Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife Chapter 1 35 Jan 10, 2020

To make things clear before we start our story, the original author never touched on why the female lead travelled back in time. We can only assume that she just died due to an illness or accident. What we do know is that she was reborn with memories from her past life in the 21st century. The author didn't randomly chuck in a time-travel element into the story…the upcoming events will show how Ah Nan's modern mind affects the way she thinks about things and how she handles them and this is what makes the story interesting.

Also, in regards to her name, I believe the pinyin should be “ā nán” not “āh nán”, but I chose to use “āh nán” for readers' pronunciation purposes…when it is written as "A Nan" it can be mispronounced as "Ay Nan"…which sounds weird, doesn't it?

New Glossary:

→ fū ren (夫人) — madam or mrs.

Rebirth Of A Virtuous Wife: Chapter 1

The palace has always been a serious place.

This was Ah Nan's persistent belief whether it was in her previous life or the current.

Although Ah Nan's father is an imperial chancellor, her eldest sister is one of the four favoured consorts in the palace, as well as Ah Nan's status as the young mistress of the imperial chancellor's manor —Ah Nan never had the thoughts of entering the palace. She especially tried to stay away as far as she could from the people in the palace. Consequently, by the year Ah Nan turned fifteen-years-old, not many people knew that the imperial chancellor still has a daughter known by the name Ah Nan.

Not to forget, Ah Nan is the illegitimate daughter of imperial chancellor Lu. In a very strict hierarchical society, Ah Nan's identity can be classified as low.

Ah Nan's mother was a courtesan from the imperial chancellor's manor. This meant that her status was lower than the concubines. However, her mother was a beautiful woman —if she wasn't beautiful, under the strict control of the imperial chancellor's wife, how could she have seduced imperial chancellor Lu and as a result birthed a little dumpling like Ah Nan?

Ah Nan's mother was lucky to become pregnant as she was then promoted to become a concubine. Unfortunately, Ah Nan's mother wasn't able to enjoy much of that happiness after when she died from giving birth to Ah Nan.

Ah Nan was born in the morning when imperial chancellor Lu was attending court. There was only the imperial chancellor's wife who took a look at Ah Nan after Ah Nan's mother lost her life because of premature birth. Ah Nan was born as weak as a kitten. Her cries were so weak that she could have almost stopped breathing at any moment. The imperial chancellor's wife took pity and gifted Ah Nan a home name as Ah Nan, so that she will never forget about her birth mother.

If her home name is Ah Nan, so what is her birth name?

When the imperial chancellor returned to the manor to hear the news of his beautiful concubine's death, he whimpered for a long time before his wife, who was sitting on the left asked for a name. The imperial chancellor had no energy in him; he randomly picked a name…

Lu Shao Qi.

Ah Nan was ranked seventh among the sisters in the family. Therefore, the name Lu Shao Qi was very fitting.

Ah Nan with an expressionless face: It's so straightforward!

Although Ah Nan was an illegitimate daughter, the imperial chancellor's wife was an understanding woman. She was not overly harsh with Ah Nan and the money spent on Ah Nan's clothes and food were the same to other ordinary family's children.

As for Ah Nan, she also chose to follow the way this society worked and obediently grew up to be a woman who knew how to use proper etiquettes.

Anyone who has met Ah Nan would always think that she was a young lady with a nice personality, always gentle and calm. She has also never objected to anyone's decisions, unlike her older brothers and sisters who always made the imperial chancellor felt like he was practising some sort of lion martial arts.

Whenever imperial chancellor Lu was angry at his other children, he would always bring Ah Nan in front of him to calm himself, breathlessly sighing, "Why can't these unfilial children learn from you to make your mother and I less worry?"

Ah Nan blinked her eyes a few times, "Father, why are you emotional again today? Are you hungry, father?"

There are things to make clear; apart from Ah Nan, in the imperial chancellor's manor there are only three young masters and three young mistresses, all who were birthed by the imperial chancellor's wife.

