My Mother's Virtuous Name Rests on Making an Example of Me

My mother was the most virtuous stepmother in all the imperial capital. When my sister ran wild and split open the head of the chief minister's little granddaughter, my father wanted to discipline her. My mother stopped him. "An elder sister stands in a mother's place. If Alma did wrong, it's because her sister failed to set a good example." She had someone strip off my outer robe and forced me to go and beg forgiveness with a bundle of thorns on my back. I knelt before the chief minister's gate for three full days before they agreed to let the matter with my sister drop.