Chinese A Concubine’s Daughter and Her Tactics 庶女攻略 by 吱吱 Zhi Zhi

Discussion in 'Novel Pickup Request' started by Vico, Nov 10, 2020.

  1. Vico

    Vico Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2018
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    620
    Reading List:
    Link
    Name: A Concubine’s Daughter and Her Tactics 庶女攻略
    Raw Link: http://www.quanben.io/n/shunugonglue/list.html
    Why It Should Get Picked Up:

    The novel is very well noted on Douban
    It looks interesting
    It will soon be adapted into a drama with Wallace Chung
    Description :
    In the Ming Dynasty, the distinguished Luo family suffers a downfall and wanted to solve the crisis through a marriage arrangement. The intelligent and introverted Shi Yi Niang Luo was chosen, and she rose from a lowly concubine’s child to become the much-coveted madame of the Yong Ping Duke Manor.

    Facing the complicated web of the relationship as well as the distrust of her own family, Shi Yi Niang uses her kindness and purity to win the Xu family’s trust and respect; while her love and tolerance eventually won the respect of the people who used to look down on her.

    Shi Yi Niang also uses her intelligence and wits to help her husband Xu Ling Yi to put forward plans and ideas, saving the Yong Ping Duke Manor from peril situations; and also improving the lives of the people. When the country faced invasion from external forces, Shi Yi Niang and Xu Ling Yi work together to lead the army, emerging victorious in their battles. Their relationship also deepens in the process.
     
    Elliana likes this.
  2. Razziel

    Razziel Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2020
    Messages:
    63
    Likes Received:
    72
    Reading List:
    Link
    seems to be good
     
  3. Shanni

    Shanni Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2020
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    53
    Reading List:
    Link
    Can anyone give the spoilers, please? I spend two days breaking my head to read this but around chapter 248 the google translations got worst but I really want to know what happened.
     
  4. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    OK, the drama just started, it's in Tencent (I think as Brilliant Heart Like Jade, and I guess the platform is WeTV) and in Viki as The Sword and the Brocade.

    I am doing this post to share the page of the novel:

    https://www.novelupdates.com/series...ash=bb6531ba91cf65e496f43a9a06f07e51#comments

    ___________

    It seems the Female Lead, The 11th Lady of the Luo Family, Shiyi, is a transmigrator. The former young lady fell and became unconscious, when she woke up, it was already the transmigrated soul.

    I am not clear if the Luo family is residing in Yuhang or Yuhang is just the place she was for 3 years since transmigrated.

    She is sent there in the drama after she allegedly broke the di daughter's hairpin and her concubine mother had a miscarriage when trying to block the board that was used to beat her.

    FL used to be a lawyer in her past life.

    It seems she is currently (at the start of the first chapter) living in the Luo Manor (not sure where), as the narrative revolves around one of her maids, Qiantang, and her possible fate (one of the old Mamas wants to bethrot her to her worthless nephew), and the FL is introducing through her thoughts the Eldest Madam of the house:

    She seems to be an interesting character, as her father is an official of the Ministry of Rites, and it is said he raised her like a son, letting her follow him everywhere and learn from him. The woman was married to the Luo family at the age of 13!

    She became the headmistress of the house at 15, and her husband only has 6 concubines. All the concubines are either childless or have only daughters, except for Concubine Ke, who used to be her handmaid, she has a son.

    We haven't seen no sons in the drama, yet, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

    It is clear the Eldest Madam didn't allow anyone to birth a son except the one woman she could still control. My understanding is that those who were raised from handmaid of the wife's dowry to concubine, still were under the wife's slave contract. That is why families used to prepare pretty handmaids for the dowry, so the wife could use them to birth sons and still control them, as opposed to concubines who were pushed in by elders or the husband himself.

    The Male Lead is Xu Lingyi. It seems he inherited the title of Marquees because his 2 eldest brothers died, the third son might be concubine born (?) and his sister (Lingyi's, probably biological sister) became the Empress, so the Emperor passed him the title from his father.

    Yes, the ML is married to Luo Yuanniang, FL's eldest di sister (at least is the di sister in the drama)

    *Luo Old Master seems to be an official in Fujian and still residing there.

    The novel writing style must be complicated because this is one of the hardest to read MTL.
    I'm on the first batch of chapters (currently at 15) and it is hard to follow, the story also goes slowly because is currently focused on making a gift for -as I understood- Luo's eldest daughter who is the one marriend to Marquees Yongping, the Male Lead.

    It is briefly explained in this chapter 15 that the Xu family (ML's) was incriminated before for some conspiracy, but was later reinstated in a different period (?), that is how Xu Lingyi ended up inheriting the title. It seems (the drama also follows this) that Luo's patriarch married his eldest daughter to him in a time the Xu family was almost ostrasized by the rest of the official & noble families.

    Regarding the eldest lady of the Luo family that's married to the Marquees (the Male Lead), here's something that seems to differ from the drama but also explains (if MTL isn't tricking me) a few things we see there:

    -The wife (eldest sister of the FL) of the ML miscarried and it is said that the Old Madam of that house (ML's mother) is responsible for the eldest son being concubine born. It seems she was the one to stop feeding them contraceptive medicine before the girl from the Luo family married in. Then, FL's sister brought in one of her closest handmaids to bear a child, but that child died. After being married for 8 years, the FL's eldest sister managed to give birth to a child but that child is weak because he was born prematurely.

    Since I watched the first sequence at Marquees Yongping's house and saw the concubine's son was older than the main wife's, I knew that something was off.

    We've all read quite a few novels of this genre now. We know that usually, in most of the ancient dynasties, it was bad etiquette for a family to allow concubines bear children before the First Wife (main wife) entered the door and gave birth to one herself. Unless she had any problems concieving or giving birth.

    Here I pasted the MTL'd passage. It could be a mistranslation & words could've been misplaced. However, by watching the drama, I got more and more the feeling the Old Madam never liked the wife from the Luo family. I even highly suspect she had something to do in her becoming ill, as she seems super determined to make her niece the next main wife (that is something that appears after the first few batch of episodes in the drama).

    The Old Madam causing the concubine rooms to be pregnant before the legal wife even joined the household was a big disrespect. Considering the fact the Luo family were making them a favor at the time (as no one wanted to bethrot their duaghters to them), it is even a bigger offence.

    Not just that, the fact the Luo wife miscarried is also fishy.

    In the drama, and I assume the novel, one of the main reasons for the Luo Madam & FL's eldest sister to scheme to get FL (or a sister in her place) married after she dies, is because they need someone to look after the weak son, who also happens not to be the eldest, although he is a di (legitimate) one.

    Regarding the Concubines, there is some emphasis put on the Concubine from the Wen family. In the drama she is the one with a son, here... MTL is confusing because initially it says she only has a daughter, but then the narrative talks about her as she is the mother of the eldest son instead of Concubine Qin.

    Concubine Wen's family is a rich merchant family that also has a foot on the officialdom. That is why the FL, Shiyi, comments on how shameless of them was to marry one of their daughters as a concubine (probably she's implying they may have ulterior motives, because who would downgrade themselves like this?).

    There's another input from the novel (or at least MTL) that differs from the drama:

    It seems that Shiyi (FL) is not too close to her concubine mother. I am saying "it seems" because I am still confused whether Concubine Lu is also Wu Yinniang (the 5th Concubine, I assume).

    In the novel, the reason why Shiyi spent 3 years elsewhere is because it seems she grew up in the place her father was placed as an official, while the Main wife and other children remained at the Capital (?). Her immediat eldest sister, 10th Daughter, and youngest sister, 12th Daughter, seem to be bornt consecutively as a result of a Concubine wars.

    The main wife would had sent 2 concubines there to try to control the Fourth Concubine that was controling the manor the Master was living in and the money he was making.


    The 10th sister seems to be the villanous one. When the novel opens, she is having a fight with Shiyi because her concubine mother lent Shiyi a jacket from hers. Later on, everytime she appears, is to bicker with her or throw her weight around (her mother is the 1 concubine that was super-favored and even got to control the finances when they were out of the main house).

    *A detail from this book that's refreshing:

    In one of the chapters (20) The 10th Sister seems to get angry at Shiyi and almost beat her, but her own maids (10th's) took her out & prevented her from making things worse, because they are not stupid and they know the last time 10th Sister's maids indulged her like this, they were beaten half-dead. Usually, you don't see minions being this considerate of the big picture.

    _______________


    Shiyi's mother is described as coward & not much resourceful. The reason why Shiyi isn't close to her is because when she transmigrated, she realized her mother was restrained towards her & that it wouldn't be good to get the Main Wife mad because of her being close to the 5th Concubine -who would had failed at her task of suppressing the 4th Concubine-.

    The dynamics seem to be way different for those who are currently watching the drama

    In the drama version, Shiyi is close to her mother, they have spent 3 years out in Yuhang, and they had to support themselves, because the main house wouldn't send them money. They lived on the gains Shiyi's embroidery could make.

    Here, Shiyi seems to be even a little bit embarrassed of her concubine's mother behavior at times. She isn't close to the main wife, but she is closer to her than she is to her own "birth" mother, and she behaves quite well. Also, the main wife may be using her (it is way too subtle yet) but she isn't a tyrant with her nor with any of the other shu daughters, even though it is implied she has done tricks before to control the backyard.

    Also, Luo Yuanniang, the eldest di sister, and the Marquees (ML) seem to live a little far, in Beijing. Hence, when the main wife starts grooming the FL (it is done in a sneaky way), Shiyi feels the situation is off (she first gets an order to embroider a birthday gift that's quite hard to make) and she doesn't tell her they will go to visit them to Beijing after Shiyi's almost half-done with the task she gave her. Shiyi notices she's suddenly treated better, given better clothes... and the key point that shares with the drama: She is given a maid (Amber) that's from the main wife's side.

    Amber is meant to monitor her... however, in the drama, because they've created this conflict with the main wife, Amber is someone helpless that has to report on her every move but doesn't feel good about it. Here is more like a safety pin, so Shiyi can be monitored but also get help & a certain status.

    The father or "Old Master" seems to be even worse than we see in the drama.

    He is described indirectly through the Main Wife's passages & the FL's thought or memories of him. He seems to be lecherous and has no morals for taking in women:

    On top of that, he seems to be wasting money everywhere while the Main Wife has trouble to make ends meet. In the drama we simply get told that the family is in ruins & is the Main Wife the one supplying through her dowry and that is why she is so domeenering (and entitled to be mean).

    He seems to be currently working elsewhere and anytime he sends a letter or comes back, the main wife gets mad because it's either about him having a new concubine or withdrawing money.

    In the novel, it seems it's the 5th Sister, Wunniang, the one to be aware of Luo Yuanniang's intentions

    she is dying and is looking for a Second (main) wife for her husband, so the Luo family can keep the connection with the Marquees, as well as have someone look out for her son.
    Despite she is close to the 5th Sister at the beginning, once Shiyi is chosen to accompany the Eldest Madam to Yanjing (in Beijing) to visit the Family there (it seems the Old Master and a couple of Luo family branches are there living, as well as her eldest son), she starts being wary of her and even gets on bad terms due to a "misunderstanding" during the trip. In fact, 5th Sister looks down on Shiyi and she desdains her being chosen as well as sees her as competition. Meanwhile, Shiyi isn't fully aware of what's happening, she can only blindly guess from what she's been told about Luo Yuanniang, but she doesn't know her di sister is this sick, she thinks she may want one of them to become a concubine.

    In chapter 31 we meet Qiao Madam and her 6th daughter (who are a great deal in the drama version). MTL isn't giving me accurate names XD (it keeps changing the name of Yuanniang's son too), in the drama the girl is named Lianfang.

    MTL is tricky, but I extract from this chapter that Luo Madam -who is visiting with Shiyi and Wunniang- meets them for the first time and by the chat they have with Xu Old Madam & this Qiao Madam, she understands (or assumes) that the Qiaos were there to curry favor because when the Xu family was being ostraziced and in a critical situation (There were like two different Imperial conspiracies: 1 involved the Xu, the other created chaos with the different Princes while the Xu Family was still being in a bad position) they sort of hid themselves (?). The Old Madam is recalling how she was at Yuhang* and couldn't do anything about Yuanniang being married to the Xu family, so she grasps from the conversation they're having and the situation that they would had married a daughter of the Qiao Family instead, but the Qiaos didn't lend them this hand back then.

    Not only that, the Qiao Family supported the wrong Prince, so when the new Emperor took the throne and married as his Empress the Marquees' sister, they became desperate to resume their ties to the Xus.

    In the drama it is simply shown how Xu Old Madam is borderline biased towards Qiao, in a way it makes her highly suspicious of Yuanniang's illness and dead.

    In the novel, right at the end of this chapter 31, both the Luo Madam and Shiyi understand what's going on and realise that the Xu Old Madam might be trying to make this Qiao daughter the next main wife.

    In Chapter 31-32, during a Banquet at the Marquees Yongping Manor we get a little bit more introduced into the ML's family.

    The 3rd Master is presumabily still alive (is the one they by-passed to give the title from the deceased father) and married. His wife doesn't seem to leave her courtyard too much.

    The 5th Master, Lingkan, is like we see in the drama. He married the only daughter of Marquees Dignan, who also happens to be a County Princess.

    I am not sure if the bastard son from the outer room we see in the drama will appear here and also be from this 5th Master.

    I am still confused whether the eldest son is Wen's or Qin's... as it was previously narrated to be Qin's, but here he appears with Concubine Wen.

    The situation at Luo Manor is also quite complicated, with Concubines living in Yanjing and others living in Yuhang with the Old Madam. And it seems the 6th Concubine who is a Master favourite (lives in Yanjing) is the mother of the 12th Sister who is living in Yuhang.

    ---

    When Shiyi is first brought to Yanjing (Beijing), she goes there only with Wu Niang, her 5th sister (and MTL is confusing, but it seems her concubine mother also follows). After a few days of being there, suddenly, the 10th Sister (the one that was constantly fighting with her back at home) appears and joins them in the Spring Banquet at the Xu Manor (ML's, Marquees Yongping's).

    Initially, Old Madam made an excuse to not have 10th Sister there (she despises her concubine mother for being always Old Master's favorite, but also she is aware of the girl's awful character)... however, after the Old Master asks why she hasn't come (the excuse is she had ashtma), she ends up appearing.

    By then, it's already been hinted to the FL, Shiyi, that there is a Wang Family (a Duke) that needs a daughter-in-law for his son that has a bad reputation (MTL is confusing but aside from his bad behavior, he is involved in the killing of a Prince). And having servants inquire for information, Shiyi finds out the plan is linked to the Jiang Family, who are in-laws with the Wangs, and it may be related to Luo Yuanniang's son (she is FL's eldest sister married to the ML).

    If you've watched the drama you already knows what happens at the Spring Banquet with Mrs. Qiao.

    Yuanniang sets a trap for her to eliminate her from the next main wife's competition.

    To be precise, too many people seem to be greedy speculating over Yuanniang's imminent dead, that it makes her overall illness look very fishy. Like someone made her ill in purpose so they could get rid of her & occupy her position.

    Madam Qiao has been lurking Xu's Manor for a while with her wife, and it is obvious that Madam Xu favors them, that is why Madam Luo instantly was angered when finding out they were there & guess their intentions.

    Yuanniang sets a trap so she can catch her husband (ML, Lingyi, the Marquees) in a room with Mrs. Qiao while she is on her undergarments, so she can blame him of cheating on her and not having even the decency to wait for her death to bring Mrs. Qiao into his chambers.

    This way, Mrs. Qiao can only be a Concubine, a nun or, luckily if the rumor didn't go out, be quickly married to someone else as a main wife and be compensated with a dowry or such by the Marquees for the ofence.

    Sadly, Shiyi gets dragged into this scheme as Yuanniang took her to accompany her. Shiyi reacts quite wisely, setting guard at the door while her eldest sister argues with the Marquees... however, she'll be misunderstood as also being in cahoots with Yuanniang to get rid of this rival.

    Poor Shiyi doesn't want to marry anyone, she's only 13 years old and doesn't see the perks of replacing her sister in such a complicated household, nor of marrying the son of the Wang Manor, who has participated in an assassination and is a lecher.

    In the novel, just a few days after this "incident" Qiao enters the Xu Manor as a concubine.

    In Chapter 59 some trully confusing events regarding the 4th Concubine of Luo's Old Master & the 10th Sister (of Shiyi) are narrated, in the midst of all these marriage-alliance's schemes.

    I am honestly not sure what's happened.

    It seems that, indeed, the 10th Sister got to Yanjing on her own and without being summoned by the Old Madam. She hired an escort company to do so.

    Then, Shiyi is told while they are talking about Mrs. Qiao becoming a Concubine for ML, that the 4th Concubine (Old Master's favorite) has hanged herself. It is confusing why she did so, it also talks about 2 other concubines have been tricked to go to the temple so they can be sold to a brothel.

    The 10th Sister seems to be an accomplice in all this and it is and Old Madam was also looking for money on her room, but she would had put it all on a pomgranatte bracalet she is wearing ever since she arrived at Yanjing.

    I am sorry I can't be much clearer, because the MTL makes it more confusing.

    Despite my reservations, it seems that Xu Old Madam did chose Yuanniang herself to marry. However, it's still weird that she allowed two concubines (and them to get pregnant) before she married into the house (again, this could be MTL making it confusing).

    Something that is different from the drama when Yuanniang is about to die

    A few things are set in motion way before in the drama, so at this point, at chapter 61, despite it seems Luo Old Madam has decided to marry Shiyi to the Wang Young Master, it hasn't happened any of the schemes that we see in the drama (also Erniang here should be either Wu Niang or Shi Niang).

    Yuanniang isn't the one to name Shiyi as the next wife to her husband, but she does asks him to marry one of her younger sisters when she dies. Then, it is Xu Old Madam the one who proposes Shiyi, after seeing how steady she handled Concubine Wen when the incident with Mrs. Qiao happened and the concubine wanted to barge in.

    Then, when Old Madam Luo sees her for the last time on her dead-bed, she finally decides for Shiyi and so tells it to her mother.

    Wu Niang ends up having a marriage with
    A Mr. Qian, who seems to be a scholar with a promising future (I am not sure where he came from, if he was introduced by Mrs. Wang or their eldest brother who is also a scholar). I assume that's the same person she marries in the drama, however, in the drama Wuniang is a nice sister that already has this engagement, while here in the novel she gets trully mad when she learns she won't be Yuanniang's replacement as the new Marchioness.

    It took me a while to fully understand but, Wu Niang's brother (biological) is the Fourth Master of Luo's first branch.
    Apparently, he is too foolish and a little bit of a leecher, he got involved with a maid and got her pregnant. Not sure if he knew, but he was discovered because the Old Madam recieved some cherries from the Xu Manor (sent by the Empress), and the ones she left for the Eldest Master disappeared. After searching a few courtyards, they found cherries in this maid's wardrobe, but then Old Madam's eldest grandson confessed he stole those, so they connected dots and discovered the ones at the maid's must've been sent by the Fourth Master.

    After this incident, he was sent back to Yuhang, so when Wu Niang married, he couldn't carry her over.

    When Old Madam & Yuanniang were considering candidates to replace the latest, the pros for Wu Niang were that she had a brother that could back her up later on, so she wouldn't be suppressed in the Xu Manor. Turns out this brother is useless like his father.

    ---------------------------

    Regarding ML's matters after Yuanniang passes:

    He is sent to war after his filial piety period is due and scores an important victory, so

    The Empress Dowager wants to betroth him a daughter of another Marquees, despite she is supposedly aware of his verbal agreement with Luo family to honor Yuanniang's last wishes. This Jianning Marquees' daughter is the Empress Dowager's niece (It is from the Yang Family), and she always wanted her to enter the Palace to become a Concubine, but it seems the Emperor opposed, so she shifted her goal to Marquees Yongping.

    The Empress Dowager seeks to keep her family tied to the Court's powerful families. However, Old Madam Xu stops it by officially sending people to propose marriage and letting the Emperor know they had previous agreement they won't betray with the Luo family.

    Shiyi was prepared to become a nun. Not sure if it was simply a strategy so the people would pity her and the Emperor would be embarrassed of the Empress Dowager bullying such a family (she took advantage when the Marquees was still away at the front to bring this matter up) and would stop this, or if she trully prefered to become a nun to avoid gossip as her reputation would be ruined because people would say she was rejected for being concubine born.

    The Emperor finds a different match for this niece of the Empress Dowager, another Marquees from Zhongshang, from the Tang family.

    This doesn't happen at all in the drama. Instead, they made a few backyard daughters' rivalry schemes happen.

    In Chapter 80 we see the events concerning the 10th Sister's wedding, the one that was sort of too spoiled & arrogant.

    Just open this spoiler if you don't mind having it spoiled. This is one of the archs I recommend to either wait for the translation or read yourself in MTL because it is quite interesting to just read about it in spoilers.

    The commitive at the door that are supposed to make things hard for the groom throws a very complicated riddle but, instead of playing along with them, the groom gets pissed and threatens with leaving. If they wanto to marry their daughter, let them send her to the Wang Manor.

    Everybody is scared, they cannot simply open the door, because that would damage the reputation of their family, as people would say they were scared of a son-in-law, but they can't afford the groom to go either.

    When the men of the Luo Family go to the backyard to tell to Shiyi to hide (they don't want her to be seen if the groom's party barge in), they find a weird scene: It seems 10th Sister has tried to commit suicide (quite confusing how) and Shiyi is taking care of the situation trying to reanimate her (?).

    When the Old Madam comes (Shiyi sends Old Madam's Mama Xu to tell her), she says that if she dies, then they will say she committed suicide because of the groom's offence of not picking her up just because he couldn't solve the riddle and didn't want to pay the penalty (handling red envelopes to his in-laws).

    So, this is also linked to the arch where her concubine mother committed suicide and 2 others concubines disappeared, presumabily being sold to human traffickers or a brothel. It's been two years almost and the women never could be found.

    It seems that 10th Sister's concubine mother (4th Concubine) would had left this arsenic prepared for her. Shiyi was the only one to notice the bracelet back then, but she thought it was were the money/property's money that had been stolen from Yuhan had been put.

    In the end, after they come to appologize and give them money as compensation -despite Old Madam's reluctance and anger-, 10th Sister ends up marrying this Wang son three days before Shiyi's bethrotal gifts get sent by the Xu 3rd Master, Xu Ligning, so the day 10th Sister goes back to her family to visit, they meet with the Xu's bethrotal gifts.

    ___

    In Chapter 84-85 the wedding of FL to ML (Shiyi to Lingyi) starts.

    An Imperial decree arrives just after Lingyi lifts the veil from Shiyi's head.

    It is to bestow titles to the both of them. It says to bestow him the title of prince of the second rank, but that is the MTL and it could be whatever... and for Shiyi MTL simple says "Yipin" so I have no idea which title it is.

    The thing is, Lingyi had previously refused to be awarded with a title for his war merit, but now the Emperor is giving him a title so he won't have to lead an army to war in the future but still will be an important member of the Court.

    For now it seems that most of the hostility Shiyi finds when she enters the Xu Manor in the drama is simply created for that adaptation and the one that's out to get her is the 3rd Madam, who is married to Lingyi's 3rd brother (the one they by-passed when he inherited the title)
    She is the one who actually orchestrates the scheme of the horoscopes conflicting with the 5th Madam's pregnancy, instead of Qiao Lianfang using the 2nd Madam through the Taoist master.
    However, here the scheme is set to get rid of 4 of her dowry/close servants, being Dongqing one of them.
    and, I guess, we can expect the concubines will all eventually create trouble for her.


    In the novel, she seems to do just fine -at least on the wedding day, when the decree interrupts them all- with the 5th Madam (the wife of Lingkan, Dayang County Princess), and the Old Madam doesn't seem to be against her, she even backed her up when the Empress Dowager tried to stuff her niece as a wife instead.

    However, Lingyi is not entusiastic or doesn't seem to be.

    If I am understanding the MTL right (https://www.51shucheng.net/yanqing/shunvgonglue/157016.html) I must say I don't like their first time.

    It is so sneaky it is sort of rapey.

    Lingyi pretends to go to sleep and when Shiyi joins in and is almost asleep, he starts touching her and initiates the intercourse (?), I am not quite sure if when she asks to call in a maid he is done (it seems not, as it says he is eager to complete the task), but she does call in for water to bath, which means she's had sex. And she describes the experience as unpleasant (even says she didn't know it would hurt this much).

    I know the ML is unenthusiastic due to his failed marriage/s (both Yuanniang and his concubines) and he feels obligated to marry Shiyi because Yuanniang made him do it... but he could had been less sneaky and not assault her while she was almost asleep, because that's what he made her believe: that he was going to sleep because the next day they must go to the Palace to thank the awards they've been bestowed.

    Gosh! She even gets a trauma from it!

    I wonder if the author gets Lingyi to eventually realize what he's done on their first night is in no way acceptable. I know that, as a man that's constantly ordered by his mother, he does not know better, but still... even a transmigrated succesful lawyer is getting a nightmare out of this rapish wedding consumation! Imagine if it was the original 15/6 years old Shiyi!

    Well, it seems that he is aware of how awful his performance was.

    In Chapter 89 (second day after being married) he himself seems to reflect on why he did it like that... MTL makes me believe he felt bad about it but he had to consumate the marriage so her position in the Manor would be safe. Only that... man! You could had been more gentle! And not fool her into thinking you would not touch her.



    Once we get past the anti-climatic wedding night and even the second dull night, chapter 93 brings us a revelation about Lingyi's nature:

    *Take in mind I still think his first snu snu scene is described and meant to sound both unfortunate/rapey & him obligued to do his duty (hence he is not aware that what he's doing is not much different from assault).

    So, turns out our ML gets aroused by a woman's thirst of knowledge... well, he thinks she's a little girl that just got out of her boudoir quite soon, little does he know she is an experienced lawyer from a far future.

    Well, the rest trully lets us see that Lingyi was, indeed, aware of the results of his performance during the wedding night. When she reacted to his touch getting stiff, he quickly remembered her face that night (when they lit the lights, he did it when it was pitch black) and quickly retracted his touch.

    More about the Marquees (ML) house:

    There are two brothers alive: The 3rd brother (Lingning) & the 5th brother (Lingkang).

    Lingyi's (ML) eldest son is Xu Siyu, then there are two sons from Xu Ligning, Xu Siqin & Xu Sijian, that follow and then there's Yuanniang's son whose name keeps getting changed by the MTL but in the drama they call him Brother Zhun. MTL Translate ML's edlest daughter's (concubine-born) name as Zhen.

    Adding to the 3 Concubines Lingyi has (Qin, Wen and Qiao Lianfang, the one that tried to calculate over Yuanniang's imminent death and was counter-schemed); The biggest problem is the 3rd Madam, I see now at chapter 110 that most of the schemes we see in the drama done by Qiao Lianfang are originally hers (and some had been modified).

