Unmarried - 2
The boudoir of the Third Mistress of the Yun family was extremely small and secluded, surrounded by blue brick walls and a thin wooden gate that creaked when pushed open and closed.
Inside the house was a beechwood canopy bed, a slightly worn dressing table, a bamboo screen, a wardrobe... The whole courtyard exuded a clean and simple atmosphere.
Wisps of mist seeped through the bamboo screen, while the dim candlelight cast a warm glow.
Yun Yixia was immersed in the bathtub, the aroma of herbs wafting upwards with the steam, her fair skin flushed with a delicate blush, making her look alluring and delicate.
She raised her hand to brush away a strand of damp hair from her cheek, her almond-shaped eyes reflecting the rippling water, her nose glistening with droplets of moisture, and her lips like pearls, like morning peaches—vibrant, fragrant, and captivatingly beautiful.
"Third Sister, shall we teach them a lesson?"
Bai Wei scooped up a ladle of warm water and slowly poured it into Yun Yixia's thick hair. She then took some soap, lathered it up, and gently massaged her scalp.
How could you treat a young lady so roughly?
Yun Yixia lowered her eyes, a faint smile curving her lips.
"Today they bought the same dresses at Suyifang and sent them to the flower market, instructing the ladies to wear them to attract customers!"
Her slender, fair fingers gently stirred the water's surface, creating a string of glistening splashes. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, as if she had witnessed something interesting...
The red-light district of Nishikyo is a den of iniquity for men, and also the most densely populated area for information exchange in Kyoto.
Recently, the ladies at Manchun Garden have gone all out to attract customers, each dressed in a Suyifang Shu brocade skirt, which shimmers with iridescent colors under the lights, their smiling eyes as beautiful as flowers.
I don’t know who said it, but it was said that this dress was once bought by the daughter of a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. I wonder how it looks on a young lady from a noble family and a woman from the red-light district.
By the time Yun Wenyao found out, the whole of Kyoto was already in an uproar, and everyone in the streets and alleys knew about it.
When he got home, he smashed things all over the house and angrily berated Jiang Xiumei for failing to raise her daughter properly.
"Master, this is truly an undeserved disaster!" Jiang Xiumei suppressed her anger. "Third Sister and Fourth Sister have both come of age."
We need to find her a husband as soon as possible to quell this turmoil!
People often have unrealistic fantasies about young women, but these fantasies can be quelled by the image of a married woman.
"Third Sister has already been betrothed to the Qian family, and Fourth Sister, she..."
"Master, let Fourth Sister marry into the Qian family!"
Jiang Xiumei interrupted Yun Wenyao and said something that would change Yun Yixia's future fate.
"King Kang has won a great victory against the Khitan and will soon return to the capital."
The Empress Dowager intended to find him a second wife so that the inner palace would not be empty and no one would take care of the young prince.
"Sir, you've held the position of Assistant Minister of Revenue for almost twenty years. Don't you want to be promoted?"
"I heard that Prince Kang was wounded on the battlefield and has no heir, so he can no longer have children..."
Yun Wenyao frowned. Without children to rely on, how could a woman gain a foothold in the backyard?
"Master, the Yun family only has two eligible daughters."
The Qian family's father-in-law is a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, whose official rank is below yours. Out of respect for you, they will be more tolerant of Fourth Sister, so her life will not be too bad.
King Kang grew up in the military camp. At the age of seventeen, he first led an expedition to the southern desert. At eighteen, he led troops independently. At twenty, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry, leaving behind a fearsome reputation on the frontier.
Such a heroic figure—if Third Sister could marry him, she would be incredibly fortunate!
Jiang Xiumei did not believe that Yun Yixia could be chosen by the Empress Dowager as her second wife.
She just wanted to get Fourth Sister out of the embarrassing situation of "wearing clothes with a prostitute" as soon as possible.
As for whether Yun Yixia's marriage will be good or bad in the future... what does it have to do with her?
If all else fails, just give Yun Yixia to a widower as his second wife; she won't just rot in the Yun family's backyard.
"Let me think about it!"
Yun Wenyao's mind was stirred by Jiang's words, and the faces of his two daughters floated through his mind. Third daughter indeed had a better chance of marrying into the Kang Prince's mansion than fourth daughter.
"promise!"
Jiang Xiumei curtsied, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
She had shared a bed with this man for decades; how could she not know his opportunistic, greedy, lustful, and heartless nature?
