Finally met my dad
Life for a baby was incredibly dull. The Three Feudatories Rebellion was in full swing, and the capital was awash in oppression. Few people would be so foolish as to invite friends and revel in the feasting and revelry. Women's socializing was also much more low-key. Yao Jing was still a child, so she had even less to do.
Besides these national events, the atmosphere at home was also tense. From bits and pieces of information, Yao Jing knew that her current "father" was an officer, currently holed up somewhere in Zhili, ready to be deployed if the situation on the front lines became tense. This was fine, as "mother" merely mused about whether they were comfortable with food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Her "Mafa" was, however, seriously and seriously at the front, rolling up his sleeves to fight against the Three Feudatories.
Judging from the little things that Wang Ma and the others occasionally revealed when they talked about these things, such as "he has been given the seal of a general" and "he has changed his place again", it can be known that he is currently doing a high-risk job - no matter which dynasty, no matter how much you dislike it, no matter how ugly it is, it is always not easy to take advantage of it at the beginning.
In the popular courses on time travel in the Qing Dynasty that Yao Jing had heard, the emperor, nicknamed "Master Kang" by the girls, seemed particularly difficult to deal with. Putting aside the national affairs of the Three Feudatories and Taiwan, all the girls who traveled through time had suffered from him. At the very least, they were embarrassed, and at the worst, they were abused. What was even more bizarre was that his unintentional matchmaking could cause people to become mentally disturbed and constipated for life.
There was no more detailed information. Nanny Wang only said this occasionally when she was teasing Yao Jing, and she never expected her to remember it.
Then, something even more maddening happened—the current queen, the woman who had just been promoted from a concubine the previous year and who had even been receiving New Year's greetings from the ladies of state, was dead! Shortly after Yao Jing was shaved bald, on February 26th, a gloomy bell rang.
Yao Jing shuddered when she heard Nanny He sigh and say, "The second one." "Master Kang, is your beard blue?"
The family Yao Jing came from was of high status and received the news immediately. After a flurry of activity, the red lanterns were replaced with white ones, and the new red clothes made for the New Year were taken off and changed into new ones. The mother hurriedly ordered a carriage to be harnessed to go to the palace to mourn.
The queen died—oh, should I say, collapsed? Anyway, she was gone. Even during the chaos of war, proper etiquette was still observed. Yao Jing couldn't quite figure out what exactly that meant, but it was true that her mother hadn't been able to find peace for two or three months. It wasn't just palace matters that were a concern, there were also family matters. The children were young, and without a mother-in-law to look after them, a daughter-in-law to run errands for them, or sisters-in-law to help out, her face had become thinner in the space of two or three months. Originally a plump, well-proportioned lady, she now had a pointed chin. But Yao Jing thought she looked prettier this way.
Finally, after all this work was done and the mother returned home, she carefully reviewed the household chores, including rewards for good work and punishments for laziness and mischief. Only then did she have time to think about other things—one of which was examining her children's homework. The mother herself had limited education, let alone literary talent. Being able to speak and read Chinese, Mongolian, and Manchu was already quite impressive. However, this didn't stop her from examining her two sons' schoolwork—even an illiterate person could tell by comparing their notebooks whether their handwriting was neat or not.
Perhaps it's the good family traditions, or perhaps the tense atmosphere of their father's absence that has rubbed off on these two young masters, giving them a bit of the "poor children grow up early" vibe. At least their academics are decent. It's impossible to predict whether they'll become cunning, treacherous feudal bureaucrats in the future, but for now, they're two serious students.
As for the elder sister, now addressed only as "Big Girl" by the maids, Yao Jing still rarely saw her, even though they lived in the same courtyard. She also had to study, but like Yao Jing, academic subjects were not given much attention. She didn't have to go to school for the time being, but her mother would ask a clever maid who knew a few words to teach her the Three Character Classic.
By this time, it was already the fourth month of summer. The lunar calendar was in force, and it was a truly hot summer day. Yao Jing, wearing a pale blue jacket, was idly tapping a rattle on the kang in the main room when news arrived that shook the entire family—her father, the adopted father she had never met, was coming back!
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In Yao Jing's view, being able to meet this adopted father was truly a stroke of luck. She didn't have to worry about losing her father at a young age, then being abused by vicious relatives as an orphan and a widow. See, Shi Xiangyun was a precedent? By the time she realized how outrageous her thoughts were, it was much later. She still had a brother, who was ten years old. In an era where people could get married at thirteen or fourteen, he was considered half an adult. Even without a father, he couldn't be treated as a mere orphan. (Yao Jing: Embarrassing! Child labor is illegal.)
No matter what, she saw her biological father...
Yao Jing couldn't figure out why her father had returned. Didn't the war have to be fought? Father, were you fired from Master Kong and are you back home eating your own food? Was the blame for the plasticizers assigned to you?
