She is luckier than most.

"The Book of Rites, Quli Shang" says: "The etiquette of being a son is to keep warm in winter and cool in summer, to get ready at dusk and examine oneself in the morning."

Three days later, on the morning of the day of reunion, Chen Yuanyuan, who had clearly promised Shen Cong everything, was sleeping on the huanghuali Ruyi moon-shaped bed, allowing the maid beside her to move around with her.

The ancients believed that the morning and evening were the right time to wake up. Dawn and dusk were the hours of Chou, and dusk was the hours of Hai, which, converted to modern time, are approximately 3:00 AM and 9:00 PM.

For Chen Yuanyuan, a social animal who always stays in bed, if she knew she had to get up at three in the morning to go and meet her boyfriend, she would rather stay up until three in the morning.

Hongyue and Luyun lifted the crimson gauze curtains they had changed a few days earlier and saw Xu Lingwan still sound asleep, sprawled on a mandarin duck-embroidered pillow. Glancing at the clock next to them, they saw that her son-in-law would be taking her to Rong'an Hall in about half an hour. She couldn't help but call out "Madam" several times in a panic.

Chen Yuanyuan was still dreaming, dreaming of herself and her younger sister Zhang Wei shopping. Zhang Wei was gorgeous, with big breasts, a slim waist, fair skin, and beautiful features. With her almond-shaped eyes, she asked, "Yuanyuan, I recently dreamed that you had a man. Tell me the truth, do you have a man?"

Chen Yuanyuan was surprised. How could she know about the ancient man in her dream? Could she be dreaming?

She pinched her face hard, it hurt! Oh, wasn't this a dream? She's back?

Just as she was about to happily tell her about a long dream she'd recently had, in which she dreamt of marrying someone from ancient times, she saw Zhang Wei's newly-made cardamom-colored diamond-embellished nails poking her forehead. "Chen Yuanyuan, why don't you tell me now? I can tell you you're in love by looking at your amorous feelings! We single sisters agreed to go together, and whoever holds hands first is a fool!"

Chen Yuanyuan:...

Seeing that Chen Yuanyuan still couldn't be woken up, Yu Madam, the accompanying lady, listened to the maids' reports, closed the doors and windows, and said, "Hurry up and carry the lady on her back and dress her."

Hong Yue hurriedly said "Hey" and was about to carry Xu Lingwan on her back when the door opened. Chen Cong looked over with a cold look: "What are you doing?"

What was this for? No matter how experienced Ren Yu's mother was, she couldn't think of how to explain to her new son-in-law what they were doing.

In her opinion, if her son-in-law and the Shen family knew about it, the bride wouldn't even be able to wake up early or go to bed early. Not only would Xu Lingwan have a hard time in the Shen family, but if it got out, it would directly label the girls of the Xu family as impolite, and it would be difficult for other girls to get married in the future.

At this moment, the dream flashed, and Chen Yuanyuan and Zhang Wei were happily shopping. They ordered two scoops of Italian ice cream, chocolate hazelnut flavor. While eating, Chen Yuanyuan said to Zhang Wei, "Weiwei, I have something to tell you. I have a husband."

"Husband?! Did you get a marriage certificate?" Zhang Wei was obviously frightened, and the ice cream even stained her upper lip.

"Listen to me and I'll tell you slowly. This story is a bit strange..."

Before Chen Yuanyuan could continue speaking, she felt a chill on her shoulder and her body trembled slightly. She opened her eyes slightly and saw a tall, jade-like figure in front of her.

Isn't that her husband?

"Husband." Xu Lingwan gave him a small smile and called softly.

Speak of Cao Cao and he will appear. Although this ancient man was a bit stereotyped, his appearance was still very good. With a little grooming, he could easily beat many young handsome men in modern times.

Chen Cong was stunned to see Xu Lingwan's little face flushed from sleep, even the moon-white mandarin duck embroidered pillow was stained with some red. Her little smile was like a tree full of blooming crabapples, her appearance was charming and captivating.

I couldn't help but feel moved.

"Husband, hug me." Chen Yuanyuan thought she was still in a dream. She looked at the well-defined profile, stretched out her hand from under the thin quilt, and spoke coquettishly and affectionately.

Chen Cong looked at Xu Lingwan, hesitated for a moment, carefully put her hand that was stretched out of the quilt back into the quilt, and held her in his arms along with the quilt.

Just now, the touch was delicate, soft and boneless. Suddenly, the poem "Shuo Ren" from "Wei Feng" that he read in his youth popped up in his mind. The skin was like solidified fat, and the hands were like soft catkins. This is what he meant.

"Lingwan, get up." He coaxed her softly as if she were a child.

By the time Chen Yuanyuan was fully awake, Hongyue and Luyun had already finished dressing her up.

Because she was a newlywed bride offering tea and greetings, Xu Lingwan wore a brand new scarlet gauze blouse and a matching pomegranate skirt. Her hair was styled in a woman's bun, and she wore a gold filigree lotus-shaped pearl hairpin and white jade earrings.

