The girl held the cup in her fingertips and glanced at everyone in the hall calmly.

Now that all the female members of the family have arrived, the Ruan family's inner house can be considered a large family.

Except for the old lady who lives in Shouning Hall.

The eldest wife of the eldest son, Madam Ji, was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Qingyuan. She had a concubine in the palace, who was Madam Ji's cousin, and they had a good relationship. She also had someone in the court, who could be considered to have risen to prominence and status.

The second branch of the Ruan family who lives in the west wing is the concubine's daughter, so we will not talk about them for now.

The remaining concubines also all have their own backgrounds.

Aunt Xu, who had been favored by the emperor for many years, was a prostitute in a brothel in the capital. It was said that she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was especially good at dancing to "Prince Lanling's March into Battle", which immediately bewitched Master Ruan.

He originally planned to marry his wife first and then take her as a concubine. But after Xu Yi Niang followed him, she became pregnant soon.

She begged again and again, hoping to stay with Master Ruan forever. The master, on impulse, took her in first and made her his concubine.

This incident has been a thorn in Mrs. Ji's heart for her entire life.

After Ji got married, in order to save face for his wife, Mr. Ruan always lived in the main courtyard.

But Aunt Xu was about to give birth to a lively and active boy, who would be given the title of the eldest son of a concubine.

Until Ji gave birth to the second legitimate son, it was said that Aunt Xu and Ji had been fighting each other to the death.

In order to check and balance the two, Mr. Ruan promoted Hongchun, the cautious and careful maid who had always served him, to be his concubine Zhu.

It took more than a year for Aunt Zhu to get pregnant again and gave birth to a baby girl, who became the eldest wife, Ruan Yuci.

The one who was welcomed into the family later was the concubine of the young official, Su Yi Niang, who was pregnant with a child, the second wife, Ruan Yuwan.

Later, Aunt Su became pregnant again and gave birth to the third wife, Ruan Yufu.

The remaining fourth lady, Ruan Yuxi, is the daughter of Aunt Xu.

Ruan Yuluan's biological mother, Aunt Lou, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman who was originally expected to be a concubine in the palace. However, her family fell into poverty, and she was introduced to Master Ruan.

If she hadn't come to the Ruan family, she would probably have fallen into prostitution.

But perhaps because of the misfortune in her family, she suffered from mental illness, and she looked sad and sick all year round. But she liked reading, and she was well-read at home.

She was already weak and had mental illness, plus the hardships of pregnancy and childbirth. As soon as Ruan Yuluan was born, she became even sicker. She barely managed to hold on until last year, but finally passed away.

The remaining sixth daughter, Ruan Yuxi, was born to Concubine Du, who was married later. Concubine Du was Concubine Xu's personal maid. In order to consolidate her position, she was specially promoted to the master's side.

"...Speaking of which," the girl recovered from those past events and saw that Aunt Xu had adjusted her mentality. She said in a sweet voice, "Aunt Lou passed away last year. Fifth Lady was pitiful. She should have been taken care of more by Madam."

There is nothing wrong with what he said. Ji was the legitimate mother, and all the illegitimate children of the Ruan family's eldest wife were her children.

However, Ji's eldest son was not good at studying, so she was naturally busy taking care of her own son and had no time to look after her illegitimate children.

When Ruan Yuluan listened, her heart skipped a beat and she pursed her lips gently.

Ji frowned and was about to speak, but the girl said in a low voice: "Madam treats Luan Niang very well. Yesterday, she asked Xia Yue and Qiu Xiu to visit me. They brought some supplements, which I found very good."

It sounded like he was saying that he recovered so quickly because of the supplements sent by Ji.

Ji's brows relaxed and he glanced at the girl calmly. Unexpectedly, although she looked quiet, she was actually quite smart.

The smile on Aunt Xu's face faded a little, and she didn't say anything more.

Just at this moment, a maid came in and reported to her, "My eldest brother has returned from school."

Aunt Xu's face lit up with joy, and she stood up and bowed to Ji, her tone gentle and revealing a bit of joy.

"Zhu'er has always been a good writer. Last time, he said that the teacher in the school praised his outstanding literary talent. He will definitely be the top scholar in the imperial examination in the future. I will take my leave now."

Now, the person with a cold expression turned out to be Ji.

Everyone in the family knew that Ji's second son was a shy and weak person because Ji doted on him too much, and he was not outstanding in either literature or martial arts.

But Xu Yi Niang's illegitimate son had such outstanding talents. Ji Shi couldn't swallow this anger.

She said calmly, "Go ahead."

After Aunt Xu left, the rest of the people also stood up and took their leave.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like