A Laid-Back Concubine's Daily Life Raising Children

Upcoming stories: My Stepmother Is Devoted to Childrearing (Qing Dynasty), Spring Garden Notes. Click my author page to see them, and please add them to your reading list!

Meng Yunhe, the third daughter born to a concubine in the family of the Vice Minister of Rites, is gentle and virtuous. She raised her younger brother and sister, becoming known throughout the capital as a "child-rearing whiz."

Child-rearing? What a joke. She can't be bothered with any of that.

The new Meng Yunhe just wants to lie flat like a salted fish and accept her younger siblings' "offerings" with a clear conscience.

Her legitimate elder sister's marriage is still up in the air, so how could a well-behaved concubine-born daughter like her possibly marry before her? Her anxious mother spends all day crying.

Her legal wife mother can't stand the concubine's incessant chatter and is at her wits' end. She goes to great lengths to find Meng Yunhe a match, choosing a wealthy family where she can keep lying flat.

But just as her elder sister is about to marry into a powerful family, she's unhappy that the groom-to-be fathered a child before the wedding. She uses trickery to switch her marriage with Meng Yunhe's.

The other family is naturally furious that the Ning family went back on their word and pulled a switch. But when they hear that Meng Yunhe is good with children... well, she can stay home and look after their sickly son.

When her mother hears, she cries so hard that her tears and snot run together.

"My poor girl! I heard that the master has a green face and fangs, and spends years at war without coming home even once. You don't even have a child to rely on, and now that heartless bunch is sending my daughter into a den of wolves..."

A husband who earns money, is away from home most of the time, and doesn't expect her to give birth! Where could she find a better deal?

As for him having a green face and fangs... out of sight, out of mind. He doesn't come home anyway.

Meng Yunhe smacks the table, startling her mother, who was crying with gusto.

"I'll marry him!"

After marrying into the family, Meng Yunhe really does live a carefree life. Her marriage partner doesn't even come home for the wedding ceremony.

As the mistress of the household, she can do whatever she likes! So she lies even flatter than before.

And she gets a sickly stepson, too.

Every day, Meng Yunhe lounges in a grand armchair with her legs crossed, bossing the sickly boy around.

She feels like life has reached its peak!

Si Yuzhou lost his mother at birth. His father is away from home most of the time, and he has been frail since childhood. The doctor says he won't live past ten. After hearing that again and again, Si Yuzhou has lost the will to live.

Then... he gets a stepmother.

His stepmother is domineering, lazy, and gluttonous. She spends all day playing cards and listening to opera, turning the whole household upside down.

Worst of all, she takes advantage of his father's absence to order him around all day, treating him like a servant.

Si Yuzhou secretly vows to drive this stepmother out of the house!

And so, fighting with his stepmother becomes the most passionate and persistent pursuit of his life!

No matter how much they fight, though, his stepmother remains unshakable.

She's ferocious in front of him, but cries and plays the victim in public, making everyone scold him for being an ungrateful son who mistreats his stepmother.

So Si Yuzhou tries even harder. As they keep fighting, he somehow lives past ten?

And his health keeps getting better, too!?

A little scene:

Years later, Meng Yunhe returns to her parents' home in grand style, holding her husband's hand in one and the hand of the chubby boy she's raised in the other.

Meng Yunhe smiles as she strokes the hair on the top of her boy's head.

Si Yuzhou snaps, "Stop touching my head!"

Meng Yunhe's eyes immediately turn red as she complains to Si Hexiao, "Husband, our son is being mean to me!"

Si Hexiao hurriedly comforts his sweet wife, then turns to his son with a frighteningly cold expression.

"When we get home, you'll be punished by the family rules!"

Watching from a dark corner, her face weathered by years of hardship, her legitimate elder sister grits her teeth at the sight.

A few things to know:

1. This is my favorite kind of farming-life story, with everyday family life, household intrigue, raising children, and a romance that begins after marriage. The son is not the male lead; his identity will be explained later.

2. Updates daily at six.

★★ Upcoming story: The Empress Is Delicate and Frail (Qing Dynasty)

Qingning transmigrates into the body of Niohuru, Kangxi's second empress.

Known to history as a short-lived empress, Qingning just wants to eat and drink well for the rest of her life. Who would want to serve that old Kangxi anyway!

Whenever Kangxi visits Qingning, she's always weak and frail, coughing as if she's about to breathe her last. Kangxi is afraid that if he stays any longer, his empress really will drop dead...

As soon as Kangxi leaves, Qingning sits bolt upright in bed, full of energy, and starts a party in Kunning Palace with a bunch of boys.

"Yinzhi, pass me the plum wine on the table!"

"Baocheng, let's jump rope!"

"Baoqing, do ten push-ups!"

"Yinzhen, that jump through the hoop of fire was amazing!"

Kangxi thinks Kunning Palace is always noisy, with a terrible racket, and several of his sons keep running over there.

Kangxi calls his sons over and interrogates them with a dark expression. But with tears in their eyes, they all say in unison:

"Father, we really are just visiting Empress Mother!"

"Her health never seems to improve, and your son is so worried!"

"Your son is scared that if he doesn't stay with Empress Mother, he won't get to see her again!"

Seeing how sincere and filial his sons are, Kangxi believes them and even starts to cry along with them.

But the noise from Kunning Palace gets louder and louder, clattering and banging as if the whole palace is about to be torn down.

Kangxi grows more and more suspicious.

Could Kunning Palace be... haunted?

★ Upcoming story: Spring Garden Notes

Zheng Xiuning transmigrates as the concubine-born daughter of the Minister of Revenue. One day, she marries the fourth son of the Duke of Anguo's household, making a major leap up the social ladder.

There are strict rules and endless troubles in a big household, but what does any of that have to do with Zheng Xiuning? Her heart is set on the Dao. She won't be burdened by worldly matters and just wants to live the same comfortable, lazy life as before...

But the young man she's married to doesn't see it that way.

"Xiuning, we were married young, and you've always loved me sincerely. I will make you the most honored woman in the world!"

Zheng Xiuning: What on earth is going on!

★ A friend's story: The Concubine Consort's Daily Life of Eating, Drinking, and Getting Promoted (Qing Dynasty), by Lin Jingyue

★ I also have completed stories, My Stepmother's Child-Rearing System (Qing Dynasty) and The Concubine's Daughter Huatang. Click my author page to find them~

Theme: Loving yourself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.