Aristocratic Family - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Transmigration Again (Part 2)

Zhou Qing quickly figured out her situation. The country she was in was called the Great Yuan Dynasty, which was strange. This Yuan wasn’t the Yuan Dynasty from history books, such as the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, but a dynasty she knew nothing about. The emperor wasn’t from the Mongolian ethnicity, but was a Han Chinese with the surname Yuan. The dynasty was directly named after the royal family’s surname. As for the previous history, she couldn’t find out much about it.

Through the people around her, she knew she had transmigrated into the body of a concubine-born daughter named Yuehuan. This girl was the daughter of an official’s family, said to be from a scholarly and prestigious family with a glorious history.

Although she was born to a concubine, the furnishings in the house didn’t seem too shabby. She was the fourth child in the family, with three older sisters and three older brothers.

Zhou Qing felt extremely unlucky. Although novels depicted transmigrated characters living exciting lives, loved by all, she wasn’t so naive as to think she would become all-powerful in ancient times. In the modern world, she was an orphan, but she had worked hard, graduated from university with scholarships, and got a stable job as a civil servant.

She was lucky to have a job right after graduation, and although it was a relatively cold department, the job was stable with good benefits, overtime pay, holidays, and annual leave.

Zhou Qing sighed again. After finding out she had transmigrated into a concubine-born daughter, she had lost count of how many times she had sighed. Was she supposed to go through a struggle as a concubine-born daughter and then get married to a rich and powerful husband through some dramatic twist?

She wasn’t that naive. In ancient times, the status of a concubine-born daughter was extremely low, and she could be eliminated by the main wife at any moment.

In the modern world, as a new civil servant, she was a novice and did her job diligently, without getting involved in any power struggles. But if she were to get involved in the struggles within a noble family, she thought the pressure would be enormous.

Ugh, Zhou Qing sighed deeply again. People said that one’s zodiac year would be unlucky, and she was extremely unlucky. She wasn’t even going to the bank to withdraw money when she encountered robbers, and they took her hostage. The sharpshooter was so incompetent that he didn’t hit the robbers but instead shot her dead.

In her heart, Zhou Qing thought that when the robbers were executed by firing squad, they should have added a few more shots for good measure. Because of them, she had to suffer in this ancient era. Although she had no family, her university roommates were like sisters to her.

Okay, complaining was complaining, but coming to this world had given her another chance at life. She needed to learn to cherish it. Zhou Qing listened as the woman, who was very beautiful and said to be her biological mother, patiently talked about the people in the family.

Maybe it was the instinct of this body, or maybe it was because she was an orphan in her previous life and hadn’t experienced familial love. She quickly accepted her biological mother. Zhou Qing carefully remembered the people in the Fu mansion and wanted to integrate into this big family as soon as possible.

Other things were fine, but she heard that her father had five or six concubines, and Zhou Qing couldn’t help but think that her father was quite the connoisseur.

When she heard that her second uncle had been appointed as the Salt Inspector and his wife was from the Marquis’s family, and that they were the only direct descendants of the Marquis’s family, with a daughter named Yueyao.

After hearing this, Zhou Qing was almost dumbfounded. The top scholar’s father, who later became the Salt Inspector, and his mother was the only legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s family. With these conditions combined, wasn’t this typical of Sister Lin?
Yuehuan reflexively asked, “Is my third sister exceptionally talented?” If so, that would be a replica of Sister Lin.

Concubine Su didn’t understand why her daughter was particularly interested in Third Young Lady. However, she nodded and said, “Third Young Lady has been personally tutored by Second Uncle since she was young. It’s said that she has exceptional literary talent, especially in painting, and Second Uncle even hired a famous artist from Jiangnan to teach her. At a young age, Third Young Lady already has the reputation of being a talented woman.” This was well-known throughout the mansion.

Zhou Qing’s heart skipped a beat, could it be that she had arrived at a mountain-stronghold version of Dream of the Red Chamber?

Zhou Qing couldn’t help but ask, “Yue… Ah, my third sister, what’s her personality like?”
In Dream of the Red Chamber, Lin Daiyu was very lovable, but such a sensitive girl was really hard to get along with.
Moreover, facing such a girl, Zhou Qing felt enormous pressure!

Concubine Su stroked Zhou Qing’s face reassuringly. “Third Young Lady has a reputation, she’s a bit aloof and proud, and also a bit petty. But you don’t need to worry, Third Young Lady and you don’t live together, so there won’t be any friction.” Even with her talent, she’s still an orphan relying on the First Master and First Madam to live, so there’s nothing to be proud of.

Zhou Qing couldn’t help but ask again, “Is Third Sister very beautiful? And does she have poor health?”
Lin Daiyu wasn’t she the one who was delicate and fragile, like a willow swaying in the wind?

Concubine Su nodded with a smile.
“Second Uncle and Second Aunt are both good-looking, and Third Young Lady is a beauty even at a young age. However, her health isn’t good, she’s been ill several times since she came back. Now she lives in Lanxi Courtyard, which is far from here.”

Zhou Qing was now basically certain that she had arrived near a girl similar to Lin Daiyu.
Oh heavens, wasn’t she here to save Lin Daiyu?
She didn’t have such great aspirations!
To be honest, she didn’t really like girls like Lin Daiyu, they were too sensitive and would be tiring to get along with. She preferred someone like Wang Xifeng, straightforward, decisive, and in modern times, she would be a strong woman.

Concubine Su treasured her children like her life. Seeing that Fourth girl’s expression wasn’t good, she thought it was because the praise of Yueyao had made the girl have some small thoughts.

