不仅屋里 养了好几个通房
“He's got bed-warming maids”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
太太 我早就提醒过姨娘 说柳家少爷是个好色的
“Ma'am, I warned her long ago the Liu family's son is a lecher.”
不仅屋里 养了好几个 通房
“He's got bed-warming maids”
“and a secret mistress for over a year now. He's...”
“See, I told you he is completely untrustworthy and degenerate; you must not let our young lady marry him.”
In historical China, while men could have concubines, keeping multiple informal concubines (通房) before marriage was seen as a sign of unbridled indulgence that could spoil marital prospects.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
not only
Used as a coordinating conjunction to introduce the first of two accumulating facts, usually paired with 而 or 也.
bedchamber maidservant; maid serving as an informal concubine
A historical term specific to dynastic household hierarchies referring to maidservants who also served as sexual partners.
Marks the completed realization of keeping multiple maids as an established, existing state of affairs.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Come inside! Please.”
“someone else was inside.”
“Is this courtyard to your liking?”
“True, another mouth to feed at home.”
“Don't let anyone into the back room. Got it.”
“It is your right to live in this room.”