My wife is a concubine - Chapter 2

Faced with his father’s anger, Bergman put her hands in her skirt pockets, raised her small face slightly, and crystal-clear tears welled in her eyes.

She blessed Bao Zhengtao and said softly and slowly to her father, “Dad is angry, Yaya understands. Yaya is ignorant, and the way she acted was wrong, but she was too anxious. Please don’t be angry with Yaya.”

She was so excited that she just wanted to throw herself into his arms, regardless of how many years she hadn’t seen her father. He was just as she remembered.

Bao Zhengtao pinched his brow, and when he saw his youngest daughter’s tearful little face, his stiff attitude immediately softened. “Cough. Tell me first: if there is something so important that you need your father’s help, Dad will consider whether to forgive you.”

Bao Si looked at her father’s attitude toward her sister and, with a faint, almost invisible smile on her lips, secretly thought that her sister would be fine with this attitude.

But what reason could her sister possibly have for needing their father’s help? Was it to help a petty person? Or was it a joke? If it was a joke, this could be serious.

Thinking of this, Fang Luodi’s heart rose again.

“My daughter had nightmares for three consecutive days, and in the dream, my father went to inspect the farmland under his rule, just like today. On the way back, he went to the Yongping River to inspect the embankment…”

“How can things in dreams be counted, and are they worth making a fuss about?” Bao Zhengtao was a little dumbfounded, then became disapproving. How could she be so superstitious at such a young age?

“Dad can send someone to check if there is a collapse on the river embankment. If not, my daughter is willing to be punished.” Seeing her father’s disbelief, Bergman explained further.

Bao Zhengtao pondered and stroked his mustache, looking at his daughter’s awe-inspiring and resolute attitude, with clear, shining eyes. He dubiously called Chang Sui Zhao Bao to give a few instructions and asked him to go back quickly.

Zhao Bao didn’t dare hesitate and left immediately.

Seeing that Bao Zhengtao had sent someone to investigate, Bergman poured a cup of tea from the pot and handed it to her father. “Dad, drink tea to moisten your throat. Since you’re idle, why don’t you let your daughter help loosen your shoulders?”

Bao Zhengtao took the tea from his youngest daughter, and when he heard that she was going to pat his shoulders, he quickly swallowed a sip. “Little girl, do you want to wait for Abao to come back and get a lighter punishment?”

Bergman rolled up her sleeves, stood behind Bao Zhengtao, and rubbed his shoulders. “Daddy underestimated me. Is Yaya that kind of person?”

Then she saw a clear message in Bao Si’s smiling eyes: Yes, you are that kind of person.

Bergman pouted and glared back at Bao Si.

In her previous life, she had put a lot of effort into serving and pleasing King Lingjing and had specially studied the technique of massage and relaxation. Women, when blind and naive, would blindly please the man they liked, but unfortunately, people only regarded her as tasteless.

Recalling her knowledge, she placed her rubbing, warm palms on her father’s shoulders, slowly relaxing the muscles, and then pressed from his shoulders and neck down to his spine. Observing carefully, her techniques were gentle yet agile, with even pressure. Don’t underestimate shoulder massage—it requires strength. Soon, a thin layer of sweat appeared on her fair forehead.

Bao Si looked at her sister’s serious and focused attitude with slight surprise, as if she had never known this person.

Bao Zhengtao’s expression gradually changed—from being careless at first to feeling his muscles and bones relax.

Bergman could only see the back of her father’s head and not his face, but she knew the massage should not last too long. She stopped when the effect was almost complete, peeked at Bao Zhengtao’s awakening expression, and knew she had succeeded.

“It would be more comfortable if there was a bed to lie on.” He had always seemed imposing to his daughter, but now his body felt loose, like a screw unscrewed, and every part felt relaxed.

“Yaya taught her mother how to loosen her neck. Her father can enjoy it in his yard in the future.”

Bao Zhengtao was slightly embarrassed by her words. “You kid, give me a ladder and you’ll climb to the sky!”

“No, Yaya is thinking about her father’s happiness.” She went to wash her face, cleaned her hands with a copper basin, and dried them with a white cotton towel, doing everything herself from beginning to end.

Bao Si found that her sister seemed completely refreshed today. Was this really her sister, who only talked and never did anything?

Today, layer by layer, it was like peeling an orange—removing the skin, the membrane, and then the silk—only to find that the flesh inside was completely different.

Before she could think deeply, Zhao Bao returned, whispered in Bao Zhengtao’s ear, and then hurriedly retreated outside, not daring to look at the sisters again.

