"There's more," Liu said. "Madam Ma Tian got a lot of things from people and gave some to the fourth family: two rolls of cloth, one blue and one colorful, as well as a basket full of eggs and a few packages of cakes."
"Bah!" Gao said, "A house full of worthless things, do they deserve to wear flowered cloth? And that blue cloth, a scoundrel is lucky enough to pick up old clothes from a noble man and wear them, how can she deserve to wear new clothes? Mother..."
She then said to Mrs. Meng, "Aren't you going to send Gui and Quan to school in a few days? I can use that piece of blue cloth to make them each a new dress. If they go to school wearing shabby clothes, they'll be laughed at. Being laughed at is not a big deal. I'm afraid they won't want to go to school anymore. Then they won't be able to earn you any imperial edicts. What should we do? We, the Ding family, can't be proud of them anymore."
When Meng heard this, she was shocked! Before she married Old Ding, she went to the temple with several sisters from her natal village to burn incense. Halfway up the mountain, she heard someone shouting from behind, "The old lady of a certain official's family has come up the mountain to burn incense, and all outsiders should stay away."
She still remembers the scene vividly. There were crowds of people kneeling on the ground on the mountain road, and the old lady who was granted the title was sitting in a sedan chair, surrounded by people. It was such a magnificent sight.
Gao glanced at Liu and added, "The cuffs of my eldest sister-in-law's autumn gown are all frayed, as are mine. That piece of flowered cloth is wasted on Fourth Sister-in-law looking so awful now. These three worthless things will eventually belong to someone else's family, so there's no point in letting them wear them. If they want to wear them, they should wait until they marry into their husband's family and have them make them for them."
When Liu heard that she too was entitled to a share, she immediately instigated, "That's what your third sister-in-law said. Logically, if your fourth sister-in-law married into our Ding family, she would have been able to wear clothes, but the way she looks now, it doesn't matter whether she wears clothes or not. Mother, even if the fourth branch is separated, they are still your son and daughter-in-law. They should honor our parents with good things, not keep them for themselves."
Meng didn't care what the two of them wore, as long as they didn't have to be naked. However, Liu's last few words moved her. Even if they were divided, they were still her son and daughter-in-law, and they should honor her with the good things. Most importantly, the blue cloth must be brought back to make new clothes for her two beloved grandchildren. It was related to her imperial edict, so she had to get it back!
She went there right away. Meng took off the key from her belt, went to the kitchen, opened the cabinet door, scooped out half coarse grains and half fine grains, and told the fifth wife to prepare lunch at home. She led Liu and Gao to the old house in the back mountain in a hurry.
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