"Girl, put Mrs. Tang on her back. It's windy this night and Madam is worried. She said you have to put on that fox fur and the hood." Siyu dutifully helped Li Shu put on another fox fur. .
Li Shu smiled and said, "I am wearing a forehead mop and a fox fur coat, and I am so heavy that I can't walk."
Even so, she was patrolling the night without any hindrance, and it was not her turn to deal with it, but she would dutifully write down her name. Some of these women were cunning and were quickly dealt with, some were fined a monthly fine, and some were slapped with a blackboard. The lawsuits for thefts at home at night were useless.
After boarding the sedan, Lishu made a point of getting down wherever she went to find out who was guarding the door and whether they were keeping vigil seriously.
After returning to the yard, her body was covered with wind and frost. The girls twisted the hot handkerchief and came over. Lishu wiped her face and she came back to life. She neither complained about pain nor tiredness, and was even teased by her father.
As soon as he walked in, Liu Chengxu smiled and said, "The little housekeeper is here."
"Smelly daddy." Li Shu snorted coldly.
Seeing how little she looked, little Fu couldn't help but said, "Lishu, don't be as big as your father."
"Mom, you always favor dad. My daughter really has nothing to say." Li Shu pouted.
Little Mrs. Fu scratched her daughter's nose and said, "Little ghost, you are ten years old, and you are still acting like this. When I was ten years old, my relatives all praised you for being taller."
Li Shu smiled and said, "They say I look like I am twelve years old. Some people even like my clothes and quietly ask their mother to go back and make the same clothes as mine."
The mother and daughter chatted a few more words. Shulin had already been brought to bed, and Shurui had already gone to study. In any case, the Liu family didn't care about the girls having a headache and taking time off to study, but they did not care about their son. The requirements are very strict.
Li Shu thought this was really unfair. If every woman could be required by her family to study hard, she would definitely be no worse than a man. This is because most women only require that "it is virtue for a woman not to be talented", to provide for her husband, raise her children, and marry into a good family. , and then let the woman break her wings.
After going through all this in my mind, I heard Xiao Fu and Liu Chengxu say: "After my sister came back from Fu's house, she had a high fever and talked nonsense. She was also confused. I asked the doctor to check it twice, and then asked the eldest sister to Take care of me."
"I'll take a look later." Liu Chengxu said.
Little Mrs. Fu nodded: "It would be best if you went to visit the doctor. I went to see him once, but I am busy with Xiao Ding of the Zheng family, and I can't get away from him."
Lishu listened to her father and mother talking and wondered if the Fu family had said something. After her birthday in previous years, her eldest sister's birthday would be several times grander than hers. She knew that, but there was no news this year.
But she couldn't think of that anymore, because the Liu family and the Zheng family were about to get married, and maybe she could see Zheng Hao again. Although it was stated that they could not meet on the surface, the second sister met Mr. Zeng in private last time.
Speaking of Mr. Zeng Zeng Yunxi, she thought of Zhong Yunran again. She didn't know what happened to Miss Zhong. Now that the two parties were officially engaged, Master Zeng Yingxiu couldn't say anything more. Li Shu was busy that day and actually forgot to ask.
From time to time, Mrs. Fu took Li Shu and Shulin to greet Mrs. Liu. Liwan and Lirou arrived first, and when they saw Mrs. Fu coming in, they quickly got up together.
"Old lady, it's all my fault that I'm late." Seeing that Mrs. Xu had arrived, little Fu quickly apologized.
Mrs. Liu smiled and said: "Now you are doing a good job in several things at home, but you still have to take care of the children. It's really difficult for you."
Little Fu didn't take any credit, she said to Mrs. Xu: "When my sister-in-law gets better, it's best to leave her in charge. I'm ignorant, but I'm busy enough these days."
Li Shu sat down and saw that Li Zhen didn't come, so she knew that she must be sleeping in again. Anyway, Mrs. Xu was covering for her. Mrs. Xu was talking about entering the palace. Every New Year's Eve, married women would enter the palace to celebrate, but her mother...
Because my father had two wives, Mrs. Fu and Mrs. Fu, he simply didn’t ask for a royal decree for his wife, because it was not good to pass it all the way to the top. Who else would he give this royal decree to? Another question.
Therefore, often at this time, mother can only stare. It would be fine if my father had a small official position before, but now he is a fourth-rank official, but it is really a big loss that mother still cannot go out to socialize as a married woman.
After the adults finished talking, Mrs. Liu added: "Your aunt sent someone to bring a box of velvet flowers. She said they were made in China and are the most fashionable at the moment. You sisters can share them among you."
Liwan saw the opportunity and said, "Let my sister choose first. It will be her good life soon."
"Let's let the eldest sister choose first. I'm not feeling well these days. Let's just follow the order." Li Shu didn't take it seriously.
Li Rou also said that her sisters chose her before they chose her, and there was no competition.
Seeing this, Mrs. Liu couldn't help but nod, and said to little Fu, "You have raised these children very well."
Little Mrs. Fu said: "It's not the daughter-in-law's fault, it's clearly the old lady's upbringing, letting them know how to behave."