It was neither too formal nor too casual, but just the right amount of solemnity that made Chen Yuanyuan's eyebrows curved.

Xu Lingwan glanced at Luyun, signaling her to go to the west room to fetch Chen Cong. Taking advantage of this moment, she casually picked up a brush of black ink and roughly drew on her eyebrows.

The original body of this body was indeed a beautiful creature. Her lips were red without makeup, her eyebrows were emerald without makeup, her skin was white and creamy, and she looked like a beautiful woman who brought disaster to the country and the people.

When she first saw this look in the mirror, Chen Yuanyuan was startled. She was still ill then, supported by a maid, her brow furrowed in a sickly expression, her eyes tinged with sorrow. Her frail appearance was terrifying even for a woman like her.

Chen Yuanyuan's modern appearance is not bad, but compared with this, there is a world of difference.

Master Shen sipped his tea and watched her style her hair in a woman's bun, with a double-knotted silk sash embroidered with a cloud pattern and a jade pendant with a double-balanced flatfish. Although she was tall and slender with a graceful figure, her palm-sized face still looked childish, and her waist seemed so slender that it seemed impossible to hold it in one hand.

After all, you are still young.

He nodded and said, "Let's go." Then the two of them walked to Mrs. Shen's residence.

Along the way, you will pass through corridors and verandas, which are winding and turnable, with white walls and black tiles, pavilions and towers, and the scenery changes as you move, which is quite reminiscent of the Jiangnan garden style.

Chen Yuanyuan attended university in Suzhou and visited the Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Canglang Pavilion, and Lion Garden countless times. Of all the major gardens in Suzhou, Lingering Garden was her favorite.

The first time I went to the Lingering Garden was with my first boyfriend. He was carrying a black Xiaomi laptop bag and a Canon camera. He found a good spot to take pictures behind the rockery and shouted to Chen Yuanyuan, who was standing on the Little Penglai Pavilion: "Yuanyuan, look here, look here—"

Damn, this scumbag! Chen Yuanyuan gnashed her teeth at the thought of him and cursed in her heart.

The year she graduated, her boyfriend got drunk and she accidentally opened his phone, only to find out that her boyfriend of five years was a pervert who not only cheated on her husband but also lied and played with women.

His phone revealed he was maintaining illicit relationships with several women at the same time, and he even told more than one girl, "When you want to get married, we'll get married. Let's buy a small yard by Taihu Lake and spend the holidays there just lying around."

Lie flat? Chen Yuanyuan sneered. With his flirting methods, even the richest man wouldn't be enough for him to lie flat. Then she edited a confession and a description of the scumbag's behavior in his tone and posted it on her Moments. Of course, she also sent it to various people and groups in her address book.

After doing all this, she felt the unspeakable pain and huge emptiness swallowing her. She should have been angry at his betrayal and deception, but her heart was aching. Her head felt like someone had poured a basin of cold water on it, and her body and hands were shaking with pain.

“What are you thinking about?” Mr. Shen’s faint voice came from his ear.

"Hmm?" When Xu Lingwan raised her head, her emotions had calmed down. She vaguely heard him say that the place where the locust tree sprouted over there was the family ancestral hall. She whispered in a tone that she had cultivated so well, "Lingwan was thinking about the day I married my husband, when I also bid farewell to the Xu family ancestral hall."

When we said goodbye, she was still in the boudoir; now, she is a married woman, and her soul has become that of a modern person.

If the ancestors of the Xu family were really in heaven, Xu Lingwan would like to beg them to send her soul back to the modern era as soon as possible. She just wants to be Chen Yuanyuan, who is busy every day striving for a better life.

Mr. Shen's expression lightened slightly.

"Don't be nervous, mother is very kind." When Chen Cong heard her talk about the Xu family, he thought she was a new bride meeting her in-laws for the first time and was inevitably nervous. But when he saw that she was so young but still pretended to be calm, he couldn't help but soften his voice and said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

As he spoke, he arrived at Madam Shen's residence.

Old Madam Shen lived in the garden east of the Shen Mansion. There were two small stone lions on each side of the entrance. The door with a black lacquered animal head holding a copper ring was open. The three-level Ruyi step was engraved with auspicious cloud patterns to prevent slippery roads in rainy days.

Chen Yuanyuan took a deep breath to encourage herself, and made up her mind to treat this tea-serving and recognition ceremony as a year-end performance review for a promotion and salary increase.

After all, throughout China's thousands of years of feudal society, successive dynasties emphasized filial piety, prioritizing it as the highest virtue. To achieve harmonious coexistence with one's husband, the first step is to manage one's mother-in-law. As the examples of Lu You and Tang Wan demonstrate, no matter how much a husband loves his wife, if his mother-in-law disapproves and wishes to remarry, the son dares not resist, as such resistance would be seen as disobedience and unfilial behavior.

In the long and distant ancient life, being unfilial was a very serious crime.

