The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

“Yaoyao, you little lazy cat, why don’t you get up?”

Hearing the voice, Yun Shuyao sighed softly and opened her eyes. She happened to see a figure walking in from the door at this time, lifting the bed curtains, with a gentle face full of helplessness and doting smiles. Seeing her like this, she urged: “Since you are awake, don’t stay in bed.”

Yun Shuyao woke up alertly when she heard her footsteps. She stretched lazily with satisfaction: “Mom, what time is it?”

Mrs. Song reached out and touched her daughter’s forehead. Her daughter had been seriously ill some time ago. The doctor shook his head after taking her pulse, which scared her. Fortunately, her daughter gradually recovered, but she was a little more sleepy than before.

The temperature was normal, so she withdrew her hand: “In half an hour, your brother will be back.”

So now it’s time to prepare dinner. “What do you want to eat tonight, fish or bacon?”

This was not to urge her to get up, but to ask her what she wanted to eat.

Yun Shuyao curved her eyebrows and said, “Mom, I want to eat fish.”

The fish in the house were specially sent by her uncle. She saw that the fish looked depressed and motionless in the water tank, and she was afraid that if she kept it any longer, it would become thinner. Then she would have less meat to eat, which would be a waste. Bacon is different. It won’t be a problem to eat it later.

Song smiled and agreed: “Okay, then we will eat fish tonight.”

As they were talking, Yun Shuyao stood up and put on her coat. Song helped her daughter tie her hair into a simple bun and inserted a wooden hairpin into her hair. “Okay.” Song looked at the beauty on her daughter’s face and smiled with satisfaction.

She walked out of the room and reached the kitchen in a few steps.

When washing the rice and putting it into the pot, Song put in the amount for five people as usual.

Her husband went to the provincial capital to take the imperial examination. There are now four people in the family, including her, her daughter, and two teenage sons. Logically, there is no need to store so much rice, but her daughter’s appetite is increasing day by day as she recovers. She asked the doctor, and the doctor said there was nothing wrong, which made Song feel relieved. While she felt that being able to eat was a blessing, she was also worried: Could her future son-in-law afford to support her daughter?

She doesn’t know whether her husband can pass the imperial examination this time. No matter what, her daughter is already seventeen years old this year, and she has to arrange a marriage for her this year. It’s a pity that most of the men of marriageable age have already been engaged, so she doesn’t know which family her daughter will marry into in the future.

Yun Shuyao was unaware of Song’s worries. She happily sat on a small stool and picked vegetables, not letting go of any good ones.

Food is the most important thing for people. After traveling from the end of the world to this ancient world, what makes her happiest is this peaceful world.

There is no need to worry about a bite to eat.

There is no need to be on guard against zombies appearing at every moment.

There is no need to be wary of anyone of your kind approaching to prevent yourself from becoming a two-legged sheep…

Compared to the end of the world, this place is heaven!

“Pah—”

The bamboo in the stove made a crisp sound. Yun Shuyao raised her head and glanced at Song, who was busy on the stove. Despite such a loud noise, she didn’t move at all. From her eyes, it was obvious that she was distracted. As for what she was thinking about, Yun Shuyao guessed that it was probably either her father taking part in the autumn examination or her lifelong event.

It has been some time since her soul came here and replaced the original owner, who died of a serious illness.

She was lucky; it happened for the second time.

The first time was when she was hit by a racing car on her way home from overtime work in modern times. Her blood stained a copper coin she had worn since childhood. Later, she found out that it was a seriously damaged spiritual weapon. It automatically recognized its master and took her soul to a small world in the end times, where she woke up in the body of a woman who had just starved to death.

In the hell of the end of the world, where there was no order and everyone was struggling to survive, Yun Shuyao managed to survive for several months but still died in the zombie siege.

The second time is now.

Although it’s a pity that she couldn’t wear it back, at least it’s a peaceful world.

And even if she didn’t turn into the daughter of a noble minister, her father was a scholar. Although he wasn’t well off, he had enough food and drink. Now he was going to take part in the provincial examination. If she was lucky, she would be promoted from the daughter of a scholar to the daughter of a juren. By then, she wouldn’t have to worry about food and clothing anymore. What’s more, it was a very rare harmonious family. It reminded her of her grandmother, whom she depended on for everything. However, she was not without worries.

Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but frown. She was already seventeen years old. In modern times, this might still be a high school student, but in this era, she was already an old girl.

If her grandparents had not died one after another and she had to observe mourning, the original owner would have been married long ago.

She guesses that by the time her father’s autumn examination is over, her marriage will be decided, regardless of whether she agrees or not.

As for being a single noblewoman?

After learning about the current policies, Yun Shuyao gave up the idea.

In some countries in later generations, singles had to pay taxes. At this time, singles over the age of 18 would not only be fined but would also be forced to matchmake with any unmarried man.

If you don’t want to get married, that’s fine; you can just become a monk. But there are too many restrictions on becoming a monk. It’s said to be a quiet place, but in reality, it’s a place where filth and dirt are hidden. There are still many restrictions. In comparison, getting married is a good choice.

