The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

Song Ci couldn’t sleep.

Since Song Ci was diagnosed with early-stage dementia, Nanny Gong often keeps watch at night, accompanying her to sleep. Seeing Song Ci tossing and turning now, she climbed up from the small cot.

”Madam, are you having trouble sleeping? Shall I light some Calming Incense for you?”

Song Ci turned her head and smiled awkwardly, saying, ”Don’t light that thing; it’s too stifling. Come up here, let’s have a chat.”

Nanny Gong was used to this, seeing she had moved inward, she came to the side of the bed, laid down and asked, ”What’s on your mind now?”

”I just thought of Aunt Lu.”

Nanny Gong was taken aback for a moment and said, ”Why did she come to your mind suddenly?”

”Today when the elder mentioned her, I couldn’t remember her at all, and things from the past seemed completely forgotten. I can’t even recall how she died. How about you?” Song Ci asked softly.

Nanny Gong placed her hands flat on her abdomen, looked at the top of the canopy, and said, ”I entered the Song Family in the ninth year of Shengping. The third master and the others were already grown and aware of things. By then, Aunt Lu had passed away long ago, so I don’t know much.”

”Oh.”

”However, back in the palace, I did hear the other madams gossiping about you and the Song Family.”

”Hmm?”

Nanny Gong’s eyes glinted deeply, and she said, ”You and the Empress Dowager were as close as sisters, naturally drawing envy from some, leading to tales of the Song Family being dredged up and gossiped about.”

”And what did they say? The elder mentioned Aunt Lu died in childbirth labor. Could they be saying I tampered with it? I have no memory of such a thing.”

Nanny Gong glanced at her, then her lips moved as she said, ”Perhaps it’s painful memories that you’ve chosen to forget; but being just an aunt, there’s not much worth remembering.”

”So what did they say?”

”Aunt Lu was only fourteen when she got involved with the old master, and gave birth at fifteen, and it was twins. Can you imagine how dangerous it was? Besides, Aunt Lu used to be an official’s daughter, frail and delicate, could she possibly withstand the pains of childbirth at such a young age?”

Song Ci nearly jumped up from the bed: ”What, so young? Song Kun, that damn bastard, his deeds are beyond reproach.”

”Had the old master not taken her in, Aunt Lu might have been forced into a life of degradation.”

Song Ci: ”...”

What kind of talk is this?

”You’ve really forgotten; Aunt Lu’s father was a seventh-rank County Magistrate, stripped of his title and sent back to his hometown following a scandal. Upon encountering the old master, Aunt Lu was given to him as a concubine at a tender age of pre-adolescence.”

”And the Lu family?”

”The third madam is the granddaughter of the Lu family; Aunt Lu was her aunt.”

”But why was there talk of her being forced into a life of degradation despite being an official’s daughter?”

Nanny Gong scoffed, ”The Lu family originated from peasants. It was Aunt Lu’s father who passed the Scholar examination to become an official, then took a concubine who bore Aunt Lu, a remarkable beauty. Naturally, the Lu Matriarch, thinking of the family’s livelihood, wouldn’t keep such a daughter idly, looking to trade her for silver coin instead. After all, going from luxury to simplicity isn’t easy; how could they be content with farming again?”

Song Ci said naively: ”So, Aunt Lu was essentially a daughter from a lesser branch.”

A daughter from a lesser branch becomes a concubine, gives birth to illegitimate children, and then passes away prematurely.

Nanny Gong said, ”That’s the gist of what I heard, that when the old master took in Aunt Lu, quite a sum of silver coin was spent, causing a lot of discontentment. They say you resented Aunt Lu and the Lu family, and that you tampered with her childbirth.”

Song Ci: ”...”

This version is soaked in melodrama, isn’t it?