Behind every beautiful but unhappy beauty, there is usually more than a simple experience, and Yu Lian is no exception.
If she had not been sold to Li Shouzhen's house when she was young, Yulian might have starved to death in a drought, locust plague, or even been eaten by others; or she might have been luckier and married into a poor family of equal status and lived the same poor, ignorant and submissive life as before. In short, since she became a maid in Li's house, she has seen a life completely different from her birth environment, where there is no hunger and cold, only fine clothes and delicious food. Even being the most humble maid is better than living in her hometown.
But no one is easily satisfied, and no one is willing to be bullied by others because of their low status and not envy those who are pampered. Yulian gradually realized that her greatest asset and opportunity was her appearance. She was prettier than the other girls who did odd jobs, and she was already a graceful young lady.
The head of the family, Li Shouzhen, had the greatest power in the rich manor, but he was cunning and had already seen through the ways of the world. Even if Li Shouzhen took a fancy to her, she would only be a plaything. Yulian set her sights on Li Shouzhen's son, Li Chongxun, a young man who had just grown up and had little experience.
As expected, Li Chongxun was easily bewitched by Yu Lian. After a series of vows of eternal love, Yu Lian endured the pain and disgust and ate the forbidden fruit with Master Li. Suddenly, she felt inexplicably panicked, but it was too late to regret. She didn't even dare to shout for help.
Before she became the wife of the lame husband of the Chen family, she had only had two painful sexual affairs, and this was one of them. She did not expect Mr. Li to fulfill all his promises. It was enough for such a rich man to fulfill part of his promises; and Yulian later found out that she was pregnant all of a sudden, and the situation became more optimistic.
However, she finally realized that it was impossible for her to become the daughter-in-law of General Li Shouzhen. The Li family would never give up the opportunity to marry another nobleman, Fu Yanqing. So Fu Yanqing's eldest daughter, Fu, became Li Chongxun's first wife. Yulian did not dare to easily reveal that she was pregnant with Li's bloodline. She planned to try to get along well with Fu first, and then become a concubine with a higher status around Li Chongxun and his wife. If she gave birth to a son, it should be guaranteed.
Unfortunately, things are unpredictable. Before Yu Lian could wait for that day, the Li family was wiped out for rebelling.
She and Fu Shi were both women, both women of Li Chongxun, but their fates were very different in the turbulent moment. Fu Shi was just the wife of a criminal, but after she revealed her father's name and her friendship with Guo Wei, she suddenly became the adopted daughter of another powerful figure, Guo Wei; but Yu Lian's fate was obviously not so courteous. After the Li family was destroyed, she was left alone and was snatched away by a general in Guo Wei's army.
She was raped and raped by the general, and then taken back to his home. She could not resist, otherwise she would have been raped by countless people as a camp prostitute. Yu Lian had a miscarriage, and was later told that she would never have children again because she could not get treatment in time. Before she had time to hate the general, war broke out again. The general died in the war, and his wives and concubines were scattered; Yu Lian was sold like a commodity for money. The person who bought her was the last husband named Chen. He was ugly, drunk, irritable, poor, and a eunuch. He was even more unfortunate. When Guo Wei led his army back to Tokyo, there was almost no resistance, and there were few casualties. However, he was pushed off the city wall and broke his leg.
Life went on like this until the first year of Xian De, when Yu Lian had lost hope in life. As a barren woman with nothing and a burdensome husband, she wanted to abandon her husband and run away many times, but where could she run to and what could she do? She had speculated in countless dark nights that if she ran away, she would probably be sold to a brothel. Even if she was taken in as a wife by an ordinary family, when they found out that the woman was barren and they didn't have to explain to her family, they would probably sell her to get money and marry again, because ordinary people married women to have children.
Sometimes she was very desperate and just wanted to live one day at a time. When she couldn't bear it anymore, she would die.
Sometimes she was unwilling to accept it and felt very aggrieved. Not to mention being rich and powerful, she was not even as good as the ugly and vulgar women in Longjinfang, Tokyo. She could not live a good life but was laughed at and gossiped about by them. Was she going to end her life in humiliation like this, and then let those people gloat over her misfortune and make some sarcastic remarks
She had no friends, no relatives, and even her family was a broken one; her husband was killed, but she was not very sad. This situation made her feel that she was the most unfortunate person in the world. Although she was born in a humble family, God gave her a better appearance than most people. Besides, she was not the only one who was born in the lower class. Where did she go wrong? Should she not have provoked Li Shouzhen's son? If she hadn't done so, how much better would it have been
Yulian felt ashamed to see people and just wanted to hide in a dark corner, so she hardly talked to anyone when she went out. It would be great if no one in this world knew her, and she also hoped that those gossipers would not use her misfortune as a laughing stock after dinner.
