Chapter 1.2

[This is my first time translating and I would like to emphasize that I am not a professional translator and I don’t speak the Chinese language and English is not my language as well. I just want to share some good novels that I have MTL-ed. If you don’t mind these things then feel free to read and if you don’t just go away (don’t be a meanie XD).]

Pan Er’s about to get married.

They sold her for 1800 silver [1] liang.

Apparently, the best thin horse in Yangzhou can only sold for more than a thousand liang. One thousand eight hundred liang was undoubtedly a high price, even after a few days the ‘mother’ was grinning from ear to ear, Pan Er’s mother was also in high spirits.

It’s not surprising that they would be so happy. Yangzhou has a special local “rule”. If there are poor people who can’t afford to raise their daughters, they will send them to other people’s homes for “foster care”. It’s the same as “the goods are delivered and the bill is cleared”. On the surface, it is adoption but in fact, it is all for the face of each other.

But the situation of Pan Er is different from that of ordinary people. Her own father and mother and the family who raised the thin horses were relatives. At the beginning, Pan Er’s mother didn’t really want to sell her daughter. However, she didn’t have rice to cook at home, so she sent her daughter to be change for a few pieces of silver.

She would be redeemed when the family collected enough money. However, Pan Er has been kept here since then because the family can’t gather the money. She followed the girls who were fostered here to learn the rules and etiquette, learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting. A few days ago, a rich man came to pick a thin horse. The girls who were carefully trained by the ’mother’ weren’t picked. Instead, they took a fancy to Pan Er, who was not fully trained for this job.

The ‘mother’ knows that Pan Er is a good-looking girl, or she would not leave Pan Er at home to support her. She knew that her cousin [Pan Er’s mom] was difficult to deal with. She didn’t know if this transaction can be done, so she mentioned a high price.

One thousand eight hundred liang.

Who knows that the other side agreed.

This time the ‘mother’ fainted, and Pan Er’s mother also fainted. After some discussion, she sold her daughter and divided the silver equally between the two families.

Certainly not equally.

As a matter of fact, in the past two days, there was a lot of noise at the foster home. Pan Er’s mother came to the door frequently and quarreled with the ‘mother’ several times. However, when facing Pan Er, they were all beaming.

Later, it’s not known how the two reached an agreement. Pan Er’s mother came to her and said, “Don’t blame mother. The family is really too poor. Your second brother hasn’t been married yet and he can’t always be single. There are many children in your big brother’s family. Your mother does not want to see the family starve every year.”.

She also said that a rich man bought her to be a concubine which was a blessing, rather than being a wife of a poor family. She promised to give Pan Er fifty silver liang as a dowry. She held her and cried for half a day then Pan Er finally agreed.

The next day, her mother happily took the silver and left. Before leaving, she gave her fifty silver liang as promised.

In fact, Pan Er knew that what her mother was lying. If she really valued her, she should have not kept her in the foster home. She wanted to sell her for money, but she was afraid of being known for her bad reputation.

With those hundreds of silver in hand, presumably this so called reputation can be forgotten.

But even if she knew this, this situation is already better rather than being sold into a brothel one day. The oldest sister at the “foster home” was too old to be picked out. At last, she was sold into the brothel. Listening to the other sisters, it was the end of her life.

So just be it, be a concubine, even though the rich man is a little fat.

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Pan Er left Suzhou like this and sailed all the way to the capital.

The master who bought her was a salt merchant. Along their journey the master was nice to her. She didn’t lack food or clothes. He also sent two little girls to wait on her. It was strange for Pan Er to be waited upon. She was timid by nature and her appearance couldn’t be described. Anyway, she was scared silly that she didn’t come out of the cabin where she was staying.

It’s unknown how scared she was. Pan Er, who grew up in the water town was seasick. She fainted and vomited in the dark. Within a few days, she was so weak that she could only stay in bed.

“Young lady, this maidservant will serve you so you could drink medicine.”

A little girl came in with a medicine bowl. She was dressed in a green [2] Bǐ jiǎ. She was yellow and skinny, and her dress seemed to fit badly and hang loosely over her. Standing in front of the bed was another girl as thin as she was, except that the girl had a small face. The girl was thin, she had a small round face, and her eyes were big and round that made her looked a little naive.

The two girls were only twelve or thirteen years old, and they had little strength. They could only help Pan Er get up together. Then one supported her and the other served her with medicine.

It was easy to see that they were new servants, she was fed like this. Half of the bowl of medicine flowed along the corner of her mouth, but fortunately a pad was placed in front of Pan Er, so as not to get it all over themselves.

Pan Er coughed and said: “Sorry, I’ll drink it myself. “

Fortunately, these two girls were ignorant. Pan Er gained consciousness a few days ago and they didn’t notice any difference. If you change them into a smart girl, you will notice some difference from the words and phrases of Pan Er after she woke up.

Yes, Pan Er’s inner self has changed.

At this time, though Pan’er was Pan’er, she was also Empress Dowager Yi An.

Right now, Pan Er was just a thin horse bought by others. She had not yet arrived at Chen’s house, nor was she sent to the East Palace by Chen’s house. She hasn’t helped Chen’s seventh lady, that is, today’s Crowned Princess Gu Chong. Naturally, she hasn’t given birth to the third prince and sixteenth prince. She hasn’t been the royal concubine. Her son hasn’t ascended the throne, and she hasn’t become the Empress Dowager.

Just a moment ago, Empress Dowager Yi An was sleeping in the Ci Ning Palace. Today is her birthday. The emperor was benevolent and filial. He presented the world’s treasures to celebrate her birthday. Seeing her son and daughter-in-law’s love, his sons’ brotherhood, peace and tranquility in the whole palace, Empress Dowager Yi An was satisfied. She felt that she had achieved great achievements and virtues in her life. If you ask her if she has any regrets, she has none.

Who knows that when she opened her eyes again, she went back to her 15-year-old self. She was about to be sent to Chen’s house in the capital.

T/N:

In this lifetime, what will happen to Pan Er?

(づ｡ ◕‿‿◕｡) づ

• [1] liang – an old Chinese unit of weight equal to ¹/₁₆ catty and equivalent to a little more than an ounce avoirdupois. — called also tael
• [2] Bǐ jiǎ – a sleeveless top worn over long sleeves top

This is what a Bi Jia looks like. Ancient Chinese clothes are really pretty.

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