Lin Yuqiao didn't want to go back after leaving her mother's place. Taking advantage of the fresh morning air, she started her usual recreational activities, going to the garden she frequented at the mansion to catch koi.
In reality, there were very few things children could play with in the mansion. Especially for the young masters and ladies of feudal noble families in ancient times, there were many restrictions and rules. They could play, but they had to be elegant and follow the rules. They certainly couldn't climb trees or play in the mud like children in the countryside.
Walking from the main courtyard, through the various exquisite winding paths and corridors of the mansion, Lin Yuqiao went from being amazed at her first visit, "It's even bigger and more beautiful than the gardens in Suzhou," to feeling proud and smug, "This is actually my home, I live here!" She couldn't wait to take a selfie and post it online on Weibo and WeChat Moments. It didn't take long before she finally became indifferent to it all.
There's no other reason than that even the best scenery becomes unremarkable after seeing it every day, and even the largest garden becomes unexciting after frequent visits.
The Chen Lianghou Mansion is a very elegant and grand large house, with an irregular triangular layout. At the very back is the Cixin Hall of the old lady, Madam Zhang, a five-room main building facing south.
In ancient times, filial piety was highly valued, and the best courtyard in a house was always where the parents lived. The courtyard of Cixin Hall was magnificent with its carved beams and painted rafters. The side corridors connected the rooms, and birds such as parrots and thrushes hung in the air. Two pure white lion dogs were kept in front of the corridor. Young maids bathed and fed them and took care of them, providing entertainment for the old lady in her spare time.
There are three hanging flower gates in front of Cixin Hall. After passing through the covered corridors on both sides, there is a passageway in the middle, which is divided into two gardens for enjoying the scenery on the left and right. The West Garden is smaller and located in the north of the mansion. It is a bit out of the way and not many people go there usually. Lin Yuqiao likes to play there the most.
The other East Garden is quite large. In front of Cixin Hall, there is a garden specifically for flower viewing, where flowers bloom all year round. After passing through a greenhouse, there is a plum garden, a bamboo grove, and a large lake filled with lotus flowers. In the summer, when the lotus flowers are in bloom, the mansion will host banquets for guests in the evenings.
Further ahead, the area is divided into north and south sections, connected by a small arched gate in the middle, leading to several courtyards with two entrances on each side. These courtyards are separated by flower corridors, trees, and rocks. Lin Yuqiao and her two sisters from the second wife, Lin Yuxuan and Lin Yumei, each lived in one of these courtyards.
If you continue forward past the north-facing side gate, through the passageway and the three-tiered ceremonial gate separated by a large screen, you will reach the main courtyard, Huifang Courtyard, where Lady Chen Lianghou resides. The three-section main building is grand and imposing, with several side rooms on the east and west sides interspersed with flower-covered corridors.
Slightly behind on the same horizontal line, there is a smaller courtyard, which is Yongnian Hall, where the second master and his wife of the Marquis lived. Because Li Shi and her second aunt did not get along well, the two families naturally did not visit each other. Therefore, Lin Yuqiao had never been to Yongnian Hall before.
Further ahead is Chen Lianghou's study, which connects to the front courtyard. Behind two arched gates with floral patterns are the courtyards where Lin Yuqiao's brothers live. The largest of the courtyards is Tongxin Courtyard, where the heir Lin Yuqi lives. It is a two-courtyard complex with a main house connected to a covered walkway. The architectural style is small and exquisite, and evergreen flowers and trees are carefully planted throughout the courtyard.
There were also parrots under the veranda in the main courtyard, all dark green with black gold trim on their tails. It is said that these parrots are extremely difficult to breed, and they are very clever and can learn to say many words. They are quite rare on the market, and the Marquis's mansion only acquired them this year. Only Lin Yuqi's family and the old lady's family have them in the mansion.
Because of this parrot, Lin Yuqiao would often wander across half of the Marquis's mansion to tease it. Anyway, Lin Yuqi, as the youngest legitimate daughter of the mansion, was usually quite pampered and had a good relationship with her older brother Lin Yuqi. Whenever Lin Yuqi returned from the academy for holidays, Lin Yuqiao would often wander into Tongxin Courtyard to play with him.
Therefore, when Lin Yuqiao went to Lin Yuqi's courtyard to tease and harass the parrot, the maids and servants who served her did not stop her, and her mother, Li, did not react much when she found out.
Although Lin Yuqi was rarely home, the good things that were rightfully hers, like the one-of-a-kind gift for Yingge'er, continued to be sent to him. Some of these were from Marquis Chen Liang and his wife, but most were from Lady Li, the Marquis's wife.
