Tang Shunyan supported his mother’s proper decorum because if his mother did not maintain her position, the woman by his father’s side might take her place as the heir.
Because the children they bore might also turn out to be excellent, that was his competition too.
Even so, although he was not very close to the children born to the women by his father’s side, he did not feel any dislike toward them.
Having half-siblings from the same father but different mothers was common in wealthy families, not just in their own.
While Meng Zhaojun was selecting fabrics, Tang Shunyan thought a lot with a cold expression.
Meng Zhaojun did not simply choose a fabric without caring about the material; she made sure to understand it clearly and had her maid take note.
Later on, when she wore it out, others would ask and she could respond accurately; perhaps that was also a talent.
The competition among women involved not just cosmetics or vying for men. Perhaps their talks included needlework; a poor embroidery could be excused by saying they were Ladies, not meant to excel in embroidery, regardless of their capabilities.
But not understanding the trends, or the materials of clothes one wore, would really make a person look common.
Meng Zhaojun knew that in any dynasty, as long as women gathered together, the conversation would circle around cosmetics, jewelry, and fashion.
Now, following her teacher and learning needlework, Meng Zhaojun was not such a skilled embroiderer. Through many occasions accompanying her mother to banquets and listening to the elder women’s conversations that included some gossip, comparisons were made about who was wealthier, more knowledgeable, or had a better eye for purchases.
Her mother, Mrs. Meng, was very comfortable in these conversations and Meng Zhaojun could see from her mother’s demeanor that a young lady groomed in a great clan was truly incomparable to an ordinary wealthy Lady.
Meng Zhaojun would learn beside her mother, but in the past, she wasn’t very attentive, thinking that chatting like these women seemed like something she would only do after another ten or eleven years or, like those young ladies, several years later.
Like her current little doll, she could not connect with other little girls because their topics of conversation seemed really childish!
Throughout the years since she had crossed over, Meng Zhaojun had always been proud and aloof, lacking childhood friends, much like her older brother who she also could not relate to.
Only in front of Tang Shunyan, did she show her enthusiasm, her true temperament, allowing herself to reveal both her good and bad sides to this little boy before her.
Meng Zhaojun was not blind and, of course, she sometimes noticed Tang Shunyan’s helpless look when he watched her, yet not dislike!
She could understand that this little boy did not yet grasp her adult thinking.
In the end, Meng Zhaojun simply chose a piece of silk embroidered with cloud patterns, cool to the touch, feeling like ice in winter; it must have been woven from silkworms.
She had already learned from the waiter in the store that this was the best weaving workshop of the Tang Family in Nanyue Country. Although not a tribute-level Heavenly Silk, it was considered a fine product among silks.
Upon hearing about Heavenly Silk, Meng Zhaojun thought of the noble ladies in the Imperial Palace or the emperor’s favored women, whose clothes were so exquisite.
Despite longing for clothes as fine as Heavenly Silk, at this moment, Meng Zhaojun did not imagine that one day she would actually marry into the Imperial Palace to enjoy such glory and wealth.
In her view, many women competing for one man might end up never even seeing the man’s face, ruining their lives in a secluded palace.
Meng Zhaojun was a soul who had traveled through time from a monogamous era.
She believed that even if married to some wealthy men, there would only be a few other women by his side.
Meng Zhaojun was not so naïve as to think there could really be a man like her father who had no other concubines.
This kind of man only relied on betting that women would not dare; once he grew more confident, he might ditch his first wife to live with a younger and more beautiful concubine in her quarters.
The legal wife might retain the title, but after bearing him children, she might no longer enjoy marital happiness.
Men can change their hearts; this is an unalterable truth through the ages.
Meng Zhaojun also believed women could have many options, but once married, they handed their lives over to that man, forever losing their sense of self whether in happiness, anger, sorrow, or joy.
If luck was not on their side, it could also mean a desolate old age.
Some might face divorce or be discarded, leaving such women potentially worse off than widows, with hardly any chance of remarriage.