Shangguan's daughter

Xiao Chang'an smiled sarcastically and said, "So you grew up under the thumb of a group of stepmothers and concubines, living at their mercy. While your brothers and sisters all have their mothers to support them, you are all alone."

His smile at this moment, though sarcastic, did not seem to be mocking Shangguan Yuqi, but rather seemed to be mocking the common practice of official families that they were familiar with.

Shangguan Yuqi had regained some of her previous composure and said, "Not bad."

Ah Qiu couldn't help but say, "Back then, did anyone make things difficult for you? You had no mother, and your biological father did his best to ignore you. Wasn't it like a huge family with plenty of gold and jade, but you were practically an orphan?"

Shangguan Yuqi gradually came to her senses and said nonchalantly, "No one deliberately makes things difficult for me, because I have no value to be made difficult by anyone. It's just that most of the time they treat me like air, and everyone tries their best not to mention me."

A-Qiu realized that the Shangguan family was still considered kind and benevolent; no one would deliberately target an orphan girl with no background—it was just a matter of adding another pair of chopsticks. However, no one would care for or look after her; instead, they would all try to minimize her presence. Because her very existence would serve as a reminder of the Shangguan family's lack of virtue.

A Qiu somewhat understood why Shangguan Yuqi, despite being the head of the Shangguan family and bearing the title of the most prestigious lady in the Southern Dynasty, wasn't as flamboyant and unrestrained as Pei Yu, but instead always possessed a sense of aloofness and detachment. She had initially thought it was Shangguan Yuqi's innate temperament, but now it seemed that her upbringing also played a role.

Xiao Chang'an asked, "Then what opportunity made you stand out from your peers and become the young lady that the Shangguan family all treat with respect?"

Shangguan Yuqi's eyes suddenly lit up, and she said softly, "That's naturally because of, Aunt."

The day that changed her life was also snowing heavily under the gray sky, but it was the first snowfall she could remember.

All because the heavy snow that sealed the door when her mother died never existed in her memory when she was still an infant.

She and dozens of boys and girls of her generation were woken up early in the morning and lined up at the entrance of the ancestral hall, waiting to be summoned by the current head of the family.

On this day, Shangguan Yuqi was six years old, and it was the day she would join the others to attend the clan school.

Although the Shangguan family had a clan school, not all children attended it. The reason was that if a child was truly favored by their stepmother or biological father, the family would employ a renowned tutor year-round, who could be consulted at any time. At the very least, in the cold winter, they wouldn't have to get up early in the morning and walk two or three miles through the snow to attend the clan school.

Therefore, the children who started school together on the winter solstice were either children born to collateral branches or widowed or widowed children from impoverished families.

Shangguan Yuqi was the only one from her family to come here. This was because her other sisters already had female tutors they had invited. Even if they didn't, their own mothers were mostly multi-talented, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and more than capable of teaching their daughters themselves, so there was no need for the children to come here early in the morning to wait for instruction.

Although powerful and wealthy members of the clan do not care about the clan school, the clan school of the Shangguan family has always been valued by the clan head and the family patriarch, and they will not neglect it in the slightest.

The reason is that past family history has shown that the descendants who later became capable and responsible for the rise and fall of the family and the country often did not come from the eldest branch of the main line or powerful families, but rather from the clan school.

The current clan leader, Shangguan Jin, the Grand Secretary, is the best proof of this. If he hadn't come from a humble background, he wouldn't have gone to the forbidden area of ​​the tomb keepers to cultivate after graduating from the clan school. Tell me, which young master, with his luxurious clothes, fine horses, beautiful maids, and charming concubines, would be willing to do such arduous work?

Therefore, on the day when the children of the clan begin their education each year on the winter solstice, the current head of the Shangguan family must personally go to the ancestral hall to give them instructions.

That was also the first time Yuqi met Yanxiu.

Yuqi was the last in her line. Although she was tall and upright, she shivered from the cold. Of everyone, she was dressed the thinnestly, wearing only an old blue cotton coat that she had made last year. The small bundle she carried was also something she had packed herself the day before, and it paled in comparison to the large and small bags and trunks of her peers.

Even those from poor families who go to school today know they need to show their faces before their masters, and their mothers or grandmothers sew them new clothes. Not to mention the one or two children who are slightly better off, who even have fox fur cloaks.

In truth, these things don't cost much. The Shangguan family is still a prominent clan in the capital, and they certainly have the money to make clothes for their sons and daughters-in-law. The difference lies only in whether anyone is willing to put in the effort. Because Yuqi has no birth mother, these trivial matters are only superficially taken care of by her stepmother; in reality, the servants do them half-heartedly. If there is no one to supervise them, the servants will try to avoid it whenever possible. They will do as little needlework as possible, and as long as there are clothes to wear, no one will think of making new ones for her.

When she was pushed in front of Yanxiu, she was covered in dust and looked like a frozen quail.

The person in front of me was as serene as water, with long, raven-feather-like eyelashes casting shadows on her flawless cheeks. Her delicate fingers were holding a list, looking at each name one by one.

"Yu Qi?" A pleasant voice, unlike any I'd ever heard before, tried to call out her name.

In fact, Yuqi had met Yanxiu before, but when she was younger, she was usually held in the arms of the nanny, or she would see her from afar, in a corner of a family banquet, looking at the elegant and noble young lady on the chairman's table, as if surrounded by stars, calmly accepting everyone's admiration and attention.

