起先臣妾并未放在心上
“At first, I paid it no mind.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
近日朝廷贵妇间多有一传闻
“There has been a rumor among the noble ladies.”
起先 臣妾并未 放在心上
“At first, I paid it no mind.”
可近日
“But lately,”
“I did not want to bother you over trifles, but this matter is now too severe to ignore.”
Imperial women had to frame political disclosures carefully using self-effacing terms like 'chenqie' and framing their reports as reluctant duty rather than malice.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
at first; initially
Useful for narrative contrast to show how an initial reaction evolved over time.
to take to heart; to care about
Commonly used in negative constructions like 'do not take it to heart' or 'never paid mind to it'.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“How can you blame me?”
“since the Construction Engineering Group was first established.”
“When I came to pay my respects yesterday, weren't you perfectly fine?”
“are you really unwilling to show me even a bit of leniency?”
“I was inconsiderate.”
“Neither of them has ever taken me, the Emperor, seriously!”