The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

Yun Shuyao felt very innocent; she didn’t raise her daughter like a son. She taught her everything a girl should know about proper conduct and rules.

She was self-aware. She knew she wasn’t some predestined woman with the power to lead an era’s transformation, advancing this world from a feudal era to a socialist one.

Against such a backdrop, teaching her daughter to be too unconventional was not good for her, especially when the daughter was still young and in the process of shaping her worldview.

Because with one careless mistake, her daughter might say something inappropriate or do something that shouldn’t be seen by others.

In an era where a single wrong word could lead to condemnation, this was endangering the child.

Yun Shuyao took out her daughter’s schedule and showed it to Lin Ruhai: “Is there anything wrong with this?”

Of course, there was nothing wrong with this schedule. Lin Ruhai had been involved in creating it. He knew what classes his daughter was taking and what she was learning. What he wanted to talk about was something else.

“Do you think Luoyu’s temperament is perhaps a bit too lively?”

She would open her mouth and scold someone without a moment’s hesitation, making him feel as if he were looking at a mischievous tomboy.

Yun Shuyao: “?”

She was confused. “What do you mean by ‘too lively’? Do you think Luoyu’s temperament isn’t good?”

Lin Ruhai shook his head. “It’s not that it’s not good.”

Yun Shuyao replied, “If it’s not bad, then it must be good.” She was very satisfied with her daughter’s temperament.

What’s wrong with scolding someone? In this case, it was clear that the other party had provoked her daughter first. Moreover, her daughter hadn’t used any vulgar language, which was entirely in line with the demeanor of a refined lady.

Seeing Yun Shuyao’s satisfied expression, Lin Ruhai was rendered speechless.

His expectation for his daughter was that she should be well-read, courteous, and possess an elegant character. He didn’t have strict requirements on her temperament, although most people expected women to be gentle and reserved. However, speaking of which, although they were Han Chinese, they were part of the Eight Banners, and there were many bold and heroic women in Manchu households, which was different from the way Han families raised their daughters.

Scolding people wasn’t exclusively a privilege for boys.

Being a bit strong-willed was not a problem either.

Lin Ruhai suddenly thought of his daughter’s face, which was becoming more and more outstanding as she grew up.

With the way his daughter was now, there was no need to worry that she would be disliked by her future husband’s family because of her appearance.

After all, with a stronger temperament, she wouldn’t suffer losses easily. Besides, it seemed she was well taught, as she even knew how to stand up for her sister and help her out of difficult situations.

This demonstrated a sense of care and support for her siblings.

Lin Ruhai did not want to see a day when his children would remain indifferent when their brothers or sisters faced difficulties.

Lin Ruhai shook his head and pondered for a moment. “Forget it, it’s nothing.”

He thought of his daughter’s horseback riding lessons.

She performed exceptionally well.

Although she was still young and the instructor hadn’t fully let her take control, her attitude and talent were even better than her younger brother’s.

Lin Ruhai no longer mentioned anything about Luoyu’s education and instead thought of Yingyu. She was indeed a bit timid, but that wasn’t her fault either.

Compared to when she was younger, Yingyu’s health had improved quite a bit, but she was still somewhat weaker than an average child. If the weather suddenly changed, or if the windows were left too wide open at night, or if she wore too few clothes, she would easily fall ill and often recuperate in her own courtyard, staying under that small patch of sky.

Once she went out more often and moved around, she would become braver.

Lin Ruhai took a sip of tea. It was floral tea; the Yun family, as always, favored this kind.

A few goji berries and red dates had been added to it, giving it a slightly sweet taste, which was not to Lin Ruhai’s liking.

He put down the teacup and instructed a maid, “Is there any Maojian tea left from what I sent over before?”

Naturally, there was.

Yun Shuyao rarely drank tea leaves, and the tea that Lin Ruhai sent over was usually only brewed when he came.

Since he came over unexpectedly this time, there had been no preparation in advance for the tea he preferred.

Lin Ruhai asked, “Can we cultivate another ‘Eighteen Scholars’ tree?”

The flowers and plants tended by the Yun family were becoming more and more exceptional, especially the recent “Eighteen Scholars” tree, which even made Lin Ruhai applaud with admiration.

Unfortunately, such rare treasures were not often seen.

Moreover, word about it had gotten out and reached the ears of others, who then pestered him into hosting a flower appreciation banquet. After much persuasion, someone managed to trade it away.

As for when the next one would come, who knew?

Yun Shuyao smiled apologetically and said, “Master, you know this depends on the right time, place, and people; it can’t be forced.”

Rarity increases value. No matter how precious something is, if it becomes too common, its value will plummet. As an excellent seller, one must learn to control production and elevate the product’s worth. This way, without too much effort, she could still earn a lot of profit.