But she thought of the Weiguo Lady Fu whom she met on Zhuque Street yesterday. She was also a woman from the ruined Li Shouzhen Mansion. With her family background, she became the wife of an official. Her noble status made officials look up to her in awe, not to mention these women in the market. Who dared to laugh at her? They didn't even have the courage to be jealous. Yu Lian fantasized that if one day she could be so noble, people who knew her should feel ashamed and realize their own lowliness. With such imagination, she felt a little ethereal pleasure in her heart. But her experience in Li Shouzhen's mansion made her realize that it was impossible in reality, and she could only comfort herself in her heart.
In the evening, someone knocked on the door. Yulian opened the door and saw that it was Shao Ge'er who had returned. Shao Ge'er was still wearing armor but without any weapons. He hung his head and seemed to be in a low mood. He didn't even dare to look at Yulian, nor did he enter the house. He stood at the door and said: Commander Wang ordered me to compensate the Chen family for the pension and funeral expenses, but
Yu Lian hurriedly looked around the alley and said: Come in and talk, don't stand at the door.
Shao Ge'er was stunned for a moment, walked into the kitchen, found a stool and sat down.
Have you eaten yet? Yulian asked again. She didn't treat Guo Shao like the murderer of her husband. She knew that Shao killed the man of Chen family to defend himself. Shao didn't say anything, so she guessed that he came back hungry, and hurriedly opened the lid of the pot and took a rough bowl to fill a bowl of green soup.
Seeing the steaming paste on the wooden table, Guo Shao said awkwardly: “This is not good. By the way, there is a jar of money under the box in the room where I live in the backyard of the blacksmith shop, but it is not enough.
Yulian said: They just asked you to pay money, they didn't beat you.
Guo Shao shook his head, and finally couldn't bear the hunger anymore, he picked up the porridge and took a sip, and immediately felt that the taste was extremely bad, as if there were grain husk residues such as bran. In this era, it was good to have something to eat, but Yulian usually ate this. He secretly glanced at her again, and really couldn't tell that such a fair-skinned woman lived on bran and vegetables.
Yulian had a smooth and round forehead and an oval face, which matched her black and white almond eyes very well. She was naturally beautiful, and her eyebrows were not charming, but she looked kind. However, her dress was really worn out, revealing her fair face and neck, which reminded people of a peeled glutinous rice dumpling.
Guo Shaoda drank a mouthful of porridge made of something unknown, and lost his appetite. He ate slowly, saying: Commander Wang thought I had some relationship with Zhang Yongde, the commander of the palace. He wanted to do me a favor. But Yang Biao was demoted three levels yesterday for gambling and crippling someone. If Commander Wang showed me leniency, it would be unfair to reward and punish me and I would be responsible for compensation. Yang Biao was unlucky. He was demoted to a general yesterday, and today he was demoted to a deputy general because I became the general of the fourth team.
The military positions in the Five Dynasties were quite confusing, but Yulian grew up in Li Shouzhen's house and later met Guo Shao in Tokyo. She knew a lot of these things from conversation, and she understood the military positions below the commander. The military commander or the head of the army was equivalent to the centurion, the captain was the captain, and the deputy captain was the deputy captain. Most people who joined the army just wanted to get promoted and make money. Although Guo Shao did not kill anyone, he was demoted from the leader of a hundred people to the captain, which was a great loss.
When Yu Lian heard this, she said: I don’t want the deed to the shop anymore.
Guo Shao seemed to have some misunderstanding and nodded, saying: I have no choice now, I have to count the shop as compensation to your family, and include the money in the jar.
Yulian shook her head and glanced at him quietly: "You can keep the shop, I don't want it anymore. I'll sign the bill for you to get the job done, just consider it as compensation."
Guo Shao frowned and said: I will return to the barracks early tomorrow morning. What are your plans for the future? I gave you that blacksmith shop as compensation. With the help of Old Man Huang, you can barely make a living by running it. Don't refuse it.
Don't bother Guo Lang to worry about my affairs. Yu Lian's tone suddenly became a little cold. Women really change their expressions faster than the weather.
Guo Shao's unfinished words got stuck in his throat and he fell silent. He thought about it and realized that he had always had a crush on Yu Lian. She was a pretty but pitiful woman, and she was very hardworking. Anyone would like her, right? But it seemed that he couldn't ask her to do anything just because he treated her a little well and helped her when she was in trouble.
He stood up and was about to say goodbye, but in the light of the firewood in the stove, he suddenly saw Yulian's eyes sparkling with tears. The flame in the stove was swaying, and the orange light on her face was alternating between light and dark, as if illuminating her hesitant heart.
You, Guo Shao, don’t know how to ask questions.
Yulian pursed her lips, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. Her beautiful and clean face was very different in the shabby and dusty low house. The contrast was great. This kitchen was full of old smells, and everything was very old. Because of Yulian's presence, it was out of place.
The tears in her eyes finally slid down her cheeks, and she smiled: "Go back, we won't be like those adulterers, and I'm not a vicious woman who commits adultery and kills her husband. I will remember Shao Ge'er's kindness to me."