In particular, Li Shi has been generous to Lin Yuqi for more than ten years. Whenever she has something good, she gives it to Lin Yuqi first. Lin Yuqi is also aware of her feelings. In this life, Lin Yuqi and Li Shi are still quite close.
After walking around through various winding corridors, Lin Yuqiao was drenched in sweat by the time she reached the garden. For a four-year-old with short arms and legs, walking such a long distance every day without being carried is quite an amount of exercise.
When Granny Fang, who was following behind Lin Yuqiao, saw that she was sweating, she quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her dry. Her head maids, Chifeng and Lüxia, had also prepared some snacks in case she got hungry.
Lin Yuqiao listlessly poked at a pond of koi fish beside the artificial hill, watching the plump, chubby koi scatter in fright. This had become one of her regular games. The pond in the West Garden where she often played wasn't large, containing only one koi fish. It was deliberately made very shallow, and surrounded by a fence made of white marble. On the other side of the fence were seats for resting and enjoying the view.
Actually, she preferred the large lake in the East Garden and had always wanted to go boating on it. However, Fang Mama and Chen Shi, the wet nurses who usually served Lin Yuqiao, were afraid that she might have an accident if she went near the water, so they forbade her to go to the lake. If she really wanted to go, they could only carry her around a few times from a distance, which was not fun at all.
She can only come here to catch koi and play in the water. She's even gotten so bored that she's started naming each koi.
"Little Fatty, you've eaten so much you can't run anymore, can you?"
Lin Yuqiao was holding onto a fish that hadn't managed to run far away, talking to herself, when the fat fish forcefully shook its tail and broke free.
He pulled over another fish with several scales missing from its side and continued asking and answering his own questions.
"Little pig, you've been bullied, haven't you?"
"Someone must be trying to steal your wife. If you don't give in, you'll get beaten up."
Hearing Lin Yuqiao's childlike words, Granny Fang, who had been standing behind her with her back bent over, couldn't help but chuckle.
Originally, they were going to continue this boring game, but Green Clouds had sharp eyes and saw that the group of people coming from afar looked like the Second Miss Lin Yumei, so she quickly reminded Lin Yuqiao.
Turning back to stop teasing the fish, Lin Yuqiao sat on a seat in the veranda, waiting for Lin Yumei to come from afar.
She and Lin Yumei usually had a very ordinary relationship. Because they were close in birth order, she would sit next to Lin Yumei every morning when she went to Zhang's house to pay her respects and have breakfast. So they would often exchange a few words to avoid the awkwardness of sitting together in silence.
But as a six-year-old child, Lin Yumei didn't have any other hobbies except showing off.
Today my dad gave me a ruby bracelet, tomorrow my mom is taking me to my maternal grandparents' house and my maternal grandparents are giving me several bolts of fabric to make clothes, and so on and so forth—she has to brag about every little thing. If you don't respond or pay attention to her, she'll keep talking, from jewelry to food and drinks to newly learned poems, as if she can't stand seeing others being envious.
Because Lin Yumei is the same age as Lin Yutian, but older than Lin Yuqiao, she has learned more. Lin Yumei always boasts about the poems she can recite and insists on reciting them to her whenever she sees her. Lin Yuqiao gets a headache whenever she sees her, but she can't show her displeasure.
Lin Yuqiao is currently living in the Great Qin Dynasty, where etiquette is quite strict, with many rules that must be followed from top to bottom. For example, juniors must greet their elders, and must bow when they see their elders. Younger brothers cannot disobey their older brothers, and older brothers cannot argue with their younger brothers. In all matters, brothers and sisters must be friendly and respectful to each other.
In particular, if you don't do those daily etiquettes well or properly, it will not conform to moral norms. If you are found to have made a mistake, you will have to accept public pressure or be scolded by your elders.
So when Lin Yuqiao saw Lin Yumei walking over, she quickly jumped off her seat, bowed her head, and called out "Second Sister".
Lin Yumei nodded reservedly, returned the greeting, and also called out, "Third Sister."
Watching those tiny little kids pretentiously act like older sisters in front of her was just like Lin Yutian scolding her for being too naughty—it all felt so incongruous. Their mental age was what it was, and Lin Yuqiao found it amusing every time she saw them like that.
"Sister, who is this?"
Lin Yuqiao noticed a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old standing next to Lin Yumei. The girl wore a worn silver-red floral jacket and a long blue silk skirt. She had an oval face, bright almond-shaped eyes, and a slender, graceful figure, exuding a natural charm. Her hair was styled in double buns, adorned only with a single white jade hairpin. Her attire was simple, even considered rather shabby for a noble household.
