Aerial Rain
Translating Web Novel

GNU Ch 94 Part 3 – Shadow (III)

The brief but thrilling confrontation finally came to an end. Many people in the room, including the servants, found themselves soaked in a cold sweat.

When Cheng Yujin was talking to Zheng Gugu, Cheng Yumo stood in front of the door. Her eyes were wide open, staring at a loss at the situation inside the room. After the confrontation ended, everyone finally had the time to welcome Cheng Yumo and prepare a seat for her.

Even though the Gugu had taken a step back, everyone still had lingering fear, and no one dared to speak loudly. Cheng Yumo was left in the air for a long time, but everyone still treated her half-heartedly even after she was seated. She was secretly fuming.

The female official’s attack just now was aimed at Huo family. Cheng Yumo, as Huo family’s daughter-in-law, naturally felt awkward and uncomfortable.

Zheng Gugu lost her face in front of so many people. Holding such a grudge in her heart, she deliberately saved up her energy, waiting for the opportunity to retaliate. Zheng Gugu’s eyes suddenly focused. Realizing that Cheng Yujin had just made a mistake, she jumped out in a hurry: “Miss Cheng, your tea etiquette just now was wrong.”

As soon as the words fell, all voices disappeared, and the room fell into total silence. Cheng Yujin calmly asked: “Oh? Which part did I do wrong?”

“When Miss Cheng offered tea for Old Madam Cheng just now, you lacked etiquette and being disrespectful.”

Cheng Yujin just gave an “Oh,” nodded slowly, stepped aside, and gestured for Zheng Gugu to come forward: “Forgive me for being stupid, but I don’t know where I did wrong. Please show me an example.”

Zheng Gugu snorted disdainfully. Trying to use this trick to suppress her? This Eldest Miss Cheng truly underestimated a senior female official who specialized in teaching etiquette. Zheng Gugu came forward and took a teacup on the tray, then began to demonstrate the standard tea etiquette.

Another female official moved her lips, trying to stop her colleague. But Zheng Gugu was faster and had stepped forward before she could stop her. Seeing this, the female official quietly shook her head and sighed silently.

After Zheng Gugu finished her demonstration, she was very proud. She was sure that this time, Cheng Yujin had fallen into her hands. However, Cheng Yujin suddenly said, “Please stop. And do not let go of your hands.”

Zheng Gugu was taken aback; her posture subconsciously stiffened. When the reaction came to her, she was furious. Cheng Yujin dared! In the past, it was always her who ordered others to stop and then pointed their mistakes one by one. Now, a little girl like Cheng Yujin dared to do the same to her?

Zheng Gugu was very angry, but Cheng Yujin didn’t care. She looked around and sighed, as if she wanted to talk, but was hesitant to embarrass the other party.

A fire ignited in Zheng Gugu’s heart. She said tartly: “Miss Cheng, if you have something to say, just speak it. Why do you sigh?”

“Since Zheng Gugu has said so, then please excuse my rudeness.” Cheng Yujin pursed her lips slightly and then pointed her fingers at Zheng Gugu’s elbow, forearm, and back. She said: “When offering tea to the elders, one must step forward quickly and step back slowly. The eyes must be half-dropped, but the back must not arch. The neck must also be lowered but not folded. Gugu, your back just now was bent down, which is not conforming to the etiquette rules. Also, your movement when placing the teacup was wrong. Instead of raising your arm, you directly placed the teacup in front of the elder, which is extremely disrespectful.”

Zheng Gugu couldn’t believe it: “You are lecturing me in etiquette?”

“Yes.” Cheng Yujin smiled lightly and then turned to look at the three remaining female official. “Three Gugus, can you kindly tell us whether what I just said was correct or not?”

The other three were hesitant, but they finally said with a sigh: “Eldest Miss Cheng is correct.”

Zheng Gugu suddenly turned red all over. She always put on the aura of someone in charge of teaching etiquette and had used her authority to scold and beat many draft girls on the ground of ‘education.’ However, it was impossible for her to master every single etiquette by the book, so it was not strange that there were some aspects where she wasn’t perfect. Just now, it wasn’t that Cheng Yujin was wrong, but Zheng Gugu judged Cheng Yujin to be wrong by her own standards.