When Lin Ruhai asked about the “Eighteen Scholars,” Yun Shuyao asked about the jade.

In recent years, she had acquired a second piece of rare material that was useful for the spirit mirror.

That was also an ordinary-looking piece of jade, but the reaction of the spirit mirror when she got closer to it did not deceive her. After absorbing that piece, her spirit mirror appeared a bit brighter, and the patterns on it became clearer. However, how long it would take to fully restore it was still unknown.

Since then, she has developed a hobby of buying ordinary jade.

Her reason for buying them was quite straightforward: to find some beautiful jade stones to place on potted plants, enhancing their aesthetic appeal.

As for why they all seemed like ordinary jade, Yun Shuyao had a theory. If they were brilliant and dazzling, they would have already been recognized as valuable treasures by others. Only when such treasures appeared concealed like this did she have the chance to find them at a bargain.

Lin Ruhai nodded, feeling a bit helpless. “You, I really don’t know how you choose them.”

Every time, she would have a large batch sent over, but in the end, she would only keep a small portion.

It wasn’t because of the price.

Nor was it purely because of their appearance; he couldn’t figure out her criteria for selection.

Yun Shuyao smiled slightly. “If it interests me, I’ll keep it. The money I earn is meant to be spent. Since I earn a lot, it’s not excessive to spend some on my interests.” If she hadn’t checked those top-grade jade stones and found that none of them contained hidden wonders, she could have made even more money.

Lin Ruhai nodded again.

Thinking about her current income, he sometimes couldn’t help but marvel.

Shuyao truly… has a knack for making money.

Thinking back to when she first entered the household, she didn’t even have a set of decent jewelry. Now, she earns tens of thousands of taels of silver a year.

If she was lucky and cultivated a rare treasure, her income could easily exceed a hundred thousand taels. She just kept a low profile, and many people didn’t know she could earn that much.

He could roughly estimate her earnings based on the quantities that came in and out.

Although it helped that he protected her from being sabotaged by others, overall, it was still because the quality of the products she cultivated was good.

This amount is about the same as the extra annual income of some high-ranking officials, perhaps even more than that.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Seeing that Lin Ruhai had nothing more to say, Yun Shuyao picked up her paintbrush and continued working on her painting. She had been working on this piece for several days and had not yet finished it.

It looked almost complete, but she felt like something was still missing.

Lin Ruhai walked over, admired the painting for a while, and then pointed to a corner. “You’re missing something here. Adding a pair of mandarin ducks or a crane would be more fitting.”

The more Lin Ruhai looked at the painting, the more he nodded in approval.

Her progress was clearly visible.

Shuyao’s painting skills could be said to have been developed under his guidance. However, in this regard, Lin Ruhai had to express a bit of regret—what a pity she was born a woman.

She had a remarkable ability to capture the essence of things in her paintings, and she used a perspective technique that made the living creatures she painted especially vivid and lifelike. If she were a man and continued to delve into this art, she could easily become a great master of the generation.

Unfortunately, being born a woman didn’t mean she couldn’t pursue this path, but compared to men, there were naturally many more restrictions.

Lin Ruhai supported her in continuing to explore and refine her skills.

Faced with Lin Ruhai’s praise, Yun Shuyao could only smile modestly.

In reality, she knew she had simply benefited from the extensive knowledge she had acquired in her previous life. Some things, for example, painting a tiger—how could the original owner, a young lady confined to her boudoir, have ever seen a tiger capture its essence in a painting?

But she was different. She hadn’t seen a tiger in real life either, but she had seen them on television, in posters, and later, during the apocalypse, she had even fought life-and-death battles with mutated beasts. It was natural for her to be able to capture their essence in her paintings.

Besides… how many people didn’t try drawing a few strokes of a comic in their notebooks during their school days? If someone was interested, they might even take some lessons.

She had never formally studied sketching, but she had a classmate who sat behind her who loved to draw and eventually chose to pursue an art exam to become an art student. Being influenced by that environment, she picked up a bit here and there.

She wasn’t aiming to become a renowned historical figure; she simply believed that having more skills never hurt.

If one day she could return to the modern era, she wouldn’t be able to take physical objects with her, but the knowledge and skills she learned would be different.

With a skill to rely on, she wouldn’t have to become a “996” worker subjected to grueling hours as a corporate drone.

Making a living would become an easy task.

Her progress in calligraphy and painting was significant compared to her previous self, but one area where her progress had been slow was in learning medicine.

She could now take pulses, but only at a basic level. However, she was quite familiar with recipes for medicinal meals and supplements. If she returned to the modern world, opening a medicinal meal restaurant wouldn’t be a problem, but she still wanted to master traditional Chinese medicine.

