The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

The old lady ran to Lanxinyuan excitedly again and looked at Yun Shuyao as if she were looking at a treasure. She asked people to serve her carefully, gave her many things, added two more handymen, and doubled her food and clothing expenses from the existing basis.

Yun Shuyao looked at the treasures that were sent to her: Ah, the small treasury has become more substantial again!
There is never too much bonus.

In addition, the Chinese New Year was approaching, and the old lady felt that this was a double blessing. She made the red envelope she gave to Dr. Zhou twice as thick as before, which made Dr. Zhou smile from ear to ear.

Therefore, when the old lady asked him to come back early after the New Year, he did not hesitate and agreed.
It’s just a matter of coming earlier. No problem at all.

Anyway, he didn’t have much to do during the New Year, so he could take this opportunity to save a little more money.

Moreover, if you make good friends with the prefect’s family, you can gain other invisible benefits that cannot be bought with any amount of money.

After Lin Ruhai came back, he heard the good news for the first time. His heart was warmed at that time. He couldn’t help smiling when he looked at Yun Shuyao. He was almost impatient for the child to be born.

It was approaching the Chinese New Year, which was already a time of great joy. Now, because the two biggest masters of the Lin family were happy and had given out bonuses, the atmosphere became even more joyous.

Yun Shuyao was not dazzled by their joy. She paid special attention to the expression of Jia Min, her direct superior.
Her smile was a little forced, and Yun Shuyao could understand.

For Jia Min, children were something she had always longed for, so when she heard that her concubine had given birth to two at once, she was naturally not very happy.

Although she was unhappy, Yun Shuyao did not sense any malice towards her, which made her feel relieved.
In comparison, the people around her are more malicious.
But… Yun Shuyao looked towards Jia Min. She was followed by Nanny Liu, and she hadn’t seen Nanny Qian for a long time.

She doesn’t know how long Jia Min will keep her in custody.

To Yun Shuyao, she was a dangerous person, but with the old lady above her head, she didn’t have to worry too much.
As for the other colleague who did not show up… Yun Shuyao felt that it was better if she continued to stay in Meixiangyuan to take care of her pregnancy and did not go out. With her shallow mind, she might get emotional and want to drink pregnancy-preserving medicine. By inferring this way, her colleagues would not know, and she could save a lot of unnecessary calculations.

Yun Shuyao was pregnant with twins. This was good news and spread quickly.
When Song heard it confirmed, she was lost in thought.

This was a happy event for the Lin family, but for her, she was not happy.
If her daughter encountered any problems during childbirth and had to face the choice of saving the adult or the child, Song had no confidence that the master of the Lin family would save her daughter, so she became anxious and irritated, and blisters appeared at the corners of her mouth, and it hurt even when she swallowed saliva.

When she returned to her parent’s home, Song’s mother saw her daughter like this, noticed her worry, and hugged her: “Don’t worry so much; Shuyao has always been in good health; she will be fine; I went to the temple to draw a fortune for her before; it’s a good omen; mother and child will be safe; if you are really worried, go to the temple to draw a fortune.”
After hearing this, Song nodded immediately and said, “I’ll go another day.”

Compared to the Song family’s worries, someone in Meixiangyuan was also worried, but the reason for her worry was for another reason.

When Gao heard that it was twins, her face became solemn. She knew that twins were usually born prematurely. If Aunt Yun gave birth to the eldest son prematurely, her daughter’s son would no longer be the eldest son.

Respecting the order of seniority is no small matter.
This was not what she had expected.

However, she did not reveal this worry to her daughter and asked others not to tell her.

As soon as she opened her mouth, Nanny Wu agreed immediately. She was waiting for Gao to say this.
Nanny Wu is not unaware of Aunt Mei’s temper. If Aunt Mei knew about it and thought too much about it, it would be bad for her health.

She is in better health now and basically never leaves the room. Her body is visibly weak, so as long as they keep their mouths shut, she won’t know. According to Nanny Wu’s opinion, it won’t be too late to tell her after Aunt Mei gives birth.

Knowing this, Gao didn’t have much joy this year.
She went back to the Mei family for the Chinese New Year. Her daughter was not in good health, so she could take care of her at the Lin family on weekdays, but she had to go back for the Chinese New Year.

