Chapter 111 - 111 111 Recalling the Past - Part_1

Words : 1391 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

111: Chapter 111: Recalling the Past – Part_1 111: Chapter 111: Recalling the Past – Part_1 The plays at Fuwang Teahouse had been performed for several acts, including “Nezha’s Uproar in the Sea,” “Chang’e’s Journey to the Moon,” and “Chenxiang’s Rescue of His Mother” and so on... The performances were excellent, both in singing and acting, eliciting waves of applause from the audience. Lady Du sat in a private room upstairs, listening in a trance. The little children, witnessing the continuous pings and pangs on stage and the graceful dance performed with wide sleeves, watched with wide eyes and rapt attention. Unknowingly, several lunar-hours had passed, the play had ended, and Lady Du, with a lingering sense of unfulfilled pleasure, left Fuwang Teahouse with the children. Having stepped out of Fuwang Teahouse, she was still immersed in the plot of the plays, strolling absentmindedly along the street with the children... The performance of “Chang’e’s Journey to the Moon” was extraordinarily good, and the opera actor’s dance was beautiful. The three-meter-long pink water sleeves were tossed lightly, flying and spinning on the stage, earning a chorus of praise! Likely unaware, it couldn’t compare to when she used to dance with eight-meter-long water sleeves in her youth. She was stunningly beautiful then, and she performed a graceful dance at her grandfather Duke An’s birthday feast. The sight was truly breathtaking, but it was also the beginning of her nightmare. She was a concubine-borne daughter of the Duke An’s Mansion, and her biological mother was one of the embroiderers in the mansion. Since she came of age, she had been arranged by her stepmother to learn singing and dancing from a Courtesan. In her childhood, she didn’t understand why her sisters were learning textile arts, “Women Taming” and “Women Rules”, while she had to practice singing and dancing every day. Later, when she grew up, she was arranged by her family to perform a dance at her grandfather Duke An’s birthday feast. The performance caught the eye of the King of Guangling, who wanted to take her back to his mansion as a common concubine. She finally understood the demeaning intentions of her family. A common concubine ranks even lower than a side consort. In the mansion of the King of Guangling, both the favored concubines – be it the humble maid or the brothel-born prostitute – were promoted to become common concubines. The number of common concubines in the Mansion of the King of Guangling was staggering. It was then that she realized that she was merely an instrument carefully cultivated by her family over the years to curry favor with the powerful, while her happiness, future, and life weren’t taken into consideration at all. The interested King of Guangling was over seventy years old and was extremely fond of women. The number of young women carried into the mansion every year was close to one hundred, and nearly the same number of people were carried out. Because of his impotence due to old age, the old beast took a perverse pleasure in torturing women in bed. Numerous girls were killed by his torments, dying in a terribly miserable state. This was no secret in the capital, and the King of Guangling was favored by the emperor because he was the emperor’s uncle, had merit from the dragon, and handed over his military power. Even when his hideous deeds reached the ears of the emperor, the emperor just laughed it off, leaving only a comment of “still-strong in old age,” and would not bother to deal with it. Seeing the emperor’s attitude, the nobles in the capital intensified their efforts to court the King of Guangling. Duke An’s family built their prestige on military contributions; their ancestors had fought to establish the empire alongside the founding emperor of the Great Jin. However, after three generations of inheritance, the progeny were mostly mediocre with a penchant for pleasure-seeking, lacking in exceptional talent. Seeing the imminent decline of the large Duke’s mansion, the family left no stone unturned to form marital alliances with powerful dignitaries to consolidate their position in the capital. As long as they could curry favor with the powerful families, they were willing to marry their daughters to the decrepit old men, even eunuchs. Finding a hint from the King of Guangling, Duke An’s Mansion was exuberant. They hurriedly prepared betrothal gifts, planning to clean her up and offer her as a gift. They even secretly invited courtesans from brothels to instruct her privately on the art of pleasing old men, in the hope that her continuous favor could cement their relationship with the King of Guangling as a lasting alliance. Although Lady Du was usually gentle and sensible, she refused to compromise on this marriage affair. A few days before the wedding, she did something that no one expected – she escaped from Duke An’s mansion under the cover of night, intending to break free from them and escape her miserable fate of marrying the old lecher. However, she hadn’t run far when she was discovered by her family, leading to a manhunt. Fortunately, she encountered Mu Zhongqing, who was traveling in the capital, risked his life to save her. Thus, began the semblance of a hero rescuing the beauty, and she pledged herself to him in return... The past, shrouded in mist, induces heartache at its recollection. The scenes of those past years feel as if they occurred just yesterday. In a blink of an eye, she became a wife and then a mother. Even though her current life doesn’t boast the affluence and dignity of the time spent in the mansion of Duke An, isn’t it far more peaceful and comfortable? She has never regretted her choices, even if she was tormented and harassed by her in-laws and uncle’s family, even if she was reduced to sallow skin and bones from poverty and hunger. She has always been grateful to the powers above for providing her an opportunity to meet her sentimental and righteous husband! Her husband has always been splendid to her. When he was home relaxing, he would not allow her to do any work, dreading it would tire her out. Despite his scant income, he would always save a few copper coins to buy her favourite date cake. Even when she was harassed and bullied by her in-laws, he was willing to bear the indignity of undutifulness, facing public criticism, and tirelessly defended her... Although her husband was poor, his genuine affection was something no amount of money could buy! ... “Oh, Madam!” Auntie Liu pulled Lady Du out of her trance, blocking her to prevent a collision with a man. “Mother, are you alright?” Fei’er moved briskly to her side, holding her arm and asked with concern. Lady Du shook off her distraction, quickly took a few steps back to distance herself from the man, and whispered, “I’m fine, don’t worry. Let’s go.” After saying that, she kept her head down and quickly moved away. As they passed by, the man got a clearer look at her face, almost too stunned to speak. She...the Fourth Miss of Duke An’s mansion...is still alive! As the adopted son of the major steward of Duke An’s mansion, although Cao Jin didn’t live in the mansion and was busy with his adoptive father’s business across the country, he was familiar with everything in the mansion. He had a particular interest in the Fourth Miss, who was destined for a tragic fate since her birth. Not just because of her kindness, but because she was the most beautiful Miss in the mansion, outshining even the legitimate daughters in comparison! Alas, the different destinies of people! The legitimate daughter, due to her high social status, married gloriously into the Great General’s mansion as his second wife. Even as a step-wife, she was beloved by the great general, Li Kaifeng, and had given birth to a legitimate son. By now, she has become influential in the mansion, second only to the matriarch. Pity the Fourth Miss, illegitimate daughter of the house, somehow faked her death and drifted to this remote small town. Judging by her attire, she seems to have married into a moderately well-off household. Her fate is indeed pitiful...

Chapter 111 - 111 111 Recalling the Past - Part_1

Comments (0)