In the Xia Dynasty, "there were three thousand types of five punishments, and the worst crime was unfilial piety." "Unfilial piety" became the most serious crime at that time.

The Shang Dynasty continued to use the crime of filial piety from the Xia Dynasty. The "Tang Punishment" formulated during the Shang Tang period contained more than 300 articles, and the punishment for unfilial behavior was the most severe.

Although the Western Zhou Dynasty advocated the combination of virtue and punishment, the rulers still listed the crime of filial piety as the first of the eight punishments and punished it severely.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the punishment for unfilial behavior was even more severe, including death penalty and abandonment in the market.

For example, let’s take the example of Fusu’s suicide recorded by Sima Qian.

"Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 87, Biography of Li Si, Chapter 27" records: So they conspired together and pretended to be prime ministers under the order of the First Emperor, and established their son Hu Hai as the crown prince.

He also wrote a letter to his eldest son, Fusu, saying, "I have traveled throughout the country, praying to the gods of famous mountains to prolong my life. Now Fusu and General Meng Tian have been stationed at the border with an army of hundreds of thousands for over ten years, but have been unable to advance. Many of the soldiers are exhausted, and we have achieved nothing. Yet, he has repeatedly written to me, slandering my actions and resentful day and night that he cannot be dismissed and return to be the crown prince."

Fusu was an unfilial son, so he was given a sword to commit suicide!

General Tian and Fusu are living in exile and have not corrected the situation. We should know their plans. They are disloyal as ministers and should be executed, and their troops should be assigned to Lieutenant General Wang Li.

He sealed the letter with the imperial seal and sent a messenger, Hu Hai, to present it to Fusu in Shangjun. When the messenger arrived and opened the letter, Fusu wept, went into his inner chamber, and was about to commit suicide.

Meng Tian stopped Fusu and said, "Your Majesty is living in exile and has not yet appointed a crown prince. Your envoys are leading 300,000 troops to guard the border, with the prince as the supervisor. This is a heavy responsibility for the country. Now, an envoy has arrived, and you have committed suicide. How can we know that he is not deceiving? Please ask again, ask again, and then you will die. It is not yet late." The envoys urged him several times. Fusu was a kind person. He said to Meng Tian, "As a father, how can I ask again for death for my son?" He then committed suicide.

At the time Li Si and Zhao Gao forged an imperial edict for Fusu's suicide, Meng Tian had 300,000 elite troops at the border. He was suspicious of the Emperor's edict, which stated, "Fusu is an unfilial son and should be given the sword to commit suicide." He believed that the Emperor had given Fusu 300,000 troops to guard the border and sent Prince Fusu to supervise him, indicating that he was showing great respect for him. But now, the edict from the envoys demanded Fusu's death, which he considered a treacherous plot by both the government and the people.

So Meng Tian asked Fusu to review the matter with the First Emperor. If it was true, it would not be too late to die.

However, Fusu did say, "My father wants me to die, so what else do I need to ask for?" After saying this, he committed suicide.

Many people will be extremely confused when reading this. Why must the son die if the father wants him to?

Consider the following sentence: "Fusu was an unfilial son." This means that the First Emperor ordered Fusu to commit suicide on the charge of unfilial piety. Qin Dynasty law included a special provision regarding marriage and family law: parents/owners had the right to petition the government to execute their children/slaves. The government would then approve the request and execute the order on their behalf, a practice known as "Yue Sha."

This explains why Fusu sighed in despair before committing suicide: "My father has ordered his son to die, how can I ask for death again!"

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw a maid waiting at the door. She was wearing a square-necked bodice with a sky-blue and vine-patterned pattern. Her hair was tied into a bun at the back of her head and fixed with a hollow silver hairpin. When she saw Master Shen and Xu Lingwan, she smiled and bowed, "Your servant greets Master Shen and Madam. The old lady has been talking about this since she got up this morning and specifically asked me to wait at the door. Please come in, Master Shen and Madam."

Chen Yuanyuan was also confused about the identity of this old woman. Judging from her speech, behavior and dress, she must be of a high status.

Adhering to the idea that she would do whatever her husband did, Xu Lingwan lowered her head slightly, acting like a shy young wife, and deliberately lagged behind Mr. Shen by half a step, following closely behind him.

Old Madam Shen liked quietness. After entering the courtyard and walking along the way, the maids and servants they met on the way all kept quiet and held their breath. When they saw them from afar, they stood aside and bowed their heads in greeting.

Chen Yuanyuan once again deeply felt the strict hierarchy of China's feudal social system.

In this age of class division, one's background largely determines one's future. Being born into wealth and growing up in poverty are two completely different things, and all resources flow towards the upper classes.

Take Chen Cong as an example. He was able to reach the level of a central minister at the age of 34. In addition to his own excellence, it was also due to his family background.

From this perspective, Chen Yuanyuan felt that although she had traveled through time from a faraway era, she was indeed luckier than most people.