On the second day of the first lunar month, every household in the imperial capital was happily celebrating the New Year, but the Wei Mansion was deserted.
Many traces of previous celebrations can still be seen in the hastily decorated mourning hall. The bright and auspicious red and green colors contrast with the white flowers and paper money, making it look even more sad.
Originally, this day happened to be the day when the married daughter returned to her parents' home. Wei Changying was carefully helped into the mourning hall, and he saw Wei Changwan already kneeling beside the coffin, holding Wei Changjuan in one hand, and cradling the coffin in tears.
She was dressed in raw linen clothes with no hems, and she had apparently taken the most severe form of "cutting off" among the "five clothes". Originally, according to the funeral rites of the Wei dynasty, a woman should wear the formal dress before leaving the palace. However, after leaving the palace, she is considered a member of another family, so she only needs to surrender. The rule of the Wei Dynasty is that a married girl is the daughter of both parents. It is to serve for one year of "all decline".
But Wei Changwan has now put on the "cut off" body, and now she is stroking the coffin and crying so sadly, thinking that she must be "cut off" even if she only stays for a year.
Listening to her and sister Wei Changjuan's heartfelt wails, Wei Changying didn't know what to feel in his heart. He was stunned for a moment before slowly walking forward to offer incense and salute.
The three brothers Wei Changyun, Wei Changsui and Wei Gaolang, the only concubine in the second room, knelt silently behind the curtain. The cold wind blew in from outside the hall. When the corner of the curtain was lifted, they could be seen with wooden faces, and there seemed to be something on their faces. Tears... But Min Yao and Zhou Xiaoyi - after all, it was only their mother-in-law who died, not to mention that this mother-in-law usually didn't treat them well. Although she was still very filial and cried constantly, she didn't sound as tearful as sisters Wei Changwan. Heartbroken.
Because Wei Changying's belly was very big now, it was very inconvenient for her to move. She had to be supported by Huang and others before she could salute. Then she went to salute. Wei Changjuan suddenly turned her head, her eyes were red and swollen, and she screamed: "You still come? You still dare to come?! You..."
It was Wei Changwan who suddenly covered her mouth. The strength was so great that the veins on the back of her fair hands popped out. Wei Changwan's face was hidden in the shadow of the coffin and could not be seen clearly. Only her hoarse voice could be heard. With a hint of chill, she said vaguely: "Third sister, seventh sister is sad about her mother's death and is a little confused now. Don't argue with her."
Wei Changying finished the salute according to the etiquette, let Huang help her stand up, and then said calmly: "Sister, what you said is obvious. I know you are in a bad mood now... I saluted my aunt and entered. Go away if it smells good.”
After watching Wei Changying go out, Wei Changwan let go of his sister. Wei Changjuan shouted to her excitedly: "Sister! Why don't you let me finish my words? Mother... Mother... she was simply..."
There was a "pop" sound and a slap hit her hard on the face!
Wei Changjuan subconsciously covered her face, stared at her eldest sister who always doted on her, and said in disbelief, "Sister, you..."
"My mother's body is still cold, have you forgotten what she told us before she died!" Wei Changwan looked cold, holding her wrist tightly, and her nails dug into Wei Changjuan's delicate skin, but Wei Changwan didn't do anything. She had no intention of letting go, her face was covered by the shadow of the coffin, but her eyes were shining in the dark - the light of hatred was so hot and strong that Wei Changjuan subconsciously held her breath and did not dare to breathe. pain.
Wei Changwan's lips were almost touching her ears, and he breathed like ice and said word by word: "If you hadn't been stupid and provoked Wei Changying just for a meaningless moment of anger! How could my mother care about you? , you were caught by that bitch Song Xinrou for a moment! You stupid little thing, you have already killed your mother for nothing, and now you want to kill our whole family!"
Seeing Wei Changjuan open her mouth in shock, she fell down and sat down, with tears rolling down her eyes. Wei Changwan, who had always loved his sister, his eyes remained cold and showed no mercy, and continued to say coldly, "Give it to me Listen! In the past, your mother pampered you and let you do what you wanted! Now that you have done something to your mother's death, if you are still so stupid... don't blame your sister for being so cruel!"
Min Yao and Zhou Xiaoyi were both taken aback by the scene between the two sisters. They tried to persuade them with a forced smile: "Eldest sister, don't be like this... Seventh sister is also young..."
