Chapter 764 The Unlucky Sister Who Was Married in Exchange (9)
"What earth-shattering thing do you think she will do?" Just as Liu Shichu was listening with great interest, the old man suddenly asked her.
"She beat and killed those who harmed her son?" Liu Shichu asked curiously.
The old man shook his head. "She is not that cruel. She just sued those who harmed her son. She accused them of hurting others without reason, being disobedient and unfilial, killing their brothers, not thinking of the love between brothers, and treason."
Liu Shichu's eyes widened instantly. People of this era believed that "family disgrace should not be made public", and most women regarded their husbands as their gods and dared not resist them. However, Du Xiuzhu's grandmother dared to ignore her husband's opposition and resistance and directly reported her husband's favorite concubine and illegitimate sons to the government. How could Liu Shichu not look at her with admiration?
"Didn't her husband stop her?" Liu Shichu asked.
"How to stop it? She went to the Dali Temple to file a complaint on her own. She didn't tell anyone before, not even Lord Du's father knew..." said the old man.
"What's the result?" Liu Shichu was very curious.
"As a result, Lord Du's grandmother succeeded. She left evidence to prove that it was indeed those people who caused her son to fall into the pond before the imperial examination and missed the exam. Therefore, the concubines and illegitimate sons who were involved were sentenced to caning and imprisonment, and fined some money, which was considered to be some justice for Lord Du's father. But Lord Du's father's future was ruined by them. How can this justice be repaid?" The old man sighed and said,
"Lord Du's grandfather also blamed his grandmother for causing his favorite concubine and son to be punished, so he treated Lord Du's grandmother's family very harshly, finding faults to torture them every day. Their lives at home became increasingly difficult and they suffered a lot."
Liu Shichu could imagine how much resentment Du Xiuzhu's grandmother's outrageous behavior would bring about from her husband. Unfortunately, her husband was the head of the family and was fully capable of abusing them in various ways and taking revenge on them.
"Is this the only way they can endure it?" Liu Shichu didn't quite believe that a strong woman who was willing to risk her life to seek justice for her son would be willing to endure all this without fighting back.
The old man smiled and said, "Of course not. One day, Lord Du's grandmother sent her son and his family to the temple to pray for her. As a result, that night, the house caught fire. The fire spread very quickly, and the neighbors were too late to put out the fire. The fire burned the whole family to death, including his grandmother...Except for Lord Du's family who went to the temple to pray for blessings, all other members of the Du family are gone."
Liu Shichu looked at the old man suddenly and realized what he meant. The old man said mysteriously: "Everyone thinks that it was Lord Du's grandmother who set the fire, but no one has any evidence because there is no evidence of death."
"How cruel." Liu Shichu thought to herself, but if it was her son who had a bright future but was ruined, and the enemy's family continued to mistreat and retaliate against her, then she might have been even more cruel. She could understand Du Xiuzhu's grandmother's approach. Instead of submitting to being bullied by the enemy, it would be better to drag the enemy down with her to die together.
"Then Lord Du and his family will be able to live a peaceful life, right?" Liu Shichu asked. All their enemies were dead, and only their family was left. There was no chance for them to fight even if they wanted to.
The old man shook his head and said, "No. At first, Lord Du's family lived a comfortable life for a few years, but for some reason, his father, probably because he didn't have to fight with his family, put all his energy outside. He kept a mistress outside..."
Liu Shichu suddenly had no idea what expression to show on her face. She opened her mouth and said in astonishment, "Keeping a mistress?!"
"Yes, Lord Du's mother was originally a gentle and virtuous woman, but after living in the complicated Du family for so many years, her temperament changed a lot. She became paranoid and did not agree with her husband taking a concubine. When she found out that her husband had a mistress outside, she became very angry. She found her husband who was having an affair with the mistress and killed him and the mistress directly. Then she committed suicide..."
Liu Shichu didn't know what expression to put on his face at this moment. After a while, he calmed down his shock and said dryly, "Could it be that the shock was too great?"
The old man said: "At that time, Lord Du was only twelve or thirteen years old. He lost his parents all of a sudden, and he also had no other relatives around him. He could only take on the responsibility of collecting the remains of his parents... After that, everyone said that the women of the Du family were too hot-tempered and cruel. The mother-in-law set fire to the whole family, and the daughter-in-law killed her husband and his concubine. They were cruel and ruthless. Lord Du grew up, won fame and became an official, but until now no one dares to propose marriage to him, for fear that something unpredictable would happen to their daughters after they married..."
Liu Shichu had a blank expression on his face. He didn't expect Du Xiuzhu to be so miserable. However, the fact that his elders were like this did not affect his future. He was indeed a capable person.
"How old is Lord Du now?" Liu Shichu was a little curious. He looked quite young and handsome, but because of the affairs of his family elders, he has not been able to get married yet. It was quite sad to think about it.
"Twenty-seven or twenty-eight? Almost thirty, right?" the old man said, "When people were his age, their sons were already in their teens, but he didn't even have a wife. The Du family is almost extinct in his generation."
"He has no other brothers or sisters?" Liu Shichu asked, "Could it be that he is the only one left in the Du family?"
"Not really. He has a younger sister who married and moved to another place a few years ago. No one in the local area dared to marry her, for fear that she would inherit the temperament of her grandmother and mother..." the old man sighed.
Liu Shichu thought that it was not bad to inherit the temperament of her grandmother and mother, who would rather die in glory than live in disgrace, so she would not be afraid of unfaithful men.
The old man talked to Liu Shichu for a long time about Du Xiuzhu's family. Perhaps because what happened in his family in the early years was too shocking and everyone in the capital knew about it, the old man talked about it in great detail. Liu Shichu listened with great interest and felt inexplicably sympathetic towards Du Xiuzhu.
So the next day, when she went to the street to set up a stall again, when Du Xiuzhu passed by her stall, she gave him a wooden fox sculpture.
"Why did Miss Liu give me this wood carving? You can keep it and sell it." Du Xiuzhu declined.
Liu Shichu wanted to give him something just on impulse. When he asked her why, she couldn't find a suitable reason. She couldn't just say "I sympathize with you", right? Then Du Xiuzhu would definitely think she was inexplicable.
How could she, an orphan with no one to rely on and who had to make wood carvings and sell them, have the right to sympathize with the imperial officials? If she said this, people would think she had no self-awareness at all.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you for your help in the case of Wang Erniu trafficking me. If it weren't for your keen observation, Wang Erniu's family might have escaped the crime." Liu Shichu finally found an excuse.
(End of this chapter)
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