Chapter 3 That Winter Snow
After that day, Wen Youqing's "illness" became more and more serious. Before spring came, she went to a nunnery to recuperate.
This was nothing, no more than a stone thrown onto the dusty road. Yet, for some reason, Master Duchen, a figure even the emperor couldn't invite, went up the mountain, examined Wen Youqing's face, and said, "How pitiful! A kind and virtuous person met the wrong person and didn't have a good ending."
It was like a thunderclap in winter, which scared out the entire capital. Even the empress dowager who was worshipping Buddha in the palace was alarmed, and she insisted that the emperor confer the title of county lady on Wen Youqing.
However, the emperor did not dare to confront the Cui family openly, but he still wanted to give them a little disgust, so he sent a lot of gold, silver and treasures to appease them, and promoted Wen's father.
As expected, as a result, those families who spread the rumors were afraid that Wen Youqing was really dead and they would be held responsible, so they began to put the blame on the Cui family.
What betrayal, what breaking of promise, they specially hired someone to compile those fictitious annotations.
A daughter of an official naturally can't do anything, but public opinion will always tend to support the "weak", and this has been the case since ancient times.
Master Duchen was impersonated by Wen Youqing. Wen Youqing just wanted to disgust the Cui family. A family that does not keep their promises can never be a good family. She was unwilling to marry him even if she was asked to.
Sure enough, the news of Wen Youqing's serious illness did not make the Cui family feel so good. Wang tightly twisted her handkerchief, thinking of a way to have the best of both worlds.
Cui Junji was politely flipping through the new decree he had copied from his father. He really didn't want to bother with such trivial matters, but he still said good-naturedly, "Mother, why should you worry about such a small matter? Since she is seriously ill, we can go to her house with generous gifts and cancel the engagement openly."
"Then your reputation..." Wang said in a deep voice.
"Let's not talk about those distant events, let's talk about the near future. Third Uncle's first wife is now the Empress Defei in the palace. Who doesn't have a bad reputation nowadays? The emperor and his concubine are deeply in love, and Third Uncle has made this a beautiful story. Isn't that what Mother says?"
Reputation is nothing but an excuse to embellish power. The reason why a noble family becomes a noble family is because they hold power. I have never heard of any noble family becoming rich by selecting filial and honest people.
Seventeen-year-old Cui Junji understood this very well. When the person died, or even when he didn't die, everyone would decide whether it was more important to make friends with the Cui family or to have a woman's reputation.
"Besides, it's not true that she met the wrong person. But once she gets married and is still unhappy, it means she really met the wrong person." Cui Junji said casually.
Cui Junji and Wang Shi did not have the ordinary mother-son love. They knew what their mother would do for him and for the reputation of the Cui family.
Now he was more concerned about how to leave this place. His mother's place was always filled with the fragrance of bamboo sticks, the same taste as those old scholars. As soon as he entered, it was like entering a study, except that the fragrance here was the most expensive, mixed with a faint sweet spice, like an oiran holding a scroll.
nondescript.
Wang Shi saw that there was really no other solution, so she said, "Then I'll go again..."
"Don't bother me, mother. It would be better if I could go." Cui Junji interrupted his mother. "Just prepare some nice gifts for me."
When Cui Junji arrived at the Wen Mansion with generous gifts, the onlookers saw Cui Junji still wearing a childish hairstyle, and they immediately lost some of their interest in watching the fun. If it were them, they were indeed not old enough to get married.
Cui Junji was extremely polite and never mentioned the literary disaster. The Wen family's parents didn't give him any trouble, and they really didn't dare to. As long as they didn't fall out, even if they relied on the Cui family's guilt, they could still gain some benefits.
The two sides even had a happy meal together.
Before leaving, Cui Junji turned around and bowed again. Thinking of Wen Youqing's dignified and steady appearance, he couldn't help but feel sorry. It was a pity that such a smart woman could not be used by him.
So he said sincerely: "I hope everything goes well for Miss Wen from now on."
It was considered as a loss of face, so Wen's parents agreed and said a few flattering words.
Upon hearing this, Wen Youqing, who was far away in the nunnery, breathed a sigh of relief, but she had ultimately underestimated people's ability to change with the wind.
On the day I returned to Beijing, I saw the nanny beside my mother from afar on the road.
Si Shi said excitedly, "Miss, it's Nanny Zhu. The Master and the Madam must have sent someone to pick you up."
The oxcart came to a stop, pressing down on the snow. Before Wen Youqing could say anything, Nanny Zhu took out many valuables and asked Wen Youqing to keep them. She said, "Miss, you'd better hide for a while. Everything will be over if you hide."
Snowflakes in the wind blew against Wen Youqing's temples, scratching her painfully. After a long moment, she said in disbelief, "What?"
"The Cui family recently promoted the master to a fourth-rank official. The master's message is that you... should stay away from the outside world."
In previous years, she was asked to compose poems and paint in front of guests, but now they think she is embarrassing and unlucky!
Si Shi was just about to argue for the young lady, but when he turned around he suddenly saw the gray-green ice in the young lady's eyes, which scared him so much that he shut his mouth.
The scent of agarwood in the temple, which had not been washed for months, formed a sticky web that cut into her flesh.
In just a moment, the gray-green ice melted into water. Wen Youqing flipped through the things and found them to be truly valuable. "Let's go back."
Once he got back, the gilded Boshan stove was replaced with a coarse pottery bowl filled with half a piece of cold rice left over from the sacrifice to the gods.
The night watch drum sounded three times. Wen Youqing tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. He went out and rented a carriage without curtains.
