“Father,” Wei Xiao Hua called again.
Wei Hong nodded and waved his hand. “It’s more appropriate in Xiao Hua’s hand. If she can’t handle it well, I’ll give it back to you.”
With that sentence, Concubine Chou’s eyes lit up. Right. She could just try to mess up the arrangement one way or another. That way, the finance book would be given back to her along with the seal.
It’s that simple!
Wei Liuying tugged her mother’s sleeve. Feng Chun excused herself too while Concubine Xie still wished to ‘talk’ more with Concubine Chou. The drama in the hall no longer had any purpose for her.
Outside the hall, Feng Chun patted Wei Liuying’s hand. “Good work inside.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“If only Wei Hong Zheng had half of your intelligence, I wouldn’t need to worry so much,” Feng Chun muttered as she walked.
Wei Liuying didn’t reply. Both her mother and father always said the same thing to her. There was no use to have a woman so smart and calculative because they could only act in a small scope inside the residence. But if it was the male who has a smart mind, he would be able to rise to a high position.
It was the dream of Wei Hong to have his descendants better than him. His first son was not too bad, but Wei Hong Zheng was simply too stupid. Compared to many other boys, Wei Hong Zheng was simply too slow. If ordinary children needed to be explained twice, Wei Hong Zheng would need to be explained ten times before he could understand.
Because of that, his progress was so slow.
However, Wei Liuying was far smarter. It was as if she had already taken all the smart gene from her mother and father, leaving her younger brother with none. The smarter she is, the more stupid Wei Hong Zheng would look like. Because of that, Wei Liuying was not allowed to show her capabilities, and even her mother told her to help her brother’s study.
That way, Wei Liuying would look worse compared to Wei Hong Zheng in Wei Hong’s eyes.
However, there were times when Wei Liuying needed to interfere. If she didn’t do anything, Feng Chun’s position in the household would be even worse. After all, Feng Chun is not the brightest person in this residence.
When they were near their quarter, Feng Chun waved his hand to call her servant, “Prepare more food for Liuying tomorrow.”
The servant bowed down. “This servant understands, Madam.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Feng Chun nodded. She waved her hand, and only when the servants were quite far did she speak again. “Continue to help your brother’s study. If he could do well in class, I’ll give you more delicious food.”
“I understand, Mother.”
Wei Liuying’s expression remained impassive. She clearly understood that her mother only wanted to have her brother become the remarkable one. No matter how talented she was, it was simply useless. Her mother would never look in her direction.
As for her father… there were already Wei Xiao Hua, who was the main daughter and also the talented Wei Zilin. There was no place for her to interfere.
“Go to sleep. There are more books that Hong Zheng have to read, so you make the summaries first.”
“Yes, Mother.”
After that, Feng Chun left with her servants while Wei Liuying headed back to her own quarter. Xiao Qing was following her from a distance away with a worried expression.
When they had arrived in Wei Liuying’s house, Xiao Qing finally spoke out. “Miss, why do you help Madam?”
“If I didn’t help her, who should I help?” Wei Liuying asked back.
“But she…”
Wei Liuying sighed when she saw Xiao Qing’s expression. No matter what Wei Liuying did, Feng Chun never truly appreciated it. If she did well, all Feng Chun did was to give her more food. As for her allowance, it remained at a very pitiful amount to the point that Wei Liuying couldn’t afford to buy anything else but some cheap books.
“If I wish to have a place to stay, I need to help her and prepare a way out for myself,” Wei Liuying replied. “I don’t have anyone to rely on in this residence, and my position is at the lowest bottom. I have to use all card that are available in my hand properly.”
Xiao Qing helped Wei Liuying to change with watery eyes. Everyone’s fate was mostly already determined since their birth, and if they were women, it was even harder to change it. She felt that her Miss was really too pitiful. Other people still have their parents who care, but she had no one.
Even her mother only showed care for Wei Liuying when the latter was useful. Other than that, there was none.
Wei Liuying noticed Xiao Qing’s tears and laughed bitterly. “Silly girl, why are you crying?”
“But Miss…”
“Shush,” Wei Liuying raised her hand and took out her handkerchief to wipe Xiao Qing’s tears. “I can’t change my birth, but I definitely will not give up to my fate.”
Xiao Qing quickly took the handkerchief and pouted. “Miss shouldn’t do that. I can do it myself.”
Wei Liuying laughed lightly. “Go to sleep and remember to guard the door. Take turns with Xiao Yu.”
“Yes, Miss.”
After Xiao Qing had left, Wei Liuying lied down on her bed. Her eyes were staring at the ceiling.
She might not be a lucky girl, but many other people had worse fate compared to her. Besides, to be able to live well was something that she felt thankful for. At least, for now, she didn’t need to worry about what to eat and wear tomorrow.
to have his descendant better than him. -> his descendants be better
If ordinary children needed to be explained twice, Wei Hong Zheng would need to be explained ten times before he could understand. -> maybe change "explained" to "taught" ?
taken all the smart gene from -> genes
and even her mother told her to help her brother's study. -> and her mother even told her to help her brother's studies
Continue to help your brother's study. -> studies
so you make the summarize first." -> summaries
it remained at a very pitiful amount -> at such a pitiful amount
I have to use all card that's available -> all cards that are available
their birth, and if they were women, it was -> remove commas
I suppose there is some small silver lining in how WLY's life so far has been-once she decides to give her "family" the notice to go pound sand and to stop holding back and just make her own way she's going to have a huge leg up on almost everyone else because of what she was studying and how smart she is. She's also going to be far, *far* more motivated than anyone else. Her "family" will only be able to look on in envy at whatever heights she manages to reach, her father especially regretting having disregarded and discarded such a promising heir
It's also hilariously stupid for WXH to throw her tantrums about how she's getting cheated out of her allowance when WLY has even less, and WXH will the gall to blame WLY for things that aren't her fault and treat her as a villainess. I look forward to WXH getting crushed into the dirt by a demon of her own making
I use study since it's more commonly used terms and there's only one type of study that he did-> reading and learning.
Then I use very pitiful amount to stress out that it's just very little
If I remove the comma, it'll sound a bit weird for me since it's used to give a small break when reading and conveying the rest of the sentence.
Also, thank you for the suggestions!
Haha, WXH had the rights for the allowance since it's what she's supposed to get and without her mother around, she had to rely on herself. While WLY could also do the same, it'll only create unnecessary trouble for her because she had to maintain the delicate balance of her relationship with her other family members.
@sorahana
ah, I had been thinking of his martial lessons as being another type of study, but for the scholarly stuff it would just be book learning.
True, I suppose I just have a very negative impression of WXH and she's definitely a brat in how she handles things.
It's kind of sad that WLY might be better off not having a family than she does having her abusive family. She may not be constantly starved of food, but she's thoroughly abused by everyone around her aside from her two servants and uncle and her "family" makes sure to actively sabotage her so she looks worse than her brother. I fully expect her mother has withheld food from her in the past, and we know her father has done it since she's already got a system of having extra food on her person at all times so she has something to eat if one of her family members feels like taking whatever frustration that have out on her or she gets scapegoated by her brother or mother. It seems like she's really just in survival mode and trying to last until she saves up enough money or something changes so she can escape her abusive family...
@MarkofWisdom
Yeah, it's more on survival mode for her since it's hard for women to live in that era without having anyone to rely on. As a concubine daughter, it's not that weird for her to be used as tools by her father in marriage.