    3rd Madam is swallowing the Manor's money into her private enterprises with her own brothers, because she took over managing the household, now almost everything gets purchased at her enterprises. It is also clear that she's behind the Taoist master who said the people from Cow sign conflict with the 5th Madam's pregnancy, so she could remove people from Shiyi's side and cut her chances at taking over the household accounts.

    The situation of the Xus is complicated because, despite holding power for Lingyi's military achievements and the fact the Empress is her sister, they're the maiden family of one of the current Princes, and that puts them in a thought spot. They have to behave and beware of who they form alliances with, not becoming too notorious and powerful to be considered a threat.

    That is why the incident with the rice that we see in the drama, here plays a different part.

    Chapters 128-130
    Lingyi is told by a problematic servant who is at odds with 3rd Madam and used to be Yuanniang's people (Is not Nanny Tao), and she decides to tell what's happened to Lingyi and let him investigate.

    Later, she thinks he won't talk to her about this, just let her know the matter has been taken care of, Lingyi still talks about it to her and Shiyi is the one to advise him how to act with 3rd Master. She wants to avoid any scandal or troubles at home (going against what Yuanniang's former servant wanted, for her to snatch the management) and she reminds Lingyi that this matter must be more complicated than just 3rd Master being greedy for money, as it doesn't make sense for him to jeopardize what he has (being concubin born, he is already well treated by them) for the little money he could get out of switching the rice for the relief (snow storms cause a lot of damage & refugees to come to the Capital) porridge for moldy rice.

    This makes the 3rd branch's couple argue, 3rd Master is mad at his wife who did all of this out of greed caused for her inferiority complex (she comes from a humble home and is too aware of her husband being a shu son).

    In Chapters 115-116 Shiyi gets told from the Marquees' household before even Yuanniang arrives.

    MTL is confusing, again. First she gets told about the 3 concubines the deceased Old Master used to have. It seems the 3rd Master is the son of one of those concubines (the 2nd, I think).

    Then she gets told the story of Lingyi's concubines, but I am still not fully grasping it.

    MTL translates something as "aunt's grandma" and I can't see if it refers to Yuanniang or whoelse... sometimes Yuanniang gets mentioned so I get a little bit more of information settled.

    Lingyi had 2 bedwarmers raised as concubines: Qin & Tong. Still here it isn't clear when they were offered as bedwarmers, but it was before his father died (it seems)... and they both got pregnant, but Tong died at the 4th month of pregnancy while Lingyi was away guarding the family's tomb.

    The gossip wants Shiyi to believe Lingyi was presumabily in love with this Concubine Tong, hence he got mad when he came back 2 years later to find out she had died while pregnant... and got a fight with his mother and (confusing MTL) Yuanniang, perhaps.

    It is also said that the maid Yuanninag gave to him as a concubine looked aliked this Tong, but she also ended up dying.


    Chapters 136-138 The 5th Master "accidentally" got one of the bedwarmers arranged by his wife pregnant.

    The 5th Madam is clearly mad. She arranged those "common rooms" herself, but they weren't supposed to get pregnant before she has delievered her first baby, at least. She is pregnant already when Shiyi marries in.

    She plans to use this pregnancy to her favor, but that implies torturing the one that dared to secretly stop the contraceptive soup and the other bedwarmer who stayed silent about it. I think she is hoping for her to have a difficult childbird (she mentions to make her fat so the 5th Master won't forget how this baby came in) and for the other maid to become spiteful because she placed her to serve the new concubine-to-be and to constantly remind her that their statuses are different now.

    Overall, I think that 5th Madam is bitter because she just did what it is expected from her (to set up a couple of maids to serve her husband when she can't) but she hoped for 5th Master to not touch them.

    At the end of chapter 255 this bedwarmer miscarries, just after Danyang has given birth to a daughter.

    It looks like it isn't her own doing, as she is anxious and wants to know what happened, because if this bedwarmer that disobeyed her happens to just loose her fetus when she's given birth to a daughter (not a son), it looks trully suspicious for Danyang. This Xiaolan dies not long after (chapter 256).

    Danyang is still being a B* to Shiyi, by the way, so I don't care much to what happens to her.

    _____________________________

    More on the story of the 2 concubines that disappear from Luo's Ancestral home:

    This is previously mentioned in other spoilers, so read only if you're read those and are curious.

    After Shiyi is married in, just a few days after and while she's having her first jest with the 3rd Madam (the story of the conflicting horoscopes), a Budhist Master comes to visit while all the Madams are paying their respects to Xu Old Madam and asks to talk privately to Shiyi.

    Then the man reveals that the two concubines that disappeared before are now his disciples. I don't quite understand why they want from Shiyi, but it implies that if they reveal they escaped and with them, they took 10th Sister who left on her own to Yanjing (when she appeared at Yanjing, she hadn't been summoned) and used the 4th Concubine's suicide as a distraction, it'll damage her reputation.

    Turns out they stole the money that Shiyi initially thought had gone to 10th Sister's bracelet, and donated it to the temple. Now they were trying to use her for who knows what.


    This incident with the concubines just shows how different the story is from the drama adaptation and, yet, the drama isn't too bad nor destroys the characters.

    Shiyi isn't, perhaps, as passive as she appears to be in the drama (it gets on the viewers nerves, because we never get shown much about her skills and she basically reacts to schemes and always says "I know what to do" but it seems she does nothing in the surface); but Shiyi in the novel is still holding herself back a lot and so far, has only shown her smarts to Old Nanny Tao (who, in her turn doesn't know whether to be afraid for Yuanniang's son or glad) and she just keeps letting others do, because her plan consists on catching their flaws later when it is too late for them to rectificate.

    I understand that a lot of the things they've changed from her character har both to do with the fact Transmigration is a censored topic for Chinese dramas (hence, they altered her circumstances to justify her smarts) and the use of more familiar tropes for backyard dramas. I do think it is a pity when drama writers discard fresher non-trope heavy or non-traditonal tropes plots to just do the same ol' same ol', but the drama is still quite entertaining & it does has its connections with the novel.

    Getting back to this topic about the concubines arch (The lost concubines), it shows that the Luo family is more united than we think:

    Aside from the radical change we see from the Old Madam drama version (a tyrant) into a more reasonable Old Madam that isn't a persimone (she knows how to speak backyard) that won't just mistreat her concubine born children (the only reason why she dislikes 10th Sister is because of her arrogance & her mother getting cocky for being the favorite and handling matters for a long time); the evilness of characters like 10th Sister (in the drama it'll be the 2nd Sister, Erniang) is more realistic and justified, and less superficially stereotyped (although enjoyable performance, still too cliché). MTL comes out confusing at times, but it is not hard to eventually pick up this is a way more sophisticated plot than the drama's... still, can't blame them because the production doesn't look too expensive, it's still quite a decent one.

    When the Budhist Master goes to Shiyi to ask (actually is sort of a threat) to allow those 2 concubines to become (officially) nuns, she quickly tries to do things in a way the news won't impact the Old Madam too much. Yet, the maid at her side is too slow and she learns the news from the Budhist Master himself, causing her a stroke.

    When there's this crisis, all the siblings from this 1st Branch that are at Yanjing come together (minus the 10th Sister who is also in a difficult situation because her husband is scum) to try to find the best solution, and they all want to protect their legal mother (despite not being registered as their children aka di children, she's still the mother, the others are aunts), because they all understand is the thing to do, but also because she's been the one to trully carry their family and they aren't ungrateful.

    Yes, Shiyi always was careful not to show her cleverness and remain reserved at home (that is why Yuanniang & Old Madam thought she'd bee good to marry ML, and she'd be easy to control), but she doesn't have any enmity nor remorse towards her official mother, all the contrary, in an earlier chapter she even tells Old Madam that the Luo Family is of everyone's, so is their duty to protect it.

    I think the drama reduced this sense of duty to the family but also camaraderie between siblings (despite of their boudoir little fights) into the Eldest brother, who is always so kind to Shiyi when she has any troubles.

    More about the Luo's family situation up to chapter 222 & Members of this Family.

    The situation at Luo's Manor has been barely hinted by stories passed between the maids or the times Shiyi has got to visit there and she could see weird things were happening.

    I am still not much clear on the full family members, but the first branch has been described a few times so I get is like this:

    • Old Master (who is a lecher, even wanted to take a dowry maid from one of his daughter-in-laws)
    • Old Madam (who is strict and is schemy, but isn't too bad with the shu children, just makes sure she'll remain the main wife till the end).
    • First Concubine (She is 1 of the 2 who escape and became nuns)
    • Second Concubine (That's the second one that escape and became a nun)
    • Third Concubine (Presumabily has been in Yanjing all this time with the Master)
    • Fourth Concubine (10th Sister's mother, she committed suicide)
    • Fifth Concubine (Shiyi's birthmother, she is a coward but cares a lot for her daughter)
    • Sixth Concubine (was pulled up by Old Madam from her maids to fight 4th concubine, mother of 12th Daughter)
    • 1st Daughter, di, Yuanniang, former wife of Lingyi, mother of Brother (Zhun? Jian? Chen?)
    • 2nd Daughter (appears sometimes in gatherings, I am not much clear who's her mother)
    • 3rd Daughter (?? Not even sure she exists or I just miss her while skeeming through the MTL)
    • 4th Daughter (I think she is daughter of the 2nd Madam aka 2nd branch of the family, she is married to Yu Yiqing and she gave birth to 2 sons and it seems she is full sister of 7th Daughter)
    • 5th Daughter, Wunniang, (Not sure who is her mother, 4th Master is her brother)
    • 6th Daughter (Same as 3rd & 4th)
    • 7th Daughter (She married away, to a good family. She has the same mother & father as 4th Sister)
    • 8th Daughter (?????)
    • 9th Daughter (????)
    • 10th Daughter (she is 4th Concubine's daughter, married to the bastard of Wang Lan & having a miserable life)
    • 11th Daughter (our FL, Shiyi)
    • 12th Daughter (6th Concubine is her mother, she is barely 7-8 years old and was raised in Yuhang, later she's brought to Yanjing)
    • 1st Master (?????)
    • 2nd Master (????)
    • 3rd Master (the nice one, Luo Zhenxing, he is married to someone the MTL always translates as Big Tits, sorry)
    • 4th Master (Luo Zhengsheng, he is a little of a lecher, got a maid pregnant... now he is married to a girl that is certaintly sneaky at first, but Shiyi ends up putting her in her place. His only son was born from a concubine, as his wife had 2 daughters in a row)
    • 5th Master (???)
    • 6th Master (???)
    • 7th Master (Luo Zhenhong, Wu Yinniang's, 5th Concubine, son. The full biological brother of Shiyi).
    Addding 2 more brothers because, according to 12th Sister in chapter 276:

    Take in nothe the people I haven't noticed or simply haven't been mentioned may be from other branches (?) In the last chapters I've read (up till 276) a 5th sister-in-law has been mentioned, and a 3rd sister too... but I just didn't grasp enough details on these two.

    About the 4th Sister, in chapter 278 Xu Old Madam mentions her to Shiyi:

    The thing is, after Old Madam's stroke, a series of events happen that make her more mad and she has a second stroke that damages more her brain.

    Because of that, weird things happen & Shiyi can see something's off, her maid Dongqing knows a little bit more but doesn't dare to tell her, because it involves her biological mother and Shiyi does care of the face of the Old Madam...

    Old Master put in charge of the house the 6th & 5th Concubines... but not sure if this is 6th's scheme, he starts spending all his nights with Wu Yinniang (5th concubine, Shiyi's mother) and that gets the Old Madam mad she ends up smashing all the medicinal gifts that Lingyi sent there. I guess she starts to see Shiyi as a traitor (to her narrow-minded interests), because aside from this, the Marquees resigns of his post (for political reasons) and Old Madam thinks this will damage her grandson's future (seriously, she is putting too much hopes on a little child that's not even from her clan).

    Because of the house arrangements, 5th Concubine ends up pregnant, but she feels embarrassed, and it seems that Old Madam and someone else (Shiyi suspects it's 3rd Concubine) don't want to tell the Old Master. They're all afraid that now Shiyi is a Marchioness, if 5th Madam births a child, her position may grow up too strong in the household... of course, those concubines with already a son and a daughter (both) are scared and wary...

    I just thing the overall situation is fishy and 5th Concubine might've been used by the 6th, but turns out the Old Madam is becoming more and more tyranical after her stroke and wanted to use the 3rd Concubine against them, so the 6th Concubine decided to team up with Shiyi's mom and fight it back.
    When Shiyi learns of her pregnancy, she decides to back her biological mother up.

    In the Chapter 330, the 7th Sister that had been married off to a wealthy family outside the Capital, appears by surprise when Lingyi is returning at his Manor (after being away for a few days). Apparently, he found her on the way and he purchased her horses (???), but 7th Sister says she run away from her husband's home because he bullied her (and she took a lot of money LOL). This happens in the middle of the last part of Shiyi's celebration for her hairpin ceremony (the ceremony is already over but there's still people around).

    It seems that the husband of Qinniang used to have concubines or bedwarmers, but he sent them away when he was going to marry her... however, because Qiniang is not getting pregnant, someone (not sure if it's the mother-in-law) sent to maids to her to offer to the husband, but she refused and then someone (not sure if the husband himself) wanted to take her own maid as a common room (that is what I assume from the MTL).

    Shiyi uses the time they both go to visit the 4th Sister to tell her and send news to Qinniang's husband so he knows she is with her. Then, Zhu Anping (her husband) comes in a couple of days, chasing her back:

    Shiyi knows women had it hard back then (in the time she's in, though), but she also knows that her sister didn't think through how to stand up for herself and run away instead.

    In the end, turns out that the husband didn't touch any maid and he even scolded her for running away without talking these things with him first. He promised to try everything to see how she could birth a son and, if not, just adopt a child from one of Qinniang's sisters.

    This story about Qinnian goes on for chapters and years.
    There is a moment where she is given a sort of ultimatum and the situation ends up asking her bioligical sister, Sinian (4th Sister) to let her adopt her son (I am not quite sure if this sister may have more chidlren, but I think she does). The sister is resigned to do the sacrifice, but Shiyi won't let this happen. She first try to let her see how awkward the situation would be in the future as well as asks her to think about how will she feel giving her own son away.

    However, this doesn't get solved quickly and, honestly, after reading the chapters like 3 times, I am still not sure of how it went. The only things I could extract are that their father, Luo Old 2nd Master, indulged Qinnian in this matter and that is why her mother-in-law took the chance to force her have her sister give away the child. Then, Sinnian's mother-in-law got angry and strongly disagreed to give away a child from the Yu clan to someone else (understandable). Shiyi's eldest brother, Zhongxin, got caught in this mess and they also wanted Lingyi to help them make the Court ignore the lawsuit when it would be filed (I think it means Yu's lawsuit) so the adoption could go smoothly... but Danyang (Shiyi's sister-in-law married to Xu Lingkuan) had an idea (that I couldn't fully understand either, sorry) and Shiyi thought it was the best to follow.

    It took several chapters and it was mixed with other matters, so even if I read it thrice, I missed how it got solved. I am not sure if what Danyang meant was for Qinnian herself to offer her husband a common room (which required a lot of persuasion if done), but this was discussed among the Luo sisters, and they all saw that if Qinniang did this after 5 years of not letting her husband to have any other women, it would look like a joke. So this is why I have no idea how they solved and, suddenly, at Chapter 598, it is reported that Qinnian gave birth to a son... If anyone reads it and understands it, please explain it to me, because I still don't know how she got a child (I hope the next chapters recall the events, so I can get a better idea, though).

    Chapter 295, Update on the 2 Concubines that became nuns in a Budhist Temple

    Shiyi is at Ciyuan Temple with the 2nd Madam, offering oil to pray for the Empress' child (I think). Lately, that Budhist master who first came to talk about those 2 escaped concubines has been pestering her constantly, because Danyang (5th Madam) keeps relying on him for every little problem she has or her newborn daughter has (she is a fanatic, honestly, trusts more the monk than a doctor & is driving everyone crazy with this Master's instructions to solve her problems).

    While being at the temple, she requests to meet the 2 Concubines now turned nuns, she's also seen that one of the stewards left by Yuanniang that is in charge of the industries she left as a dowry for her son, is there meeting the concubines. When she asks, they vaguely say they're old acquaintances.

    Then, she asks about why the 4th Concubine committed suicide:

    It follows on chapter 296,


    In Chapter 297, Shiyi gets to finally talk to Lu Yonggui:

    Follow in chapter 298:

    I can't figure out much on this matter... I am not quite sure if this a story about Old Master stealing someone else's wife to be and later arranging stuff to cover this "suicide" they're talking about too.

    ________________________________________________
    LITTLE UPDATE ON WHY LINGYI'S BACKYARD BACKGROUND

    Seeing that Old Madam here was actually the one to choose Yuanniang and isn't at all like in the drama version, this makes more sense and explains why there was an older son before Yuanniang could birth any (and what I got from the MLT on the first chapters, that the bedwarmers were pregnant before she married).

    _________________________________

    The Kids

    The eldest son of Xu Lingnin is around 14 years old. He and Siyu live in the outer courtyard, however, it seems that (MTL made me confused for a while) he had an ambiguous relationship with one of his maids, so the 3rd wife used an excuse and changed the maids on the outer courtyard serving him and Siyu.

    I say I am confused by the MTL, because these chapters ever since 130~ish Shiyi is getting told of all these things and thinks on how Yuanniang was teaching the other people's children like Luo Old Madam did with the concubine-born sons: spoiling them so they won't achieve anything in the future.

    The case of Su Siqin (who I first thought was younger than Siyu) is similar to Shiyi's 4th Brother (the biological brother of Wuniang, 5th Sister), who got a maid pregnant. As it was told, it looked like those bedwarmers hadn't been accepted as such (?) however, Shiyi is told that they chose (MTL says aunt's grandmother, which is even more misleading, it could be Yuanniang or it could be Concubine Qin... turns out the child is 3rd Madam's?) beautiful maids to serve the kids, and she thinks Yuanniang was expecting exactly that: the kids to become lechers. The maids are older than them, just like how Concubine Qin & Concubine Tong were older than Lingyi when they started serving him and eventually became bedwarmers.

    Xu Siyu is Qin's son and Shiyi starts talking (in thoughts) more about him in chapter 158
    Concubine Qin is the quiet one (in the drama as well, but there she isn't Yu's mother). Madam Qiao comments to her daughter, Concubine Qiao, to follow her because it seems she knows her tricks and that is why Lingyi "favors" (still, I don't believe he does, just politely treat her & sleeps with her out of duty) her.

    Her son, Siyu, is trully too well mannered and smart. Shiyi does catch him looking at her, scrutining her actions, a few times. She knows the child may be too calculating, since he is Lingyi's eldest son, but he is concubine born and is not supposed to inherit his title.

    Later, he changes a little after Shiyi starts getting more trusted by Lingyi, Old Madam, and not looked with the initial contempt she seemed to have for her by 2nd Madam. Shiyi also happens to catch the elder kids once trying to sneak away and the way she handles it, makes Xu Siyu less distant, however, the turning point is when he gets involved in Xu Siqin's (3rd Master's eldest son) plan to pass a veil to one of his cousins and that ends up with the cousin (she's a girl) getting married quickly. 3rd Madam wanted to pin the misdeed (they jeopardized the maiden's reputation by doing this) into Xu Siyu, probably to force him to take responsability and marry, however Shiyi defended him and turned the matter around.

    The thing is (that's explained in Concubine Qin & Shiyi/Lingyi's spoilers too), when Concubine Qin is found out as the person behind causing Xu Sizhen (Yuanniang's son) faint of fright and fall in a coma; it comes to the light (in a very subtle way) that he did had, indeed, the thoughts of eventually snatching the heir position.

    It is seen in a conversation she had with Xu Siqin, after Shiyi will get pregnant, because the cousin saw his reaction and thought that he may still be wanting to become the heir, despite he had told him long ago he had let go of that thought.

    It is his birth mother, Concubine Qin, the one who always tried to poison her head with these ideas, and that is also why he became so focused when 2nd Madam took care of his education, but he was also distant to both Xu Sizhen and Old Madam.

    When he comes to know what Concubine Qin and that she also had a hand in the death of Concubine Tong and her unborn child (she was a bedwarmer that got pregnant first and Lingyi seemed to like her very much), he comes to realize of what's the nature of the thoughts and plans he used to have.

    Chapter 452, after her mother has died and he decides to go to a Mountain (where Concubine Qin was placed before dying) to guard a year of filial piety while studying,


    Sister Zhen, Lingyi's daughter.

    In the other hand, there is the situation of Sister Zhen, the only daughter of the Marquees, and Yuanniang's son (sorry, still not sure of his name).

    They both live together, under Xu Old Madam's care.

    Zhen was taken from Concubine Wen because Old Madam doesn't like her. She forcefully accepted her because at the time it was urgent to have children, but Wen took advantage of her marriage and Lingyi's good treatment to make politics and get official posts for her family and Lingyi stopped wanting her to serve him and Old Madam thought she was inappropiate to raise any children (there's also this usual looking down on merchant families).

    Zhen is depressed because she's been stuck with her little brother and, despite they're close and she takes care of him, she has literally not much life of her own. This is the first thing that Shiyi notices from the girl, who is really polite to her and probably is the one to help Yuanniang's son to stop being hostile to her.

    Yuanniang's son was hostile to Shiyi because when his mother was about to die, she told him to follow Shiyi's orders, so the kid obviously wouldn't want her. He wanted his mother, that is also Yuanniang's fault, who spoiled and overprotected the child.

    Around this chapters (pass 130's) Shiyi finally can start putting her hands on the Marquees' children. Everything starts with the incident of changing maids at the outer courtyard and coincides with 3rd Madam's messing the relief porridge's rice up (so she ends up having to give up the household's management, but that hasn't fully been done yet).

    Shiyi seems determined to actually care for all the children and give them what they need and not what would make her potential future children rise above them all. She is really nice to Zhen, she uses someone's petition to get their daughter be taught embroidery by her to give Zhen a playmate (or a friend) and some independence. In Chapter 150~ she has already got Old Madam to make her set a boudoir for Zhen under Shiyi's care.

    Feng Qing / Xu Sijie (similar to what we've seen in the drama) is 5th Master's, Liangkan, bastard.

    Already talked about him in the spoilers about Shiyi & Lingyi's relationship progress.

    The kid appears out of nowhere around chapter 190-ish.

    Someone from the Wang Family reports to Lingyi of this child's existence. Turns out that he was born from an affair his 5th brother had before marrying Dangyan Princess. He used to raise a singing/theatrical troupe and kept giving them money until he married and eventually stopped doing that. He doesn't know the child exists, only that one of the leaders of this troupe suddenly appeared at his door asking for more money.

    It seems that this man had a lot of debts and he took this baby (presumabily his sister's the mother, but she died) and sold it.

    The Ou Family (sames that are behind the 5th Prince's death) wanted to buy him to make him a male prostitute and bring it a few years later to Yanjing, probably to use him against Lingyi.

    The child has been abused and beated for a while, Shiyi is trully heartbroken for this child, she loves children and got used to work with them as a lawyer that specialized in divorces.

    In the end, rumors spread saying Lingyi hid an outer room he brought back from the Northwest 3 years ago and, despite Shiyi gets to tell the truth (only that is 5th Master's, not about Ou's scheme) to the Empress (and the Emperor is hiding to listen), they have to quickly recognize the child under Lingyi's name to deal with this matter and avoid people to impeach him at Court.

    (Still haven't got to this point in the drama) Lingyi inscribes Feng Qing under the deceased Concubine Tong, who also happened one of the maids that was with him since childhood, and give the child to Shiyi to raise. Shiyi wanted to use this oportunity to see which concubine he values the most, but she was surprised by Lingyi pulling out Tong's name. She was once told that he did love this one, but who knows...

    Years later, when the kid is already living in the outer courtyard, he starts sensing something is off with him.

    This arch was really painful to read, it goes around chapter 607~622 (aproximately). Xu Sijie was trully well raised by Shiyi, she cherished him a lot, and he got a strong bond with Xu Sizhen (it was also helpful to make Sizhen feel more confident and get used to the role of a big brother). However, Shiyi sheltered him as much as possible, so the child would never encounter any rumors or weird looks.

    When Xu Sizhen has started to socialize with other young masters from influent families, he takes along Xu Sijie once, and the kid is being ignored and used as a servant by one of Xu Sizhen's close friends. Sizhen tries to stop that "friend" to order his brother around, but Sijie is too smart and sensible, he plays along but takes this oportunity to leave to his courtyard. Shiyi learns about it and asks him why he went all by himself, and the kid explains how he felt ostraziced and tried to please those young masters with his skills, but was looked down upon. He tells her that he will study harder in order to be able to amaze those young masters one day, but Shiyi doesn't correct him at the time, thinking that it is good this will give him some determination to improve (he is skilled for arts and calligraphy, but not too smart for numbers and other stuff).

    Xu Sizhen stops meeting with that friend for a while but, having Lingyi always encouraging him to meet these people (as well as that young master is the son of one of Lingyi's friends) he can't just avoid him completely.

    Later on, Xu Sijie is disrespected while he is trying to lecture Shiyi's son, Xu Sijin, who was trying to play with firecrackers along with the 7th Young Master, Xu Sixu (son of Danyang & Lingkuan, the 5th Branch) as well as to admonish the servants that allowed him to do that. The boy feels frustrated when seeing the servants doesn't put him in his eyes and just keep refuting him, he is saved by Xu Sijin's close maid, who gets furious when she sees what's happening.

    After Shiyi gets told of it, a day after, she goes bersek and punishes everyone involved, even the stewards responsabiles for the servants from the outer yard that broke in the inner yard. Lingyi allows her to do that, because he sees it must be something big for her to disregard the rules about the inner yard not interfering with the outer courtyard.

    When they talk about it, there's also the incident about Xu Sijin being scolded by the Old Madam because he was trying to sing Opera (it was the Spring banquet again) and later she caught him studying a score. Old Madam wants to avoid the kid getting in touch with those things, because he is the son of an opera singer & Lingkuan. Xu Sijin doesn't understand why he is being treated like this, when his 5th Uncle always plays with the theatre troupes and sings. Lingyi realizes that he had let this matter pass for too long and that Shiyi was hurt because she treats Xu Sijie as he was his own son, so it is time for him to bring him to pay respects to Concubine Tong, so he can start to understand he is a shu son (concubine-born) so his status will always be different.

    The poor kid figures out on his own that he has never been treated the same as Xu Sizhen by Old Madam (Lingyi is different, because he is only trully doting to Xu Sijin) nor the rest of the family, despite Shiyi has always loved him a lot. He starts remembering he came into the house and, while being in his study, he suddenly gets all his past memores back in fragments and remembers his birth mother and the abuse they both suffered. He runs to his old Nanny to cry and ask what is his origin.

    His old Nanny tells him what she knows: That he is a son from Lingyi brought from an outer room (a full bastard) but that he should remember that his mother (Shiyi) has always cherished him and raised him all the same as his other 2 brothers (the ones she raised: Xu Sijin and the time she got Xu Sizhen, who was actually beside Old Madam). Xu Sijie gets comforted by this thought but he still breaks to cry again when he goes to see Shiyi.

