incense as a medium

Chapter 170 Chastity Archway
"Get up quickly, why are we being polite between our grandparents?" Mrs. Su bent down to help Liu Bailu up, and said with a smile.

No matter what, the Su family is happy on the surface, but the atmosphere in another place seems a little weird and unpredictable.

Caixianfang, Class A room.

Ding Ruolan looked at Fang Yu who was sitting in front of the embroidery stand and was concentrating on embroidering beside a few petals that had withered and turned into mud. She wondered, she was not very familiar with this Fang Yu, so what did it mean to cut herself off on the way today?
But Ding Ruolan was not reckless, Fang Yu didn't speak, so she didn't say anything, just sat and watched Fang Yu embroider.

The people in the Colored Thread Workshop were sent out by Fang Yu early on, so there were only six masters and servants in this room, and no one disturbed them here, and for a while there was only the rustling of silk threads passing through the cloth.

After an unknown amount of time, Fang Yu cut off the thread and collected the needle. Cui Zhu stepped forward and knelt beside her, wrapping her hands in a hot handkerchief and applying them. Ming Xuan stood behind her and helped her loosen her shoulders. She looked at Ding Ruolan just now, and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, I wanted to ask Miss Ding to talk here, but seeing this picture of hundreds of flowers, I couldn't help but want to embroider it. A few stitches. Please don’t blame Ms. Ding for neglecting her.”

Ding Ruolan smiled and said: "Mrs. Zhou's embroidery skills are exquisite, and it is my chance to experience it now."

Fang Yu said "Hi" and said, "What a wonderful skill, the real master is your cousin."

"How can someone like my cousin embroider for me? I'd better watch Mrs. Zhou embroider." Ding Ruolan said as she got up and walked to the embroidery frame to look at the magnificent peony embroidered next to the broken petals. One side of the flower is defeated and the other is in full bloom. It seems that the blooming side is more colorful and eye-catching, but no matter how I look at it, I feel that the petals that fell into the soil and almost withered are the final destination of the blooming flowers. Ding Ruolan concealed a thought in her heart and smiled. Said: "Delicate stitches, bold colors, really good embroidery."

"Miss Ding is absurd, do you want to embroider two stitches too?" Fang Yu pointed to the embroidery frame but didn't move away.

Although Ding Ruolan was itchy, she could see that Fang Yu had something to say, so she didn't do anything, just went back to her seat and sat down, saying: "I really want to embroider, but it's almost noon now, and I'm already hungry , even if I want to embroider, I don’t have the strength anymore.”

"Oh?" Fang Yu glanced out the window and exclaimed, "It's so late? I'm really sorry for delaying Miss Ding for so long."

"It's okay." Ding Ruolan smiled and shook her head.

Fang Yu insisted on apologizing, and said: "I was looking for you to have something to say, but today is so late, I have to go back to the house to serve my mother-in-law for dinner, and the children at home can't do without me, why don't we meet again some other day?" Mingxuan, go and buy a box of first-class wires and give it to Miss Ding. Miss Ding must accept it, otherwise I will feel uneasy."

A box of first-class thread in Caixianfang is the most basic red, yellow and blue three-color silk thread. If you want to collect all kinds of first-class silk thread, you need four boxes. B-class thread is a box of six colors, and C-class thread is a box. Nine colors, D and other lines are a box of twelve colors.

Although the Ding family is rich and noble, the silk thread used for Ding Ruolan's embroidery on weekdays is Ding's silk thread. Occasionally, Ding Ruolan bought the third-class thread with her own money. Now she has such a box of thread. She is very happy: "This But what are you doing?"

"Don't refuse." Fang Yu glanced at the sky again, and hurried out: "I'm really sorry, it's late today, I have to go back earlier. Don't send it off. "

Ding Ruolan insisted on sending Fang Yu to the carriage, and when Fang Yu sat down, Mingxuan who had called the shopkeeper to buy thread also came over, and she handed the box to Ding Ruolan with both hands to get on the carriage.

After returning to Ding's house, Mrs. Ding saw that she came back so late, so she couldn't avoid some inquiries. After hearing that she had sat with Fang Yuku for a while, she smiled and said, "Silly girl, Young Mistress Zhou did this with you. Cousin is involved."

"Why?" Ding Ruolan was still puzzled.

Mrs. Ding waved her hand to everyone in the room, and everyone in the room retreated, and she whispered: "Do you know why Young Mistress Zhou came to you and then kept silent for a long time, and finally left with an excuse? Is it because your cousin has made such great contributions but only received so little reward? Do you know the relationship between your cousin and the Zhou family?"

"It doesn't matter to them. If there is one, she is also a cousin. The cousin is Mr. Zhou's ex-fiancee." Ding Ruolan pouted, a little unhappy.

Mrs. Ding clapped her hands, and said: "That's right. At the beginning, your cousin was dismissed by the Zhou family. In my opinion, she didn't want Mrs. Zhou to seek you. I'm afraid her mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhou, was afraid that your cousin would continue to marry you." Your cousin's situation is not good for the Zhou family, so I want Mrs. Zhou to win you over so that I can talk to your cousin."

