The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

Grandmother Jia felt sorry for her mother-in-law’s old age. For the time being, she could not reach out to the Lin family and could only take her time.

The daughter believed that she could give birth, and Grandmother Jia thought the same. She had always helped her daughter find doctors who were good at this.
Unless it is absolutely necessary, Grandmother Jia does not want to send anyone from the Jia family over there to make her daughter sad. However, if there is an illegitimate son and her daughter has never had a child, she will not care, even if it will make her daughter sad.

If it really comes to that, she can just use surrogacy to have a child. By then, her daughter will have a child of the Jia family’s bloodline under her name. Even if something happens to others and the Lin family gets angry, it won’t matter…
Thinking of this, Grandmother Jia made up her mind temporarily.
The first and second wives had no idea what Grandmother Jia was thinking. They returned to their own courtyards, and not long after, someone brought them the gifts that their sister-in-law had given to their family.

Seeing how generous the gifts were, both of them couldn’t help but feel envious and jealous, especially Xing. Her family had fallen on hard times; she had no children after marriage, and she wasn’t favored by the eldest master. Money was the only thing she could hold on to.
She is well-known in the Jia family for being money-oriented.
Comparing her with her sister-in-law, who also has no children, how could Xing not be jealous?

Wang also attached great importance to money. She gave birth to two sons and raised them under the old lady’s nose. She wanted to be closer to her, but Grandmother Jia had something to say. Besides, although she was in charge of the household, in fact, all important matters had to be consulted by Grandmother Jia. She had no say at all. Although the man was more decent than her uncle, he also doted on Aunt Zhao too much. She felt safe only when she had money.

Time passed, and in a blink of an eye, Aunt Mei was three months pregnant. Doctor Zhou also agreed that she didn’t have to stay in bed all the time and could get up and walk a few steps, but she couldn’t overwork herself or get too excited… Although there were many restrictions, it made people feel more at ease.

Seeing this, the old lady mentioned going to the temple to fulfill her vow and build a golden statue of the Buddha. She also wanted to send winter clothes to poor families. Lin Ruhai stopped her from doing the last thing, saying, “It won’t be too late to do it after the baby is born.”

The old lady was a little unhappy, but she still agreed, “I understand; let’s postpone it. I’ll have someone prepare it first.”
Seeing the old lady making such a big fuss, Aunt Mei was naturally happy.
The old lady values her and the baby in her belly, which is a great joy.
This would never happen in the Mei family.
When her aunt gave birth to her younger brother, her grandmother and father were only moderately happy because her stepmother had already given birth to several legitimate sons.

But the Lin family is different. The baby in her belly is very likely to be the eldest son of the Lin family!
As long as Jia Min doesn’t give birth, her son will be the best candidate to take over the Lin family based on the principle of eldest son and legitimate wife!
By then, even if she is not a wife, no one can look down on her!
Because she had great ambitions, even after her health improved a little, Mei restrained herself because of past experience and stayed in Meixiangyuan without going out, taking good care of her pregnancy, waiting for her son to be born, and making a big splash.

Compared to this enterprising colleague, Yun Shuyao is still a lazy person. In comparison, her life was leisurely before she became pregnant, and her life is still very leisurely after she became pregnant.
Because she was pregnant, she didn’t have to punch in every day, and she could arrange her own time. She would sleep until she woke up naturally, have breakfast, and then take a walk. After the walk, she would read a book, practice calligraphy, and practice some exercises. In the afternoon, she would follow Nanny Wang and the others to learn skills that she thought were useful.

The old lady would send people to check on her from time to time and find out about her situation. Whenever Lin Ruhai was free, he would come over almost every day at irregular times. Sometimes he would stay to dine with her, and sometimes he would just come and sit for a while and leave.
If we count the time he spends here as working hours, the longest he stays here is two hours.

If it’s short, he’ll be gone in less than a cup of tea.

Two hours is not a lot compared to the twenty-four hours in a day and the eight-hour working day. Moreover, Lin Ruhai was able to teach her some things. It was not an exaggeration to say that Tanhualang was well-read; his knowledge was too broad.

He did not only study books about the imperial examinations but also read many other books.
Lin Ruhai also liked to talk about these things with her, and from time to time, his concubine would say something that would surprise him.
Different angles lead to different views of things.

