A Dream Within a Dream (Part Two)
Second life:
In the Dream World, in Qiupu Town, Tan Family Village, at Xu Yuxian's dowry estate, Lin Shi was woken up early. After washing up and dressing, she went to the reception hall to greet the guests. Upon entering, she saw Xu Xinghao, who was already seventeen years old, irritably drinking tea. The servants beside him were all smiles, trying to appease him.
Xu Xinghao's eyes lit up as soon as he saw Lin Shi step into the hall. He quickly put down his teacup, and ignoring the servants' attempts to stop him, he strode up to Lin Shi and reached out to take her hand.
Lin Shi subtly avoided his tugging, only showing a slight respectful smile on her face, gesturing for him to sit down, and said, "Young Master, please sit down first!"
Xu Xinghao felt a little wronged, but he obediently sat back down. After he sat down, he dismissed the servants, leaving only Lin Shi standing next to him.
"Lin Shi, sit down first!" Xu Xinghao saw that Lin Shi was uncomfortable standing, so he quickly asked her to sit down next to him.
As a maid, Lin Shi couldn't keep disobeying Xu Xinghao because of her status, so she obediently sat down next to him and let Xu Xinghao hold her hand and chatter on and on.
The young maid had no choice. A few months later, at the tender age of sixteen, Lin Shi, like a delicate petal carelessly tossed about by the winds of fate, was silently carried through the side gate of the Xu family mansion in a simple sedan chair bearing the weight of her unknown future. The curtain swayed slightly, as if whispering of her inner turmoil and unease. From then on, she returned from the estate to the Xu family mansion, becoming the first concubine among Xu Xinghao's many wives and concubines. Although she was a respectable concubine, not a lowly one to be bought and sold at will, her fate was still undeniably tragic.
During Lin Shi's initial days as a concubine in the Xu family, time seemed to flow by magically, exceptionally gently and beautifully. At that time, Xu Xinghao's principal wife had not yet entered the household, and the inevitable strife among wives and concubines that would arise with the arrival of the young mistress was absent. Lin Shi was like a bird that had briefly broken free of its cage, enjoying a few years of happiness in a relatively relaxed environment. Every day, she meticulously groomed her appearance, making her already beautiful and refined features even more captivating. In her leisure time, she would stroll with Xu Xinghao in the courtyard, watching spring flowers bloom, summer lotuses sway, autumn chrysanthemums defy the frost, and winter plum blossoms brave the snow; they would compose poems and paint under the moonlight, sharing their innermost feelings... Their affection deepened day by day in this constant companionship.
Between the ages of sixteen and twenty, fate seemed to have been kind to Lin Shi. In those three or four years, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for Xu Xinghao. The children's arrival filled their small family with laughter and joy, allowing Lin Shi to experience the happiness and fulfillment of motherhood. She meticulously cared for her two children, watching them learn to walk and talk, her heart filled with sweetness and hope. During that time, she felt as if she were floating on clouds, living a life of blissful bliss with Xu Xinghao. At that moment, she was completely unaware that a storm was about to break.
However, beautiful times are always fleeting, like a flower in full bloom. From the moment Xu Xinghao's principal wife entered the Xu family home in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men, Lin Shi's life underwent a dramatic change. At that time, Xu Xinghao was a vibrant and spirited twenty-one-year-old; Lin Shi had just turned twenty, in the prime of her life. But all this beauty vanished after the scene of wives and concubines vying for power erupted.
Xu Xinghao's legal wife came from a semi-declining noble family. Pampered since childhood, she exuded an innate sense of superiority. The moment she saw Lin Shi, an undisguised disgust flashed in her eyes. In her eyes, Lin Shi's stunning beauty was a threat, as if she could steal her husband's attention at any moment; and Lin Shi's lowly birth as a servant girl made her feel inferior, unworthy to share a husband with her. What she found even more unbearable was that Lin Shi and Xu Xinghao were childhood sweethearts, sharing a deep emotional bond, and that Lin Shi had entered the family early and given birth to an illegitimate son and daughter. All of this, in her eyes, was an unforgivable sin.
Xu Xinghao's legal wife then arranged for him to take two new concubines, who became her tools to deal with her husband's first concubine.
From then on, Lin Shi's life was plunged into endless darkness. As a concubine, she became the target of the principal wife's resentment, and all sorts of covert mistreatment followed. The servants and maids in the mansion were also opportunists; seeing how much the principal wife disliked Lin Shi, they all followed suit and ganged up to bully her. Those who used to treat her with utmost respect now became cold and ruthless, and the slightest mistake would result in their ridicule and beatings.
In the old world, women had a low social status and could only depend on men. Confined to the inner quarters, wives and concubines fought each other for meager resources, often to the point of mutual destruction, all for the sake of gaining the unworthy favor of a husband and thus a slightly better life. It was truly tragic and hateful!
Lin Shi resented her bad fate, born into a lowly position, her life as insignificant as grass. But she couldn't bring herself to feel no resentment towards Xu Xinghao's wife and other concubines. She both resented and pitied Xu Xinghao's wife, but hated her own situation even more, and hated the powerlessness to change her life.
Xu Xinghao knew the grievances Lin Shi had suffered and often gently comforted her, saying, "For my sake, just bear with it a little longer." He also tried his best to compensate her materially, attempting to heal her inner wounds. But in the face of the vast clan system, his power seemed so insignificant, and his actions seemed so hypocritical.
As a lowly concubine, Lin Shi still had to adhere to strict clan rules: every morning before dawn, she had to rush to the main room to pay her respects to the mistress, performing the tedious morning and evening greetings; during meals, she could only stand aside and serve the Xu family master until he finished eating before she could barely manage to eat a few bites of leftovers. Especially when Lin Shi was pregnant with her third child, a period that should have been filled with pampering, she couldn't even guarantee basic sustenance. Long-term malnutrition weakened her body day by day, eventually leading to a miscarriage. At that moment, her heart felt as if it had been torn into countless pieces. She lay in bed, with her husband and two children beside her, but her tears flowed uncontrollably. Her beautiful face seemed to lose its vitality in an instant, leaving her as withered as a tree.
The relentless torment gradually broke Lin Shi's spirit. Countless nights, she lay alone in bed, gazing at the dark ceiling, her heart filled with despair and helplessness. Finally, on a dark and stormy night, when all was quiet and the entire Xu family was asleep, Lin Shi dragged her exhausted body to the roof beam, tied a rough hemp rope to it, and then resolutely stretched her neck through it. With her body suspended in mid-air, her life tragically came to an end.
The moment the mortal Lin Shi's soul left the body, the cultivator Lin Shi briefly regained consciousness. However, before she could recover from this sudden change, she was involuntarily plunged into a new darkness. Her gaze pierced through the mists of time and space, beginning to witness the suffering of the mortal Lin Shi's third life. That was also one of her inner demons…
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