At the end of the first lunar month, the weather was turning warm.
The accumulated snow on the eaves began to melt, and the icy water dripped down from the corners of the roof, pattering like a musical score.
Zhao Xian rubbed her dizzy and throbbing head. Her chest felt even more tight and uncomfortable.
Without a doubt, she was in this state because she was furious.
She didn’t understand the situation. She had just transmigrated and was immediately berated by a handsome, anciently-dressed youth.
Before she could even talk back, the original owner’s body began to ache all over, hurting so much she couldn’t speak. The youth then stormed off with a flick of his sleeves and a face full of rage.
The whole thing was utterly baffling.
“Madam, have some tea to calm yourself.” A nanny in her forties beside her quickly offered a cup of tea, coaxing, “The Second Young Master is hot-tempered. When he gets angry, he acts recklessly, but you know he doesn’t mean what he says. Don’t be angry with a child.”
Zhao Xian wasn’t about to get angry with a teenager; she wasn’t that petty. The problem was that the original owner was furious.
So furious that her chest ached terribly, and she couldn’t speak.
Recalling the reason was simple enough. The original owner’s second son had taken a liking to a young lady, and the two families were in the process of arranging the engagement. If all went well, that girl would be her future daughter-in-law.
As a mother, thinking her son was about to get married, she had selected two bedding maids to send to him, hoping to guide him in the ways of the bedchamber ahead of time.
But her son refused them and even berated her for it.
Thinking of the original owner’s second son’s age, Zhao Xian also wanted to curse the original owner. Your son is only sixteen! He’s not even an adult, and you’re stuffing people into his room? What were you thinking? You deserved to be angered.
After drinking the tea, the tightness in her chest finally eased.
Just as Zhao Xian was about to speak, a maid with a lovely face walked in from behind the screen.
The maid was dressed in an ochre-yellow, narrow-sleeved blouse embroidered with purple cuckoos, over which she wore a chestnut-colored, front-opening vest. Below, she wore an amber, pleated skirt with a fret pattern.
It strongly resembled the attire of the Song Dynasty, and judging by the material, it was of a much higher quality than the costumes in some television dramas.
From her memory, Zhao Xian knew this person was one of the original owner’s head maids, named Shaoyao.
Shaoyao entered the room and curtsied. After rising, she spoke rather quickly, “Madam, Chilan, a maid from the Young Madam’s side, has come to report that the Young Madam is showing signs of labor. She’s asking for the exit tally to leave the estate and fetch a midwife.”
The nanny at her side saw the situation and said, “The Young Madam has been pregnant for less than eight months. To go into labor now is likely dangerous. Shall I go fetch the exit tally?”
Although she said this, she didn’t move, instead looking at Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian belatedly realized she was waiting for instructions and nodded. “Go. Be quick.”
The nanny retrieved the exit tally and gave it to Shaoyao, then turned and said casually, “The Young Madam’s side is in labor. Will Madam go over now or later? The Young Master is not at the estate. As his mother, you should go and look after things for him.”
Zhao Xian felt she had a point, but she wasn’t the original owner.
She didn’t understand why she had opened her eyes in such a place, this transmigration happening so inexplicably without any preamble. She couldn’t say much right now, afraid of making a mistake.
She nodded. “Let’s go now.”
The nanny had wanted to persuade her further, as the Madam disliked the Young Madam and had never shown her a pleasant expression, even during her pregnancy.
But now that she was in labor, the situation was different. At the very least, she should keep up appearances.
She hadn’t expected the Madam to agree so readily this time. It surprised her for a moment, and she quickly said, “I will have someone prepare the sedan chair at once.”
Watching the nanny leave, Zhao Xian recalled that her surname was He. She wasn’t the original owner’s wet nurse but a governess who had been hired and later stayed on to serve the original owner in the Jiang family. She had been with her for seven or eight years now.
With no one else in the room, Zhao Xian finally had a moment to look around.
