Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was dead set on going to the city to become a concubine. I wanted good food, good drink, and to never go hungry again.

My mother glanced at my father lying on the bed and sighed.

That night, after my younger brother and sister had fallen asleep, she quietly pulled me into the kitchen.

She cooked a pot of thick brown rice porridge, with sweet chunks of red yam mixed in.

And that wasn’t all.

My mother actually stir-fried a bowl of pea shoots for me in lard.

Then she took the last two eggs from the cabinet and made me a brimming bowl of sweet egg soup.

The kitchen filled with fragrance, and my stomach growled loudly.

But when I saw my mother pan-fry the last piece of meat for me, most of my craving vanished.

I burst into tears with a wail, wiping my eyes as I said, “Mother, just tell me. What terminal illness do I have?”

In our house, only sick people were allowed to have a bowl of sweet egg soup.

Today, my mother had made me yam rice, stir-fried vegetables in lard, and even given me all the meat.

This was clearly a last meal before execution!

The old folks always said a full belly made it easier to set off on the road. My mother was sending me straight to the underworld!

My mother smacked my hand with her chopsticks and snapped, “What are you howling for? You’re not sick! If your brother and sister hear you, you’ll be licking the plates instead!”

The moment I heard that, I didn’t dare cry anymore. I picked up my chopsticks and started shoveling rice into my mouth.

Ever since my father fell ill, all the silver in the house had been spent.

It had been a long, long time since we’d eaten our fill.

As I ate, I forced down my greed and pushed the bowl toward my mother.

I swallowed and said, “Mother, you eat too.”

Who would have thought that the moment I said that, my mother would grab me and start sobbing?

She slapped herself hard across the mouth and said in remorse, “I’m a beast!”

My mother held me and cried without stopping.

On ordinary days, she was the strongest person I knew. Even after Father became so ill he couldn’t get out of bed, she had gritted her teeth and endured.

But now, my mother was crying so hard she nearly fainted.

That night, she coaxed me to sleep.

On the large heated brick bed, my father slept on the far left, followed by my younger brother, then my younger sister.

Those two little brats snored, ground their teeth, and smacked their lips, making it impossible to sleep in peace.

In the year since Father had fallen ill, my brother and sister had visibly wasted away.

Mosquitoes buzzed around them nonstop.

I killed two with one slap, but hardly any blood came out.

Sigh. Even mosquitoes couldn’t draw much blood in our house. That showed just how starved our family of five had become.

My mother was hardworking and capable. All by herself, she tended the family’s three mu of fields properly.

She also hired herself out for odd jobs-washing clothes, carrying night-soil buckets. As long as there was silver to be earned, she was willing to do any dirty or exhausting work.

But even if she worked herself to death, she still couldn’t feed us children and cure my father’s illness.

I thought again of what the auntie next door had said when she came to persuade us.

“Dani is already seventeen. You’ve always been afraid she’d go hungry if she married into another family, so you refused to let her marry just anyone.”

“But now the carpenter can’t work anymore. How is one woman supposed to support this whole family?”

“Dani was born fair and plump. If she’s chosen to become a respectable concubine of the Shen Family, it would be a happy occasion for you too.”

The auntie said that if I were chosen, the Shen Family would give a betrothal gift of one hundred taels of silver.

One hundred taels! Back when my father was earning the most from his work, he could only make five taels a month.

I lay in bed, counting on my fingers, trying to figure out just how much one hundred taels was.

But by the time I counted past sixty, my head started getting muddled.

Forget it. I wouldn’t think about it anymore. In any case, one hundred taels was a lot of silver!

But my mother was not swayed by the one hundred taels.

She lowered her head and said, “Dani has been slow since she was little. She can’t even count to a hundred properly. Sending her off to be a concubine in some wealthy household-how is that any different from pushing her into a fire pit?”

Auntie let out a long sigh. “You, honestly! You’re so stubborn! It’s not as if Dani will be a concubine for the rest of her life. Once she bears the Shen Family a child, they’ll give her a sum of silver and release her from the mansion. With money to her name, do you think she’ll have trouble marrying again?”

Ah, what a good deal.

They’d give us silver, and I’d get to eat meat. But my mother just couldn’t see sense.

Wasn’t it just having a baby?

What was the big deal?

I quietly got up and packed my little bundle, planning to sneak into the city.

My younger brothers and sisters were sound asleep.

I turned back to look at them.

Moonlight seeped in through the broken window.

I saw my brothers’ flat little bellies.

I saw my sister’s thin little legs.

I saw my mother’s feet, covered all over in blood blisters.

I thought to myself, I have to succeed in bearing Eldest Master Shen a child!

My father noticed me leaving.

He rolled over and started coughing violently.

I went over and took out the knife he had hidden beneath his pillow.

My father grabbed my hand and opened his eyes.

He was too ill to speak, but when he held on to me, his grip was terribly strong.

“Father, I’m going to earn silver for the family. I’ll get you treated, let my brothers and sisters eat their fill, and buy Mother a new pair of shoes.”

Scalding tears fell from my father’s eyes and splashed onto the back of my hand, burning so hot my chest ached.

I pried his fingers open, then turned and left home without looking back.

The last time I entered the city was the winter before last.

Father and Mother had taken us there to buy things for the New Year. Mother picked out a bolt of floral cloth to make me clothes.

She said I was grown now and needed a few proper outfits.

She also bought lots of delicious pastries as a treat for us.

After we finished shopping, Mother counted the silver in her hand and found there was still some left.

With one grand wave of her hand, she proudly took us to a stall and bought a full thirty meat buns.

Our whole family ate until our mouths were glossy with oil.

While my younger brothers and sisters all ran off to look at the lanterns,

Mother secretly stuffed five more buns into my hands. She knew I wasn’t full and had specially saved them for me.

Two years later, as I passed by the bun shop again, the aroma burrowed straight into my nose.

I thought, once I smoothly became a concubine,

I would definitely buy a hundred buns and let my whole family eat their fill.

When Auntie saw me come into the city, a trace of joy appeared on her face.

I knew that if she handled this matter well, she would get a handsome referral fee.

But she was only happy for a moment before she sighed again, her eyes reddening.

Auntie turned away to wipe her tears, then comforted me. “Dani, don’t be afraid. I asked around very carefully. Eldest Master Shen is a man of noble character, and Lady Shen has never mistreated anyone. You won’t suffer after you go there.”

I grinned. “Auntie, how could a life where I can eat my fill and have meat every meal be suffering?”

Seeing me smile so brightly, Auntie smiled too. “Dani, you’re a fortunate girl.”

Auntie spent her own money to buy me four buns, then changed me into an old outfit that belonged to her daughter.

After dressing me up properly and giving me all sorts of instructions, she finally brought me to the Shen Mansion.

Along with three other girls waiting to be chosen, I stood in the central courtyard and waited.

The sun beat down fiercely, but Eldest Master Shen and Lady Shen still did not appear.

After we had stood there for more than two hours, the girls beside me collapsed one after another.

Only I was still standing.

At that moment, a pretty young woman with a kind face came out.

Smiling, she said, “Madam has chosen you. This servant is Yurong. From now on, I will serve you, Concubine.”