The daily life of a concubine's daughter

Chapter 368

Shi Yao smiled and advised: "Grandma, don't cry."

The lady pressed her eyes with a handkerchief and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, you can't cry. Tomorrow is your big day. Yao girl, the Shi family will always be your home."

Shi Yao nodded in agreement: "Well, I will remember what grandma said."

She took one look at the elaborately crafted bed and sighed inwardly.

When she first entered the Duke's Mansion last year, the eldest wife Zheng said that the courtyard was ready and located near Lanpei Courtyard. On the surface, the treatment she received was equal to that of her daughter Shi Mingzhu.

The only thing Zheng felt sorry about in the entire Guanju Courtyard was that the bed was not made well, so she only made a kang for her and promised to find a craftsman to make a bed after the winter.

During Zheng's tenure as housekeeper, this bed was never seen again.

Fu Nanjun took over the housekeeping power. He happened to write it down one day. Because he had hurt Shi Yao before, he felt ashamed and secretly ordered someone to make the bed.

This bed was moved in ten days ago.

Fu Nanjun might have wanted to give her a surprise, but Shi Yao was about to get married, so how could there be any surprise? It was just to show an attitude, the same as what the lady said, that the Shi family would always be her mother's home.

Just from the bed, it was clear that this home had never intended for her to stay for long.

So, where is her home?

A real home should be one where family members love each other, fathers are kind and sons are filial, mothers are kind and daughters are filial, brothers are friendly and respectful, sisters are affectionate, family members share happiness and difficulties, help each other, you hope for my well-being, I hope for your well-being, and everyone is well together.

In the Zhenguo Mansion, the younger generation and those of low status have to flatter and fawn on someone in order to survive.

Either he flatters the old Duke's wife, or he flatters Shi Mingzhu, or he flatters the Duke Zhenguo and his wife. He always flatters or curries favor with someone, yet he is still always blamed.

This place doesn't feel like a home, but more like a workplace where one has to make a living. Everyone's task is to deal with worldly matters, hypocritical flattery, flattering the powerful and bullying the weak, and fighting openly and secretly.

For Shi Yao, it's not even a workplace.

For her, the Duke's Mansion is a battleground for survival.

Everyone seeks sincerity, the elders seek filial piety, and the younger generations seek partiality. The most precious thing in the Shi family is sincerity, and the cheapest thing is also sincerity.

Without power or influence, one is not even worthy of false filial piety or partiality.

What Shi Yao was most thankful for was that before going to Beijing, she was only cautious and did not give sincerity, nor did she ask for sincerity.

If she had treated people sincerely, her grave would have been covered with grass long ago.

If she treated the lady with sincerity, she would not be favored by her but would only be despised by her.

She was restrained, not arrogant, and never stepped on the bottom line of the lady. She acted weak and harmless, and she would flatter and please to show her filial piety, disguising herself. Only in this way could she gain some favor from the lady and save her life.

This her is not her true nature at all.

When the day of her wedding was approaching, Shi Yao still remembered her mother's teachings clearly - she should not pick up the bowl to eat and then curse her mother when she put the bowl down.

She had no feelings for the old Duke and the Lady Dowager, but based on that blood connection, they were willing to give her shelter, protect her life, and prepare a decent dowry for her, which was enough for her to live a life of ease and comfort. She was truly grateful to the old couple.

As relatives, they have done the best they can.

Therefore, Shi Yao only thought about these words in her heart and never spoke them out loud.

The lady leaned her forehead against Shi Yao's, tears suddenly fell, and her voice trembled: "Yao girl, remember to think of grandma often and come back to see grandma often."

Shi Yao gently stroked the old man's back and replied, "I will."

The old man and the old lady gave up their remaining lives in exchange for Shi Mingzhu's life. From the moment she gets married tomorrow, the Shi family will have repaid their kindness in giving birth to and raising her.

From then on, whether she was rich and powerful or poor and hungry, everything about her had nothing to do with the Shi family anymore.

If you can avoid contact, then do so. If you really need to, just treat it as visiting relatives.

Take the dowry away and put down the unnecessary feelings.

The lady couldn't help but think of the past: "The first time I saw you, you were in your cradle, only as big as your grandfather's palm, so tiny, and a girl, I was so happy.

I was so cruel to send you away. I cried for three nights and burned incense for three days, praying to the Buddha to protect you and your daughter and to pray that you grow up safely.

No matter what happened later, when I brought you back to Beijing, I hoped to love you sincerely and treat you no less than your older sister. I also hoped that you could truly integrate into this family.

But things didn’t go as planned. Time and again, we hurt your feelings and made you feel wronged. Grandma is ashamed and heartbroken, and doesn’t know what to do to make you feel better.”

Shi Yao raised the corner of her mouth, not knowing what expression to make.

Was the old lady trying to express how much she loved her, or was she trying to poke her in the heart?

“I understand my grandmother’s difficulties.”

The palms and backs of the hands are all made of flesh, but the flesh on the backs of her hands is just thinner.

She couldn't agree with the old lady's words, otherwise she would feel very wronged.

Look, she has been suffering from injustice since she was born, and continued to suffer injustice until the day she got married.

Who could have made those who had harmed her, those who had wanted her life, get their evil consequences if she hadn't had a book of merit that could allow people to be reborn?

Who will do justice for her?

Zheng and Gong Xuan were sent to the ancestral temple not because they wanted to harm her, but because they framed the Fourth Prince.

The emperor was angry and dismissed the third and fifth sisters one after another. The Duke's Mansion, under pressure from the imperial power, decisively sent them to the ancestral temple.

When the old lady said these words, did she think that she could move the old man who still had a conscience?

What you say or think is not important; what matters is what you do.

Therefore, no matter who in the Shi family said that they had ever thought about treating her well with all their heart, she ignored them.

The wrinkles on the lady's face trembled slightly. She wanted to say something, but perhaps she felt that the words were too weak, so she just said:

"Yaoyao, don't be afraid. Live a good life in the Xie family. Grandmother only hopes that you will be well."

Shi Yao's eyes curved as she smiled, "Grandma, don't worry. I will live a good life. You know, whether I marry or not, no matter who I marry, as long as I am alive, I will live happily and not make myself unhappy."

In the Duke's Mansion where one could die at any time, she could live happily. Is there any place in the world worse and more dangerous than the Duke's Mansion?

The lady stroked her temples and murmured, "That's good, that's good. I just hope that you brothers and sisters are safe and sound."

Shi Yao's eyelids twitched slightly, and she suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart. She was about to ask what the old lady meant and what her plan was, but the old lady stuffed a small box into her hand and said with a loving smile:

"The dowry that your grandmother gave you. Did your sister-in-law teach you anything about human affairs?"

Shi Yao took the box and placed it on the table beside her. Upon hearing this, her face turned red and she said hesitantly, "My sister-in-law left it for me. She left a few words and a few picture albums."