She had been yelled at the moment she arrived, preoccupied with her aching body, and had no chance to observe her surroundings.
Only now did she notice that the room was a gaudy sort of luxurious. The floor was covered with a brocade carpet woven with auspicious patterns. On a tall pearwood table sat a square porcelain vase depicting the God of Longevity picking peaches, filled with vibrant red plum blossoms.
Facing the doorway was a four-panel, openwork screen carved with plum blossoms, orchids, pines, and bamboo.
In the inner chamber where the bed was, the bright red, purple, and yellow furniture and bed curtains created a strong visual assault.
The small tearoom, however, was elegantly and simply furnished. The colors were more subdued, with only a small, slender, single-mouthed vase and a tea set on the table, and nothing more.
The entire room was a coexistence of elegance and vulgarity, much like a set haphazardly put together by an amateur prop master.
Finally finding a bronze mirror and seeing the largely unchanged face within it, Zhao Xian was a little puzzled. She reached out and touched it; it felt very real.
She searched her memory. The original owner was thirty-four, while she was only twenty-four in reality. How could there be so little difference in their faces despite a ten-year age gap?
In fact, she felt the original owner’s skin was even smoother than her own.
Was this the difference between working and not working?
At this moment, Zhao Xian didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.
The office drone’s defenses were broken and shattered.
Hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, Zhao Xian put down the bronze mirror, ended her idle wandering, and returned to the soft couch.
Before long, Nanny He came in to inform her that the sedan chair was ready.
The sunlight outside was pleasant, but it held no warmth due to the chill emanating from the melting snow.
It was just like Zhao Xian’s heart—chilly through and through.
…
“Madam, we’ve arrived at Yunzhu Yuan.”
Just as Nanny He helped her out of the sedan chair, Zhao Xian heard a bloodcurdling scream.
She then saw the servants of Yunzhu Yuan running around chaotically like headless flies, some even carrying out blood-stained clothes.
Zhao Xian strode into the house.
The moment she stepped inside, she could smell a strange odor from behind the screen. The room was noisy and chaotic, punctuated by the periodic screams of a young woman.
Walking around the screen, the maids attending by the side moved to make way for Zhao Xian to approach.
“Ah—”
The young woman on the bed suddenly screamed in pain. The person who was usually gentle and virtuous now had a contorted face, her image completely gone.
A feeling of disgust rose in Zhao Xian’s heart, directed at the young woman on the bed.
She was very confused. Why would she feel disgust for Li Lianniang, her eldest daughter-in-law, when this was the first time she had seen her?
No, no, she wasn’t even married, so where did this eldest daughter-in-law come from!
Wait, Li Lianniang… that name was so familiar.
“Mo-Mother, why have you come? Your daughter-in-law pays her respects to Mother.”
After a contraction passed, Li Lianniang took a slight breath, only to see her mother-in-law appear.
She hastily tried to prop herself up on the bed, struggling to get up.
Zhao Xian panicked for a second. “…Lie down, quickly lie down.”
She’s giving birth! Is her life more important, or are pleasantries more important?
“Where is the physician? Why isn’t the midwife here yet? And where is Wei’er? His wife is giving birth, where is he as the husband?”
“The Young Master went with Miss Cui to the temple to offer incense. The Young Madam went into labor after hearing about it.”
A maid kneeling closest to the bed spoke up.
Li Lianniang, who had just been trying to get up to pay her respects, seemed to lose all her vitality upon hearing this and fell back onto the bed.
“Miss, Miss, don’t scare me! Miss, what’s wrong with you?”
“Madam, I beg you to save my Miss.”
Seeing this, the maid started crying uncontrollably and kowtowed to Zhao Xian, her forehead instantly turning a large patch of red.
Li Lianniang hadn’t fainted. She weakly scolded, “Danruo, shut up.”
Her mother-in-law already disliked her, and Danruo was calling her “Miss” over and over.