So she quickly said, “Girl, Third Young Lady is good-looking, but you are even more beautiful than Third Young Lady.” This wasn’t just flattery. If Concubine Su herself wasn’t beautiful enough, she wouldn’t have been chosen by the mistress to be a concubine.

Zhou Qing had already seen her own appearance and indeed, she was a beauty. At such a young age, she already had such a stunning complexion, and when she grew up, her beauty would definitely be top-notch. However, Zhou Qing’s mind was now focused on her Third Sister. She had to see the ancient version of Lin Daiyu.

Yueyao heard the news that Fourth Young Lady had indeed lost her memory and was now trying to recognize people. Yueyao smiled lightly, losing memories was unavoidable for her, but Fourth Young Lady’s loss of memory was due to hitting her head. She didn’t know why such a change had occurred.

The next day, Yueyao took Brother Zheng to see the Old Lady. Brother Zheng was still a bit afraid, but with Yueyao by his side, speaking softly to him, Brother Zheng mustered up the courage and performed a kneeling ceremony, speaking in a proper and respectful manner.

The Old Lady remembered the first time she saw Brother Zheng, he was like a small, timid creature trying to hide behind Concubine You. She didn’t like that kind of petty behavior, and since she didn’t like him to begin with, she didn’t pay much attention. Now, although he was still a bit timid, compared to before, he was much improved.

His manners were also good, and she believed that with time, he would be even better. The Old Lady was very satisfied. “Third girl, you’re teaching him well.”

Yueyao bowed. “Grandmother, Yueyao will definitely do her best to teach Brother Zheng.” Teaching Brother Zheng really required a lot of patience and perseverance. Fortunately, she had spent ten years in a temple, and her patience and perseverance were not something ordinary people could compare to.

Yueyao said she wanted to take Tingzheng to see Yuehuan, but the Old Lady shook her head, “Wait a couple of days. The doctor said Fourth girl needs to rest and recuperate. Wait until she’s stable before going.”

Yueyao nodded repeatedly and then took Brother Zheng back to Lanxi Courtyard. The relationship with the Eldest Aunt was distant, and Yueyao didn’t feel the need to pay her respects or greetings.

The Old Lady sighed. “If this child can continue to make progress like this, Third Girl will have someone to rely on in the future.” The Old Lady had originally thought that Brother Zheng was a piece of rotten wood that couldn’t be carved.

Now, seeing how dedicated Yueyao was, maybe he couldn’t compare to Tingli and Tingyi, but with such hard work and progress, maybe he could truly support the Second Branch’s household in the future.

Hua Lei saw that Yueyao had really returned to Lanxi Courtyard and didn’t go to visit Fourth Young Lady. She was a bit worried, “Young Lady, I heard that Eldest Young Lady and Second Young Lady both went to visit Fourth Young Lady today. But you didn’t go, and people in the mansion might gossip about you.”

Yueyao sneered, gossip. She had plenty of experience with gossip. Back then, these people had blamed Grandmother’s death on her, making her extremely sad. Gossip, let them say whatever they wanted.

As long as Madam Mo was involved, there would be gossip everywhere in the mansion. Although she cared about her reputation and wanted to protect her image, she absolutely didn’t want to be held back by her reputation.

Hua Lei saw Yueyao’s expression and didn’t dare to say anything more.

During the day, Yueyao taught Brother Zheng to recognize characters and practiced calligraphy herself using a copybook.

At the beginning stage, Yueyao firmly remembered the key points of learning Plum Blossom Seal script: “starting with an inverse stroke, moving with a central stroke, and ending with a returning stroke.” Although it was easy to say, it was really not easy to learn.

Even with Yueyao’s solid foundation, learning it was still difficult and obscure after several days of study. Fortunately, Yueyao had prepared herself mentally. She was determined to learn it, no matter how difficult it was said to be.

Yueyao didn’t know that the difficulty in learning Plum Blossom Seal script lay in its subtlety, where the flowers seemed like flowers, and the characters seemed like characters. Many people found it hard to grasp its essence, and what they learned often resembled the form but not the spirit.

This was the main reason why the young lady from her previous life was ridiculed.

Moreover, learning Plum Blossom Seal script not only required perseverance but also extremely deep foundations. Yueyao was able to get a grasp of it in just a few days, thanks to her more than 20 years of practicing calligraphy in her previous life. Her Liu-style calligraphy had already reached a top-notch level.

The foundation of calligraphy was the key, and Yueyao’s basic skills were very solid. What’s more fortunate was that Yueyao not only had over 20 years of calligraphy foundation but also over 20 years of painting foundation. Plum Blossom Seal script required not only foundation but also painting skills.

Yueyao relied on Plum Blossom Seal script as a skill to support herself and couldn’t give up easily. However, she didn’t practice calligraphy like copying scriptures, practicing frantically. She practiced for only one hour in the afternoon and one hour in the evening. The rest of the time was spent reading books. She no longer read books on poetry and literature; instead, she read practical books.

Yueyao browsed through her father’s book collection and finally chose “Zizhi Tongjian“. She chose this book because she remembered her father telling her that it was profound and would benefit her for a lifetime if she could study it thoroughly.

After reading a bit, she couldn’t help but sigh that her father was right. This book was indeed profound, as it was all about struggles and battles. All the struggles were centered around one character: desire. Desire led to greed, and greed gave rise to countless sins.

In fact, it all boiled down to two characters: human heart. The greed of the human heart gave rise to numerous events.

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T/N : Please be aware I did not split ‘Transmigration Again’ into 2 part for chapter 19 & 20. The author wrote it like that. Each chapter spans more than 2k words.