If the other person is a good person, life can be easy. If the other person is not good, she can still find a way to divorce. If the other person is a cruel and insane person, then there is still the possibility of being a widower, right? Life can’t be harder than the end of the world.

Thinking of this, Yun Shuyao smiled. If her mother knew about this idea, she would probably be scared to death.

There is no way. After experiencing the end of the world, besides being particularly obsessed with food, another thing that has changed is her view on human life.

“Mom, Dad should be in the provincial capital by now.”
Hearing her daughter talking about her husband, Song frowned and said with some worry, “They should be there now. I wonder if they have found a place to stay now.”

Also going out with him was her cousin Yun Chang from her eldest uncle’s family. He had already achieved the title of a student, so if nothing unexpected happened, it would not be a problem for him to become a scholar. He was going to explore the way ahead first. If all went well, he would be able to go to the provincial capital to take part in the autumn examination in a few years.

Yun Shuyao comforted her: “Didn’t Dad’s friend in the provincial capital write to him before? If they can’t find a place to stay, they can go over and stay for a while.”

Song’s brows relaxed a little: “That’s true. I hope your father will be blessed with good fortune this time.” If he is, she will have more room to choose her son-in-law, and there will be no need to be so anxious.

What a pity! Song thought of the Chen family, with whom her daughter had already been engaged. If it weren’t for the continuous mourning period, the elderly in the Chen family would have canceled the engagement as they could not wait any longer, and her daughter would have been married by now.

Now she can only choose again.

Yun Shuyao: “Dad will graduate from high school.”
As she was talking, she smelled the fragrance coming from the pot and took a breath. When Song saw this, she thought again, if her husband really won the prize, her son-in-law’s condition would be improved to a higher level, and she would no longer have to worry about her daughter being disliked because of her appetite after she got married.

While they were chatting, they heard someone knocking on the door: “Second Aunt! Second Aunt!”
This voice…Yun Chang?

Didn’t he go to take part in the autumn examination with her husband?

Song was a little frightened and forgot to put down the big bowl in her hand. She hurried over to open the door for him.

As soon as the door opened, Yun Chang opened his mouth and told him the bad news: “Second Aunt, it’s bad. Second Uncle has been arrested and thrown into jail!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Song was frightened, and the bowl in her hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound. The fragments were scattered all over the ground, but everyone’s attention was not there at this time.

“Chang’er, what’s wrong? What did you just say?”
Yun Chang took a breath and licked his dry lips: “…My second uncle was framed and thrown into jail.” Looking closely, one could see the dark circles under his eyes and the disheveled shape of his clothes. He also smelled, and it was unknown how long it had been since he had a shower.

She guessed that after the accident, he was no longer in the mood to pay attention to these aspects.

It took Song three seconds to digest it. When she was done digesting, her whole body went limp, her vision went dark, and she fell backward. Yun Shuyao quickly stepped forward, put her arm around her waist, and supported her body: “Mom, calm down. Dad needs us now.”

The two of them helped her back to the room.

Song was unconscious for a short time. She woke up soon after and forced herself to get up. Her voice was weak, and she asked Yun Chang, “Chang’er, what’s going on?”

Yun Chang pulled the corner of his mouth in embarrassment. “We followed the caravan to the provincial capital, and when we arrived at Baizhou City, we were not on the same route as the caravan, so we separated. Since it was not far from Qichen County, we walked there. On the way, we met a woman who sprained her ankle. We took her for a ride and sent her to her relatives’ home. Then we said goodbye. As a result, we stayed in a teahouse for dinner. Not long after, soldiers came to our door and said that my second uncle had stolen a jade pendant from the county magistrate’s brother-in-law.”

Yun Chang said bitterly: “We don’t even know who the county magistrate’s brother-in-law is!”

Yun Shuyao immediately thought of that woman: “Is there anything special about the way that woman is dressed?”

Yun Changwei was shocked by her cousin’s sharp eyes: “…After my second uncle was arrested, I asked someone and found out that the county magistrate’s brother-in-law, Wu Peng, was the most lustful and lecherous. Many decent girls in the county were forced to be concubines. That girl was a decent girl who ran away. She fled to her relatives’ house and was sent away. We were the ones who were angered.”

Song heard this and burst into tears: “Is there any law here? How is your uncle now? How can he get out? He was wrongly accused!”

This is why Yun Chang came back. He swallowed hard and said, “I went to ask, and a housekeeper said that the jade pendant costs two thousand taels. If we pay two thousand taels, we can buy the stolen broken jade pendant, and my second uncle can be released.”

This was clearly a robbery. They didn’t see any Wu Peng from beginning to end, let alone steal the jade pendant!

Two thousand taels?! Song gasped.

How could their family have so much money?!

Even if she emptied her family fortune and sold this small house, she could at most get together three hundred taels, of which two hundred and fifty taels would be the price of this house.

