Embroidered Phoenix Chronicle

Yulan watched as the old women finished lashing her a hundred times before returning to report. She stood outside the door for a long time, then mustered her courage and went inside. Inside, Fengxian and her sister were sitting facing each other, eating melon seeds. Yulan knelt down with a thud, "Young mistress, I know I was wrong!"

"Stop kneeling, sit down and answer!"

“I shouldn’t have opened the door. If I hadn’t, we could have pretended not to know and avoided getting involved in this mess. If the Second Young Mistress wants to deal with the people in her own courtyard, let her. Anyway, that child is no good to us. Now, we’ve offended the Second Young Mistress! It’s all my fault for acting on my own and causing so much trouble for you, Grandma!” Yulan wiped her tears with her sleeve. “Please, Grandma, don’t send me away. I promise I will listen to you from now on! I will never act on my own again!” She sobbed uncontrollably.

Fengxian sighed, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and handed them to Yulan. "Don't kneel, sit down and talk! It's good that you know you were wrong. Even if you don't offend the second young mistress, she won't be on our side. Maintaining a facade of harmony is enough. Think things through more in the future, don't be a pushover. In a large family, there are plenty of people who are all smiles to your face but daggers behind your back. You might get eaten alive without even knowing where they started." Yulan lowered her head, picking at a melon seed in her hand.

"Yulan, as long as you serve me well, once you're over twenty, I'll find you a respectable family to marry into, so you can be the head of your own household. Are you willing?"

Magnolia looked up in surprise, and said in disbelief, "Really?"

"Really! You've signed a contract with a fixed term, so I can naturally arrange your marriage. You don't necessarily have to marry a servant in this household. Ten years from now, if you're willing, your family can find you a suitable family. If not, I'll prepare a dowry for you and find you a good husband!"

"Thank you so much, young mistress!" Yulan happily wiped her eyes. "I will definitely do my job well."

"Alright, then you should teach those two well, and explain the pros and cons of certain things to them, is that alright?"

"Okay, I'll make sure they understand these things too. We'll definitely do more work and talk less in the future, and not cause trouble for Grandma!"

"Being a servant is best suited for being deaf and mute! No one can speak of what's inside or outside! Go, think it over. If there's anything you can't figure out, you can come and ask me!"

"Yes!" Yulan nodded vigorously and stepped out.

After she walked away, Liu Lian smiled and said, "Congratulations, sister!" Feng Xian smiled faintly and said, "Let's see first! This is nothing! Xiangmei was even more honest than her back then! Let me ask you a question, tell me honestly, what did my father tell you back then? Did he specifically say that you were not allowed to take any tonics?"

Since there's no way to verify anything now that they're dead, Liulian boldly told her some modern theories: "My godfather said that wealthy people are prone to internal heat, and the more tonics they take, the more internal heat they have. It's extremely unsuitable for the fetus to be too large for the mother. Look at poor families, even if the children are thin, they've never had a difficult childbirth. Your body is weak, so you must avoid taking too many tonics! He also said that you must breastfeed yourself after giving birth and not rely on anyone else!"

"So, the old lady's reason for fattening Hongxing'er up so much might not be good, right? That must be it! Grandmother hates frivolous women who don't know their place the most. For so many years, she's refused to accept my mother-in-law. Why would she suddenly be so kind as to raise her second son's child? She wants a great-grandson, but as for Hongxing'er, humph! ... Look at those tenant farmers' wives, one after another, they're more relaxed than hens laying eggs. They never get any nourishment, never rest, never have a difficult childbirth. You're always restricting my food intake and forcing me to move around, that's your intention, isn't it?"

"Godfather thinks this kind of talk is too shocking, so he never promotes it. Look at the other daughters of the Huo family, none of them had difficult births or used wet nurses. There must be a reason for that! However, your old lady may not understand this, and maybe she's not as wicked as you think!"

"You don't understand. My master once took a concubine, and the old lady took such good care of her. When she was about to give birth, she hired three or four midwives. The master stayed outside while the old lady went to the Buddhist hall to chant sutras and pray for blessings. In the end, both she and her unborn child died. People said that the concubine was unlucky and couldn't bear so much good fortune, which is why she died! This is what Li Mama said herself!" Li Mama was also one of the old lady's maids, but she was not as favored as Zhao Ma. She usually did some cleaning and washing work, so what she said must be true.

"So, you don't even go near that courtyard?" Liu Lian asked.

"Nonsense! I'm pregnant and can't go into the blood room! She's just a concubine, and I'm the eldest daughter-in-law. I'm afraid she'll bring bad luck to us!" Fengxian said slyly.

Sure enough, the delivery was extremely difficult. Maids and servants came rushing to Fengxian for advice, but Fengxian always feigned distress, simply saying to let the midwife decide, and if that didn't work, to call a doctor. Ruicai was frantic. He was still hoping that if Hongxing'er gave birth to a grandson, he could beg his father for mercy, to grant her a proper title, to formally elevate her to the status of a concubine. Then he and Hongxing'er could live happily ever after, and one day when he went on business, he would definitely take her with him, and they would truly be husband and wife…

For two whole days, the three midwives rubbed and rolled her hands, coaxed and persuaded her, using every trick in the book. The two doctors prepared labor-inducing medicines on both sides. Hongxing'er fainted several times, only to be awakened by needles, but in the end, it was all in vain. She left with her son, on whom she had placed so much hope.

A gust of wind blew, scattering apricot blossoms across the ground, pale and silent, tossed about by the wind, gathering together and then scattering, finally settling into the mud. A light drizzle continued to fall, and the whole family was gathered. Rui Cai cursed and berated, unsure who to curse or hate; he instinctively suspected that Hong Xing'er had been framed. Feng Xian, however, refused to listen. "Second Master," he said, "explain yourself clearly! How did I secretly kill your poor girl?"

Ruihong reached out to pull her, but Fengxian shook off his hand. "First, Chunyan couldn't get out of the house and came to me for help. I remembered that Master had told me that there were many refugees on the streets lately, and things were not peaceful, so the gates were probably more secure than usual. I didn't want to break the rules of the house, so I asked her to find Xiuluan and have Xiuluan take her to ask Aunt Rong for a doorplate. Aunt Rong gave it to her right away. The gatekeeper wouldn't let her out, so she came to me again. I went over without saying a word. The gatekeeper, that bastard..." Fengxian couldn't help but burst into tears. Ruihong quickly stepped forward and hugged her, gently patting her back and comforting her with kind words.

"Second brother, thanks to Young Master Liang's men who tied up the gatekeeper, my sister-in-law immediately sent someone to invite the midwife and you. You even came back before Mother, right? Hongxing'er... Didn't my sister-in-law deserve credit for her hard work?" Xiu Luan spoke up for Feng Xian.

“Sister-in-law, I wasn’t talking about you. I remember all the good things you’ve done for me…” Rui Cai quickly explained, “How could I be so ungrateful!”