Unmarried - 7
The backyard of the Yun residence was filled with the bitter smell of medicinal soup. The female doctor was taking good care of Zhao Zhuyu, and her health was gradually improving.
Zhao Zhuyu rarely remained lucid for long periods, and every day she would stare at the door, hoping that her daughter would come to keep her company.
Unfortunately, Yun Yixia never came again except for the first night.
"Granny Rong, go and call Third Sister over!"
Zhao Zhuyu wanted to see his daughter and have a heart-to-heart talk with her.
“Aunt Zhao, the last few times you asked me to call the master, the head housekeeper Zhao gave me a good scolding.”
"You asked me to fetch Third Sister today... if she wanted to come, she would have come long ago!"
Granny Rong turned her back. For some reason, she was more afraid of the seemingly weak Third Sister than the stern and harsh Madam.
"You...you just say my condition is serious and ask her to come see me!"
Zhao Zhuyu's pale, sickly face was tinged with anger and frost. The female physician quickly performed acupuncture on her to regulate her qi and prevent her from falling ill again.
"Here you go!"
Seeing that Aunt Zhao was angry, Granny Rong was afraid that if she died, she would be held responsible, so she quickly went out to find Third Sister.
Fortunately, the Third Sister rarely went out. She bowed her head, explained her purpose, and waited for her master's instructions.
Let's go!
Yun Yixia walked towards Aunt Zhao's courtyard. More than ten days had passed since she went to Kaibao Temple, enough time for the royal family to find out her background.
All that's left is to arrange for someone to come and propose marriage. If the social standing is lower than the Qian family, Jiang Xiumei will take the initiative to persuade Yun Wenyao to agree.
"Third Sister, you've come!"
Zhao Zhuyu sat up straight, her almond-shaped eyes filled with tears, looking at her daughter with a pitiful expression.
She's sick!
Why isn't the daughter by her bedside taking care of her when she's ill?
“Aunt Zhao, Granny Rong said you were seriously ill, but you look much better than before.”
Yun Yixia stood behind the screen, showing no intention of getting closer; she had no liking for women who were like parasitic vines.
"Why don't you come to see me?" Zhao Zhuyu's eyes were filled with a hint of resentment. "I'm not often lucid. Don't you want to talk to me?"
"How many times have you sent Granny Rong to the front yard to look for Father?"
Yun Yixia's smile seemed painted on, dignified and polite, yet devoid of any emotion.
"I...want to see him!"
Zhao Zhuyu dared not look at Yun Yixia. Her bright, flawless almond-shaped eyes seemed to be filled with the coldness of winter, looking cold but actually even colder.
“Father has been busy with official business lately and may not have time to come to the backyard. Aunt Zhao will have to wait patiently.”
Yun Yixia glanced at the female doctor, who nodded, and she turned to leave.
The female doctor is her person and will take good care of Aunt Zhao.
"Third Mother, are you unwilling to forgive your mother?"
Zhao Zhuyu screamed, then regretted it and pursed her lips tightly.
"Aunt Zhao, watch your words!"
Bai Wei couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to speak for her wife.
There are some things that everyone knows in their hearts, but they can't say out loud.
If the fact that the lady is a concubine's daughter becomes public, Madam Jiang will intensify her suppression of the lady.
"What right do you, a mere maid, have to speak to me?"
Zhao Zhuyu, enraged and embarrassed, sat up straight and scolded Bai Wei, looking at Yun Yixia with a wronged expression.
I hope my daughter can reprimand this ill-mannered maid!
The character '妾' (concubine) can be broken down into '立女' (standing woman), which means 'slave'.
Aunt Zhao, between a servant and a maid, who is superior?
Yun Yixia stepped forward, blocking Bai Wei's path, her stance clear.
A parasitic vine with only a man in its heart, and a partner who has been through thick and thin with her... is there even a choice?
"Third Sister, I am your birth mother!"
Zhao Zhuyu lost control and shouted, feeling anxious and aggrieved.
Yun Wenyao doesn't come to see her, and her daughter glares at her coldly... What's the point of her living?
