One Lifetime Is Never Enough

1.5 Ji House

A woman, whose physical and facial features not looking any older than late thirties, was silently examining the row of little girls who were currently bowing their thin bodies towards her direction. There was about ten arms-length distance from where they were bowing to where she was half-sitting, half-lying on a carved mahogany daybed. It was stylishly decorated with embroidered cushions and lined with silk covered mattresses. By her side, a silent maid stood, ready to attend to her needs.

The daybed was raised slightly on a platform. Behind the platform, a wide window with thin muslin curtains slightly swayed from the breeze. Just under the low platform, by the wall, a younger woman of around mid-thirties, sat quietly with her attention on the cup of tea she was drinking.

From their attires, both women were certainly of the higher strata of the society. In Ji residence, they obviously were immediate members of the family.

Despite looking very well-maintained, with no apparent wrinkle on her face, the woman on the daybed looked somewhat wane and pale. The air was cold, but the maid by her side had to constantly wipe small beads of sweat on her forehead. She did not look healthy.

"Madame, the weather is cold," Meng-momo hurriedly walked to the daybed, and frowned when she felt the woman's icy skin. She threw a dark glance at the maid, "How have you been looking after the Madame! Letting her sit by an opened window in such cold weather!"

The maid quickly knelt on the floor, apologizing profusely, "This servant deserves to die! This servant deserves a punishment!"

"Meng-momo," the woman sighed, her voice soft but carried a stern tone, "It was me who was feeling warm. The breeze feels very nice and I called Chu-mei to accompany me reciting poetry and drinking tea."

The woman holding the cup of tea, Second Madame Hai FenChu, softly smiled in response upon being mentioned.

The woman that Meng-momo was attending to was the first official wife of Ji ChanFang, Wu JianRui. Wu JianRui was actually only five years younger than Meng-momo who was already approaching fifty, although her complexion looked much younger. Females of the wealthy families had their ways to keeping young. However, ever since giving birth to her daughter at an age that was considered very late to bear a child, her physique had become weaker. Although it was not life threatening, she constantly had to be on medication. And with her age and weak body, it was impossible to bear another child.

Ji LanBai(1), the only pearl in the Ji house born by Wu JianRui, was extremely doted by everyone in the family.

Ji ChanFang dearly loved Wu JianRui. They had been childhood sweethearts, promising themselves to each other since when they were children. When Ji ChanFang had to leave the capital for his military advancements, Wu JianRui was stubborn and rejected various marriage prospects, having promised her heart to him. Even when she passed the society's norms of marriageable age, she waited for Ji ChanFang.

Years after marriage, when they constantly could not produce an offspring, Wu JianRui herself searched for a suitable candidate to be his concubine. With her husband's standing and status, she knew how important it was that Ji ChanFang had an heir.

Hai FenChu was selected as she had a suitable background: she was only the third daughter from a concubine of a small town's official who had passed away. Her status was not high so her family would not be troubled that she was to enter the general's household as just a concubine. If anything, with her past status as merely a concubine's daughter and with no backing after her father's death, entering the prestigious general's household was like winning a lottery. There was no trouble as her official father had passed away and there was no one else from her previous family to claim this 'prestige'.