RATMOFANF: Chapter 52

 Character Glossary

· Shen Jingxiu (沈静姝): The female protagonist, Li Ling's wife.

· Li Ling (李陵): The Heir of Zhenguo Duke Manor. Shen Jingxiu's husband.

· Shen De'an (沈德安): Shen Jingxiu's father.

· Wang Shi (王氏): Shen Jingxiu's stepmother, formerly a maid serving Jingxiu's birth mother.

· Shen Jinglan (沈静岚): Shen Jingxiu's younger sister (second小姐), daughter of Wang Shi.

· Shen Jingxuan (沈静萱): Shen Jingxiu's youngest sister (third小姐), daughter of Wang Shi.

· Shen Xing (沈兴): Shen Jingxiu's younger brother, son of Wang Shi.

· Lady Jiang (江氏): Shen Jingxiu's deceased birth mother.

Chapter 52: The Eldest Daughter is Born of the First Wife, the Bond is Ultimately Different

Even after getting into the carriage, Jingxiu remained in a drowsy state. As soon as the carriage started rolling, she leaned against Li Ling's shoulder, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

"Wake up, we're almost there." It was only when Li Ling called her that Jingxiu opened her eyes dazedly. She lifted the carriage curtain and glanced outside; the carriage had indeed entered the lane, and a short stretch further would bring them home.

Having not returned to her maternal home for half a year, Jingxiu was now filled with eager anticipation. She took a small bronze mirror from her bundle, looked at herself from different angles, and deftly straightened her clothes.

After being away for so long, she wanted her family to see her looking radiant and beautiful.

Just as Jingxiu was doing this, she noticed Li Ling casting a heavy gaze her way. She turned her head and looked at him with a wooden expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Li Ling didn't speak, he just gestured with his lips towards his own shoulder.

Jingxiu followed his gaze and saw a small damp patch there.

Could it be that while she was sleeping leaning on him earlier...

Jingxiu instinctively covered her mouth with her handkerchief.

"I have an audience with the Emperor later," Li Ling said, his deep eyes glancing heavily at her.

Jingxiu turned sideways, quickly using her handkerchief to wipe the damp spot on his clothes, and said with an awkward smile, "I'm truly sorry."

Li Ling snatched the handkerchief, brushed at the spot himself a couple of times, and said to her through gritted teeth, "Tonight, when we return, you will wash this official robe for me with your own hands. If you don't wash it properly, don't even think about sleeping tonight."

Jingxiu made a dismissive sound and retorted, "If you hadn't been so excessive last night, would I be so tired that I fell asleep in the carriage? And would I have drooled on you?"

Li Ling, annoyed, pinched her ear. "You still think you're in the right, do you?"

Jingxiu pushed his hand away and shot him a glare. "So what if I dirtied your clothes? You deserved it!"

Her expression was gleeful and utterly irritating.

Li Ling's face darkened. Glaring at her, he scolded, "Talking to me like that, how dare you be so rebellious!" As he spoke, he reached out to pinch her ear again.

Jingxiu quickly pulled open the carriage curtain and called out to the family members waiting at the entrance, "Father! Mother! I'm back!"

Just then, the carriage arrived at the main gate of the Shen residence. The coachman stopped the vehicle. Li Ling stood up first. Before getting off, he turned to Jingxiu and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, resentfully, "So bold! Just wait and see how I deal with you when we get back tonight."

Li Ling jumped down from the carriage and reached out to help Jingxiu down.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Shen Jingxiu's father, Shen De'an, his second wife Wang Shi, along with the sisters Shen Jinglan and Shen Jingxuan, and Wang Shi's young son, Shen Xing, had already been waiting at the main gate for a long time.

Shen De'an was naturally delighted that his son-in-law from a powerful family was accompanying his daughter to wish him a happy birthday. Wang Shi, half-hidden behind Shen De'an, glanced at the extraordinarily imposing son-in-law and the radiantly dressed stepdaughter. Her eyes dimmed slightly, and she couldn't help but look towards her own two daughters.

Her own daughters were naturally very beautiful too, but they seemed to pale in comparison next to this stepdaughter.

No wonder. She was originally just a maid of Lady Jiang; how could the daughters she bore compare to the daughter born of Lady Jiang?

While Wang Shi was lost in these tangled thoughts, Shen Jingxiu walked up to her gracefully and greeted her warmly with a smile.

Wang Shi quickly snapped out of it and began chatting warmly with her stepdaughter. Up close, the tiredness in Jingxiu's eyes naturally fell into her view. She remembered that during the three-day post-wedding return visit, her stepdaughter had looked the same.

As someone who had been through it, she naturally understood what caused this kind of tiredness in a woman.

She couldn't help but glance towards the distinguished son-in-law, who was chatting with her husband: Even after being married for so long, the son-in-law's passion for the stepdaughter hasn't diminished at all. Her heart sank a little further.

Her own eldest daughter was now of marriageable age. If only she could have such good fortune too.