"You can shout louder!" Yun Yixia curled her lips. "The louder the better, so that everyone in Xijing City knows!"
She neither cared nor was concerned about her status as a "concubine's daughter".
It would be easy for Jiang to arrange a marriage for her, but it would cause endless trouble afterward. It would be better to go along with Jiang's wishes, marry out of the house, and then work on a divorce with the man.
Now that Jiang has married her fourth son into the Qian family, it no longer matters whether she is a "legitimate" or "illegitimate" child.
"I'm not... I'm just... You are the daughter I gave birth to with so much difficulty, why won't you stand on my side?"
Zhao Zhuyu, I don't understand!
Why would her daughter turn against her for the sake of a maid?
“Aunt Zhao, do you know the saying ‘If you are betrothed, you become a wife; if you elope, you become a concubine’?”
Who made you travel thousands of miles away from home to become someone's concubine?
Who made you go through so much hardship to give birth to your child...? Was it me?
Yun Yixia's voice was unhurried, like shattered jade falling onto a plate or a mountain spring flowing, yet it was also as sharp as a cold wind.
Zhao Zhuyu opened her mouth several times, but could not say anything.
"You blame me!"
She managed to utter those words with difficulty, as if she had used up all her strength, and collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily.
Shouldn't I complain?
Yun Yixia closed her eyes, suppressing the bitterness and resentment in her heart, but her momentum continued to rise.
“Aunt Zhao, if you hadn’t eloped with your father, you would have married, given birth to a son, raised him, and enjoyed the company of your children and grandchildren.
So...none of this will happen today!
You will not compete with Bai Wei, nor will you be mentally unstable and bedridden for years.
Today's result is the result of yesterday's cause.
What are you upset about?
Shouldn't I be the one who should feel wronged?
I can't choose my parents, and I'm not even allowed to complain about them?
When I was three, my eldest daughter-in-law pushed me into the pond; when I was five, my second son slit my throat with a sword; when I was ten, my fourth and fifth daughters forced me to swallow needles… I could only endure and persevere through these life-or-death ordeals… and try my best to survive!
The countless petty and sordid things that happen every day are too numerous to count or describe.
Did I say anything?
You're sick, I'll get you a doctor to treat you, and I'll have a female doctor take care of you personally... Isn't that enough?
The first thing you did after waking up was to go to your father, but you never thought about how a concubine's child, who had no protection, had survived to this day under the mistress's rule.
Aunt Zhao, you always ask me if I resent it?
Today I ask you the same question... Shouldn't I complain?
Yun Yixia's voice remained calm throughout, neither too loud nor too soft, yet every word she uttered seemed to weep blood, every sound filled with tears.
If Zhao Zhuyu hadn't insisted on asking, Yun Yixia wouldn't have wanted to say anything at all.
What does it mean to say that there is no way to change the fact?
Every time Yun Yixia met Zhao Zhuyu, she acted like a "Lin Daiyu," as if the whole world had wronged her.
It's so annoying to look at!
Yun Yixia isn't Jia Baoyu, so why would she have time to coax a resentful woman?
"I...you..."
Zhao Zhuyu was speechless after being confronted, and her heart, more fragile than porcelain, shattered into dust.
"Please take good care of yourself and get well soon!"
Yun Yixia didn't want to waste time with a love-struck person, so she turned around and walked out. She was taken aback when she saw the two people outside the door, then smiled faintly and curtsied.
"May Father and Mother enjoy good health and longevity!"
"Hmm! Hmm!" Yun Wenyao felt inexplicably nervous. "You should go back!"
"Here you go!"
Yun Yixia left the courtyard, leaving the grudges of the previous generation to be resolved by them.
"My wife, shall we stop pretending?"
Bai Wei looked at her wife with some worry. Years of pretense had been ruined in an instant, which was heartbreaking.
"They must have been listening outside for quite a while; there's no point in pretending anymore."
Yun Yixia counted her chips, which were enough to deal with all sorts of tricks from the couple.
She tilted her head and whispered in Bai Wei's ear, arranging the final move in the Yun family mansion.
Fifteen years in the Cloud Residence… That’s enough!