Where does the rest of the money come from?

Song cried, “Chang’er, how can our family afford so much money?”

Yun Chang certainly knew. “I later gave a gift to the housekeeper and asked him about it. He said that Wu Peng wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys so that no one would dare to help in the future. I came back and wanted to find Mr. Wang. If Mr. Wang could plead for them, maybe my second uncle would be able to get out.”

Mr. Wang, Yun Shuyao, remembered that he was a good classmate of her father, a newly appointed juren who had just passed the imperial examination in the previous exam. He now opened a private school and was recruiting students.

Song was delighted, wiped her tears, and prepared to leave immediately: “Yes! Let’s go find Mr. Wang!”

But the result disappointed them.

Knowing what happened, Mr. Wang didn’t want to offend Wu Peng and avoided them.

They went to look for other classmates and peers, and after finding out what was going on, they all made excuses, saying that they were not there or had gone away.

Wu Peng’s reputation was well-known, and even if they didn’t know about him before, if they asked someone, they would find a long list of shocking tragedies.

Not to mention that they only have the title of scholar; even if they were jurens, they were not officials. Some jurens died unjustly under Wu Peng. How dare they take the lead?

The Yun family was filled with gloom and sadness.

Song was ill.

The two younger brothers did not fall down, but they were also in low spirits.

They saw no hope of rescuing their father.

Their uncle has already taken some money to Qichen County to bribe the people in prison, in case he fails to release him and he gets troubled by the little devils in prison.

Yun Shuyao looked at the situation at home and was unwilling to accept it. She asked Yun Chang, “Brother, is there no other way?”

This is a disaster sent from heaven.

A happy family was about to be ruined.

Yun Shuyao suddenly deeply understood why so many people were trying so hard to climb up.

That’s the reason.

Your peace of mind depends on a few words from your superior.

Now, with just a word from the county magistrate’s brother-in-law, the pillar of their small family was thrown into jail.

Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but clench her fists. Unfortunately, her superpowers were only at level one now, and her body was weak. If she was given enough time to grow, she might be able to rush into the prison and rescue the people. Unfortunately, there is simply not enough time now.

In the end times, the legal order soon became ineffective, and fists were the only way to rule the country. Except for a few bases led by national forces and regimes, the rest of the small bases were ruled by the naked law of the jungle.

People with abilities can enjoy better resources, and those with superpowers enjoy higher-quality resources than those without abilities. When she traveled to that world, she had superpowers, but her superpowers were wood-related, which were notoriously useless in the early stages.

She came here, and her superpowers were revived, but she was still too weak.

Yun Chang: “If it still doesn’t work, I will go to the prefectural government and beat the drum to appeal for justice. I don’t believe that there is really no law!” As the saying goes, officials protect each other. If it weren’t for the real reason, Yun Chang would not want to do that.

Just as they were discussing other options, a well-dressed old lady came to the door.

She introduced herself as a servant of the Xingtai Prefecture’s prefectural government and said she came on the orders of the old lady.

The two families don’t know each other. What is she doing here?

“The old lady accidentally learned about your young lady’s birth date and horoscope while burning incense in the temple. She is a perfect match for my master.” Their master has no children now, so he wants to hire her as a concubine.

Nanny Wang glanced at Yun Shuyao from the corner of her eye. She looked healthy. She smiled sincerely. “It just so happens that my old lady heard that your master had some misunderstandings in Qichen County and has already written a letter. I think there will be good news soon.”

The room was filled with silence.

When Nanny Wang left, Song was at a loss, her heart frying in a frying pan: “Chang’er, do you know where this prefect came from?”

Such a man has set his eyes on her daughter. With their family background, can she escape? A brother-in-law of a county magistrate has already put her husband in jail, not to mention the prefect above the county magistrate.

Yun Chang pondered for a while, then looked at Yun Shuyao: “Second aunt, don’t worry. I’ve heard people say that our prefect has just taken office. It is said that his ancestral home is in Gusu, and he comes from a family of marquises. He won third place in the imperial examination at the age of seventeen and was deeply loved by the emperor. He married the daughter of the late Duke Rong. He is approaching thirty this year and still has no children.”

As he said this, he couldn’t help but take a deep look at his cousin. He had to say that if the prefect came forward, as long as the county magistrate of Qi Chen County was not a fool, the problems their family was facing would be easily solved.

They haven’t replied yet. The prefect’s family has already helped write a letter. I think my second uncle should have been released safely.

Yun Shuyao was thinking about something else, the legitimate daughter of Duke Rong of Gusu?

Why does it sound familiar? Where have I heard it before… Wait!

She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows: “Brother, do you know the name of this prefect?”

Yun Chang happened to have heard his classmates mention this. He admired the prefect’s deeds very much and remembered clearly: “His surname is Lin, and his courtesy name is Ruhai.”

Yun Shuyao: “…”

(⊙ – ⊙)

If her memory is correct, isn’t this Lin Daiyu’s father!!!