Jiang Wan only sighed secretly whenever she thought of her birth mother, Yu Xi. In her past life, Yu Xi was a woman Jiang Wan looked down on from the bottom of her heart. She always felt that such women, for some superficial glory, lost the most basic requirements for human nature, and were extremely short-sighted, doing things that harmed others without benefiting themselves. But in this life, everyone in the world could look down on Yu Xi, except for Jiang Wan herself.

  Yu Xi was a woman who grew up under the care of the Yu family, she was the eldest daughter of the main line, from a young age, she had an outstanding appearance and was intelligent and clever, deeply loved by her elders and peers. Under the perfect protection of the Yu family, she did not experience any struggles between the main and concubine lines, but grew up like a flower in a greenhouse. After entering the Jiang family, she lost the halo of the Yu family, at first, the confident her did not feel much different. But without the halo, she seemed duller in Jiang Anhes eyes, fortunately, she got pregnant soon after entering the house.

  Jiang Anhe faced her, and at first, he thought she was quite refreshing. After all, Yu Xixi compared to his wise and dignified wife had more youthful energy and a unique charm; compared to those concubines of his who always lowered their heads, Yu Xixi was more lovely and interesting to talk to. After Yu Xixi became pregnant, Jiang Anhe looked forward to the birth of the child, hoping that this child would help ease the tense relationship between the Jiang and Yu families.

  After Yu Xixi entered the Jiang family gate, Mrs. Jiang never allowed her to get close to her. Before she entered the gate, Mrs. Jiang had already gone to a distant place where Mr. Jiang was serving as an official on the pretext of taking care of Mr. Jiangs health. The real master of the Jiang ancestral house is Jiang An and his legitimate wife. She is a wonderful person, knowing that Yu Xixi once wanted to take her position as the legitimate wife, but when facing Yu Xixi, she was always smiling and speaking softly, very pleasant.

  After Yu Xi had children, her temper became more and more irritable. However, Jiang Anhes legitimate wife was always considerate of her, being thoughtful in every way. During Yu Xis pregnancy, she sent all sorts of nourishing foods to her courtyard as if they were free. Yu Xi was accustomed to others taking such good care of her and had never thought it improper. The harmony between wives was naturally the most beautiful with Jiang Anhe.

  After Jiang Wanru was born, Jiang Anhe was extremely disappointed. He had been hoping for a son, as only a son could ease the tension in the Yu family. As soon as he heard the news, he stormed out of the courtyard. It wasnt until after Jiang Wanrus 100th day that he stepped foot in the courtyard again. When Jiang Wanru was one month old, Jiang Anhe didnt give her a name. Instead, his wise and virtuous wife followed the ranking of their generation and named her Wanru according to the Wan character.

  After Jiang Wans birth, Jiang Anhe gradually became estranged from Yu Xiang. As Jiang Wan grew up day by day, it was clear that she had not inherited the good looks of her parents. Her appearance was ordinary, with a pair of eyes that were slightly larger, but there was no spark in them, making her look dull and lifeless. Jiang Anhe already had two beautiful daughters, and as for this third daughter, he couldnt bring himself to like her after taking a couple of glances at her.

  When Jiang Wan was one year old, Yu Xi went to her courtyard to see her. Outside the door, she heard a maid in the house say loudly: "Look at Third Misss eyes, they dont move at all, and she looks so dull. Ive seen Second Miss before, and her eyeballs were moving non-stop." Another maid laughed after hearing this and said: "Third Miss has the character wood in her name, and she isnt that lovely and clever either."

  Yu XiXi pushed open the door and saw four maidservants surrounding Jiang Wanru, who was lying on the bed playing. Yu XiXi pushed them aside and took a closer look at her own daughter, seeing that her eyes were fixed in one place, not moving for a long time. Indeed, just as the maidservants had said: "Theres nothing lovable about her." Since the girls birth, Yu XiXi had gradually experienced the feeling of falling from heaven to earth.

  Jiang Anhe no longer treated her with the same warmth as before, as if he had forgotten his promise. The people in the Jiang family looked at her with an air of disdain, and she felt that their gazes were filled with contempt, but when she looked closely, everyones face wore a flattering smile. Jiang Anhes wife was polite but distant towards her.

  Yu Xixi noticed her daughters abnormality and suddenly felt a surge of sadness. Her body was about to collapse to the ground, but fortunately, the maid who accompanied her as part of her dowry rushed over to support her and pinched her palm firmly. Yu Xixi sat down on the stool beside the bed, staring at her daughter in a daze, muttering: "Jiang Wanyu, this name wasnt chosen well. It turns out that she had a deeper meaning behind choosing this name, but I was too foolish to believe her literal explanation."

  She hastily went to observe the expressions of the four accompanying women, and with a forceful hand, she pulled on Yu Xis hand, reminding her: "Auntie, you misunderstood Madams love for Third Miss. Didnt you say before that Shu is a good character, bringing prosperity throughout ones life?" After hearing these words, Yu Xi let out a piercing and shrill laugh, and after a while, she said with a bewildered expression: "To brave the wind and rain, to endure hardships and labor, to experience many storms. I was wrong, I believed in a mans promise."

  Yu was talking about this name, and mentioned it to Jiang Anhe again, wanting to help her daughter change her name. But after listening to Yu talk for a while, Jiang Anhe showed a somewhat impatient cold face, saying: "You told me last time that you felt something was wrong with Wan Mei. I specially asked the doctor to take a look at her, and the doctor said shes fine, just not very active due to her temperament. You shouldnt be idle and bored all day, thinking of ways to stir up trouble."

  "There are a few mothers in the world who would be so thoughtful to give a name to a daughter. You not only dont know how to be grateful, but also take advantage of the situation to cause trouble in front of me, youre really disappointing. Ill say it again, I think this name is good for her. She used to tell me that our Ytongs name was too flashy, she was very naughty when she was young and always had health problems. It wasnt until a few years ago when her grandfather gave her the character Chóng that she finally calmed down. Now Yuwen is so much better, shes sturdy, can eat and drink well, not noisy, not troublesome, and easy to take care of."

  Jiang An had always thought that his legitimate wife was considerate of him and would not do anything to hurt him, unlike what Yu XiXi thought. So he deliberately kept a distance from Yu XiXi for half a year and instructed his wife not to take care of Yu XiXi too much, saying that she was an ungrateful person. After this incident, Yu XiXi also became less concerned about her daughter, no longer visiting her several times a day like before, but instead only going to see her every few days.

  Jiang Wanru stood in the cold room, forcing herself to open her hands and turn around. Her thoughts quickly followed suit. She thought of her own birth mother, thinking of that distant gaze from afar, the face full of tear stains. In her heart, she sighed softly, "A pitiful person must have a hateful place." Over the years, Yu Xixi had worried too much, and her body had never been very good. It was said that Jiang An had not set foot in her courtyard for nearly two years. She, like Jiang Wanru, was a person forgotten by the Jiang family.

  Jiang Wan watched with a cold eye as her stepmother handled things flawlessly, and from afar she observed her warm and elegant demeanor. She had been thoroughly defeated by her own mothers hands, yet didnt find it strange in the least. With such a formidable opponent, even though her own mother was defeated, she still maintained her honor.