"Yulian is here."
The old madam sat in the hall of honor, surrounded by married women and young maids showering her with auspicious words. Her complexion had been poor and her expression weary, but the moment she heard the greeter's announcement, she immediately straightened up.
"Quick, quick, let her come in so I can see her. That girl hasn't come to the capital in years—I wonder how she's been? And my little grandson, has his health recovered? They all say the Lu Family's Hall of Returning Spring has miraculous medical skills, yet they couldn't even take proper care of my little grandson Wu-bing. Honestly..."
The two gorgeously dressed women in their forties or fifties darkened at once. They thought to themselves that the old madam had treasured her youngest daughter since childhood, always calling her sensible, obedient, filial, and blessed.
She looked down on her two elder daughters. Whenever she became angry, she even scolded them for being harsh and penny-pinching, saying that even after marrying, they would never gain any standing in their husbands' households.
The facts proved that the old madam's judgment was indeed sharp in some respects. Her eldest and second daughters truly held little status in their husbands' homes and could not keep their husbands in line. One after another, those men took concubines as though they were flying, while their wives' natal families received no benefits from their husbands' households.
Still, they had married into families of court officials and noble houses. Even a neglected principal wife was still a principal wife. Whether her life was good or bad was invisible to outsiders; as long as she stepped outside with glory on her face, that was enough.
As for the old madam's favorite youngest daughter, regardless of whether she lived well or poorly, she had