Chapter 223: Change

 Chapter 223: Change

Shuangxin Courtyard.

Looking at Concubine Lin, who was lying on the bed with a haggard face, Yan Zhigao rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"Master..." 

Concubine Lin gazed at Yan Zhigao with tear-filled eyes, her expression full of indescribable sorrow and grievance.

Yan Zhigao sighed, "I had someone restrict your attendants’ movements to ensure you could rest properly. But look at the trouble you've caused."

Tears welled up in Concubine Lin's eyes, and she began to cry, "I thought... I thought you were tired of me, Master. I was so afraid."

Yan Zhigao sat on the edge of the bed and patted Concubine Lin's hand, "You overthought it. It's alright, stop crying. Didn't the physician say you need to rest?" He reached out and wiped the tears from her face.

Afterward, Yan Zhigao personally fed Concubine Lin a bowl of chicken soup, spoke with her for a while, and then prepared to leave.

As soon as he stood up, Concubine Lin grabbed his hand.

"The front courtyard has some matters I need to attend to. I’ll come back to see you tonight," Yan Zhigao reassured her.

Concubine Lin did not let go, her face showing a hesitant and reluctant expression, yet she seemed to have no choice but to speak, "Master, my body is ruined. Even sitting for a while exhausts me. I’m afraid I don’t have the strength to take care of Fifth Miss anymore."

Yan Zhigao immediately furrowed his brow. If it weren't for her condition, he would have left right away. "Did I not tell you? The old madam is elderly and doesn’t have the energy to care for a newborn."

Concubine Lin, seeing Yan Zhigao's displeasure, quickly replied, "I didn’t mean to trouble the old madam. It was my mistake before, I just thought she might feel lonely and bored, not thinking it through." 

Yan Zhigao knitted his brows. "Then why are you holding onto me?"

Concubine Lin’s eyes filled with tears again. "If my body wasn’t so weak, I would take care of Fifth Miss myself."

In the past, Yan Zhigao might have believed her, but after her attempt to bring her newborn daughter to the old madam’s courtyard, he became suspicious.

Seeing that Yan Zhigao didn’t respond, Concubine Lin continued, mustering the courage to speak, "As the legitimate mother, it’s the wife’s responsibility to raise the children. The wife is kind-hearted, which is why Wenbin and Yishuang stayed by my side. But now my body is failing, and I must entrust Fifth Miss to the wife."

Yan Zhigao frowned but didn’t immediately speak.

"Master..." Seeing that he remained silent, Concubine Lin tugged at his sleeve.

Yan Zhigao gently removed her hand, saying only, "I understand," before leaving.

Once he left, Yan Wenbin and Yan Yishuang entered, looking confused as they stared at Concubine Lin.

"Mother, why are you sending Fifth Sister away?"

Concubine Lin glanced at her third daughter in the swaddling cloth with some impatience, signaling for Xiyun to take the child out before speaking, "Raising children is the duty of the legitimate mother."

Yan Yishuang said, "But Fifth Sister is your daughter. If you send her to the wife, won’t she become distant from us? Mother, please don’t send her away."

Concubine Lin impatiently waved away her daughter's hand, "Enough. Children shouldn’t worry about adult matters. I have my reasons for sending Fifth Miss to the wife. Now, I need to rest, so you two should leave."

Yan Yishuang wanted to say more, but Yan Wenbin pulled her away.

After her children left, Concubine Lin lay back, staring blankly at the ceiling.

What she had always wanted was a son, but she had given birth to a daughter. Keeping another daughter by her side didn’t benefit her much. It was better to send her to the main courtyard to serve the wife.

The wife always prided herself on being virtuous, so now everyone could see how she would treat the daughter she had given birth to.

If the wife treated the child well, she would earn praise from others, but Concubine Lin imagined the wife would feel like she had swallowed a fly. If the wife treated the daughter poorly, then the image of virtue she had carefully built over the years would be shattered.

That evening, Yan Zhigao returned to the main courtyard, distracted and preoccupied.

Madam Li, seeing his troubled expression, immediately asked, "Master, what’s wrong? Did something happen at the Prefectural office?" 

Seeing the concerned look in his wife’s eyes, Yan Zhigao felt even more uncomfortable.

Though the children of the household were to be raised by the wife, there had been some tension between the wife and Concubine Lin over the years. If the wife were to raise Concubine Lin's child, she likely wouldn't be happy about it.

Seeing his troubled expression, Madam Li’s eyes flickered. Thinking about how Yan Zhigao had gone to Concubine Lin’s side again today, she smiled and asked, “Has something happened with Concubine Lin again?”

Yan Zhigao hesitated before answering, “She’s hurt her body and doesn’t have the strength to take care of Fifth Miss.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Li immediately smiled and interrupted, “I thought it was something serious, seeing you so troubled. After the physician explained Concubine Lin’s condition, I had someone hire two women specifically to look after the child and brought them to the house.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll send them to Concubine Lin’s. With them taking care of Fifth Miss, she’ll just need to play with the child when she wakes up each day. She doesn’t need to worry about anything else.”

Yan Zhigao stared at Madam Li, who was happily deciding things, and for a moment, didn’t know what to say.

Madam Li noticed his silence and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Do you have any objections to my arrangement?”

Yan Zhigao quickly shook his head, “No, your arrangements are perfect.”

Madam Li smiled, “I am the master’s wife; these things are my duty.”

Yan Zhigao could only silently respond.

The next day, when Concubine Lin saw the two women brought in to take care of the child, she was so angry that she immediately smashed several things. Ping Xiao, who had come to deliver them, sneered upon seeing this.

“Concubine Lin sure is bold. It seems the things in the Yan family don’t require you to spend money on them. The Madam said that the Yan family values thrift, and since you intentionally broke things in your room, you should pay for them. If you can’t, then leave the room empty.”

Seeing Concubine Lin’s eyes burning with fury, Ping Xiao wasn’t afraid.

“It looks like Concubine Lin is quite upset. You could always go to the master and make trouble; let’s see if the master will let you continue causing chaos!”

With that, she snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Concubine Lin had caused trouble by failing to send her newborn daughter to the old madam’s courtyard. Now, she was targeting Madam Li. This was something that Duhua only learned after the situation was resolved.

“The changes in the environment really have a big impact on people,” Duhua said with some emotion.

In the past, her mother was kind, but to be honest, a bit too gentle.

After coming to Xingzhou, and interacting more with the other women in the back courtyard, her methods had gradually become sharper and more decisive.

Look at how neatly and decisively things were handled. Even though her stepfather was biased toward Shuangxin Courtyard, he couldn’t even say no.

Wang Man’er didn’t quite understand what her young lady meant, but as long as she knew Concubine Lin hadn’t gotten what she wanted, she was happy. “Miss, tomorrow the master and fourth master will be back. Is your purse finished?”

Gu Yu brought over the embroidery frame. “The embroidered surface is done; it’s just the final touches left.”

Wang Man’er looked at the embroidery frame and asked with confusion, “Miss, why are you embroidering a panda on one side and a tiger on the other?”

Duhua smiled. “Of course, it’s because Fourth Brother has both a cute and silly side, as well as a brave and fierce side.”

(End of chapter)