In truth, the women's legion members received quite a generous monthly allowance, and naturally each of them got plenty of the little gifts distributed as rewards—so many that they could never give them all away. Even so, Li Zhier was moved to the point that tears began to well in her eyes when I gave her one.
I couldn't help saying, "You're moved to tears by this? Is this your way of protesting that I'm usually too harsh on you?"
Li Zhier sniffed and said, "No..."
I smiled. I had thought she would argue back, but she surprisingly didn't berate me even now. She really did have a good temperament. The women's legion members naturally adored the little girl and all gathered around to talk to her. I stopped paying attention to her and focused on playing with the child, while listening to Grandmother and Mother chatter endlessly about Rujin.
A child in the Household was like a treasure, so it was no wonder the elderly kept repeating those interesting little happenings without end. Not long after night fell, Grandmother issued me an eviction order. "All right. Don't stay here too long. Go do whatever you ought to be doing. The Household has so few descendants, and there's been no movement at all in the past six months. That isn't a good omen. It's time to liven up the harem."
Mother also glanced at me and said, "With such a vast Household and enterprise, do you no longer know what your proper business is? Leave the minor matters outside to the officials. Our line has always been thin. Producing descendants is your lifelong duty."
Seeing the two elders gang up on me, the considerate Zhao Qian smiled and came to my rescue. "The younger sister Ran whom my husband invited