There are several small boats in the huge river. From a distance, they look like leaves falling on the stream. They are very stable, but thin. The Fu family is a middle-class family, with only one wife and one concubine, and they live in harmony. The head of the family does not spoil his concubines or destroy his wives. Everything seems fine. The Fu family is now on a boat to Beijing.
Aunt Li was born in the family, and her parents walked in the frost and dew on the farm, wearing the stars and the moon. Now that she has become the aunt, she can help them to some extent, especially when she accidentally got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. She was shocked and disobeyed her mistress. He didn't want to drink the soup, but he spared her life.
Now that her daughter is raised under her wife's lap, she feels much more at ease.
Just now she was waiting for the wife to wash her feet. There she saw that the eldest lady’s delicate green satin skirt was really nice and tight. It would be great if Qiu Jun had one. That’s all. The wife has always treated Qiu Jun well, and she did not skimp on food and clothing. That's enough.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, she went to see her daughter Qiu Jun and said many things about how she wanted to listen to her aunt's mother.
Fu Qiujun is a little girl. She is only seven years old this year. She is very thin, but her eyebrows are very neat. She is not plain like Aunt Li, but she is a bit cute.
"I know, aunt, I will listen carefully to my wife's words." Fu Qiujun smiled.
Although she is young, she knows very well that she is different from her eldest sister. She was not born from her wife's womb. Even her wife rarely takes her back to her parents' home. Her name is not in the genealogy. She can only eat food during sacrifices every year. After the reunion dinner, go back to the room. When people outside looked at her, they always said that her aunt was restless and that was why she was such a bastard.
But she didn't dare to tell her aunt about these worries. Her aunt was as timid as a mouse and couldn't stand being scared.
Aunt Li left with satisfaction. She usually didn't dare to come see her daughter. If she hadn't been on a boat in Beijing and the rules were not so strict, she wouldn't have dared to come.
The Fu family is not a wealthy family, but Mrs. Fu is very good at running a house and keeps the house in order. Fu Qiujun also has a small courtyard. Although the furnishings of this courtyard are not comparable to those of her eldest sister, But at least he doesn't have to live under Mrs. Fu's nose all day long.
The two little girls next to her were also picked out by the eldest sister. Liandong was like a mute, confused, always shut up, and had no sense of propriety in doing things. Maidong is also frivolous and can't keep her words to herself. Everything in her yard will be revealed.
The only one who got it right was Fu Qiujun's wet nurse, Mama Qin, who would often bring her some gadgets during holidays, and she would play with them until they were worn out and reluctant to throw them away.
It's just that Qin's mother is assigned to the washing room, so it's difficult to come out on weekdays.
The kite in her hand seems to be fading, but no one takes her out to play. Qiu Jun knows that she is just a concubine. What a concubine wants is her duty. Those things that are lively, cute and playful belong to the eldest sister, not to her.
On this day, Qiujun went to greet his wife. There were many jewelry and clothes placed there, and she didn't dare to look at them randomly. Mrs. Fu didn't take her as a concubine seriously, but kept telling her eldest sister: "Chunhua, you and Miss Liu are so close, but remember not to rely on her for everything."
"Mom, I know." Fu Chunhua smiled playfully.
Fu Chunhua is a very beautiful and lively girl. Qiu Jun heard others mention that the eldest girl of the Fu family is very lucky, and it is a bit coquettish to hit her sister at home, but Qiu Jun thinks it is normal. The five brothers doted on her, and Mrs. Fu also held her in her hands until her fear melted away.
She was afraid of flying out of her hands, but it was normal to have a temper. Moreover, she was a kind-hearted person and never tormented her servants.
At this time, the eldest sister was the sweet daughter of heaven to her.
Qiu Jun knows her identity. Although she is also a young lady of the Fu family, Mrs. Fu looks at her with disgust in private, and she shrinks all her sense of existence.
At home, she was taught to read the Second Biography of Four Virtues and Heroic Women. Everything was about women being inferior, but were women really inferior? Qiu Jun doesn't think so.
But so what if she didn't think so. She was just a little girl now, so she could only let it go. Besides, she heard that girls from other families also learned this.
The eldest sister seems to be getting closer and closer to the girls from the Liu family, but strangely, very few girls from the Liu family go to their home. Most of the time it is the eldest sister who goes to the Liu family.
After two years of this, when Qiu Jun was almost ten years old, the eldest sister was originally betrothed to the Liu family.
Perhaps they felt that Qiu Jun was still a little girl, and her sister-in-law had always been very good with her, so they said together with her: "Master Liu is the governor-general of the left, and he is also the commander of the Jinyi Guards. Our uncle is also a scholar, and he just won the imperial examination in the 19th year of this year. Our master said that Liu's uncle will definitely be a Jinshi, and it is our eldest sister who is better off. Madam, I wonder if the eldest sister's dowry should be larger, after all, she married into such a family."
Qiu Jun saw his aunt and kept smiling: "Of course, that's the Liu family of Jinghu. There are many famous ladies in the capital who want to marry but can't get into it. She has to be my eldest sister. She is very lucky."
…
This was probably the first time Qiu Jun knew what Shili Hongzhuang was. The eldest sister and her were not very close. Firstly, there was an age gap, and secondly, they were different from legitimate concubines.
After the eldest sister got married, Mrs. Fu guarded her very strictly, like a prisoner.
