Yun Shuyao felt quite innocent—she hadn’t raised her daughter like a son at all. She had taught her daughter all the proper rules and etiquette that girls should know, without omitting anything.

She had self-awareness. She wasn’t the kind of person with the ability to lead an era of revolutionary change, to push this world’s progress forward from feudal times to a socialist era—she wasn’t that daughter of destiny.

Against such a backdrop, teaching her daughter to be unconventional wouldn’t be good for her, especially while her daughter was still young and her values were still being formed.

Because one careless mistake could lead to her saying inappropriate things or doing inappropriate actions that others might witness.

In this era where a single wrong word could lead to condemnation, this would be harming the child.

Yun Shuyao pulled out her daughter’s schedule to show Lin Ruhai: “Is there something wrong with it?”

Of course there was nothing wrong with this schedule—Lin Ruhai had participated in creating it. He knew what classes his daughter attended and what content she studied. What he wanted to discuss wasn’t about this aspect.

“Don’t you think Luo Yu’s temperament is perhaps a bit too lively?”

She had cursed at someone immediately.

Without any hesitation, making him feel as if he were watching a mischievous tomboy.

Yun Shuyao: ?

She didn’t understand: “What do you mean ‘too lively’? Do you think Luo Yu’s temperament isn’t good?”

Lin Ruhai shook his head: “It’s not that it’s not good.”

Yun Shuyao: “Since it’s not bad, then it must be good.” She was very satisfied with her daughter’s temperament.

What was wrong with cursing? This time the other party had clearly provoked the situation, and her daughter hadn’t even used profanity—it was very much in keeping with the refinement of a young lady from a distinguished family.

Seeing Yun Shuyao’s satisfied expression, Lin Ruhai was speechless.

His requirements for his daughter were that she should be learned and mannered, with a pure heart and refined quality. He had no specific limitations regarding her temperament. It was just that society generally required women to be chaste and quiet. But thinking about it, although they were Han people, they were under the banner system, and many Manchu young ladies were heroic and spirited—their upbringing methods were quite different from Han daughters.

Cursing certainly wasn’t exclusively a boy’s privilege.

Having a somewhat fierce temperament wasn’t a problem either.

Lin Ruhai suddenly thought of his daughter’s face, which was becoming increasingly outstanding as she grew.

With her daughter looking like this now, there was no need to worry that she would be disdained by her future husband’s family for her appearance.

In any case, having a fierce temperament meant she wouldn’t suffer losses, and looking at it this way, she had been taught very well—she even knew to help her sister out of difficult situations and defend her.

Caring for siblings.

Lin Ruhai didn’t want to see a day when his several children would regard their brothers and sisters facing difficulties with indifference.

Lin Ruhai shook his head and pondered for a moment: “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

He thought about his daughter’s horseback riding lessons.

She performed exceptionally well.

Although the instructor hadn’t completely let her operate independently due to her young age, the mentality and talent she displayed were even better than her younger brother’s.

Lin Yunhai no longer raised the issue of Luo Yu’s education. He thought of Ying Yu. Her courage was indeed a bit lacking, but this couldn’t be blamed on her.

Compared to when she was younger, Ying Yu’s health had improved considerably, but compared to ordinary children she was still somewhat weaker. If the weather suddenly changed, or if the window was opened too wide at night, or if she wore too few clothes, she would easily fall ill. She often recuperated in her own courtyard, staying within that small patch of sky.

Once she came out and moved around more, her courage would grow.

Lin Ruhai took a sip of tea. It was flower tea—Yun Shi consistently enjoyed this preference.

It also had a few goji berries and red dates added, giving it a slightly sweet taste that wasn’t to Lin Ruhai’s liking.

He put down the teacup and instructed the maid: “Is there any of the Maojian tea I had sent over before?”

Naturally there was.

Yun Shuyao rarely drank tea leaves. The tea Lin Ruhai sent was basically only brewed when he came over.

Since he had come over suddenly this time, naturally they hadn’t prepared the tea he wanted to drink in advance.

Lin Ruhai: “Can you cultivate a second Eighteen Scholars camellia?”

The flowers and plants Yun Shi tended were becoming increasingly excellent, especially the recent Eighteen Scholars camellia, which even made Lin Ruhai applaud in admiration.

It was just a pity that such treasures weren’t common.

Moreover, word had leaked out and reached others’ ears. Someone had pestered him to hold a flower-viewing banquet, and then through persistent pleading, had traded it away.

When there would be another such plant, who knew.

Yun Shuyao smiled apologetically: “Master, you know this requires the right timing, location, and harmony—it cannot be forced.”

Rarity increases value. No matter what something is, no matter how precious it usually is, once there’s more of it, its value will plummet. As an excellent seller, one must learn to control output and elevate prestige. This way, without too much effort, she could earn substantial profits.