Although she was not in a good mood, the Mei family was very excited. After the news of her daughter’s pregnancy spread, their house had never been quiet.
Although she is not the only pregnant person in the Lin family, there is a great possibility that the daughter will give birth to the prefect’s eldest son.

For a merchant family, the perfect is like an unattainable tree.
Ever since their third daughter married the prefect’s family, the amount of tribute and favors they paid has decreased a lot. When the news of their daughter’s pregnancy spread, their business became much smoother than before. Now that it is the New Year, the Mei family is crowded with guests.

Some people would come to Gao to say some congratulations, but Gao was modest and kept saying that she was not worthy of the title. They didn’t care, thinking that Gao’s background was just a little poor and she was too timid. What was there to be daunted about? She was the biological mother of the third young lady! She also had a son, so she had a happy life ahead of her.

Some people may be envious of Gao, but regardless of the order of seniority and gender of the children born to Miss Mei San, the benefits she has brought to the Mei family are beyond their envy.
The Yun family had a very lively time this year. Although they were poor and unknown in the downtown area, they were rich and had distant relatives in the mountains.

Ever since the news of the Yun family’s daughter being pregnant spread, the Yun family had friends and relatives coming to congratulate them from time to time. The Chinese New Year is a time for friends and relatives to visit and keep in touch with each other, so they will not miss this opportunity.
The Yun family’s house is not big. It was just enough for a family of several people to live in. Now the empty space in the house is filled with gifts. There is no room for them in the utility room, so the gifts have spread to the room where they sleep.

Even though they said they wouldn’t accept them, others always found various reasons and excuses to keep the gifts. Fortunately, they still had some sense and didn’t give them anything too precious.

Even so, it took the Song family a lot of effort to count and record these personal relationships.

Among all these personal interactions, the majority were with Yun Qingliang’s classmates and peers. At their age, many had not given up on the imperial examinations, and many came to him to inquire if he had any “secrets.”.

Yun Qingliang couldn’t stand the disturbance, so he left under the pretext of returning to his hometown to worship his ancestors and finally had some peace.
There are relatively few people who can catch up to Wangjia Village.

Both their families were like this, let alone the Lin family, where the doorman carried the received visiting cards in baskets.
The owners of these posts come from a wide range of backgrounds, including their masters’ colleagues, local gentry, wealthy families, etc.

In this small area, the prefect is the person at the top of the official pyramid.
For this reason, everyone in the Lin family was busy. At this time, Jia Min was ill.

Since the two concubines came into the house, Jia Min has never been sick. There were times when she tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep, but she always held on. At the end of the year, she could no longer hold on because of overwork.
Doctor Zhou prescribed medicine for her, and when the prefect asked about it, he replied, “Madam has been depressed and overworked recently. She will feel better after taking the medicine and resting for a while.”

Lin Ruhai was silent.

Are you feeling depressed?

“Thank you, Doctor Zhou.”
Doctor Zhou: “You are too polite, sir. This is my duty.”

Jia Min lay on the bed, feeling weak all over. In fact, she was a little surprised. She hadn’t been sick for a long time. Her health was not very good, and she had some minor problems every once in a while. She had experienced so many things in the past six months, but she didn’t get sick much. It was just that the timing was not right now, and there were too many things to do during the New Year.

She is the mistress, and other things can be done by servants, but things like New Year sacrifices and banquets to entertain other ladies must be done by the master.
She wanted to force herself to do the work but was stopped by Lin Ruhai, “Everything that needs to be prepared is almost done, and there are servants here. You should have a good rest and postpone those banquets. Your health is the most important thing.”

Jia Min frowned: “I have already sent the post…”

Lin Ruhai: “I will post another message to explain the reason. I believe everyone will understand. It won’t be too late to host a banquet after Min’er is well again after the New Year.”

Jia Min: “And sacrifice…”

Lin Ruhai: “There are rules. You just need to show your private parts during ancestral worship. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Jia Min smiled slightly after hearing this. This was also what always impressed her about him.

He is always considerate and has a lot to do during the New Year.

If something goes wrong, he will step in and take charge of the situation instead of just blaming her.
Considering her own body, she didn’t try to hold on and sighed, “It’s all because of my body…”

Lin Ruhai took her hand and put it under the quilt: “People are not made of iron. You have been working so hard for so long; it is reminding you that you should have a good rest.”

