There is injustice
"Master Qi!"
Lord Qi sat down hard on the ground, sending up dust and sand everywhere. This startled Hall Master Gu so much that he jumped up and rushed over to help him up.
However, Lord Qi was a big fat man, and he had to use all his strength to pull the other person up from the ground.
"Master Qi?"
"Master Qi, are you okay?"
Perhaps he was dazed from the fall or frightened by Zhao Mingyan's words, but after being helped to stand by Master Gu, Lord Qi was like a wooden man, not even moving his eyeballs, which made Master Gu even more uneasy.
Could it be that... I hurt my butt when I sat on the rock just now?
Immediately, Master Gu lowered his head and looked at the ground.
"Stop... stop talking nonsense!"
Who would have thought that Lord Qi, who had been stunned for a while, suddenly roared loudly, which made his ears hurt and his head dizzy. As soon as he raised his eyes, Lord Qi shook his arms away and he almost stumbled.
He rubbed his ears and frowned, then saw Master Qi stumbling over to Zhao Mingyan, pointing at her and sternly scolding her: "Even if you are the young mistress of the Bamboo Grove Trading Company, you are not allowed to spread rumors and mislead people here!"
"Master Qi, I didn't spread rumors to confuse the public."
Zhao Mingyan resisted the urge to wipe the spit from his face. He puffed out his chest, pointed at the pile of rubble, and said righteously, "As the saying goes, God sees what you do. Whether Zou Wuniang's death was unjust or not, the collapsed memorial archway will tell us."
Lord Qi's fat trembled, and he seemed not to dare to look back. He stiffened his neck and opened his mouth.
Zhao Mingyan continued, "Let's take a step back and say that even if the craftsmen cut corners, it wouldn't collapse again just one night."
"They will be held responsible for the first collapse. If it happens again, will they lose their heads?"
"We really didn't cut corners. I hope Master Qi will understand!"
The supervisor led the craftsmen over and they all knelt down.
Hall Master Gu also chimed in: "Master Qi, I just checked, there's no problem with either the foundation or the stone."
Lord Qi took a deep breath, dispelling the anger in his heart, and stared at Zhao Mingyan with a sharp gaze: "Old Lady Fang saw it with her own eyes. It was Zou Wuniang who tied her belt to the beam and hanged herself to commit suicide. No one forced her to do so."
"Sir Qi, if it was really the old lady of the Fang family who saw it with her own eyes, why didn't she step forward to dissuade her? Would she just watch her hang herself so that she could go down to accompany her son?" Zhao Mingyan asked sternly.
"Ugh!" Lord Qi suddenly choked.
His eyes rolled, and he realized the problem in his words. He had heard these words from a country gentleman, and he didn't think they were strange at the time, but after Zhao Mingyan said this...
"Auspiciousness in life, and a ghost marriage after death."
A voice mixed with anger, regret, sarcasm, and sympathy came from not far away. Everyone looked and saw that it was the group of chaste women who rarely stepped out of the chastity hall. The person who said this was Hu Xiu Lian, who had doubts about the cause of Zou Wu Niang's death.
To the outside world, chaste women were respected and loved, and even Lord Qi lowered himself and bowed to them.
After returning the greeting, they walked to Zhao Mingyan and surrounded her in the middle. Then Hu Xiu Lian told her something that was unknown to the public.
"The Zou family and ours are neighbors. I know more about the marriage between Zou Wuniang and Fang Dalang than anyone else."
"They were indeed betrothed since childhood, but no one could have predicted that Fang Dalang would unfortunately contract tuberculosis. The Zou family initially wanted to cancel the engagement, but Old Lady Fang refused, citing the fact that they were orphans and widows. She even enlisted the help of local gentry to speak up for her. Fearing criticism, the Zou family had no choice but to give up."
"At the beginning of this year, Fang Dalang suddenly fell ill. Seeing that he was about to die, the Fang family discussed with the Zou family and decided to get married early, just to bring good luck."
