Mrs. Zhou was both angry and resentful, but she dared not show it at all. She replied in a low voice, "It's my duty, it's my duty." After saying that, she turned around and wanted to leave this place that made her lose face.
"etc--"
Xiao Jin called her again, and she turned around with a forced smile, "Is there anything else, Miss?"
Xiao Jin stood up gracefully, walked up to her, and smiled in a voice that was not loud but could be heard by everyone in the room, "Mom is a wise woman. It's much better to be like this, peaceful and amiable. Don't you agree, Mom?"
Mother Zhou hated Xiao Jin to the core, but she had to force a smile, which looked even worse than crying.
“What you say is true, I’ve got it.”
Xiao Jin accompanied Xiao Ye to have breakfast at the table.
Seeing Xiao Ye happily eating with a spoon, Xiao Jin couldn't help but laugh and say, "Ye'er, slow down, don't choke."
After her conversation with Zhou's mother that morning, Xiao Jin could clearly sense that the atmosphere in Jinrong Courtyard had changed. The gloom that had been hanging over the place seemed to have dissipated considerably.
Her head maids, Huanyue and Zisu, seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief, happy that she was finally behaving like the eldest daughter of a scholar's family.
Xiao Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.
Of course it's different. She's not the real Xiao Jin. Less than a month ago, she was a person named Tang Qin, a university administrative teacher living in modern times.
During her summer duty shift, she returned home one evening only to find she had forgotten her keys, so she went back to school to get them. The moment the elevator doors in the administration building closed, she suddenly lost consciousness.
Then I was plunged into an endless dream.
In her dream, she saw Xiao Jin's entire life. As the eldest daughter of the scholar's family, Xiao Jin did not grow up in the capital from a young age. She spent seven years in the countryside before being brought to the capital with her mother and elder brother.
Her father, Scholar Xiao, was originally just a poor scholar who lost both his parents. After marrying Luo, the daughter of a blacksmith in the village, Xiao Ji had a stroke of good fortune. Despite not achieving the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations, he was unexpectedly favored by the chief examiner that year, Grand Secretary Zhao, and taken in as his student.
Xiao Ji started as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy and has now become a Hanlin Academician. Although he doesn't have much real power, he has made a name for himself.
His career was going smoothly, but he was somewhat dissatisfied with his personal life.
His first wife was just an ordinary peasant woman, whom he no longer found attractive. However, due to his reputation as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and his "three principles of not leaving" ("not leaving if one has a husband but no home" and "not leaving if one was poor and lowly before becoming rich and noble"), Luo still held the title of his legal wife.
It wasn't until Xiao Ji was promoted to the fifth rank of scholar that he could no longer delay, and he finally brought his wife, Lady Luo, along with his eldest son Xiao Wei and eldest daughter Xiao Jin, to the capital.
By this time, there were already two concubines in the household, and Luo Shi, a mere country woman, naturally couldn't control them. Consequently, Xiao Jin's life wasn't easy either. She shared Luo Shi's timid nature, a legitimate daughter being suppressed by a concubine's daughter. Even the respectable matriarchs in the household had a better life than Xiao Jin and her mother!
After giving birth to her second son, Xiao Ye, Lady Luo's health gradually deteriorated. Coupled with the sudden death of her eldest son, she soon passed away as well. Only Xiao Jin and Xiao Ye remained, utterly alone and helpless.
Xiao Jin was extremely timid, and after Xiao Ji married Zhao Ge Lao's niece as his second wife, her life became even more miserable. Her stepmother, instigated by her aunt, disliked Xiao Jin and her siblings, and her aunt and half-sisters bullied them relentlessly.
In the end, Xiao Jin married the second son of the Duke of Anguo. She never had a single good day before her death; she was looked down upon by her mother-in-law, bullied by her husband, and even mistreated by his concubine!
She was only seventeen years old when she died of illness in the second year after her marriage.
What a miserable life! Tang Qin clicked her tongue in regret. Xiao Jin was just too weak! She thought of Yingchun, the blockhead girl in "Dream of the Red Chamber".
In comparison, Xiao Jin's situation is much better than Ying Chun's. After all, she is the legitimate eldest daughter, and her younger brother is the rightful heir!
She ruined her life herself; she has no one to blame but herself. If she had been more assertive and shrewd, she wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state!
After an unknown amount of time, Tang Qin woke up in a daze. When she opened her eyes, she saw two girls dressed in white mourning clothes with swollen eyes from crying.
She had seen them before; they were Xiao Jin's maids, Huan Yue and Zi Su! How could she see them? Was it another dream?
They had just closed their eyes, trying to reassure themselves it was just a dream, when they felt themselves being shaken. The two of them cried out in terror, "Miss, Miss—"
A little child was also crying nearby, sobbing as he called out "sister".
The stark reality forced Tang Qin to accept the fact that she had transmigrated into Xiao Jin's body!
It seems to be when Xiao Jin was twelve years old, right after her mother passed away!
****************
After having breakfast with Xiao Ye, Xiao Jin led him to the mourning hall.
Looking at the desolate expanse of white covering the sky and the large character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") in the center, Xiao Jin felt a pang of sadness.
Although Madam Luo's health had always been poor, the direct cause of her death was the sudden demise of her eldest son. Xiao Wei's death was somewhat mysterious, and Xiao Jin suspected that the concubines in the household were responsible!
However, it was all just her speculation. What she saw in her dream was only Xiao Jin's experiences; she knew nothing else.
Leading Xiao Ye to kneel before the altar, she silently thought to herself that she had plenty of time to investigate and verify all of this!
Before long, both aunts arrived.
The oldest and first to enter the household was Concubine Chen, who brought her eldest son, Xiao Xin, and second daughter, Yao Niang; Concubine Xu brought her eldest daughter, Ying Niang.
After offering incense to Madam Luo in turn, Xiao Jin could sense that Aunt Chen's gaze towards her was different today.
Presumably, Zhou's mother told her everything after she went back, Xiao Jin sneered inwardly. She wasn't afraid of any of that! Right now, she wished everyone knew how formidable she was!
After all, today is the 49th day since Luo Shi's death, and relatives and friends will be coming soon. Aunt Chen couldn't say anything, but she looked at Xiao Jin meaningfully and said, "Second Miss has really grown up."
Xiao Jin, however, remained bewildered and did not understand what he meant.
She had more important things to do today and didn't have time to argue with Aunt Chen. Currently, there were both internal and external troubles. Although it's said that internal stability must precede external resistance, if external threats weren't eliminated now, allowing them to infiltrate would be even more detrimental to unity and stability.
At the very least, there's the stability between her and Xiao Ye.
This external threat was Zhao Ruizhu, the niece of Grand Secretary Zhao, whom Xiao Ji was to marry as his second wife.
Having foreseen the plot of her life has its advantages; it's almost like she's been reborn and given a second chance. Moreover, she can stand from the most objective perspective, like a clear-headed bystander.