Lin Ruhai thought of what Doctor Zhou said about the depression in her heart, and his mind moved.
If friends and relatives could come to see her at this time, she would probably be happy.

Originally, she had no relatives or friends in Xingtai Prefecture, but he was well-informed and knew that one of her old friends would return to Xingtai Prefecture to observe mourning.

When he told this, Jia Min was indeed cheered up: “Is it Zhao Wu? Isn’t her husband an official in Beijing?”
Lin Ruhai: “Brother Zishi’s grandfather passed away. We are observing mourning according to the rules.”
Jia Min sighed, “So that’s how it is.”

Her husband is the eldest grandson, and according to custom, he has to observe mourning for 27 months, so it’s no wonder that she returned home.
Jia Min was happy to see her old friend, but also sad for her friend.

For Yun Shuyao, this year, nothing has changed except that the decoration at home is more festive and there are more delicious dishes.

As a concubine, as long as the family is well-behaved, the concubine will not be allowed to take part in the cooking unless there is an unavoidable situation.
What was particularly special was that on New Year’s Eve, the old lady and others called her and Aunt Mei together for a meal. Also, she received three red envelopes, which were given by her three masters.

In addition, they also gave red envelopes to two children, respectively, making a total of nine red envelopes.
She opened her portion and looked at it. The old lady had wrapped two small ruyi (one gold and one silver), each weighing about three taels.

Lin Ruhai’s red envelope is composed of two exquisite gold leaves.
Jia Min’s lock pieces are made of two pieces, one gold and one silver.
And what they prepare for the twins is very similar.
The old lady gave her a jade ruyi necklace.

Lin Ruhai prepared a gold and jade peace lock.

What Jia Min prepared was a jade peace locket.

They all mean to ensure safety.

As for the value…it made Yun Shuyao clearly realize what the gap is.
But later, Lin Ruhai gave her two sets of jewelry. Although it was still not as much as the New Year’s money received by the two unborn babies, it was also a pleasant surprise for Yun Shuyao.

In ancient times, concubines had only half the human rights.
This is because she was born into a good family. If she was born as a maid, unless she was favored, her status would be slightly better than that of a maid.
This is such an evil feudal era.

Apart from these things that tested her mentality, after the New Year, Yun Shuyao felt the fetal movement and realized more clearly that two little lives were growing up.
To this end, she spends more time on prenatal education every day.

She has never been pregnant in modern times, but she has learned a lot from her surroundings and knows a lot about pregnancy-related matters.
After hearing her talk about prenatal education, Lin Ruhai immediately took on the task.

Moreover, the attitude is serious.

The books he prepared were also different from the basic enlightenment books prepared by Yun Shuyao. When he was reading, if Yun Shuyao didn’t do something else, she would fall into a drowsy state while listening and need to force herself to stay awake.

She felt that Lin Ruhai’s starting point was too high. Reading the Four Books and Five Classics to a little baby who knew nothing? That was too difficult.
Maybe he simply wanted the children to listen and feel the rhythm of the poem.

But looking at Lin Ruhai’s serious expression… well, he actually really wanted the child to understand, so…

Aunt Mei was even less willing to listen than Yun Shuyao. As soon as Lin Ruhai took out the book, Aunt Mei’s face turned uncontrollably gloomy, and she quickly fell into a deep sleep. Often, when Lin Ruhai had just read the beginning,

Lin Ruhai: “…”

Even though both of his aunts had little interest in what he was reading, he remained the same as before.
In his opinion, it was precisely because the child’s mother was not interested that he had to read it more in front of the child to attract their interest.

If he is unable to get away, he will let other people take over. It is equivalent to saying that he is a full-time teacher, when he is busy, the class will be taught by a substitute teacher. In short, students will not be allowed to study on their own.
In response, Yun Shuyao: “…”

Does this count as shooting oneself in the foot?

But on second thought, the relationship between father and son needs to be cultivated. Lin Ruhai has devoted so much time to the relationship, and no matter whether the child is a boy or a girl, the more time he spends, the more affection he pours into it. And in this feudal era, the affection of the head of the family is a good thing, no matter how you look at it.

Therefore, even if she felt sleepy after listening, she would try to do something else to keep herself awake and increase Lin Ruhai’s sense of accomplishment.
For example, if she practices while listening to a book, she will enter the practice state more quickly because she finds the content of the book boring, and everyone will be happy.