In the past few months, these girls have started to take care of the house, and they are no longer timid, and they are all generous. Their progress is visible to the naked eye. Liwan is very diligent in taking care of the two families, not to mention Lishu who has ideas and is willing to work hard, but she is still really good for the Liu family. Even Lirou learned checks and balances from the beginning, and now she dares to suppress the lessons. It can be said that each has its own growth. , these are all the contributions of Xiao Fu.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Ding's day came, and the Liu family only invited people close to them to come over for a drink. The Fu family sent Grandma Fu over. Since the Zeng family were close relatives, several wives came over. Everyone Come together.
Li Shu also came out to meet the guests in a brand new outfit today. She wore a pomegranate red tasseled cloud brocade button-up jacket on her upper body, and a palace skirt with embroidered tassels on her lower body. Her hair was changed from the previous bun and bun to a Chaoyun Xiangxiang A bun, because she is not married yet, the hair in the front is pulled up, but the hair in the back is still hanging down.
After greeting the elders, Li Shu raised her eyes, and the women who came naturally had to make fun of her.
Lishu suppressed her blush and only acted shyly.
Zeng Yingdan, the daughter of Mrs. Zeng's second wife, said to Liju: "You sister really chose a good family. I heard my mother say that the Zheng family in Xingyang is not an ordinary family. It has been a famous family for hundreds of years and a prime minister's family. His father was a high-ranking official, and he was already an official at a young age. Even many princes and prime ministers wanted to marry their daughters to him, but unexpectedly they chose your sister."
"That's not the case." Lirou smiled. She knew that Zeng Yingdan was also talking about getting married. Zeng Yingdan was completely different from her sister. She loved yellow and white things, had a willful temperament, and was carefree. At least Li Zhen could still put on a show. , but she didn't know how to do it at all. What Mrs. Zeng Er found for her was the eldest son of a big businessman in Yangzhou, who had business dealings with Mr. Zeng Er.
He also said that that family also had distant relatives who had served as governors and other high-ranking officials, and they were very large maritime merchants.
Zeng Yingdan sighed again: "You are laughing, but I can't cry even if I cry. My sister married Hu Zhuangyuan's younger brother. That man was not as diligent as Hu Zhuangyuan. Instead, he had great ambitions and little talent. My sister said more. Instead, she was scolded. And because she only had a daughter, my brother-in-law made a fuss about taking concubines. He also specializes in choosing expensive concubines. He spent 800 yuan on one concubine. He bought two concubines in total, all of which cost my sister's dowry. , it’s ridiculous to say that our second wife is a merchant, if I had known better, we wouldn’t have gotten married.”
Lirou comforted her with a few words, thinking that everyone had their own sufferings that they couldn't tell.
Last month was Liwan's wedding. The second wife of the Zeng family had plenty of money, so they were not merciful. It was clear that only small gifts were enough for marriage, but they generously gave them no less than the betrothal gift. This made Liwan stand out in the limelight. .
Everyone thinks that although the Zheng family is an aristocratic family, it has a large population and may not be as wealthy as the second wife of the Zeng family.
But I didn't expect that everything the Zheng family gave them was extraordinary. Although it didn't fill several courtyards like the Zeng family, everything reflected the Zheng family's intentions.
Of course, the first one is the betrothal geese, which are a pair of live geese. Cui Xiang's "Wedding Proposal" records: "The geese are entrusted to pay homage to the geese, and they are matched with deer skins." A pair of white jade concentric locks are also given to express the eternal marriage. Then there is a pair of ink jade bracelets, with dragon and phoenix patterns vaguely visible in the ink jade, which represent the eternal vows between men and women. There is also a pair of jade links and rings, which may represent engagement.
Finally, there are two posts. According to people from the Zheng family, they were written by their ancestor Zheng Daozhao. Zheng Daozhao was the originator of the Wei stele style. He was good at writing in straight scripts, with elegant style, and was especially good at writing large characters. Known as the "Northern Sage of Calligraphy", Nan is as famous as Wang Xizhi and has the reputation of "Southern King and Northern Zheng".
Zeng Yingdan curled her lips secretly and spoke for her family: "The Zheng family's small wedding ceremony is far worse than our family's!"
Lirou thought that in terms of real money and silver, the Zeng family must have given the most, but the Zheng family had given them priceless gifts, but these so-called precious posts could neither be eaten nor drunk, so she had to be more realistic.
Only Li Shu liked it very much and felt that the things given by the Zheng family were very tasteful, especially this pair of black jade bracelets. The dragon and phoenix patterns inside were very detailed, with a hint of dark red, like ancient jade.
The Liu family invited a small theatrical troupe today, but Zheng Hao did not come to the door. According to etiquette, the male clan member came to the door today. As usual, she couldn't see him, and the two sides could not see each other until they were accepted.
Li Shu thought this was okay, she was still a child now, and things would be different when they met in a few years.
It was very lively outside, and Li Shu couldn't help but caress the gift sent by the Zheng family, feeling very happy.
It was true that some families were happy and some were sad. When Lijia heard the sound of gongs and drums outside, she couldn't help but listen. When Mrs. Fu was lying on the bed and saw her daughter like this, she seemed to hear a sound.
