Embroidered Phoenix Chronicle

Chapter 17

Early in the morning, after seeing her husband off, Du hurried to the east courtyard. Fengxian was combing her hair with a wooden comb. Upon seeing her sister-in-law, Du didn't even have time to speak before tears streamed down her face. She simply plopped down on the low couch and began to sob. Fengxian waved her hand, dismissing the servants around her, and casually tied her hair into a simple bun, inserting a silver begonia hairpin and a silk twin begonia flower beside it. She glanced at her weeping sister-in-law, ultimately unable to bear ignoring her, and silently sat down to the side.

A cool morning breeze blew in, and the smell of medicine in the room faded considerably. The incense burner was filled with the scent of lilies, and a large bunch of roses was placed in the sea of ​​flowers on the table. Ruihong had picked them for her early that morning. Fengxian's lips curled up slightly. People aren't afraid of bad luck, as long as there's something even worse!

After Du had finished crying, Fengxian said calmly, "Go wash your face. It's so early in the morning, don't you think it's bad luck!"

Madam Du pleaded, "Sister-in-law, please help me think of a way! Please help me!"

Fengxian looked at the mentally challenged man with affection. Hongxinger cried, and tears streamed down her face. Her sobs were pitiful and whimpering, not at all like the annoying snot and drool she was making!

"Girl, if I had a way, would I still be living like this?"

"Didn't my eldest brother take a concubine?"

"If your older brother gets someone pregnant, do you think I'd dare not pay him off!"

Madam Du was taken aback, and Fengxian, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, said indifferently, "It's the same thing as yesterday. You take the lead yourself, and I'll just support you. It's just another maidservant. Once the others can't hold back anymore, hmph! Don't you really know how your mother-in-law got into the family?"

Madam Du sat up, feeling her blood growing colder and colder. She stood up, washed her face with the leftover water from Fengxian's face wash, opened the powder box, and carefully applied powder. Just as she was about to open the rouge box, Fengxian coldly said, "Who are you dressing up so brightly for?" Madam Du was stunned for a moment, then got up and washed off the powder from her face. The two of them got up and walked to the back.

Madam Xu, the mother-in-law, had arrived early, already having drunk most of her tea. She was already impatient when she saw the two girls and asked irritably, "Why are you so late? You're becoming increasingly inattentive. Grandmother is waiting for you to eat..." Fengxian interrupted her, "Reporting to Mother-in-law, I was a little late this morning because I had to send the eldest and second masters out. I hope you won't be offended. This morning, the eldest and second masters ate lotus leaf pancakes with sweet syrup, scrambled eggs with scallions, pickled lettuce, a plate of steamed cured meat, and tender garlic shoots pickled in vinegar." Madam Xu gritted her teeth in anger: This Huo, you know her words are barbed, but you just can't find a reason to criticize her. The old lady of the Liu family coughed, "Didn't you two eat with them? Actually, the meat is rotten in the pot, so what difference does it make where you eat it?"

Madam Du laughed and said, "What are you eating? My eldest brother left half a bowl of sweet soup for my sister-in-law, and Second Master ate it all up! He kept saying while he ate that home-cooked food is the best!" As she spoke, she chuckled. Old Mrs. Liu then said happily, "Good granddaughter-in-law, don't be upset. If that brat won't let you eat, Grandma will let you eat your fill!" Everyone laughed.

After finishing their meal, everyone cleaned their mouths and went to sit in the inner room. Old Madam Liu ordered someone to brew a pot of the pre-Qingming Maojian tea that the master had just sent. The maids and servants weren't stupid; they each found an excuse to leave, and Liulian slipped away as well.

Du lowered her head, her hand unconsciously stroking the teacup. Fengxian gently nudged her with his elbow. Du looked helplessly at the old lady of the Liu family, "Grandmother, since Hongxing'er is already pregnant, why not have her married and put in her room? Otherwise, without a proper status, she'll be a grown woman with nowhere to hide her face, and it won't be easy to say anything good about the child after it's born."

Before the old lady of the Liu family could speak, Mrs. Liu interrupted, "Since you're going to take her in, why not just elevate her to the status of a concubine? Surely our family can afford to support her?"

Fengxian asked respectfully, "Mother, how old was Father when he took a concubine, and how old was Grandfather when he took a concubine? Cai'er is only twenty years old!"

Madam Xu was speechless. Master Liu was a businessman who only had one concubine to take care of him. He only took a concubine when he was thirty-five. Once you've had your fill of solitary soup, you'll never have children. The old master toiled his whole life, and only after he was over forty and his family was well-off did he take a concubine. She accompanied him on his business trips and took care of his daily life, but she was unable to leave behind any children.

Mrs. Xu forced herself to say, "She's from a good family..."

"Mother!" Madam Du said harshly, "Would a girl from a respectable family do such a shameless thing? Pregnant and trying to find a father for her child?"

Huo then added sarcastically, "It's just that she can't bear to see the Liu family's flesh and blood wandering outside! If she's going to take a concubine, can't she find someone reliable and well-mannered? What good can my second brother learn from a woman like that? If she becomes a concubine, does she expect my second brother to become addicted to women and neglect his studies?!"

This was a blatant slap in the face! Xu's face flushed crimson, and she was speechless!

"Alright, alright," the old lady of the Liu family said, turning to her daughter-in-law, "Go and prepare a set of bedding, four sets of clothes, and four pieces of silver jewelry for Hongxing'er's facial hair removal. Have her kowtow to you and to Cai's wife, and put them in the room for now!"

"Grandmother, let Hongxing stay with you for now. Firstly, I don't know how to take care of a pregnant woman, and secondly, I'm afraid Second Master might act rashly... What if something happens? You know, I can't stop Second Master!"

"Good boy, you're very thoughtful. You can stay with me for now!"

Hongxing'er was unwilling to accept this fate. She hadn't expected to go through so much trouble to only become a concubine. The difference between a mistress and a concubine was as vast as the difference between a concubine and a concubine. Even the worst concubine had maids serving her and could accompany her to visit relatives and friends. If she couldn't sit at the table of the mistresses, couldn't she sit at the table of the concubines? If her children were outstanding, she would outlive the mistress and still be an old lady, and after her death, she could be buried in the ancestral grave, with her name recorded on her tombstone. What was a concubine compared to that? A maid, being innocent and upright, could at least hope to marry a respectable man and become a proper wife. What respectable family would want a concubine? No matter how unwilling she was, she had no choice. At least she had a title. Otherwise, she might be abandoned, her children taken, and sold far away, perhaps even into a brothel to sell her smiles. That would be truly hopeless! With her looks, as long as she firmly grasped the Second Master's heart, what trouble could that foolish woman possibly cause?

After kowtowing, she wasn't even offered tea. Hongxing'er had been looking forward to this day for a long time, and the shoes had been prepared long ago. She hurriedly presented them, but Madam Du didn't even reach out to take them. Madam Huo smoothed things over and took them, praising her good craftsmanship a few times. Madam Du remained silent with a dark face, and Hongxing'er knelt there, not daring to move.

The old lady kept her head down, staring intently as if afraid the teacup would slip away. Madam Xu then spoke a few words of admonition, to which Madam Du coldly replied, "Get up. You're pregnant; go and rest." Hong Xing'er carefully retreated, letting out a long sigh of relief: This ordeal is over!

Du and Huo also took their leave, but somehow they forgot the shoes that Hongxinger had given them on the kang (heated brick bed) of the Liu family's old lady.