CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: LITTLE SISTER-IN-LAW, ELDEST NIECE

EDITOR: ATLAS STUDIOS

Long Yue had just returned to the room and taken a sip of tea when someone came to knock on the door.

The Li family’s few houses were all thatched cottages, and the doors were merely covered casually. The person knocked on the door, and it opened a crack. Long Yue saw her eldest niece, Li Xiangxiang, poking her head in.

This was her sister-in-law’s daughter. Her sister-in-law had given birth to a pair of twins, now twelve years old. In a few years, one will marry and one will be married off; it’s rather lively.

"Xiangxiang, do you have something to say?"

Long Yue saw her looking hesitant, which clearly meant she had come to discuss something.

Li Xiangxiang sniffed, remembering her mother’s instructions, and courageously stepped in, getting straight to the point: "Aunt, can I learn embroidery with Sister Qiao’er from the Chai family here at your place?"

The young girl blinked her big round eyes, looking at Long Yue with expectation.

Long Yue looked at her, remembering how in her previous life, after Li Qingmu became very influential, this little girl married into an aristocratic family. Sadly, she met the wrong person; that man was a wastrel, with many previous concubines in the house, and treated her badly after marrying. Once, he beat her when drunk, causing a miscarriage, almost taking her life!

Li Qingmu then brought people to beat that man up, crippling his future offspring. The entire Imperial Censorate accused him of being arrogant and demanded severe punishment. But the Emperor sent that noble offspring to Qiong Province, under the guise of recuperation...

Tsk, Qiong Province, that’s the southernmost area, desolate and uninhabited. I bet he would die on the way there before reaching Qiong Province.

Then people started saying that the Emperor favored traitorous villains, and the country was in danger. Some even said he was the Emperor’s illegitimate child; otherwise, why would he be favored so?

This incident stirred up everyone in the Capital City; even Long Yue, who had separated from him years ago, heard a bit of it.

"To be criticized as a traitorous villain is ultimately not good."

Long Yue knew her husband’s protective nature, but outsiders wouldn’t see it like that; they’d stay on their moral high ground and criticize, then do worse than Li Qingmu when it happened to them.

Retracting her thoughts, Long Yue looked at her niece. This girl had a rather agreeable nature but was overly obedient to her mother.

Mrs. Wang was timid but innately shrewd; even the marriage proposal was arranged by her. Relying on Li Qingmu wasn’t enough; she wanted to climb up to those noble families...

Now that Li Xiangxiang wanted to learn embroidery from her, it was surely Mrs. Wang’s idea.

Ha, you sure know how to make connections!

Long Yue smiled without warmth and said lightly, "Xiangxiang, do you really want to learn?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Learning embroidery isn’t something you accomplish in a day or two; it’s not as simple as you imagine. You might prick your fingers, bleed, and painful. Are you really sure?"

"I..." Li Xiangxiang hesitated but recalled her mother, Mrs. Wang’s words, saying that having a skill like embroidery would increase one’s stature as well as perhaps marry into a good family.

Who wouldn’t want to marry into a good family?

Li Xiangxiang was moved, so she gritted her teeth and said, "Uh-huh!"

"Alright then, Aunt will teach you! But since you haven’t touched embroidery before, we have to start by threading needles. You come to me daily to do it until you’re proficient; then we’ll start formally."

"Ah, threading needles?"

Li Xiangxiang was taken aback, thinking she’d start learning embroidery right away, but it’s just threading needles? Anyone can do that!

"What, you’re unwilling?"

"Ah, oh, I’ll get started right away!"

Threading needles is tedious work but reveals one’s temperament. Without patience, learning embroidery would be laughable and a waste of effort.

Subsequently, Li Xiangxiang took some needle and thread and went to Long Yue’s room.

Li Qingxue watched Li Xiangxiang go in, ran to her own mother, Mrs. Li Zhou’s place and shouted, "Mom, mom, I want to learn embroidery too!"

Mrs. Li Zhou was mending winter clothes, almost pricked her hand by her daughter’s call, "What’s all the fuss about? You’re still so young, wanting to learn embroidery? It’s too early!"

"Mom, it’s not early; I’ll be nine by year-end, and in five or six years, I’ll be getting married!"

Girls are ready for marriage at thirteen when they come of age, and Li Qingxue felt time was tight.

"Why do you want to learn embroidery? Let me tell you, I’ve got all your dowry prepared, so you don’t need to worry needlessly!"

"Mom, what’s that dowry worth? I want to marry into a good family and need to have some skills, right? I’m not educated, but if I can embroider, wouldn’t that make my husband’s family look at me favorably?"

"Well..."

Mrs. Li Zhou paused, never having thought of this. But hearing her daughter say it made sense indeed.

"Then... I’ll go talk to the third one’s wife."

"Mom, let Aunt teach me embroidery directly. I see she’s been making Xiangxiang thread needles, and that’s so boring—what’s so hard about threading needles; does it even require practice?"

Young Li Qingxue pouted, expressing dissatisfaction.

Long Yue was soon called by Mrs. Li Zhou.

"Third sister-in-law..." Mrs. Li Zhou seemed uneasy, lowered her voice seeing Long Yue, but steeled herself considering her daughter’s future, and said, "So, you’re teaching one anyway; why not teach Qingxue too?"

Long Yue chuckled, realizing they wanted a piece of the earnings she made from embroidery?

But this was within expectations, so she said, "Sure, Mom. Let Qingxue come along later."

"And..." Mrs. Li Zhou hesitated before saying, "Can’t you just directly teach Qingxue how to embroider flowers? Constantly threading needles seems simple, doesn’t it?"

"Oh, Mom specifically came to talk to me about this?"

Long Yue’s eyes flashed but disappeared, asking with a smile.

"Yes, and you know, my Qingxue isn’t very patient..."

"Mom, embroidery is delicate work and requires patience; otherwise, it’s better not to learn. If Qingxue wants to learn from me, she’ll have to follow my rules!"

Long Yue’s expression turned serious, losing her previous smile.

That’s setting boundaries and establishing rules here: seeking my help? Fine, but everything must be done according to my way—no funny business!

Mrs. Li Zhou felt slighted and was somewhat unhappy, but since she was asking for a favor, she couldn’t show a bad face. She forced a smile, "Sure, we’ll... go with what you said."

Long Yue saw her concede and smiled; this was a good start. It’s said that when there’s one, there will be two, with them repeatedly asking favors and following her rules. Over time, her authority in this family would solidify, and when the time was right, the family would be hers to manage.

It wasn’t because she coveted power; frankly, she didn’t care about managing the Li family with her status from the Minister Mansion.

The reason she wanted control was to avoid trouble they might cause her—anyone disrupting the family rules would be thrown out with a club!