    He ends up figuring out the truth with the help of Xu Sizhen in Chapter 646. He had been investigating for a while, trying to know more about his birth mother, and everything brought him back to the theatre troop that moved away from the City and his birth mother's uncle (the one who sold him)... so he was wondering whether he wasn't a son of Xu Lingyi at all, but Xu Sizhen found out what he was trying to do and told him it was impossible that he wasn't from the Xu Family, because they both looked much alike.

    Because Xu Sizhen remembers that at the time Xu Sijie must had been concieved and born, his father was away at war, he always felt something was off. When he suggests going to ask to the 5th Uncle, Xu Sijie thinks that it is better not to do it, because Xu Lingkuan has always treated him coldly. While going there, Xu Sizhen ends up connecting dots (Lingkuan isn't there so they aren't recieved) and drags his brother back to the outer yard and they both end up putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

    Shiyi had been getting people watch out for Sijie, ever since he became aware of his status as a "shu" son, so she know the two brothers might had found out something when her maid reports that there seems to be some quarreling after they went to the inner yard to 5th Branch's house.

    Shiyi plays the fool, but Xu Sijie can guess that their mother must have found out that they were looking around and had guessed his identity. He wants to talk about it with her, but he also knows he can do it in a direct manner, because he is a junior and shouldn't talk about the issues of the elders, so he tries to find an euphemistical way to let her know that he has found out who his father is.

    It is Shiyi who, after having dinner with them, finds a way to talk to him in private.


    Sister Zhen (Lingyi's daughter)

    She eventually ends up socializing more with the daughter from a Manor next-door and other young misses that come from families acquainted with Old Madam or Shiyi herself (now she's married). Then, it comes the time to start finding a suitable marriage and several families express their desire to match a son or a nephew to her. The family of the girl next-door, Sister Hui, also proposes a candidate: the nephew of her mother, Madam Lin.

    In one ocasion, Sister Hui sends a collection of handmade painted fans to Zhen and Shiyi notices that those are exquisite, but she also notices (and confirmed by Sister Zhen's words) that the girl painted things Sister Zhen especially liked, going out of the ordinary to capture scenes one can only see in the middle of the night and such. Shiyi gets suspicious about the intention and origins of this fan.

    Shiyi takes Zhen to the Lin Manor, where Miss Hui lives and tries to investigate more on this matter by observing and talking to her. But turns out she catches the girl confessing she actually didn't paint the scene that attracted Shiyi's attention and made her beware. She wanted to, but overslept and asked her cousin to do it for her (that's the nephew her mother's trying to settle for Zhen).

    Madam Lin knows that she's been caught, and Shiyi is a little bit mad that they tried to use tricks to go straight to Sister Zhen's attention, instead of following the protocol (the parents).

    Shiyi doesn't think this candidate is a good one because the family isn't from Yanjing and they leave far enough for Lingyi and Old Madam to not want to send their precious daughter outside. However, she suspects that Sister Hui might had been feeling Zhen's head with stories about her cousin.

    Later, in Chapter 347, after many other considerations about the possible candidates, Xu Lingyi & Shiyi actually decide for this marriage that was proposed by Madam Lin. Shiyi did listen to Concubine Wen on this matter, and the both met with this Zhong Ran and a young Master Li -who was Lingyi's favourite at first-, but the latest was discarded (Shiyi & Wen always felt something was off about him and his home situation) because Shiyi realized while recieving a surprise visit of Madam Li that they only wanted to climb up the social ladder and their position as a military family (The Lis) was too tricky for the Xus and their current situation (nor the future, when there'll be more battles for the throne).

    Later on the story, Sister Zhen gets married and her husband also scores high (not sure if it is 1st place) on the Imperial Examination for guards/soldiers. The Ou Family takes advantage of Zhong Ran's visit to the Palace (when he is conferred the rewards for his test results) to push a marriage to his brother and the Emperor agrees to decree it. This makes Lingyi and Shiyi see that the Emperor is still wary of them to gain powerful connections, that's why he is allowing their enemy to also marry someone in that family, as a warning for Zhong Ran's to stay neutral (after all, Sister Zhen is the Crown Prince's cousin).

    She gives birth to a baby boy not long after, MTL calls him Brother Cheng, si I guess the name is Xu Sicheng (?).

    Xu Sijin

    He is Shiyi's son with Lingyi. He had a dificult childbirth, but because he came when Lingyi was already pretty much single-minded towards his mother, he is raised with a lot of doting and spoiled. Old Madam also over-spoils him, and Shiyi struggles whenever she sees this is only indulging the child and it will make him domineering and a dude.

    The kid grows up being possessive of his stuff and, because some servants like to lick his boots knowing he is the son of a favored wife, he is too arrogant.

    When he gets a martial arts master, he doesn't like being taught with discipline so, along with the 7th Brother (Xu Sixu, Danyang & Lingkuan's son) they are constantly refuting this Master (Pang) and even play a very bad prank to him.

    Shiyi is furious so she wants to make him reflect and go to appologize to the Master. However the kid is too stubborn, so she lets him stand outside the courtyard for hours, it starts to rain but she still won't let him in (is summer, so not much risk to catch a cold). The Old Madam learns of this and quickly goes to take the child, she hasn't realized how much wrong he's been doing all these years indulging the kid and giving him always too expensive stuff. She is also displeased to see Shiyi treating the child this harsh, but Shiyi is also not happy to see the Old Madam trying to intervene into her house matters. Shiyi isn't stupid so, in the end, when the Old Madam is trying to use her power to take the child away and express her dissatisfaction with her, Shiyi agrees to let him take the child but that he has to go to appologize to the Master first.

    When Xu Sijin is told that, he refutes in a very rude way his mother and then is when Old Madam opens her eyes and finally realizes that she did wrong and regrets going there in the first place. She is horrified to see the child disobeying his mother, thinking that this is the beginning to becoming unfilial. When she thinks of the kid ending not paying respect to his ancestors (meaning he won't burn incense for her either when she dies LOL, selfish much? Even though I like Old Madam, she's always been in the wrong with Xu Sijin), she rectifies and tells Shiyi to handle the matter and is invited by Shiyi into the house for tea. They leave the kid outside, telling him to reflect on why he should go appologize to Master Jin.

    In the end he does it, but he has a long way to go. Shiyi has been trying her best to teach this child, from making picture books when he was a toddler, so he could learn things, telling him stories, etc. But her work is nothing if those surrounding him always kept indulging him and making him become conceited.

    Danyang's kids (5th Branch)

    Sister Xin is the eldest and 2nd Daughter. She is too arrogant and constantly fought with Xu Sijin when they were both toddlers (she is older), constantly wanting to snatch his things. Xu Lingkuan has spoiled her rotten, Danyan is desperate because of that.

    Xu Sixu, the 6th Young Master, Danyang's first son. He is of a very good character, easy to handle, and he is really close to Xu Sijin.

    I think there is a thrid baby, but I am not sure because I've been reading scattered parts for a few days and I am barely catching up from the right order of reading (U_U").
    ____________________
    ____________

    The Politics

    If you've watched the drama, the politics there show up quickly. However, this novel is set even more into a slice-of-life from the backyard perspective so, although we get some information on what's happened, why the current Emperor came to the throne (supported by the Xu family), etc. it isn't until Chapter 163 that we get a full problem inserted into the narrative.


    MTL is confusing always, so I can't say much about the background details, only that the current Empress is Lingyi's sisters and she had 3 sons with the Emperor. The first 2 were born while he was still a Prince, the last one (5th Prince) was born after they both were crowned Emperor and Empress. With the enthronment, the harem expanded (it seems he barely had a couple or a few concubines as a Prince, only 2 were ranked high after taking the throne).

    This is when the Ou family -who we've seen be the villains at the drama- enters the game. They send a daughter that's sealed as Imperial Concubine, because they hold power thanks to their naval force at Fujian that fights the Pirates.

    Before this chapter, the 5th Prince fell into a coma and Lingyi left to escort the Empress and the other two princes to Xishan, because he knew things would happen. When the 5th prince died, they told the Empress he fell ill and died and went back. The Emperor found a scapegoat and sealed the deceased prince with a title, but didn't tell the Empress the truth of what had happened.

    Lingyi knows is the Ou family poisoning the child, because they want his sister to resent the Emperor and turn against him, this way it's easier to abolish her and put the Imperial Concubine in her position.

    Lingyi tells Shiyi that his sister treats the Emperor as a normal husband, not as a monarch, and that's why she still holds much of his favor. Of course, Lingyi is cautious not to have his brothers show off or hold much or any power, so the Emperor won't consider them a threat.

    It seems the Empress Dowager has something to do with the 5th Prince's dead too. Lingyi knows and Shiyi already noticed that the ED didn't gave any chances for Old Madam nor 2nd Madam to be in private with the Empress when they all went for the mourning ceremonies.

    This incident, however, makes the Empress change. After she sees how her husband won't pursue this matter, aside from thinking he is a little bit responsible for rising the Ou woman this high too quickly, she no longer feels the same towards him. Shiyi knows she's turned cold when she gets a chance to speak to her in private.

    During the days after the funeral of the 5th Prince, the Empress gets ill and she goes there with (I think) the 3rd Madam (or was it the 2nd Madam?) and she notices that she is too absent-minded so she deliberately boldly stares at her to wake her up from her trance, and the Empress uses an excuse related to Shiyi's problems at the Xu Family to bring her apart and have a chat about what she wants Lingyi to do for her.

    Shiyi does this because she knows that if the Empress becomes too distressed due to her heartbreak and disappointment, it will be easier for the Ou Family to abolish her position.

    Chapter 292, While they're choosing a candidate to marry the 1st Prince, the Empress

    gets pregnant again, as it was recommended by Xu Lingyi, she later gives birth to a daughter. Because is the first princess born in this Emperor's harem, this doesn't disgrace the Empress, on the contrary, it rises her position even more, as everybody values a lot this princess.

    Chapter 386-387, The Crown Prince

    Well, I've been scattering spoilers regarding the 1st Prince in other departments.
    He eventually gets titled the Crown Prince, while they're still looking for a marriage for him (and the Ou Family is proposing only a couple of candidates but that's because the Yan Family, from the Empress Dowager, is betting their all in this marriage). In the end, he marries a daughter from the Zhou Clan, who are the descendants of the (still alive and running it) Princess Fucheng (sister of the former Emperor, I think).

    This marriage stops any intentions of trying to marry Sister Zhen (Lingyi's daughter) to a son of this same clan (he was merely one of the candidates), because both families are aware they can't have 2 strong marriage alliances at once. Since Princess Fucheng's granddaughter is becoming the Crown Princess, they are becoming relatives because the Crown Prince is also Old Madam Xu's grandson.

    Then, the incident of the Empress Dowager trying to stuff two "nieces" she couldn't stuff into the Emperor's harem into the Crown Prince's backyard comes, so those two women end up in Xu Lingyi's and Master Zhou's (Fucheng Princess' son) backyard per decree as a "reward".

    In these two chapters, both families avoid the visit of the Madam from this Yang Family (Jianning Marquees household), as a statement to let them know they don't want to become relatives despite having to host as a "concubine" (them men won't touch them for now) their nieces. Then we also get to know that the Crown Princess is pregnant (take in mind that Empress Dowager was tying to use the excuse she hadn't got pregnant yet to stuff those two women into her backyard).

    Shiyi recieves this Madam the next day (she's tried once, then tried to be recieved by Princess Fucheng too), blocking her from meeting Xu Old Madam.

    These people are trully counting on these two women to grasp Lingyi's and Master Zhou's favor so they can't avoid their imminent loss of power; however, Lingyi will never forget that the Empress Dowager had a hand on the 5th Prince's death, that got his dear sister so heartbroken and become estrangled (despite she is pretending to still love him) with the Emperor.

    Regarding the Yang Concubine at Lingyi's, for the moment, the one who's always out there to embarrass her verbally is Qiao Lianfang who, obviously, feels highly threatened. The delusional woman doesn't realize her chances of regaining favor went down the drain when she obnoxiously provoked her own miscarriage. Lingyi is still very ancient-thinking in this matter, and that's the reason why he still dutifully sleeps with his concubines (minus Lianfang since then) and even dared to disapprove of Shiyi's 7th Brother-in-law decision to never take in other women and adopt a child if Qinniang couldn't concieve one.

    Empress Dowager dies at Chapter 396

    Concubine Yang knows that now she may stand a chance.

    In Chapter 399, the filial piety period for the Empress Dowager is over and Shiyi finds out, when visiting Madam Zhou, that the concubine that was sent there has finally succeeded on entering the master's bed.

    Later, in Chapter 403, if I understand it right, the Yang Concubine at Zhou's side has got pregnant and Princess Fuchen (the Master's mother) is mad an scolding his son.

    I did understood correctly. When Zhou Madam commented for the first time that her husband had slept with this Yang woman, Shiyi asked what had the Princess said, and she replied that she couldn't interfere much in his backyard without a good excuse to do so. Of course she would be mad when she knew his stupid son not only dared to accept the woman sent by the enemy in his bed, but also got her pregnant:

    Zhou Master is trully not thinking with his brain. He should have a clear picture of what the situation is with his daughter becoming the Crown Princess and after all those things happened to Xu Lingyi and even the 5th Prince was dead. He should also know how the matters regarding the election of a Consort for the 1st Prince (now the CP) went and that the Yang Family was too close to the Ou Family.

    More about the Crown Princess

    Sorry for not providing chapters, I've been reading scattered chapters after reaching 400+

    Basically, the Crown Princess is in a tought position for giving birth to two daughters in a row. The first time, it wasn't a big deal, especially because the Emperor himself never had a daughter until the Empress (recently) gave birth to hers due to the matters of losing her third son (5ht Prince). After the second daughter is born, the situation becomes tense again, because the opposition wants to stuff a concubine into her backyard.

    I read that in the right order but I forgot whether the Yang Family had already fallen or if it was the Ou Family pushing to get a concubine. Presumably, the Crown Princess from the Zhou (Princess Fuchen's) Family is the only woman at the Crown Prince's backyard.

    Shiyi is the intermediary in this matter, trying to find a way to make the Empress pressure for not adding anyone into the Crown Prince's harem. She gives her the right excuse that he needs now to focus on the matters of state and learning from his father, so the matter of the heir isn't important.

    After a few years, she finally manages to give birth to a son and, later on, to a second son.

    The Fall of the Ou Family

    It takes really long for the Ou Family to fall and, honestly, I didn't care enough for their related plots. Basically, they are very powerful in Fujian and they have a lot to do with why there are pirates causing chaos all the time in that area.

    Aside from trying to make Xu Lingyi fall with tricks like the spoiled rice or Xu Sijie (Feng Qing), they just keep ambiguous when the Emperor is looking for a wife for the 1st Prince (that eventually becomes the Crown Prince in the process of finding him a wife) by proposing only 1 or 2 candidates as if they weren't interested, and later they also have a hand into persecuting an official (Wang something) that presumably was a former pirate (? sorry I ended up forgotting that bit that I actually read and didn't skip) that ends up exiled in a very dangerous place, so Lingyi quickly shelters his grandson hiding it in one of Shiyi's former maids home.

    Ou Family also tries to keep Lingyi at bay by marrying one of their daughters to the brother of Sister Zhen's (Lingyi's daughter) husband, who has just ranked 1st on the Imperial examination for guards/soldiers and is about to be conferred a good position.

    Then, I honestly skeemed through anytime stuff about Fujian was concerned, but the Family is finally prosecuted in Chapter 673:

    Li Zhong (if I remember correctly) was one of the candidates to marry Sister Zhen (Lingyi's daughter) and the favourite of Lingyi, but Shiyi & Concubine Wen always thought there was something off about him. As soon as he was rejected, he booked a marriage with the daughter of a Princess (not Fucheng) and quickly started to rise in ranks in the military, it was constantly hinted that he was only seeking to climb the ladder using his marriage but that he wasn't that good at his job.

    Chapter 726, the Emperor

    After the death of the 5th Prince, the Emperor started to clearly draw a line with Lingyi. Even though the Empress decided to play her cards into (faking) being affectionate with him and still had a daughter, the Emperor was always wary of Lingyi, even though he still had some regards when he dealt with the Yang Family & the Ou Family. He simply alieniated Lingyi from the Crown Prince (his nephew) and in the recent years, he had to be careful because the 3rd Prince still wanted to be close with him.

    Once he dies, it is unclear what can happen to Lingyi and even the Empress, despite the fact the Crown Prince is the 1st Prince she gave birth to and the Ou & Yang Families are no longer there, because there has been other officials trying to admonish Lingyi with other excuses. Like the time Xu Sijin got into a fight (while investigating a candidate to marry the eldest Princess) and he was badly beaten and at disadvantage, also he didn't start the fight, but because Xu Siyu helped him cover it and fabricate a story to not expose the reason why he bumped with that person who beat him, when the father (a powerful official outside the Capital) of the one who beat him started sending Impeachment memorials to the Court, those were full of lies about how Xu Sijin was arrogant and he started the fight and used his power to beat his son. The Emperor didn't bring those to Court and waited for that official to enter the Capital to confront Xu Lingyi about it.

    Despite Xu Lingyi played the culprit and handled the situation quite well by doing so, it was clear then that the Emperor wasn't satisfied with him.

    In the end, nothing happens to them. The Empress means to reward Xu Sijin & Xu Sijie with some posts (the other 2 sons already have a purpose) but Shiyi answers vaguely, as they both have already a goal to achieve. The new Emperor wants Lingyi to become the Minsitry of War, but Lingyi doesn't feel like accepting.

    _______________________

    Well, 5th Madam, Danyang Princess (Xu Lingkuan's wife) is finally pissing me off as much as she did in the drama up till where I've watched...

    Chapter 222, she did take a little while to finally figure out that Xu Sijie (Fengqing, the bastard that popped out from nowhere) is in fact her own husband's son and not Lingyi's. She takes advantadge of the New Year's greetings to ask to her father in private and this is hear reaction:

    She is unbelievable! Up till now, Shiyi has been nothing but kind and acomodating... not only did she followed up 3rd Madam's scheme to try to strip her from almost all her servants (1 from her dowry, the rest left by Yuanniang)... she isn't even a bit sorry for the damage she's caused her by having to cope with a "bastard" child when she has just married in, that also insults the memory of her eldest sister Yuanniang, as it can be interpreted as she being so shrew that her husband would rather hide a concubine & a child from her than bring it home.

    In the drama she is painted more as a snob, here... she was doing fine despite her extravagance with the horoscope incident, until this moment. When she decides to understand Shiyi's actions (accepting to take care of the child and for Lingyi to adopt it under his name) as her being ambitious.

    For some unkown reason, despite not liking Shiyi, Danyang ends up being good friends with her 7th Sister, Luo Qinniang.

    Sorry I can give detailed chapters, this gradually happens when Qinnian escapes her husband's home because she's being pressured to give him a bedwarmer or a concubine and ends up at Xu Manor. Shiyi doesn't even know how Qinnian manages to get close to Danyang, the 5th Madam that's always aloof to her, but it has to do with Qinniang being good with Sister Xin, who is the daughter Danyang ends up giving birth to but that is constantly sick.

    Qinning is also the only one who finally persuades her to let Sister Xin be seen by a doctor that specializes in babies, and they find out that the baby may be allergic to pollen which helps a big deal to get her condition become better.

    In Chapter 390, after a long time of not seeing each other (Qinniang lives outside Yanjing), she comes back with her husband (they reconcile long ago, I think she even manages to get pregnant), and Lingyi insists on them to stay for the night and Danyang says to

    host her in her room while she sends both husbands to spend the night together at Lingkuan's study.

    The two husbands really become close overnight too.


    *It seems that Old Madam, Shiyi and the other daughters (some are at Yanjing, Beijing), are in Yuhang all the time since the novel started and the reason is because Old Madam stayed to take care of her mother-in-law. However, that mother-in-law must be dead already (?).

    Shiyi also lived for some time in Fujian, when her father was destined there. This is probably were she was born, since she mentioned that the 10th, the 11th (herself) & the 12tht sisters were bornt while living outside where the Old Madam lived in Yuhang. Probably, that means it was the former Shiyi and not the transmigrated one.[/quote]
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2021
  5. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    I've moved here everything explicitly regarding the two leads relationship evolution, because it wouldn't let me add anymore words on my previous post.
    ____________________________

    In Chapter 107, 10 days after the wedding night
    Lingyi finally makes the deed properly.
    It is only their second time, and he has gone through both the (subtle) regret of how awful the 1st time was (and how traumatic it was for her) and the realization that he gets aroused by her talk when she speaks about matters of the World. So he deliberately incites her to read her book and then he starts telling her a story of two officials with the same name and what happened between them, and the man... USES THIS TO INITIATE THE DEED! Like, the whole preliminaries are him using his hands to warm her up while still telling her the story and listening to her comments on it. Shiyi is willing this time, as a great deal of changes has gone through the way she sees him and how he treats her.

    LMAO

    This is Chapter 108 XD He does know that when she starts reading and conversation arouses around topics refering to whatever she's reading about or he thinks might "interest" her, he gets aroused by her smart appearance.

    Chapter 109, Shiyi has her first period after getting married

    And Nanny Tao (former servant of her eldest sister Yuanniang) urges her to send one of her maids to serve ML in bed (yes, to serve him in snu snu if needed). Shiyi is not happy about it, she never gave a thought to it as Lingyi already has 3 concubines, she never even considered having to send one of her maids to him. In the end, she arranges nothing, she let's the nanny tell him that she's with her period but he still goes to sleep with her.

    Later, in chapter 112, after Shiyi has come back to spent some days at her maiden home (a tradition), Nanny Tao comes again urging her to set a system for Lingyi to sleep with his concubines.

    Shiyi is irritated by this nanny again. She isn't feeling jealous or anything (still too early, despite she's warmed up to her husband), but she believes this is something Lingyi should decide himself, as she doesn't think it's good to force him to go to places he doesn't want to (she's also noticed he seems to dislike Concubine Wen).




    Chapter 116-117 Shiyi hits a wall

    Despite Lingyi is clearly attracted to her and aroused, the matters that occupy Shiyi's daily problems have prooved to her that he is way too different from her, they both had different education, so she believes they will never become true lovers even if he is gentle with her and helps her at every turn. That translates into her body reactions when Lingyi initiates sex. So those chapters narrate how he tries to do it twice but she isn't just up to it and, because he can see/feel it, he just gives up halfway thinking that "he never forced any woman" (cough, cough, your wedding night with Shiyi was quite like that... ¬¬).

    It is clear that Shiyi knows that she must serve him in bed, according to costums, and she even agrees to it, but her body betrays her due to her inner emotions.

    It was pretty clear from the beginning that both Yuanniang and Luo Old Madam don't want Shiyi to be fertile so she could jeopardize Yuanniang's son's chances as the heir.

    It is sad that Shiyi is clearly falling for the Marquees, but she holds herself back and doesn't even want to touch the idea, because she knows men in those times wouldn't be worth to give your whole heart, as they would still have other women. Also, she is aware she is just her family's chesspiece, and that is why she still doesn't want her feelings to get hurt, despite she's smart and also knows she can't just try to fool Lingyi because that is what precisely made him be resentful with Yuanniang.


    Well, I am not sure how Lingyi will develop from here

    He really isn't thinking too much, just about whether he's made her uncomfortable during sex or not... I don't even see him asking himself why is it like that. He may assume that everything is due to her young age (barely 14 or 15, it seems)... when he is already 27 years old at this point of the story, and well more experienced than her.

    Chapter 123

    Lingyi spends his first night with someone else after marriage with Shiyi (he goes to Concubine Qin).

    After the realization that she could not wait for Lingyi to voice out his intentions, Shiyi arranged herself the turns of serving him, also because this way everybody would stop trying to urge her to do so.

    It is the day after she's spent her first night alone in the Manor and knowing her husband was with someone else, and everybody is expectant to see any traces of arrogance, jealousy or sadness from her part. However, despite feeling weird and awkward, Shiyi displayed none. She thinks she's passed the test in front of Xu Old Madam's eyes.

    Chapter 148

    Shiyi has been too diligent. When it came the time for Lingyi to be served by his concubines, she didn't feel jealous, but she also didn't want to know much details and anytime a servant reported whether he had spent the night or not, I interpret her reactions as being annoyed for knowing. She just doesn't want to think too much, since she's already in this situation and is a tricky one, she cannot do like other novel heroines and slowly get rid of the other women. She is barging into an already established family.

    The funny thing is, Lingyi surely doesn't want to, at least, go to Qiao Lianfang's courtyard, and the man tries a couple of times to avoid it, but there's this one time Shiyi explicitly tells him that if she doesn't set an example by following the rules she set herself, then no one will take her seriously in the backyard. And my interpretation is that Lingyi tries to "punish" her by diligently spending the nights there with Qia Liangfang despite he goes to see Shiyi everyday and they both have dinner with the rest of the (legal) family every night at Old Madam's courtyard.

    I say this because he does mention in his thoughts sometime after that she rejected him the night she explicitly told him to go to Qiao's as to not break the rules she set.

    He also starts to fall deep for her character, because more problems have arised and her approach always shows her insight and smarts. In the chapter previous to this one, he is telling her he must go to one of the outskirts Palaces with the Empress and the 3rd Prince, because someone presumabily tried to poison the 5th Prince and now he's in a coma.

    When she shows her worries and speculations at what could happen, he feels happy to see his wife is like a military strategist. Then, what we see in the quote happens in the next chapter, because is his last night and he obviously wants to spend it with her.

    Lingyi wants some progress, but he should be more open about what is his position towards the other women. He just keeps following the rules, she tries to follow the rules that are expected from her to set up... I understand now why this novels is 700+ chapters despite the action is trully slow and minor backyard incidents that may escalate later in bigger political plots.

    Chapter 164, a little step forward?

    Lingyi comes back from escorting the Empress to Xishan and the 5th prince has just died, the wise elders (Old Madam, Second Madam that has been summoned back & Lingyi) with Shiyi present discuss what to do. Then, Lingyi stays the night at Shiyi's main yard and they discuss a little bit more about the Family that's behind the 5th Prince's death and how to deal with them.

    Anytime Lingyi throws a topic to her it's a test. Everytime he feels either pleased, stunned (greatly surprised) or curious about her way of thinking, but he also falls a little bit deeper for her.

    This time, after the chat, he asks her what's her boudoir name (seriously, she doesn't have a proper name! She's trully Luo 11th Girl T_T), she becomes silent because she remembers her past life's name, and he can sense she's sad, she ends up answering her name is Moyan (Ye Moyan is the past life's name), and he wonders who would name her like that.

    Apparently Moyan comes from a poem that says a thousand words can be worse than silence, and Moyan means "Silent words". He feels sour because he thinks her elders (parents or maybe Main wife, or a Grandfather...) wanted her to be silent and not disturb them, suppressing her obvious lively nature (she's been quiet when she joined the Manor, but since she started interacting with the children & speaking more to Lingyi, he can clearly see she's not the quiet type).