Li Ling needed to hurry to the palace. After exchanging pleasantries with Shen De'an at the gate and instructing his attendant to present the birthday gifts he had brought, he left in a rush.

Seeing the son-in-law leave, Wang Shi couldn't help but ask, "The son-in-law managed to come; why didn't he come in before leaving?"

Jingxiu replied, "He has an audience with the Emperor today. It can't be delayed."

Shen Jinglan asked, "Will Brother-in-law come back later?"

Jingxiu smiled. "If he returns early, he might still make it for Father's birthday banquet. If it's late, then there's no helping it."

Shen Jingxuan looked at Jingxiu and said quietly, "Brother-in-law is really handsome!"

Shen Xing also chimed in, "Brother-in-law is truly a handsome man!"

Shen Jingxuan looked at her younger brother as if she had found a kindred spirit and muttered, "If he can't make it, Brother-in-law is really missing out."

Shen Xing asked, puzzled, "Why would Brother-in-law be missing out?"

Shen Jingxuan shot her brother a glare and said with feigned displeasure, "Such a little bookworm! Brother-in-law sent so many birthday gifts. If he can't eat at the birthday banquet, wouldn't that be a loss?"

Jingxiu looked at her youngest sister and said with a laugh, "Xuan'er still hasn't changed her gluttonous nature."

Shen De'an chimed in, "Her? She'll never change. I wonder what kind of person would be willing to marry such a glutton for a wife."

Shen Jingxuan, embarrassed, hid behind Jingxiu. Shen Xing, hearing his father tease his third sister, clapped his hands gleefully and said, "If Third Sister can get married, then a sow can climb a tree!"

Shen Jingxuan, angry, started hitting him. The brother and sister chased each other, running inside.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

The whole family entered the residence noisily and happily. Jingxiu chatted with her father and Wang Shi in the front hall for a while, then suggested going to see the courtyard she lived in before marriage. Shen De'an said, "Your mother knew you were coming back today. She took people to clean it thoroughly last night. You can go rest there for a while."

Hearing this, Shen Jingxuan said discontentedly, "Eldest Sister is already married. I wanted to live in her courtyard, but Father just wouldn't allow it. So biased."

In front of their father, the younger siblings often complained about his favoritism. Shen De'an was used to it, and he did indeed favor his eldest daughter.

The eldest daughter was born of his first wife; the bond was ultimately different.

Jingxiu said to her father, "If Xuan'er wants to live in that courtyard, just let her. I'm married now; there's no need to keep it empty."

"Exactly," Shen Jingxuan pouted in agreement.

Shen De'an shot his third daughter a reproachful look and replied, "Even though you are married, you will always come back to your maternal home. If you find the time to stay for a few nights, I'm afraid you might not be accustomed to staying anywhere else."

Since childhood, her father had always planned things with her in mind. Her father came from a merchant family but was talented. Her mother, who came from an official's family, had valued his character and talent back then. Her maternal grandparents had only this one daughter. Although there was a status difference, to fulfill their daughter's wish, they agreed to her marrying beneath her status.

After marriage, the couple was naturally harmonious. However, later, her father was promoted and went to the capital. Her mother, pregnant with her at the time and delicate, suffered from acclimatization upon arriving in the capital and had no choice but to return to Chaozhou to recuperate. Giving birth to Jingxiu injured her health, so she remained in Chaozhou.

Her mother was an extremely gentle and good-natured person. Worried that her father would have no one to look after him in the capital, she elevated her personal maid, the current Wang Shi, to be her father's concubine and sent her to the capital to manage all aspects of his daily life.

Although her father had a concubine, his feelings for her mother remained deep. Whenever he had leisure, regardless of severe cold or intense heat, he would return to visit them, mother and daughter. Later, he tried many times to bring them back to the capital. But, perhaps her mother was ultimately not destined for this bustling capital, every time she came to the capital, she would fall seriously ill.

When Jingxiu was six, her father was promoted to the fourth rank and became busy with government affairs, unable to return to Chaozhou. Her mother brought her on the long journey to the capital again. She fell seriously ill once more and, in the end, proved beyond the help of medicine, leaving them, father and daughter, behind.

When her mother passed away, her father was only thirty. He was amiable and an honest official. Many people came to her paternal grandmother proposing matches. By then, he held a fourth-rank position and could have married a daughter from an official family of equal status. But her father worried that his young daughter might suffer under a stepmother. Although Wang Shi was originally a maid, she wasn't of lowly status. So, her father elevated the concubine Wang Shi to be his official wife.

He reasoned that Wang Shi was honest and had been her birth mother's personal maid, so she certainly wouldn't let Jingxiu suffer.

Although Wang Shi bore her father two daughters and a son, her father favored Jingxiu the most among all the children.

The younger siblings naturally resented their father's favoritism, but fortunately, this eldest sister treated them affectionately. Therefore, this bit of favoritism from their father hadn't created estrangement between her and her younger siblings.

(End of Chapter)

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