"You all know what happened next. A happy event turned into a tragedy, and the newlyweds became ghosts."
Upon hearing this, there were bursts of sighs from all around.
But Hu Xiulian smiled sarcastically, "But you only know one side of the story. After Wu Niang died, Old Lady Fang insisted on burying them together, saying that they were already married and were members of the Fang family. No matter how much the Zou family begged, she refused to return Wu Niang's body."
"Old Lady Fang is right. Zou Wuniang and Fang Dalang are already husband and wife." Lord Qi continued.
"Oh!"
Hu Xiulian curled her lips and said, "There was no wedding night. When Wu Niang left, she was still a virgin."
Zhao Mingyan rubbed his nose guiltily.
Xiaozhu quickly stole a glance at her.
"But the ceremony has been completed. Even if they are not husband and wife in reality, they are husband and wife in name only. They should be buried together." Lord Qi had a different opinion.
"The Zou family and Zou Wuniang don't think so." Zhao Mingyan interrupted.
To avoid tangents, Zhao Mingyan pointed at the pile of rubble and returned to the main topic, "The late emperor advocated the construction of a chastity archway to honor the deeds of chaste women. If there were hidden reasons behind Zou Wuniang's suicide for love, wouldn't that leave a black mark on the list of chaste women in this county?"
Hu Xiulian nodded and said, "Neither the Zou family nor Wu Niang willingly agreed to the wedding. So how could Wu Niang commit suicide for someone she didn't want to marry?"
"Besides, they haven't consummated their marriage yet. As long as Wu Niang remains a widow for three years, she'll be free to remarry. Not every woman wants to be a chaste woman and have a chastity archway. If given a choice, who would want to be trapped behind an archway for the rest of their life?"
This caused an uproar. Lord Qi wanted to refute, but when he met the eyes of these chaste women, which seemed stagnant but were actually disheartened, he was speechless.
Seeing him wavering, Hall Master Gu walked over to him and whispered, "The strange collapse of the Chastity Archway is unprecedented. Once word reaches the prefect, Lord Wang, then... I hope Lord Qi will investigate the truth as soon as possible. I will cooperate with you in the aftermath."
Lord Qi took another deep breath and nodded slowly.
…
"Mrs. Tan, I used the ointment you gave me yesterday, and my wrist doesn't hurt anymore. I can finish weaving the rest of the brocade today."
Aunt Zhuang took Zhao Mingyan's arm and slowly returned to the Chastity Hall. The other chaste ladies followed behind, talking and laughing.
"Yes, yes! My knee doesn't hurt anymore, and I have no problem stepping on the vertical foot pole."
"Fortunately, the mulberry silkworms are ripe this year, so I have enough yellow silk to weave summer clothes."
"There's a flower in my heart, delicate and bright in springtime. This summer, I want to wear colorful clothes. I'm self-sufficient anyway, so I have the final say on what to wear. If no one appreciates it, I'll just admire my beauty in front of the water tank."
"Who said no one appreciates it? It's because we don't have eyes."
"Hahaha... We are like flowers blooming in a corner, we can only look at each other."
This group of light grey figures are getting further and further away from the rows of chastity arches...
Whether it is Lord Qi investigating the truth behind Zou Wuniang's love suicide, or Hall Master Gu cleaning up the mess of the collapsed archway, it has nothing to do with them. Once the door of the Chastity Hall is closed, this small world becomes both their cage and a protective shell.
Shackles or armor, just a thought away.
"Madam Qiu, this is the brocade sent by the weaving room to my aunt. Please give it to her."
When the sun was about to set, Zhao Mingyan returned to the Tan Mansion from the Chastity Hall and went straight to the independent door of the South House. She handed a piece of Eight-Diamond Brocade to Aunt Qiu to bring to Tan Moxiang.
Nanny Qiu nodded in agreement without saying anything else. She then closed the door, turned and walked towards the bamboo forest, and repeated Zhao Mingyan's words verbatim to Tan Moxiang who was picking bamboo leaves.
