Shen Qionglian and her father and brother reburied their ancestor Shen Xiu. It took them more than two years to search for Shen Xiu's tomb in the southwest. Their efforts paid off. Shen Qionglian finally found Shen Xiu's tomb and took out the remains.
The former richest man in the Yuan Dynasty returned to his roots, to Zhouzhuang, Kunshan County, Jiangsu Province, where he made his fortune and earned his first pot of gold.
Shen Qionglian was unconventional and decided to bury Shen Xiu underwater and build an underwater tomb.
The biggest feature of underwater tombs is that they cost money.
Shen Qionglian felt that the biggest advantage of the underwater tomb was the anti-theft feature, so that no tomb robbers would covet the burial objects and damage Shen Xiu's remains.
The process of building the underwater tomb is similar to Muchun’s previous infrastructure construction and dam building in Yunnan.
It is necessary to first cut off the rivers that are interconnected, drain the water artificially, turn the rivers into mulberry fields, and then continue to dig down, the deeper the better. Unless the tomb robbers have the aqualung of fish, they will drown if they cannot even touch the tomb door.
Zhouzhuang is full of water. People need water for life and agriculture. If the Shen family cut the water meter of the people downstream, will they forgive them? The people upstream will not sit idly by. If the river is blocked and there is a heavy rain, the people upstream will be displaced and their houses and fields will be flooded.
Therefore, while blocking the river, it is necessary to open up another temporary river channel to drain the water out.
The amount of work required to build an underwater tomb is the same as that required to build a dam. The dam required the efforts of the entire nation, while the underwater tomb was paid for by the Shen family themselves, which shows how wealthy the Shen family is.
The ancients paid attention to feng shui when choosing a cemetery. Feng shui means avoiding wind and water. However, Shen Qionglian insisted on doing the opposite and buried her ancestors under water. Many members of the Shen family were dissatisfied and made a fuss for a while.
Unfortunately, Shen Qionglian had been a female official for many years and had "connections above her", so the Shen family could not touch her. What's more, Shen Qionglian was a fifth-rank official, and currently no one in the Shen family had a higher official position than her, so they had to succumb to Shen Qionglian's "tyranny".
In any era, power plus money can indeed do whatever one wants, regardless of gender.
The economic base determines the superstructure, from the country to the family. The status of men and women in the family, regardless of gender, is ultimately determined by how much power and money they possess.
Even in today's society, although people advocate gender equality on the surface, in reality men are still superior to women. Only by keeping a clear head, adhering to the Marxist value of "economic base determines superstructure" and striving to master absolute power can we break this rule.
Love and family affection cannot achieve gender equality, and love cannot generate electricity. The so-called "return to family" is even more of a step backwards. Don't be fooled by so-called successful people. It's better to be a boss yourself than to date a boss.
Shen Qionglian didn't care what others said behind her back. She felt that it was fine. She even said to her father and brother, "I want to be buried underwater after a hundred years. It's such a quiet place. It's a pity that I can't do that now."
When the construction really started, Shen Qionglian found that it cost too much money. After burying Shen Xiu, there was no money to bury herself. She deeply realized how difficult it was for the court to carry out infrastructure construction.
They opened a temporary river channel, drained it, and continued digging downwards. After making sure that no living person could swim to this point, they found a stone cemetery on the spot. They chose an auspicious day to relocate the burial, closed the tomb door, and everyone retreated.
Then, the temporary dam that blocked the water flow was blown up, allowing the river water to return to its normal track, filling the dry riverbed and covering up the underwater tomb.
Finally, the temporary river channel was filled in, the Shen family's ancestral hall was built on it, and the gravekeeper's house, fields, etc. were restored to their original state. A generation of wealthy people has been buried under the water ever since.
Such a huge project took four years and thousands of migrant workers. The Shen family spent money like water and let Shen Qionglian do it.
In any era, businessmen need the support of the court. Otherwise, no matter how big the family business is, once it is targeted by officials and is being exploited, the family will have no choice but to stick out its neck and be slaughtered. At least half of the money earned by the Shen family is due to Shen Qionglian.
In addition to repairing the tomb, Shen Qionglian's spiritual world was also very fulfilled during these four years. She found that the local drama in Kunshan sounded clear, melodious and elegant, which was completely different from the northern opera popular in the Ming Dynasty court. It formed its own school called Kunqu Opera, which is a branch of southern opera.
When Shen Qionglian had nothing to do, she collected Kunqu opera manuscripts and oral artists' performances, and took notes while listening to them, compiling them into books. She even hired two Kunqu opera troupes, deleted the vulgar parts of the scripts, rewrote the lyrics and composed the music, and asked the troupes to rehearse the performances.
