Chapter 48: There is Room For the Poor Daughter
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Chapter 48: Every Family Has Its Own Troubles
The Floating Light Brocade incident quietly ended after Concubine Lin fainted in embarrassment and the Yan family remained tacitly silent about the matter.
From that point on, Daohua's reputation for being a force to be reckoned with was firmly etched in the minds of everyone in the Yan family.
She was someone who dared to slap even the head of the family in the face!
"Mother, this brocade is called Floating Light Brocade?"
Madam Li, seeing her daughter happily stroking the fabric, felt some of her lingering frustration ease. "I never expected the material your Uncle Li sent would be Floating Light Brocade."
Daohua looked up. "Is Floating Light Brocade very expensive?"
Madam Li nodded. "It's expensive, yes, but more importantly, it's very difficult to obtain. This kind of material is typically only supplied to high-ranking officials and nobility. Ordinary people can't even get their hands on it."
Daohua was touched. "Uncle Li is so good to me."
Although merchants were wealthy, in ancient times, many things were hard to obtain even with money due to strict social hierarchies.
Daohua wondered how much effort her uncle must have put in to get the Floating Light Brocade, considering she had never even met him. Fortunately, it had been returned to her, or she would have truly let down her uncle's care and affection.
Madam Li gently stroked Daohua's head, her eyes filled with love and tenderness.
Her daughter standing up for her had brought her great comfort.
However, thinking about her husband's displeased face before he left, Madam Li hesitated before saying, "You should speak more respectfully to your father in the future."
"Hmph!"
Daohua snorted. "I’ve already been very restrained today. If I followed my temper, I could’ve said worse things."
She had a major flaw—she couldn’t tolerate being wronged. If someone made her unhappy, she would not, and could not, bear it.
After the Floating Light Brocade incident, her father’s behavior, which had once seemed a little biased, had now risen to the level of being a scoundrel in her eyes. The fact that she could remain calm and composed when interacting with him was already the greatest tolerance she could muster.
"This child, why do you get more and more worked up?" Madam Li tapped Daohua’s forehead gently.
"Mother~" Daohua wrapped her arm around Madam Li’s. "Mother, you’re just too good, always thinking of Father, but he treats your sacrifices as if they were nothing, never appreciating you."
She wanted to say that a scoundrel like him wasn’t worth clinging to, but fearing it would hurt Madam Li, she bit back the words.
Madam Li sighed. "Your father is actually blaming me in his heart. I come from a merchant family, and marrying him was definitely a step up for me. You’re still young, so you don’t understand how much people value status and identity."
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This novel is translated by the Eternal Novel Hits translators. Please read it at https://eternalnovelhits.blogspot.com
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"Especially for someone like your father, a scholar, who usually has prejudices against merchants. Before I married your father, I had already prepared myself not to be welcomed."
"However, I’m a fortunate woman. Your father may favor Concubine Lin, but he still respects me. In important matters, he tries to be fair."
"Some of my old friends had it much worse. They married men who squandered their dowries and doted on their concubines, neglecting and even mistreating their wives. Some were tormented so badly they didn’t survive."
"Compared to them, don’t you think I’m much happier? As long as you and your two brothers are well, I’ll be content."
Daohua gazed at her mother, noticing the fleeting sadness in her eyes. She felt a pang in her heart, silently holding the woman who tried to smile through her sorrow.
Which woman didn’t long for her husband’s love? But in real life, too many women had to choose to endure and compromise due to the harshness of reality.
"If Father looks down on merchants, why did he marry you? If he married you, he should be responsible for you," Daohua said firmly.
Madam Li patted her daughter’s back. "Your father has never shirked his responsibilities. After I married him, he treated your Uncle Li and his family well. Having a brother-in-law who’s a county magistrate certainly spared us some trouble."
"Marriage is about the union of two people. So far, my marriage to your father has benefited both the Yan family and the Li family."
Daohua looked up. "But what about you?"
Madam Li smiled. "You and your two brothers are the best gifts your father has given me."
Seeing that her mother didn’t harbor any resentment, Daohua felt her chest tighten, unable to say anything more, and buried her face back into her mother’s embrace.
Her mother cared deeply for her father, her two brothers, and Daohua herself, always thinking of everyone else, but never of herself.
Seeing the tender look on her daughter’s face, Madam Li’s heart warmed. She had now truly experienced the meaning of the saying, "A daughter is a mother’s little quilted jacket."
How true it was!
Her daughter understood her struggles, stood up for her...
Madam Li lovingly patted Daohua’s back, but not long after, the smile faded from her face. Thinking about her daughter’s stubborn and strong-willed nature, her worry returned.
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