The next day, before dawn, Wen Youqing, who had not eaten a single grain of rice, sat in the car so that the people in Beijing could see her miserable appearance as she was forced to break off her engagement.
Sure enough, when the people saw her like this, even if they didn't know her, they all gathered to watch the excitement. Suddenly, the crowd became agitated, and someone pointed at her hair and exclaimed, "It's the daughter of the Wen family who was broken off the engagement!"
Half a frozen lump of earth hit the shaft of the cart, and the fragments splashed into her collar.
This was exactly the effect Wen Youqing wanted. She endured the insults and unscrupulous stares from the crowd, closed her eyes and clenched the golden knife in her sleeve, endured the pain, and acted pitifully. If it really didn't work, she would die and drag that rude Cui family down with her.
The ox cart suddenly tilted, and the slave driver screamed as she fell into the snow. The dagger cut through her arm, and equally dirty blood flowers bloomed on the dirty snow.
The Wen family was finally alarmed, and they pushed through the crowd, none of which came forward, and took Wen Youqing back.
-
Looking at the beautiful young lady who was outstanding in every aspect, the nanny hesitated for a moment, then said frankly, "Aren't all the noble families blind to family background? The Wang family came to propose marriage that day, and the master had this intention."
"Wang Xiuwen?" Wen Youqing asked back.
The nanny lowered her head, not daring to look at Wen Youqing, and nodded slightly.
Wen Youqing had an impression of him, but it wasn't a good impression. He was a young man from an aristocratic family who was blinded by his own eyes. He was a bastard with no special features. It was said that he was involved in a case of drugging a girl from an aristocratic family, and no one was willing to marry their daughter to him.
Thinking of Wang's inherent arrogance that day, it's hard not to suspect that Wang had deliberately created this mess to vent her anger. It seems that Wang had a hard time too, finding a useless legitimate son from her mother's family to clean up her son's mess.
It suppressed the side branches and disgusted the Wen family. Furthermore, her father was desperate and tried every possible means to marry her off to a man who was worthless except for his family background, and who also had some connection to the Cui family. "I'll think of a way."
"I don't agree! If you insist on doing this, wait until I die!"
Her grandmother came all the way from Bian Jing just to support her.
Can……
A noble family is like a big tree. Even if it provides a little shade, it will be less exposed to the wind and rain. Who wouldn't want that?
I don’t know what was said in the inner room, but my grandmother was so angry that she fainted.
After a lot of turmoil, the new wedding was finally delayed until the deep winter of the third year of Changle.
It was snowing heavily, up to our knees.
Wen Youqing pleaded with everyone she could, but to no avail. She knelt in the courtyard of the Wen residence, thinly clad in clothing, hoping to force her father to retract his decision by inflicting pain on himself.
The consequences of being broken off an engagement had materialized countless times and had hit her hard. She had thought that as long as she ignored the rumors, there would be no problem.
Wen's father and mother are indeed not as good as his own parents, but since he was a child, they are still his parents here. The fact that they don't care about his feelings at all really hurts Wen Youqing's heart.
Her knees were numb from the cold, and the burning slap marks on her face made her heart as cold as her knees.
"You've been broken off from your engagement, and you've already brought shame upon our Wen family. Now that you have a good match, you're still trying to hold back. Do you think you're some kind of celestial being? Get out here and kneel down."
"No matter what, Wang Xiuwen is still from the Wang family. Since you are now in a position to be able to marry him, don't make your father angry anymore."
"Don't associate with her, it's bad luck."
…
How could she be embarrassed? It wasn't her who made the engagement, nor was it her who regretted the marriage.
What is her current status? She is still Wen Youqing, able to write poetry and know how to manage a household.
Wen Youqing had never been an ambitious person, and now he truly had no drive at all. This era was like a swamp; once you got stuck in, you couldn't get out. It was all sticky mud, and even if you tried to fight back, you couldn't pull your hands out.
For a moment, Wen Youqing wanted to see if she could wear it back if she died. With that thought in mind, she actually stood up, taking a long time to recover before limping away.
Wen Youqing couldn't see what she looked like at the moment, but she guessed that she was in a very miserable state. After all, the maids saw it and couldn't bear to inform her. Someone put a thick coat on her, called a carriage for her, and kindly persuaded her to go back to the nunnery to avoid the limelight.
Wen Youqing didn't care and just asked, "Do you have a knife?"
"Knife?" The maid was startled and stood there in a daze, not daring to move.
"Anything will do, a dagger, a knife, or scissors." Wen Youqing forced herself to speak.
The waitress didn't dare to give it to him, and she couldn't speak clearly. "Miss, if there is no Cui family, there are still Li and Wang families. Don't be upset."
To Wen Youqing, these words sounded like the buzzing of a fly. It was as if it was her fault and she needed to find a buyer as soon as possible. What an unreasonable logic!
But his vision kept getting darker and darker, and Wen Youqing felt that he could not hold on any longer. He did not want to argue any more, smiled and said "I was just kidding", then walked out holding the wall.
Anyway, I have a hairpin on my head, so it’s enough to blind the Cui family’s eyes.
When she reached the door, she heard footsteps chasing after her, her father's furious voice, and her mother's and her mother's attempts to smooth things over.
Wen Youqing suddenly became excited, as if the swamp was chasing her as she stumbled forward.
When he was exhausted, Wen Youqing suddenly remembered the ant that was pressed by his finger when he was a child. After he released his finger, the ant ran much faster than before.
Rushing around like crazy.
That's not being stimulated, striving forward.
But it is the foreknowledge of death and the last struggle.
She didn't know when the finger mountain above her head would come down again and crush her internal organs into pieces.
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