A white dove flew across the blue sky and landed in the backyard of the Yun residence. Bai Wei took down the small bamboo tube, unfolded it, and her face instantly darkened.
"Third Sister, please take a look!"
"Um!"
Yun Yixia took the note, raised her eyebrows slightly, and revealed a playful smile.
"Such a wonderful thing exists in the world!"
"Third Sister?"
Yun Yixia slipped the note into the tea-brewing stove, where the flames flickered and burned to ashes. She answered slowly.
"The fourth daughter married into the Qian family with the reputation of 'wearing clothes with prostitutes'."
Even with Yun Wenyao above her, there's absolutely no chance she'll have a good life.
Furthermore, the young master of the Qian family has a childhood sweetheart by his side.
She took over the affairs of the inner quarters at the age of ten, and now she is pregnant. She is just waiting for the Yun family to marry off their daughter so that she can be promoted to a concubine.
This way of doing things saves me the trouble of planning, which is a good thing!
Yun Yixia couldn't help but chuckle. It was all Jiang Xiumei's fault for choosing the Qian family's inner quarters without thoroughly investigating the situation.
Now that Jiang Xiumei's daughter has a bad reputation, she has married into the family. She has biased in-laws, an irresponsible husband, a concubine who is eyeing her with lust, and an unborn son/daughter from a concubine.
Yun Yihua's married life is sure to be lively and chaotic!
"Third Miss, I heard that Prince Kang was wounded on the battlefield and has no heir. If you marry him, what will happen to your descendants in the future?"
Bai Wei was worried for her wife. Men are not always reliable, and women still need to have a child.
After she finished speaking, she met her wife's surprised gaze and began to reflect on which sentence she had said wrong.
"King Kang is a hero of the Daqing frontier!"
Why should the daughter of a fifth-rank official be qualified to enter his harem as his principal wife?
"Does Yun Wenyao even deserve to be Prince Kang's father-in-law?"
That heartless and ungrateful man had considered using his daughter to advance his career, but looking around, he had no one he could offer.
Jiang Xiumei is jealous. Yun Wenyao has four daughters and one son, all of whom, except for Yun Yixia, were born from the womb of the mistress.
Yun Wenyao is not bad-looking, but unfortunately, his four children look just like their mother, all with round faces and flat noses, and are all very similarly ugly.
Men clearly distinguish between marrying a virtuous wife and taking a concubine based on beauty!
The Jiang family had helped Yun Wenyao in the past, so he married Jiang as his principal wife.
While on official business, he seduced Zhao Zhuyu and eloped. After arriving in the capital, she learned that the man already had a family and that she was pregnant, so she had no choice but to become his concubine.
Jiang was in charge of the inner court, and her concubines were all beautiful. Yun Wenyao enjoyed the blessing of having two women.
As for how difficult life was for his concubines in the inner quarters, that was not his concern; as long as they looked beautiful and provided value to him, that was enough.
Yun Wenyao was well aware of this principle. If he were to send Jiang's daughter to be a concubine, it would not be "selling his daughter for personal gain," but rather "humiliating" her.
This is why, when the eldest daughter, Yun Yiling, got married, Yun Yihua also had to get married.
"Madam Jiang intends to abandon her wife!"
"If she doesn't care... then we'll have more room to maneuver!"
Yun Yixia poured tea for Bai Wei with a smile, coaxing her to drink it and calm down.
"My lady, do you already have a solution?"
"Of course!" Yun Yixia beckoned with her finger, "Come closer to my ear!"
Bai Wei leaned in and listened intently as Yun Yixia whispered something. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she couldn't suppress the mischievous smile on her lips.
In early March, it rained for days in Xijing City, and the ministers had to wait for a "parking space" every day. Some of them would lift the curtain of their carriages and chat with their colleagues next door.
"I've heard that Prince Kang intends to marry another princess. I wonder which daughter will be fortunate enough to marry him?"
Have you heard?
Someone leaned out of the car window, gestured towards the back with their chin, and their expression became somewhat subtle.
"That fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue also wants to send his daughter to the Prince Kang's residence!"
"His daughter... she's no good!"
"I've heard that his third daughter is quite beautiful, but unfortunately, she's not well-liked!"
"Perhaps there's more to the story?"
The two looked at each other, both giving the impression that they both understood.
