In the third year of Jingyuan, when peach and plum blossoms were in full bloom, the Wen family, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites in Shengjing City, was filled with a festive atmosphere from top to bottom.
Today is the wedding day of the second son of the Wen family, and the bride has been welcomed into the mansion.
The hall was extremely lively, with both sides crowded with people who came to watch the ceremony.
Mrs. Shen, who was sitting in the main seat, looked at her happy little son and her brows relaxed a little. The last stone in her heart finally fell...
Following the call of "Send her to the bridal chamber", the corners of Shen's lips rose as she watched her son and daughter-in-law leave. Without any obstruction in front of her, a young girl with a small, round, white face came into view. She was lowering her head and chatting and laughing with a little girl who was not even as tall as her waist.
One of his cheeks was twitching slightly, and I don't know if some snack had been secretly stuffed into it.
When Shen saw this, she immediately remembered that Aunt Chang had come to her courtyard to cry and complain a few days ago, and the joy on her face faded a little.
I almost forgot about this half stone...
The Wen family comes from a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River. Many of their ancestors had high-ranking officials. By the time of Wen's father's generation, he was the third-rank minister of the Ministry of Rites. His two legitimate sons were also promising. One of them passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the year the new emperor ascended the throne, and now works in the Ministry of Rites.
Another one joined the Military Affairs Department at the beginning of this year. Although his official position is not high, he is highly appreciated by his superiors.
As the current mistress of the Wen family, Shen's temperament is not amiable and can even be considered harsh.
However, no matter whether they were born of a legitimate wife or a concubine, except for the obvious difference in treatment in terms of food, clothing and other expenses, all the boys were given the first three and the girls were given the fifth, and no one was ever left behind.
The head of the Wen family has only two sons, both of whom are born to his legitimate wife, Shen. He has quite a few daughters, but except for the eldest legitimate daughter born to Shen, the other four are born out of wedlock.
The person Shen saw in the hall was the fourth daughter, Wen Ye, born to Concubine Chang in the mansion.
After the bride entered the house, she had to go to the main courtyard to serve tea at the beginning of the morning hour the next day. As the bride's illegitimate sister-in-law, Wen Ye, who was used to sleeping until the morning hour, had to get up from the soft bed more than an hour in advance.
The maid Taozhi came into the room in time to help Wen Ye wash and brush her teeth, and said, "My aunt has come to ask several times."
Wen Ye, who had always looked sleepy, narrowed her round almond eyes, caught a glimpse of the round and delicate face in the bronze mirror, yawned slightly and asked, "When did Auntie get up?"
Taozhi helped Wen Ye clean her face and replied, "Yin hour."
"Auntie is really amazing." Wen Ye sighed, "Anyway, I can't get up."
Taozhi listened and chuckled, "It's obviously because the girl is late. There was already movement in other courtyards."
She is more lively than Yunzhi and always says whatever she wants in front of Wen Ye.
After rinsing his mouth, Wen Ye sat back on the padded wooden stool, looking into the bronze mirror. He thought, no wonder the ancients had short lives. It would be strange if they could live long if they got up before dawn every day.
As a modern worker who was so tired from working overtime that he mistook a red light for a green light, and ended up crossing the road and getting killed in a traffic accident, Wen Ye cherishes his life even more in his next life.
Wen Ye was born during pregnancy. When she was in Chang's belly, she was able to obtain some important information based on the daily conversations of the people around her.
This time she was reincarnated into ancient times. Her biological mother was a concubine in the mansion. She had three legitimate brothers and sisters and two illegitimate sisters. She was the fourth child.
The Wen family has a strong foundation in the prosperous Shengjing city where the powerful and wealthy gather. As a concubine's daughter, Wen Ye's biological mother, Aunt Chang, has always been law-abiding for many years, so she has lived a relatively leisurely and stable life in recent years.
Seeing Taozhi had tied her hair up, Wen Ye stood up and walked out: "What did you prepare for breakfast today?"
Taozhi followed her out of the inner room and replied, "Didn't the young lady say yesterday that the golden dumplings on the table were delicious? Yunzhi asked the kitchen to prepare some earlier and also cooked chicken porridge."
As he was talking, Yunzhi came in with a wooden tray and reminded him, "Young lady, eat two golden dumplings first to fill your stomach. We have to go to the main courtyard to eat later."
Today is the second day since the new daughter-in-law of the Wen family came into the family, so the whole family will go to the main courtyard to pay her respects and then have breakfast together.
Wen Ye stared at the golden dumplings on the table, picked up three of them and put them into his bowl, then started eating.
Halfway through the meal, she suddenly remembered something and looked up and asked, "Where are my aunt and my younger sister?"
Although the three of them did not usually eat together, mainly because Wen Ye got up late, but every time she got up, her aunt and younger sister would come over.
Yunzhi looked at her sleepy daughter, hesitated for a moment and said, "Fifth Miss is doing her homework, and Auntie is accompanying her."
"My little sister is really hardworking. She never rests for a single day." Wen Ye's tone was very sincere. It would definitely be impossible to expect her to do her homework without interruption every day.
Yunzhi couldn't help but feel relieved when she saw Wen Ye's cheerful expression. Although she was a few years younger than Wen Ye, as Wen Ye's personal maid, she thought deeply about many things.
The fifth girl was only six years old and had only been enlightened for a year, but she had already shown her intelligence. Compared with the fifth girl, the other girls seemed somewhat mediocre when they were about the same age.
Fortunately, my daughter was generous and never felt jealous, so the two sisters always remained close.
The steady Yunzhi took away the tray when Wenye finished eating three golden dumplings and was about to grab the fourth one.
Wen Ye: “…”
A moment later, Aunt Chang brought her little daughter to Wen Ye's room, and the three of them went to the main courtyard together.