As they were not birthed by the same mother, Ah Nan was not close with her older siblings. Especially since her birth mother was a third person, it was lucky enough that Ah Nan was not mistreated by them. What's there to want a close sibling bond?

There was nothing to dream about since everyone had their own thoughts.

Due to Ah Nan's unexceptional personal traits and appearance, her older brother and sisters —who have all inherited their father's and mother's outstanding genes —tend to look down on Ah Nan. People who have seen how beautiful Ah Nan's birth mother was in the past couldn't understand how she and the imperial chancellor have given birth to an ugly duckling like Ah Nan.

Of course, the way that has been said was too exaggerated. Ah Nan wasn't that ugly. She has a cute petite figure and a small round face that makes her look very young. Even her skin looked soft and smooth. Whenever she smiled, there will be two beautiful dimples on her cheeks. The sound of her laughter was so melodic that it could touch ones' heart. This is also the reason why every time when the imperial chancellor felt angry about his other unfilial children, he would ask for Ah Nan to keep him company so that he could calm his mind.

Nevertheless, these things cannot replace the beautiful genes from imperial chancellor Lu. It cannot replace the intelligence that was not inherited to Ah Nan, who was not gifted to have any talents in art or literature. She also doesn't know any self-defence techniques and was seen as someone who didn't have the elegance and graceful beauty that women in this era were expected to have. The beauty standard in people's eyes was at the level of beauty portrayed by Zhao Feiyan, who had a slender figure compared to Ah Nan's healthy and plump body shape.

Truthfully, Ah Nan's journey growing up was slower than other people. She did not only started to talk slower than other people, but even in literacy she was also slow. When she was three years old, she couldn't even speak fluently. After turning five, it was time for her to start learning skills that a woman should have; when she learnt how to embroider she would accidentally poke herself with a needle. When she learnt how to play the zither she could practice one song over ten times and still cannot remember how to play it. When she learnt how to play chess her eyes were always droopy as if she could fall asleep at any time. In terms of calligraphy, her characters were like chicken scratches and whoever has seen it couldn't stop but heave a sigh. What about singing riddles and poems? …She couldn't even learn how to speak fluently, who dared to hope that she would know how to make riddles?

Overall, those who have witnessed Ah Nan's learning development could only sigh and think that this young lady could not be reliable and not much can be expected from her.

Comparing Ah Nan to her three older sisters, they were able to read the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of three. At the age of five, they have already mastered the skills of art and literature. At seven, they became famous and talented young ladies in the capital city, especially well-known as the three beauties from the Lu family. From the age of twelve, the Lu family's doorstep was busied with matchmakers as most marriage proposals were from noble and wealthy families.

Therefore, Ah Nan was really not good enough, so no one bothered to bring her trouble. For a young lady who does not have many good qualities in a society filled with many talents, Ah Nan could easily be thrown into a crowd and no one would be able to find her.

Ah Nan expressed a tearful face and said: The problem of being reborn can really hurt other people's feelings. The basic traditional language of this world is a foreign language! How could she afford to get used to the ancient Han characters?

After Ah Nan's three elder sisters were married off gloriously, there was only Ah Nan left in the Lu family and this caused the imperial chancellor's wife to have headaches.

When Ah Nan turned fifteen-years-old, the imperial chancellor's wife helped her organise a coming-of-age ceremony. Those who lived in the capital city were surprised that the imperial chancellor still had another daughter who has not yet married. They were further astonished when they discovered that she was of low birth.

Ah, this was a good opportunity to form connections with the imperial chancellor's family.

For the Lu daughters birthed by the main wife, if the proposer was not from a noble or wealthy family, there was no need to talk about marriage. But for Ah Nan, a daughter of low birth, can be easily made a concubine.

For this reason, the imperial chancellor's wife's mood became negatively affected when many other fu ren from noble families came to propose marriage to Ah Nan.

Soon after, Ah Nan's marriage became the imperial chancellor's wife most painful problem.