    Because remembering her past life's father she feels sad and Lingyi can sense it (the room is dark and they're in bed), he misinterprets it as feeling sad for being suppressed at her maiden's home and asks her to come into his arms. She is worried that her body will betray her, like the last time he initiated sex & had to stop because she wasn't responding to it (her body), but he trully just hughs her to sleep... until she wakes up from the heat his body produces! XD

    Step by step

    They trully may take a long while to have sex again. After that time Shiyi's body just rejected Lingyi's advances, despite they had slept on the same bed, there hasn't been any progress on that part.

    The night they came back from the mourning for the 5th Prince (1st night), they spoke a little bit about his sister and how did she became an Empress, this brought them closer, Lingyi was sad and Shiyi took the initiative to held his hand and console him, so he hugged her to sleep once more... however when he tried to move his hands just a little, he could feel how her soft body suddenly became stiff.

    In Chapter 169

    The period Shiyi arranged for her to serve Lingyi includes her menstruation. She did that because the old believe was that women were most likely to get pregnant the days before & after their period came & went. Nanny Tao tried to trick her with this because she knew women never got pregnant following this system, but Shiyi knows and she also doesn't want her 14 year old body to concieve any child as well as she is smart and knows getting pregnant this soon will only make Yuanniang's son more hostile to her (she's already started to have him warm up to her).

    In Chapter 172, after Shiyi and Old Madam get back from the Palace (the Empress is presumabily ill and Shiyi uses this excuse to talk to her about the situation of 5th Prince's death + Ou Family going after her); Lingyi unexpectedly uses a moment Lingyi tugs his sleeve after 3rd Madam proposes to move her youngest son to the outer yard, to held her hand during dinner (with the rest of the legal family). Shiyi tries hard to retrieve her hand, but Lingyi won't let go...

    Then, when they are back at their yard, we learn that he already skipped the rules once (during this hard period with the 5th Prince's dead) to stay at Shiyi's, and he pretends to do it again tonight, because he has things to talk about regarding his Empress sister.

    The first time he skipped the rules, it was Qin's turn, this time it's Wen's.

    Chapters 181--182,

    I can't really tell if there is a full snu-snu but definetely some preliminaries & teasing happen. Lingyi still gets worried for a moment, remembering that time he couldn't finish because her body became too stiff.

    They had a sort of quarrel before that, because Lingyi teased her in the middle of the day, and Shiyi still tried to escape and got mad because a maid saw the scene (she felt embarrassed and she didn't want to do it at hat time... but also they hadn't done it for a while now).

    There's a little progress, because the second time he teases and feels her body become stiff he asks her if she is worried, but Shiyi says she isn't (she can't tell him she doesn't want to be pregnant at the moment).

    The day after, we can see clearly that Lingyi is starting to look at her even with more lovesickness, despite the symptoms haven't reached its peak yet, and he hasn't noticed himself that he's in love. He's simply too attracted to his wife.

    Man is in denial

    Well, just when things were going better and looked promising... Because Lingyi suddenly realized his little son now gets along pretty well with Shiyi and he doesn't know how and when it happened, he started rejecting his own feelings...

    Old Madam is the one to make him aware when she says it's been only a few months but the kid/s have already adapted to Shiyi as the new mom. Then he realizes he also grew accostumed to her presence, to the point he stopped going to the other women's room. He's probably feeling guilty (towards Yuanniang?) or/and upset with himself for allowing her presence to grow in his heart this quickly.

    They both need to figure out their feelings, but Shiyi won't do anything if he doesn't open up and let himself go. Also, probably Shiyi won't let herself go either if he doesn't show his feelings are for real. It is the whole reason why she stopped enjoying him in bed and unexpectedly her body betrayed her all of a sudden.

    And then...

    *I wasnt sure where to put this, because this isn't entirely Lingyi's matter (as I suspect from what we've seen in the drama), but this arch just intertwines with the one I've talked in the above spoiler.

    Chapter 191~

    Just when Shiyi is feeling vexed because she doesn't know what she's done wrong to make Lingyi suddenly change his attitude towards her and be cold... he tosses her a bundle that contains a child!

    If matters folow what we've seen in the drama, this is a bastard born outside, but it is not Lingyi's (but Lingkan's, 5th Master)... however, the Marquees is the one who encounters this trouble and decides to take care on his own... by asking his wife to help him hide the child. Giving no explanation just in the same exact moment he is being a jerk to her because he doesn't know how to deal with his own feelings (Don't get me wrong, I understand what is happening to him is normal, but that doesn't mean he isn't being an a*hole to Shiyi who's been nothing but kind to him, sex troubles included).

    Later on that same day, Lingyi gets back and he appologizes for tossing this matter to her, Shiyi let's him know she's guessed the child is from Lingkan, and he is shocked again by her smarts.

    Same as in the drama, he takes this chance to explain what happened the day Yuanniang caught him in a room with Qiao Lianfang who had her skirt broken.

    This is not fair, Xu Lingyi...

    Chapters 218-219~,

    Is New Year's arch (which is taking too long, and is mostly still about this bastard Lingyi adopted under his name), Lingyi comes back drunk and starts getting naughty but Shiyi is embarrassed and she's clearly annoyed at the fact he's only doing these things when he is drunk, when they haven't got sex since that last time (which as confusing, I think they didn't get to do the full deed) and he then started being cold to her and ignoring her and suddenly had to stop because a child popped out of nowhere...

    He has been resting with her, his mother (who got upset due to 5th Master's bastard) or at his study... but hasn't been to any of his Concubines ever since the child (now Xu Sijie) appeared, which must be a couple of weeks or so.

    I must say this is the first time a KISS is mentioned, at least by the MTL. This is something that I find interesting from this novel that, despite sex scenes are described in a subtle manner (that is why sometimes is confusing whether they get to do the deed, but the steamy parts are narrated in some way), there has not been any signs of a kiss or a true affectionated gesture out of the few times he either held her hand or he pulled her into an embrace to sleep. Other than that, he's put his mouth on her earlobe a few times.

    ABOUT TIME!

    But this man is too ancient... he just thinks Shiyi is sincere about being the wine scent what makes her uncomfortable, when the truth is she has a mixture of sadness for believing they can't be true lovers (since they have both and age & education gap, plus the other women...) and annoyance at the fact he only seemed to want to tease her when he was drunk or tipsie after he started ignoring her for a few days.

    Shiyi doesn't dare to tell him more, just lets him believe the fact he smells of alcohol is what makes her be uncomfortable (that can backfire if her body keeps betraying her).

    OK, I'll say it again:

    ABOUT TIME!

    We don't get accounts on what happens when he goes to the other women's courtyards, but I have a big suspicion that he's never kissed them or, maybe, he only ever kissed 1 or 2 of his women (meaning, maybe is true that Concubine Tong was his love... and maybe he did kissed Yuanniang at some point). But this is definitely the first time he's kissed Shiyi.

    Unfortunately, because of the last line in the previous quote, Shiyi subconsciously avoids the kiss. As I already expected, her body is betraying her, because she refuses to do things that for her imply giving her heart to him. She plays the spoiled child and says is because he smells of wine... seriously, she needs to communicate with him too, even if she has to do it in a roundabout way.

    Lingyi stops and pulls her to sleep, but then she just gives it a thought and comes to the realization that he is being a good husband and a good lover, so she tries her best to re-initiate the action but gets rejected instead with the same excuse "I smell of alcohol"... however, Lingyi can sense her reaction when she turns her back again, and finally asks her if she doesn't want to give up halfway like the last time they were about to have sex, he kisses her back and she freezes, because he can sense her changes, he just hugs her and tells her to grow up quickly.

    Apparently, Lingyi attributes her embarrassment to her young age... *sighs* little he knows his wife is sad because she has to share him with other women, but can't tell because of her social circumstances.

    Chapter 244, When Qiao Lianfang's pregnancy reaches Luo Old Madam, Shiyi gets called back with the excuse her mother (Old Madam) is not feeling well (she's been pretty much paralized in bed and can barely speak for months now).

    This chapter makes my blood boil. I wanted to quote some parts, but I prefer not after reaching its end.

    Shiyi won't get mad, but she isn't keen to Nanny Tao who obviously run quickly to pass the news on the Concubine's pregnancy to her official mother, who still pretends to control everything on her narrow-minded terms.

    Shiyi tells her that she will do as she's been taught by Luo Madam and treat the Concubine well, because this is the Marquees' offspring. Luo Old Madam gets shocked by her answer (she obviously never taught that) and her servant, Xu Mama, has the audacity to tell Shiyi she's always been Madam's favourite and that's why she was chosen (well, no, she was chosen because they thought she'd be easier to control... they don't even want her to have children).

    Shiyi gets scolded for allowing a concubine like Qiao to get pregnant (high born) and for having Lingyi spend little time in her courtyard... now they want to force her to set a common room or worse, enter a concubine.

    Chapter 245, right after Xu Mama is lecturing her on taking a common room (bewarmer to be rised later to concubine).

    She boldly cut her out with a different subject to refuse. The Old Madam got mad and yelled at her, but her words are hard to understnad LOL and Shiyi's eldest sister-in-law interceded for her to quickly take her away from the room.

    If one thing I'm certain, rather than for Shiyi's selfishness, Lingyi would've been trully pissed if she came back with a bedwarmer because that would only remind him of why he despised Yuanniang's antics and her Luo Family's pretentious attitude of trying to control everything on his backyard.

    Shiyi feels really pressured after she sees that even 5th Concubine (her biological mother) tries to persuade her.
    Well, if one thing, I am glad this whole pregnancy nightmare (for the shippers) is bringing all these troubles out, better earlier than wait for a year or so and have Luo Madam or anyone else trying to push another woman into his bed. Even thought they don't talk enough about their problems, it does give Lingyi room for thought and we do need him to reflect on himself, his enviroment and what he trully wants from our female lead.

    Later, back at the house, Shiyi confronts Nanny Tao, who she had already warned previously, because she doesn't trust this woman would not try to make Qiao Liangfan miscarriage (yes, the sole reason this suggestion of taking a concubine happened is because Shiyi showed her determination of not getting rid of the fetus).

    Nanny Tao begs for mercy and Shiyi decides to let her stay, but she is well aware that all these loyal servants from Yuanniang are hard to control.

    And the next day, Wunniang (her 5th sister) goes there to keep pushing on the matter (This Luo people can't stop, can they?)

    I even suspect Wunniang, in her superiority-complex that got hurt when she wasn't chosen for Lingyi, is even enjoying this.

    Wunniang is seriously one of the most annoyingly stupid people that appear in this novel. First getting tricked by the Wen's, now this.

    Chapers 248-249 are super confusing. But I think all the maids now know that Luo Madam wanted Shiyi to set a common room and some had ideas... it ends with Dongqing, her closest maid who is supposed to marry soon offering herself to serve the Marquees! (I am mad now).

    Shiyi has been letting them all play the play, and I think she's not happy to see Dongqing saying she wants to serve the Marquees.

    The one who is trying to stop her it's Amber (I think), the servant Luo Madam gave Shiyi at the beginning of the novel.

    MTL was confusing on the previous chapter, but I substract this was all provocked by Nanny Tao, who used the chance she'd been put in charge of Dongqing's dowry and had to send her the list, to create this chaos. Nanny Tao seems convinced that Lingyi did order to set up the common room (when he didn't). She was stopped by Amber at the door, and when she was told Shiyi is talking to Dongqing, the witch even showed a smile.

    Shiyi needs to get rid of Nanny Tao. This is one of the most angst archs to read. Nanny Tao still refuses to admit she tricked Dongqing into requesting to be a bedwarmer, and Shiyi is heartbroken.

    The scene gets interrupted because Lingyi enteres the room and he immediately sees something's wrong and doesn't like seeing Shiyi's pale and sad face (she's even cried). Shiyi tells the three maids (Amber, Binju and Dongqing) to retread, but Dongqing just became greedy:

    Lingyi ignores her (please, I don't want a common room anywhere in his backyard, nor in Shiyi's nor in any of the other concubines). He can see that this has been Luo Madam's scheme (or ordered someone to do it), however Dongqing still tries to talk for herself making excuses, when she's clearly been told to leave.

    Lingyi doesn't know Dongqing has served Shiyi the longest along with Binju. That is what Shiyi led him to believe. Lingyi tells her again to make clear what he meant: Send the maids who dared to recommend themselves (it's only Dongqing/Holly, but he doesn't know that) out of the Manor for good. This wakes up Shiyi from her sadness and leaves Dongqing shocked and pale (serves you right! What an ingrate! She dared to toss a good marriage aside just to make herself a clown).

    In the end, Lingyi tells her to use the turn to send stewards out to also add in the list those maids she wants to get rid off, so Shiyi is going to say Dongqing is ill to retire her marriage with Wan Xian (the servant that was in a rising position she chose for her) and send her away.

    Later that night, at Chapter 253 they talk about what Shiyi will do and is not just MTL being confusing... but I am not sure if they end up having snu snu or is it just Lingyi touching her like other times (?)

    When he says "Silent" remember that this must be Shiyi's (real) little name, Mo Yan... and the only thing I can understand is that something did happened, because she is really blushed the next morning and the thing about her being sick is a lie Lingyi makes up to excuse her to pay respects to Xu Old Madam earlier that night.

    The next night (also, next chapter) it is still unclear whether they did or he got stopped halfway (sorry), however, there's definitely snu snu in this chapter. It is a pity that Lingyi still won't stop being dutiful to his other women U_U

    I just wish she would say (to him) why she refuses to be kissed (she hasn't been kissed other than in her cheek, forehead and body, just to be clear, she avoided his first kiss on the lips). Also, this is the first time she's called him by his (full) name.

    In Chapter 351 we find out what's been Dongqing's fate.

    Before marrying, one of Shiyi's maids requested for her to be released back to Yuhang (so she could reunite with her family, who served in Luo's Ancestral Home) and also for Shiyi to please refer her to the Master Jian who taught her embroidery. Now, Shiyi has summoned this Master to Yanjing to employ her to teach Lingyi's daughter, and this maid Qiu Ju is with her, as her recognized siciple. Qiu Ju explains that when Dongqing went back home (she was supporting her whole family with her salary), not only her sister-in-law took all the money she was given by Shiyi and the jewelry she had gathered as rewards; she also ended up selling her for a marriage to later discover she was in fact been scammed and Dongqing was the latest addition to an harem of a man with a very shrew wife who used to abuse the other concubines and maids.
    Despite being instigated by Nanny Tao, it was Dongqing's greedyness what brought her to offer herself as a bedwarmer, when she should had known her mistress better, and not fall for hearsay saying she would establish a common room to serve Lingyi just to fight against the then pregnant Qiao Liangfan.

    Chapter 273,

    He gets so lost into staring at her, he gets tricked by the 5th Master into agreeing to bring the singing troupe into the house for a banquet XD

    It's been a while, but it's also true that they had sex (again) in between these events of Qiao Liangfan's pregancy/miscarriage and others such as Dongqing's foolish betrayal. I just think it will take us longer to get something with real substance but, still, the fact he is starting to stare at her in public and get lost in his thought about her & their daily relationship, is some progress... However, after encountering the passage where he let's slip that he feels guilty towards his deceased Concubine Tong, I think that Lingyi has a few knots in his heart to solve before anything real can happen.


    Chapter 285, Xu Lingyi is an idiot and this is looking ugly...

    A few chapters before that 2nd Madam's (the one that's a widow) family came to visit and her nephews were there. I already had a bad feeling from it when the author described Shiyi saw how the eldest Xiang (2nd Madam's family) Young Master was looking at sister Zheng (Lingyi's daughter) and the sister (Xiang's girl) was looking at Xu Siyu (Lingyi's eldest son). I don't have quiet a good feeling about this 2nd Madam's Xiang Family's sudden appearence... turns out that a few chapters after (285) Lingyi has already decided to arrange a marriage between Xu Siyu and Xiang's Daughter, but he didn't even ask Shiyi's (nor Concubine Qin's) opinion. He went direct to Xiang's Master to arrange it and then consulted 2nd Madam.

    I am already wary of how much he trusts this 2nd Madam who, despite owed the trust for how she's lived in and for the Xu Family for years, is not his own wife. Shiyi has never complained about how much they all go for her, sometimes bypassing her presence, but now she isn't having it.

    Xu Lingyi before talking to her (the quoted passage) already saw her facial expression change from a warming one to a cold and displeased one. I just think Shiyi is too quick to concede once he starts giving excuses on why he didn't consult it with her first.

    At least, Shiyi isn't completely OK... Lingyi kept justifying his decision he forgot completely that the issue is not who he chose to marry but the fact he hid everything from his legal wife until it was all done:

    It's funny because, today, after reading up till 200+ chapters I was precisely pondering over the past chapters and how Lingyi sometimes takes Shiyi too much for granted. It isn't just about them in bed, is about how he gradually started managing things at home when, in the beginning of their marriage, he still always cautiosly tried to trust her with everything he could (meaning not secret Court matters). As I said, he and Old Madam go way too much to 2nd Madam for things they should first go to her now. Of course Shiyi is sad, frustrated and disappointed after seeing the husband that's supposed to trust her with the matters concerning their branch, not only doesn't go to her first, he doesn't even tell her until everything's done.

    I am glad that she isn't keeping her feelings and thoughts for herself and she's finally giving Lingyi a piece of her mind.

    The idiot is trying to persuade her to not intervene in the matter, but this only makes Shiyi more persistent and she just keeps her cold attitude to him that night, not falling for his usual coaxing (taking her into his arms). He keeps trying to talk about the matter but, as much as he tries to explain himself, he just keeps refusing to appologize and see what he did wrong, not even after Shiyi explains clearly a few more times. So, in the end, Shiyi tells him she doesn't want to talk to him anymore, because she doesn't want to get angry at him and the more he talks refusing to see what he did wrong, the more she's going to be mad at him. Shiyi even gets out of the bed to sleep in the kang, but Lingyi just follows her and they start going from the bed to the kang for a while, until he gives up and lets her stay in the bed. The next day, she still refuses to talk to him and she still sleeps separately (good, give him a piece of his own bs).

    He is too condescendant regarding this matter. He is just "amused" at a calm and mild (oh, she's only pretending to be but you just wouldn't know) person like Shiyi can get cold and angry... until he realizes this isn't just a "childish" reaction but a serious loss of trust that he provoked.

    It's a pity that I don't expect him to actually reflect on this and also realize how much of a jerk he was those months ago when he started evading her after Old Madam commented how quickly people had warmed up to Shiyi (after getting married).

    Lingyi tries to talk to her about the matters of the Princes (they are looking for a candidate to marry the 1st Prince) and the Ou Family who is trying to make Xu Family fall from grace, just to get back her attention (who's the childish one?). However, Shiyi just keeps ignoring him for a while and only starts asking him (back) when he won't stop talking about which candidates proposed each official family. Shiyi thinks that the cold war can't go on for too long, otherwise it will affect the marriage... but I am afraid this is of no use for Xu Lingyi, who doesn't even stop to reflect on why this is happening to him.

    I am not too satisfied. I don't think Lingyi acknowledges how much wrong he was and he did. He is only worried because his apparently docile wife suddenly stood up to him and stopped caring about his arse.


    Shiyi isn't the only one mad, the wife of Xiang Master is also angry because she wasn't consulted on this marriage agreement. She is mostly mad because Xu Siyu is concubine born and doesn't consider it a good match for her 2nd Daughter. She threatens with taking her children to her family's home.

    I can't believe that their first kiss happens so randomly like this...

    This is during the Concubine Qin incident (explained on the spoilers about her in the previous post) when Lingyi reprimends her for making a fuss about Xu Siyu being sent away to study. He tells Qin to follow Shiyi to serve and learn the rules from now on, but Shiyi just doesn't want to because she thinks is too degrading and it will loose both Concubine Qin's and Xu Siyu's faces, which will eventually be bad for the kid.

    Lingyi wants to ignore her (they're in bed) but she starts shaking him so they can continue talking (she wants him to accept her "rules" so she doesn't have to teach Concubine Qin), and he gradually gets amused by it, but he ends up calling her stupid for not understanding his intentions and kisses her in the face.

    I am pretty sure this is the first kiss on the lips. Up till now, he's only kissed in an infinity of places but there, because Shiy avoided it just the 1 time he tried to do it.

    Hahaha, Lingyi got interrupted afterwards... Must I say Shiyi realizes she is too conditioned by the way things were done in the Luo Manor, that this caused her to overthink about the matter of teaching Concubine Qin.


    Chapter 315 has, perhaps, the most consensual snu snu I've read from this novel

    Don't misunderstand, there's been consensual snu snu after the atrocious first night that was more about getting the job done than actually forcing Shiyi... but in the spoilers below there is, indeed, a rapeyish snu snu scene that I believe the author wanted to write to show Lingyi being too uncontrolled and passionate, but it still came out in the wrong way and even made me uncomfortable (not because of how he was coarcing her persé) but because the author was trying too hard to create a snu snu scene where Shiyi would finally sort of admit that she doesn't know what to do anymore and she's lost into trying not to fall for Lingyi but ended up with a passage that disgraced the male lead.

    http://www.quanben.io/n/shunugonglue/318.html

    This snu snu scene is more nice to read than the previous ones. They are discussing the candidates to marry Lingyi's daughter, and he gets trully aroused by her smarts and demeanor (once more), but this time Shiyi is actually letting herself go, so she is enjoying it instead of getting rigid because she's afraid of doing things that are "only for lovers".


    It follows up with Shiyi's introspection on the previous chapter's snu snu with what I've been more or less saying myself about her own view & situation, Chapter 316:


    At Chapter 330, Shiyi finally reaches the age of adulthood and has her hairpin ceremony.

    Lingyi is currently outside, handling some property matters related to 2nd Madam's own dowry, and hasn't returned yet.

    Old Madam has arranger the details of her ceremony (since is for Shiyi, she can't do it herself).

    The Empress sends her a jade hairpin during the ceremony (she's pregnant now), which she choses to be the one for the ceremony, and Princess Fucheng (I think she's the former Emperor's sister?) is also present, which gives prestige to her ceremony.
    Shiyi is touched by the gesture of Old Madam, to give her this big ceremony.

    When Shiyi is talking to Madam Lin (she is still explaining and apologizing for what happened with her nephew *explained in the post above, in Sister Zhen's spoilers*) when Lingyi suddenly arrives and, turns out, he is brining along in a big carriage Shiyi's 7th Sister, Qinniang.

    When Shiyi goes to check on Lingyi (who went to wash and change clothes), he asks her about the ceremony and, while she's explaining, the hairpin that the Empress rewarded her is about to fall and this happens:

    The only time she said his name was that time he started getting creative with his foreplay (and if I remember it correctly, it was the first time they had snu snu after Shiyi's body started rejecting him). I guess that Lingyi was too engrossed in it that he didn't pay attention much (he was amused though, because she only called him "Xu Lingyi" to beg for mercy) on how this affected him.

    Well, Shiyi still has this issue to resolve, despite she's previously reflected on this. Also: they get interrupted so no further development in that chapter.

    Chapter 335, Lingyi's ancient man mentality...

    We're still on the arch where Qinnian (Shiyi's 7th Sister) is quarreling with her husband and Shiyi & Lingyi end up listening to their discussion and the words of Zhu Anping (7th's husband) telling Qinniang that if she can't give birth, he'll just adopt a child from her family.

    Lingyi disapproves of his way of thinking, Shiyi knows, however she tries to express her own thoughts in a tactful matter.


    Chapter 341-342... somebody please get rid of Nanny Tao

    I am placing this here for the moment. This is an arch about making Yuanniang's son the official heir, because Lingyi (and Shiyi supports this decision) wants him to have a stronger foothold so they can finalize the details of his marriage to a daughter of the Jiang Family, as Yuanniang wished.

    However, annoying Nanny Tao is interpreting matters her own way (she's been so annoying, she was responsible for Dongqing's stupid downfall) and thinks that Shiyi wants him to be set in the pertinent separated Courtyard for the heir so she can change all his servants and get rid of him.

    Because Shiyi is helping her sister Qinniang (7th Sister) see a doctor who specializes in gynecology and pregnancies, Nanny Tao backs up her idiotic idea (she's just out there to go against Shiyi, that's why she forced her to lose Dongqing, her closest maid) that Shiyi is preparing to concieve a heir herself; when it is the complete opposite: Shiyi just find the right friend to try to prevent her from getting pregnant until she is older (she is seriously aware that a teenager body is not the best to give birth and she could die in this attempt).

    I just need Shiyi to finally get an excuse to get rid to this treacherous snitch that never gets matters right and only causes her trouble!

    Chapter 346, They move back to their renovated courtyard and the rotation system gets reestablished :\

    I wonder how he can stay there for 5 days when we're already in the archs this Concubine is behaving in a very stupid way that already annoyed Lingyi, and is gradually starting to calculate against Shiyi too.

    Oh wait...

    *Ban Yue Pan is his study in the outer courtyard.

    This... she either babbled foolish stuff due to her narrow-mindedness about Xu Siyu's affairs, or she tried to settle a common room (bedwarmer) for him and Lingyi got mad because of it.

    *Take in mind that, perhaps, MTL mistranslated or I misenterpret it and Lingyi still hasn't spent a night with any concubines, this could be the first 1 of the 5 that are established and Qin has already ruined her chance.

    In Chapter 347, Shiyi gets more information on what's happened, it seems that Concubine Qin complained at Xu Siyu studying away and wanted to send him a few maids to be served (well, that cannot be done now without his and Shiyi's consent), but the point of sending Siyu to where he is now, is not just for him to learn from a prestigious teacher, but also learn his methods of living in modesty and equality with the other students, leaving aside each one's background to concentrate on what trully matters.

    Just after he was calming down, having cut her off, Concubine Qin was idiot enough to then start nagging about Xu Siyu's marriage and complaining because they had been arranging matters for Sister Zhen & Yuanniang's son but not for Xu Siyu and she is pushing for him to marry a daughter from his teacher's (Master Jiang's) clan.

    The fact she is narrow-minded and lowly educated, I don't think it is the excuse here. It may look as she only worries for her son, but is not like Xu Siyu has been unfairly treated, especially after Shiyi came in, all the children have been equally treated even though it took the longest for Xu Siyu to get an inch closer to his official mother and he is way too smart, so Shiyi also guarded him for a while.

    Concubine Qin's reactions all started as soon as Lingyi adopted Xu Sijie and he did it under Concubine Tong's name, and I can't help but feel suspicious. Perhaps she is simply tripping on the hopes she had for her child, but she could also be panicking because a long-term plan is now being jeopardized by so many changes that seem to bring further away the title of heir for Xu Siyu.

    *Brother Chen is Yuanniang's son.

