Yuan Shiyi had not had any children for many years since she followed Sun Quan.
This time, it was only with great difficulty that she finally conceived.
Sun Quan's legal wife, Xu Jiao, stepped forward, laughing as she pulled Qiao Jingjing's three children, Da Xiong, Xiao Xiong, and A Shao, into her room, saying:
“My sister is finally pregnant, so take good care of yourself! I'll take care of your children, so you can relax.”
Xu Jiao married Sun Quan and became his principal wife. She also raised Sun Quan's eldest son, Sun Deng.
This time, Xu Jiao's room was quite lively.
Sun Quan's eldest son, Sun Deng, Sun Ce's son, Sun Shao, and Sun Ce's two daughters, Da Xiong and Xiao Xiong.
So many children, too young to understand anything.
Xu Jiao was originally pampered and spoiled. She had never given birth to a child herself. Sun Quan merely entrusted Sun Deng to her care in order to elevate her status.
Xu Jiao had never seen a room full of children, big and small, jumping and making a ruckus.
Besides, Big Bear, Little Bear, and Ashao are raised by Qiao Jingjing to be lively and well-behaved with Qiao Jingjing around. When their mother is finally away from home, won't the kids jump up and down and play wildly?
Xu Jiao is completely uncontrollable.
In the first few days, the children would bump their heads and get big bumps, twist their ankles, or fall from trees into the shallow pond, getting covered in mud.
Such days left Xu Jiao completely overwhelmed.
Xu Jiao felt that she was having an even harder time than Zhou Yu at the confluence of the three rivers.
Xu Jiao couldn't keep up the act any longer and finally lost her temper, cursing them all as wild children: "If you didn't know better, you'd think you were from a poor family, or that you were born without mothers!"
This is a curse.
It can be large or small.
Xu Jiao has authority and the right to discipline her adopted son, Sun Deng, so it doesn't matter if she scolds him a few more times.
Her status was a barrier, and no one dared to speak out.
However, Xu Jiao also insulted the three children of the late Marquis of Wu, Sun Ce.
These three poor children lost their father, and now their mother, with great righteousness, has gone to fight Cao Cao at the confluence of the three rivers.
How can you insult someone else's child like that?
Obviously not!
Xu Jiao is destined not to be a very intelligent person.
Her rise to prominence was due to her being the granddaughter of Xu Zhen and the daughter of Xu Kun, because her grandmother was Sun Ce's aunt, and because of her illustrious family background.
And the importance of her maternal family, the Xu family, in Sun Quan's army.
What Xu Jiao didn't understand was that her father, Xu Kun, had recently died from injuries sustained during years of fighting.
With the Battle of Red Cliffs imminent, Xu Kun passed away before he could make any significant contributions to Eastern Wu.
As Sun Quan's principal wife, Xu Jiao managed all the affairs, big and small, in Sun Quan's inner court.
She didn't learn her sister-in-law Qiao Jingjing's skills, nor did she learn how to navigate a large family with ease, or how to endure hardship with such resilience.
Xu Jiao can't even keep her emotions completely hidden.
Xu Jiao wanted to take over the care of her sister-in-law's three children, but she didn't have the ability to do so and couldn't take good care of them. She would scold and reprimand her sister-in-law's three children every day.
The most serious day was that day.
Xu Jiao actually punished the three children by not letting them eat because they woke up late.
The three children expressed a slight protest.
Xu Jiao went even further, forbidding the three children from eating lunch or dinner, leaving them hungry for a whole day.
Since birth, Big Bear and Little Bear have been pampered darlings in Sun Ce and Qiao Jingjing's arms, and have never received such treatment before.
Since living with their mother, Qiao Jingjing, the older brother, Sun Shao, has received an excellent upbringing and enjoys abundant material comforts. He hasn't experienced such hardship in a long time.
Sun Shao couldn't bear to see his sisters go hungry, so he mustered up his courage and went to the small kitchen to steal food for them.
But then his second aunt, Xu Jiao, caught him red-handed again.
Xu Jiao even brought out the family rules and made Sun Shao kneel as punishment in the ancestral hall behind the Wenyuan Pavilion.
Such a strict set of laws.
Everyone in the inner quarters was shocked.
At that time, the battle at Sanjiangkou was fierce, and there was a rumor that the two ladies, Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, went to Cao Cao's camp to negotiate and have fun.
Nobody knows how it will end.
We don't know how long the war will last.
The children suffered injustice, and Xu Jiao acted arrogantly and domineeringly.
No one dared to object.
Then there's Madam Wu, who is getting old and worries about her daughter Sun Shangxiang, her eldest daughter-in-law Qiao Jingjing, and her second son Sun Quan. These matters concerning her grandchildren haven't yet reached her ears.
It was Madam Yuan who stepped in and saved the day.
Yuan Shiyi had always been on good terms with her sister-in-law, Qiao Jingjing.
Xu Jiao had always suppressed Yuan Shiyi, jealous of her favor with Sun Quan. Yuan Shiyi, knowing her family had long since fallen from grace, dared not be arrogant or indulgent despite being favored by Sun Quan and having never borne him a child.
Yuan Shiyi could be described as always keeping a low profile.
When Xu Jiao took Da Qiao's three children to her side, Yuan Shiyi did not confront Xu Jiao directly.
But in just a few days, Xu Jiao had already starved Sun Shao and Da Xiong and Xiao Xiong for a whole day, not letting them eat.
They even dared to force the only son of the deceased Marquis of Wu, Sun Ce, to kneel in front of the Sun family ancestral hall.
Such severe family discipline would not have been easily applied by Sun Quan if he were disciplining his nephew's daughter.
That would have been a series of errors to make such a decision.
Yuan Shiyi told her servants not to make a scene: "Don't mention it to the Grand Madam!"
Yuan Shiyi went to reason with Xu Jiao herself.
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