Lin Ruhai also discovered that although Yun didn’t like to go out when it came to reading books, she liked everything except the Four Books and Five Classics.
Have a wide range of hobbies.
Because of this common language, he spent less time at Aunt Mei’s place. Plus, Aunt Mei had severe pregnancy reactions and could eat less, so Lin Ruhai seldom ate with her. Aunt Mei was a little dissatisfied, but she didn’t say anything, let alone ask him to stay.

According to current rules, a woman cannot sleep in the same bed with a man when she is pregnant. If she really keeps the man, they have to sleep in separate beds. Some people would arrange for maids to serve him during this special period, but Lin Ruhai treated the maids normally, and Aunt Mei did not want to create competitors for herself, so she gave up the idea.

When they were at ease, time seemed to have been accelerated, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of the 27th year of Kangxi’s reign.

This is the time for the Lin family to report on their properties on various farms, and the Lin family has become busy.

Yun Shuyao also had a farm. Since she had bought it less than a year ago, the output was small, except for some beans and some poultry. Yun Shuyao asked the people on the farm to sell most of the poultry and then sent some to her mother’s family and her uncle’s family.
One of the reasons she bought such a small farm in her hometown was to be close to home so that she could help her family when she had the means.
She lives a life of luxury here, but they remain the same as before.

Although they have no worries about food and clothing, the quality of food and clothing will not be very good. The Yun family eats meat with great calculation. With these poultry, they don’t have to buy meat outside during the New Year.

It was indeed difficult for them to refuse, but the output of her small farm was limited. Song did the math and became worried about her daughter.

The profit is really not much, and her daughter asked Master Zhuangzi to make so many preparations, saying that they would plant flowers next year. She doesn’t understand what the output of planting flowers can be?
Is she going to make rouge and powder to sell?

It seemed like this, and she even bought two young and capable maids to keep at home, saying that she was not familiar with the girls yet and wanted her to train them. In Song’s view, this was finding a reason to subsidize them.
She can do these things at home by herself; there is no need to spend money to hire a maid.

However, her daughter acted first and asked for permission later, so she couldn’t ask the human trafficker to return the favor.
But she also made up her mind that the next time she went there, she would have to give her the money.
Can she still go into the Lin Mansion to see her daughter before the New Year?

Yun Shuyao also wanted to see them again before the New Year, so Song received the invitation and went to visit with her two sons.

She brought along the income from the farm and the monthly rent from the shop.
This was the second time that the brothers Yun Heng and Yun Yan entered the gate of the Lin Mansion.
The last time the two brothers came, Lin Ruhai was not there. This time, they found that this man, whom they could not call a brother-in-law, was at their sister’s house, and they suddenly became nervous.
“Greetings, sir.”
Lin Ruhai nodded and looked at the two tall and relaxed young men.

Because he was about to become a father, Lin Ruhai’s attitude towards the younger generation was a little gentler than before.
He asked them which private school they were at and when they were going to finish the competition. He tested them and found that their basic skills were quite solid. He became interested, so he took the two of them to be instructed by him.

The two brothers wanted to have a chat with their sister, but now they had no time, so they racked their brains to answer the prefect’s questions.

They were feeling quite proud of themselves because of the teacher’s praise, but when they were asked this question, their pride quickly faded.
They were still far from clearly realizing the stark reality.

The two brothers were not ungrateful and absorbed what he said seriously.

Song would naturally not interfere. It was a blessing for both of them to be able to get guidance from the prefect. Others could not even ask for it. The same went for her talking to her daughter.
Yun Shuyao is now almost four months pregnant. Song looked at Yun Shuyao’s bulging belly and suddenly frowned. “Shuyao, you are less than four months pregnant yet. This baby…did the doctor say anything?” Why is it so much bigger than when she was pregnant?

Yun Shuyao shook her head gently, “Doctor Zhou didn’t say anything.”
Instead, she felt two streams of air in her lower abdomen, which meant that she was most likely pregnant with twins. Doctor Zhou probably noticed something, but he couldn’t be completely sure. It might not be obvious from the pulse, but it was estimated to be soon.

Doctor Zhou had already asked her some relevant questions. Yun Shuyao guessed that Doctor Zhou wanted to be more certain before speaking to avoid any misunderstandings.
Yun Shuyao: “Mom, I remember my uncle is a twin, right?”

Although Song never gave birth to twins, her eldest brother and sister were twins, so it was not surprising that the gene was passed down to her.