    Lingyi interrupts this scene and sends her out, however, he doesn't stay there for the night, because he knows this would only turn bad for Shiyi:


    Chapter 535, the dead of Luo Old Madam is coming and Xu Lingyi witnessess the shortcoming of Shiyi's family:

    I am putting this here, because this is when Lingyi cames to know what is exactly Shiyi's background and situation as a concubine daughter of the Luo family. Although he came to know bits and pieces through the problems of the 10th Sister or 7th Sister (that he helped to solve) and the interactions with the 5th Sister's husband and Shiyi's Eldest brother; he had never trully stop himself to think about his second wife's predicament.

    *Here "Shi Niang" is the 10th Sister. MTL usually translates Shiyi with the same name.

    The Old Madam's anger is obviously causing her another stroke...

    It doesn't take long for Luo Old Madam to die. Once the funeral is over, Shiyi's family moves back to Yuhang, as they were already packing before this happened. Shiyi has to guard filial piety for a whole year.

    Chapter 354,

    Unrelated but, by the end of this chapter, Shiyi gets proposed by Master Jian (her embroidery teacher) to open an embroidery shop and have her as the major shareholder.
    This is good news, because Shiyi tried to open a bussiness before, but gave up because her idea was to open a fragance shop and the 5th Lady already had a popular one (and she didn't want to collide with her).

    Chapter 356, some changes are apparent on Lingyi

    This happens because Concubine Wen is consulting about a possible item for Sister Zhen's dowry to Shiyi and the rest of the Concubines end up entering the room and when Lingyi comes, he asks what's going on, but he's harsh to Wen (as usual) and Shiyi just defends her, because Concubine Wen is simply helping her ever since Shiyi asked her to aid her with the house accounts, due to Wen's domain of calculus and shrewd personality. Also, Wen stopped interfering for her family long ago, she even blocked them when they try to meddle into Sister Zhen's marriage matters.

    Later, in chapter 357, we see Qiao Liangfan trying new tricks to attract Lingyi with her clothes and make-up, while discussing with her maid about Shiyi being sinister and cunning and using tricks to keep Lingyi from coming to their courtyard. Everybody's noticed that Lingyi is looking at his second wife with different eyes that he's ever looked at them.

    These people are seriously delusional

    and I am saying this, because after what Qiao Liangfan did, there is no way Lingyi will regain any "lost affection", espcially because he remembered that she fell into Yuanniang's trap that day because Qiao Liangfan had ulterior motives herself (she was trying to meet in private with Lingyi and force a marriage).

    Also, it seems that despite spending the pertinent nights at Concubine Qin's, ever since that time she annoyed him (and then he had already been spending a month or more just with Shiyi), Lingyi hasn't touched her anymore (this is one of the reasons why Shiyi resisted so much to fall in love: She knows he will just do the deed with the other women too). She also noticed that when Lingyi told Wen to order those hand warmers, he didn't include the concubines nor the 2nd wife. She can see that Lingyi is becoming single-minded to Shiyi.

    In chapter 360, Lingyi gets to reflect more about Shiyi after she's been angered by her 10th Sister.

    10th Sister is being bullied at her home now that she is the mother of an adoptive heir but the Grandfather-in-law that protected them both has died. The parents of the son she adopted from the clan so he could inherit the Duke's title from her husband's grandfather are trying to control everything and even try to sell her closest maids to two men... but when these maids escape and beg to Shiyi for help, Shiyi remembers how is her sister's temperament and that she is now falling sick and not fighting when she was able to endure much worse before, so she gaves her tough love instead, so she will wake up and stand for herself.

    Lingyi finds her sad expression when he comes back and has a long reflection on how much might had she beared in her maiden home before.

    This is the first time it's fully mentioned how Shiyi fell in a coma. It was hinted in the novel's prologue that related a little bit of this argument she had with the 10th Sister over a jacket, but then it only mentioned how she was sick in a coma for a while and Dongqing & Bin Ju took care of her. Turns out that the original Shiyi was trully killed by the 10th Sister!

    Well, Lingyi is shocked, but he isn't as much as I am. I was never sure whether she fell realy sick or if she had been killed by any of her sisters (judging from the prologue's fight).

    Lingyi asks if she had any injuries, and she says she has a scar in her head. He asks to see it and she shows it to him.

    OK, I think he ends up asking her when her first period came (?)

    I think he is still worrying of the possibility to have children with her. He has been mentioning the "future" and "the house will have more children" every now and then. It also seems that he's figured out the reason why Yuanniang picked her is because she probably cannot concieve her own children.


    I skipped a few chapters ahead, because of the title and... *I've catched up now*

    It seems Lingyi will be forced to accept in a new concubine, the Empress Dowager's niece T_T I'll update it when I reach this chapter later, but I am not liking this at all. Shiyi will never catch a break nor will be willing to give her heart to Lingyi if this continues like this!

    Although I enyoy reading this novel and about this problematic harem situation, it is discouraging if the author pretends for us to root for the main ship.

    Follow here

    *To make this whole arch worse, Shiyi is supposed to be guarding filial piety for the death of the Luo Old Madam. Which means she can't have sex (well, she can have it, but if she gets pregnant everybody will know she didn't keep her filial piety)*


    Chapter 365
    , Lingyi is called in the middle of the night by the person who is following up the matter of marrying the 1st Prince and is told the draft is getting cancelled. Empress Dowager was trying to push for her niece to become the Prince's main wife, and Lingyi perfectly know the Ou Family is behind it (This is also regarding the Politics spoilers I've posted on my 1st post).

    I can see now where the incoming new addition to Lingyi's harem will come from...

    In chapter 367, he gets suddenly called to enter the palace to persuade the Empress Dowager because she is crying over the deceased previous Emperor to try to push her niece into becoming the Prince's wife (it's already been decided 1st Prince will be the Crown Prince).

    Following the next chapter, a decree suddenly arrives at the house, Shiyi has already had a bad feeling for a long time whenever the matter of the Empress Dowager pushing for her niece of the Yang Family was mentioned:

    This is super unfair! In the end, the Queen Dowager did end up stuffing her niece in Lingyi's backyard, and Shiyi will have to deal now with another women who's birth is even higher than that of Qiaou Lianfang!

    The only "good" thing in this, is that obviously Old Madam isn't happy at all.

    She is clearer than anyone else that this is the bullying of the Empress Dowager and, after the 5th Prince's death, matter are even more complicated with the Ou Family pushing behind (although Lingyi kept her in the dark about this bit).

    Chapter 369, One is in a hurry & in denial, the others are panicking...

    Shiyi is acting weirdly. Amber can see that. She was quick to recieve the decree where the rest of the official ladies in the house (including Old Madam) were shocked and unable to react. Then she was just worrying were to place this expensive concubine (who is surely a spy as well), instead of worrying about Lingyi who hadn't still returned from the palace.

    She is acting too calm about the matter, despite she already admitted she had mentally prepared since having that bad feeling, and she seems to be in a little bit of denial regarding how this affects her feelings.

    In the other hand, the concubines are worried but no one is as panicked as Qiao Lianfang who still had delusional aspirations in her head.

    I must admit that, as much as I hate this situation, it is a good plot and it does give the intrigue that the story needs, as well as the angst of how risky is to take in such a concubine that comes from the enemy.

    This Empress Dowager is trully so desperate and vicious! Not only she gave a concubine to Lingyi, she also disturbed the peace in the Zhou Family's backyard (they're from a Princess house and probably are involved in this 1st Prince's marriage matter).

    This will eventually turn ugly into the political side of the story for sure! I don't expect neither Lingyi nor Zhou Master to actually like these women... play a farce with them? Maybe, surely bed them at risk of having them pregnant (unless they use some tricks), but they won't be ever comfortable knowing they have the spies of the enemy in their own backyards.

    They're not even "real" daughters of the family, distant relatives they had trained to become Imperial concubines that are used now as weapons to bully them.

    The only good thing out of this mess is that Shiyi & Madam Zhou have each other to vent their anger at the Empress Dowager and express their frustrations.

    Chapter 370, Lingyi comes back

    He is as resigned as Shiyi is about the decree. Shiyi realizes that Lingyi probably never had a say on choosing his women except, perhaps, for Yuanniang who actually went through the whole matchmaking process.

    Shiyi just keeps talking about how she does not know which rules apply to marrying such a concubine, Lingyi can see that she is unusually focused on this matter when she previously never cared much about doing things wrong in previous ocasions (other ceremonies) and he feels happy (?). I don't know if he thinks/sees that Shiyi is just in denial and feels happy because he can see that she is using this as a coping method to not be sad & jealous?

    Old Madam is my favourite XD when they go to see her, she bluntly asks him "What the hell is going on?".

    In other words, she shamelessly tried to mess up with the newly married Prince's backyard just for her power-hungry sake and everyone got bullied with one of her "nieces" as a result.

    So, it gets explained in the next chapter why it turned out to be the Empress Dowager's decree, I don't fully understand the reasons but, I think, it seems this way the marriage can be taken in a lighter way (meaning they don't need to show much ceremony to these women) and also is a way for the Emperor to keep his filial piety to a "mother" that is actually adoptive but supported him to the throne.

    Out of this mess, I like to see Lingyi requests Shiyi to eat some noodles he ate once that turn out to be made by Shiyi herself. It indicates that she's getting into his mind (at least) through his stomach, which is always good. However, let's see later how this new concubine may affect him or their relationship.

    Chapters 371-372, The Concubines are surely anxious

    First is Qiao Lianfang who goes to see her and tries to instigate her with subtle talk about "treating" the upcoming Yang Concubine, then Concubine Qin comes and tells her all the story from the past about the time the house was in urge of heirs to hint at the same thing.

    It seems everybody is anxious to instigate Shiyi to either give this new concubine contraceptives or poison her sterylized (or even provoke her death)...

    Only Concubine Wen seems to be OK and minding her own bussiness, probably thanks to the fact her major worry was Sister Zhen and now she's already going to marry a good family (remember I've skipped 60 chapters! So don't fret, I'll get eventually back to fill this gap somewhere in the spoilers)


    OK, Poor Concubine Wen o_O

    She's tuned down a lot ever since the beginning and now is simply trying to avoid the upcoming conflict this Yang Concubine will bring... however, because she's on Shiyi's "good side" for now, she gets handled the ceremony as Shiyi can't attend due to her filial piety... however, Lingyi is going to use her to disrespect the newcomer ????

    The two Mamas present (Old Madam's & Shiyi's) were already puzzled by the changes, but probably now they're flabbergasted XD

    Shiyi gets so confused when Nanny Du (Old Madam's) goes to see her later and is about to leave, she has to ask:

    OK, Xu Lingyi (And Concubine Wen, for following up his lead) have gone up a few points after this one! And I want to believe he did it more for Shiyi than for his own self, even though he surely has his reasons to do this so it won't become a harm for him.

    Following at chapter 375,

    I like that Shiyi has started to realize that, despite of the differences in education, she and Lingyi aren't much different in character:


    While she is thinking this, she gets interrupted by Lingyi's voice that's warming her ear and is calling her by her real name, Mo Yan. He is drunk (Not surprised) and horny (and goes to his wife). Amber confirms to her that he didn't go to this Yang's room and went straight there after Shiyi has managed to wash him up (he still hasn't done anything to her), she puts him to sleep.

    He is so drunk, he won't stop waking up and pestering Shiyi to give him cold water or tea.

    Despite not doing the tea ceremony, the next morning Concubine Yang does do the other procedures of giving the pertinent gifts and kowtow to Shiyi (Lingyi isn't there to stop it, if he meant to do it, of course), when all the concubines go to greet her as usual.

    Already catched up and confirmed that Lingyi is gradually focusing more and more only on Shiyi, however, he still sleeps with the concubines when Shiyi gets the rotation system back, but he is also slowly noticing his own feelings for her.

    Concubine Went already said it, she is strugling after the entrance of Concubine Yang, because she can see the new girl isn't a simple one and is afraid that Shiyi won't be able to fight her. She just doesn't want to be involved in any more messes now, but does have a different and more respectful opinion on Shiyi than she initially had.

    Then, in chapter 378, just the same day after Yang has entered, Lingyi is talking to his wife after they have both recieved one of his friends that works in the Department of Internal Affairs.

    When Shiyi is sleeping, there he goes again assaulting her... I know that they are married and pass the awful rapey or almost rapey first time... but it isn't cool that he does this when she is asleep. This is the one detail I don't like from the author in this novel. It is meant to sound naughty and romantic, but the female lead is always molested while sleeping like this... (he just bit her bun and she woke up super shocked and confused).

    The author plays with a rapey atmosphere to end up making Shiyi concede willingly because she just thinks about how she feels when he is "loving" her... I am still not too cool with how Lingyi just forces on her while he is thinking "I am not going to force on her".


    NSFW

    I am even questioning whether the author wants to highlight the fact this is an ancient man, so he would do this things because he feels entitled to when he is horny for the wife he's falling in love with.

    Domineering man! Shiyi has fallen for him, though! Chapter 379:


    Despite what's in the spoiler above, I can say their relationship doesn't get worse but, on the contrary, Shiyi is opening up bit by bit and Lingyi is more and more single-minded to her.

    In Chapter 383 we can see it during a bed scene, when Shiyi stops him from doing anything because her period came, and Lingyi immediately points out that her period seems to be stabilizing (she has irregular periods and is a symptom of her deficiencies to concieve) and insists on her to keep taking the medicine.

    The other detail is, despite we don't get narrations on how he spends the nights with the other women (Minus this newcomer Yang, take note he doesn't intent to take her), the only one he hughs, held hands (there's a chapter they fall asleep holding hands, but I think is one of the chapters I've skipped ahead XD), kisses (no luck kissing her lips yet, only succeeded once), and embraces to sleep, must be Shiyi.

    For the moment, the new "concubine" is playing it safe, but she is determined to succeed (she's been trained carefully, she was supposed to enter the Imperial Harem with a clear purpose to win favor and produce heirs and, probably, be a spy), however, Qiao Lianfang's attitude has changed because she is anxious due to this new addition and she is out to get her.

    In Chapter 384, Madam Zhou comes to visit and ask about the Concubine Yang, and honestly tells Shiyi that their husbands won't touch these new concubines for now but, when the Empress Dowager dies, there's a possibility they feel the danger is gone and then start sleeping with them. This alerts Shiyi, who hadn't thought about this.


    In Chapter 400, after Qiao Lianfang has returned from a punishment she recieved for being improper and overstepping to Shiyi's position, Lingyi...

    Still has the gutt to go to spend the night (following the previous settled rotation system) at Qiao Lianfang's. This time, Shiyi is obviously upset, since there has been changes in their relationship and her own heart.

    Well, this is what I was hoping (won't lie about it).
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
  6. Shanni

    Shanni Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2020
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    53
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thank you. I can't wait to read the rest of the spoilers. I'm happy I can read it through you as this is a novel I was really interested it. All the extra concubines would annoy me to no end so I am glad that I can get a summary instead of breaking my brain.

    I watch the series up to episode 25 and it's completely different from the novel. Personally didn't find the MC that smart and therefore less likeable.
     
    astaterix, Vico and OKDR like this.
  7. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thanks for the feedback! Take in mind that I am placing spoilers depending on the subject and things may even become more confusing, especially because I don't usually spoil everything but focus on what I find interesting and the main leads evolution.

    I am watching the drama, but stopped for a while to read the novel. I understand why they did those changes (it doesn't look like too expensive production, not too cheap either, but still budget must be limited), however, Shiyi is this passive in the novel as well, only that we get to see how she thinks and how she plans whenever she encounters problems. Also, all the incident she has to face aren't deliberately planned against her by a trope-heavy greedy Concubine, nor she has the hostility of the Old Madam Xu from the drama version which made me believe for a while (when I started reading the novel) that she might had boycotted Yuanniang from the start (until I got a reasonable explanation on why she rushed Lingyi to get women pregnant). Even Luo Madam is better, despite she's tyranical and is as vicious as Yuanniang is when it comes to kill babies/fetuses/unwanted concubines.
     
    astaterix and Shanni like this.
  8. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    Concubine Qiao Lianfang

    As I previously said, she and her mother were calculating over Yuanniang's imminent death but Yuanniang tripped them over by arranging a trap so Qiao Lianfang would loose her chastity and wouldn't be able to succeed her as a main wife.

    Now she is a concubine and, I have the feeling, Lingyi doesn't like her but he still slept with her (he is a dutiful man, after all) and when Shiyi made the new arrangements a month after their wedding, he was pushed to go to her room again.

    Qiao Lianfang's strategy is to pretend to be sick, it drives Shiyi crazy whether to change doctors or not, but Shiyi isn't a fool, she knows she's up to something because she can't accept her place as a concubine. However, she's too quiet as she's always "sick". That is why she arranged for Qiao Madam to visit her a couple of times, but we don't get to see their plans until chapter 153, when she shows up how much deluded she is, still calculating over Shiyi thinking her daughter can eventually be rised up to a main wife if she births a son, because Shiyi is only 14 years old and most likely won't be able to give birth safely. She believes the Xu Family chose her so she won't last long enough and still will be able to put Qiao Lianfang in her position.

    They're so delusional, they believe Lingyi went to sleep with her because he likes her, and that she's the only one in there that can get the Marquees' true favor.

    Chapter 241-243, Xu Lingyi is too much dutiful as an ancient man... he got Qiao Liangfan

    pregnant... I had a little faith in him not daring to touch this shameless witch! She has been playing the trick of being quiet and sick, and she only got his "attention" because either Shiyi sent him there (rejecting him a couple of times) or he went there when he suddenly started being in denial and cold towards Shiyi.

    Shiyi knew quickly that Lianfang wanted to hide her pregnancy from her, but she figured out how to out her. Xu Lingyi is happy, and that means there won't be much progress for the main couple, because Shiyi keeps resisiting precisely for things like this: She knows this man won't belong just to her, and that is why she avoided Lingyi's first kiss a few chapters ago, she doesn't want to do things lovers would do, because that would hurt her.

    Not to mention this B* is planning to run over Shiyi's head with her pregnancy,

    Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy reading about this, it is a more realistic approach to what a woman entering an already established harem is... but since we're expecting romance developing... this came as a bucket of cold water. In the other hand, I also hope and expect that this pregnancy will bring the troubles that are necessary for both Lingyi & Shiyi be clear of what they feel and want from each other as woman and man, more than just as husband and wife of an official noble family.

    Qiao Lianfang immediately wants to use this as an excuse to get her own kitchen.

    Honestly, Xu Lingyi sometimes is frustrating

    She asked previously for a luxurious (I assume is a tribute or something from the Palace) tent to be sent to her, because the concubines caught Shiyi asking for a tent for the bedroom because Lingyi had told her to change it (it was making the room too warm) and she wanted to use this to attract Lingyi's attention.

    This luxurious tent Qiao Lianfang requested to her mother to send, has just arrived after the pregnancy has been announced and Qiao Lianfang tried to use this as an excuse to get her own private kitchen (Lingyi was about to agree but Shiyi cut him, that's explained in the spoiler above).

    Apparently, Lingyi got mad when he learnt this tent (he knows which tent it is and when it comes from) had been requested by her, probably he is mad because it is improper for a concubine (even probably for the main wife) to do bring is such an item.

    I don't want to say I am appalled, but I am mad with Lingyi. If you knew she was schemy and her entrance into your harem was as much her fault as Yuanniang's... why risk getting her pregnant? It is completly Lingyi's fault for wanting to be gentle with her to keep the appearences and the manners. He shouldn't had slept with her, or he should had come up with a rule for her to drink contraceptive medicine, something like, let's not have babies until the new main wife can have her own?

    Well, good thing that he is mad at himself for being this stupid! Let's remember the Qiao Family did have ulterior motives to approach him. Remember they used to support a Prince that was killed and didn't get the throne, that they distanced themselves from the Xu Family when they had been ostracized before, but suddenly, they saw a chance through Yuanniang's illness and started to move their hands and feet.

    Qiao Liangfan is delusional and an idiot... but that's also Lingyi's fault

    Chapter 265,

    Ever since she became pregnant, she's been a pain in the arse. She trully thinks she can use this to step over Shiyi, as her mother instigated her previously.

    It is Lingyi's fault for forgetting how she got into his harem and even liking her a bit at the beginning (he realized he was a fool when her pregnancy happened and it started conflicting with Shiyi).

    After Danyang's maid Xiaolan miscarried and died, Qia Liangfan suddenly became even more stupid, since she is like Danyang, snobishly pointing Shiyi out as someone with evil intentions and believes this is what she may be planning for her. Because of this narrow-minded way of thinking, she starts trying to go directly to Lingyi (bypassing Shiyi) to request for her mother to visit.

    This is a serious matter because she's already been allowed too much for a concubine, having her mother visit several times when she was faking her illness only so they could both plot. Shiyi already stopped her once, when she noticed she might've been pregnant and trying to hide it. Now it is Lingyi who tells her not to let her see any guests, but Qiao Liangfan doesn't see Lingyi telling it to his wife, so she believes is Shiyi being mean and oppressive to her and so she won't stop trying to sneak around to meet Lingyi... always failing, until this chapter, when Shiyi happens to be outside and still to return. She barges into Shiyi's courtyard (shameless) and because the wife told her maids, she isn't stopped.

    Qiao Liangfan thinks she has her white lotus character in control, but Lingyi is already quite tired with her, after Shiyi let's him see she can't let her contradict her all the time and also because of that luxurious tent incident (thinking she can go over the main wife's with her decorations from the Palace), and he coldly tells her to not disobey Shiyi and ends up putting her under house arrest XD

    She kepts trying to get a letter sent outside to her mother, her little maid failed but encountered Concubine Qin and ended up asking her if she had any methods to ensure a woman would birth a son. Aunt Qin tells her she doesn't know, but that Yuanniang did drunk something given by a Taoist master and ended up having one, so the maid quickly tells to Lianfang...

    In Chapter 268, despite Shiyi has intercepted Lianfang's letter to her mother, Madam Qiao comes to visit but she tells her her daughter has been put under house arrest by the Marquees. However, because Shiyi has sent someone to notify him, Lingyi sends word that if she wants to visit her, let her do so. Qiao Madam didn't even know her daughter was pregnant (I guess they were waiting for her to be 3 months, when it is supposed to be safe), Shiyi doesn't like that Lingyi contradicted her and she tells him at night that since he decided to have Qiao Lianfang in house arrest, he shouldn't had allowed her to see her mother. Then Lingyi answers that he wants to see what tricks they have under their sleeve and this happens:

    I knew something was going to happen... but I also have a few doubts... Was her pregnancy faked by some drug? Or did she trully try to drink some "magical formula" thinking she'd have a son and then miscarried?

    I am not sure if Lingyi is genuinely sad for the loss (he was happy when he knew she was pregnant) or if he is simply absent-minded because of the whole situation goes back to him being stupid to forget how Qiao Lianfang became his concubine.

    I am glad Shiyi is a smart and PRUDENT female lead. She always made sure things would be under her control but with the Old Madam's supervision. As soon as Qiao Liangfan got pregnant, she request Xu Old Madam to send to mamas to help her, having the perfect excuse of her own staff being all young and her being unexperienced in pregnancy matters. She's always kept her distance, not meddling in the other women's courtyards, and she used the New Year festivities to show her status by requesting the concubines to come and serve at her courtyard so they could save money with the servant's gifts and give them all days off instead (using a rotation system).

    In Chapter 270 we learn that, indeed, Qiao Liangfan and her mother were stupid enough to seek for that Taoist's recipe to have a son, and Qiao Liangfan miscarried because she overdosed.


    Chapter 387-388, when there's a newcomer (Yang Concubine), Qiao Lianfang rises a stone to drop it on her own foot.

    This Yang Concubine was stuffed in Lingyi's harem because of the Empress Dowager. Lingyi not only didn't touch her and spent the 3 auspicious nights of the "wedding" period with Lingyi; he also prevented Yang to serve tea to Shiyi on the entrance ceremony which, tecnically makes her just a servant and not an official recognized concubine in the eyes of the house's rules.

    Qiao Lianfang has already attacked her verbally (subtle) in front of Shiyi and the other concubines, but this time she's got herself in trouble. The reason is she brings up why Concubine Yang didn't get to meet Madam Yang when she came to visit and Shiyi recieved her:

    At night, Shiyi gets woken up being told that Qiao has tried to hang herself, but Shiyi is smart enough to call her bluff for attention and getting the punishment lifted:

    Lingyi overhears this, but he understands that Shiyi doesn't mean for Qiao Lianfang to commit suicide, but it is calling her bluff and scaring her.

    Well, Qiao Lianfang didn't change, Lingyi. She was always like this, only that now she's desperate because you gave her the ilusion she could climb on top of Shiyi's head when you decided to actually sleep with her and treat her gentlely, even getting her pregnant. Even Shiyi can see that he seems disapointed and that can only be because he did get some affection and attatchment to her... this man trully doesn't know much better?

    He tells Shiyi that if Qiao is still making noise, to send her to Dajue Temple for a while. Shiyi gets confused, because she doesn't know of this Temple and never heard that Xu Family had any relations with the place.

    Qiao Lianfang not only doesn't submit, she keeps yelling and smashing thinks asking to see Lingyi, so when they are informed the next morning, Lingyi tells her to send her to the Temple, however, the servants present all think that this was Shiyi's idea U__U"


    She gets picked back to the Manor in Chapter 399.

    She seems to have suffered a lot in that temple:

    Everybody in the backyard is shocked by the drastic change on her attitude (subdued) and appearance (pale, thin...). Those who wonder whether this was Lingyi's own punishment, can't help to feel panick.

    The next day, Lingyi still goes to Qiao Lianfang's place to sleep (why? ¬¬). However, just when everybody's got the news and Shiyi is even (finally) feeling bitter about it... he appears in Shiyi's room.

    Turns out he only went there to warn her and reprimand her for using suicide as a gimmik. We also finally get some admittance that she schemed with the idea of becoming Yuanniang's succesor as Lingyi's main wife.

    After Shiyi gets pregnant she still holds some small hopes to be able to serve Lingyi, however, this won't happen. Qiao Lianfang just keeps getting bitter and hurt anytime she can see how Lingyi's heart has been single-minded to Shiyi. From her dificult child birth (she learns he went into the delivery room when Shiyi started having dystocia), to the way he looks and talks to his main wife.

    After the Yang Family gets busted for their bussiness, Qiao's Family is also in danger.

    It seems her mother (and others in the Qiao Family) borrowed a lot of money from the Yangs, now she may not only be implicated, but her bussiness may be copied too. Qiao Lianfang won't see her mother, she considers her misfortune in the Xu Manor is her fault, for poisoning her head to the extent she ended up causing her own miscarriage.

    This is a fragment from chapter 507, a few days after everything has happened, Old Madam and Shiyi are talking about the Qiaos.



    _______________

    Concubine Qin *I'VE SKIPPED CHAPTERS BREIFLY AND OMG... DRAFTING THE SPOILERS BELOW THE FIRST 2*

    Chapter 309, she's been the quiet one until she starts getting out of her place due to her anxiety for Xu Siyu's wellbeing and interests.

