Chapter 6: Unease

Selfishness is human nature; who among us is truly unselfish? If you treat me well, I will treat you well in return. But if you scheme against me, I won’t let you have it easy. To her, this was perfectly normal.

If she treated someone kindly, she expected double in return. And if anyone tried to take advantage of her, they must not blame her for being ruthless.

A sharp glint flashed in Meng Jiaoyue’s eyes. She would never allow anyone to harm those she cared about.

In her previous life, even the slightest malice was etched deeply in her mind. She would immediately crush it at its inception, using her little ledger to settle the scores.

This life had started well. She intended to live openly and freely. She believed that as long as she became strong enough, she could achieve that.

Meng Jiaoyue felt a bit weary; her head was heavy and she was sleepy. Unconsciously, she opened her mouth and yawned.

Seeing this, the head of the Meng family’s heart softened. How adorable his granddaughter was—even yawning looked charming.

“Everyone back off. You, as uncles, should watch your manners. If you spray spit onto the dear little one’s face, you’ll all be punished,” the family head said disdainfully, pushing his five sons aside.

His words snapped Meng Jiaoyue back to alertness. She felt more awake and pondered silently: Grandpa has quite a few sons.

In the delivery room, she had overheard the midwife calling her mother “Seventh Mistress” and her father “Seventh Master.” She wasn’t sure if her father had other brothers, but there were at least seven siblings.

Such a prosperous lineage!

In this life, she had many relatives.

She just didn’t know what kind of characters they were. Unfortunately, her spiritual energy was too weak to read their fortunes.

The five men grumbled, “Father, we are Meng family sons. Setting an example is the bare minimum. There’s no need to be so unrefined.”

The Meng family head ignored them and said to his wife, “Madam, the Meng family has had no daughters for hundreds of years. We must quickly take our dear little one to pay respects to our ancestors, register her on the family genealogy, let the ancestors see her and rejoice, and bless her to grow up safely and live a smooth and worry-free life.”

Madam Meng nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s go immediately.”

With that, she picked up Meng Jiaoyue and headed out, saying along the way, “Dear, we’re going to visit the ancestors.”

The six young mistresses were all astonished. Being registered on the genealogy immediately after birth was a privilege not even granted to the Meng family’s grandsons—they only entered the family records after age six.

As for the ancestral hall, these women could only enter twice in their lifetime: once on the day they married in to pay respects and be registered, and again after death for their memorial tablets.

Even Madam Meng, as the matriarch, was no exception.

***

The father-in-law was actually carrying Jiaoyue inside? Breaking family rules for the only girl of the Meng family?

Well, it wasn’t exactly breaking the rules. After all, this was the first daughter born to the Meng family, and the family rules didn’t forbid daughters from entering the ancestral hall, nor did it specify when daughters were to be entered in the genealogy.

So the rules only bound the women who married into the family.

But none of them felt any resentment; every family had similar traditions. When they were unmarried young ladies at home, the ancestral hall was also off-limits to girls.

At this moment, curiosity filled their hearts. Why did the father-in-law value the Meng family’s daughter so much? Was it simply because the family hadn’t had a girl for centuries, and this little niece was the first?

They all came from distinguished backgrounds—not royal, but from scholarly and prominent families. Having grown up surrounded by intrigue and scheming, none of them were innocent.

By contrast, the Meng family was a rare peaceful clan. The Meng men did not take concubines—unless they were childless at age thirty—but in hundreds of years, that had never happened.

Because they only wed one wife, the Meng family prevented such situations before marriage.

That was also why they were willing to marry in.

The six exchanged glances and followed along. If they couldn’t enter, they would wait outside. After all, they hadn’t seen what their little niece looked like yet.

Meng Wenxuan, Jiaoyue’s biological father, was pushed aside by the crowd. His face was a dark cloud. The woman holding was his own daughter, yet he was so ignored.

He hurried to catch up and walk toward the ancestral hall.

Upon arrival, Madam Meng reluctantly placed her granddaughter into her husband’s arms, teaching him how to hold the child comfortably.

The Meng family head finally held his granddaughter as he wished.

Though a bit stiff in his movements, his expression was one of treasuring a rare gem. Carefully, he stepped over the threshold of the ancestral hall and entered.

Meng Wenxuan and his five brothers followed closely behind. Meng Wenxi, the eldest uncle who had just returned after posting the announcement, also hurried after them.

As the eldest son, since the father was holding the little niece, it was his duty to offer incense. It was also a chance to see what the little niece looked like.

Meng Zeqiu, the steward in charge of offerings, had prepared everything as soon as he heard that the Seventh Young Master’s wife had given birth to a girl. He knew the family head well—he would definitely come to pay respects to the ancestors immediately. He just hadn’t expected the family head to register the girl’s name on the genealogy today.

So when the family head said he was going to the ancestral hall to offer respects, the steward hurried to set everything out.

***

After Meng Wenxi offered incense, he stood behind his father with his brothers.

The Meng family head knelt on the meditation cushion, holding Meng Jiaoyue, and first announced to the ancestors that the Meng family finally had a daughter. Her name was an ancestral name passed down, Jiaoyue, and this was to comfort the honored ancestors.

Only then did the seven ancestral masters present realize that the name was not chosen by the father, but by the ancestors themselves, which shocked them even more.

Meng Wenxi’s earlier suppressed thoughts resurfaced. Not only the father, but the ancestors seemed to have special expectations for the Meng family’s daughters.

Meng Wenxuan realized his desire to name his daughter had been dashed. Though reluctant, he knew opposing his father was useless.

However, while he couldn’t give her a formal name, he could still choose a childhood nickname.

Meng Jiaoyue was overjoyed. Not only was her name preserved, but so was her surname.

After all, the Meng surname was the only warmth she had known from the elder in her previous life. Even though she had been reincarnated, if she could, she wanted to keep the name Meng.

Hearing her grandfather say that the Meng family had not had a daughter in hundreds of years, she wondered if she was now to live a carefree life, born into ease.

Her heart was very happy. Although she had to start over from scratch after waking up, at least she had been born into a good family.

“The honored ancestors, the Meng family has finally awaited a daughter. The Meng family is saved,” said the family head emotionally.

Holding Meng Jiaoyue, he kowtowed three times.

Just as the joy lingered less than a minute, Meng Jiaoyue was stunned by her grandfather’s words. Why would the Meng family be “saved” just because they had a daughter? What was wrong with the Meng family? Did they really need a girl to save them?

Her good fortune was still warm in her grasp—was it really gone?

Unfortunately, her grandfather only said that much, leaving her puzzled and unable to guess the meaning.

But one thing was clear: the Meng family was not peaceful.

She longed to use her spiritual powers to scan the ancestral hall’s fortune, to understand the family’s fate and whether something was amiss. But today, her spiritual energy had already reached its limit.