After hearing Zhao Bao’s report, Bao Zhengtao’s face became solemn. He raised his head to meet his daughters’ eyes and stared without blinking.

“The Yongping River did implement river diversion on the newly built embankment to fix the river channel. Unexpectedly, the sediment discharge was miscalculated, hollowing out a section of the underground foundation. The upstream of the Yongping River is the Bian River, connected to the twelve irrigation canals in Tong’an County. Both rivers are old, like an old woman with a bad temper. Any slight change in climate can cause turbulence—crops often collapse, or upstream water diversion causes downstream farmers to fight over water.”

“When I first took office, I reported to the imperial court and raised money from various sources. Fortunately, I also received help from local gentry, and it was not until a few months ago that construction could begin. According to Zhao Bao’s report, the pebbles and cement mortar under the river embankment were severely eroded, washing out an astonishingly large hole.”

“If you hadn’t reminded me, I really wouldn’t have come back today.”

Bergman smiled softly, as gentle as moonlight. “My daughter doesn’t dare take credit. It’s her father who is building water conservancy and wants to benefit the village.”

“You little mouth!” Bao Zhengtao laughed.

“Since it’s okay, Dad has to return to the yamen. Don’t be naughty next time. If anything happens, come directly to Dad, understand?” Perhaps God warns him through his daughter.

Anyway, whether it is divine intervention or not, at least her old life had been corrected.

Bao Zhengtao didn’t dwell on the matter. After giving his daughter a few more words, he returned to the yamen.

After sending their father off together, Bao Si, standing in the courtyard, asked, “Sister, do you really want to teach our mother how to loosen her neck?”

“As long as mother is willing to learn, I will teach.” After the major event, Bergman felt completely relaxed.

If they could keep their father, their sisters would never taste the bitterness of a broken family again. Their father was here; this home was intact—what a beautiful thing.

Bao Si tugged at her red lips and smiled charmingly. “My sister has grown up and is sensible.”

“My sister is sensible, but my sister didn’t know it.” Bergman raised her head half proudly.

“Yes,” Bao Si poked Bergman’s forehead with her slender fingers, tenderness and faint sentimentality flowing silently in her eyes. “It’s best this way.”

Bergman smiled, hooked her arm on Bao Si, and rested her head on her shoulder, almost leaning on it. She rubbed softly, looking like a little daughter.

Her rubbing made Bao Si’s cold face melt like frost, revealing a bright, quiet, soft glow like moonlight.

“Come to me if you have something to do, and come to me to play if you have nothing to do, okay?” She had lost her mother at age two and raised this sister. Just looking up, she could see a pair of big, shiny eyes gazing at her.

Fortunately, at this moment, she felt their hearts were close again.

“My sister, can you teach me embroidery, okay?” The two sisters were about the same height. Bergman tilted her head coquettishly, green silk hanging behind her waist like satin, fluttering with her movements—very beautiful.

Bao Si took everything seriously—reading, embroidery. Silk threads passed through her hands, and the flowers, birds, and branches that emerged were vivid and lifelike. Everyone who saw them couldn’t look away. Even the grandmother praised her skill.

Bao Si was amused and laughed, knowing her sister couldn’t sit still for long, so she simply smiled and shook her head.

“Sister doesn’t believe me?”

“Why would I think that?”

“If you live with piano and books all day and don’t learn practical skills, it’s better to try embroidery.”

“Then if I cry and say I’m tired, I’m like a little puppy,” she swore with three fingers.

Bao Si pinched her sister’s nose. “Then come after lunch break, when I have free time and the sun is bright.”

The two sisters chirped, laughing like silver bells, while Yin Yin and Ah Ru, the maids, watched in amazement.

How long had it been since the eldest girl smiled like this? Yin Yin thought.

The second girl and eldest girl had reconciled—what a joy. Ah Ru nodded.

The two girls, who had a good relationship before, grinned at each other. “Sister Yin Yin, when are you going to make cloud cakes? Ah Ru is greedy.”

“I just steamed a pot yesterday. There are a few left. I’ll ask the little girl to bring it to you later.”

“Thank you, Sister Yin Yin.” Everyone in the eldest girl’s room was talented—the eldest girl excelled at embroidery, cooking, and seasoning.

Ah Ru was amazed and couldn’t pick her favorite skill. Well, she was delicious—a plus!

Bergman returned to her room to sleep after sending her sister away. She was only fifteen; her body was still growing, and she often lacked sleep.