"Yes, Grandmother, I will come to pay my respects to you again tomorrow."
My fifth brother, Shouge, was my father's fifth son, born in the fifth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. He was my mother's fourth son, and was not even seven months old at birth. My mother was prematurely born because she was knocked down the steps by my father's concubine, Liu.
This Liu had given birth to her father's third daughter, who died before reaching one month old. She felt that her mother had killed her daughter and that the child would not have died if she had been raised by her. She wondered why only the wife's children could be raised by her side, while the other illegitimate children were taken away after the baby's third-day celebration.
The concubine's daughters were all raised in the inner courtyard, while the concubine's sons were raised in the front courtyard. Later, instigated by her eldest sister, her resentment deepened, and she did something irreversible. It was later discovered that her third aunt was also involved in this matter. Her third aunt's original intention was to stir up discord in her father's inner quarters, but she did not expect that Liu was so bold.
All the servants involved in this incident were ordered by the father to be beaten to death, and Liu committed suicide by hitting her head against a wall after the incident. Her eldest sister, who was nine years old at the time, was also sent to the family temple by her grandmother and was only sent home before the imperial concubine selection.
Three years after the eldest sister's marriage, news came that she had died in childbirth, along with her child. Later, Father discussed with the clan that a cousin should marry into the family, and the eldest sister's dowry would not need to be returned; it would be left to the cousin's children. (The eldest sister had no children, so her family could have taken back the dowry, but most families wouldn't do that. Because she was the eldest daughter born out of wedlock, in addition to the two thousand taels of the family allowance, her father added two thousand taels, and her grandfather added one thousand taels, bringing the total to five thousand taels.) At that time, the handling of these dowry matters was documented in writing with the cousin and the eldest sister's husband.
My brother-in-law and uncle were very grateful, and the two families still kept in touch during festivals. During the New Year, my cousin would bring her children to pay their respects to my grandmother and mother. My cousin and brother-in-law were very loving and had a son and a daughter, so they hardly remembered my cousin anymore.
I simply cannot believe that my mother wasn't involved in all of this.
My father and mother's marriage was arranged from childhood (there was no imperial concubine selection at that time; it was the first selection of concubines in the tenth year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign). My father, as the eldest son, was raised as the heir apparent, constantly under the pressure of his grandfather. Just before his marriage, he went through a rebellious phase, redeeming a courtesan named Qinglian from a brothel and keeping her outside, visiting her occasionally when he felt relaxed. Little did he know that this was a conspiracy by his grandfather's political enemies, an attempt to sow discord within my father's household.
After the mother gave birth to the three twin brothers, the father visited Qinglian less and less. Qinglian felt threatened and came to visit with her eldest sister. At that time, the grandparents were laughed at by others. When the maternal grandmother heard the news, she even took her youngest son to Beijing.
Grandfather sensed something amiss when he saw this woman. An investigation revealed it was the work of a political enemy. They couldn't let her corrupt Father and cause discord in his household; even just making things difficult for Grandfather and Father would be good. Qinglian's father and brothers were executed under the pretext of delaying military operations during the war. The delay involved Grandfather's own unit, a military command that had suffered heavy losses, and Grandfather impeached them. Qinglian, living at her maternal grandparents' home, heard the news of her father and brothers' execution and her mother's suicide, and thus harbored deep hatred, coming for revenge.
The grandfather threw the information he had gathered in front of his father, who was kneeling in the ancestral hall, and told him to handle it himself. Not long after, Qinglian died of illness. Qinglian's personal maid also died. The eldest sister's wet nurse was very frightened and quit her job. The grandfather and father saw that she was indeed unaware of the situation, so they let her go home.
After my maternal grandmother came to the capital, she lived in the Niohuru family. My maternal grandmother was born into a collateral branch of the Niohuru family.
My third uncle was my maternal grandmother's youngest son, only three years older than my mother. He was very close to my mother. As soon as he arrived, he asked my father to go out and beat him up. At first, my father didn't fight back, but after a while, he got angry and the two of them got into a fight.
The next day, my maternal grandmother came, saying she had come to apologize to her good-for-nothing youngest son. My grandfather bowed to my grandmother on the spot, but she avoided it, saying frankly that she had failed in raising her son and would definitely discipline him more strictly in the future, and that she was ashamed of her grandfather, and so on.
The maternal grandmother burst into tears upon thinking of her deceased maternal grandfather. She comforted her at length, repeatedly assuring her that she would treat her three grandsons like her own daughters, and that no one could surpass them. (At that time, her mother gave birth to her eldest son in the first year after marrying into the Irgen Gioro clan, and later gave birth to two more sons, Qilin and his brother. She had three sons in four years, and her position was as secure as Mount Tai.)
My maternal grandmother stayed at the mansion for a few days before taking my maternal uncle back home.
In the end, the grandmother made the decision to register the eldest sister under the father's concubine's name, making her a daughter born to a maid.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