    In this chapter we see her get out of line for the first time (That I recall) to try to get Xu Siyu be taught by the new Teacher (prestigious one) that Shiyi took a lot of effort (from her and her eldest brother) to bring, because Brother Zhun or Jian (Yuanniang's son) wasn't doing any progress with the Teacher that already taught Xiyu and the other eldest brothers from the 3rd Branch.

    Shiyi notices that other teacher was too mediocre and perfunctory, and Yuanniang's son is a shy and sensible one that needs a different approach. However, when Shiyi cared for him, she always got him to recite stuff and do things without many worries.

    As I've skipped like 60 chapters for a different subject, I can see that this is the beginning of Concubine Qin becoming annoying for Xu Lingyi.

    When she learns that Xu Siyu will be sent outside to study, then she becomes even more anxious. It is obvious that now he is getting of age, Concubine Qin worries too much about his future chances, and is going to trouble everyone because she is not showing trust Lingyi & Shiyi, also, as a concubine is not her place to talk even if she raised her son when he was little and still not living in the outer courtyard.

    Note that Lingyi cares immensly about this shu son and, if he is being sent away, is probably because he thinks it'll benefit him in the future, as he was also going through great pains to secure him a marriage with the Xiang Family (even though it was terribly wrong from him to bypass Shiyi, still it was good match).

    Shiyi has to put her on her place for the first time, reminding her that Xu Siyu is a master so is not her place to interfere, as well as explain why he is being sent there.

    In the following chapter, Lingyi comes in and has to remind her of her place too:

    Shiyi is so sensible, she hurries to empty the room, because she still wants Concubine Qin to keep her face in front of the servants as, although she is half one herself, she's still a master to those other serving in the house and the biological mother of Xu Siyu.

    Shiyi also knows that, if it hadn't been for the 2nd Madam who decided to start teaching Xu Siyu, this kid would be a waste, because Yuanniang left her to be raised by his biological mother who lacked education in purpose.


    She just keeps getting worse, Chapter 376

    She started falling ill ever since Xu Siyu was sent away, and when a new concubine gets forced by the "Empress Dowager" decree (is explained in the next posts' spoilers), when they are all greeting Shiyi (is the first time for this new concubine), she deliberately leaves Xu Sizhen (I think that's the right name, Yuanniang's son) in evidence in front of her to let her know the child is no heir material.

    She is just pissing me off more and more now.

    Chapter 384, She's already setting a plan in motion, with the help of the 3rd Branch's Concubine Yi.

    Now there's a new "concubine" Yang at Lingyi's backyard. She was stuffed there by the Emperor to appease the Empress Dowager who was making a fuss because the "nieces" she prepared for the Imperial Harem but couldn't enter (the draft was cancel precisely because she was ill), were also refused by the Crown Princess. Lingyi intervened in this matter (ED making a fuss) and called in Master Zhou (he's from the Crown Princess family) and another official friend, and that pissed off the Emperor so he punished him with this "reward".

    Aunt Qin's bad behavior and complaining about Xu Siyu studying abroad and doing it in such humble and austere manner, hasn't stop, and she eventually developed a wicked plan to go against Shiyi and get rid of Yuanniang's son.

    She's already got some money she requested Concubine Wen to exchange for bank notes for her, and is spending this money in this Taoist Master (Daopo Zhu) to help her set some scheme.

    Chapter 401, some signs of Concubine Qin's becoming a crazy fanatic,

    She's already got her new Taoist Master and is doing suspicious things along with Concubine Ying from the 3rd branch and spending a lot of money. Concubine Wen has an eye on her, because she sees she's behaving weirdly and using a lot of money (she's the one exchanging it into bills), but nobody can figure out what's up with her and her "worshipping a new Bodhisattva".

    After everybody knows that Lingyi went to Qiao Liangfan's room just to reprimand her and then went back to Shiyi's, she just does this:

    She is trully convinced that all the things (bad) that happened at Lingyi's backyard were to favor and protect her so her son could become the heir.

    Chapter 406, She is trully vicious...

    Shiyi might be pregnant and news are spreading in the backyard.

    Knowing now (after skipping chapters) that she is planning to get rid of Xu Sizhen (Yuanniang's son) and it has to do with this new worshipping, we can read between the lines that she may be also preparing to cause Shiyi to miscarriage.

    To reinforce the belief that she did fill Xu Siyu's head, Chapter 408

    Xu Siqin & Xu Sijian are both back (their mother offended their teacher & it brought troubles to the 3rd Master's official position, so the kids are sent back to recieve an education), so is Xu Siyu to visit. They are discussing what's wrong with Shiyi (they're only telling she is sick), so Xu Siyu tells Xu Siqin that she is pregnant and his expression looks bitter:

    His mother did try to poison his mind with the idea of becoming the heir. That is why he was so diligent but guarded, not just because he was first taught by the 2nd Madam. Siyu insists that he isn't bitter because of that (but we don't see an explanation, probably he just feels estrangled from both his siblings and his father).

    Chapter 422, Now she is inquiring

    About Shiyi's diet. Shiyi has been pregnant for almost 4 months, but she's delicate and keeps vomiting, so she barely gets out of her courtyard.

    There's been more fishy movement from her part, ever since she knew Shiyi was pregnant and Concubine Wen keeps finding her behavior suspicious.

    She finally succeeds, Chapter 419~

    into causing Xu Sizhen a fright that puts him in a coma (It is explained with more detail how he finds someone dressed as a ghost to scare him in the spoilers about Shiyi & Lingyi).

    This is a long arch, it starts with the insecurities and mistrust Nanny Tao (loyal to Yuanniang and hostile to Shiyi) plants into the kid's heart, that causes him to be anxious and want to go to worship his mother at her courtyard during the night.

    There is a thorought investigation and, Lingyi & Lingkuan, with Concubine Wen's hint at her estrange money movements, end up finding out that this is all done by Concubine Qin with the help of Concubine Yin from the 3rd Branch, who has been left behind by the 3rd Master when he left to be an official outside.


    Concubine Yi from the 3rd branch has something to tell, Chapter 437:

    She insists on seeing Shiyi, with the excuse she has a secret to tell about Yuanniang. Yi will be sent away after she's been detained in the house for days for helping Concubine Qin intro scaring Xu Sizhen.

    Shiyi has already gone there because she thought of how much when she married in, Lingyi seemed to not be pleased, the 2nd Madam looked at her with contempt for a while, and everybody was guarding against her.

    Shiyi tries to think about it, perhaps her sister killed Concubine Tong because (Shiyi also realized) she seemed to have a special meaning to Lingyi. Yi insits that Concubine Qin killed Concubine Tong, but Shiyi doubts it was this easy for her to do it under Nanny Tao's nose. Tong was 2 years a senior in the house to Qing, so Shiyi thinks it is normal that she dedicated her sesame oil every year and not because of a guilty conscience as Yi claims...

    Following in Chapter 439,

    The answer is, yes, she planned for it, but the problem is Yi knew all these things and did nothing to prevent it. She is trying to exeem herself from being punished. Shiyi leaves telling her she will speak to Lingyi and goes to find Concubine Wen.

    Wen quickly guesses why she is there and she is determined to let her know what happened when she starts asking her about the past. She starts explaining the arrangement of servants back then, and Shiyi understands the ones serving the two bedwarmers, Qin & Tong, were not enough and according to the rules, but Wen excuses Yuanniang's situation at the time, due to the Xu Family's unstable position and the abscence of Lingyi who went to war.

    Follows in Chapter 440,

    The atmosphere was like this, apparently, because Nanny Tao was insisting for Yuanniang to go to the Temple but due to some troubles with a lack of carriages, Yuanniang was hesitating because she didn't want to offend the 2nd Madam nor the 3rd Madam telling them they couldn't go to the ceremony at the Temple.

    Because Nanny Tao made the concubines stand there all the time and they couldn't rest until it was too late, they were all too tired. Concubine Wen explains that at night Qin came once to see her and told her that Tong was resting, but then Tong's maid came in a hurry saying that she was bleeding. Qin flew presumably to see what had happened, and Wen wanted to go and tell Yuanniang but her Nanny wouldn't let her get involved because she thought it was too late and it would be hard to find a doctor so, most likely, something bad would end up happening.


    Chapter 443, how Concubine Qin gets the wrong idea that ends up making her delusional and crazy,

    she is with Wen and Yang, but her head is speculating on what had happened to those involved. However, she doesn't have all the information about this matter. I am sure that Shiyi's maid Yan Rong wasn't dealt with, she was only married with the rest of the maids her age, just to expell the rumors away, but nobody has blamed her of what's happened because she had nothing to do with it (she was framed).

    She is convinced that nothing will happen to her because what happened also involves Shiyi, but when she finds out Yan Rong is alive and well, she starts paniking.

    Concubine Yi is killed in a "carriage accident" at the end of this chapter. That is how Lingyi dealt with her, with the excuse of sending her to the 3rd Master for his disposal, he got her killed (well, 3rd Master already gave him full authority to dispose of her).

    In the next chapter, 444, Qin gets sick with fever, when they send her the doctor, she gets paranoid and throws the medicine in a flower pot. I am not sure whether is true that she has malaria, but they confine her and she starts getting mad thinking her maid had betrayed her.

    In Chapter 446, Nanny Du (Old Madam's) tells Shiyi that Concubine Qin is sick and has started to talk nonsense, that it is better to summon Xu Siyu before it is too late.

    Shiyi worries about how Xu Siyu will react to all this mess.


    Chapter 447, Xu Siyu is back

    Because of the attitude of Old Madam when she tells the kid to first go to see Lingyi, Shiyi thinks for a moment and doubts whether Xu Siyu could also be involved in what happened to Xu Sizhen, but quickly wants to dispel this thought of her mind.

    When Xu Siyu goes to visit his mother, he first asks questions to the people guarding her. I am not sure of Qin's maid trully hanged herself because the MTL was confusing in that chapter, or if she's been told this but they actually married the maid away (by her own request).

    Then when he sees his mother he notices that she has become blind.


    Chapter 448 *Must update how we get here later*, I was right: She always hoped Xu Siyu would become Lingyi's heir!

    Concubine Qin is sick in bed and her mind is not quite right. She sends a letter and manages to have Xu Siyu back to visit her, but she is incoherent and sometimes yells at him saying he isn't the Second Master... after a few word exchances and Siyu trying to calm her down, she expresses that he is the eldest son, because Yuanniang's son never stood a chance to him.

    Not only did she confirm that she used to fill Xu Siyu's head with these ideas (no wonder Shiyi didn't felt right about his gaze when she met him), but also now we're going to know what happened to Concubine Tong!

    I am not much clear whether she did something to cause Tong to miscarriage, but it seems she was the last person to be with here before it happened and that she was super jealous of her.

    OK, what Qin did was to find an excuse (her own pregnancy) to not report the matter to the Old Lady, but she claims that this was the purpose of Yuanniang, because she didn't want such a cherished maid to give birth to the eldest son (However, with what was said in Chapters 441-442, it seems that Yuanniang didn't have this intention, Nanny Tao might, but Yuanniang seemed really mad when she found out that Tong had died and aborted).

    Then is when Lingyi came back 2 years after to find out Concubine Tong was dead and Qin had got a son. Qin confesses she only gave birth safely because she hid in the 2nd Madam's residence and she took care of her. But when he was born, Old Madam told Yuanniang to take the child back but she tossed it to the servants. Qin didn't dare to approach him openly.

    After she tells this, then she starts talking about that maid Yuanniang set as a common room and also got pregnant:

    She keeps explaining, turns out that Yuanniang presumably got Nanny Tao feed this pregnant maid with something that would provocke her dead at childbirth for excess of bleeding as well as weaken the fetus, so the newborn wouldn't survive the first few days.

    After reading the archs related to Nanny Tao's fall, one can't help but doubt this wasn't an idea she actually hid from Yuanniang. However, Yuanniang was also Luo Madam's own daughter, and we've already been hinted that her methods to deal with unwanted sons were effective.

    Chapter 451,

    Concubine Qin is reported dead of illness at the end of this chapter.

    I am curious now to know how she got to create so many delusions in her head ... and SHIYI'S PREGNANT! And it seems what she did to Xi Suzhen (Yuanniang's son) is some vodoo cursing and he's been in a coma because of a fright he got.

    Concubine Qin did this with the help of the 3rd Branch's Concubine Yi, so Lingyi found a way to comunicate with his 3rd Brother in order to also get rid of her.[/quote]

    _____________________


    A Hint about what might had happened back in the day? Concubine Tong is a mistery... *SOLVED in the spoilers above about Concubine Qin.

    After the illegitimate kid born outside is adopted by Lingyi and the Concubines come to know it, it seems that two of them seem too disturbed by the news of a kid being adopted under Concubine Tong's name (also everyone has heard the rumors that this is Lingyi's own child).

    Chapter 212,

    Did Concubine Qin get rid of Concubine Tong to make sure she would hold both the title of mothering the firstborn and being the most senior concubine serving Lingyi?


    Later in Chapter 269 (Qiao Lianfang has miscarried, all her own fault), Lingyi gets drunk and starts touching and kissing (not on the lips, hasn't happened yet) Shiyi, she doesn't want to let him use snu snu as a way to cope with the pain of his loss, but she just waits a little and before she can stop him this happens:

    Nothing else (but him drinking) happens afterwards. I trully wondered whether he was in love with this maid that he grew up with and took as a bedwarmer but died of a miscarriage, or if he just feels guilty to her.

    _______________________

    "Concubine" Yang, the new addition the Empress Dowager wanted to stuff into the Imperial Harem, later on the Crown Prince harem, and ended up rewarded to Lingyi (because of the Emperor), could quickly see Concubine Qin wasn't a good spirit.

    Chapter 384,

    Chapter 390, Because she was trying to embarrass Concubine Yang, Qiao Lianfang ended up being sent to a strict Temple.

    This is explained in the spoilers above about Qiao Lianfang's character.

    Yang still plans to succeed by pleasing Shiyi, after this has happened, realizing that what started as an attempt to embarrass her in front of the main wife backfired this badly, Yang knows that Shiyi won't be easy to defeat nor please.


    The Empress Dowager dies at Chapter 396,


    I am not sure what she exactly plans to do but, I don't believe that Concubine Yang thinks Shiyi is a fool and would just do as she requests without feeling suspicious.

    She is using this as an excuse to get acquianted with Shiyi because Shiyi wisely put Concubine Wen in charge of her so she doesn't have to meet her often.

    Concubine Yang starts offering to embroider designs for Shiyi's embroidery shop that Master Jian is running, she gets money back from it and believes that she is gaining Shiyi's trust with this.


    Chapter 406, when news that Shiyi might be pregnant spread

    Concubine Yang is counting on the common rules for wives to arrange concubines or common room to serve the husband when she is pregnant to gain favor...


    Chapter 453, stagnated?

    Well, Concubine Yang is horrible. When she got the news (previous chapters) that Xu Sizhen had fainted from fright she could only be happy hoping they would find Shiyi responsabile, because the news about finding the ghost mask and dress on Yan Rong's place had also spread.

    On this particular chapter, she is realizing that her initial joy for expecting that after the first 4 months of Shiyi's pregnancy they would all have a change to sleep with Lingyi has gone.

    Her plan of catering to Shiyi so she could be present when Lingyi came in everytime, didn't work at all. She was just stuck embroidering things for Shiyi, as she sold those on her embroidery shop and sent her back the money she gained from those.

    When the Empress send staff to serve Shiyi's delivery when the time comes, Concubine Yang gets even more anxious. She can see how well Shiyi is treated and even has the thought of what would happen if she could get rid of her and become the main wife.

    Chapter 457, Shiyi is about to give birth

    However, it is said the delivery will won't happen until the next day.

    Yang wants to take advantage of this and the fact Lingyi went to his study to try to seduce him.

    She obviously didn't succeed with her scheme. Once Shiyi has delievered a son, she (as well as Qiao Lianfang) are the only ones to be distressed by it.


    Chapter 466, What the heck is she trying?

    The white-lotus B* is pretending to be praying for Shiyi's newborn son, Xu Sijin (the 6th Young Master), just to catch Lingyi's attention.

    Lingyi tells her that it is too late, to hurry up and finish and not do this again.

    The Yang Family falls and this woman can only think of 1 thing...

    Chapters 499-503~

    She panicks, obviously, because her family has been finally intervened by the Emperor's order due to all the bussiness they did that was either illegal or collided with the Minestry of Internal Affairs' bussinesses. The concubines remaining in another two families, one was sent to be a monk and the other... I forgot but she isn't good either (or dead? Sorry I forgot).

    She tries to go to Shiyi to ask for help (Shiyi allows her to see a messenger from her family) when she recieve the news on her father also being arrested, but Shiyi refuses to help her (She's helped Wen, but Wen is a different type of case & person) and subtly tells her that her father was a local bully, so is normal he was also copied and arrested with the rest of the Yang Family. So she decides to go to Lingyi instead.

    The problem is, she shouldn't go directly to him if refused by the main wife, and she is also going to the outer courtyard (out of bounds for concubines) and in the middle of the night.

    Shiyi does get some angst from this, but I'll explain that on her spoilers.

    Yang is recieved by Lingyi and she starts crying and playing the victim, but when she sees is not working, she decides to imitate Shiyi's calm composure and tries to seduce Lingyi.

    Lingyi is disgusted, because he sees that in this situations she prefers to safe her own self (by using her beauty) rather than plead the case for her family members.

    All the time she's there trying to seduce him, Lingyi is only thinking about Shiyi because a servant told him (whispered, so Yang doesn't know), that Shiyi was going to see him at that moment and he was actually looking forward to see her, because he had been sleeping in the outer courtyard for days since all this Yang mess was about to start.

    We also got a reminder, for those who might had forgot about it: He never acknowledged her as a concubine, and there is a reason why she stayed this long in his backyard.

    So I guess this is it for Concubine Yang. She only blurted out the thing about praying to the Bodhisattva to try to arouse pity and interest from Lingyi, but Lingyi just took it as it was her wish to become a nun.
    _________________________________

    The Wen Family is shameless and Wu Niang and her husband are (greedy) idiots.

    I already said in different spoiler sections that the reason why the Wens married a daughter as a Concubine was to make use of Xu Lingyi's name & title to grow their bussiness and extend their hands into official posts. As soon as this started to happen, Lingyi grew tired of Concubine Wen and he dislikes her greatly. So does Old Madam, who quickly snatched her daughter to be raised by her own side, so it wouldn't turn out like her mother: An annoying chesspiece constantly interceding for her family.

    This puts Sister Zhen in a very awkawrd and sad position. Fortunately, because Shiyi has a similar background situation with her mother being a coward Concubine, she knows how to handle Zhen and make her feel better about herself.

    Yuanniang is at fault for enhancing this, since she was tempted with the money she could make by investing into the Wen's bussiness enterpraises by using the name of the Marquees in return.

    Since Shiyi married, the Wens had been trying to get a foot back into using the Marquees' name (3rd Madam cut with all that, is one of the few good things she actually did). But Shiyi skillfully blocked them all the time, refusing to meet with Wen's 3rd sister-in-law, and always saying the Marquees should know and agree (to stop them).

    Because the Wens are shameless, they quickly thought of taking a detour by using Shiyi's 5th Sister (Wunniang), who married a smart but anxious for money scholar. Wunniang is no better, she's always been looking at what she shouldn't (remember she knew about Yuanniang wanting a successor and she was pissed to know Shiyi got a spot she considered hers).

    She first started a bussiness with no experience and, fortunately Shiyi refused to do it together and only handled her some money as a gift, because she contracted quite a debt, she's now the perfect victim (along with her husband) for the Wens to drag into this messy water. They tempt her with a promise of an easy money bussiness and make her go to seek for Shiyi's approval and investment (meaning the Marquees' backup), in return.

    In Chapter 203, Shiyi is trying to block her own sister by making clear she can dispose of this money to invest and she should notify her husband (Lingyi) in order to do so. Shiyi is quite disappointed on her sister, but nothing she couldn't expect after knowing more about the Wen Family and Concubine Wen's role.

    Fortunetly, Concubine Wen's initial attitude will eventually tune down and even change

    I'm at Chapter 318, it's been a while since her family has tried to push her to intercede for them to Shiyi, she's also experienced how Qiao Liangfan was stupid enough to miscarriage and how Concubine Qin has started to lose her composure because of wanting to decide for Xu Siyu; so Concubine Wen's behavior has calmed down, she's also gradually seeing that Lingyi does favor Shiyi (or Shiyi has tricks to keep him in her courtyard).

    In this chapter she's suddenly becoming more docile, embroidering a hankerchief for Shiyi. She's also been grateful before after seeing how Shiyi won't embarrass her in front of Sister Zhen (Lingyi's daughter), who happens to be her daughter whom she didn't get to raise. Shiyi even tactfully lets Wen know how her daughter is doing and she's being taken care off.

    Of course, she is trying to inquire about her daughter's upcoming marriage, but her ways are more roundabout and less rude (considering her status and situation) than Qin's are.

    Shiyi understands that she will have her own ideas, and she allows Concubine Wen to express her preferences.

    Later, when a new concubine is pushed in thanks to the Empress Dowager & the Emperor, Concubine Wen struggles because she doesn't want any conflicts, but Shiyi is trusting her to be her deputy since she has to guard filial piety and certain things are not suited for her to do. There's a couple of moments she fears what to do and doesn't know whether to sway to this new Concubine Yang (whom she sees isn't simple) or remain loyal to the main wife (Shiyi). She's also grateful because they end up finding an apparent good marriage for Sister Zhen and that lifts up pretty much most of her worries once she's realized she can't be used by her family as a chesspiece anymore.
    [/quote]

    When the Yang Family falls and Wen's 3rd Brother is also affected...

    Because Concubine Wen has changed a lot, Lingyi warns her as soon as the Emperor let's him know he's going after the Yang Family. She not only became Shiyi's big helper and accountant, she ended up giving the key information they needed to know Concubine Qin was behind what happened to Xu Sizhen (now the Marquees' heir) and, even though she's been struggling to decide whether to meddle in these things or not (the woman just wants peace and to see her daughter have a good future), she's always taken the right the decision ever since Shiyi started trusting more in her and allowing her to even bond a little with Sister Zhen.

    Lingyi needed to do something about Wen's bussiness, anyway, because she is her concubine and that could affect the family. But, instead of tossing her out or cutting her relationship, he chose to warn her for different reasons. The first, has already been explained, the second is because Lingyi himself did bussiness with her at the beginning when she married, but later he cut the connections because he saw the money was becoming bigger and bigger and that would eventually become a problem.

    Wen's 3rd Brother's bussiness where she has shares (and Lingyi used to have and later Yuanniang to) collide with those of the Internal Affairs Bureau so, if they're going to arrest the Yang Family for this reason, they can't leave others that are guilty of the same crime.

    Wen doesn't know what to do when Lingyi tells her to get rid of her shops and industries, because she doesn't want to leave all those people working for her without any income nor shelter. She pakicks and asks Shiyi for help. Shiyi doesn't know exactly how to solve it (Wen proposes to pass the bussiness to her servant's father, who is one of her stewards, but that wouldn't do) so she asks Lingyi to come and they all talk about it. Lingyi sees she is not being selfish or obnoxious, she even pleads for her mother to be saved, as is not her fault that her brother did all of these pretentious bussiness, so Lingyi is determined to even go to the Emperor and ask for leniency. The Emperor promises him that they will be only reprimanded and fined, but not arrested and copied like the Yangs.

    Wen tries to persuade her brother, but he won't listen. They find a way (forgot exactly which, but they sell a lot of property and transfer staff to the Xu Family) to help her and I think this is the final turning point for this Concubine whom won't probably get Lingyi's favor back ever but, at least, he won't despise her this much anymore.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2021
    WoonaOnTheMoon and astaterix like this.
  9. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    New post for Shiyi & Lingyi's relationship and matters. (reached out the word limit)

    Chapter 402, we get to read some snu snu after a while, but what matters to me from this chapter is

    Shiyi gets worried when Xu Siyu gets back and Old Madam inquires if the maid she assigned to him years ago might have started to fool around with the second young master. Shiyi misunderstands it as Old Madam wanting to prevent that but Lingyi tells her that what she meant is for Shiyi to prepare a bedwarmer for his son, so Shiyi is shocked because (aside from being educated in a different time when this wasn't OK) Xu Siyu is only going to be 13 years old the next year!

    Then, while explaining to her why she should prepare a bedwarmer, the snu snu starts because Lingyi recalls how Shiyi herself (pedo!) married at the same age and she always tried to reject him when he wanted to have sex with her.

    Despite the MTL, I don't think that Shiyi's intentions when she talks to Xu Siyu's maid are what Old Madam wants her to do XD she mostly makes the girl aware that Xu Siyu's sexual awakening may happen soon and that she should watch out for him to not become a lecher (?) rather than telling her "when the time comes, just serve him in bed"


    Chapter 403, is New Year, a few chapters ago Shiyi FINALLY got rid of the filial piety (that got extended because of the Empress Dowager's death). I think there's a baby in the oven... but... perhaps not?

    Come on, you probably sensed there's a happy pulse but don't dare to say it because it is to soon! ><

    Lingyi is trully wishing to get her pregnant. I don't think he's ever been like this with any of his women, even though he was in the urge of having offspring before.

    Instead of getting any news, Lingyi ends up annoying Shiyi (again) while teasing her for snu snu and their interaction when going to sleep becomes awkard (again).

    While thinking, Xu Lingyi's actions became more and more presumptuous, and the atmosphere became more and more ambiguous... Eleven Niang's whole body was soft and soft, and the groans overflowed uncontrollably... But she didn't wait for the usual affection... Annoyed into anger, he lifted the quilt and jumped out of the bed.

    Xu Lingyi hurriedly hugged her from behind.

    "Why such a big temperament" smiled and held her in his arms, and put his face affectionately on her face.

    Eleven Niang turned her face away and ignored him.

    "Okay," Xu Lingyi kissed her sideburns, forehead, and corners of her lips...with some gentle affection in her movements, "Don't be angry."

    When the eleven mother got down the steps, she felt a little better in her heart, but she still couldn't help but yelled, "Does Hou think it's fun to tease concubines like this?"

    Like an aggrieved child.

    With thoughts and thoughts, Xu Lingyi's heart was numb.

    "Fool" He has a softness and doting in his voice that he didn't expect, "I like you to tease you"

    Both of them were stunned by these words.


    The room was quiet for a while, only the sound of the ticking pendulum was heard.

    Amidst anxiety and embarrassment, Xu Lingyi shrank her arm holding Shi Niang, feeling that this was too indifferent, so he stopped hurriedly, and said quietly: "It's getting late, you have a spring sleepiness again, rest early."

    The eleven mother was upset, afraid that he would say something that makes people difficult to answer. With a soft "um", he closed his eyes hurriedly.


    (...)


