mtl008 Chapter 143 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
Chapter 143 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
Leaving aside the Jia family's affairs for now, let's talk about the Lin family. Ever since Jia Min exempted Liu Yuxi from paying his respects, she has been spending all her time in the old lady's courtyard, just like she did two months ago.
In the past few days, the old lady had someone cancel Liu Yuxi's indenture, and gave Liu Yuxi several property deeds for shops that had already been transferred to her name. She also gave her two thousand taels of silver notes, saying that they were given to her by Lin Ruhai and Jia Min.
She didn't need to worry about managing the shop; she only needed to collect the annual profit. It seemed that the Lin family had received quite a bit of compensation from the Jia family this time.
When Liu Yuxi was six months pregnant, the New Year was approaching, and the Lin family was filled with joy and celebration. Lin Ruhai and Jia Min had been taking medicine almost every day for the past few months, and with the New Year approaching, they planned to take a break.
Several times, when Liu Yuxi went to the old lady's courtyard and passed by the main courtyard, the smell of medicine wafting from it made her feel nauseous. How to describe traditional Chinese medicine? It doesn't smell good or taste good. In any case, Liu Yuxi couldn't endure drinking traditional Chinese medicine for so long.
The festive atmosphere of the New Year had little to do with Liu Yuxi, and she didn't need to do anything. She had no sense of participation at all. She and the old lady were the two most idle people in the mansion, spending their days moving around watching the people in the courtyard busy themselves.
As Jia Min was busy, it was New Year's Eve. The family had a reunion dinner together, and Liu Yuxi stayed in her own courtyard afterwards.
After the New Year, when relatives and colleagues visited each other, they would always pay their respects to the old lady. It was not proper or convenient for her, a pregnant concubine, to stay in the old lady's courtyard. Therefore, she stayed in her own courtyard for the entire first month of the lunar year.
When April came, the old lady stopped her from moving back and forth and cleaned up the east wing of Fu'an Hall for Liu Yuxi to stay in temporarily until she finished her postpartum confinement.
At the end of May, Liu Yuxi gave birth to a son safely. Old Mrs. Lin and Lin Ruhai were very happy. Lin Ruhai named the child Lin Junyu. The wet nurse and servants were arranged by the old lady.
During her postpartum confinement period, Liu Yuxi secretly breastfed her child. After the confinement period, the child was placed in the east wing of the old lady's courtyard, while Liu Yuxi returned to her own courtyard.
Even after the postpartum period, Liu Yuxi still had to pay her respects to Jia Min, but it was just a perfunctory greeting. Because Liu Yuxi had always been well-behaved, Jia Min no longer set any rules for Liu Yuxi. After paying her respects every day, Liu Yuxi would go to the old lady's courtyard to see her son and stay there all day.
Sometimes at night, when her child wouldn't let her leave, she would sleep with her son in the east wing.
Lin Ruhai still visits Liu Yuxi's courtyard for about three days each month. Now that Liu Yuxi's menstrual cycle is very regular and her ovulation period is fixed, after Liu Yuxi's intervention, Lin Ruhai's visits to her courtyard each month are fixed at these three days.
Of course, children still need to be born. In ancient times, it was not safe to have less than three children, as the infant mortality rate was too high. However, Liu Yuxi's children were fortunate. The old lady of the Lin family and Lin Ruhai valued them, and the servants took good care of them. Liu Yuxi also had a lot of vaccines in her space, which needed to be arranged according to age groups.
However, Liu Yuxi doesn't plan to get pregnant frequently. Even if she's in good health, it won't work. She takes birth control pills after every sexual encounter. She plans to wait until Xiao Junyu is a week old before trying to conceive again. As for when she'll get pregnant, that's another story.
The difference between a family with children and one without is significant, especially in ancient times. In modern times, a childless couple can live a carefree life if they are open-minded, since there are so many things to do to pass the time.
In ancient times, it was different. Men with official duties, like Lin Ruhai, were relatively well-off, as they had things to do during the day. But women, besides being the mistress of the house, had to manage the household affairs every day, which would take up most of the morning. In the afternoon, the mistress and other masters had nothing to do.
That's why people in ancient times always liked to hold all sorts of banquets. The fundamental reason was simply because they had too much free time! And old ladies were even more idle. They didn't need to manage the household affairs, and as they got older, there were very few occasions where they were needed to go out for banquets. As for going out to burn incense, their families were worried about them because of their age.
What can she do all day? It would be different if there were grandchildren in the family; she could play with them. Otherwise, why would old ladies in ancient times stare at their daughters-in-law's bellies all day long? Because they were bored!
Now, that's how Old Mrs. Lin is. Lin Junyu is raised in her yard. She no longer keeps a close eye on Jia Min's childbirth like before. She only mentions it occasionally when she thinks of it. Now that she has her grandson, she is content and busy every day!
Jia Min's feelings were incredibly complicated. She felt a little more relaxed now that the old lady had stopped pressuring her, but seeing that the old lady's entire attention was focused on Lin Junyu made her feel disappointed. This wasn't her child, and she was afraid that when she gave birth, her child's status would be affected by Lin Junyu.
How can the feelings for a child you raised yourself be the same? But thinking about these things now is just adding to my worries, since she's not pregnant yet! Thinking about it too much is pointless!
When Lin Junyu turned one year old, the child could already call out "Dad," "Grandma," and "Mom." This was all thanks to the old lady, who talked to Lin Junyu every day, so the child naturally learned to say it. However, the child got stuck when it came to Liu Yuxi. According to the rules, the child should call her "Auntie," but the child hadn't learned to say two words yet. When it came to Liu Yuxi, "Auntie" was just the word "Auntie."
The old lady, afraid that she would be upset, explained things to her. However, Liu Yuxi was not upset. Not only did she know about the child's situation, but she herself had never had a child because she loved men or children.
To put it bluntly, all of this was planned from the very beginning. As for Liu Yuxi, if things were planned from the start, she would be much less emotional.
She still loves her child and will consider things for the child's sake, but from the beginning, she has avoided other things emotionally.
For example, she was able to accept from the beginning that the child would call Jia Minniang and her aunt. She knew that the child would be under the care of the old lady until the age of three, and after the age of three when the child began to receive education, the child would be under the care of Lin Ruhai. She had no right to discipline the child. She knew that she could not make decisions about the child's marriage, and that the future daughter-in-law would not treat her as a proper mother-in-law. She just needed to accept it, and so on.
This might be her own theory of balance. She feels that since children are not the product of love, all that's left is responsibility. I gave birth to you, protected you as you grew up, and when I get old, you're responsible for letting me enjoy my old age. As for the rest, that's none of my business.
Actually, this kind of understanding is quite good in this world. At least, her performance satisfied the three masters in the mansion.