When I was seven years old, I received a huge pile of gifts as soon as I got home, and I carried the pile of gifts back to my little yard.
The girls of the Irgen Gioro family all lived together. Ama gave birth to a total of 8 daughters and 6 sons, and at that time the number was still rising.
I heard that my father's aunt Baila is five months pregnant, and she'll be welcoming another little brother or sister in a few months.
Of the eight daughters, six survived. The eldest sister died in childbirth after getting married, the third sister died before she was a month old, and the seventh sister was weak from childhood and looked like she would never grow up. The rest of the daughters were all healthy.
My second older sister is eleven years older than me and is already married. Now, living in the courtyard are my fourth older sister, sixth younger sister, and seventh younger sister.
My fourth sister is my half-sister, and she's 14 years old now. She's learning to manage the household affairs. She handles the affairs in my sixth and seventh sisters' courtyards. She was ordered by my mother to take care of me, and she helped decorate this courtyard. It's clean, tidy, exquisite, and cozy. My sixth sister was born to Consort Ma, and my seventh sister was born to a concubine (originally a maidservant of my mother).
Except for my fourth brother, who wasn't born to my mother, all my other brothers were my father's legitimate sons, all of them born from my mother's womb. My mother gave birth to five of us brothers and two sisters all by herself, which meant she bore half of my father's children.
I am my mother's youngest daughter. My mother was 27 years old when she gave birth to me, and my father was 28 years old.
My eldest brother was born in the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign. He is the eldest son of my father and mother, and the eldest grandson of my grandfather. He is intelligent, sensible and filial from a young age. Now at the age of 21, he has already achieved the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). My sister-in-law has also given birth to two sons for him. He was supposed to go on a study tour last month, but he waited until now after hearing that I had returned. He has already made a reservation with a friend to leave the day after tomorrow.
He is exactly the kind of child that parents always talk about. He is the son of an official or a rich kid, yet he insists on making a living through his talent, which makes people envious and jealous!
The second and third brothers were born in the second year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign and are now seventeen years old. They are twins and grew up with their grandfather along with their eldest brother. The second brother is named Sabitun (meaning "unicorn" in Manchu), and the third brother is named Sabintu (meaning "unicorn" in Manchu). They are fraternal twins.
My second brother is already engaged, but because the mistress of the Wang family has passed away, the young lady of the family needs to observe three years of mourning.
My third brother got married before my second brother last year. My third brother's wife is my grandmother's grandniece, Borjigit. She has striking features and a unique radiance from the grasslands. The two are newlyweds and very close.
My fourth brother was born in the fourth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign and is now fifteen years old. His birth mother was a maidservant who served my grandmother. He is betrothed to Shumulu, a niece of my mother's family, who is also the daughter of my second maternal uncle. The wedding is scheduled for next spring.
My fifth brother is the only one among my brothers who has been bedridden for many years. He is now twelve years old, but he looks like an eight or nine-year-old child. He is only kept alive by precious medicinal herbs. His face is sallow. I heard from him when I was away that my frail brother had sent back medicinal herbs twice. Judging from his appearance, he would not live more than a year without miraculous medicine.
My sixth brother was my mother's youngest son, and the most lively. He was born in the 10th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, only two years older than me. At just nine years old, he was already taller than his peers, probably nearly 1.5 meters tall.
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