Ahem, in truth, she was overthinking it. Lamei, beside her mother in the courtyard, had excitedly chirped, "Our master has been promoted again. He's being transferred to Shandong to serve as a general. No wonder there's been so many magpies chirping in the yard these past few days." Yao Jing had no idea what official rank her adopted father held, but general seemed like a high rank. Her adopted father had originally been in Zhili. After his promotion, he returned to Beijing to see the emperor and was allowed home for a visit. Then, he quickly packed up and headed back to Shandong to continue his work for Master Kang. In any case, the man of the house could finally go home, enjoy a hot bath, and enjoy a delicious meal prepared by his own chef.
Thanks to Master Kang's compassion for his subjects, Yao Jing met her "father" for the first time. He was a hard man to describe, a bit older, but still beardless. Without his hat, he revealed a teacup-sized area of long hair in a braid, surrounded by a band of shorter hair, about a centimeter thick. Yao Jing already knew this was the result of the ban on shaving caused by Master Kang's wife's death.
His complexion was slightly sallow, perhaps from days of toil. His features were regular, and his stature was neither particularly tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. Overall, he was a very "standard" individual. Only his eyes shone with a light, though not glaringly. His expression wasn't serious, but it wasn't a Maitreya Buddha-like smile either. It was calm, yet not distant. As Yao Jing studied him, she concluded: this was a typical feudal bureaucrat and a typical patriarch.
Over there, her mother had already said, "This is Ama. Little Niuniu hasn't seen Ama yet, but you'll recognize him later." "Ama" laughed, even reaching out to stroke Yao Jing's delicate face. Hmm, there are some light calluses. Her mother teased her to call her "Ama," and Yao Jing smiled honestly, revealing her ungrown gums: "Ama."
Alas, the family drama of pretending to be innocent and asking, "Uncle, who are you?" sounds very sensational and is really not suitable to act with this standard father.
The standard father looked at the little girl he had never seen before. She was a little pink, with dark eyes and light eyebrows. Hmm, a pretty standard girl. I couldn't tell if she would become a stunning beauty in the future, but... having standard looks wasn't bad either.
After looking after the youngest daughter, Ama began to talk to the older children. Fu Dali and Qingde stood with their hands down, answering each question. Ama began by asking about their daily lives: "What time do you get up every day? When do you study? How much bow weight can you pull..." The two answered one by one. Turning a nice boy into an old man, what a skill...
The standard father then asked his eldest daughter, "Your wife said you were ill. Are you feeling better now?" The eldest daughter replied in a baby voice, "I'm fine now. I'm even studying." Her father then asked what book she was studying. She replied that she had finished reciting the Three Character Classic and had started reciting the Thousand Character Classic. Her father nodded briefly, asked her to recite a few lines, praised her, and said that her wife had taught her well. Then, it was time to test the son's reading, and the daughters were carried out.
After parent-child time ended, Yao Jing went back to her room and rolled around, only to realize—she still didn't know her father's last name or name!
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It seemed as if Ama had truly only come home to visit. Besides bringing gifts for his children, his sons received study treasures and weapons, while his daughters, too young to need cosmetics or jewelry, each received a small piece of silk—which the housemaid kept. He also discussed seriously with his wife, "Little girl is a year old now. After she's a week old, let's give her a name. And the eldest girl, too. She's five now, right? Let's give her a name together. A few years ago, Ama and I were both busy out on business, so even when we came back to visit, we were rushed, and we missed this opportunity."
"The master and the old mistress are busy with important matters. Besides, it's easier to raise a child if he is given a name later. Even for little Niuniu, I think it's better to give her a name later." The sensible wife.
The husband knew that his wife did not want to blame him, so he smiled and said, "It's okay." He then asked if everything was ready for the one-year-old ceremony. After receiving an affirmative answer, they both went to bed.
The next morning, Yao Jing's "Zhuazhou" (grab one's first birthday) ceremony officially began. Sadly, she only realized she was one year old when the housekeeper, busy preparing for the ceremony in the courtyard, urged her, "Be careful! These are things the little girl will use for her "Zhuazhou" celebration. Watch out for any bumps or scratches."
Yao Jing, who had long heard of the "Zhuazhou" celebration, had never experienced it before and found it quite novel. In front of the kang in the main room stood a large table, upon which lay seals, Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist scriptures, pens, inkstones, paper, an abacus, coins, account books, jewelry, flowers, rouge, food, toys, shovels, spoons, scissors, a ruler, embroidery thread, patterns...
What should I take? This was a big question. If it was a man, he could just grab a book, a pen, or a knife, but a girl... Yao Jing pondered as she lay on the table under everyone's expectant gaze.
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