A howling north wind swept through the hall. The tall woman carrying the medicine bowl shrugged her shoulders, lowered her head slightly, and quickened her pace toward the main room.
Upon arriving at the door, before the curtain could even be lifted, a maidservant in a green dress with her hair styled in double buns came out to greet us.
"Oh, it's Aunt Xue! How could we trouble you to make another trip? We can handle getting the medicine. Please come in, Madam is waiting for you."
The maid in green was named Shiru, and she was Jin's trusted head maid. She took the medicine bowl from Aunt Xue's hand with one hand and lifted the curtain with the other to let her into the room.
Upon entering, Aunt Xue saw Madam Jin sitting on the couch by the window and quickly went over to pay her respects. However, Madam Jin pulled her up halfway down.
"You're so polite, girl. Get up. I've already told you that from now on I'll only treat you as my own sister."
"Madam is so generous and treats me well, but I must not be ignorant of etiquette."
Somewhat flustered, Aunt Xue declined Jin's offer, but insisted on performing the proper etiquette meticulously. After finishing the ceremony, she didn't rest, taking over the work from the maid beside her and continuing to massage Jin's legs.
She was originally a maidservant of the Jin family, named Shixue, and had served the Jin family since she was a child.
Because the Crown Prince Lin Yuqi favored his concubine Caihe, in order to suppress Caihe, Jin Shi also had her dowry maid Mo Ye's face shaved.
However, Shi Mo was dull and never won Lin Yuqi's favor. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, the Jin family had no choice but to promote Shi Xue, the most beautiful woman. Shi Xue was both beautiful and knew how to behave, which pleased Lin Yuqi.
Seeing that Shi Xue was kneeling respectfully at her feet to serve her without any arrogant behavior, Madam Jin was satisfied and her tone became more intimate.
"Good girl, what would I do without you?"
Jin took the cooled medicine from Shi Ru and drank it all in one gulp, the bitterness seemingly seeping directly into her heart.
In her quest for a child, she had been taking medicine for a long time. Jin was already insecure because of her childlessness, and the fact that her sister-in-law, He, became pregnant just two months after marrying into the family added immense pressure to her.
Originally, the eldest grandson should have been born to her to be rightfully the legitimate heir, but He Shi beat her to it first. Even Lin Yuqi, who was not in a hurry for a legitimate son, was unhappy and started coming to her room more often, hoping to have a legitimate son soon.
But to her dismay, her belly remained flat, and Jin sighed inwardly as she touched her lower abdomen. In her quest for a child, she had tried every possible method, even consulting doctors who said there was nothing wrong with her body, yet she simply couldn't conceive.
Now, after hearing the introduction from the second wife, He Qingfang, she found a supposedly very effective remedy from Granny Ma, but after taking so many doses of medicine, there was still no effect. What frightens Jin the most is that even the old lady, Zhang, is dissatisfied with her. If she doesn't conceive within the next two years, she'll have to give her concubine the contraceptive soup.
She knew about the situation of the second wife, He Qingfang, who was now being bullied by the second wife who had given birth to a son. She never wanted to end up in that situation. The eldest son of the first wife would eventually come from her womb.
If it weren't for the fact that Lin Yucheng married He Shi without informing his family beforehand, which greatly displeased Zhang Shi, the second wife would probably still be imprisoned.
Jin was so angry that she gritted her teeth inwardly whenever she thought about how Li would pretend to care about her pregnancy every time she talked about her grandson, and told her not to worry.
That's because she didn't want her to be anxious. Madam Li wished that their eldest son's family would have no heir to inherit the title, so that her grandson could benefit from it in the future.
Jin now felt that Li's every move was ill-intentioned, and she was always on edge when facing Li.
Although Lin Yucheng was transferred to Xinye in Yizhou as a sub-prefect, and He Shi followed him after giving birth, he was still young and would eventually return.
Lin Yucheng's achievement of becoming a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination already posed a significant threat to their main branch of the family. Furthermore, his marriage to a woman from a prominent family made his ambition blatantly obvious. Although Marquis Chenliang currently has no intention of replacing the heir, who can guarantee that Lin Yucheng and Lady Li won't resort to any despicable means in the future?
Madam Jin was very worried about the future of their eldest son's family, and also somewhat resented her husband for being so useless, only knowing how to go out and fool around every day, and making no progress in his official career. If Lin Yuqi had put in more effort and been appreciated by the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace, they wouldn't have to be so wary of Lin Yucheng.
After taking her medicine and resting briefly, Madam Jin had to continue dealing with various miscellaneous matters in the mansion that afternoon.
Managing the entire Marquis's mansion was no easy task; she had many things to worry about every day. To be honest, Jin regretted persuading Zhang to hand over the management power from Li to her so early on.
She was stung by Lin Yuqi's cold indifference when she first entered the household, and her pride led her to believe that whether or not she had a husband's affection was unimportant. As long as she held onto power within the household, Lin Yuqi would always be inseparable from her.
In fact, the power to manage the household would be hers sooner or later, so why rush it? It's just a waste for Li to seize the opportunity to label her as power-hungry and greedy.
If I hadn't been so arrogant from the start, and had instead used gentle and tender methods to win over Lin Yuqi, I might already be pregnant by now, and I wouldn't have to suffer like this.
After reading the letter from her second brother together with Li Shi, Lin Yuqiao leaned against Li Shi's chest and comforted her, saying, "Second brother and sister-in-law are doing well. Who knows, they might give you another grandson next year, so Daoyan can have another younger brother to keep him company."
Missing her eldest son who was far away in Yizhou, Li always felt that he and his wife would suffer a lot in that poor and remote place, without any relatives or friends.
