No matter how beautiful the fireworks are, they are only short-lived.
When the dazzling sky gradually fades, it will eventually return to darkness.
Fortunately, the people in Fengjing set off firecrackers, mixed with children's laughter and play, so that the prosperity was avoided.
"People are the foundation of a country." Xu Mo stood in the courtyard, looking up and sighing.
Chang Yan's pupils moved slightly, and he quickly lowered his gaze and turned back to the dining table in the main hall.
Jiang San and Jiang Si were doing boxing, and the loser had already had more than a dozen drinks in a row and was completely drunk.
Even so, he did not forget to hug the brothers in front of him and cry out, "I miss them, I miss them."
The hugged person's eyes were red, and he secretly endured choking.
Who wouldn't want to, not the brothers they get to know day and night, the family they grew up with, and them far away in northern Xinjiang.
Jiang San and Jiang Si hugged each other and cried together.
Wen Zhiyun endured it again and again, but tears still filled his eyes.
Zheng Ruqian clenched his fists, wondering what he was thinking.
Chang Yan's footsteps paused and his pupils trembled again. He thought of his third brother who had left for northern Xinjiang, and then of his eldest brother who was running around for the imperial examination fraud case.
Complex thoughts lingered in his chest, making him uncomfortable and unable to speak or swallow.
He should have done something.
Right.
Suddenly there was a clear laughter from behind. It was my sister who had come in. She had always missed her third brother, and it would be better if she saw this crying scene.
Chang Yan stopped thinking, turned around and picked up the little fat girl, and ran to the door of the courtyard the moment she entered the house.
Jiang Sheng stood under the candlelight with a blank look on his face, raised his bright little face, and whispered, "What's wrong, fifth brother, is there something wrong?"
fine.
I'm just afraid that you will keep crying and come out to hide.
Before Chang Yan could say his explanation, there was a tiptoeing movement behind him.
He hurriedly took Jiang Sheng and hid behind the water tank. With the faint candlelight, he saw a slim figure walking out with a bamboo basket on his arm, pulled out the door bolt, and then deliberately closed the door and left.
is her?
The brother and sister stood at the door of the courtyard in confusion, unable to figure out the meaning of what she did.
It happened that Zheng Ruqian slipped out of the main hall and saw the two people standing there stupidly. He asked curiously, "If you don't want to eat or watch the fireworks, what are you two doing here?"
Jiang Sheng twisted his index fingers back and forth, unable to speak.
Chang Yan said calmly, "Since the second brother is here, let's find out what's going on."
The three brothers and sisters gently opened the courtyard door and followed the pace.
The woman in front was just immersed in walking and didn't even notice the three little tails behind her.
On this day of family reunion, she did not say hello to anyone in the family and left quietly. She walked from the second entrance to the small courtyard for a long tea time before stopping in a dilapidated alley in the west of the city.
Even Jiang Sheng was surprised that there were such dilapidated alleys in Fengjing.
However, the woman looked as usual and walked to the end of the alley. There was a hut built by a family with broken tiles. It should be used to store discarded items. At this moment, there was a noise, as if someone was living inside.
The woman knocked on the door and called, "Sister Miao."
The leaky door of the broken house was opened, revealing a woman with a haggard face, and behind her was a little girl about ten years old, with the same unkempt face and haggard body.
When she saw the woman, the little girl's eyes lit up and she called, "Aunt Zhang."
Zhang Xianglian said "Hey" and took out a few pieces of warm pastry from the bamboo basket, and then took out half a piece of leftover big elbow, "Good boy, go eat with your mother."
The little girl's eyes almost gleamed, but she still waited for the mother next to her to nod before taking the pastries and elbows and placing them on the table.
"Sister Zhang, thank you for your hard work. During this time, you have been bringing food to us and finding us such a shelter." The woman surnamed Miao said, tears falling, "It's all my fault that the head of the house is cruel, because I If you can't give birth to a boy, you will have to drive us away, and you won't leave us any clothes or money, so we will die outside."
The laws of the Dayu Dynasty were strict, and ordinary people were mostly monogamous, with basically no way to take concubines.
Many men who want to remarry can only vent their anger on their first wives. Beating and insulting are commonplace. If the woman cannot bear it and runs away, the crime will be on the woman, and the man can happily remarry his wife.
If the principal wife is murdered, the man can even claim compensation, which can be used as a betrothal gift for the new wife and for her subsequent life.
When it comes to the evil of human nature, this man is even better than Zhou Zhiqiang.
Zhang Xianglian's eyes were full of sympathy, and she said softly, "The more this happens, the more you have to live a personal life, and the less you can do what he wants."
"But I have no household registration, no identity, and can't do anything." The woman surnamed Miao became more and more tearful. "If we divorce, the child will have to be handed over to him, but he will not treat Daya well at all. I... I don't trust ah."
She turned around and looked at the girl who was staring at the big elbow, her tears flowing freely.
The laws of the Dayu Dynasty also stipulated that women could propose divorce, but they could not take away the children.
Children always belong to men.
How many women swallow their anger for the sake of their children, and are willing to be beaten and scolded for the sake of their children growing up healthily. Only when the man dies can they find peace.
But by that time, their hair had already turned gray.
Time flies by, and beauty no longer exists. Whose youth is not youth?
Zhang Xianglian held the woman surnamed Miao's hand tightly, and Jiang Sheng's words "It would be great if she could divorce her husband" suddenly came to her mind.
Yes, it would be great if women also had the right to divorce their husbands and take away their children.
"Let's think about the child's matter later, but it's you. I want to talk to my host and ask you to help me." Zhang Xianglian said softly, "But you have to make peace first. The host's family is kind, so it's okay to sneak some leftovers. That’s it, we can’t cause him any more trouble.”
The woman surnamed Miao nodded with tears in her eyes.
The two talked for a few more words, and Zhang Xianglian asked her to go back to eat with her children. She turned around and closed the door, sighing deeply.
Maybe it was too late, and after the fireworks, the sound of firecrackers gradually died out.
Most of the laughing and playing people went home to rest, and the wide streets looked particularly empty with fewer people.
The cold wind blew by, bringing with it a bit of chill.
Zhang Xianglian was relatively calm at first, but as she walked she felt footsteps behind her. She gradually became nervous, her heart lifted to her chest, and she unconsciously picked up her speed.
But the footsteps behind him also accelerated and became denser, as if they were about to catch up at any time.
Zhang Xianglian was so scared that she picked up the bamboo basket and ran away.
Fortunately, the familiar and sweet voice sounded in time, "Auntie, it's me."
