The Three Spirit Stones

Chapter 167 Learning to be a Concubine

The next day, Cheng Yu specially asked the kitchen to prepare some of his mother's favorite snacks and personally delivered them to her residence.

After calming down for a night, Mrs. Cheng realized that she shouldn't be too hasty. When she saw her son coming, she no longer had the same attitude as yesterday.

"Mom, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

"I brought some of your favorite snacks."

Seeing her son coming to comfort her, the last bit of unhappiness in Mrs. Cheng's heart disappeared. She pretended to scold him,

"Are you no longer angry with your mother?"

"What are you talking about, mother? Why would your son be angry with you?"

"You!"

She poked her son's forehead with her finger, and the mother and son reconciled. Then they sat down to eat while talking.

"Xu'er, your mother understands that you like her,"

"But it's not a good thing for her to be so unruly all the time,"

"Although our Cheng family is not a noble family of scholars, it is also a prominent family."

"As the ancients said, three generations of wealth can produce a noble generation, and a good daughter-in-law can produce three generations of good children and grandchildren."

"But look at Ah Cai, does she look like a daughter-in-law?"

"My son, I don't mean to stop you from being with the person you like. If she knows how to behave and obeys discipline, I will never drive her out for your sake."

Cheng Yu has always been filial, and now he feels that his mother's words make sense.

I really like her, but I also think some of her characteristics are not good.

For example, being mean, domineering and having a bad temper.

A woman should regard her husband as her God, so she should be gentle and respectful, but she does not show any such attitude.

She seemed to have never known the difference between high and low, and she dared to order her husband around as if it was her right.

He couldn't understand why he hadn't taught her well in the past and let her temper grow like weeds!

It seems that it is time to set some rules for her, otherwise allowing her to be so willful will eventually harm her.

After thinking it through, he and his mother reached a consensus, that is, to hire a few maids from the palace to teach Ah Cai some etiquette and rules that aristocratic women should know, and also to invite a female teacher to teach her some ideological and moral content such as "Female Training", "Female Virtue" and "Female Admonitions".

Another thing is that she cannot go to the academy to teach for the time being. She has to learn these rules first.

Also, she wanted to return to her own courtyard to live, as she was now a concubine after all.

Cheng Yu is her master, so it is unreasonable for a master and servant to live in the same room.

When he returned to the yard, she hadn't gotten up yet. Seeing her sleeping in a spread-eagle position, Cheng Yu was both angry and amused.

This woman is different from all the women of this era.

She is vivid and lively, with her emotions always showing on her face.

I never need to be on guard against her and I am always so happy when I am with her!

But this kind of character is not suitable for this cruel world.

She must understand the rules of this society. I cannot protect her at all times. She must be able to protect herself.

Even if she can't learn how to deal with others, she still needs to know whether others are good or bad to her?

You can't be sold out and still help others count money.

Therefore, she has to experience setbacks, and only by learning lessons can she grow.

What Cheng Yu couldn't understand was that he must have loved her very much in the past, so why didn't he teach her how to get along with others, especially her mother, for so many years?

Was I really so confident in the past, believing that I had the ability to protect her at all times, no matter how big or small?

……

……

"Can you ask the palace maid to teach me the etiquette and rules?"

"You still want to teach me [Female Training] [Female Commandments]?"

"Why don't you let me go back to the academy to teach?"

After saying these words, Ah Cai looked at Cheng Yu steadily.

Cheng Yu sighed and said, "Cai, I know this is difficult for you."

"You have always been free to do whatever you want."

"But you have to understand that now you are a stranger to everyone except me. If you want to survive in this society, you have to relearn the ways of survival here."

"If you continue to act recklessly as before, you will run into obstacles everywhere,"

"You have to understand that I can't always be by your side to protect you. You have to learn to read people's expressions, be polite and understanding, know what they are thinking, know whether they are kind or malicious, and don't let others sell you out and then help them count their money."

Hearing the last sentence, "You can't be sold out and help others count money," Ah Cai was moved.

Once upon a time, Lu Wuchen also said this to her,

He said that he was always stupid, which made it easy for him to be cheated. It didn’t matter if he was cheated, but he couldn’t be sold out and then help others count their money.

Maybe I should change.

After all, life is unpredictable!

"Okay, I'll learn!"

Seeing that she finally agreed, Cheng Yu was very happy.

He gently held her in his arms and said, "You will live in your own yard from now on. I will have someone send all your daily necessities over to you."

"I will come to see you as soon as I have time. If you need anything, please let Dongmei find me."

"Try to get up early in the morning to greet your mother. If she says something unpleasant, don't talk back. Just follow her instructions."

"If she wants you to do something difficult, just deal with it first, and wait until I come back."

……

Cheng Yu gave her a long and rambling explanation, and the next day, after her yard was cleaned up, he sent her back.

The next morning, Ah Cai was woken up by Dong Mei. Cheng Yu had already gotten up and left the house.

She instinctively wanted to lose her temper, but immediately remembered that he had urged her to get up early and pay her respects to her mother last night.

Ugh!

Just think of it as reliving the college entrance examination again!

After washing, she took Dongmei to Mrs. Cheng's courtyard. Cuizhi met her and said, "Madam Cai, please wait a moment. The young lady is chanting Buddha's name."

"Yes, Aunt Cui,"

Ah Cai stood in the patio in the yard waiting, but after waiting for half an hour no one showed up. She understood that Mrs. Cheng must have done this on purpose.

well! no way!

Just think of it as being punished by the teacher for being disobedient in school!

After standing there for another half an hour, Cuizhi finally came out to invite Ah Cai in. When they entered the living room, they saw Madam Cheng holding a rosary, with her eyes lowered, chanting the Buddha's name.

"Madam, Ah Cai is here to greet you!"

She knelt down and paid her respects to Madam Cheng as a junior. She didn't want to call her mother anymore, so she called her old lady according to the rules!

"Get up!"

"You should know very well that if it weren't for Xu'er, my Cheng family would never have been able to accommodate you."

"Since I promised Xu'er that I would teach you well, you must be obedient."

"You must understand your own status and position, do not overstep your bounds, and strictly abide by the duties of a concubine. When you see the mistress, you must behave properly and take the initiative to pay respects, and do not compete with the mistress for her favor."

"At a dinner with the host and mistress, the hostess should be served tea and soup, and the dishes and rice."

"You have to understand that my status as a concubine is that of a slave. However, you are a noble concubine, so you don't have to do heavy work. But that doesn't mean you don't have to do anything. You still have to do light work."

"We in the Cheng family take concubines to serve the master, not to bring them back as ancestors to worship."

"Please remember what I said today. The palace tutor will be here soon. You go down first."

"……yes,"

Ah Cai responded, bowed and left.

She really wanted to flip the table and stop playing.

But when she thought of Cheng Yu's earnest advice to her last night to learn to be patient, she resisted the urge to lose her temper!

Ugh!

No wonder he tried every means to prevent her from becoming a concubine. It turns out that being a concubine is really as lowly as a dog!