Back then, the wet nurse would whisper in her ear, "That's the eldest aunt." The eldest aunt was the most powerful and respected woman in the family. Although she heard it, it was still a blur for the young girl.

But now, it is her first formal meeting with this young lady, Yanxiu, the current head of the family.

She raised her eyes and saw a fleeting glint of amazement in Yanxiu's eyes, but she herself was even more amazed than Yanxiu. She had never imagined that there could be such a beautiful and gentle woman in the world, especially since this woman was her aunt.

For the first time in her life, she felt a shock and a flutter in her heart amidst her indifference. She suddenly felt that being born into the Shangguan family and possessing this bloodline was not entirely a bad thing, because no matter what, she and the beautiful woman in front of her shared the same lineage and blood ties.

Of course, at that time, she would never have imagined that she would become the next Miss Shangguan, the next head of the Shangguan family after Yanxiu.

Yanxiu scrutinized her intently, examining her from head to toe, her gaze filled with both surprise and wistfulness. Yet, she felt as if Yanxiu's eyes had known her for a very, very long time.

Yanxiu asked again, "Yuqi, who gave you that name?"

She answered honestly, "It's my mother. What she meant by 'yuqi' is to hope, to expect, to wait for someone. She also hopes that my future is promising."

This was the name her stepmother gave her after she was taken home. Her stepmother was a woman with some education in literature, and everyone in the family knew about her birth mother's past, though no one mentioned it in front of her. If her birth mother were still alive, her stepmother would probably have made a huge scene, but since the person was gone, and the dead were respected, leaving only the child to suffer, her stepmother could only sigh and, after some thought, gave her this name, which showed her care.

Her biological father never inquired about her from beginning to end.

After a moment's thought, Yanxiu said, "Bring me a brush." ​​The maidservant beside her quickly presented a purple brush dipped in ink, and at the opportune moment breathed on it to keep the ink from solidifying before handing it to Yanxiu.

Yanxiu crossed out the two characters "Yu Qi" on the list and wrote two more characters on top of them. She then pointed to Yuqi and asked, "Do you recognize these two characters?"

What first shocked Yuqi was the beauty of the handwriting and the ethereal elegance of the style.

She had often seen her aunt teaching her younger siblings to write at home. All the women in the Shangguan family who could write were quite beautiful and neat.

But she had never seen anyone who could capture the spirit of the wind with just a few strokes, like Yanxiu.

She was stunned for a moment and forgot to reply.

Those around her exchanged bewildered glances, and some even tried to pull her down, feeling that she was disrespectful, disrespectful to her elders, and unable to answer questions.

Only Yanxiu patiently gestured for others not to disturb the two little girls in front of her, whose eyes were shining and whose spirits seemed to have entered another world.

A moment later, Yuqi came to her senses, feeling as if she had returned to the ancestral hall and was once again facing the coldness and warmth of human relationships.

Yanxiu asked her kindly, "What did you just see?"

Yuqi's eyes lit up again, and she exclaimed in amazement, "Beautiful jade! I see a crystal-clear jade that shines with a precious light."

Yanxiu's expression changed slightly, but she said nonchalantly, "That's right. All the legitimate daughters of the Shangguan family are named with the character 'Yu' in their names. From now on, you will be called by this name."

Yuqi tried to pronounce the two words Yanxiu had written on it: "Yuqi?"

Yanxiu finally smiled and said solemnly, "That's right. You are probably the most insightful girl in the history of the Shangguan family, able to read the meaning of words directly from their shapes. Your aunt doesn't want you to spend your life hoping for or waiting for anyone. Daughters of the Shangguan family are born as exquisite jade, and do not need to expect anyone to appear."

A-Qiu couldn't help but say, "So your name, Yuqi, was personally bestowed upon you by Empress Xining."

Shangguan Yuqi's eyes revealed a silent sorrow as she replied, "Before I was six years old, my name was Yuqi. At that time, I had no idea that this name was given by my stepmother on behalf of my birth mother to commemorate the love that ended without a trace and was entrusted with life. On the day I turned six, my aunt gave me a new name, and my brand new life began from there."

Xiao Chang'an interrupted, saying, "Empress Xining was quite discerning, picking you out from so many people at a glance to be her successor. You can understand the meaning of a text immediately, and you can also interpret the meaning of characters you have never seen before. Moreover, even in your early childhood when you had never learned to write, you could recognize Empress Wen's amazing calligraphy skills purely by intuition. You have first-class temperament and talent, and you can be considered Empress Wen's confidant."

Shangguan Yuqi smiled wryly, "I used to think so too, believing it was because of my exceptional talent that my aunt favored me and nurtured me. But I later learned that the time she encouraged the children in front of the ancestral hall wasn't our first meeting. The real reason my aunt chose me and kept me by her side to teach me so carefully..."

Her expression turned slightly melancholy, but A Qiu interrupted her, saying, "It's because your birth mother entrusted her with this responsibility."

Shangguan Yuqi said heavily, "Yes. Later I learned that my aunt had never forgotten the poor woman who died in front of her, and the way she entrusted me to her. It was because my aunt took me that my birth mother was finally at ease... to die. Although she and my birth mother only met once in their lives, that one meeting was a testament to their life-and-death bond."

She continued, “When I was in my biological father’s house, my aunt couldn’t overstep her bounds. But after I entered the clan school, my aunt made me go to her side after school. After that, she devoted herself to teaching me. As a result of my aunt’s favor, my status in the family rose steadily, and I gradually became outstanding and surpassed others.”