Lin Ruhai asked about the Eighteen Scholars camellia, and Yun Shuyao asked about jade stones.

Over these years, she had obtained the second heavenly treasure useful to her spirit mirror.

It was also a jade stone that appeared ordinary and common, but upon approaching it, the spirit mirror’s reaction wouldn’t deceive her. After absorbing that one, her spirit mirror appeared somewhat brighter, and the patterns on it became clearer, but how long until its complete restoration, she didn’t know.

Since then, she had developed a hobby of purchasing ordinary jade stones.

Her reason for purchasing was ready-made: buying some attractive jade stones to place on potted plants, complementing each other beautifully.

As for why they all appeared to be ordinary jade stones, Yun Shuyao had her speculations. If they were radiant and lustrous with precious value, they would have been discovered by others long ago. Only treasures concealed like this gave her the opportunity to find bargains.

Lin Ruhai nodded, somewhat helpless: “You, I really don’t know how you make your selections.”

Each time she would have large batches delivered, but in the end would only keep a small portion.

It wasn’t because of price.

Nor was it purely because of appearance—he didn’t know what her selection criteria were.

Yun Shuyao smiled slightly: “If I’m interested, I keep them. Money earned is meant to be spent. I earn a lot, so taking out a portion to satisfy my interests isn’t excessive.” If it weren’t for the fact that she had examined those top-grade jade stones and found they didn’t contain hidden mysteries, she could earn even more.

Lin Ruhai nodded.

Thinking about her current income, he sometimes had to sigh.

Shuyao truly was… resourceful in making money.

Thinking about when she first entered the household, she didn’t even have a set of decent jewelry. Now she could earn tens of thousands of taels of silver per year.

If luck was good and she cultivated rare treasures, her income could easily exceed one hundred thousand taels. It was just that she didn’t flaunt it, so many people didn’t know she could earn this much.

He could roughly estimate because he calculated based on the quantities coming and going.

Although this was also related to him protecting her from others setting traps, overall, it was still because the finished products she cultivated were good.

This amount—some high-ranking officials’ annual additional income was probably about this much, perhaps even less.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Seeing that Lin Ruhai had nothing more to say, Yun Shuyao picked up her paintbrush and continued studying her painting. She had been working on this painting for several days and still hadn’t finished it.

It looked complete, but she felt it was still missing something.

Lin Ruhai walked over, and after appreciating the painting for a while, he pointed to a corner: “You’re missing something here. Adding a pair of mandarin ducks or a crane would be more appropriate.”

Lin Ruhai looked at this painting, and the more he looked, the more he nodded inwardly.

Her progress was visible to the naked eye.

Shuyao’s painting skills could be said to have been brought out entirely by his hand, but in this regard, Lin Ruhai had to say it was a pity—a pity she was born a daughter.

In painting, she was very good at capturing the spirit and essence of subjects, and she knew a perspective-like painting method. Under her brush, living things appeared extraordinarily lifelike. If she had been born male and continued to pursue this deeply, she would be sufficient to become a great master.

Unfortunately, being born female, it wasn’t that she couldn’t pursue this path, but compared to men, she naturally had many limitations.

Lin Ruhai supported her continuing to pursue this deeply.

Faced with Lin Ruhai’s praise, Yun Shuyao could only smile modestly.

Actually, she knew this was just taking advantage of having seen much in the later world. Some things—for example, when she painted tigers—how could the original host, a boudoir lady, have seen tigers and been able to paint their spirit and essence?

But she was different. She hadn’t seen them in reality either, but she had seen them on television, on posters, and later in the apocalypse she had fought life-and-death battles with mutated beasts. It was perfectly normal for her to be able to paint their spirit and essence.

Moreover… how many people in their student days hadn’t learned from manga and drawn a few strokes in their notebooks? If they had interest, they would even go study it.

She hadn’t studied sketching formally, but her desk-mate in school had liked painting and eventually chose the arts examination to become an art student. Through constant exposure, she knew a little.

She didn’t want to leave her name in history—she held the mindset that having more skills wouldn’t burden her.

If one day she could return to the modern world, material things couldn’t be taken back, but learned knowledge and skills were different.

With a skill to rely on, she wouldn’t have to become a wage slave blessed with 996 work schedules again.

Making a living would become an easy matter.

Her calligraphy and painting had improved greatly compared to her original self, but there was one area of progress that was quite slow—that was studying medicine.

She could now take pulses, but only with superficial skill. However, she was now very familiar with medicinal cuisine and supplementary prescriptions. If she returned to the modern world, opening a medicinal cuisine restaurant wouldn’t be a problem. Still, she wanted to learn traditional Chinese medicine.

It was just that since there was still plenty of time, she wasn’t in a hurry.

Yun Shuyao didn’t follow Lin Ruhai’s suggestion to paint mandarin ducks or cranes.

Her attitude toward Lin Ruhai now was certainly different from when she first entered the household.

