Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When I reached the front hall, I saw Yurong kneeling in the courtyard, her face flushed red from the sun.

The beautiful Madam sneered. “You chose to degrade yourself! You want to go serve as a slave to the man who seized our family property and killed our father. Then as the Madam of this household, if I punish you, you will accept it.”

So Yurong was actually Madam’s sister.

Madam’s words were vicious, but I clearly saw a glimmer of tears flash in her eyes.

Yurong knelt on the ground, her expression calm, and said nothing.

My mother often said that family was like broken bones still joined by tendons. How could blood sisters truly hate each other that deeply?

With the two sisters locked in a standoff like this, both of them had to be suffering inside.

I was grateful to Yurong for helping me.

But I also remembered Madam’s kindness. She had chosen me, and that was the only reason I could take silver home to treat my father’s illness.

Madam had even asked what I liked. When she found out I loved to eat, she told the kitchen to make more good food for me.

If either of them was unhappy, I felt bad too.

I went over, took Madam’s hand, and gently shook her arm. “Madam, don’t be sad. No matter how big the problem is, why don’t we sit down, have a meal, and then talk it over slowly?”

As soon as Madam heard that, her tears fell.

Choking up, she said, “I’m not sad!”

Madam was terribly stubborn, so I hurriedly wiped her tears for her.

Then I went to pull Yurong up. When she saw Madam crying, she slowly rose to her feet.

I brought their hands together. They looked at each other, and both their eyes reddened.

Eldest Master Shen smiled and said, “Huihui is right. I’ll have someone set a table in the courtyard. We can admire the moon and drink. Whatever grievances there are, let the wine speak for them.”

Tonight happened to be the fifteenth, and the moon in the sky was as round as a big flatbread.

The four of us sat at one table, eating and drinking.

The wine tasted faintly sweet, with a little sourness, and when I swallowed it, there was also a trace of bitterness.

I couldn’t help savoring it carefully, and before I knew it, I had drunk several cups in a row.

Madam did not speak either. She only kept drinking, and after a while, she leaned against my shoulder and began to cry.

She said many things I did not understand.

But I did come to understand that Madam was Yurong’s younger sister.

The two of them and Eldest Master Shen had grown up together.

Later, Madam’s father committed some offense, and the whole family was exiled.

To protect Madam, Eldest Master Shen married her.

Yurong, meanwhile, became a servant to some noble person.

Eldest Master Shen tried to wipe Madam’s tears.

But Madam avoided his hand.

Stubbornly, she said, “Shen Zhao, once you finish your business here, go back to the capital. I don’t love you at all. There’s no need for you to waste your time on me here.”

I had been focused on drinking, but when I heard that, I looked up in surprise and said, “Madam, aren’t you telling a blatant lie? Anyone with eyes can see you love the Eldest Master. The way you look at him is just like the way I look at sugar cakes.”

I did not know whether I had said the wrong thing, but Madam cried even harder.

I was so frightened I did not dare drink anymore.

Yurong poured me another cup and said calmly, “It’s not your fault. Keep drinking. Her body was injured on the road to exile, and she can no longer bear children. Shen Zhao is the legitimate son. He has to continue the Shen Family line, so sooner or later, he will have to take a concubine.”

I immediately patted my belly and said readily, “I’ll give birth for Madam! Once the child is born, I’ll leave. You can tell everyone the child was born to Madam. That way, Madam and the Eldest Master can have a happy ending.”

Madam froze, then asked me softly, “Huihui, don’t you feel wronged?”

I did not understand. “What’s there to feel wronged about? I heard from my mother that plenty of people hire women to bear children for them. Having a child is much better than being driven out by your husband’s family. Your man is still your man, the child is also your child, and you can still live your days properly.”

As far as I was concerned, they were all good people. Kind people.

But they were tormenting themselves and breaking their own hearts over things like this. It really wasn’t worth it.

In this world, aside from getting sick and going hungry, there was no such thing as a real hardship.

For farming families like ours, the more children you had, the less likely people were to bully you.

A household only prospered when it had plenty of people.

If the woman of a family couldn’t bear children,

the man would travel far away and spend money to hire another man’s wife.

The hired wife would be fed and treated well until she gave birth.

Once she finished her postpartum confinement, she would take the silver and leave.

From then on, they would be separated by thousands of miles and never see each other again.

The neighbors would all tacitly avoid mentioning it and come over with eggs to offer congratulations.

Madam said sorrowfully, “But Huihui, when you love someone, you don’t want to share him with anyone else.”

I drank another cup, my head growing dizzy as I said, “This won’t do, and that won’t do either. Then leave Eldest Master and find a man you don’t have to share. If you ask me, Eldest Master has seen you cry so many times and still bought me as a concubine. He’s clearly forcing you to make a choice and give in. Since that’s the case, you should make more plans for yourself.”

I truly didn’t understand. The reasoning was so simple, so what was Madam getting all tangled up over?

Back then, my grandmother despised my mother for giving birth to me, a girl, and cursed her every day.

My father only saw my mother cry once before he split the household.

My father said that if he had seen Mother cry once, who knew how many times she had cried behind his back?

My mother said that if a man truly cared about a woman, he would never let her suffer grievances.

Eldest Master had made Madam cry so many times. Clearly, he did not care that much about her.

Madam’s tears were worthless. They flowed away for nothing, hurting both her heart and her eyes.

Eldest Master Shen glanced at me and flicked my forehead hard.

Madam stared blankly into space.

Yurong gave a few cold laughs.

There were cicadas and crickets calling in the garden, but no more of their voices.

Even such a beautiful season of blossoms and full moons could not warm up this cold, deserted scene.

The sound of applause came from behind us. They glanced at the newcomer and all stood up at the same time.

Yurong dragged me up as well.

That person clapped his hands and said mockingly, “Lin Congning, you mocked Yurong for becoming my servant, but why don’t you look in a mirror and see what sort of state you’re in? If I were you, I’d hurry up and get myself a child to secure my position. Old Madam Shen has already given the order. If you still can’t conceive, then Shen Zhao will raise his cousin to the status of concubine. If you ask me, with that little bit of scheming you have, you can only beat this fool here. You might as well accept your fate sooner rather than later.”

Madam’s face turned deathly pale when she heard that, but she no longer cried.

I thought this person really spoke horribly. I wasn’t even holding it against him for looking so strange and bewitching, like some Short-Lived Wretch.

Yet he had the nerve to call me a fool.

I secretly rolled my eyes at him.

Who would have thought he was so sharp? He glanced at me, his expression turning icy cold.

Madam looked at Eldest Master Shen, a faint sorrow in her eyes.

Eldest Master Shen stroked her hair by the temple. His expression was gentle, but he said nothing.

Madam bit her lip, and at last she nodded and said, “All right. If it’s Huihui, I’m willing.”

That person said lazily, “You should have done this long ago. No time like the present. Shen Zhao, consummate the marriage with this fool tonight.”

I thought to myself, I had already slept tangled up with Eldest Master for many days.

But Eldest Master’s mind wasn’t very good. Maybe he didn’t remember, and I couldn’t mention it either.

Yurong suddenly said, “No!”

Everyone looked at her.

Forcing herself to stay calm, she said, “Huihui hasn’t been feeling well lately and needs to recuperate. It should wait a while.”