Volume One, Chapter One: Expecting Her to Adopt an Illegitimate Daughter? Dream On!
Up until this moment, Chu Yao still could not believe the reality before her eyes. Was this the obsession she held before her death?
“Yao’er, look how adorable this child is.”
“A poor orphan, pitiful indeed. Yao’er, the moment I saw her, I favored her. I wish to keep Yue’er in the Marquis’s household and raise her under your name. Would that be all right?”
A little girl, porcelain-skinned like a doll, obediently stepped to the hem of her skirt.
The scene before her overlapped perfectly with her memories.
Chu Yao pinched herself hard.
Ah, the pain was real.
Her almond eyes suddenly shone bright.
At last, she accepted the truth of her rebirth.
She had truly been reborn!
She was back at eighteen, the year she had first married into the household of the Marquis of Pingyang.
At that time, she and the heir to the Marquis, Cheng Wenyuan, had been married for less than half a year.
The old lady, Madam Li, returned from offering incense at the temple and unexpectedly brought back a four-year-old girl.
She claimed the child was an orphan found on the road and wanted Chu Yao to raise her under her own name.
“I went to the temple to pray for a child for you and Brother Yuan. This child must be a gift from the Buddha.
The old saying goes: first the flower blooms, then the fruit bears. With this little girl, you and Brother Yuan will surely have your own noble children soon.
Yao’er, what do you think?”
Chu Yao lowered her gaze to the child shyly clutching at her skirt.
A chill surged in her heart.
In her previous life, she had liked this clever and well-mannered child at first sight.
She pitied her for her tragic background.
Without much hesitation, she had agreed to the old lady’s proposal.
Thus, for more than ten years, Chu Yao poured her heart and soul into caring for her, protecting her.
She treated her as her own, giving her everything she could offer.
She never imagined she would die by the hand of this adopted daughter.
After coaxing her to drink the medicinal soup, the child’s face, always harmless and gentle, suddenly twisted with ferocity.
“Fool! You’re so easy to deceive.
Do you think what you just drank was medicine for your cold?
Wrong! What you drank was deadly, incurable poison—Crane’s Red Crown.
...
Now, you have no value left to the Marquis’s household.
My mother said you should have died long ago.
Of course, you deserve to die with your eyes open. Let me tell you: those two miscarriages you suffered before? That was my doing...
My mother said that since you adopted me,
naturally, you shouldn’t ever have children of your own.
The legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s household can only be me.”
It was only in her dying moments that Chu Yao discovered she had always lived within a carefully constructed web of deceit.
Yue’er, whom she had painstakingly raised, was not an orphan at all; she was her husband’s illegitimate child!
---
Cheng Jiayue, yes.
She was the daughter born of her dear husband’s incest with her cousin Cheng Jinxi.
A child who could never see the light of day.
Yet it was this child who cost her a lifetime of childlessness!
Who caused her to die with regret.
She could not accept it!
When Chu Yao married into the household, the Marquis’s mansion was already hollow behind its grand façade.
All these years, it was she who managed everything with painstaking effort, even draining her dowry to support the vast household.
Her mother-in-law had died early; with the saying “the eldest sister-in-law is as a mother,” she unquestioningly took on the responsibility of caring for her younger brothers- and sisters-in-law.
For over a decade, she devoted herself, planning her husband's future, smoothing his connections, assisting Cheng Wenyuan step by step as he rose through the ranks, even straining every nerve to help him enter the Inner Cabinet.
Yet her dear husband, upon his first appointment as Senior Scholar in the Inner Cabinet, turned his sword on the Chu family.
He plotted against Chu Yao’s father and brother, accusing them of treason.
It was nothing short of using her and discarding her!
His so-called righteousness, punishing his own kin, brought him fame and success.
The day after Chu Yao’s father and brother were executed, Cheng Wenyuan became the Chief Minister of the Inner Cabinet.
...
“Yao’er, what are you thinking?”
Madam Li saw her granddaughter-in-law silent for so long and frowned, urging her.