By the time Yun Wenyao heard the news, the gossip had already turned into "The wife of the Ministry of Revenue official had an affair with an actress and that's how they had a beautiful daughter!"
Don't listen to gossip; the more it's spread and heard, the more "true" it seems.
Yun Wenyao went back to Jiang Xiumei and gave her a good beating, finally learning about Yun Yixia's background from her.
May 23rd, the first year of the Qingli era - Yun Residence in Xijing
Outside the window, the rain poured down, thunder rumbled across the rooftops, and the eaves bells jingled erratically in the wind.
"ah!!!"
Zhao Zhuyu's scream pierced the rain. Yun Wenyao was entangled with his new concubine, while Jiang Xiumei stood guard outside the delivery room.
"Madam, everything has been taken care of. Aunt Zhao is not going to make it!"
"Granny Zhao, is the willow coffin ready?"
Jiang Xiumei casually used a silver hairpin to trim the lamp wick, ignoring the large bloodstains on Zhao Dahua's sleeve.
"Everything's ready!" Zhao Dahua added. "The coffin is parked at the back gate; we can take it away anytime!"
"Then..."
"Wow...wow..."
A loud baby's cry rang out from inside the house. Jiang Xiumei snapped the lamp wick and grabbed her swollen belly hard.
"You wretched child!" She carefully smoothed out the wrinkles on her stomach. "Go and bring the baby here!"
"promise!"
Zhao Dahua went into the house and brought out the sobbing baby. Jiang Xiumei glanced at it and curled her lips in disgust.
"Ugly monkey!"
"Madam, why not bury them all together?"
As Zhao Dahua spoke, she raised her hand to smother the child in her arms, but Jiang Xiumei stopped her.
"Never mind!" Jiang Xiumei gently touched her belly with a loving expression. "Let's just consider it a prayer for our unborn child!"
"My child! My child!"
Zhao Zhuyu dragged her weak body out from inside, and cried out in despair as she watched Jiang Xiumei carry the child away. The lonely little courtyard was deserted, with no one coming to see her.
The next day, she woke up on the cold ground and crawled out to look for her child, but was forcibly taken back to her room by a passing servant.
Zhao Zhuyu was weak after childbirth, suffered from wind and cold, and had a persistent high fever... After enduring these hardships, she woke up again, but she had gone mad.
Three months later, Jiang Xiumei gave birth to a daughter, telling Yun Wenyao that it was a twin.
Ironically, he actually believed it!
Yun Yixia stood outside the main house listening to Jiang Xiumei's distorted facts, keeping her head down so that others wouldn't see the sarcastic expression on her face.
Humans!
They can say anything truly outrageous!
Under Jiang Xiumei's gentle words, Yun Wenyao calmed down, then angrily turned and walked out of the main house, intending to go to the flower market to relieve his frustration.
"Third Sister, what are you doing here?"
When Yun Wenyao went out to see his third daughter, a remnant of his conscience made him avoid her sorrowful and condemning gaze.
"I've come to pay my respects to my mother!"
In the Yun family mansion, morning and evening prayers are required, but only Yun Yixia is required to do so; the other children are not forced to.
They were relieved that they didn't have to get up early and didn't have to face their mother's annoying nagging.
"Don't blame your mother!" Yun Wenyao cleared his throat twice. "At least you are now the legitimate daughter, and you can marry into a good family in the future!"
"Thank you for the advice, Father!"
Yun Yixia curtsied, and Yun Wenyao hurriedly walked out, not seeing the cold look in her eyes as she gazed at him.
"Third Sister greets Mother!"
"You're still willing to call me 'Mother'?"
Jiang Xiumei put down her teacup and looked Yun Yixia up and down with a probing gaze.
She allowed her children to bully Yun Yixia, intending to cultivate a cowardly and easily bullied personality in them.
After listening to the stories of the previous generation, Yun Yixia was still able to respectfully bow and greet Jiang Xiumei.
She suddenly couldn't see through this "shelled" illegitimate daughter. Was she truly incompetent, or a wolf in sheep's clothing?
"No matter whose daughter I am, I should call you 'Mother'!"
Yun Yixia lowered her eyes and spoke softly, her very voice seemingly filled with a submissive and timid nature.
"You're quite sensible!" Jiang Xiumei sneered. "I've already moved up the wedding arrangements between Fourth Sister and the Qian family's young master."
Fourth Sister isn't very good at needlework, so could you help her embroider the wedding dress?
"promise!"
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