Less than half a minute after arriving at the main courtyard, Brother Wen came with his newlywed wife to have tea.
Father Wen was a man of few words. He simply gave a few instructions and then handed over the home court to the Shen family.
The first time her daughter-in-law offered tea, Shen was not too serious. Her brows softened slightly. She took the tea, drank it, and then handed the red envelopes she had prepared in the morning to the two of them.
At the same time, he said a few compliments.
After meeting the two elders, the next ones to visit were my eldest brother, his wife, and several younger sisters and nephews.
The eldest sister-in-law, Yang, was a kind and well-behaved person. She gave Liu a set of golden and red pomegranate head ornaments, which were grand, festive and youthful, and very suitable for a bride like Liu.
Liu was naturally happy, and she hurriedly took out the gifts she had prepared for her two nephews.
Yang had been married into the Wen family for six years and had given birth to two children. The older one was five years old and was named Cheng'er.
The younger one, Zhaoche, was a little over one year old and had just learned to walk. He was now standing aside, held by his wet nurse.
The finest inkstone was naturally given to Cheng'er who had just begun to be enlightened, and Che'er's were some exquisite toys and small clothes and shoes sewn by Liu herself.
Be friendly yet polite.
Having given birth to two sons in a row, Yang's status in the mansion was evident. However, she was gentle by nature and never showed off. In addition, she assisted Shen in managing the affairs of the mansion for six years and never overstepped the line, which made Shen very fond of her.
Yang smiled as she accepted the gifts from their aunt for her two sons, and said, "You are so skillful. I can't make such exquisite clothes."
Liu said, "Sister-in-law, you are too modest." Then she looked at her mother-in-law, Shen, who was sitting in the main seat, with the shyness of a bride. "I often heard my mother mention that my mother had a good and capable daughter-in-law, and she was very jealous."
Liu's mother and Shen were good friends when they were young, and their relationship has been good for decades.
With just one sentence, he glorified both Shen and Yang, and in the process shortened the distance between himself and the two of them.
Wen Ye watched secretly and had to say that her second sister-in-law had a very high emotional intelligence.
When Shen heard this, her usually serious expression turned into a smile: "Okay, okay, you are all fine."
Then Wen Ye received a jade bracelet, and her younger sister Wen Ran received a beautiful dress.
Although the Wen family was not the most powerful family in Shengjing City, they had accumulated wealth over hundreds of years and owned countless farms and manors. This breakfast alone consisted of sixteen exquisite dishes.
The main table was occupied by Wen's father, the Shen family, while illegitimate children and concubines such as Wen Ye were at the second table. On Wen Ye's left and right were his biological mother Aunt Chang and his younger sister Wen Ran, and next to Aunt Chang was Aunt Gui.
Aunt Gui gave birth to a daughter who was one year older than Wen Ye, but she had been married for several years.
Father Wen has a wife and three concubines in his backyard. Compared with other powerful and wealthy men nowadays, he is considered a man who does not care about women.
Aunt Gui and Aunt Bai, who died of illness in her early years, were both maids who came with Shen as a dowry when she married into the Wen family. They were weaned when Shen was pregnant with her first child, and were not allowed to be pregnant until she gave birth to her second son.
She gave birth to two girls, who were Wen Ye's two concubines who had been married for many years.
Wen Ye's biological mother, Aunt Chang, was chosen by Shen from the servants in the Wen residence. Her appearance was not very good, but compared with the coquettish Aunt Bai and the cowardly and useless Aunt Gui, at least Chang looked much more refreshing.
Shen was very satisfied with this.
Normally, Aunt Chang and Aunt Gui seldom came to the main courtyard, and Shen was too lazy to ask them to come and serve. However, today there was a new member in the family, so she still had to ask them to come and meet them together.
The Wen family follows the rule of 'don't talk while eating, don't talk while sleeping'. Today was a little different, but it was just that Shen said a few more words to the two daughters-in-law. Wen Ye listened to their intermittent chatter, and his mouth never stopped.
She first had a bowl of mutton soup, and then tasted a little bit of each of the remaining dozen or so dishes.
I have to say that the breakfast in the main courtyard is better than that in the small kitchen in her courtyard.
Even the meals in the small kitchen have been improved by her many times.
Aunt Chang couldn't bear to see this, and secretly pulled Wen Ye several times but she couldn't stop. The mother and daughter looked exactly the same, with faces as round and white as jade plates.
The difference is that Aunt Chang's eyes have not changed much compared to when she was young, and they still reveal a sense of purity.
Compared to her, Wen Ye's face was fuller and fairer from head to toe, except for the occasional shrewdness and cunning in her eyes.
After realizing that he was full, Wen Ye stopped eating quickly. Yunzhi beside him quickly brought him a wet handkerchief. Wen Ye wiped the corners of his mouth before he had time to meet his aunt's gaze. His eyes were lazy, as if asking: Why did you pull me just now?
Aunt Chang: “…”
The meal time passed quickly. Father Wen asked his two sons to go to the study. Yang took Liu back to cultivate the relationship between the sisters-in-law. Aunt Gui also left early.
Only Aunt Chang lingered in the main courtyard for a long time, and no matter how Wen Ye pulled her away, she wouldn't leave.
Wen Ye asked Yunzhi to take her younger sister back first and she stayed behind.
"Aunt, it's been a few days, but you're still angry?" There were only a few maids sweeping the yard. Wen Ye glanced at them calmly without lowering his voice too much.
No matter how quietly you whisper, it will eventually reach Shen's ears.
When Aunt Chang heard what she said, tears of grievance welled up in her eyes: "Look, you always make me angry like this."
Wen Ye: “…”
Between them, who is the 'daughter'?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