Zheng Gugu had lost a great amount of face. Even so, she was still someone who came from the palace, so she didn’t lose herself on the spot. After uttering an apology, she stepped aside and stood silently. Although she didn’t lose her final decency, she also didn’t dare to speak anymore.

Xu Nianchun was utterly amazed. So it turned out that there were so many rules just to offer a cup of tea! The girl didn’t know which was more terrifying: the imperial family and their extremely detailed rules, or Cheng Yujin’s inhuman ability.

Biao sister Jin actually pointed out the mistakes made by a palace Gugu! Xu Nianchun suddenly felt extremely fortunate. Fortunately, Cheng Yujin was only her biao sister, not a clan sister, let alone a sister from the same parents. If she was to face such a perfect sister day in and day out, she would be too stifled to even take a breath.

There were many others who had the same thoughts as Xu Nianchun. Everyone was amazed at Cheng Yujin and couldn’t help casting sympathetic glances at Cheng Yumo. Cheng Yumo lowered her eyes. Her face was cold and without expression, but her heart was raging tumultuously.

Everyone’s eyes at this moment seemed to be a repeat of her nightmare. She had been living under Cheng Yujin’s shadow for her whole previous life. This time, she had been born again, and everything obviously had changed. Why was it still like this?

 

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17 thoughts on “GNU Ch 94 Part 3 – Shadow (III)”

  1. I dunno. Maybe just accept that she’s perfect and you’re fun to be with. 🤷‍♀️
    Thanks for the update!

  2. I can understand her feelings but did anyone in the Cheng family really made her feel inferior to Cheng Yujin ???? Because of the fact that she had two loving parents, she could act more freely SO could please more people and not be on guard, it made her have many more advantages compared to Yujin. Because of that it’s very clear that Cheng Yumo is seen as a human being, a cute cousin/niece/granddaughter/daughter… while Cheng Yujin as a tool, they love her for her perfect etiquette and her mastery of the 4 arts, she is seen as a scarficial lamb, ready to be sold for marriage. The whole Huo situation proves very well the dynamic of the clan and on which side they stand by, they made it very clear that they could sacrifice Cheng Yujin reputation and desire for Cheng Yumo!!!!!! The two have never been compared because the sentiment around them was never the same one, one was a beloved child while the other a precious tool they were on “equal” footing but on two different steps, the tool could be sacrificed but never the beloved child. And when they were compared it was about their temperament and Cheng Yumo always won, she was seen as approachable while Cheng Yujin as too upright. Her sentiment of inferiority is incomprehensible because it comes from nowhere AND she never tried to actually beat Cheng Yujin in anything. When you feel inferior to someone you try to be better than them so you put in work, in this case she should have worked hard to make her etiquette and four arts perfect and reach, even go beyond, Cheng Yujin level. However, besides complaining to herself all day and trying to snatch everything Cheng Yujin take a fancy to what does she do exactly ? Like okay she is sad she is not as good but what is she doing to make yourself better ? Nothing !!!!! The only thing she does is insult her in her head but once her and her cousins need help Cheng Yujin is always the one they all go see. Yes those cousins’ glances are annoying but before seeing Cheng Yujin in actions did they really made Cheng Yumo feel like she was lacking? She was always the favorite, her living in Cheng Yujin shadow never happened because Cheng Yujin has never been that important to people’s heart in the Cheng clan for them to even want to compare the two together !!!!! She is crying and throwing tantrums for what exactly? We can all see even with Cheng Yujin being the quasi crown princess is she REALLY respected ? She is still being used as a tool why is she so blind ??? Can’t she see the behaviors all her relatives had AND have ??? Her jealousy is without reason !! I didn’t know I would say that one day but I’m so glad Cheng Yujin got adopted at least it’s another barrier between her and Cheng Yumo!!! Having to live with people blaming her for harming her sister and steal her vitality what a life she would have had !!!

