"You can save people from drowning, it's amazing"
"Are you a doctor?"
"No. It's just basic medical knowledge that modern people need. Even if I tell you, you won't understand. Stay away from me."
Ji Nianqin supported her mother and let her touch her face.
"You're finally back, my girl. I've had a hard time finding you."
"So, you make a living by doing other people's laundry? But what's wrong with your eyes?"
"Mom couldn't find you and cried all day, and that's how it became. It's okay, Mom can still see the red clothes you're wearing. My daughter has grown up and become beautiful."
Ji Nianqin looked at her clothes, which were clearly yellow.
"Mom, you lied to me. You can't see at all, right? I'm going to find a doctor right now."
“Don’t go!”
Ji Nianqin's mother grabbed her wrist, as if she didn't want her to leave her again.
"Mom, I won't leave you again, I promise."
"How are your studies going? I heard from Cao Hanhui that you've become a palace maid and have even been noticed by the Crown Prince, who wants to make you the Crown Princess."
"Mom, you said she often comes to see you?"
"Yes, she also bought me a lot of food, clothes and daily necessities. I heard that her brother passed the martial arts exam and became the top scorer. Her family is well off now and she is very kind to the people in the village."
"Mom, why do you praise others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige? I'm not bad either. Why don't you say that I was the one who passed the exam?"
"Silly child, that's the worst punishment, shut up! It will bring disaster upon you."
"Why, you won't let me tell the truth? I'm just being daring and taking responsibility. Why can men take the martial arts exam, but girls can't? Even if they pass, they can't say they're not as good as me."
"Okay, okay, girl, since you're back, just sit here and let me make you your favorite steamed bun."
"Mom, how can you cook if you can't even see?"
"Mom still has hands, you can touch me. As long as I know you're back, I'll be happy. I thought I was too strict with you before, and you didn't come back to see me because you were an official in the palace."
"No, don't listen to Cao Hanhui's nonsense. Now she tells lies all the time. I don't want to talk to her, but she has my hairpin."
"Mom used to think Cao Hanhui didn't like studying and wouldn't let you play with her family, but things are different now. She's high up in society, and her brother became a consort, a source of honor for the entire family."
"I really don't understand. In modern times, if a man marries a rich girl, he'd be a gigolo. Anyway, when I go to see the doctor, I'll go see Cao Hanhui. She can't deny that she took my hairpin, right? With it, I can go back again. If it weren't for my mother, I really don't want to stay here for a minute."
"Nonsense! They have a lot of gold and silver jewelry every year. Why would they take a broken hairpin from you?"
"Hey, mother, why do you always lack confidence in me? Then why do you insist on making me study? You always told me to study. Is it really like what Cao Hanhui said? You want me to understand things and get married early so that you can have money to give birth to a brother for you?"
"Mother wants to temper your temper. We are all ordinary people. How many of us are like Cao Hanhui's family, who have risen to prominence like a phoenix? I heard that many princes from other countries have come to propose marriage to her. It seems that she will have no trouble finding a husband."
"Mom, you just look down on me. Don't you believe I can give you a good life?"
"Mom can no longer see. Her good days are over."
"No, I'm not. Wait until I find Cao Hanhui and get the hairpin back. I want to live with mother until the era when women can be masters of their own families. I'll let you see with your own eyes how I rose to prominence with the help of hairpins. I'm your daughter, no worse than any man. Even the crown prince listens to me. I must cure mother's illness...Cao Hanhui?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