"Shut up!" The one who suddenly spoke was Wei Changyun. He looked at his wife and sister-in-law expressionlessly, and said in a tone without any emotion, "Who dares to spoil this rebellious girl who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth? Just get out of the house with me!"
Min Yao's sister-in-law was slightly startled and both fell silent.
Looking blankly at her brother and sister who suddenly changed their attitude, Wei Changjuan was extremely sad. However, she cried so hard that her heart broke. Wei Changyun and Wei Changwan just looked at them indifferently. Even the most soft-hearted Wei Changsui also He just sighed inaudibly.
… These guards neither know nor care about. She returned to Jintong Courtyard, took off her mourning clothes, took a bath again, and changed into a new set of clothes. Then she went to see Mrs. Su and reported the mourning process.
Mrs. Su's friendship with Wei Shengyi and his wife was average. Wei Changying almost lost her pregnancy after returning from the Wei Mansion. No wonder Mrs. Su blamed Wei Shengyi and his wife for this and that.
Later, Wei Changying's pregnancy was saved, and Mrs. Su calmed down her resentment, but she really didn't feel much regret for Duanmu's passing. And because it was the first month of the year and Wei Changying was still pregnant, she had to go to the mourning hall to express her condolences. Not only did it dampen the Shen family's happiness, it also made her worried about her expectant grandson.
However, Duanmu was Wei Changying's aunt after all. She died in the imperial capital, so it was impossible for Wei Changying not to go.
Therefore, Mrs. Su could only repeatedly tell her daughter-in-law to be cautious, and lamented the impermanence of things in the world. She Wei Shengyi, the right servant of Shangshu, was in the prime of life, and his wife, Duanmu, was not too old. I had never heard of her frequently calling doctors. Or when an imperial doctor passes by, he is obviously in good health - why are the good ones gone
Wei Changying and other daughters-in-law naturally echoed their mother-in-law's remarks about the impermanence of the world... But no one expected that within two days, an even more impermanent thing would be waiting for the Shen family.
The Queen Mother Ji is so angry!
The Queen Mother Ji had a very humble background, similar to Mrs. Zhenyi and Zhong Xiaoyi - a daughter from a poor family, who entered the palace as a maid. With her beauty, due to various opportunities that only the people involved knew about, she caught the eye of the emperor and became a palace official. Concubine.
Since he had no other merits that could attract the Sacred Heart except his beauty, his favor did not last long. In the past few decades, there have been many short-lived concubines in the harem of the Holy Emperor. Queen Ji was blessed with good luck. She became pregnant smoothly during the short period of time when she was favored, and she gave birth to the third son of the emperor, King Ji, safely.
Although the Holy Emperor has dozens of children, neither the prince nor the princess are very rare. But at that time, the Holy Emperor only had two princes, and he was still very happy about the birth of this third son. Although the Queen Mother Ji did not return her favor, she was granted the title of concubine of the third rank and asked her to raise King Ji personally... So when King Ji got married when he was older, he went to the fiefdom to join the vassal. Ji, who had not been favored in the palace for many years, Naturally, the Queen Mother followed her son to the fiefdom and became a leisurely Queen Mother.
Only when King Ji was summoned to return to the capital, would she come back with her son to see the emperor and empress. The Queen Mother Ji was not of high birth and had never been a favorite concubine for two days, so she was very cautious in the presence of the emperor and every queen in this dynasty. After becoming the queen mother, she always served the emperor and empress personally every time she returned to the capital. .
Therefore, although the Holy Emperor no longer cares about doting on her because of her old age, and because he has many princes and grandchildren, he is not interested in Prince Ji, but he has always had a good impression of Prince Ji, mother and son.
The point is, one year, when the Holy Spirit was in a good mood, he promised to give King Ji the honor of being buried with the Queen Mother in An Ling after her death.
At that time, Queen Mother Ji "wept with joy, fell to the ground and worshiped Danchi, saying that if she died immediately, she would have no regrets in this life."
... If the Queen Mother died on the fiefdom of King Ji, she would naturally have a funeral on the fiefdom, which would not interfere with anything in the imperial capital. At most, during the burial, King Ji would petition the Holy One to fulfill his promise and let him deliver the coffin of his biological mother. Buried in An Ling.
