Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 1: The People of Dongfu ()

When Qiao Lili arrived at Zhenxiayuan, the main hall of Zhenxiayuan was already full of people, and the sound of loud and low voices could be heard outside the door.

When she walked in, everyone stopped what they were talking about and looked at her. They saw a pretty woman in green walking in gracefully. She moved with light lotus steps, her dress fluttered, and her movements were measured. From head to toe, she was the lady of aristocratic family. You couldn't tell at all that she was dancing with a silver snake spear vigorously in the martial arts field an hour ago.

She had a graceful figure and stunning looks, and as she walked slowly, the tassels on her hair swayed only slightly.

A little more would be stiff and boring, a little less would be unruly and stingy.

During these four years, Qiao Lili wore plain clothes made of very ordinary materials. This was to pray for Bai Junzhe who was just going to the battlefield. In addition, her mother had passed away and she could not hide her grief. There was always a hint of worry between her brows and she did not want others to see it, so she usually kept her brows down and looked pleasing to the eye, which obscured her good looks by 50%.

Today, Qiao Lili came in a gorgeous dress, which not only surprised all the men and women in the East Palace in the hall, but also made even the old Duke's wife feel deeply moved.

In the past few years, she felt very distressed when she saw her granddaughter in her prime, wearing plain clothes and living a lifeless life. However, she had no way to comfort her granddaughter due to the pain of losing her mother, and her fiancé had gone to the battlefield, so her fear was understandable. So she could only let her waste her days.

Fortunately, everything is over. At the age of a flower, life should be bright and beautiful.

Among the four masters in the East Palace, the eldest master Qiao Yuan is an idle prodigal son, who can't do anything and spends every day hanging out in brothels. It's really a waste of his good name.

The second master, Qiao Gun, begged the old Duke Dingguo to give him an idle job in the Ministry of Revenue. He just went to report for work every day, and there were seldom any matters assigned to him. Although he was called a seventh-rank official, he was just in name only. He spent his days playing with cats and dogs. He was not lustful, but that was all. He was good at everything else. He fought cocks, dogs, crickets, and grasshoppers and crickets, and he kept bird cages and played with parrots. He never did any serious work.

For a man like him, it would be good enough if the old Duke was willing to let people give him a sinecure, let alone real power. If such a man had real power, he would be close to bringing the entire family into trouble.

The fourth master, Qiao Yi, is a man who loves money very much. He is not like the eldest and second master, one is a prodigal son and the other is not doing his job properly. On the contrary, he is very diligent and loves to do business. It is said that he is involved in several industries, but it is not known whether he is not good at business or just unlucky. Anyway, he sells pigs and cows at high prices, and sells pigs and cows at high prices. I have never heard that he has made any money, and the money he has lost is more than what the first and second masters have squandered combined.

Therefore, Qiao Lili's step-grandfather often sighed and said that it is better to do nothing and ruin the family than to work hard and not ruin the family.

But is this really the case? Qiao Lili, who has lived another life, can't help but think about it.

The Third Master Qiao Ren was born out of wedlock, the only one surviving among many illegitimate sons, which fully demonstrated that his aunt was more scheming. He passed the imperial examination, was sent to be a county magistrate, and took his aunt to the post neatly. If there was still an innocent person in the East Palace, it might be the Third Master.

Qiao Lili bowed slightly to greet the old Duke's wife: "Greetings, Grandmother."

The old Duke's wife was very happy when she saw Qiao Lili dressed up in her best clothes. "Lili, girls should dress brightly like you do today. Grandma likes it and she is happy."

Qiao Lili bowed again: "I was ignorant before, but I won't be like that again. I will dress beautifully every day to make my grandmother happy."

"Okay, okay, okay." The old Duke's wife smiled so much that wrinkles appeared on her face. She said okay over and over again. She saw the jade bracelet on her waist, which was the one she had given her a few days ago. She wanted to call Chuntao and give her some good things, but then she saw that the room was full of people from the East Palace, so she wanted to wait until they all left.

The three masters of the East Palace had not left yet after paying their respects to the old Duke's wife. Qiao Lili greeted them and their wives one by one.

Normally, the people in the East Palace were not very warm to her, and today they seemed to be a little disgusted with her.

The first to speak was the lady from the East Palace: "I heard that you broke off the engagement with that young general from the Bai Palace?"

Before Qiao Lili could say anything, the old Duke's wife interrupted and said coldly, "This is the emperor's intention. If you have any objections, then go to the emperor and talk to her."

She immediately turned around and said to Qiao Lili with a bright smile, "Lili, come and sit here with grandma." She waved at Qiao Lili and patted the side of her couch.

The eldest lady quickly stood up and apologized: "My niece-in-law doesn't dare."

The old Duke's wife didn't even look at her, her eyes were fixed on her granddaughter, watching her walk over to her and sit down beside her. Well, she was beautiful no matter how you looked at her.

Then he changed his expression in a second, put away the smile on his face, and said coldly: "Don't dare? That means you are a bully at home. Do you dare to say that at home?"

Qiao Yuan winked at her daughter Qiao Jiaojiao, signaling her to say something to save her mother. They didn't leave after paying their respects today because they wanted to talk about Qiao Lili's broken engagement. They didn't care who Qiao Lili married or not, but it could be said that her broken engagement affected the marriage of Miss Dongfu, so some compensation was necessary.

Qiao Jiaojiao relied on the fact that she was the eldest daughter of the East Palace and was usually domineering. When she came to the Duke's Mansion, Qiao Lili had been very low-key in the past few years and was unwilling to pay attention to her, which made her become arrogant and think that she could do whatever she wanted in this mansion.

Qiao Jiaojiao pointed at Qiao Lili angrily and said, "She is a woman who has just broken off her engagement, yet she still doesn't know how to be more demure. She dresses so flashily, does she want to go out and seduce someone again?" As soon as Qiao Lili came in, she became so jealous that her eyes were blazing with anger.

Originally, she was wearing a green dress that was newly released by Yuyi Pavilion that season, hoping to stand out among the sisters in the two mansions. However, Qiao Lili was also wearing green. The ethereal materials of brocade and fragrant cloud gauze made the green dress on her body look like a cabbage leaf in an instant.

Qiao Lili looked at the finger pointing at her, and her aura suddenly became fierce. In the past few years, there have been some people who don't know their place. "Cai Qi!" She just called out Cai Qi and said nothing else. Cai Qi moved and came to the side of Qiao Jiaojiao. She bent the finger that was pointing at Qiao Lili and had not yet retracted, and then slapped her twice with both hands.

"Can you, a concubine's daughter, criticize our young lady? I'm giving you face, right?"

According to the laws of the Great Yan State, concubines, maternal concubines, and maids are equivalent to slaves and can be sold or transferred to others. Children born out of wedlock are better off if they are favored, and to put it nicely, they are half the master. Those who are not favored are not as good as the servants and maids around legitimate sons and daughters.

She is a maid born out of wedlock from another room, yet she speaks rudely to the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion and gives orders. Shouldn't she be beaten and kept for the New Year?