Quick Transmigration: Reversing the Life of a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character

At dinner, there were three masters at one table, with three distinct cuisines laid out on the table. The female master's side consisted of medicinal cuisine and light dishes, while the young master's side was all easily digestible soups and stews. The male master's side was much more robust, with various meat dishes fried, stir-fried, and braised, with only a few refreshing green vegetables on the side.

Lu Zhiyao ate her medicinal meal listlessly, but her eyes were drawn to the dishes on the man's side. Every time he took a bite of meat, she would swallow hard. The boy Ning was much more direct: "Father, I want to eat your food."

Zhou Boheng looked up at his wife first, and just then saw her swallowing. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Why don't you all eat something?"

"Okay." Lu Zhiyao's mouth and hands moved faster than her brain. She agreed and reached out to pick up the braised pork knuckle with rock sugar.

Tao's breathing became heavier, and he hesitated to speak, for his wife's stomach and spleen were not suited to such oily food.

Lu Zhiyao tore off a small piece from the edge of the pork knuckle, tasted it, and then restrained herself from eating any more. She asked someone to peel off the skin, picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in some soup, and put it in Zi Ning's bowl.

"The piece you're eating is bigger than the piece your mother is eating. You can't have any more after you finish this piece. You can eat more when you're a little older," Lu Zhiyao comforted the child. Perhaps because his birth mother was in poor health, this child was weaker than other children and needed to be raised with much more care.

"Can't I eat what my father ate?"

The mother and daughter both turned to look at Zhou Boheng's chopsticks. He was holding a piece of fish sashimi that had been dipped in sauce, and they were both unsure whether they should eat it or not.

Lu Zhiyao shook her head. The food in this dynasty was somewhat similar to that of the Tang Dynasty. Wealthy families liked to eat raw fish slices, which were served with wasabi in the dipping sauce.

"Zining, that's adult food. You can't eat it yet." Neither raw food nor wasabi is suitable for a child like him.

"Do I have to grow as tall as my father to eat it?"

"right."

"Okay." The child glanced at his father's mouth again, then obediently scooped up a spoonful of milk pudding in front of him.

Before she arrived, Zhou Zining was fed by servants. She discovered the problem the first time she ate with the child, and afterwards she forbade anyone else to feed him. She made him eat by himself, even if he made a mess of food everywhere, in order to train his hand-eye coordination.

Zhou Boheng was forced to speed up his eating. Zhou Zining was fine, eating his food attentively. Lu Zhiyao would take a bite of her medicinal meal and then stare at his dishes while eating.

After finally finishing dinner, Lu Zhiyao took her son Ning for a leisurely stroll under the eaves to digest, while Zhou Boheng stood by the pond teasing the fish with a pole.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was warm and harmonious, except for the maid Lingdang, who was in a very bad mood. She stood in a corner, looking at Zhou Boheng with a mournful expression.

Chunmei stepped back a few paces and whispered to two second-class maids, Qiaoling and Qiaohui, "Go and take Lingdang away. Don't let her out for the next couple of days; she's in a terrible state."

Qiaoling and Qiaohui came to Lingdang and said a few words, but it seemed that they did not get through to her. Lingdang's movements were a bit too big, and the two maids got anxious and tried to pull Lingdang away. Lingdang resisted even more fiercely, and the commotion was so loud that Lu Zhiyao could hear it.

Zhou Zining peeked over from behind her mother's skirt and asked curiously, "Mother, what's wrong with them?"

Chunmei looked anxious and explained in a low voice, "I saw her standing there looking really pathetic, so I had someone take her away. Who knew she would..."

Lu Zhiyao, holding her son's hand, said calmly to Chunmei, "If two people can't stop her, send a few rough-working women to ask her what she's up to."

The bell trembled with grievance as it cried out, "Fifth Master, it was Fifth Madam who agreed, you..."

Zhou Boheng turned his head and glanced at the place where the maids were arguing, then at the lady and her son under the corridor. He casually put down the fish-teasing stick in his hand and walked down the corridor. When he passed Lu Zhiyao, he paused for a few seconds, bent down and picked up his son.

"I'll take Zining inside first. You should go in early too, it's still a bit chilly in the evening."

"Okay." Lu Zhiyao blinked, realizing that he was leaving this matter to her to handle.

According to the education men received in this era, this practice of completely entrusting the handling of other women's affairs to one's principal wife within the inner courtyard was a way of showing great respect for one's wife.

When Lingdang was brought over, she was completely gloomy and stopped resisting, because she realized that Fifth Master didn't treat her like a human being at all.

"Lingdang, what are you doing?" Tao asked.

"It was Madam who sent me to fetch Fifth Master."

"So what? The mistress simply ordered a servant to greet the master. What's so special about that?"

"This servant is different."

"Lingdang, besides being sent by the old lady, what makes you different?" Tao asked casually. The old lady didn't explicitly say that she was meant to be the Fifth Master's concubine; on the surface, she was there to be a second-class maid.

"But," Lingdang retorted, unconvinced. She was the only one sent by the old lady to serve her personally. Even though she was only a second-class maid, everyone knew that the tasks given to her were the easiest, and no one would even question her if she worked slowly.

Tao calmly interrupted her before she could finish speaking: "Lingdang, the Fifth Madam is kind-hearted. In the future, when you leave as a second-class maidservant by her side, you will be able to marry into a good family."

If she were to accept the status of Fifth Master's concubine, her life would be ruined, regardless of whether Fifth Master actually took her as a concubine. Fifth Madam couldn't keep her by her side forever, and a concubine's status meant she wouldn't be able to marry into a good family.

Lingdang wasn't stupid. The Fifth Master didn't take a liking to her, and the Fifth Madam didn't expose her identity, which was already giving her enough face.

"Madam Xie, please don't hold it against me for not knowing the rules." Lingdang knelt down, her face pale, and kowtowed sincerely.

Lu Zhiyao waved her hand gently: "Go ahead."

She's just a fifteen-year-old girl.

Zi Ning's cheerful laughter came from the house behind her. It seemed that he had become familiar with his father. Lu Zhiyao smiled and turned to go into the house.

The master returned today, and the new wet nurse, two servants, and several maids tried everything they could to coax the young master back to his room to sleep.

Zhou Boheng asked, "You let him sleep in the inner room of the main house?"

"Yes, we replaced his wet nurses a while ago and let him sleep with her for a period of time." Lu Zhiyao sat in front of the dressing table, and a maid was removing her hairpins and jewelry.

Actually, she felt a little uncomfortable. Although this man was nominally her husband, he was a stranger to her. It was a bit awkward to be completely honest with him on their first meeting, and besides, this body couldn't withstand another childbirth.

Fortunately, Zhou Boheng was considerate of her pale and thin appearance, and simply lay in bed, each sleeping separately.