    In the next few days, although the two of them talked and laughed as before, they also discussed together selling the dowry house of the eleven mothers. They ordered wood and masonry, hired a working master, and set four. On the day when the construction started on the 16th, at night, when the two of them slept in a sex, they felt a little unnatural. Had no choice but to gossip. Or it is said that Xu Siyu has worked so hard to study behind closed doors these days, and he will surely pass the examination; or it is said that Xu Sizhen knows how happy the brothers Xu Siqin and Xu Sijian are coming back; or it is said that Mr. Zhao should be given restraint. The thing... after talking about it, I fell asleep naturally. When she woke up the next day, sometimes it was the eleven mother who threw the square pillow to one side and tilted her head on Xu Lingyi's shoulder; sometimes it was Xu Lingyi lying on her side and put her arm on the eleven mother.

    At this time, Xu Lingyi wanted to be the same as before, just to make fun of her.

    It's just that Eleven Niang is particularly sensitive. As soon as he moved, she woke up. Ask "what time?", then hurriedly got up
    , freshened up, talked to the aunt and children who came to greet him, served him breakfast, greeted the wife, and went to the main hall to show the mothers in charge... when there was no stopping. . He also sent that Wan Erxian to help her repair the house in Goldfish Alley, and designed the display of the house with Amber and Zhuxiang, and went to the storeroom where her dowry was placed, looking for porcelain and screens, and called the wife of Ji Ting to come. Asked whether to plant a magnolia tree in front of the main house or build a wisteria... Another wife Wu discussed with her about sister Xin’s birthday. Wu Niang posted a post and asked her to eat at Sijiao Hutong on Brother Xin’s birthday. Wanshou noodles, helping Mrs. Gan Tai's niece and Siniang's eldest son Yu Cheng as a match, was so busy.

    Xu Lingyi couldn't help frowning slightly, and simply didn't say anything. He went to the outer courtyard to deal with some industrial matters every day, or went out to socialize with old friends, and gradually disappeared when he was at home.

    Others still don't think that Humber's several close servants have felt Xu Lingyi's changes, and they are all a little anxious. Serving Xu Lingyi's breakfast every morning is a few more trembling.

    Eleven Niang saw it in her eyes, and her heart suddenly felt uncomfortable.

    The so-called "like", it turned out to be nothing more than that
    [/quote]

    Well, Shiyi is getting some angst. She is extracting from this new awkward situation that she had imagined that Lingyi might actually had feelings for her.

    While he is still trying to break the ice by placing food for her to eat, this happens:

    Well, it is good to see Lingyi care this much but, I'm afraid, this is not enough. They still cannot talk things clearly when it comes to both their sexual relationships and their obvious feelings for each other.

    it follows in chapter 405, she is either pregnant or very sick!

    It looks like Lingyi is only reflecting now on how wrong he was to keep teasing Shiyi like this when they were in bed, as well as how he replied to her when she was evidently angry.

    The doctor still only said she might be tired. Let her rest, drink some prescription and he will come back in a few days to check her pulse... however, turns out she is pregnant but they're hiding it from her (?) and because Shiyi can see she can barely do nothing but vomit and is being taken care of so delicately, she thinks she may have a terminal illness but they don't want to tell her.

    At least they quickly explain it to her on the next chapter. That it is to soon to tell, but she might be pregnant and it is better for her to rest.

    He definitely didn't have the same reaction when Qiao Liangfan was diagnosed with pregnancy. He was glad, but he was quickly discussing stuff and "celebrating" it with Shiyi, instead of with the woman that got pregnant.

    Chapter 408, the speculation on who will Shiyi arrange for Lingyi to serve, begins (again)

    It is not yet confirmed that she is pregnant, but everybody is already aware that she most likely is.

    The first to openly mention this matter to her is Madam Zhou:

    Life back then was hard for a woman. To think Madam Zhou has to find a pretty one to throw it as a consolation gift to a husband who shouldn't had touched that Yang woman in the first place...

    Coincidentally, because the Crown Princess gives birth to a girl, everybody wants to force her to give a concubine to the Crown Prince and she ends up having to accept Madam Zhou's solution to send him a pretty maid as a bedwarmer instead. Chapter 410-411,

    Shiyi is now mostly certain she is pregnant and feels better, the Crown Princess is too upset and summons her to the Palace. Shiyi consoles her but also let's her know that she must suck it up (even if it hurts) for her own sake.

    Unexpectedly, despite she was feeling better, Shiyi starts vomiting all over again. Old Madam blames the Crown Princess for summoning her when she is in a delicate state, but I suspect of Aunt Qin, who sent her a talisman allegedly blessed by Master Jinning (the one of Ciyuan Temple)... Amber does find it weird and off when she sends it and tells her to hung it on the door and put some other under her pillow... but I am not clear whether they ended up doing this or just sending those talismans to the Old Madam.

    https://www.51shucheng.net/yanqing/shunvgonglue/157340.html (I have to change the source, sometimes, because the one previously provided has some messed up chapters)

    They finally find out that what is causing Shiyi discomfort and vomit are some flower buds they planted all over the yard.

    Chapters 412-414~ Nanny Tao is now trying to poison Xu Sizhen's ears against Shiyi

    Seriously, Shiyi thinks is better to keep her because she is loyan to Sizhen (Yuanniang's son), so she can make up for any flaws Shiyi has when raising him, but she also knows she is against her. She clearly saw it when she instigated Dongqing to propose herself as a bedwarmer for Lingyi.

    Amber and other maids have repeatedly advised her to send Nanny Tao to the hamlet, but she just thinks it will suffice to just watch out for her.

    Nanny Tao is already trying to mislead Xu Sizhen into using middle-men to reprimand Shiyi for stupid things so they will both become estrangled, now she's even trying to tell Xu Sizhen he can't trust anyone but her, especially Shiyi now she's pregnant.

    Shiyi tries to use his teacher to teach him about what can happen when you listen to people's instigations instead of talking straight to the person you should/need to confront/ask. Then she arranges for the maids to play a "hearsay" (sorry, don't know the name of this game in English, I call it "telephone") where Amber says something to a maid and then her words have to passed maid by maid, in a chain, causing the message to become distorted when it reaches the last person. She shows this to Xu Sizhen, when they're done, Shiyi reprimands the maids for talking nonsense, and then the kid finally understands why his teacher tried to teach him earlier in the day: Not to listen to gossip and other's instigations.

    Shiyi summons one of her stewards and tries to inquire about Nanny Tao's son, coarcing him to tell her if he has anny "hobbies", implying she needs a reason to probably fire him or punish him. The steward, Lu Yonggui, doesn't want to get involved because he quickly understands that this must be due to Nanny Tao angering Shiyi, but he ends up saying that Tao Cheng likes to drink, as a casual matter.

    FINALLY! Shiyi has dome something to counter-attack this snake. She tricked him into loosing one of Yuanniang's dowry properties, he is desperate & with his mother they try to find a solution... Nanny Tao soon realizes this is done by Shiyi, and tries to ask help from Lu Yonggui, but he simply tells her to just go back to the hamlet and Nanny Tao spits at him and calls him a traitor.

    Nanny Tao tries to find a way out, but the matters get worse:

    Now his son is suspected of using this money to hire a killer...

    Chapter 417,

    When Lingyi comes back in, he asks Shiyi if she is tired and she answers to him that why is it so hard to eliminate someone's prejudices, which sums up what brought Nanny Tao to become such an annoying snake.
    She's been prejudiced against Shiyi from the first moment she entered the house, and could only see ghosts of schemes where there were any. She committed her first offence when she acted up on her own narrow-minded prejudice and caused bad blood not only between Dongqing and Shiyi, but also her ultimate goal was to make Shiyi be in bad terms with Lingyi so she wouldn't be favored nor stand any chances to concieve a child.

    Knowing what happens a few chapters ahead, Nanny Tao is not wrong to warn Xu Sizhen one last time, but she is wrong to point her suspicions at Shiyi in front of the child.


    Chapter 421,

    It is Shiyi's birthday (it seems, not sure) and that day, while playing around, Xu Sizhen ends up being asked about why Nanny Tao left, someone (I think is the maid Chaxiang) emphazises that is weird that she left to take care of his son because he broke a leg, when she didn't go back in the day when he was a kid and fell in the cold water. This and a few conversations keep making Xu Sizhen start over-thinking and goes to Shiyi asking her to bring Nanny Tao back, but Shiyi just brushes it off saying she can't come back now, and then he remembers the words of Nanny Tao and decides to go to the Old Madam.

    He thinks about asking his father but remembers his usual cold gaze and ends up running to Yuanniangs residence, that has been emptied of its furniture now that Nanny Tao isn't there to guard and watch no-one dares to steal something.

    The next day Shiyi tries to calm him down offering Xu Sizhen to send Nanny Tao some dumplings to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

    However, Xu Sizhen keeps remembering more and more about Yuanniang & missing Nanny Tao when he can't remember things like when was his birth mother's birthday. There's a moment when Shiyi notices that he looks sad and asks him if he is uncomfortable, Xu Sizhen is in a daze, for a moment the images of both, Shiyi & Yuanniang, overlap in his mind, until he wakes up and realizes that Shiyi is not Yuanniang.

    Trully, Nanny Tao just caused this kid unnecessary sadness and insecurities. Even if he would end up encountering a day when he would miss his birth mother, it would've been like this if it weren't for Nanny Tao's instigation. Shiyi was doing a fine job at helping him grow and also cope with the loss while still remembering his birth mother.

    Because of Nanny Tao's instigation, Xu Sizhen falls into Concubine Qin's (You can read her spoilers) trap and faints of fright, falling in a coma. He decides to suddenly go to Yuanniang's courtyard in the middle of the night, out of sorrow and the feelings of missing Yuanniang and gets scared by someone.

    It seems whoever did it, is trying to frame Shiyi. She misunderstands Lingyi when he orders Amber to close all the doors of the Manor and guard her courtyard, so Shiyi feels sad that Lingyi is suspecting her and takes the initiative herself:

    The kid is so frightened that, when Shiyi tries to calm him down, he ends up screaming and accidentally kicks her, causing Lingyi to panik due to her pregnancy.

    All the Concubines are reacting according to their conscience when they find out they're all being locked out and searched because Xu Sizhen has been frightened and is in coma.

    Concubine Wen is having a very bad feeling asking who did this, Qiao Liangfan is simply sad remembering the Taoist Master who supposedly ensured the birth of Sizhen, and thinks it is ironic that the kid ended up being weak; Concubine Qin is tense but only because she is acting according to her own plan... but B* Yang is rejoicing because she believes this was done by Shiyi and probably hopes it will cost her wife's position if she gets found out.

    Despite the initial misunderstanding, Shiyi doesn't take long to realize that Lingyi has never suspected her, and the talk about it actually brings them even closer.


    Chapter 434, Nanny Tao gets called back

    Because Xu Sizhen hasn't woken up.

    The stupid woman still blames Shiyi for what's happened, and Shiyi is a fool to feel guilty for not arranging a Nanny for him, thinking Nanny Du from Old Madam was enough. But she just doesn't realizes the kid would had run anyway because the damage was already done by Nanny Tao.

    Nanny Tao doesn't dare to voice out her thoughts, because she knows Shiyi may get rid of her for good if she dares to accuse her of negligence.

    Shiyi should had got rid of her earlier, when Sizhen was still too little to overthink these things.

    Thankfully the 2nd Lady smashed a porcelain vase on this evil spirit!

    Sizhen finally wakes up, with all the mess of Nanny Tao, and Old Madam tells him the ghost was actually Concubine Yin, and that he should know better than to wander around at night and she punished his maid because she took him out at that time.

    They try to lie to the kid and tell him Nanny Tao isn't there (he heard her), and it might had been his imagination while still being in the coma.

    I can understand Shiyi's good intentions, but she never fully valued how vicious this woman was. Having such a vicious woman, even if she is loyal to Sizhen, can't be a good thing for her nor for the kid, who can end up being badly influenced. She trully should had sent her away the first time she dared to scheme against her.

    Years later, when Sizhen is about to marry, the son of Nanny Tao, Tao Cheng, gets called back to the Manor so they can hand Yuanniang's dowry that includes the farms he manages to her son (Sizhen).

    Tao Cheng is as hostile to Shiyi as his mother was, but keeps it hidden in his head. He tries to curry favor with Sizhen's closest male servant, but that servant just brushes him off gracefully.

    Chapter 661,

    Xu Lingyi takes Xu Sizhen (and Xu Sijin tags along) to Nanny Tao's grave, but there they have a conversation about giving money to Tao Cheng to buy paper money to burn for Nanny Tao, and Sizhen can see that his father is trying to hint at something related to Tao Cheng, that he may not be a good person to keep. He gave him 100 taels of silver, but it is obvious that Tao Cheng didn't use them all for that purpose and emblezzed the rest.

    Well, Tao Cheng isn't any better than his mother. I don't think they should keep the truth of all what she did from Xu Sizhen any longer. He should know the type of person his mother's Nanny was.

    Chapter 442, after Shiyi has talked with Concubine Yi (3rd Master's) and Concubine Wen about the past,

    She tells everything they told her to Lingyi,

    Old Madam is the one to speak for Concubine Qin to better be sent into a different courtyard or away to a hospital, saying that "if she isn't feeling well" she shouldn't be in the house but be taken care of.


    Chapter 453, Lingyi just won't get out of Shiyi's yard...

    More than 4 months have passed and Lingyi, contrary to most people's expectations, hasn't moved out of his wife's bedroom.

    I can't deny the relationship has got stronger, especially after the initial misunderstanding (from Shiyi's part) when Xu Sizhen got in a coma because of Concubine Qin's scheme. Is just that Lingyi hasn't even stop to say or think why is it like this, why he doesn't want to move from Shiyi's bedroom now that she is feeling better.
    I know he has the excuse that he won't touch Concubine Yang (even though Zhou Master did it), he hasn't touched Wen for years (despite she's changed so much, Lingyi just can't see her the way Shiyi does) and he is most likely not to recover the little affection he could once had for Qiao Lianfang, not only because of her causing her own miscarriage, but because he finally recalled she schemed to become his wife but it backfired and ended up being just a concubine instead. However, this is not the reason why he doesn't feel compelled not even to request for a bedwarmer to enter his backyard.

    Chapter 458, Shiyi's delivery is complicated

    Her amniotic fluid breaks earlier than the expected and they are afraid the child may die and drag her with him. They don't want to tell her, but Shiyi makes them explain and she starts thinking that she will die. Apparently, she died from cancer in her past life.

    Because she doesn't want to give up this time, due to the child, she starts asking to see Lingyi. Only Amber listens to her and goes to inform him.

    The methods that they can think off, all imply the child can die or the mother can die. Shiyi wants to save the child, but Lingyi is not willing to see her die.

    After so much angst, Lingyi coaxes her to do the rubbing technique, to try to change the child's posture (or make him move down?). After crying, Shiyi asks for food, saying that if they are going to do it this way, she is going to need strenght.

    After so much pain, she finally gives birth to a son (and Lingyi is present, by the way).

    Lingyi stays nursing the baby, he is so happy. Shiyi wakes up in the middle of the night to find only her husband carrying the child in the room. She asks if he has eaten yet and Lingyi tells her that they had three different Nannies trying to breastfeed him but failed, so he's only drunk water.

    Even though Shiyi wasn't intending to breastfeed the child herself, because she gave a thought about how the customs of a rich household of this time are, she ends up trying to give him her own milk. However, the child ignored her and she thought she may not have enough milk.

    The baby does have some troubles due to the childbirth dystocia (his shoulder got stuck before they could finally deliver), but the doctor sent by the Palace cures his chocked throat with some sort of magical pill that's a secret recipe from his own family. Shiyi bet on giving that to the child, as she initially thought the doctor was trying to scam her for money, but when she saw how he refuted her exposing other cases he used this pill and worked (and that Shiyi herself knew those particular cases), she decided to try and, fortunately, the baby was cured and started to finally be able to drink milk.

    Shiyi's body is harmed from the dystocia,

    They don't realize it after 7 days or so she's already given birth. Lingyi and herself are super worried, he finds her a doctor that can treat her blood stasis with needles and he doesn't hesitate to let her be treated (this implies the doctor must see her bare back).

    Lingyi is trully unusual with this son. He carries him, he helps change his diapers (watches aside, but is most than he would had done before) and even wants for the child to sleep with Shiyi at night. Shiyi is dumbfounded when he says it, she tries to persuade him, because whenever the baby will wake up crying, she cannot be calling his Nanny all the time. Then Lingyi answers that if the baby cries during the night, he'll take care of it.

    Everybody who is present is shocked.


    I am a fan of Xu Old Madam, it is a pity in the drama they had to make her a little of a villain, due to the narrative needs (probably because of its budget), Chapter 477:

    This is not the first time she played dumb or protected Shiyi. She's always been in her favor, even when Lingyi wasn't still in the initial good terms before starting to slowly fall for her.

    I just wish Lingyi would finally reflect on why

    he is treating Shiyi and her newborn son this differently.

    Chapter 478,

    What happened a few days ago is that, while in bed, Lingyi started teasing her again, but he decided to stop when he remembered that they weren't alone and they had the baby's Nanny sleeping behind a partition screen. However, Shiyi felt guilty that she always seemed reluctant to do snu snu and forgot, and she tried to touch him instead, only to be stopped by Lingyi... when she was about to try again, the baby woke up and suddenly she realized of the situation and was super-embarrassed.

    Chapters 499-504~ If that ain't love, then I don't know what the heck is...

    This concerns the arch when the Yang Family are being prosecuted for their greedy bussiness (the excuse to get rid of them and their corrupted people).

    The next quotes are from when Concubine Yang goes to Lingyi's study to try to plead for herself while also trying to seduce him AND Shiyi learns that she's gone there and panick and wants to go to stop her.

    Lingyi answers that he hasn't eaten and tells her to make him noodles. They both go to the kitchen (and the staff is flipping when they saw Lingyi following), and Lingyi just stays there watching her all the time, with a warm gaze, until she's done and he eats 3 bowls of her noodles. During this time, he fully explains that he is going to send Concubine Yang to be a nun. However, there is no talk about him never trully intending to accept her as a Concubine and had delayed it just because of the circumstances keeping him busy and unable to solve this problem.

    Because he is full, Shiyi proposes to go for a walk into the bamboo forest.

    They don't continue. Lingyi must better go to the Palace.

    Well, I think this is a huge step. It hasn't been done in one go, it is the result of a lot of little steps, but what became the catalyst for Shiyi letting herself go like this was experiencing the pain of feeling insecure about Concubine Yang's seduction probability success.

    Shiyi has never cared when Lingyi went to sleep with his other women, but she was too guarded back then, the more she liked him, the more she wanted to resist falling in love and be hurt by the fact she's not the only one. After this period of time (I'd say 2 years, they've been 3 years married), the affection has grown in one way (Lingyi's), Shiyi was merely trying to adapt to his character while not betraying her own nature, she gradually started returning this affection but in bed, there were still plenty of troubles. There was just that one time she liked it, because Lingyi had become aware that he had to adapt to her in bed and not be a brute, for them both to be able to enjoy it. But from that time to now, he has been increasing more and more his romantic gestures with her. In the end, Shiyi had to stop resisting and being in denial, just like Lingyi had to previously wake up from his stupid avoidance when he realized Shiyi had grown into him so quickly.


    Chapter 506, Lingyi's back from the Palace

    Shiyi had to deal first with Concubine Yang, who tried to save her arse from being sent to the Temple. I feel sorry for Concubine Wen, who got tricked into accompanying Yang so Shiyi would recieve her. After Shiyi has clearly stated she won't be placed in the Family Temple (is a Budhist hall only, in their Manor) but sent to the same (crude) Temple Qiao Liangang went, Lingyi is finally back.

     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2021
    WoonaOnTheMoon and astaterix like this.
  10. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 511, family appreciation.

    One of the best things from Shiyi is that she inspires the children surrounding her to become closer and she is the first one who has managed to give Lingyi this sense of having a loving family.

    Xu Siyu already felt it and, as a consequence for being distant, he felt bitter. I've skipped a chapter from the kids' spoilers, when he is finally back for a few days, while still guarding his filial piety, and meets Xu Sijin (Shiyi's son) for the first time. Shiyi can see how he is afraid to even touch the baby who has been captivated by this eldest brother appearence; the same way he always felt awkward to be affectionate with Xu Sijie or even Xu Sizhen.

    Shiyi breaks his wall for the first time when she asks him to hold the baby, who seems to want to go to Xu Siyu's arms, and despite being awkward, Xu Zhen (his sister) helps him handle it, and Shiyi also guides him on how to hold her son instead of taking the baby back. Xu Siyu is at the verge of crying, he is definitely touched and stunned at the first time, for Shiyi's kidness towards him despite of the things his mother did.

    Now we see more and more how Lingyi can appreciate these scenes of watching his children interact together with Shiyi.

    He is also becoming better with his children, but his is unconsciously biased towards the baby Xu Sijin. He is also still too ancient-minded towards Xu Sizhen and that is Shiyi's toughest battle, to try to fight for this kid to not be pressured with the heirs' obligations this soon, especially because he is not like Xu Siyu and is a kid that needs to be taught in a different approach to be able to develope to his full potential.

    At the end of this same chapter, since Luo Zhenxing (Shiyi's oldest brother) is back, Lingyi has been talking to him at the study and let's Shiyi know that his brother is taking in a concubine. Shiyi is not happy (it seems he had none?) thinking of her sister-in-law.

    Well, I can't fully blame Lingyi for not realizing of this sooner. He is a man with a different education values and Shiyi had never voiced out her opinions on those because she acknowledges she is in a different time and space (especially being in a noble family) and she has no choice but to adapt, because she is only a young (teen) woman with no real power to contradict those customs.


    Chapter 514, Not just husband and wife, but also lovers

    Well, the sentence above applies to Luo Qinniang and her husband :p However, this is the main idea Shiyi has always been torn with. Because she wants to be lovers with someone, but when she married Lingyi she thought it'd be impossible.

    Qinnian is having troubles to concieve still. Danyang has let Shiyi know and, with her educational background, Danyang urges her to persuade Qinnian to give a concubine to her husband, but Shiyi won't do that, she understands her sister because for her "her husband is not just her husband but also her lover", she understands why Qinniang doesn't want to share his love and risk getting abandoned.

    Lingyi is of that different mindset from hers, he also comments that is better for Qinniang to just give her a concubine. However, Lingyi know has realized Shiyi seems reticent to this as well (as we've seen on the spoilers above).

    For the record, Lingyi was restraining himself because, after the last NSFW spoiler I've posted, Shiyi's health flew away, and he couldn't do it for a few days, he regretted indulging himself this much in her.


    The discussion about bedwarmers for young masters comes back

    Chapter 521, the eldest Young Master, Xu Siqin (3rd Brother of Lingyi, Lingning), has married and, this time, Old Madam doesn't go around in circles and straight tells to Shiyi to pick 2 bedwarmers for Xu Siyu. Shiyi is not pleased, but she knows she can't go against these customs... however, she discusses with Lingyi, trying to delay it as much as possible (Siyu is going to be 15 years old).

    He does have a lot to think about. I know Shiyi is prejudiced (I would be too, not gonna lie) by her own ideals, but she also knows it is not her place to push for this matter to change according to her views. It could be if there wasn't an Old Madam and no other senior females at home. If it were like this, even if Lingyi still held such a mind-set (that it is OK to just have sexual partners that you later will either toss outside or just submit to a newcomer just because her status is noble and higher), I am sure that Shiyi would just not give any of the children under her house/care have any bedwarmers nor concubines until they would be married, let them do those decisions themselves WITH their legal wife.

    That is why Shiyi first tries to push this matter further with Lingyi and, after seeing his answer (he tells her to take her time, misunderstanding her reasons though), she realizes that it is better to let Xu Siyu express his own wishes. I applaud her for not trying to influence him on the final decision (it would've been so easy for her to expose her views in a persuasive manner).

    Xu Siyu has to figure out himself whether he wants to put two women in the same position his mother was once in, but he is also having the examples of the newly wed wife of Siqin and his own Sister Zhen.

    I am not sure if he was present but, in the "recognizing relatives" ceremony, Shiyi gave a very beautiful phoenix hairpin to the newcomer and told her a phrase from a poem (that the reciever recognized) that meant for her to become one with her husband and be a loving couple and grow old together. The new wife, Fang, was touched by it.

    Seeing this new wife so loving with his cousin and his own sister blush when thinking about her upcoming marriage, Xu Siyu also has the example of the other side.

    In Chapter 524, after thinking about it, he goes to meet his father and refuses to accept any women in his "house" for the time being. He also spends some time with Lingyi and the babe alone but I'm not going to quote this.

    They justified so much the way women were exploited by then with the idea of filial duty to have as many children as possible (due to low life expectancy ratings, but still it was cruel to women), Lingyi cannot help feel bad because he believes his sons should be used to getting sexual partners soon in order to ensure that later they would know what his duty was. I think that is his view on this matter which also makes him incapable of seeing the dark side of treating women as tools for sex and babies. His son, however, can see it because he has seen how his mother became obsessed with making him the heir while being just half a master herself.

    Chapter 663, I still think there is a lack of a proper resolution from Lingyi when it comes to the fact he just became monogamous and forgot about other women, however, just like we saw with the archs regarding "Concubine" Yang, the novel still brings us moments like this:

    Luo Family is coming to the Manor to talk about the arrangements for Xu Sizhen's upcoming wedding and Shiyi is preparing gifts for her sisters-in-law, sisters, nephews & nieces.


    It is also in this chapter when Shiyi meets her biological brother for the first time in years (she saw him as a baby)

    Luo Zhenshong is the name of this 7th brother that was also born from Wu Yinniang (5th Concubine), as Shiyi was.

    Chapter 664, this is the first time...

    Well, she did take the initiative a couple of times before, but there was that first time she actually got rejected and she felt humiliated she got up and went to the kang, and Lingyi followed her... then, the other times it was already on, but she initiated some moves.


    Chapter 665, Sister Zhen is so sweet!

    She gets nostalgic when she is back for Xu Sizhen's wedding, and asks Shiyi to sleep together, like that time when she was around 12 years old and Shiyi prepared her for her first social gathering with Sister Hui (the neighbour) and they both took a nap in the same bed.

    Unfortunately, the next chapter doesn't continue with this subject, and what we see is already the ceremony where Xu Sizhen's newly wed wife, Jiang, is meeting the relatives and offering tea to the elders.

    Chapter 668, Is this the closest we'll get to Lingyi reflecting on their relationship's meaning?

    After Xu Sijin insisted, Xu Lingyi agreed to take him out on a trip (after Xu Sizhen's wedding), he used the excuse to go to visit Sister Zhen to bring it up to his father.

    They've been out for some days, but they finally rushed back home because Lingyi couldn't wait to be with his wife.

    He has brought her a gift, a pendant, but when he is about to give it to her, he also shows her a chest full of paintings and one embroidery, all of sceneries, and Shiyi thinks he brought those so she could have a glimpse at those sceneries (which he did) so she felt touched and started to hugh while crying.

    OK, I don't know what else he brought but it must be some sort of sex toy? Or is it an erotic picture book?

    Chapter 673, Xu Sizhen on having bedwarmers...