"But wouldn't it be faster for her to win over the Su family?" Ding Ruolan was still puzzled.

"Stupid child," Mrs. Ding said, "When the Liu family was convicted, the Liu family directly kicked Mr. Liu's family out of the family tree. What about the Su family? Only Mrs. Su has been thinking about her daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter for so many years. Su The old lady wanted to deliver things to the Liu family several times, but Madam Su made excuses to stop them? Don’t you see clearly? The relationship between the Su family and the Liu family is not as good as it seems!"

"Oh." Ding Ruolan nodded thoughtfully.

Mrs. Ding said again: "Anyway, Young Mistress Zhou is close to you, so you just have to be close to her. After all, she was the No. 1 lady in the capital back then, so getting close to her will be good for your reputation. "

"My cousin sister-in-law is also No. 1, but it's still..." Ding Ruolan swallowed the second half of the words and didn't say anything.

Madam Ding smiled and said: "Although the Holy Majesty is supporting her in this matter, just look at it, it won't be that easy."

"Oh?" Ding Ruolan asked with shining eyes.

Mrs. Ding said with a smile: "Your father told me after coming down from the court today that someone in the court today asked for chastity memorial archways for a few chaste and martyrs."

"Huh? Does this have something to do with my cousin?" Ding Ruolan asked puzzled.

Mrs. Ding blew on the floating tea in the bowl, and said with a smile: "Do you know why those strong women asked to be sealed? One of them was a widow. Mother-in-law, her natal family wanted to marry her again, so she burned half of her face with a hot iron!"

"Ah!" Ding Ruolan covered her mouth and whispered, "Even if you don't want to marry, you don't have to!"

Mrs. Ding sighed and said: "Being a woman is not as difficult as being a man." Mrs. Ding looked at her daughter pityingly and said, "Although my Great Zhou does not prohibit widows from remarrying, the world is unwilling to accept widows from remarrying. Most of those who remarry will have no good results. It is better to be a widow. If you are lucky enough to live a long time, you can earn a chastity archway for your family. Those who are old and have children are also easy to guard. The days of teaching children to become talents will pass But as the childless bride, who has just tasted being a woman and is about to become a widow, can she not suffer every day? She is beautiful, even if she can keep it, she can’t keep others from peeping at her, when the time comes Some gossips will ruin her life, and she will simply ruin her appearance."

In the past, all Ding Ruolan heard was loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, how a woman should keep chastity, three obediences and four virtues, etc., but no one had ever told her this. Now hearing what her mother said, she was speechless and just listened quietly to Ding Ruolan. Madame went on.

Mrs. Ding regained her composure and said, "There is another sixty-year-old woman who has been a widow for fifty years. Marrying a daughter-in-law for her brother-in-law and sister-in-law is conscientious. No one has ever said a word of gossip to her in her whole life, just because she is old now and her legs and feet are not convenient. When she went out to buy vegetables, she sprained her leg and was helped by a man. With a slap, he cut off the arm that was supported by the man."

"Ah!" Ding Ruolan was speechless.

Mrs. Ding smiled bitterly, but continued: "There is another one, also a woman, who returned home with her husband's family to worship the ancestors, encountered a big wave in the river and was almost drowned, but was finally rescued by a man who touched her. She threw herself into the river and drowned. Now her husband wants to buy a chastity archway for her. The other is that her husband’s daughter was killed by bandits on the way back to Ning, and she was left as a beautiful woman who was abused by bandits. In the end, the body endured the humiliation and poisoned all the bandits in the village to avenge her husband and daughter, and finally hanged herself at the place where her husband and daughter died. Now her natal family has invited her to seal the chastity archway."

Ding Ruolan couldn't stop sighing, but couldn't help thinking about what to do if she encountered such a situation. She couldn't get rid of it after thinking about it, and suddenly thought, as a housekeeper, she will definitely not suffer from the latter three, only the first. Most likely to meet, but widowed, there are many servants and women in the family, where will there be so many gossips when the time comes?What's more, since her life is good, she will definitely not find the husband of that short-lived ghost. Besides, her cousin doesn't look like a short-lived ghost.

Ding Ruolan was thinking like this, her cheeks turned red, and finally she seemed to think of something, nana said: "How can these people's experiences be as imagined by cousin sister-in-law?"

Although the widow can't match Liu Bailu, she was divorced, so it is not easy to find a marriage. end of life.

The part about the sixty-year-old woman and the drowned woman corresponds to the part about Liu Bailu saving people in Yongkang Pass. Although the situation forced her to touch the man's body, what's more, how could there be so many people at that time? What about her getting on the pole to save people?
In the end, the woman who endured humiliation, although she killed the bandits after being captured, was not a chaste woman after all. This also corresponds to the fact that Liu Bailu was once kidnapped by Potala, the eldest prince of Dayan. This...

"Someone targeted her?" Ding Ruolan asked.

"My son is smart." Madam Ding nodded with a smile.

(End of this chapter)