Since there was still plenty of time, she wasn’t in a hurry.

Yun Shuyao didn’t follow Lin Ruhai’s suggestion to add mandarin ducks or cranes to her painting.

Her attitude toward Lin Ruhai was certainly different from when she first entered the household.

Just as now, he could suggest, but whether she followed his advice or not was her decision.

However, after his reminder, she did feel that something was missing. She thought that adding a panda to the bamboo grove next to the scene would be quite fitting.

She had also heard of a cute creature called the “iron-eating beast” and could paint it based on its description.

As for the consequences of not following advice… she had been around for many years and had learned to navigate the nuances of dealing with superiors. Of course, she would seek conveniences for herself within acceptable limits.

She knew that Lin Ruhai wouldn’t mind such things.

As expected, Lin Ruhai didn’t say anything. Looking at the image she had sketched with just a few strokes, he pondered for a moment. “Is this a panda?”

Yun Shuyao replied, “Yes, isn’t it cute? The charm of a national treasure is not to be underestimated.”

Lin Ruhai couldn’t help but nod. It indeed looked endearingly clumsy. “Do you like it? I’ll ask about it another day.”

Yun Shuyao: “!!!”

Was this the rhythm of raising a national treasure?

Oh, right, at this time it wasn’t yet a national treasure. As long as she had the means, she could keep one!

Yun Shuyao’s gaze toward Lin Ruhai suddenly changed.

If she could actually keep a national treasure, he wouldn’t just be her superior—she’d be willing to call him “Dad”!

Lin Ruhai: …?

……

Concubine Mei knew that her daughter had been troubled today and that it was her younger sister who helped her out. She snorted inwardly. Just that Luoyu girl could act all cute and smart, just like the Yun family. Look, now the master has gone to see Concubine Yun?

She muttered a curse under her breath, but her mood improved somewhat when she remembered that there would be no second child from that side.

Everyone was the same, just a difference of a few pounds.

As she was thinking about this, the old lady was also contemplating related issues.

In the world of her dreams, she did have a grandson, but he died young, surviving only until the age of three. Despite using every possible means, he still didn’t survive.

She had already changed the destinies of so many people; she should be able to change her grandson’s fate as well.

When Jia Min was about to give birth to Daiyu, her grandson was also due to arrive.

This time, she would ensure his protection, preventing any premature birth and making sure her grandson arrived safely into this world.

She thought about her son’s courtyard.

Currently, the courtyard still has the same few people.

First was Jia Min, followed by two concubines, and then three secondary rooms.

She had established the rule that only those with children could be promoted to concubine status; otherwise, they remained in the secondary rooms. Over the years, none of the three had received good news, so they remained in their current status.

Among the three secondary rooms, Lv Lan and Lv Liu had been serving Lin Ruhai for a long time, giving them more seniority and higher status. Zhao Xinghua, although she came with Jia Min as a dowry, had not yet consummated her marriage and had no influence on Jia Min. Even a decent maid had more say than she did.

Her deceased grandson had been born to Lv Lan.

The old lady hoped things would turn out well this time.

She only had one grandson.

Of course, she would never say it was enough.

If possible, she would have loved to have ten or eight grandchildren, a house full of descendants—she would never feel it was too many.

At this point, she had to lament that the two concubines admitted by the master, as the master had said, were indeed beneficial for offspring. They had both given birth to children, but unfortunately, after that incident, there had been no more news.

She wanted to consult Master Zhizhao again to see if there was any issue, but unfortunately, Master Zhizhao had vanished without a trace since then. After all this time, there had been no further rumors about him.

Sometimes the old lady wondered if Master Zhizhao had been sent by the heavens specifically to solve her problems.

Thinking this way might be a bit presumptuous; their family wasn’t at a level where celestial beings were sent to resolve their issues.

…

As time passed, Jia Min’s belly grew prominently; she was about to give birth.

Overall, her belly wasn’t excessively large, but due to her slender figure, it appeared quite striking.

At this critical moment, the old lady gave orders, focusing on ensuring a safe delivery. Everything else had already been prepared.

What made the old lady a bit unhappy was that she hadn’t been much involved, but she assumed the Jia family wouldn’t harm Jia Min on such an important matter, so she didn’t press the issue.

Then, the old lady calculated the months and concluded that Lv Lan should be pregnant.

She had Doctor Zhou check everyone’s pulse to see if there were any discrepancies.

If he indeed detected signs of pregnancy, she wouldn’t announce it immediately. She planned to keep it a secret until Jia Min gave birth, fearing that Jia Min’s anxious nature might cause unnecessary worry at such a crucial time.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened.

Doctor Zhou gave her a satisfactory reply: “Congratulations, Old Lady. Miss Lu Lan is indeed pregnant!”