    I am adding this here, because it won't probably fit on the kids' spoilers due to exceeding the number of characters allowed per post. Also, because it goes along with how Lingyi focusing only on Shiyi might have influeced the kids (or not), other than Xu Siyu who already had a prejudice due to his mother, on their view about having harems.

    I am sorry the MTL was confusing on the chapter Sister Zhen tells Shiyi about her husband.
    The little I could grasp was that he already had a common room (bedwarmer) when she married, but I am not quite sure what was Shiyi's advice... after reading it like 5 times, all I could figure out was that Shiyi perhaps told her to offer him two of her maids, to not appear selfish and non virtuous, since he was already used to having other women serve him. After Zhen offered him to be served by her maids, it seems that he refused and ever since he never got out of her room. But that was before she got pregnant and I am not sure whether her husband returned eventually to sleep with his common room or the ones proposed by Zhen.

    Here we have Sizhen talking about the expense he's done for Shiyi's birthday to his wife, Jiang, who seems afraid of how much money he wasted on lanterns, something that can't be kept after its first use. Then she brings up the proposal to offer one of her maids to serve him in bed.

    Well, can't say I am not disappointed, since Sizhen knew he had a marriage, he could have waited after Jiang entered his house and had at least a son. I see that Shiyi kept her intention to not influence the kids with her own belief (which would've been not giving them any).

    My take on this is that Xu Sizhen ended up defiling a woman to later forget about her, because he likes his newly wed wife enough. I also think this is a consequence of how Xu Lingyi ended up ignoring there are still 2 other women in his backyard, even though there are reasons why he stopped wanting to sleep with them, it has the same effects we see in the drama and that have been the source of most critical comments, pointing out how Lingyi is quite an AH to his women, even though he's even got children with some (1 in the drama) of them, he treats them too poorly.

    At least, from what I've read on other novels, when noble men reached this point with their bed-warmers, they still had the decency to find them a good marriage or arrangement, for the sake of having them serve them for a long time.

    Chapter 677, Lingyi planning for the future...

    He proposes Shiyi to marry Xu Sijie to (I think) her older brother's daughter, Yingniang (if not, she is one of the daughters of her siblings), but Shiyi doesn't feel right about marrying cousins (even though those 2 don't have any real blood ties) and she answers in a way to let him see that she doesn't need a person from her family to not feel lonely, because that should be the husband's job, but she can't convey it properly.

    Shiyi invites her, anyway, and a few chapters later Yigniang arrives to spend some days with her, while Lingyi is outside.

    Shiyi tries to see if Xu Sijie and her niece get along well and there is a real reason to actually match them.

    Chapter 685,

    The two do get along quite well, and Shiyi can also observe that her niece is a good one, she is considerate and sensible, but she is also straightforward and humble.

    I like that Shiyi can be open-minded enough to test Lingyi's idea before discarding it due to her own thoughts and prejudices.

    No wonder I like Xu Sijie

    Chapter 709.

    Well, some 20+ chapters ago, the novel started to be more about Xu Sijin and the angst Shiyi felt when he was about to move out of her yard (empty nest) and Lingyi threw at her a bomb (he wants their son to go to the army).

    These past chapters are all about Xu Sijin returning from the post he had in the Northwest because, apparently, the eldest Princess (the one the Empress had after 5th Prince died) seems to be obsessed with him and got her father to seal him as an Imperial Guard who is destined to guard special places when the Emperor goes there (or so I grasped...?).

    OK, first it was the eldest Princess from the Crown Prince, now it is his cousin... It seems they want Shiyi to help find a candidate to marry her and the Princess puts Sijin in trouble when she asks him to investigate the one that's about to be aproved.

    While Xu Sijin is at home, he mostly accompanies Xu Sijie's wife, Yingniang (who is also Shiyi's niece), she is pregnant and extremely bored. Xu Sijie has been trying to know where his 6th brother (Sijin) goes everytime he disappears, so the conversation I am going to quote, sort of comes out from Yingiang teasing Xu Sijin about it, but is about the fact Xu Sijie doesn't have any bedwarmers.

    So far, it seems Xu Siyu & Xu Sijie have (allegedly) never had anyone but their own wives, while Xu Sizhen did have one bedwarmer that he seems is not using much since he married (even when his wife got pregnant, he prefered to stay with her).

    And Xu Sijin...

    It seems his close male servant was forced to accept two maids that are supposed to serve this purpose.

    MTL is a little confusing, but talks about how Shiyi handled the situation when Xu Sijin was starting to get of age (?), however I am not sure, because a few chapters ago, he was only 13 and behaving like nowadays 18-20, going out and getting drunk, and Shiyi was scared to even think about the possibility he might had already started having sex.

    Chapter 723,

    I honestly can't tell if when he is thinking about how Shiyi seems to behave over giving bedwarmers, he is acknowledging the fact it looks like a taboo for her and even his brothers don't seem to talk about it, hinting at the possibility that they don't have none or if it's all the contrary U_U" He does see that Lingyi only has two old concubines in the house (and presumably, he hasn't slept with any of them for years).

    It seems that Shiyi simply asked him whether he had taken as a bedwarmer any of his maids, but Xu Sijin denied it.

    He mentions the two new maids to his father:

    I must say that I am surprised by Old Madam's answer when he goes to see her for advice. Of course, her take is that she suspects the maids sent by that Princess (or may be Prince, MTL can be tricky) must had come from a brothel, and she highlights the reason why it is not a good idea of having such people as bedwarmers that can potentially become concubines. Otherwise, Old Madam would had told him to take them, just remember she was the one to suggest Shiyi to arrange bedwarmers for Xu Siyu and, probably, the maid Xu Sizhen took as one was rewarded by her.

    Well, Old Madam did suggest him to take one from the house, so it does seem her initial answer was clearly because the maids came from someone else outside the house.

    Also, I can't be sure Xu Sijin is influenced by his enviroment, seeing his father only be with his mother and seeing that his brothers either barely have a common room or have none; or if he is simply having a headache because he is too young and despite people are pushing things onto him, he hasn't had his sexual awakening yet, so he hears bedwarmer and he doesn't even know what to do.

    Chapter 740,

    I've skipped a lot of politics (meaning I won't post about those).

    Summing it up, Xu Sijin is now fighting in a war at the North, and he has been reported missing but only Lingyi knows, when he goes to find Shiyi, she tells him she's pregnant.

    Previously, there was a lot of fuss with some officials trying to pressure those nobleman with conferred lands to return those with the excuse of needing money to fight the war, but because I couldn't understand the whole thing due to the MTL, I won't be posting about it.

    Shiyi learns it on her own, because she isn't stupid and can see something is off. She gets anxious during her sleep and dreams of her son's disappearance and is mad at Lingyi for lying to her, so Lingyi decides to use incense to induce a coma, so she can calm down and not have any more risks with her pregnancy (as she previously harmed her body when giving birth to Sijin).

    Sijin eventually reappears, wins the war (leading) and he is granted a title, which brings some relief to the Xu Family and also gives Lingyi the excuse he needs to stop the Emperor to claim back the regained (by previous wars) land the noblemen have.

    It seems this time the enemy or the one who seems obsessed to go after Xu Lingyi is thie Chen official, who also happens to be the father of that dude that beat Xu Sijin once and tried to twist the matter to impeach Lingyi.

    Now everybody seems anxious to marry their daughters to Xu Sijin, but Shiyi was already stalling before when the Empress started suggesting a candidate, she doesn't want others to decide this marriage for her or her son.

    https://www.51shucheng.net/yanqing/shunvgonglue/157672.html

    (providing chapter link, because the font on the first post has the wrong one)

    Despite Sijin returns, Shiyi is still having a cold war with Lingyi, when she learns more details about her son's expedition and that Lingyi actually knew he would be fine (because he was the one who arranged help for him), Shiyi felt even more hurt that Lingyi couldn't express his thoughts openly to her, she thought that maybe they trully didn't have love, after al.

    Chapter 746,

    Shiyi ends up reflecting on her wedding night and how Lingyi pretended to be sleep but suddenly assaulted jumped on her to do the deed, and she knows he did that because, otherwise, she would had been looked down as a main wife (remember they put that cloth to verify the wife is a virgin and they have consumatterd the marriage).

    Then, one of the few(er) real kisses this novel has happens:

    He is later sent to someplace in the Northwest (where he discovered a silver mine, btw) as a commander or something (a big post).

    Because of that, most of the marriage proposals stop, since now if he marries, the wife must remain in the Capital and can't follow him (because of his rank and title). Except that annoying Mrs. Tang.

    Lingyi comes up with the idea of leting Zhong Ran (Sister Zhen) chose a candidate, because it would be better for him to marry a daughter of Generals, but Shiyi disagrees, because of the impatient character of Sijin.

    This matter doesn't get solved, by the way, not even in the epilogue. Xu Sijin accidentally brings back a girl from the Northwest (but a little one who actually hid into his carriage) and Shiyi misunderstands it as him liking her... but Xu Sijin likes some daughter of a Wang clan:

     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2021
    WoonaOnTheMoon and astaterix like this.
  11. OKDR

    OKDR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2019
    Messages:
    420
    Likes Received:
    1,568
    Reading List:
    Link
    Well, I am making this post when I am 100 chapters (aprox) to finish the novel, I also read the last few chapters, so this is going to be spoilers but not as detailed as the ones I am posting (and editing, so keep checking the past posts, because I keep updating those), not going to use the spoiler tag.

    I just wanted to make a few reflection on the novel and compare a little to the drama (I may update this latet too, because I'm currently at episode 19).

    Take in mind that I skeemed through a lot of topics in the novel I simply couldn't be interested in. Especially the details on the politics plot, it was boring to me and too complicated, or maybe it wasn't, but the whole Fujian/Ou Family/Pirates thing took ages and had some many sub-plots that were only talked about by Lingyi to Shiyi (mostly).

    Important key points of the novel:

    1. There is NO 2nd Lead (Unlike the drama)
    2. It is a slow-burn romance but that doesn't contain a true confirmation of it. Everything is too subtle when it comes to acknowledgement from the Male Lead.
    3. There isn't a trope-heavy villian in the whole novel, although some tropes are worked in a more realistic way.
    4. Old Madam Luo isn't all black or white (unlike the drama).
    5. Old Madam Xu is a refreshing Old Madam from the usual ones in the genre.
    6. Relationships in this novel are always more complex than we are used to in other novels.
    7. The novel sort of shifts it focus towards the end to Xu Shijin, even though the POV it is till mostly from Shiyi's.
    8. It has a very open and undefined ending.
    9. There is no revenge theme or power-take theme that supports the Female Lead (unlike the drama)

    1. The 2nd Lead is nonexistent.
    I sort of guessed it when I started to read the novel and saw that Shiyi was simply a transmigrated soul and the revenge theme the drama has didn't exist at all because, not only she is not pursuing the person that caused the original Shiyi's dead; her concubine (biological) mother doesn't get killed leaving a mystery for her to solve. I wonder why the drama pushed for one anyway, knowing the complexity of Shiyi & Lingyi's relationship. I do believe it wasn't necessary and it would had made the drama more interesting if it hadn't got one. That budged could had gone to hire the cast for those characters they cut or a few of those (I understand the cuts to make the plot easier to adapt, the novel is TOO long for what it has to explain).

    Drama producers still think having love triangles is the key to (almost) any romance story for TV/web and the greed on trying to cash on another male actor's popularity & fanbase -other than that of the main actor- always blind them to see the potential on discarding such a cliché.

    Also, this concerns point number 9, there is no revenge story and no "neglected daughter that comes back to the Family so she can be exploited or killed" theme (If you're read more novels, you will surely know what I'm talking about) like we see in the drama.

    I sort of get why they chose to give Shiyi such a basic and overused trope along with her mother's dead (because she can't be a transmigrated soul in a c-drama) but, still, it created a frustrating motivation force that drove Shiyi for the first half of the drama and that only got in the way of the romance-developing but also brought problems to her in the manor. Only that, the drama writers intended those problems to exist, so we could have action & a little excitement to watch... but

    The mother's assassination and her will to investigate it, Shiyi's kidnapping, Shiyi taken as a hostage by the pirates (at the first episode), Xu Sizhen (Lingyi & Yuanniang's son) allergy caused by the dog & the rice incident as we see it in the drama

    never happened in the novel, so I understand that since they used these overused tropes (still in a well paced way) they went for this other 2 clichés of having a revenge to fullfil and a 2nd male lead that can divert Shiyi's attention and give the audience some frustration and agnst in the process.

    2.The romance is slow-paced. I liked how it treats their sexual progress with different bumps in it, as well as how their intellectual relationship developes to give room to an emotive & affective one. However, Lingyi never gets to openly admit (not even to himself) that he has fallen in love with Shiyi and that is the reason why he hasn't gone back to sleeping with his remaining concubines nor thought of taking one. I did skeemed through the final but, if when I read with more detail I find something that indicates otherwise, I will correct it.

    He does reflect on how much he likes her, how many emotions he feels when he sees her sad, or contemplating, or frustrated... later when she starts developing that family-bonding with the kids... etc.

    The thing is, he does give the impression he only thinks is right to have concubines and bedwarmers when you need to provide heirs for the clan and the main wife can't, but he also sees as normal to keep the costum of giving bedwarmers to the young masters so they can relieve their sexual necessities once they are awaken, after he has started experiencing what means to sleep with just one woman himself and, honestly, it is a let down that he can't even think about it for a moment, especially after how badly his two former bedwarmers end; but also, after he's realized that Shiyi does seems to believe in having just one partner for live (multiple times he's seen her reactions to different issues concerning this subject), it is a let down that he doesn't even openly discusses it with her. It has to be Shiyi who euphemistically hints at this topic and is not like he tries to value it from his own behavior (once he's left his other women as simply decorations).

    With still having 100 to read, there is never mentioned if his sons do take bedwarmers, but I assume Shiyi never arranges any for them because Xu Siyu (the eldest) rejects the offer when Old Madam Xu wants Shiyi to arrange two for him and, afterwards, the topic is never brought back again with the remaining children when growing up and getting of age.

    Xu Sizhen still may have this mindset, because he is the heir of Lingyi and he is been educated according to those standards, but I can't be sure he'd just take any women before he has married his finacée.

    Towards the end of the novel, there is a moment where he gets shocked when the idea of having a concubine back is thrown to him in public, though, but still we don't get an honest explanation from him (not even mentally speaking) about why he wouldn't take one anymore. He simply ends up spending 10+ years with only living in his wife courtyard and sleeping only with her, but he never even reasons about why.

    Despite of how much different the drama is, I appreciate the fact the boundaries and walls Shiyi has to overcome when it comes to sex haven't been that misportrayed. It simply has been showcased in a less explicit way, as well as Lingyi isn't sleeping with his women in the drama for different reasons, when in the novel, after the first month of marrying Shiyi he gets back to the task because Shiyi is forced (by the pressure of Nanny Tao but also to not go against the customs) to arrange it. It may or it may not be a let down that novel-Lingyi still choses to have sex with his other concubines (minus Wen, I'm pretty sure he avoids that) when drama-Lingyi doesn't because he always gets put off by the women themselves.

    It is also a let down that novel-Lingyi looses his smarts when it comes to accept Qiao Lianfang, so that is the one little change I appreciate from the drama the most. Drama-Lingyi is more clear about how unwanted this concubine marriage was from his part (not clear on the political implications of it in the drama, though) and doesn't need for a couple of years and a miscarriage to pass to realize he should not touch her.

    3. The trully ins't your average trully trope-heavy villain in the novel. The drama does have it, though.

    Qiao Lianfang it is a white lotus, but novel version is realistically done, she isn't scheming non-stop with big stuff, because she is just a concubine and cannot even go out of the house with special permission. She does try to get over Shiyi's head, but she is limited and she is so subjugated to her mother's intellect, she ends up sabotaging her own self so Shiyi doesn't need to do much about her, only exert her power when she dares to disrespect her.

    Drama-Concubine Qiao is a trope-heavy white lotus with a greedy ambition beyond the one she has in the novel. She is a little psychopath who even dares to get Xu Sizhen killed to pin it on Shiyi's neglect and bad ideas to heal him. Along with the character of Erniang (in the drama, she is sort of Shiniang, 10th Sister's, replacement), she is the typical schemy b* that tries constantly to push the female lead to the flames but gets her plans backfire all the time.

    Not even Shiniang, the 10th Sister (who takes Erniang place from the drama) is a too white or black character. And she is the one that actually kills (while fighting as kids) the original Shiyi. Shiniang is simply an arrogant and spoiled daughter that likes to supress Shiyi and her other sisters, but ends up having a bad faith (I am suspicious about her death, not sure if her adoptive son poisoned her) but it is never too drastics. She is a victim of domestic violence, but she has a breather when the husband gets killed in a fight, then has another bad period when she adopts a son to ensure the Duke title will be inherit by her branch and finally dies too young of some sort of tuberculosis-alike illness. She doesn't even strike you as an evil wench when she provokes Luo Old Madam's death by enraging her with her words (girl has a point about what she tells her).

    Old Madam Luo isn't all evil. She is a tyrant, she is narrow-minded when it comes on how to handle matters as a main wife, she's ensured other women wouldn't give birth to sons unless they were under her control, etc. but she's also been supporting the whole family with her own dowry and suffering from the leecher of a worthless husband that she has.

    Drama-version is more than just a tyrant, but still it hasn't been too overdone, as she is the same trying to control Shiyi once she's married. The only minor difference is how she blackmails her into obeying by using Shiyi's biological mother... but that doesn't happen in the drama, because Shiyi herself keeps a distance from Wu Yinniang (her biological mother) and she hasn't been raised directly by her in her last years.

    The Ou & Yang Families are also villains but they're not too overdone. After Feng Qing & the rice porridge incident, the Ou Family stops scheming directly into Xu's Family and is using more the political camp to do that. Because Lingyi is retired, by then, and only keeps his position a one of the 1st (later Crown) Prince's tutors, we only get to know of these plots when he talks to Shiyi or asks her for help in thinks that require it, which is a lot less than the average novels we are used to, where the Female Lead is a schemer herself and has a cold temper.
    The Yang Family does try to cause waves in Lingyi's backyard by sending a concubine... but is not a plan they make themselves but one that backfired into the Emperor's hands.

    Overall, the troubles we see Shiyi face are more down-to-Earth social and family matters, that involve her efforts to adjust to a society she disagrees a lot with, but has to endure and accept because she is aware she doesn't have to power to oppose. Also, Shiyi's compassion for women, even those who try to harm her, it is almost infinite. One does have to trully do something she considers unethical or too ill-spirited for her to lose her sympathy for them.

    Concubine Qin is, perhaps, the more twisted character, but even her is painted in a different way than your average villain. Her story of believing herself blessed over the other women (and their kids) and secretly plotting to have her son become eventually the heir takes a lot to unfold and it is never fully cleared, only subtly hinted that she was behind Tong's miscarriage and dead along with Nanny Tao and, since she was a bedwarmer from before Yuanniang enters it, who knows if she was the one behind her first miscarriage too... after all, she did try to make Shiyi have one too by using Xu Sizhen (and also get him killed in the process).

    Nanny Tao is the other character that's close to your usual trope-heavy villain but, it comes anew, that she is supposed to be on Sizhen's side & Yuanniang's side. Yuanniang is always painted into this "she probably killed all those babies" light for almost the first half of the novel, even Shiyi suspects she might had been terrible... turns out it was all Nanny Tao's doing, because in her head she thought she was helping her by getting rid of concubines and fetuses. Then, once she sees Shiyi has taken over Lingyi's heart, she is obsessed into "protecting" Xu Sizhen by harming Shiyi and, instead, almost gets him killed by Concubine Qin's plot.

    Also, Shiyi never gets anyone killed and it takes her almost 650 chapters to actually order harsh punishments for unrully staff... but anyone that dares to plot against her or the kids, ends up badly or dies "by accident". Which means Lingyi & the Old Madam Xu always make sure to get rid of those evil-spirited villains.

    4.Pretty much developed about Old Madam Luo on the 3rd point but, she is trully a grey character. Her concubine kids, minus Shiniang, do care for her, even though they are all suppressed by her in order to not surprass the legitimate ones; but she does raise the first son pretty well. Luo Zhengxin is a righteous man and he always puts his siblings' wellfare first, instead of the Family interests and reputation. It can be said that she also takes care of them not being neglected on their basic needs and education, even though she expects the kids to serve her purpose once they grow up and that creates almost the same conflicts in the drama (minus the thing with Shiyi's mother).

    What trully makes Luo Madam get worse in character is her husband's rampant behavior and the realization she's lost control over things concerning Xu Lingyi, Shiyi & The 4th Master (who is concubine born). The first few blows are caused by her husband's unrully behavior taking concubines, but also but the news Xu Lingyi is being retired from his General duties. Then she gets worse anytime she get news that are unsatisfying for her because she thinks those will jeopardize Xu Sizhen's future and she puts too much hopes on that kid. She gets another blow because the wife of the 4th Master openly confronts her and, since then, she just gets too unreasonable due to the fact she is mostly bed-ridden and can't barely speak.

    5.Old Madam Xu is refreshing.

    We are used to either muddle-headed unreasonable Old Madams (in-law), shameless ones or even schemmy ones that are too greedy for their own good... but Xu Lingyi's mother is quite a nice character. She is mostly reasonable, she gets gradually more muddle-headed according to age but without being unreasonable (just grandmother who spoils the grandchild type) and she is super-suportive of Shiyi despite what she achieves goes pretty much against her education values of a virtuous wife.

    By that I mean that Shiyi first does play her "virtuous wife" role by arranging a sleeping rotation system for Lingyi and all but, once they start developing feelings for each other, the situation changes, Lingyi even gets his character subdued by Shiyi's skillful persuasive nature, but Old Madam never complains about, not points it out, not urges her or her son to make sure he sleeps with all his women to ensure the clan has heirs. Of course there is no need with 4 sons to panik and start reproducing like crazy, but at the time Lingyi starts getting single-minded (still not fully monogamous, though) there are only 3 sons and only 1 is legitimate. Also, Shiyi doesn't ever get pregnant for 10 years after giving birth to Xu Sijin and her health deficiencies are evident for Old Madam, yet she's never dissatisfied with her for this reason. The only time she almost gets a fall off with Shiyi, she ends up regretting it because she realizes Shiyi was on the right and she has contributed a big deal to over-spoil Xu Sijin (who was the reason of the "fight") which is damaging his character.

    6. I won't say all but, a lot of the relationships we see in this novel are complicated and complex.
    Shiyi's relationship with Wu Yinniang is, so it is her relationship to 10th Sister. Lingyi's relationship with his 5th brother is also quite complicated and developes thanks to Shiyi's entrance. Wen's relationship with Yuanniang, Lingyi & Shiyi isn't complicated but it is, indeed, complex... Xu Siyu's relationship with his siblings, except Sister Zhen and Xu Siqin is also complicated and has some developement thanks to Shiyi... Sister Zhen's relationship to Concubine Wen is complicated and almost nonexistent until Shiyi does something about it...

    It is basically the main subject of the novel, the different relationships and their evolution. Starting from the main couple's one and Lingyi's relationship to Yuanniang.

    7.Towards the last 100 chapters, the focus of the novel shifts towards Xu Sijin, because even when he is away doing a career in the army, almost all the crucial (politics have entered the backyard talk) plot is revolving around him. That would've been fine if the author had focused more on the characters that aren't Shiyi and its developement than she actually does (fewer lines and always when they are where Shiyi is, meaning living in the same place) but we get all this information from the daily life of Shiyi and her interactions, we lose the focus on the main couple's own troubles (aside from a few bedroom & bedtime scenes) and what we were following up till then (the love relationship developement) just sort of gets brushed aside as it blended with the background when it would've been the perfect time for a resolution and a reflection about this relationship from both Lingyi & Shiyi (we do get hers early in the novel, though) after having been married for a long time. Instead, all what we have is a "let's have a daughter" talk that gets unsolved until we don't reach the last chapter and the epilogue (and no, there is no final reflection on why Lingyi became monogamous in the end).

    It isn't just that but also the feeling the novel suddenly becomes boring, even thought it was never exciting to start with, but after the whole arch about Xu Sijie (the bastard from 5th Master adopted by Lingyi) coming to know his own origin and the fact that he is a shu son, it felt trully inferior as the politics had never enticed me too much in this novel.

    8. The Ending is open, which isn't bad, but it is too undefined. The last 3 chapters (including the epilogue) seemed half-arsed and too rushed, like when you abandon a story half-through... which is crazy for a novel of 750 chapters. I reiterate her on the conviction the main problem of this novel is that the author poses a theme about finding love and going from poligamous to monogamous due to this fact but never has the character in question make a full reflection on it. He never even voices out he is in love with the female lead, he just reflects on the emotions and feelings she produces to him and on how much he likes those from her, but that's it and it makes me feel like he simply takes Shiyi for granted by not taking a stand on the matter. Shiyi has to come to live with the fact Lingyi could start sleeping around at anytime if they ever get another concubine in the house for whatever reason. After the arch with Concubine Yang (the one that gets rewarded by that he never officially accepts), he never gets to talk about it nor she doesn't explain to him how miserably insecure she felt when he woman went to find him into the outer yard. Although Shiyi had previously said (in her thoughts) that she had decided to embrace the fact the man she fell in love with could still go to sleep with his other women, that arch proved that she actually didn't.

    The only reason why she was OK before when Lingyi went to Qin's, Qiao's or Wen's (still sure he avoided Wen's, though) is because she hadn't let herself go yet and still refused to fully open her heart to him (hence all the sex troubles they had as a couple).

    9. There is trully no revenge theme here (unlike the drama). Shiyi does never plan to get back on 10th Sister, she doesn't even try to retaliate against Nanny Tao (when she should have), she only tries to (when she strikes a second time) temporarily send her away so Xu Sizhen can be the one to decide whether he wants her or not serving him. Shiyi only sends Qiao Lianfang to Dujue Temple because Lingyi orders it, she planned to simply discipline her for being disrespectful, and so on. The time she goes bersek and punishes a lot of servants and even stewards from the outer courtyard, she still does it in a very contained manner, and she is simply making a stand about one of her adoptive sons.

    Shiyi isn't power hungry either. She doesn't plan to take over the world, nor have her children do it. Lingyi is also in a very tought position, he only wants to ensure his family's safety, including his sister Empress' and her children.
     
  12. miss.bantry

    miss.bantry Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2020
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    5
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thank you for all of your hardwork!!!
     
  13. ludagad

    ludagad Addicted to escapist novels

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    3,930
    Likes Received:
    10,613
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thanks for the spoiler, it probably took a whole day to write down.

    I wasn't going to read the novel anyway based on the synopsis. But after reading part of the spoilers, even the slightest hesitation was killed.
     
    TripleColor96 and astaterix like this.
  14. WoonaOnTheMoon

    WoonaOnTheMoon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2020
    Messages:
    94
    Likes Received:
    255
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thank you so much for your posts on the plot. They were very comprehensive.
     
    TripleColor96 and OKDR like this.