“I implore Mother-in-law not to blame Danruo. Danruo is young. It’s… it’s your daughter-in-law who failed to teach her well. If you must blame someone, blame your daughter-in-law.”
The kowtowing maid heard this and turned back to her mistress. “Miss, I have thick skin, I’m not afraid. Your health is what’s important. Don’t talk anymore. The midwife will be here soon. Sister Chilan has already gone to fetch her. It’ll be soon, soon. You have to hold on.”
The maid’s voice was full of emotion, enough to make any listener’s heart ache and shed tears.
Zhao Xian felt a wave of dizziness.
Fortunately, Nanny He was quick to support her. “Madam.”
She then glared at the maid named Danruo. “Shut your mouth! You’re the one wailing the loudest. When she went into labor, didn’t you know to call for the household physician?”
Danruo said through her sobs, “We did! The medicine boy said Physician Liu went out to gather herbs and won’t be back for half a month. The Young Master was worried about Miss Cui’s health, so he took the female physician with him. There are no physicians in the estate.”
Nanny He’s expression froze.
What a mess.
Zhao Xian frowned as she watched the scene unfold.
Li Lianniang, the Young Master, Miss Cui…
No wonder it was all so familiar. Wasn’t this the script she had just helped an actress rehearse lines for?
It was a pure “abusive romance” script, and her actress was playing the tormented female lead.
Coincidentally, that actress’s good friend had taken on a “sweet romance” script, and the author of both dramas was the same person.
They both had her rehearse lines with them, playing the role of the mother-in-law in the stories.
The reason was that she had read both books and was familiar with them.
As the actress’s assistant, she had visited both sets since they were close to each other. The same mother-in-law had two different faces, and the internet was in an uproar over it.
As the one who always played the mother-in-law role during rehearsals, Zhao Xian herself strongly agreed with the netizens’ view that the mother-in-law was schizophrenic—in layman’s terms, she had issues.
“The midwife is here! The midwife is here!”
The call of a maid from outside pulled Zhao Xian’s thoughts back to the present. Her gaze was momentarily dazed.
With the midwife’s arrival, all unnecessary people were cleared out of the room.
Nanny He supported Zhao Xian and asked cautiously, “The midwife is here, so things should be fine. Does Madam want to return to Haitang Ju to rest first?”
Zhao Xian waved her hand. How could she leave when someone was giving birth, something so dangerous?
She took the opportunity to sit down in the outer room. She was a little dizzy now and needed to sort things out.
She remembered that this abusive romance script was truly pure abuse. The male lead, her eldest son, brought the daughter of his benefactor into the estate to take care of her as a way of repaying a debt of gratitude.
The battle between the two women began from there.
The tormented female lead couldn’t speak up for herself, and the vicious supporting female character was a master of manipulation.
From then on, the male lead began his journey of angsty, profound love for the female lead, filled with misunderstandings, false accusations, a miscarriage, digging out heart’s blood, and a series of other heart-wrenching and body-tormenting events. And somehow, it still managed to have a happy, grand reunion ending.
Wait, the second son who had angered the original owner into a state of agony this morning was the male lead of the sweet, doting romance!!!
Listening to the screams coming from the inner chamber, Zhao Xian’s brow furrowed tightly.
In the modern era, giving birth was dangerous even with such advanced medical equipment, let alone here. Her heart clenched with every scream from inside.
“Nanny He, immediately send someone to call the Young Master back.”
His own wife was at home, her life hanging by a thread while giving birth, and he still had the mood to be out sightseeing with his benefactor’s daughter.
How could someone like that have the audacity to get a happy, grand reunion ending?
As she spoke, Zhao Xian added, “Also, take the estate’s calling card and summon an imperial physician. Request a master of gynecology. Hurry.”
She couldn’t figure out why she had transmigrated, nor did she know if she was in the abusive novel or the sweet one.
Judging by the situation, it was highly likely the abusive one.
In that case, wouldn’t she be the evil mother-in-law!!!