A white bird flew through Xijing City and rested on the eaves of the palace with its red walls and glazed tiles, tilting its head to look down at the woman who screamed in surprise.
"What did you say?" Shi Anwan sat up straight. "Yun Yixia is a concubine's daughter?"
"yes!"
Zhao Yunxian put down his teacup and explained Yun Yixia's background. He then looked at his silent younger brother with a playful expression.
"Even the eldest daughter of a fifth-rank official can only hope to become a concubine in a prince's mansion, no matter how hard she tries."
Yun Yixia comes from a very poor background!
"Kang'er, why don't you marry another woman?"
No matter how much Shi Anwan tried to convince herself, she couldn't accept the idea of her son's illegitimate daughter from a fifth-rank official's family becoming his principal wife.
"Great!" Zhao Yunkang happily put down his teacup. "When I see a suitable woman next time, I will definitely tell Mother!"
Isn't that a coincidence?
His mother disliked Yun Yixia's humble origins, so he could postpone the marriage.
A win-win situation, everyone's happy!
"puff!"
Zhao Yunxian covered his mouth with a teacup, but couldn't help laughing out loud. He then raised the teacup further to cover his face.
"Zhao Yunkang, are you trying to drive me crazy?"
Shi Anwan pointed at her youngest son, who lowered his head and played with his teacup, neither responding nor arguing.
"Okay, okay!"
"You want Yun Yixia, don't you?"
"Your Majesty, come and bestow a marriage upon us!"
I want them to get married within three months!
Shi Anwan turned and left, leaving the two brothers looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Why are you doing this?" Zhao Yunxian put down his teacup. "The Empress Dowager can't do anything to you, but that Third Sister Yun is going to be in trouble."
The fact that the Empress Dowager was able to protect the two brothers amidst the power struggles in the harem and enable him to ascend the throne smoothly demonstrates that her shrewdness and methods are no less than those of any man.
"Now that she has obtained the position of the Prince Kang's principal wife, she should face everything that needs to be faced!"
Zhao Yunkang placed the teacup on the table, her expression slightly cold. She had been submissive in the Yun family, and she should be the same in front of her mother.
After living like this for more than a decade, Yun San Niang should have gotten used to it by now.
"Sigh!" Zhao Yunxian shook his head and sighed softly, "I will issue the imperial decree of marriage at the morning court tomorrow. You have one more night to consider it."
Yun Yixia, what bad luck!
The daughters of officials of the fifth or sixth rank are not trained in how to deal with the intrigues of the palace and the countless witty exchanges and traps among noblewomen.
Furthermore, Yun Yixia never said she was willing to marry into the royal family.
For her, without "armor," she couldn't withstand such immense wealth.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Yun Kang clasped his hands in a salute and instructed his elder brother that if Yun Wen Yao was to be promoted, he should give him a sinecure, but definitely not a position with real power.
The petty squabbles in their own backyard went unnoticed for over a decade. Giving such a fool real power... and Daqing is doomed.
"I know!"
Zhao Yunxian patted his younger brother's broad shoulder, stirring up a competitive spirit, and dragged him to the archery range to have a competition.
The result was exactly as expected!
Zhao Yunxian suffered a crushing defeat, while Zhao Yunkang made sarcastic remarks from the sidelines.
"Brother!"
"I'm so glad I chose to join the army; otherwise, sitting all day would have made me as healthy as an eighty-year-old."
Zhao Yunkang twirled the long arrow in his hand, his smile roguish, looking both wild and wicked.
"Are you trying to provoke me?" Zhao Yunxian slapped the chair. "You're going to take the throne?"
"You'd better give up already!"
Zhao Yunkang stepped far away, disdainfully shaking his sleeves.
"When you sleep for twelve hours a day, when can you get any rest?"
"When I'm not fighting, I can sleep as long as I want on the border, carefree and happy, forgetting all my worries."
"You brat! Get out of here right now!"
The two brothers parted ways amidst laughter and banter. One's smile vanished the moment he boarded his carriage after leaving the palace, while the other sat in the imperial study with a gloomy face...
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