers. However, the voice was unrelenting; it nagged on for quite some time before fading away.

Finally, her ears could get some peace and quiet; unconsciously, the corner of Xie Lany’s lips tugged upwards as she popped her head out of her nest and continued to sleep.

Outside the window, Sangzhi and Yingge saw off the second Young Miss and returned to the outer chamber.

Seeing their Young Miss was still sleeping soundly inside, Yingge plopped down on the couch and grinned at Sangzhi as she spoke, “It’ll be a while before the Young Miss wakes up. How about a little nap?”

Amongst the six young ladies of the three branches of the Xie family, their fifth Young Miss was the most delicate and fussy, unable to bear any toil—like this time they were heading for their maternal uncle’s home in Xi’an1Xi’an is the capital of Shanxi Province in Central China. Huayin is another city within Shanxi. Mount Hua is located near the city of Huayin, not far from Xi’an. Zhenyue Palace is a temple on Mount Hua dedicated to the deity Emperor Xiyue. for a wedding.  Since they were passing through Huayin, the Madam decided to take the young ladies to Mount Hua to enjoy the scenery, but just as they reached Zhenyue Palace, their Young Miss refused to go any further, forcing the Madam to change her plans: she decided to stay there for two nights and leave the morning after.

Sangzhi held up a small mirror to check on her makeup and glanced at her through the mirror, “You can nap for a bit. I won’t take one in case I have to fix my hair again.” Saying this, she gingerly tidied her hairstyle.

Her mannerisms were meticulous, forbidding even a single wrinkle on her clothes. Yingge had grown accustomed to it; with a yawn, she inclined on the couch, shut her eyes, and dozed off.

Sangzhi was diligent: she started on her chores after combing her hair, light on her feet as she wiped every surface, inside and out.

As the sky turned to daylight, Sangzhi went out to get water. Before leaving, she woke up Yingge and had her wake up the Young Miss.

Yingge rubbed her eyes and sat up, tidied herself up briefly, and entered the inner chamber reinvigorated.

Within the plain muslin canopy, Xie Lanyin slept soundly.  She appeared as exquisite as a peony: her ebony hair disheveled; her eyebrows picturesque.

To be able to serve such a fairy-like mistress Yingge felt as if everything she did was pleasurable. She parted the muslin curtain and leaned down to entreat, “Young Miss, I heard a young nun say water from the Jade Well of Mount Hua can moisturize the skin and beautify the face. Last night I instructed them to heat up water from the Jade Well for Young Miss’s use. Young Miss should wake up and try it.  If the water cools, it won’t be as effective.”

A short moment later, Xie Lanyin nuzzled the covers and rolled over sluggishly, her eyes still drowsy, “Really?”

Her voice was soft and delicate—indescribably pleasant to the ears—of such an endearing quality—to anyone who heard it, who would have the heart to deceive her?

Yingge nodded smiling and reached out to help the beauty in bed get up, “When have I ever lied to Young Miss?”

The Jade Well of Zhenyue Palace possessed quite a bit of fame; Xie Lanyin didn’t doubt it and leaned indolently against the head of the bed, waiting for her two maidservants to attend to her.

Sangzhi came over carrying water. Xie Lanyin took the hot towel that had already been wrung dry and applied it to her face. The warm feeling instantly dispelled her drowsiness. With a soft sigh, Xie Lanyin ordered as she applied the towel, “Yingge help me massage my legs.  They’re killing me from walking those mountain trails all day yesterday.”

If a person’s voice was pleasant when she complained, it easily elicited sympathy from others.  Yingge’s heart twinged and she perched on the couch to help the Young Miss rub her legs: from her thigh to her ankle—extremely skillful from practice. Sangzhi helped the Young Miss wash her hands and face; she took out two sets of pastel flower and bird-patterned balm boxes, opened the lid, and handed it over.

The refreshing fragrance of roses wafted through the air.  Xie Lanyin dabbed some face cream on her index finger, smudged it on her forehead and cheeks, and rubbed it in smoothly as she exclaimed with delight, “The ‘Lovable Beauty’ cream sent by third cousin-brother smells fragrant and feels comfortable on my face. I’ll tell him later that I’ll be using this one from now on.”

Yingge giggled promptly, “Third Young Master dotes on Young Miss the most. Third Young Master won’t sell anything that catches the Young Miss’s eyes to anyone else.”

The Madam gave birth to three daughters and not a single son.  Her maternal uncle, on the other hand, had three sons, each of them was a genius businessman: the eldest Young Master was in charge of the silk and tea trade, the second Young Master was proficient in antiques and porcelain, and the third Young Master loved to delve into makeup since he was young. Each of them took over one kind of business, respectively—the Jiang family’s standing as Shanxi’s number one wealthy merchant became immovable. Every businessman praised their son should be more like the youths of the Jiang family.

Among them, Jiang Huaizhou was older than the Young Miss by five years, but their birthdays were the same day, the tenth of October; hence, the third Young Master was especially fond of this younger cousin-sister: every time he concocted something new, he would give it to the Young Miss to try first. If the Young Miss liked it, it would be made exclusive for the Young Miss. Based on this point alone, many noble ladies in Hangzhou2city on the eastern coast of China were jealous of her.

It’s a shame the third Young Master had such a flirtatious nature: otherwise, the two cousins would make such a good match.

Envisioning the third Young Master’s handsome appearance, Yingge silently lamented this.

Xie Lanyin saw this and poked her forehead, “What nonsense are you thinking about? Hurry and see if Madam and the others are back.”

Their maternal uncle and aunt-in-law treated the sisters as if their own daughters; she too considered her cousins as her brothers, without a drop of romantic affection.

Yingge laughed and nodded.

When she came back, Xie Lanyin had already dressed up: for the top, she wore a lotus red jacket embroidered with butterflies lingering on flowers; underneath was a white skirt embroidered with pandan leaves, accentuating her graceful figure; hearing a sound, she turned: the red agate earrings adorning the young girl’s ears swayed gently, complementing her beautiful snowy white skin and a pair of shimmering peach blossom shaped eyes were radiant.

“Young Miss is so beautiful,” Yingge couldn’t resist her praise even though she saw it every day.

“Is Madam back?” Xie Lanyin asked softly and returned her gaze to the mirror, her eyes filled with pride.

Yingge smiled and said, “They just returned. Young Miss should hurry over. Don’t wait for Madam to send someone to remind you.”

Xie Lan Yin nodded, leaving Sangzhi behind to watch the room as she left with Yingge.

You might have noticed SYZC had translations up to Chapter 6, so I will be posting Chapters 7 and 8 on my Ko-fi page.  This is only temporary until I catch up with the first 6 chapters here.

1Xi’an is the capital of Shanxi Province in Central China. Huayin is another city within Shanxi. Mount Hua is located near the city of Huayin, not far from Xi’an. Zhenyue Palace is a temple on Mount Hua dedicated to the deity Emperor Xiyue.2city on the eastern coast of China