Chu Yao’s gaze shifted to Cheng Jinxi, sitting at the side.
Seeing the urgency and expectation in her cousin’s eyes, it was clear she was eagerly awaiting her answer.
A cold gleam flashed in Chu Yao’s eyes, then she turned to Madam Li.
“Madam, I’ve been married to the heir for only half a year. If a four-year-old girl suddenly appears under my name, gossip will surely spread. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate? Just record her under your name.”
“Madam, if she is registered as mine, wouldn’t my own daughter lose her rightful status as the legitimate eldest daughter? I’m afraid I cannot agree.”
Madam Li hadn’t expected her always obedient granddaughter-in-law to defy her today, and was somewhat annoyed.
“What difference does it make whether a girl is the legitimate eldest or not?”
“Yes, sister-in-law.”
Cheng Jinxi, smiling, chimed in, “Yue’er is so young. If you raise her, won’t she be just like your own daughter?
You gain a daughter without suffering through childbirth—what a great bargain!
Besides, this child is a gift from the Buddha; you shouldn’t refuse such kindness.”
A mocking smile touched Chu Yao’s lips.
“Cousin, if it’s such a bargain, why don’t you take it?
You and Madam found this child on your way back from the temple.
In my view, the Buddha meant her for you. Why not take her as your own adopted daughter?”
Cheng Jinxi’s face changed instantly and she replied seriously, “Sister-in-law, you’re being ridiculous. I am a widow; why would the Buddha give me a child?”
“That’s not necessarily true. Perhaps the Buddha took pity on your loneliness and sent a child to your side. You shouldn’t waste the Buddha’s good intentions.”
“Impossible. Madam went through great trouble to pray to the Buddha for you and the heir. How could I interfere? Even if I wanted to, Madam would never agree.”
Cheng Jinxi cast a pleading look at Madam Li.
“Yes, Yao’er, don’t waste my good intentions. Yue’er is beautiful, well-mannered, and clever.
---
Such a child, what could you possibly object to?!
Very well, it’s settled. Soon, I’ll invite the clan chief to preside over the adoption ceremony, and officially register Yue’er under your name.”
Chu Yao straightened her back, unmoved.
“Madam, I will not take this child.
Even if you try to argue all day and night, I will not agree to have her registered as mine.
Even if you invite the clan chief, it will be useless.”
Madam Li trembled, her eyes wide with anger, glaring at Chu Yao.
“Chu Yao! Have you forgotten my teachings?!
A woman should be modest, respectful, gentle, and compliant.
The Marquis’s household is a scholarly, refined family.
Don’t bring the coarse manners of your father’s military household here.”
Coarse?
Indeed, in her past life, Madam Li often put on airs,
always displaying the lofty demeanor of a scholarly family before her.
She was the legitimate daughter of a first-rank general’s household, marrying into the household of a fifth-rank civil official.
Yet Madam Li constantly belittled the upbringing of the general’s family as unsuitable for society.
She regularly told her to learn from the manners of the women of scholarly families.
Back then, Chu Yao was devoted to Cheng Wenyuan and remembered her father’s advice: upon marrying into the Marquis’s household, she must honor her elders, care for her husband, and be a virtuous, sensible wife.
Thus, she transformed her rough, bold habits learned from years in the military,
becoming obedient and cautious, carefully tending to Madam, her husband, and the entire household.
She acted according to their preferences, even losing herself completely.
And what did she gain in return?!
Only deceit, exploitation, and pain!
In this life, she would never again wrong herself.
“Madam, how is it that my refusal to adopt this child means I am not respectful and compliant?
What kind of logic is that?
You always claim the Marquis’s household is lofty and noble.
Why is it that adopting a legitimate son or daughter here is treated as casually as taking in a stray cat or dog?
Any child picked up from the roadside can enter the family register.
Hmm!
Look at this child’s features—they do resemble the sons and daughters of the Marquis’s household.
Could it be she has some hidden origin?
Madam, I truly wish to know: what is this child’s real background?
Why must you force me to adopt her?”