Unaware that My Legitimate Sister is My Husband - Chapter 4
Chapter 4
(2.3)
Née Qin had entered the residence one step ahead of Xi Xian. She first had to complete the necessary etiquette in front of the old matriarch, in order to be properly considered as a concubine before Xi Xian could also, in the right order, be taken in. The Xi family was not as prominent as when the first mistress was still there, but they still maintained the rules of that time, concubines weren’t allowed to occupy a courtyard on their own, and the food and clothing given to them had to be reduced compared to the main wife. That rule was a long practice that kept the Xi family from having any unruly concubines for many years.
The courtyard of concubine Wang was full of strife, so even though they seemed to be doing well on the surface, but back then, she and her concubine mother had suffered a lot of grievances in secrecy.
Back then, she was very arrogant, and there was no one to help her, sometimes she was so angry that she couldn’t sleep all day and all night, and née Qin’s body, because of that, turned weak from too much worry. When she gave birth to her son, she had a difficult labor and both the mother and the baby ended up dying, leaving this world.
Her concubine mother, before she died, held her hand tightly, and with a broken heart at the idea of parting with her, she urged her: “Xianxian, go to your legitimate sister, if you curry favor with him, you will be sheltered.”
(TL’s note : yes yes, her mother uses the pronoun “him”, but in Chinese it’s pronounced the same as “her” (ta in both cases), so Xi Xian could never guess she used the masculine form)
“Even if your legitimate sister doesn’t like you and treats you coldly, you must not complain.”
Xi Xian listened to her concubine mother’s words, but it didn’t do her any good.
Her legitimate sister was gloomy and abnormal, she wasn’t a person with whom she could have a deep friendship at all, it could already be considered lucky not to have been killed by her.
Her concubine mother, née Qin had been waited in her room since early in the morning, and when she saw her daughter coming in with her luggage, she got up with tears in her eyes to welcome her. She looked very worried as she held her daughter’s hands, but her complexion looked very fine.
The woman’s body was slim and slender. She had some light anxiety between her eyebrows, the daughter she had given birth to was similar to her, at least she was the type that many men tended to prefer and protect.
She was weak like a cuscuta, she could only live by relying on someone’s else protection for her entire life.
(TL’s note : a cuscuta is a parasitic little flower that needs another plant to live onto)
Xi Xian held her concubine mother’s hand and said in a soft voice, “Yiniang, quickly sit down, the doctor said your pregnancy is unstable, don’t move rashly.”
She helped née Qin to sit down, while née Qin smiled and said, “Have you seen your eldest sister?”
After hearing Xi Xian say yes, Qin held her hand and endlessly urged her, “In the future, go visit there more often, your legitimate sister is a good person, if you can get receive a little bit of her favor, it would be a blessing.”
Xi Xian lowered her face, unwilling to promise her.
The family allocated six maids to them, two of them were familiar faces, one was named Chuncao, the other was named Qiufeng.
These two maidservants had accompanied her to the palace before and had served her for more than a decade, but in the first place they had been randomly selected by people on top of her and given to her.
Xi Xian felt very fortunate to have such a chance.
While the maids were tending to the furniture and boxes, the bored Xi Xian fiddled with the oranges on the table while she had nothing else to do.
Very quickly, as in her past life, her fifth sister, Xi Yao, came to visit.
Although it was said to be a visit, in fact they were just separated by a corridor, and the other side was very clear of the movements happening on their side.
Although Xi Yao was a concubine-born daughter, but she was very favored. Even her legitimate sister was quite fond of her, from time to time she would give her gifts, mostly gold and silver jewelry. Xi Yao loved to wear those in her hair bun, and when she walked in the sun they glittered, making her look exquisite and elegant, and splendid without measure. That caused Xi Xian, on the corridor across, to look at her with eyes of envy, while both her heart and her head became full with the sourness of jealousy.
At that time, she felt that her legitimate sister and Xi Yao, after all, had more than ten years of sisterly love between them, it was normal that she would prefer her and be partial towards her.
She couldn’t compete against that, but she could make up for it on a daily basis, but then later she realized she had been very, very wrong. Her legitimate sister’s heart was like stone, it was cold and apathetic, she looked down on her for being the daughter of an outside mistress, and that disdain would last forever.
Back then, Xi Yao’s marriage was arranged by her legitimate sister’s maternal family, she married to the third laureate of the examinations, he had an even brighter future than the prospective groom proposed by her father.
At that time, she had a proud and haughty look, with a rosy complexion, she had even gotten a gift from her legitimate sister. She revealed on her white wrist a bracelet inlaid with rubies, which deeply stabbed Xi Xian’s heart.
She had been currying favor with her legitimate sister for so long, but she had gotten nothing. Her legitimate sister did not want her to dress herself too beautifully.
With much difficulty, Xi Xian got a good marriage proposal, but it was refused with an ugly face by her legitimate sister, who coldly told her to not even think about it in this life.
At that time, her concubine mother passed away, she was not close to her father, she felt wronged, but she could only endure the suffering alone.
Translator : Laura
Other novels : His One Love & Ancient Eden & After Being Kidnapped by the Crown Prince
If you’d like to read more ?