"It's so lively. This is the girl's engagement ceremony. Big girl, you deserve to be so lively." Mrs. Fu said with a white mouth.
Lijia shook her head and said she didn't care: "When cousin Minglun is finished, my daughter will have everything. As you always said, my grandfather's family is so good to me."
"Ahem, Lijia, I'm afraid your marriage to your cousin won't work out. Just listen to your mother and don't think about it in the future. How about that?" Mrs. Fu thought of her second sister-in-law's face, and finally understood in her heart that she Everything in life is a lie.
Lijia didn't understand: "Mom, is there some misunderstanding?"
Mrs. Fu shook her head: "There is no misunderstanding. You are a girl from the Liu family. My mother misunderstood you in the past. In the future, you should listen to your father. He is a good man."
"Mom, what are you talking about..."
"In short, I am doing everything for your own good. You will send a message for me personally later and ask your second mother to come over. I have something to tell her."
"But Er Niang..."
Mrs. Fu waved her hand: "She is my biological sister. You have to be careful about her in the future, but you also have to trust her. Do you hear me?"
Lijia felt bad when she saw that her mother was vague about her words. She went to tell her father first, and then she went to tell Mr. Fu.
And Mrs. Fu came late at night. After finishing her daughter's small wedding ceremony, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if she expected Mrs. Fu to come to her.
"Sister." She called.
Mrs. Fu then opened her eyes and stood up from the bed: "You are here. I want to tell you that I am going to find a place to clean up my house and ask the master to remove me. In the future, you will be the first wife of this second house."
Little Fu said calmly: "Sister, you should take good care of yourself. I just pretend I didn't hear these words."
Mrs. Fu waved her hands and said impatiently: "I know my request is a bit overwhelming, but I have already given up my position to you. I hope you can ensure that my Lijia finds an excellent marriage, with Lijia." Just like Shu, plan for her, and you must give all my dowry to Lijia for her defense. In this way, I will give this position to you."
It’s really a fantasy. Why should I help your daughter plan it? Little Fu didn't agree, and he didn't even want to be perfunctory.
Mrs. Fu said: "I know you really want to become a master. This opportunity is so easy to come by. You——"
Little Fu stood up suddenly: "Sister, you underestimate me too much. I have known for a long time that you lost your virginity when you fled from Shanyang County that year. I have never threatened you about this matter, even The people around you are trying to kill me, and I know it is not your intention, and I have never made it difficult for you. As for the fight for favor in the backyard, everyone just depends on their own abilities, and I have not shunned you. Even when I came back from abroad, you had to manage the house. I think you are a great lady, and I am not arguing with you."
"You...you already knew?" Fu's face instantly turned as white as gold paper, and her lips closed.
Little Fu softened his tone: "Yeah, I'm not stupid. What's more, it's not your fault. What's your fault? Going all the way south to commit yourself to bandits for the sake of your children is not what you want. In troubled times, people are like dogs. It has nothing to do with you."
Mrs. Fu screamed fiercely, and the blood stained the bed sheets. She didn't care at all, and said calmly: "I wanted to confess to the master when I came back, but the master told me that the past matter was over, so I didn't dare to say it. , when I came back after going through all kinds of hardships, I didn’t expect that the master would change his mind and fall in love with you.”
"It's not like my sister doesn't know what my wife is like to me. She told me that the Xu family I'm married to has no permanent property, a powerful widowed mother, and no one to support me. Later, because of your funeral, I was favored by Mrs. Liu. , I just married the master. I originally thought that my wife and sisters-in-law were not good to me because I was a concubine, and I also felt that I was occupying the magpie's nest, so I also suffered from the bad treatment. But here, my sister, Li Jia and Minglun's marriage I have never been able to decide how hypocritical they are." Little Fu looked at Mrs. Fu and felt pitiful. At any rate, she directly felt the malice and had no expectations for the Fu family, while Mrs. Fu had been immersed in the warmth of the Fu family. In an atmosphere that pampered her, now that the bloody truth was revealed, she couldn't bear it.
Mrs. Fu smiled: "If it weren't for you, my Lijia would never be able to get married in this life. Sister, I wrongly blamed you before."
Somehow, after all the things were told, Mrs. Fu felt relieved: "I want the Fu family to choose a place with great scenery for me, where I can do some repairs and go fishing in my spare time. How come you have been coaxing me all the time, and now I I have to let them do something for me."
"Sister, actually..."
Mrs. Fu looked at Little Mrs. Fu: "Qiujun, I have made up my mind, and I will leave my family to you in the future. Although you have some tricks, you are a good person and stronger than ever. I believe you will not treat Lijia harshly. It was me before A villain's heart is used to judge a gentleman's heart."
"In that case, I'll leave it to my sister."
Little Fu breathed a sigh of relief, and when he was about to go out, there was a dark figure outside that had already hurried away. The figure clearly looked like Liu Chengxu.
A few months later, Mrs. Fu escaped into Buddhism, and Mrs. Fu became a veritable second wife. After Liu Chengxu was promoted to Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple, he asked Mrs. Fu to be conferred the title of fourth-class master. :,,