"I don't know when your second brother will be able to come back. I can only feel at ease when our whole family is safe and sound together."
"When your second brother gets promoted and earns you an imperial title, it would be best if he returned in glory."
Because Lin Yucheng agreed to the marriage without consulting Chen Lianghou, and even had the eldest princess go to the palace to request an imperial decree to arrange the marriage, Chen Lianghou never gave Lin Yucheng a good look. In order to teach him a lesson, he used his connections to send Lin Yucheng to Xinye, a poor county, to serve as an official.
Chen Lianghou, the father, made a request under the guise of training his son, leaving even the Prince of Huaiyang, who had already arranged a place for Lin Yucheng, with no way to comply.
Now, only by working hard and achieving results can Lin Yucheng have a chance to leave Xinye. Lin Yuqiao also sympathizes with her second brother.
In recent years, the older brothers have grown up one after another, and the already clear-cut boundaries have become even clearer. The conflict between Lin Yuqiao's half-brother and the heir Lin Yuqi can no longer be concealed.
Chen Lianghou wanted all his brothers to respect and trust Lin Yuqi, their eldest brother, just like they would their second master. However, they were not from the same mother as Lin Yuqi, so not only could Lin Yuqi not trust them, but they also did not want to respect the aloof and superior Lin Yuqi.
Although they are now a family, they are clearly divided into two factions, maintaining only a superficial relationship. Lin Yuqiao's sister-in-law, Jin, has also joined forces with the released second wife, engaging in subtle maneuvers with Li.
Third brother Lin Yufeng has passed the provincial examination and will be getting married at the end of the year.
Lin Yuqiao's future sister-in-law is the daughter of Li's elder brother, and Lin Yuqiao's cousin. As a person from modern times, Lin Yuqiao does not support this marriage that strengthens family ties, but in this era, parental decisions are paramount, and she cannot interfere with the adults' decisions. She can only secretly hope that her future nephews and nieces will be healthy.
In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed since Lin Yuqiao transmigrated to this world. She has grown from a fair-skinned, tender little dumpling into a young girl and has truly entered puberty.
In recent years, in addition to studying, practicing the zither, and learning needlework, Li Shi also hired female tutors for her, and Lin Yuqiao learned skills such as perfumery, singing, and dancing. After she turned eight, Li Shi even hired an older retired palace maid to serve as her caretaker.
The nanny who taught Lin Yuqiao was surnamed Sun. She was probably in her thirties and had her hair neatly styled in a bun. She looked rather stern and often punished Lin Yuqiao when teaching her manners.
But as Lin Yuqiao spent more time with her, she also realized how good Granny Sun was. One taught with great care, and the other learned with great care, and their relationship grew better and better.
Due to long-term dance training and growth, Lin Yuqiao has shed her baby fat and grown taller, becoming not only graceful but also more beautiful.
Lin Yuqiao was extremely satisfied with her appearance in this life; just as she had always imagined, she was a stunning beauty.
Like her second brother Lin Yucheng, Lin Yuqiao inherited the best features from Li Shi and Chen Lianghou: a small, pointed face, bright and clear almond-shaped eyes that looked captivating. Her cheeks were like fresh lychees, her nose like goose fat, and she had a small dimple on her left cheek, making her smile sweet and lively.
With the constant nourishment from Li Shi since childhood, Lin Yuqiao's skin was moist and smooth. After Sun Mama arrived, she taught her many health-preserving recipes. She bathed in milk and flower petals every day, and every inch of her skin was as tender and white as milk tofu.
Although Lin Yuqiao is only ten years old, Li has already started saving up her dowry.
Because Li always selected valuable items for Lin Yuqiao's dowry in the storeroom, it aroused much resentment from Jin and the second wife, He Qingfang.
Jin felt sorry for those things, after all, she felt that the entire Marquis's mansion belonged to their eldest branch, and now the things that Li was preparing for Lin Yuqiao were all trying to undermine them.
However, Li Shi refused, saying, "You only have one younger sister, how could her older brother and sister-in-law not love her?" Jin Shi, being the daughter-in-law, didn't dare to argue with her directly, otherwise Li Shi would really spread the word everywhere, and she didn't want to be labeled as a stingy mistress who mistreated her younger sister.
He Qingfang felt sorry for her daughter, Lin Yumei, who was older than Lin Yuqiao. Because Lin Yuqiao was imprisoned, no one took care of her, and she suffered a lot. Not only did she not have as much food or supplies as Lin Yuqiao, but she was also often cheated by the servants.
Although Madam Zhang also doted on Lin Yumei, she was getting old and didn't have the energy for it. Besides, this granddaughter wasn't particularly outstanding, so she didn't pay much attention to her.
Lin Yumei wasn't born from Li's womb. It was already good enough that Li didn't kick her when she was down because of He Qingfang, so how could she care about Lin Yumei? Jin, as the eldest sister-in-law, was only concerned about saving face.
Therefore, Lin Yumei's current master and the veneration are not as good as Lin Yuqiao's, and Lin Yumei has even fallen behind in many things she should have learned.
After He Qingfang was released, seeing how many good things Li had saved for Lin Yuqiao, she also wanted to pick out the best things for Lin Yuxuan. However, although Jin was allied with He Qingfang, she never really cared about He Qingfang. She was reluctant to part with Lin Yuqiao, let alone her cousin.
He Qingfang and Jin almost had a falling out over a few items. In the end, they each compromised and reunited for their own selfish reasons.
He Qingfang and Li had a long-standing grudge, and because Lin Yumei didn't get much, she blamed Li for it.
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