She seems vaguely western to me, like the rest of the non-Chinese characters. The choice to shorten her name as “D” is because her name in Chinese is Dusai and in that scene (Madam D) she was referred to as “Du furen”.
In retrospect I’ve seen furen be translated as Madame in other fantranslation projects, and used similarly like in the paragraph you quoted (ie. the wife of a lord/official)! It just wasn’t my first thought when I saw the English translation because it’s the first time we see her referred to that way.
ETA: To clarify, she’s been addressed as Du furen in the Chinese previously (in the scene where she and Shaw interact) but it’s the first time it had to be translated to English.
Re: Chapter 6, EN
In retrospect I’ve seen furen be translated as Madame in other fantranslation projects, and used similarly like in the paragraph you quoted (ie. the wife of a lord/official)! It just wasn’t my first thought when I saw the English translation because it’s the first time we see her referred to that way.
ETA: To clarify, she’s been addressed as Du furen in the Chinese previously (in the scene where she and Shaw interact) but it’s the first time it had to be translated to English.