Market Life in the Bianjing Marquis’s Mansion

Slice-of-life in the city | Family life | Everyday food Bianjing was a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. The Cui family occupied nearly half a street, their grand vermilion gates and embroidered doors welcoming a steady stream of powerful nobles. They were at the height of their glory. Yuan Shu transmigrated into the book as the Cui family’s most inconspicuous illegitimate daughter. Her mother had been a maid who was taken in as a concubine. Fortunately, she was clear-eyed and understood the dangers that came with wealth and status. She had taken Yuan Shu away from the center of power early on, settling with her in the most remote little courtyard in the estate. The courtyard was out of the way, but it had everything they needed. In spring, they planted vegetables and made qingtuan. On summer nights, they chilled fruit in the well. In autumn, they gathered jujubes and made osmanthus cakes. In winter, they huddled around the stove and roasted rice cakes. The two of them lived like ghosts in the estate. They only had to go to the front hall and bow from a distance during festivals. Yuan Shu thought life could hardly be more carefree. There was just one drawback: they were dirt poor! Their monthly allowance was skimmed at every turn, leaving them with only a few coins by the time it reached their hands. Even the most insignificant person could run into serious trouble someday, and without money to grease the wheels, things could get difficult. Luckily, the bustling back streets of the city lay just beyond the wall. Push open the side gate, and all the splendor of Bianjing came into view. The pleasure quarters and theaters, taverns and teahouses stayed open day and night. Food stalls dotted every corner, while peddlers and traveling merchants filled the streets with the lively warmth of everyday life. Looking at how pitifully empty their coffers were, Yuan Shu realized the benefits of never leaving home: hardly anyone in the estate knew her. She immediately disguised herself as an ordinary street girl and went out to earn money! Sweet-and-sour radish, crisp and refreshing; scallion pancakes, fragrant, flaky, and filling; rich, red-braised meat; silky, sweet lotus-seed egg custard… Mother and daughter put their backs into it together. Their little nest egg steadily grew, and life gradually improved. The Cui estate was a fine place to find shade, but a grand household came with plenty of rules. Their peaceful life was bound to be disrupted one day. The Cui family had four branches. They were all respectful on the surface, but each was jockeying for advantage behind the scenes. The two young masters were good for nothing, while the four young ladies each had their own constraints. Their marriage arrangements stirred up chaos throughout the household. There were social obligations to keep up with, festival gifts and banquets to attend, and all the courtesies and formalities expected when dealing with officials’ families. None could be skipped. The servants were no more peaceful, squabbling over the best and worst assignments, the size of their rewards, and how much favor each received from their masters. Yuan Shu thought all this nonsense was an enormous nuisance. She just wanted to tend her own little stove and enjoy a quiet life, far from trouble. “I watched him build his grand mansion, watched him host his guests, then watched the whole thing collapse.” The narrow streets of the city, the warmth of everyday life: they could hold a thousand different ways of living. Fortunately, the two of them had taken their fates into their own hands. [In short, this is a story of social obligations in a wealthy household, everyday life in the city, and family troubles, from lavish prosperity to decline and ruin…] [But! Every cloud has a silver lining. Overall, it has a happy ending!] Please note: This is a long, slow-burn story with a large ensemble cast! An ensemble cast! It takes its time. If you find the pacing too slow, feel free to move on, but please don’t attack the story. Reader’s guide: 1. There is an official pairing, but the romance develops later. City life + food + business, set in an alternate Northern Song dynasty. Please note that this is an alternate setting, and some details may not be historically accurate, so don’t scrutinize it too closely. 2. An ensemble story, with no typical household-intrigue plot. A warm, cozy read. 3. All four young ladies mentioned in the blurb will have happy endings. My next book will be The Villainous Chancellor’s Childhood Sweetheart. Here’s the blurb. Please add it to your reading list. Su Jinyue transmigrated into a book, a male-led imperial-examination novel, and became the childhood sweetheart who had bullied the male lead, Lu Shen, mercilessly when he was down and out. In the original story, she looked down on the poor and took advantage of the fact that Lu Shen was living under someone else’s roof. She ordered him around and beat him at the drop of a hat, becoming the biggest obstacle on his road to success. Later, chaos and war swept the land. Lu Shen survived countless trials and eventually became a powerful minister. But years of humiliation and hardship had turned him completely ruthless. The boy of her memories became a sinister, vicious man who killed without blinking, a living King of Hell. And she, the culprit behind it all, was abducted by his men and tortured mercilessly. On the first day after transmigrating into the book, Su Jinyue looked at the scrawny boy in front of her, the one she had been ordering around, and felt utterly devastated. What kind of hellish start was this? She immediately made up her mind: 1. Be a little nicer to Lu Shen. 2. Save as much money as possible, then pack up and run as soon as the time was right, disappearing far away. So, in the bitter winter cold, she draped her padded jacket over him. During a famine, she secretly slipped her last bit of food into his book bag. When someone bullied him, she grabbed a broom, rushed to his side, and defended him, cursing more fiercely than anyone else. She figured that once he became a high-ranking official, he would at least remember her kindness and spare her life, right? Everything went smoothly. One quiet night, just after she had packed her things, he cornered her against a wall. The boy’s gaze was sinister, his icy fingers rubbing the back of her neck. “Big Sister, where are you going?” “Did I do something wrong? Have I upset you?” Su Jinyue sensed that something was off and decided to keep him calm, then look for another chance to escape. The second time, she joined a merchant caravan traveling south, thinking she had covered every possibility. But that night, bandits surrounded the caravan. He fought his way through them alone, then clutched her tightly in his arms, trembling as he whispered, “Why won’t you ever listen?” The third time, she finally made it to a town a thousand li away, changed her name, and started a small business. She thought the distance would finally put her out of his reach, and that they could part ways for good. On a rainy night, when all was silent, the Grand Secretary, now powerful enough to sway the court, pushed open the gate to her courtyard. Rain ran down his face. With him came every friend and loved one she had known in the past, blades pressed to their throats, all waiting for his command. Su Jinyue cried out in despair, “Lu Shen! What on earth do you want?” He leisurely wiped the tears from the corner of her eye. “Did they tell you to leave me? It’s all right. The people in the way can simply disappear.” “Big Sister, isn’t having me enough?” [Reader’s guide] 1. A sinister, obsessive childhood friend × a childhood sweetheart who just wants to survive. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other’s first and only. 2. The male lead has little sense of morality and a strong need for control. He is genuinely insane. 3. Farming + imperial examinations + political intrigue in a chaotic era. Everyday farming life in the early chapters, then intense romantic rivalry + coercive love in the later chapters, with plenty of angsty, sweet push and pull. Theme: Take your fate into your own hands