Judging from their attire, they shouldn't be maids. Maids in the manor have standardized clothing. They seem to be relatives, and they're quite humble and ingratiating towards Lin Yumei. Lin Yuqiao secretly guessed that they were probably relatives from her second aunt He Qingfang's family, the kind who came to freeload.
“This is my mother’s cousin from her mother-in-law’s side. My third sister can just call her cousin ‘aunt’ like I do.”
Lin Yumei pulled the girl who was her aunt to stand in front of Lin Yuqiao, waiting for her to greet her aunt.
Lin Yuqiao, who was once again lamenting in her heart about how many formalities this dynasty had, still obediently bowed and called her "Auntie".
Although Lin Yumei asked Lin Yuqiao to pay her respects to her aunt, it wasn't necessarily out of respect. Based on Lin Yuqiao's understanding of her, she probably just wanted to show off her relative.
Sure enough, Lin Yumei then ignored this so-called aunt and pulled Lin Yuqiao to sit down, starting to talk non-stop. She talked about how she had just learned that she had a aunt, how she had recited a poem yesterday and then recited it to Lin Yuqiao, how she had written two large characters yesterday and how her father had praised her for writing well, how her sister had made her a sachet, and how her sister had said she would make her a dress.
After Lin Yumei finished recounting all the exciting things that had happened, Lin Yuqiao quickly added, "Sister, you're really amazing! I'm not even close to that level yet." Only after receiving this response did Lin Yumei feel relieved; it wasn't a waste of her time bringing her cousin all the way to talk to Lin Yuqiao.
After finally seeing Lin Yumei off, who had finished showing off her relatives and new experiences, Lin Yuqiao could finally go back to have lunch.
Another morning has passed, and she needs to go back and learn something in the afternoon, like memorizing books and practicing calligraphy. Since Lin Yumei, also a sister in the household, can recite so many poems, she can't be too far behind.
After having lunch at Li's place, Lin Yuqiao rolled around on the couch, wanting to stay at her mother's place for a nap and refusing to go back to her own courtyard.
Li tapped her nose helplessly, "She's a grown girl now, and she still acts like this, being spoiled and unreasonable. It seems we need to discipline her properly."
Although she said she would discipline her daughter properly, Madam Li didn't seem to really want to. She was quite pleased with her daughter's coquettishness. She helped Lin Yuqiao remove the jade pendant from her hair and let her lie down on the couch to sleep. Madam Li stroked her belly and coaxed Lin Yuqiao to tell her what she had done that morning before going to sleep.
When Li heard Lin Yuqiao say that Lin Yumei had brought out an unfamiliar cousin, her heart skipped a beat. At such a sensitive time, with Zhang already ill from anger, how could He Qingfang possibly be in the mood to greet her cousin?
After Lin Yuqiao fell asleep, Madam Li called over Granny Fang, who had accompanied Lin Yuqiao on her stroll in the garden, and questioned her in detail, becoming increasingly certain of her guess.
He Qingfang probably can't withstand the pressure anymore. Come to think of it, she's been on hiatus for several years, and she even hurt her body when she was pregnant with Lin Yumei. Plus, she's getting older, so she probably can't have any more children.
She dismissed the people Zhang had given her. After the previous incident, she had clashed with Zhang and the second master, and now she was truly stuck. Letting her own cousin become a concubine in the second house was a reasonable explanation.
Moreover, from what Granny Fang observed, that the cousin was dressed shabbily and probably wasn't a close relative. Why would He Qingfang be so kind as to entertain such a poor and shabby relative? There must be a reason why she went to the trouble of finding such a distant cousin.
Based on Li's understanding of He Qingfang, having been sisters-in-law for two lifetimes, she didn't believe He Qingfang was generous enough to help her cousin become a concubine and live a comfortable life. Li also knew the reason why He Qingfang had previously made a scene to drive away the people Zhang had given her.
It's simply because the person Zhang bestowed upon her was a senior maid who had served her for several years. Besides being obedient and beautiful, she was also a servant born into the household, needed by her parents, and had considerable influence within the family. If she really gave birth to the child, what He Qingfang might do to cover it up?
Even if her cousin were on her side and easier to control in the future, He Qingfang wasn't the kind of person to raise someone else's child. Even if she adopted her aunt's son, she wouldn't be happy to see the child's birth mother constantly in her sight.
The timing of He Qingfang's appearance is quite intriguing. Li has a premonition that things will get interesting in the second branch of the family.
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