Like now, he could say what he wanted, but whether she painted it or not was her own business.

However, after his reminder, she did indeed feel that area was suitable for adding something. She felt that beside it was a bamboo grove, which would be very suitable for adding a national treasure.

She had also heard people mention this adorable creature called the iron-eating beast and could paint it based on descriptions of its appearance.

As for what would happen if she didn’t obey… she was now a veteran who had worked for many years. Once a veteran grasped a superior’s character, of course she would seek conveniences for herself within the permitted range.

She knew Lin Ruhai wouldn’t mind these things.

Lin Ruhai indeed said nothing. Looking at the form she had sketched out with just a few strokes, he thought for a moment: “This is a cat-bear?”

Yun Shuyao: “Right, cute, isn’t it?” The national treasure’s charm value was no joke.

Lin Ruhai couldn’t help but nod—it was indeed endearingly clumsy: “You like it? I’ll inquire about it another day.”

Yun Shuyao: “!!!”

This was the rhythm of being able to raise a national treasure?

Oh right, at this time it wasn’t yet a national treasure—as long as one had the capability, one could raise it!

The way Yun Shuyao looked at Lin Ruhai changed instantly.

If she could really pet a national treasure, this wouldn’t just be her superior anymore—she’d be willing to call him Father!

Lin Ruhai: …?

…

Concubine Mei learned that her daughter had been put in a difficult position today, and also learned that it was her younger sister who had helped her out of the situation. She snorted inwardly—that girl Luo Yu knows how to curry favor, she knows how to show her cleverness, truly following in Yun Shi’s footsteps. Look, isn’t the Master now at Concubine Yun’s place?

She cursed under her breath, but thinking that the other side also hadn’t given birth to a second child, her mood improved somewhat.

Everyone was the same, evenly matched.

While she was thinking about this, the Old Madam was also contemplating related issues.

In the world of her dream, she hadn’t been without a grandson—he had just died young, living to age three. Despite using every possible means, he still hadn’t survived.

She had already changed so many people’s destinies; she should also be able to change this grandson’s fate.

When Jia Min was about to give birth to Daiyu, her grandson would also be coming.

This time she would protect him well, not letting Lv Lan go into premature labor, allowing her grandson to arrive safely and peacefully into this world.

She thought about her son’s rear courtyard.

Currently, the rear courtyard still had those same people.

The first was Jia Min, then the two concubines, and then three chamber maids.

She had established the rule that only those with children could be promoted to concubine; otherwise, they remained chamber maids. Over all these years, the three of them had no happy news, so they were still chamber maids.

Among the three chamber maids, Lv Lan and Lv Liu had served Lin Ruhai very early, had deeper seniority, and higher status. As for Zhao Xinghua, although she came as part of Jia Min’s dowry, because she still hadn’t consummated the relationship, she had no voice even with Jia Min. Even a decent maid spoke louder than her.

And her grandson who died young had come from Lv Lan’s belly.

The Old Madam hoped things would go well this time.

She only had one grandson.

Of course, she didn’t think it was enough.

If possible, she wished for ten or eight of them—a house full of descendants wouldn’t be too many at all.

Speaking of this, she couldn’t help but feel regret. The two concubines brought into the household on the master’s advice were indeed as Master Zhiliao said—beneficial for offspring. They had both given birth to children, but unfortunately, after that one time, there had been no more news.

She would have liked to consult with Master Zhiliao again to see if something had gone wrong somewhere, but unfortunately, after that, Master Zhiliao had vanished without a trace. After all this time, she had never heard any rumors about him anywhere else.

Sometimes the Old Madam hazily speculated whether Master Zhiliao had been specially sent by Heaven to solve her difficulties.

Thinking this way seemed a bit self-important—their family hadn’t reached the level where a worldly master would specially descend to resolve their difficulties.

…

Time flowed on, and Jia Min’s belly rose high—she was about to give birth.

Overall, her belly wasn’t too large, but because her figure was slender, it looked rather alarming.

This was a critical time. The Old Madam gave orders, raised everyone’s spirits, and insisted on a safe delivery. Everything else was already prepared.

What made the Old Madam somewhat displeased was that she hadn’t been able to get much involved, but thinking that the Jia family people wouldn’t harm Jia Min in such an important matter, she didn’t insist.

Then the Old Madam calculated the months—Lv Lan should have conceived.

So she had Doctor Zhou take everyone’s pulse to see if there would be any discrepancies.

If a pregnancy pulse was actually detected, there was no rush to announce it—they would conceal it first and wait until after Jia Min gave birth to announce it. They feared her temperament would lead to overthinking, and this critical moment wasn’t the time for her to be overthinking.

Fortunately, this matter occurred without any mishaps.

Doctor Zhou gave her a satisfactory response: “Congratulations, Old Madam, Miss Lv Lan is with child!”