Four years later.
Nanzhou, five hundred miles away from the capital, has beautiful mountains and clear waters, white walls and black tiles, showing the tenderness of a water town.
The spring rain falls in a thin pattern.
A slender woman, wearing a double-breasted skirt, her hair tied into a woman's bun, with two jade hairpins, black cloud hair, and snow-white skin, has a gentle and beautiful temperament.
Holding an umbrella, she stepped across the bluestone slabs, holding a brocade box containing cloth in her hand, and braved the rain to arrive at the silk shop in the city.
"Sanniang is here again. What good things have you brought me this time?" The shopkeeper is a woman over forty years old, with a round face that makes people feel friendly.
Shen Dingzhu put the box on the table, opened it with a smile, and said: "It's Shu embroidery, twenty feet in total. I want to exchange it for one hundred taels this time. Sister Chunyun, please order a little."
Shopkeeper Chun looked at her cloth and couldn't put it down. She sighed and said, "Sanniang, your knitting skills are beyond praise. You are the best in the world. None of our embroiderers in the south of the Yangtze River can beat you."
"By the way, as I told you last time, the new emperor's birthday is coming soon. This year, the entire Jin Kingdom is celebrating the new emperor's birthday. I asked you to embroider a piece of cloth with Nine Dragons and Flying Sky. Why don't you embroider it?"
"With your skills, you will definitely be able to embroider brilliantly and uniquely. It won't be a problem to exchange for five hundred taels. Why bother to embroider Shu embroidery?"
Shen Dingzhu's soft eyes looked a little guilty, and she dodged twice before smiling and saying: "When it comes to the royal family, I am always afraid that poor embroidery will lead to disaster. I want to be safe."
Shopkeeper Chun nodded with emotion: "What you said makes sense. Okay, just wait, I'll give you some money right now."
She gave Shen Dingzhu a hundred taels of silver notes and asked, "Why didn't I see you bring your Chengcheng over?"
"It's raining, and her father won't let her go out, so I simply asked my husband to stay at home and teach her how to practice calligraphy." She smiled lightly, stunningly young.
Shopkeeper Chun fiddled with his abacus for a moment, then looked up at her and sighed.
"Sanniang, don't think I'm too talkative. Your husband-in-law is not as strong as the female clerk in my shop. He looks like a sick man. You are always asked to sell embroidery to support him. You are really irresponsible."
"You are so beautiful. It took him several lifetimes of luck to marry you, and to have a girl as cute as Chengcheng. It's like smoke is rising from the ancestral grave."
Shen Dingzhuguang listened, but didn't take it seriously. He just smiled and said, "Sister Chunyun, I'll leave first."
She turned around holding the empty box, and as soon as she reached the door, she was bumped into by someone.
Shen Dingzhu hurriedly hugged the box, fearing it would fall to the ground. When he looked up, he saw a domineering woman in her mid-20s, about the same age as Shen Dingzhu.
She is Chen E, a famous embroiderer in the neighborhood, who has always disliked Shen Dingzhu.
Chen E put her hands on her hips and stared: "Su Sanniang, you don't have eyes? Last time we competed in embroidery, you beat me, but you didn't think you were enough to show off, so you bumped into me on purpose?"
As she said that, she acted coquettishly towards the strong man beside her: "My husband, this is Su Sanniang. She knows that I want to win the embroidery prize and give it to my cousin for marriage, but she still insists on robbing me."
Chen E's husband looked at Shen Dingzhu, his eyes lingering in front of her white and tender breasts, but his tone was pretending to be rough: "Who do you think you are, you dare to compete with my wife? In this small Manfang City, you don't even inquire. Ask about my reputation as Chu Er, how dare you bully my woman?"
Shen Dingzhu is holding the brocade box, her face is cold and white, her eyes are more like frost and snow, her beautiful body is mature and full of peach fragrance.
She said coldly: "Embroidery is a fair competition, and only the capable will win. You need the jackpot, and I also needed the one hundred taels to treat my daughter."
Chen E yelled, full of disdain: "Are you short of money? If you are short of money, you should sell it! Don't pretend to be so noble. You obviously have a family, but you still want to show your face and sell embroidered cloth. Who doesn't know your thoughts? "
Shen Dingzhu raised his eyes and stared at her with dark eyes.
Chu Er yelled: "What, you are not convinced? If I hadn't seen you as a woman, I would have beaten you long ago. Call your husband, and I will put your debt on him!"
Shopkeeper Chun hurriedly stepped forward, protected Shen Dingzhu behind him, and said good things to Chen E and Chu Er, two ruffian couples.
"Okay, okay, everyone, bow your head and look up. If you are arguing here, I can't even do my business. Sister E, where is the water embroidery you mentioned last time? Why don't you show it to me? I Give me a high price!”
Chen E glanced at Shen Dingzhu proudly, and she took out a box: "I brought it here today just to show you."
Shopkeeper Chun pushed Shen Dingzhu out and said to Chen E, "Okay, okay, you guys sit down for a while and have a cup of tea. I'll explain a few words to Sanniang and then I'll be back."
For Chun Yun's sake, Chen E and Chu Er did not continue to cause trouble for Shen Dingzhu.
Chun Yun pulled Shen Dingzhu outside and whispered, "Don't be angry with them. That Chu Er is a gangster who beats people to death. He has a small amount of money at home, and the county magistrate can't do anything to him."
"And he knows all the different religions in the world. You are a woman with a child and a useless husband. Be careful of him taking revenge on you! My sister advises you, if you see them walking around in the future, huh? Be obedient."
Shen Dingzhu held the brocade box, held up the paper umbrella, pursed her red lips and said, "I didn't want to be angry. It was Chen E who kept making things difficult for me."
Chunyun sighed, waved her hand, and Shen Dingzhu said goodbye to her.
On the way home, she went to buy Chengcheng's favorite pastry. Chengcheng is her daughter, named Su Xincheng.
When Shen Dingzhu walked into the alleyway home, she felt that it was much quieter than usual today. She could not even hear the crying of Aunt Liu's child next door.
I'm afraid it's going to rain today, so I'm going to sleep at home.
Shen Dingzhu walked to the door of her house and saw that the courtyard door was open a crack. She leaned her paper umbrella against the door and stamped her feet.
While slapping the rain off his body, he shouted inside: "Chengcheng, Mom bought you the jujube paste cake from Yuelou in the city."
However, when she finished speaking, her daughter did not come running to greet her as usual.
Shen Dingzhu estimated that the little one must have fallen asleep again after playing tiredly. Thinking of her daughter's cute sleeping face, a doting smile appeared on her lips.
Shen Dingzhu opened the door and just walked into the courtyard.
Then he saw that the courtyard was filled with dark guards.
Her husband, Fang Suifeng, fell to the ground, as if he had been knocked unconscious.
And her daughter Chengcheng was trapped in the corridor with her mouth covered by Chen Heng, looking uneasy and frightened.
Next to Chengcheng, stood a tall figure, his slender palm that had killed people, gently touching the top of her daughter's hair.
When he heard the noise, he turned around. The golden lines on his chest were very dazzling, but it made his sharp eyes look as deep as the sea.
Xiao Langyan stared at Shen Dingzhu, and his cold voice was playful: "Shen Dingzhu, are you okay?"
There was a "bang" sound.
The brocade box in Shen Dingzhu's hand slipped to the ground and broke into pieces.
The puddle reflected her pale and beautiful face.