If she treats her eldest sister like this, then Qiu Jun thinks this is normal, but Qiu Jun is very perceptive. She remembered that when her eldest sister was her age, she would go out to attend various banquets every now and then, with many companions. Even in the Liu family, the wife often took her sister out for walks, and her sister had a good relationship with Miss Liu. , it is said that it was because of such a marriage.
A girl of this age needs to go out more often, but Qiu Jun knows that her aunt is cautious and respects her aunt in everything. She had no choice but to learn Xiang Fang'er in private, do needlework every day, and draw pictures by drawing patterns.
Days like this were like an unknown number of years. In the blink of an eye, she had reached the age of proposing marriage. No one would say such a thing to Qiu Jun. After all, it was the order of her parents and the words of the matchmaker.
But Aunt Li passed on the news at the critical moment: "It was the second grandma who told me that she was a relative named Xu You. He was born in a poor family. His father died young and he was raised by his widowed mother. At a young age, he was already a scholar. My wife said , this Xu family is weak, but its children are making progress. If you marry into it, you can be the master of the family."
"A widowed mother and an only son?" Qiu Jun pursed his lips.
Aunt Li smiled and said, "He is a relative of Second Grandma. Second Grandma comes from a wealthy family."
Qiu Jun soon met Xu's mother, a woman who looked smart and capable. She sat there shyly, but she suffered a lot of malice.
The people of the Fu family just ignored her, or at most ignored her, but the woman said: "Although you are a commoner, our family will not dislike you."
She is a concubine, so isn't she the daughter of Mr. Hanlin? Does she only deserve to be a small landowner?
But even if it is held
The joints of her hands turned white, and Qiu Jun did not dare to show any displeasure, because if she did, her aunt would say that she was unruly. She didn't like Xu's mother very much. Even though her clothes were washed and turned white, she spit in public while eating, and even spoke harshly.
She was already frustrated enough at home, and she would have to be angry with this mother-in-law when she got married. Why did she meet such a hard-to-get-together and vulgar person? She didn't believe that her fate was so bad.
If Xu's mother was more lenient, she would still feel like she had a chance to breathe.
But now, is she just waiting to die?
But things took a turn for the better soon. When the eldest sister went to work with her brother-in-law, she had an accident and heard that both of her nephews had died.
Although the Liu family was not as prominent as when the eldest sister got married, and was reprimanded miserably by the emperor, after all, the brother-in-law still had an official status. Qiu Jun also felt a little pity that the eldest sister was gone like this.
But in the blink of an eye, she felt that it was a pity that she could not get up. Her aunt was going to marry her to a small landowner with only 20 acres of land. She publicly and clearly stated that she would use the dowry to provide for the Xu family in the future, and the Xu family would be grateful to her in the future.
She thought that she always pretended to be stupid at home, but she was not really stupid.
Her own dowry is for the man, let alone whether the man can win the imperial examination. If he cannot win the imperial examination, he will only be a scholar for the rest of his life. What is the difference between her and a peasant woman?
Since you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust.
The Liu family is very big, but Qiujun has never been here because her aunt never takes her out to walk around. Now because my sister-in-law has passed away, I often bring her here. Because of the unlucky funeral, several sisters-in-law have come once and are unwilling to come again.
That day, she dressed up specially because she found that she, a transparent person, still had some advantages, that is, she had a pretty face.
She happened to hear the news that Mrs. Liu was going to find a step-wife for Liu Chengxu to take charge of the second wife's affairs.
Others can do it, why can't she?
She was just a step-brother, not her first wife. Although Liu Chengxu was very sad, she didn't have to worry about his sadness. At least the life of the Liu family was very good. She could only have tea during the Chinese New Year at her aunt's mother's house. Moreover, when the eldest sister married into the Liu family, her aunt and sister-in-law were very happy. This shows that the Liu family is indeed a good family.
Anyway, it's definitely better than the Xu family.
In the past, Qiu Jun always kept her head down because her family told her that women should not raise their heads up, as this was rude, but today she walked in with her head held high, showing a first-class grace.
Mrs. Liu was also quite surprised when she saw her face. Qiu Jun gave up his previous submissiveness, but today he answered questions fluently and spoke clearly.
"This girl is so well-born, is she ready for marriage?" Mrs. Liu asked.
Mrs. Fu realized that things were out of control, because this obedient concubine now smiled coyly: "My little girl is not here yet."
In fact, it was up to her to answer this question, but she rushed to answer it, obviously to silence her. Mrs. Fu could only say: "There is a family who is having a discussion."
Mrs. Liu glanced at Mrs. Fu, wondering why she didn't understand what Mrs. Fu meant. But Mrs. Fu was already dead and her son was immersed in pain. He couldn't stay like this.
When she was hesitating, her son Chengxu came in. Mrs. Liu noticed that her son's eyes were dull for a moment when he looked at Mr. Fu, although he quickly looked away.
Mrs. Liu already knew what to do.
What's more, after she inquired about it, Fu Qiujun said that her relative was extremely poor and borrowed money to study. This Mrs. Fu didn't regard the concubine as a human being at all. In this case, she wanted this daughter-in-law.
Qiu Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that the Liu family had come to propose marriage. She would never see Xu's mother, a mean woman who looked down upon her, nor would she marry into such a poor family and have to spend most of her life filling the gap. Go in.
That's great. !
