"What shocking thing do you think she will do?" Just as Liu Shichu was listening with interest, the uncle suddenly asked her.
"She killed those who harmed her son?" Liu Shichu asked curiously.
The uncle shook his head: "She is not that cruel. She just sued those who harmed her son. She accused them of hurting others for no reason, being disobedient and unfilial, killing brothers, not caring about brotherhood, and other crimes. "
Liu Shichu's eyes widened for a moment. People in this era were very particular about "not publicizing family scandals", and most women regarded their husbands as their top priority and did not dare to resist their husbands. However, Du Xiuzhu's grandmother dared to ignore her husband's objections and resistance and directly Why didn't Liu Shichu take a new look at her by bringing her husband's favored concubines and concubines to the government?
"Didn't her husband stop her?" Liu Shichu asked.
"How to stop it? She went to Dali Temple to complain on her own. She didn't tell anyone about it before, not even Mr. Du's father knew about it..." the old man said.
"What's the result?" Liu Shichu was curious.
"As a result, Mr. Du's grandmother succeeded. She left evidence to prove that it was indeed those people who caused her son to fall into the pond before the imperial examination and miss the exam. Therefore, the concubines and concubines who were involved were sentenced The caning, imprisonment, and some fines have brought some justice to Mr. Du's father. But Mr. Du's father's future has been ruined by them. How can these justice be repaid?" The uncle sighed and said,
"Master Du's grandfather also blamed his grandmother for causing his favorite concubine and son to be punished, so he treated the people of Master Du's grandmother's line extremely harshly, finding troubles to torture them every day, and their life at home became more and more difficult. I suffered a lot.”
Liu Shichu could imagine how much resentment Du Xiuzhu's grandmother's shocking behavior would arouse from her husband. However, her husband was still the head of the family and was fully capable of doing all kinds of abuse to them and taking revenge on them.
"Is this all they can endure?" Liu Shichu didn't believe that a strong woman who could risk everything to seek justice for her son would be willing to endure this without fighting back.
The uncle smiled and said, "Of course not. One day, Mr. Du's grandmother sent her son and his family to the temple to pray for herself. As a coincidence, that night, the house caught fire. The fire broke out very quickly, and the neighbors were too late to save them. , the fire burned the whole family to death, and even his grandmother did not escape... Except for Master Du, who went to the temple to pray for blessings, and his family escaped, the rest of the Du family members were all gone."
Liu Shichu looked at the uncle suddenly and realized what he meant. The uncle said mysteriously: "Everyone thinks that Mr. Du's grandmother set the fire, but no one has evidence, because there is no proof."
"That's cruel enough." Liu Shichu thought to himself, but if her son, who had a promising future, was ruined, and the enemy's family continued to treat her harshly and retaliate against her, then she might do it even more cruelly, she I can understand what Du Xiuzhu's grandmother did. Instead of being humiliated by her enemies, it would be better to drag her enemies to death together.
"Then Master Du and his family can live peacefully, right?" Liu Shichu asked. All the enemies were dead, and only their family was left, and they had no choice but to fight.
But the uncle shook his head: "No. At first, Master Du's family lived a comfortable life for a few years, but for some reason, his father probably didn't have to fight with the family anymore, so he put all his energy outside. He was outside Raised an outer room..."
Liu Shichu suddenly had no idea what the expression was on her face. She opened her mouth and said in shock: "Keeping an outsider?!"
"Yes, Mr. Du's mother was originally a gentle and gentle woman, but after so many years in the Du family with complicated relationships, her temperament changed a lot. She became paranoid and disagreed with her husband's concubinage. When she learned that After her husband raised a foreign wife outside, she became so angry that she found her husband who was hanging out with the foreign wife and killed him and the foreign wife directly. She then committed suicide..."
Liu Shichu didn't know what kind of expression he should put on his face at this time. After a while, he calmed down his shocked mood and then said dryly: "Isn't this because he was too stimulated?"
The uncle said: "Master Du was only twelve or thirteen years old at that time. He lost his parents all of a sudden, and there were no other relatives around him. He had to take care of things on his own early and collect the bones of his parents... After that, everyone It is said that the women of the Du family are too fierce-tempered and cruel-hearted. The mother-in-law set fire to the whole family, and the daughter-in-law also killed her husband and his wife. They are all cruel in the same vein. Mr. Du has grown up, okay Even though he has become an official, no one dares to propose marriage to him, for fear that something unpredictable will happen to his daughter when she gets married..."
Liu Shichu's face was expressionless. He didn't expect Du Xiuzhu to be so miserable, but even the elders in his family were like this and it didn't affect his future. He was considered a capable person.
"How old is Mr. Du now?" Liu Shichu was a little curious. He looked quite young and handsome, but he had not been able to get a wife because of the elders in his family. It was quite sad to think about it.
"Twenty-seven or eighty? He's almost thirty years old, right?" The uncle said, "At his age, his son is already over ten years old, but he doesn't even have a wife. The Du family is almost dead in his generation."
"He has no other brothers and sisters?" Liu Shichu asked, "Is he the only one left in the Du family?"
"That's not true. He also has a sister who married out of town a few years ago - no one here dares to marry her, for fear that she will inherit the temperament of her grandmother and mother..." the uncle said with emotion.
However, Liu Shichu thought that it would be good to inherit the temperament of her grandmother and mother. She would rather be broken than ruined, so she would not be afraid of betraying her heart.
The uncle talked to Liu Shichu for a long time about the affairs of Du Xiuzhu's family. It was probably because what happened to his family in the early years was so shocking that no one in the capital knew about it, so the uncle talked in quite detail, and Liu Shichu listened with interest. , feeling inexplicably sympathetic to Du Xiuzhu.
So the next day, when she set up a stall on the street again, when Du Xiuzhu passed by her stall, she gave him a wooden fox sculpture.
"Why did Miss Liu give me this wood carving? You can keep it and sell it." Du Xiuzhu declined.
Liu Shichu wanted to give him something just on impulse. Now he asked for the reason, but she couldn't find a suitable reason for a while. You can't say I sympathize with you, can you? Du Xiuzhu must have found her inexplicable.
She was an orphan who had no one to rely on and had to make wood carvings to sell. What qualifications did she have to sympathize with the imperial official? If she says it, people will think that she has no self-awareness at all.
"Well, I just want to thank you for your efforts in Wang Erniu's case of abducting me. If you hadn't been aware of everything, Wang Erniu's family might have been able to escape the crime." Liu Shichu finally found an excuse.