Even though Ah Nan was not outstanding, nevertheless it was still the imperial chancellor wife's pride as she was the one who raised Ah Nan for so many years. Plus, to be fair, Ah Nan has always been a sincere lady who respected every senior in the family. For any resentments towards Ah Nan's mother, those feelings have long gone after Ah Nan's mother passed away. For a woman as smart as the imperial chancellor's wife, why would she still hold onto the past to torture the guilt from the imperial chancellor? It would be better to worry about her duty as a wife and help the imperial chancellor handle the affairs in their family. Moreover, if one could sympathise a dog after spending so much time with it, why couldn't it be the same for a human?

Just see it as the imperial chancellor was being nice; she has never mistreated Ah Nan. For any food needed, any other necessities asked for, and anything that needed to be taught to Ah Nan —the imperial chancellor's wife has already done her duties. This in return cannot make other people find any faults to accuse her of mistreating an illegitimate daughter. In addition, it makes the imperial chancellor feel more guilty about his infidelity.

Consequently, how could the imperial chancellor's wife agree to let Ah Nan be married off to a young master with no important status in the family, or become a concubine to an elder young master? Although Ah Nan's identity this lifetime cannot make her marry into a noble household as the main wife, there is still a possibility to find a wealthy family for Ah Nan to become the main wife.

So who should the imperial chancellor's wife let Ah Nan be married to? The imperial chancellor's wife believed that she should think about this matter thoroughly. Ah Nan should be married off into a wealthy family that is not near or far from home, not dishonest or shady, and especially not have any history of domestic violence.

Very quickly, a decree from the imperial palace arrived, causing the imperial chancellor's wife to put down Ah Nan's marriage plans.

The Empress Dowager from the imperial palace suddenly felt idle, inviting all unmarried young ladies from noble families in the city to admire the flowers in the palace.

Just like that, Ah Nan was brought into the palace with the imperial chancellor's wife to admire flowers.

Translator's Notes:

From the original website where this story was posted by the original author, she used a few emojis in her text, such as this: “Ah Nan: =_= It's so straightforward!” I personally don't like adding them (unless it's in an a/n) so I did not include them (I translated them into words instead)…didn't think it was necessary either because it's not going to change the plot. Though, If you want me to include it, please do tell me.

Fun facts:

→ Ah Nan's home name in Chinese is 阿难 (ā nán). The character 难 (nán) from her name means difficult.

→ Ah Nan's birth name is 陆少柒 (lù shǎo qī). It is said that she is the 7th daughter; the 少 (shǎo) in this case is 少 (xiǎo), means small/young. 柒 (qī) in this case actually means the number seven, 七 (qī).

→ In the section where Ah Nan was described as not having “elegance and graceful beauty,” the original author used yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ (窈窕淑女) to describe her. This saying originated from a poem called guān jū (關雎). I wasn't sure how to exactly translate it into English. But even if it was translated properly, I kind of feel like it would make it lose its essence of beauty, which was why I simply wrote “elegance and graceful beauty" instead of yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ (窈窕淑女).

The poem in Chinese (note: this is not the full poem):

guān guān jū jiū (關關雎鳩),

zài hé zhī zhōu (在河之洲).

yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ (窈窕淑女),

jūn zi hǎo qiú (君子好逑).

In Vietnamese, the name of the poem is titled “Quan Thư":

Quan quan thư cưu (關關雎鳩)，

Tại hà chi châu (在河之洲).

Yểu điệu thục nữ (窈窕淑女),

Quân tử hảo cầu (君子好逑).

In English, translated by James Legge:

Guan-guan go the ospreys,

On the islet in the river.

The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady

For our prince a good mate she.

You can check out this website for an analysis about the poem:

→ Zhao Feiyan (45 BC - 1 BC) is a real historical figure known as Empress Xiaocheng from the Han Dynasty. She was popular for her beauty and slender figure.

→ Four Books and Five Classics refers to this: x

→ The Chinese language has evolved immensely over the decades. When Ah Nan was complaining about learning Han characters, she was referring to having to become accustomed to the language used in that set era because it is different from the modern Chinese language used today. There are thousands and thousands of Chinese characters, so you can imagine how hard it is to memorise all…and Ah Nan is lazy haha.