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墨書 Inktalez
Fu Lianyin walked to the door and called for a maidservant, asking her to summon the Nursemaid. Shortly after, the Nursemaid arrived and, following Fu Lianyin's instructions, carried the "sleeping" Yun Kexin out of the bedroom.
"The lady is truly virtuous. If Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law knew how devoted you are to Sister Xin, they would be very pleased and reassured," Yun Yang said as he closed the door and pulled Fu Lianyin to sit by the bed. "As long as we raise Yun Kexin as our own daughter, they will see it and won't insist so much on 'conditions.'"
Fu Lianyin sighed inwardly: Yun Yang still favored that child, Yun Kexin. She had noticed it ever since the ancestral hall meeting when the child called him "Father."
No wonder. Ever since their son passed away, Yun Yang had not smiled again. The late Concubine Chang Mengyao had given birth to a daughter, Yun Ran, who was two years older than Yun Kexin.
However, this child was naturally proud and spoke little, often wearing a stern expression, which made her very unlikable to Yun Yang. Unlike Yun Kexin, who was good-looking and sweet-tongued. Because of this, he abandoned his original plan to renegotiate the "conditions" during the adoption ceremony and gladly accepted Yun Kexin's call of "Father."
What else could Fu Lianyin do? She could only swallow her grievances.
"Your words are all reasonable; Consort will listen to you," Fu Lianyin said with a light laugh. "Rest assured, I will treat Seventh Young Lady as my own daughter and will not let her suffer any grievances."
"That's excellent. This way, when Xin grows up, she will be united with us. Also," Yun Yang suddenly smiled and whispered in Fu Lianyin's ear, "when Seventh Young Lady is a few years older, we can try for another child."
Fu Lianyin immediately blushed with shyness, smiling gently while lowering her gaze. However, the smile at the corners of her lips soon turned cold: once they had their own flesh and blood, her husband's attention would shift, and at that time, Yun Kexin would become nothing more than a pawn...
Yun Kexin lay with her eyes closed against the Nursemaid's shoulder as she was carried past a screen into one of the rooms in a courtyard where the Nursemaid lived. The other rooms were where various servants and maids ate and slept.
The Nursemaid placed Yun Kexin in her wooden bed, covered her with a quilt, and extinguished the candle.
In the darkness, she slowly opened her eyes, excitement shining in them: so the so-called "adoption conditions" meant that marriage must be decided by the Second House; no wonder Fu Lianyin was so furious!
But why had her previous self been unaware of this? If that were truly the case, could this life allow her to avoid marrying Fu Yihang under her biological parents' interference?
As she pondered these thoughts, Yun Kexin's eyelids grew heavier until she completely sank into slumber; after all, she was just a one-year-old child with limited energy.
****
As winter turned to spring and cold gave way to heat, Yun Kexin turned three years old. It was Lantern Festival; she wore a tassel braid on her head, dressed in a peach-red short-sleeved jacket with dark cotton pants and exquisite red silk embroidered shoes. Her face was rosy white and adorable.
At this moment, Yun Kexin stood before a rockery, intently watching the fish swimming in the pond.
Suddenly, on the platform by the pond appeared a pair of red silk embroidered shoes identical to hers. Reluctantly lifting her head, Yun Kexin saw five-year-old Yun Ran looking down at her from above! In an instant, memories of her Wedding Night flooded back—those similar expressions and behaviors surged into her mind...
Yun Kexin furrowed her brows and bit her lip, wanting to step away, but she heard Yun Ran calling out:
"Seventh Sister, come play! Standing here, you can see the fish and shrimp in the pond more clearly."
Yun Kexin smirked slightly, thinking to herself: Play? Are you going to push me into the pond again?
She would never forget that in her past life, Yun Ran had tricked her onto the platform by the pond, pretending to admire the fish and shrimp, and then "accidentally" pushed her into the water, causing her to suffer a high fever and lie in bed for days.
"Sister," Yun Kexin said with a silly smile, "Mother can't play by the pond; she'll get her palms slapped. Come down quickly."
"It's okay, Mother isn't here," Yun Ran continued her deceptive tactics. "No one will know. Come up and play, and when Father comes back, I'll have him buy us candied hawthorn."
Candied hawthorn again? Yun Ran, can't you come up with something new?!
"But Sister, I can't get up there," Yun Kexin said, gripping the edge of the pond platform with both hands and tiptoeing as if she were trying to climb up. She anxiously added, "I can't do it; I'm too..."
She saw a mocking expression on Yun Ran's face that clearly said: You're not; you're just clumsy. It's all Mother and Father's fault for being too good to you and making you foolish.
"Come on, Seventh Sister, give me your hand," Yun Ran eagerly stretched out her arms with a cheerful smile. "I'll pull you up."
It seemed that if she didn’t let Yun Ran trick her again today, she wouldn’t give up. But tripping once in a place is ignorance and can be forgiven; however, tripping a second time over the same person and situation is foolishness and deserves to be tricked!
Yun Kexin raised her face, mischief and calculation flashing in her big eyes: "Sister, how about I grab your hand, and you pull me up with all your strength?"
"Sure!" Yun Ran's eyes sparkled as she eagerly waved her arms. "Seventh Sister, hurry up! Otherwise, when Mother comes back, we won't be able to see the fish and shrimp."
Yun Kexin smiled obediently, tightly grasping Yun Ran's round wrist with her small hand: "Okay, Sister. Let's pull together."
Just as Yun Ran was straining to pull Yun Kexin back while blushing from effort, Yun Kexin suddenly exclaimed "Oh!" as her hands slipped from their grip. Yun Ran lost her balance and fell backward with a splash into the pond.
Yun Kexin was taken aback, gripping the edge of the platform with both hands as she stretched her neck anxiously to look at Yun Ran flailing in the water: "Sister! Sister! Wait! I'm going to call for help!"
While secretly chuckling to herself, Yun Kexin ran through the courtyard shouting: "Someone! Quick! Sister fell into the pond!"
She collided with someone head-on and nearly fell over but was steadied by the other person’s grip. Once she regained her balance and saw who it was, she smiled joyfully: "Cousin Yun Jie..."
Yun Jie is the eldest son of the First House, two years older than Yun Kexin. He is gentle and kind to others. In his past life, although Yun Kexin had a distant relationship with the Second House, she really liked her two cousins from the First House.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Yun Jie patted her head. "What happened?"
"Sister, the pool," Yun Kexin said, her smile fading as she pointed towards the Rockery Pool. "Sister, in the pool..."
Yun Jie immediately understood what Yun Kexin meant and called for the servants and maids before rushing to the scene.
The pool was not deep; Yun Ran was not seriously harmed but had been soaked in the cold water, causing her to shiver all over. As a maid carried the drenched Yun Ran past Yun Jie and Yun Kexin,
Yun Ran glared at Yun Kexin with resentment. She pretended to be oblivious, lowering her head to hide the smirk that was creeping up on her lips: How does it feel to soak in a "cold spring"? Yun Ran, this is just the beginning; we have plenty of time ahead!
That evening, the Yun family gathered in the large courtyard to celebrate the Lantern Festival with a reunion dinner. There were 17 members of the Yun family present, with three or four tables pushed together. The heads of each branch sat with their wives and children at their respective places, while maids and servants moved between the hall and kitchen, busy serving dishes. The elder women from each household stood behind their masters, helping to serve rice and dishes...
After dinner, the entire family exchanged pleasantries before returning to their own courtyards.
As soon as Yun Kexin entered the West Courtyard Main Hall with members of the Third House, Yun Ran pointed at her nose and began to complain first.
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