Yun Shuyao was a little frightened when she first felt it. In ancient times, giving birth to a child was like the gate of hell, and having two children at once was even more dangerous. It was useless to just worry, and Yun Shuyao made up her mind not to have a second child.
In modern society, where medical care is so advanced, there are still people who die from childbirth. Having survived a near-death experience, Yun Shuyao considers herself a person who cherishes life.

Song reached out her hand and touched her daughter’s belly: “Your grandmother was pregnant with twins.” She looked at the size and felt a little worried. Pregnancy with twins is more uncomfortable than pregnancy with one. She asked her daughter, “What’s wrong with you now?”
Yun Shuyao: “No, except that I can’t eat mutton; everything else is fine.”

She can eat any flavor. The old lady once asked her whether she preferred sour or spicy food, trying to guess whether she was pregnant with a boy or a girl based on the taste. But as long as the food is delicious, she likes it, whether it is sour or spicy.
Song sighed, “It’s good that nothing happened. Be careful when you sit, lie down, or walk, and don’t bump into anything.”

“Don’t worry.” Now, when she goes out for a walk in the yard, there are people in front, behind, and around her. It has to be said that with the old lady around, many of the preventive measures she thought of were not used. The old lady was really considerate, and it was legitimate for her to come forward.
For example, food is the easiest place to be tampered with in TV dramas and novels, so Yu Shan personally goes to the kitchen to watch over it to ensure that nothing is tampered with.

This was something she was very thankful for because if she had to take precautions on her own, her life would have been very miserable.

Yun Shuyao had mixed feelings when she thought about it. If it weren’t for the old lady, she wouldn’t have entered the Lin family. She would have married an ordinary person and would most likely not have encountered the palace intrigues and the underworld. But if it weren’t for the old lady, her father’s situation would have been bad in this feudal era where power could kill people.

In comparison, Yun Shuyao felt that it was a lucky thing to meet Old Lady Lin. Even if she married someone of equal status, it was hard to say whether she could live a smooth life. There were too many uncertainties.
Song decided to go back and ask her mother what it was like when she was pregnant with her older brother and sister.
Because she was thinking about all this, after leaving the Lin Mansion, Song remembered that she had forgotten to mention the matter of the two maids to her daughter.
Never mind; maybe next time.

Yun Heng and Yun Yan even forgot what they wanted to say to their sister. When they left the Lin Mansion, their feet felt light and fluttery. They felt like they were about to faint, even though they had not done any physical work. After leaving the Lin Mansion and being blown by the wind, they realized that the clothes on their backs were soaked with sweat.
The two brothers looked at each other with sympathy, they still had a long way to go.

When they returned, the two brothers were scratching their heads while holding a piece of homework. This was the homework assigned to them.
It’s a little bit difficult.
Really, just a few hundred million.

Doctor Zhou noticed something. Nanny Wang was also an experienced person who knew some pharmacology. She had some guesses in her mind, and without waiting for Doctor Zhou to speak, she took the initiative to ask.

Meixiangyuan’s pregnancy is one month older, but judging by the bulge, Aunt Yun looks like the one with the older pregnancy.
Doctor Zhou hesitated for a moment, “I suspect it’s twins, but the pulse is not strong right now, so we have to wait a little longer.”
“How long do we have to wait?” Nanny Wang was a little surprised, but also a little uneasy. If she told the old lady now that the pulse was finally diagnosed and the result was not correct, then it would be all in vain.

Doctor Zhou stroked his beard and said, “It won’t take long.” As the months go by, the fetal heart rate will become stronger.
Nanny Wang made up her mind: “Then I will wait for good news from you, Doctor Zhou.”

She decided to keep an eye on it herself during this period.
Treat Aunt Yun as if she is pregnant with twins and be more careful.
Then Madam Zhou went to ask every two days, and Doctor Zhou was afraid of being asked: “I am sure I will tell you.”
He was already 70% sure, but the two children were a little naughty and got too close to each other, so he couldn’t make a final conclusion.

Nanny Wang: “…why don’t you take my pulse again?”
Doctor Zhou: “…”
Finally, before Doctor Zhou went back for the New Year, he felt Aunt Yun’s pulse and found that this time her pulse was clear. He breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he didn’t have to be questioned by Nanny Wang again and again. He smiled and said, “Congratulations, Aunt Yun.”
Nanny Wang’s eyes instantly lit up with joy: “Where does the joy come from?”
Doctor Zhou said calmly: “Madam Yun is pregnant with twins.”

Everyone: “!!!”