Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Longyue returned to her room and was just sitting down to drink a cup of tea when someone knocked on her door.
The Li family’s houses were all straw huts and the doors were quite flimsy. After several knocks, the door became slightly ajar. Longyue saw her eldest niece, Li Xiangxiang, popping her head in.
She was her eldest sister-in-law’s daughter. Her sister-in-law had a pair of twins, and they were both 12 years old this year. She reckoned that in a few years, one would take a wife and the other would be married off. It would be very lively.
“Xiangxiang, is anything the matter?”
Longyue saw that she wanted to say something but hesitated. She knew that she was here to discuss something.
Li Xiangxiang sniffled. Thinking of her mother’s orders, she mustered her courage and came in. She cut to the chase. “Third Auntie, can I learn embroidery from you with Sister Qiao’er from the Chai family?”
‘The young woman blinked her large, round eyes and looked at Longyue expectantly.
Longyue looked at her and recalled that in her previous life, after Li Qingmu became a powerful official, this little girl had married a man from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, he was not a good person. In fact, he was just a dandy. Not only did he have more than 10 concubines, he treated her badly after
she was married to him. One time, he got drunk and beat her up, causing her to suffer a miscarriage and almost lose her life!
Li Qingmu then sent people to beat him up and castrate him. The entire Imperial Censor Court accused that rich man of being arrogant and demanded severe punishment for him. Finally, the emperor sent him to Qiong Prefecture, under the pretext of recuperation
Qiong Prefecture was the southernmost part of the country—a god-forsaken place. People would probably die on the way there.
Thereafter, rumors started swirling that the country was in imminent danger because the emperor only doted on wicked people. There was even the allegation that that rich man was the emperor’s illegitimate son.
This matter caused a big uproar in the capital at that time. The rumors even reached Longyue, who had been separated from Li Qingmu for many years.
It’s never a good thing to be maligned as an evil person, Longyue thought.
Longyue knew that her husband was protective of his family, but outsiders did not share the same perspective. They would stand on their moral high ground and judge him, but when the same things happened to them, they would be even more vindictive than Li Qingmu.
Longyue regained her train of thought and looked at her eldest niece. This girl was quite easy-going, but she listened to her mother too much.
‘The Wang family was cowardly, but they were scheming people deep down. Madam Wang was the one who arranged the marriage for her daughter. It was not enough to have Li Qingmu’s backing—she wanted to cling to those influential families
Longyue believed that it was definitely Madam Wang’s idea that Li Xiangxiang learn embroidery work from her.
Ha, you sure know how to wheel and deal! she thought.
Longyue’s smile did not reach her eyes. She said calmly, “Xiangxiang, do you really want to learn?”
“Yes, yes!”
“You can’t learn embroidery in a day or two. It’s not as simple as you think. You might even puncture your fingers. They’ll bleed and hurt. Are you sure you want to learn?”
“L…” Li Xiangxiang hesitated, but she recalled her mother, Madam Wang’s words. She said that learning embroidery meant having a skill to rely on. In the future, her net worth would increase, and she might be able to marry into a good family.
Who wouldn’t want to marry into a good family?
Li Xiangxiang was tempted, so she gritted her teeth. “Yes!”
“Alright, Third Auntie will teach you! But you’d never touched embroidery in the past, so you can only start with threading. How about this? Come to my place every day to thread. Once you’re familiar with threading, we’ll start officially.”
“Huh? Threading?”
Li Xiangxiang was dumbfounded. She thought that she would be able to learn embroidery soon, but it turned out to be threading? Everyone knows how to do this, right?
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“Why? Are you unwilling?”
“ah, oh, I’ll be right there!”
Threading was a boring job, but it could test a person’s character. If one did not even have this bit of patience, learning embroidery would be a joke and a waste of energy.
Afterward Li Xiangxiang took a needle and thread and went to Longyue’s house.
Li Qingxue watched Li Xiangxiang enter Longyue’s house. She turned around and ran into her mother’s house. The moment she entered, she shouted, “Mom, Mom, I want to learn embroidery too!”
Madam Li Zhou was still mending winter clothes when her daughter shouted so loudly that she almost pricked her finger. “Why are you shouting? How old are you? You want to learn embroidery? It’s still early!”
“Mom, it’s not early anymore. I’ll be nine years old in the new year. I’ll be getting married in another five or six years!”
Awoman could get married at the age of 13 when she reached puberty. Li Qingxue felt that time was of the essence.
“Why do you want to learn embroidery? I’ve prepared all your dowry. You don’t have to worry!”
“Mom, what’s that dowry worth? If I want to marry into a good family, I have to have some skills, right? I don’t know how to read, but if I know how to embroider, my husband’s family will look up to me, right?”
“This…”
Madam Li Zhou was stunned. She had never thought about this before. Now that she heard her daughter say this, she felt that it made sense.
“Then… I’ll have a word with No. 3 branch.”
“Mom, can you ask Longyue to teach me embroidery? I think she’s been letting Xiangxiang do threading. That is so boring. It’s just threading a needle. What’s so difficult about it? Do we still have to practice?”
Her sister-in-law, Li Qingxue, pursed her lips with displeasure.
‘Then Longyue was called over by Madam Li Zhou.
“No. 3 branch…” Madam Li Zhou was a little uncomfortable. When she saw Longyue, she lowered her voice a little, but when she thought about her daughter’s future, she said stubbornly, “Well, since you are teaching one or two people, why don’t you teach Ah Xue too?”
Longyue smiled. One person after another wanted a piece of the pie after seeing her make money with embroidery.
However, all this came as no surprise. She said, “Alright, Mom. Let Qingxue join us later.”
“Well…” Madam Li Zhou paused for a moment before saying, “Can you show Qingxue how to embroider right away? Threading is not that challenging! ”
“Oh, Mom, did you specially call me over to talk about this?”
‘There was a glint in Longyue’s eyes as she smiled and asked.
“Yeah, you know too. My Ah Xue doesn’t have much patience…”
“Mom, embroidery is exquisite work. You have to be patient. Otherwise, you might as well not learn it. Since Ah Xue wants to learn from me, she has to follow my rules!”
Longyue’s expression became a little more serious and her smile disappeared.
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This is establishing dominance and rules. Asking me to do something? That’s alright but everything must go according to my wishes. Don’t think of causing trouble!
Madam Li Zhou was affronted by what Longyue said, but she could not show her displeasure since she was asking a favor. She forced a smile. “Alright, let’s… Let’s do as you say.”
Longyue smiled when she saw her admit defeat. This was a good start. There is a first time for everything, she thought. One by one, they were begging her to do things, and then they would follow the rules she set. As time passed, her prestige in the family would rise. Then when the time was ripe, the
family would be under her control.
It was not that she was too greedy for power. To be honest, wielding power in the Li household did not mean much to her. As the daughter of the first wife of a minister, she did not care about such things.
The reason why she wanted power in this family was that she did not want them to cause trouble for her. If anyone dared to break the family rules later, she would beat them up!