Collecting antiques and supporting a theatre troupe are the two hobbies that burn the most money. They are simply a bottomless pit. Underwater tombs will eventually be filled up, but supporting a theatre troupe is like the wealthy people of later generations investing in movies. It is simply a crematorium for money.
Perfectionist Shen Qionglian revised her script three times and when she was ready for rehearsal, the Jinyiwei came to pick her up. Shen's father and brother breathed a sigh of relief. If this continued, even if the Shen family had ten mountains of gold, they would not be enough for Shen Qionglian.
Shen Qionglian thus ended her long vacation and returned to the Ming Dynasty court.
She took a seven-year leave, during which time three palace mistresses changed: Empress Renxiao, Concubine Zhang, and Concubine Quanxian.
Shen Qionglian is aloof and proud, the type of leader who focuses on the big picture and lets go of the small details; Concubine Quan Xianfei is concerned with every detail, and she takes caution and following the old ways as her primary principle.
Shen Qionglian used to assist Empress Renxiao, a strong and magnanimous mistress of the harem. If it was Concubine Zhang who came from a prominent family, the two of them should have cooperated harmoniously. Now that it has been replaced by Concubine Quanxian, Shen Qionglian always feels that this new mistress is petty and not straightforward enough.
Concubine Quan also felt that Shen Qionglian was too aloof and not as considerate, patient and easy to get along with as Hu Shanwei. However, Concubine Quan had no backing and no confidence, so she did not dare to propose a replacement. So she kept her distance from Shen Qionglian. There was a deep gap between the two, and both hoped that Hu Shanwei would come back soon.
Shen Qionglian and Concubine Quan: Let's just make do with each other, there's no way we can get divorced.
Hu Shanwei announced to the public that he had dreamt about his deceased father and that he missed him and his sisters, so he asked for leave, recalled Shen Qionglian, and took his sisters to Yunnan to pay homage to his deceased father's tomb.
Filial piety is a good excuse, second only to loyalty. Hu Shanwei and A Lei traveled day and night and arrived at Kunming Mu Mansion in half a month.
It was midsummer and the weather was hot. Hu Shanwei and A Lei arrived at a quiet courtyard, exhausted. As they approached the gate, they smelled a strong odor of medicine. When Hu Shanwei smelled this odor, it was like smelling onions, and tears rolled down his face.
Mu Chun knew that his wife and daughter were coming, so he dressed himself up, washed his hair, took a shower, and shaved. Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw that his cheeks were thin, his skin had become whiter from recuperation, he had lost about 40 pounds, his clothes were getting looser, but he had no regrets. The fat on his belly was gone, and his eight-pack abs were even more prominent - it would have been even better if there weren't a few scars on his abs that looked like they were stitched together like a centipede.
At that time, an elephant, which was frightened by the artillery fire, rushed over and trampled half of his body. Two ribs were broken, and the ribs pierced his internal organs like a dagger, stabbing himself.
Ru Siyao and Tan Taiyi both joined the army to quell the rebellion and became military doctors. The couple were so skilled and bold that they simply made two cuts in his abdomen, took out the two broken ribs from his stomach, stuffed the intestines that had flowed out of his body back in, and then sewed them up again.
This desperate tactic of trying everything possible dragged Mu Chun back from the brink of death.
The moment Mu Chun woke up, the brothers Mu Sheng and Mu Ang almost knelt down to the couple.
Mu Chun had a good foundation and was as strong as an animal. With the careful treatment of Ru Siyao and Doctor Tan, his condition finally stabilized after a month of intermittent fever.
Mu Chun rated his appearance and figure in front of the mirror. No matter what, he had successfully lost weight. There were a few scars on his face, but they were not so serious as to disfigure him. The wound on his abdomen was covered by his clothes and could not be seen. The only thing he was not satisfied with was his right arm. The bone gap had not grown yet and it was tied up tightly, making him unable to move. He was forced to learn to eat with his left hand.
There were two large vats in the room, with mountains of ice piled up to dissipate the heat. Muchun had many wounds on his body and could not withstand the heat, so this most primitive air-conditioning saved his life.
He wanted to go out to pick up his wife and daughter, but Tan Ru and his wife strictly forbade him to engage in strenuous activity or go out in the sun, otherwise the wound would come into contact with sweat and other dirt and become red, swollen and inflamed, which would be dangerous.
From the perspective of sustainable development, staying at home with air conditioning is the right thing to do. Muchun is trapped in the "boudoir", looking forward to the arrival of his wife and daughter, and his neck has become longer.
With a creak, the door opened, and Hu Shanwei and A Lei rushed in with a gust of hot air.
