"Getting up early, staying up late, burning the midnight oil; clearly, the first wife lives worse than the concubine. Even being close to her husband is dictated by her mother-in-law. After enduring for seven years, she eventually exhausted herself and died of illness. It's better this way; her death brought her peace, though she left behind a daughter."
"That's my cousin, who, since childhood, was governed and taught by our grandmother to only know rules, entirely ignorant of worldly matters. After marrying, her husband didn't like her, and when the family took concubines, she was magnanimous. For many years now, she hasn't had a son or daughter. Later, because I rose in status, she gained some status too, but by then, she was already worn down. And now, she's gone."