    1. In all fairness to Yumo, the grass is always greener on the other side. It’s natural that as women, they want to be seen as an ADULT. Even after she’s married people still see her as the “cute(childish) lovable little girl “ . Chen yujin is the mature woman who does well after marriage. Topped with the fact her husband is starting to ignore her, she also has the misfortune of being abused by her mother in law and everyone is comparing the two. She’s always been the second in comparison and can’t see how her life is “better” than Yujin. Imagine being twins but the other is richer, considered stronger and even more beautiful. On top of the fact she’s actually lived through watching her “life saving grace “ being stolen, when her own sister just watched it like a movie and doesn’t have psychological damage. Both sisters have more than enough reason to hate each other from jealousy. Especially in a society when elders are literal gods, and the fact that Yujin is better at pleasing elders, is more important than being loved for the sake of her future. Both Yumo and Yujin are selfish, just one of them realizes it and the other just cries when she has problems. Being compared regardless of good or bad will always make you unhappy. The low EQ Yumo can’t realize how good her life is, because she isn’t smart enough to understand the hardships of others when they try their best to seem better. Most people, would also hate to death Yujin, she isn’t rude but she isn’t nice. She puts on the air of being better than others (which she is), also so guarded and calculated that she’ll never show you her softer sides until you already know her. Which is why she’s so well written, she isn’t a heroine by any means and will always think for herself first and foremost. If she was a heroine, it wouldn’t be hard to squash the one sided beef between sisters. Yumo is stupid but not really “evil”, she’s just weak. In all honesty shes more openly kindhearted than most people in that era considering she lost her purity to a strange man because she felt sympathetic. She also never tries to kill her sister like most cannon fodders. She would probably be very easy to befriend, but just someone you’d grow tired of because her low EQ self can’t get over herself for even amount and expects good things too just fall out of the sky.

  3. Chinesefanreader

    Yep Yumo, you’re still sloppy seconds 😏 And that Momo is on a slippery slope to death 😈

    Thanks for the chapter

  4. The problem with Yumo is that she is never satisfied, she got her dream husband, she is a respectable young madam of a high class clan, her husband isn’t a useless official so his career will only going up. Surely there are many young ladies of in her circle who envy her, if she can just pretend Yujin and her glowing engagement didn’t exist, then Yumo’s life is perfect already.

  5. That Zheng gugu dug her own grave right? Probably the empress would punish them for their incapabilities as a teacher and she won’t be able to climb up the ladder with Cheng yujin as crown princess. Well, I hope zheng gugu still alive at Cheng Yujin’s coronation later~ And our cute little sister Cheng Yumo~ good luck at saving your little face, I wish your husband still has some space for you in his head~

  6. Thanks for your hard work! I just started reading this yesterday and binged read it for a whole day. Looking forward to your next update!

    On another note, I wasn’t sure where to ask this, but how do I subscribe to receive email notifications? I’ve input my email address in the box and pressed the subscribe button but I get a red error message that says “Please select the list.” What list is this?

  7. “She had been living under Cheng Yujin’s shadow for her whole previous life. This time, she had been born again, and everything obviously had changed. Why was it still like this?”
    That’s because she’s too busy trying to squabble with a shadow instead of simply moving out of the way so that she too may see the light.

  8. Yumo ah, even if you’re reborn several lifetimes, you would never catch up to Yujin if you keep taking shortcuts. Stop comparing yourself and be happy with what you have if you don’t want to be miserable forever. Having desire and ambition is fine but jealousy and envy will eat your heart rotten~

  9. Both have insecurities. One doesn’t believe in sincerity and think actions are all lead by beneficiary motives and thinks little of herself. The other is the complete opposite; thinking too highly of herself, thinks sincerity is easily gained and to be taken for granted.
    CYJ walks forwards while CYM has a CYJ living in her head and heart rent-free 24/7.

  10. Yup that xu sister said the right thing mc is too stiff so naturally ppl stay away from her but she didn’t had another way she was neglected nad would be severely punished if she made mistake

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