Hu Shanwei was the first to rush over and hugged Mu Chun's waist tightly. She could hardly hug him before because of his waist, but now she could hug him easily. She put her left ear against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, and finally she felt relieved.
After hearing the heartbeat, Hu Shanwei loosened his grip, took two steps back, and looked at Mu Chun carefully. Mu Chun turned around on the spot, "Look, I'm fine, I haven't lost any limbs."
Hu Shanwei stroked his right arm, which was tied with a wooden board, and asked, "Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore." Mu Chun puffed up his face and said, "Luckily I reacted quickly and rolled out from under the elephant's leg. My right arm was only broken. If I was a step slower, the bones would have been crushed and I would have had to cut off my arm to save my life."
Hu Shanwei pouted, "Nonsense."
Mu Chun looked at A Lei who was wiping tears with his head down, and stretched out his left hand which could move freely, "It's been a year since we last met, and my A Lei has grown into a big girl. Come here, let your brother-in-law take a good look at her."
Are wiped his tears and forced a smile, "I'm glad my brother-in-law is okay. Good things will come to those who are lucky."
Mu Chun had long arms. With his left hand, he held Shanwei and Aredu in his arms and sighed, "I have always been concerned about you two. How could I bear to die? Even if I have to go to the underworld and fight with the Black and White Impermanence, I will come back to reunite with you."
The three of them hugged each other, cried for a while, laughed for a while, and between life and death, they took everything lightly. Hu Shanwei looked at Mu Chun, who had just recovered from a serious illness and was so thin that he could not even wear clothes, and decided to stay in Kunming to take care of him, putting everything aside and waiting for him to recover.
Hu Shanwei paid a visit to Tan Ru and his wife, bringing a generous gift to thank them for saving their lives - a ship's bell made by A Lei himself.
At first, A Lei refused and insisted on giving it to Muchun as a birthday present. Hu Shanwei said, "Giving a clock as a present is unlucky. He will be very satisfied if you come to Kunming to accompany him. It is more appropriate to give this clock to Ru Siyao and Tan Taiyi. They are the lifesavers of our family of three. They have no shortage of money and other things. They will definitely like this ship clock. I really can't think of any more precious gift to give them to express my gratitude."
Arei felt that what his sister said made sense, and reluctantly gave the ship bell to his sister, but a question remained in his mind, "Sister, it is true that they saved my brother-in-law, but when did they save me and you?"
“This…” Hu Shanwei was suddenly speechless: she was an elderly mother at the time, and A’lei’s fetus was fatter than ordinary babies. If Ru Siyao had not delivered the baby for her, it is very likely that both she and A’lei would have died.
Hu Shanwei made a random excuse, "Ru Siyao saved us, but you were very young at that time and don't remember anything."
A Lei asked again: "What happened to my sister and me? Do we need a master like Ru Siyao to save us?"
Hu Shanwei said casually, "The house we lived in before was too remote. You and I were playing in the chrysanthemum field and were bitten by a poisonous snake. It was Ru Si's medicine that drove away the venom and saved us."
"Oh." Arei nodded.
Hu Shanwei put the ship bell in the box and went to visit Tan's family, telling A Lei, "Keep a good eye on your brother-in-law and don't let him go out."
As soon as Hu Shanwei left, A Lei went to the study with a plate of ice grapes. Mu Chun held a sword in his left hand and tried to dance.
Arei peeled the grapes, poked out the grape seeds with a toothpick, and put the pulp into Muchun's mouth. When she was at home before, it was Muchun who fed her so carefully. Now it was time for her to return the favor.
A Lei and Muchun were chatting, "Brother-in-law, I remember that we used to live in a house outside Kunming and we were always safe. We lived a carefree life. How come a poisonous snake swam into the chrysanthemum field?"
Mu Chun laughed and said, "How is it possible? With me here, how could such a thing get to our house? We always scatter insect repellent and snake repellent around the yard. You are young, so you must have remembered it wrongly. Maybe it was just a caterpillar."
Why did my sister and brother-in-law say different things? A Lei was suspicious. My brother-in-law wouldn't lie about life and death, so why would my sister lie to me
The author has something to say: The secret is about to be revealed, so I will send 100 red envelopes tonight to celebrate Chunchun's escape from death! Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
Jinjiang Pure Love Sister 50 bottles; cz 28 bottles; baby fish 20 bottles; Little Book Lover, Bubble, myf24587, Moshangsaki 10 bottles; Lipstick Comes with a Stick 7 bottles; Peach, Rain Falls on Flowers Without Knowing 5 bottles; Flower Dots, Wuzhu, Little Cat Three Thousand, 17438403, gingkotree 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!