"Bring it into the house." Tan Moxiang kept moving and spoke in a light voice.
Nanny Qiu nodded and did as she was told.
As soon as she left, Tan Mozhu held up a bamboo leaf he had just picked, facing the setting sun, and arched his brows. "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's almost dusk. The sun sets, and it's the moon's turn to rise."
"Husband!"
After returning to the North Courtyard, Zhao Mingyan found Tan Linshuang in the study. He was sitting behind the desk, reading a book with his head supported by one hand, no different from usual.
But if you are sharp-eyed and careful, you will find that his hair is a little messy.
Zhao Mingyan, who was in high spirits, didn't pay attention to these details. She sat cross-legged opposite him and couldn't wait to tell him about the collapse of Zou Wuniang's archway.
After listening to her eloquent speech, Tan Linshuang changed his hand to continue supporting his head, smiling, "It seems that this hot potato has been firmly handled by my wife."
Zhao Mingyan raised her lips in triumph and drummed her fingers on the table. "What about you? Did you find Jin Hu?"
“Almost.”
Tan Linshuang spoke briefly and to the point, with an expression that said, "Don't even think about getting any deeper information out of me."
Zhao Mingyan curled her lips, half believing and half doubting.
Tan Linshuang released the hand that supported her head and sat up straight. "The problem of the weaving room has been solved. The next step is the issue of profit distribution."
"You need to be more cautious. After all, the chaste women don't trust you nearly as much as your aunt does. If you're not careful, you'll be like Zou Wuniang's chastity archway, collapsing overnight."
His expression turned serious, as did his tone.
But Zhao Mingyan just smiled and said, "I know what I'm doing."
Tan Linshuang raised her eyebrows slightly, "You don't plan to tell me what you're thinking?"
Zhao Mingyan curled her lips and said meaningfully, "My dear, those who keep company with vermilion become red, and those who keep company with ink become black."
The brocade weaving goddess works on a low loom, and purple velvet turns out branches with white flowers.
As Zou Wuniang's collapsed chastity archway was thoroughly cleaned, the weaving room of the Chastity Hall also returned to its former busy state. From mixing dye ingredients, to dyeing silk with warm water, to rinsing floating colors, picking silk and flowers, arranging flowers and pulling warps... Zhao Mingyan, a layman, gradually gained a deep understanding of brocade weaving.
"Every step is important, but the most important is the pattern-stitching process. You first need to draw the pattern on the paper, and then stitch the pattern on the warp according to the pattern. How should I put it..."
Aunt Zhuang frowned, unable to find an exact description for a moment.
"Is it equivalent to the pattern design we make before making lanterns?" Zhao Mingyan guessed.
“Yes, yes!”
Aunt Zhuang nodded hurriedly, then shook her head, "Not exactly the same."
"Ours is more complicated. We need to transfer the pattern book to the ropes to be used for the pattern on the loom. The number of ropes must be determined based on the number of warp threads. Then we need to cut the material, pull the handles, hang the ropes, and connect them. Every step requires careful attention."
"Hmm! It is more complicated than the process of making lanterns." Zhao Mingyan nodded.
"But for us, although practice makes perfect, the patterns we can come up with are limited. Unlike lanterns, as long as you can think of it, you can find a way to make it. We rely on looms, and you rely on your hands. Human hands are the most powerful. Isn't the saying 'exquisite workmanship beyond nature' referring to human hands?" Aunt Zhuang said with a smile.
Zhao Mingyan smiled and nodded, "The ingenuity of the human world surpasses the work of nature, refining medicine and lighting lamps in the clear daylight."
She suddenly felt itchy because she hadn't made a lantern in a long time.
I wonder if Mingyuezhai has made a silk revolving lantern?
She rubbed her hands together, then changed the subject and asked Aunt Zhuang in a low voice, "Will you still give the money you earn from selling brocade to your children in the future?"
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