Chapter 175 - 151: A Father’s Prestige Through His Daughter (3)

Xian’er was delicate and prone to tears, growing melancholic over the moon, flowers, or even snow. She was never suited to marrying into a great, influential family. Her parents had originally planned to find her a husband they knew well and could easily manage, but things took an unexpected turn, and their daughter insisted on entering the palace.

’The harem must be flooded with my daughter’s tears!’

At this thought, Ms. Zhang’s heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife.

This feeling of heart-wrenching pain lasted right up until the moment she saw Jiang Xian in the flesh.

"Mother, you’re here!"

Jiang Xian, with her large pregnant belly, had a whole retinue of eunuchs, palace maids, and nannies trailing behind her. "Your Highness should have waited inside. Why are you up and about...?"

"But I was so eager to see you, Mother."

Mindful of the many palace rules, Ms. Zhang first bowed to her daughter. Jiang Xian quickly helped her up and guided her back to a chair. When Jiang Xian had first transmigrated, she’d spent some time at home and remembered Ms. Zhang treating her exceptionally well. That, coupled with the original owner’s lingering affection, made it easy for her to call the woman ’Mother’.

Seeing Ms. Zhang’s nervous expression, Jiang Xian sent the palace maids to wait outside with orders not to enter unless summoned. "There are no outsiders now, Mother. Please, say whatever is on your mind. I have Bihua Palace under tight control. Even if they were to overhear a stray word, it would never leave these walls."

Her daughter’s face showed a composure Ms. Zhang had never seen before.

Ms. Zhang couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow. "For you to be so capable now," she said, "you must have suffered a great deal."

If the Six Palace Concubines heard this, they would surely explode.

’Gu Wan Yi? Suffered?’

’She’s the one who makes *others* suffer, that’s what’s true!’

"But now I’m also enjoying a life of wealth and privilege that others can only dream of. It’s not as hard as you imagine, Mother. Being able to provide for my parents and brother—that’s what I truly wanted. Come, tell me everything that’s happened since you arrived in the capital. I want to hear all about it."

So, Ms. Zhang recounted, one by one, all the fine treatment they had received since arriving in the capital.

As she spoke, she seemed timid, as if she felt unworthy of such a high position.

Her belly being so large, Jiang Xian preferred not to sit for long, and was more comfortable standing as she spoke. "I know that you and Father aren’t people who chase after wealth and status, or who are overly ambitious. But who doesn’t want to live a good life? We’re family. It’s only right and proper that you benefit from my position."

"Not long after my own mother passed away, you married Father. You took on a frail child who was as difficult to raise as a premature baby. When I was a little older, you taught me the etiquette and principles a young woman should know. When I first got my period, you were the one who explained what was happening. When you were washing my soiled sheets back then, did you have any idea that I would one day rise to prominence and become a concubine in the palace? ...Why did you put in so much effort as a stepmother? You could have just found a random family to marry me off to. Why did you have to go to their home to demand justice for me, only to be humiliated?"

Ms. Zhang’s face flushed. "I wasn’t as good as you make it sound, my dear girl..."

"When you and Father were good to me, you never thought about getting anything in return. So now that I’m treating you well, why do we have to obsess over whether you ’deserve’ it? Don’t say things like that anymore. I don’t like to hear it."

In her past life, Jiang Xian had never enjoyed a single day of familial affection.

The original owner of this body had been quite pampered by her parents. It was only from her current, objective adult perspective that Jiang Xian could appreciate how much hardship they had gone through. She herself didn’t care much for material luxuries, but she wanted her family to have the very best.

Ms. Zhang was overcome with a whirlwind of emotions as she listened.

Before coming to the capital, she had seen opera troupes perform plays about the epic love story between the Emperor and his favored concubine. She had assumed her daughter, with her head always in the clouds when it came to romance, had simply found a kindred spirit in the Emperor. She never expected that a trip to the palace would show her a daughter who was so clear-headed and perceptive—one who, beyond romance, also understood her duty to her family.

Ms. Zhang sniffled, holding back tears. "I never expected my children to become great successes. A stable, peaceful, and happy life would have been more than enough... Becoming a high-ranking concubine, or a son becoming the top scholar in the exams—I never dreamed of such things..."

"But on that note," Jiang Xian said, "you can’t think that way when it comes to raising my little brother."

Jiang Xian’s tone suddenly shifted. "I’ve already drawn up a comprehensive early education plan for my little brother and his nephew. My brother is already a month old—time is running out."