But now the Queen Mother Ji died in the imperial capital. After all, she was a person who served the Holy Emperor. The fiefdom of Prince Ji is not close to the imperial capital, and it is not the hometown of the Queen Mother Ji. It is impossible to send Prince Ji and his wife back to the fiefdom with their coffins during the Chinese New Year. Go to the funeral, and then carry the coffin to Anling, a day and night's journey from the imperial capital, for burial, right
The Holy Spirit remembered that Queen Mother Ji had always been humble and gentle. When she came back this time, she also presented a nine-foot-long embroidered picture of Longevity. Queen Mother Ji had started embroidering it with her own hands since she came to her son's fiefdom. It took more than ten years to embroider it. Cheng, this time I specially brought it here to offer... Whether anyone else spoke in the meantime, people outside are not sure. In short, the Holy Lord approved that Prince Ji held the funeral for his mother at Prince Ji's Mansion in the middle of the capital, and ordered him to attend the funeral in front of all the children in the imperial capital. Go to express condolences to my concubine.
So it had only been two days since the guard chief Ying had mourned his aunt, and everyone in the Shen family put on bright hairpins and jewelry, took off their gorgeous clothes, and went to Prince Ji's Mansion to pay their respects in solemn and simple clothes.
Normally, Queen Ji Shen Zangxiu was much sadder than Min Yao and others when she lost her mother-in-law. She almost fainted from crying before Mrs. Su and her entourage arrived. After Mrs. Su arrived, Shen Zangxiu fell down crying. Everyone who saw her in her mother's arms was moved and said that the queen was pure and filial.
In the twelfth lunar month, Shen Zangxiu arrived in Beijing with Prince Ji and took the time to go back to her parents' home for a kiss. At that time, Wei Changying also went to the upper room to meet her. This eldest sister from her husband's family looked exactly like Mrs. Su, but her temperament was much gentler than Mrs. Su's. Like his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Deng. Wei Changying had been criticizing Mrs. Su for missing her eldest daughter so much, but he beat her young daughter Shen Zangning back and forth. After meeting Shen Zangxiu, he had to sigh that this eldest sister-in-law was indeed a lovable person - like Mrs. Deng Anyone who is not too eccentric would like such a kind person.
Seeing her crying so sadly now, the condolences were all infected with sadness. Wei Changying and others, along with Mrs. Su, comforted her. Because another group of people had arrived, they retreated to the side to serve tea with the female relatives who came to express their condolences.
There were whispers in the flower hall where the tea was served. Guard Chief Ying listened carefully, but they were all saying good things about Queen Mother Ji.
She had seen the Queen Mother Ji from afar at the New Year's Eve banquet, so she had no impression of the Queen Mother. At this moment, I heard everyone saying that the Queen Mother was a good person and Queen Ji was filial. After all, the deceased was the most important, and it was in Prince Ji's Mansion. I guess no one would say anything bad, and Wei Changying didn't take it to heart.
However, without hearing a word, someone not far away whispered slanderous words, whispering: "Such a good Queen Mother, as long as there is a conscience, who as a queen can not love her as her biological mother?"
Let’s talk about the Queen Mother Ji’s treat for Shen Zangxiu: It is said that shortly after King Ji arrived in the fiefdom, someone from the fiefdom presented two beauties, both talented, beautiful and beautiful. King Ji fell in love with her when he saw them Soon, after being admitted to the royal palace, the queen was ignored. She even listened to the slanderous words of one of the beautiful ladies and blamed the queen.
As a result, the Queen Mother Ji knew about it, so she summoned King Ji to him and scolded him: "The Queen is the daughter of everyone. She inherited the court training at a young age. How can her actions and words be unreasonable? If so, why do people in the world choose to marry a woman from a famous family? What's more, you only like Meimei because of her erotic skills. If her erotic skills have declined, will you continue to like them? But the queen is your married wife. Even if she is old and loses her lust, she is still the queen, so why should the queen surrender? To embarrass Mei Ji because of her identity, this must be Mei Ji’s jealousy of the queen and her deliberate attempt to slander her.”
This made King Ji suddenly wake up and gave all the beauties to his servants.
The Queen Mother Ji said to King Ji again: "The person who gave you the beautiful concubine must not be punished. These two beauties have been taught etiquette, singing and dancing, and talents, but that person did not teach them to respect the queen. This is obviously Deliberately trying to instigate you to spoil your concubine and destroy your wife through Mei Ji's favor, such a person has sinister intentions and must be punished, and you must stay away from him from now on."
When Wei Changying heard this, he thought to himself that it was no wonder Shen Zangxiu was so sad, while Min Yao's sister-in-law cried loudly in the mourning hall, but there was no sadness at all. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are not blood relatives, they are all born out of virginity. (To be continued)