The expert in house fighting takes action
Anyway, there were originally six, but now there is one less pair, and it takes two hours.
It is said that the goods were not even served to the customer for dinner that day and were packed up and returned on the spot.
Shujia was filled with admiration for her mother's fierce fighting ability. Besides admiration, she was also curious. This was too quick. Would her mother just kill them and throw them away in a sack? Shujia took advantage of Qing'er coming over to bring her lychees on behalf of Xiluo Te and whispered to Qing'er, "Why are there two people missing from Mother's place?"
Qing'er put down the plate in her hand and waved her hand at her: "My little ancestor, don't talk nonsense, don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. Madam has said that we are not allowed to discuss this anymore." If Shujia was a few years older and continued to ask, Qing'er would have answered, but the girl was still young, and the madam's words must be obeyed. So, no matter what Shujia asked, she would not give in.
Shujia was full of doubts.
What puzzled her even more was that her mother had killed two of them, and then... she had actually been able to rest and take care of her pregnancy. Every morning and evening, Shujia would walk with her in the back garden, where a pool of flowing water and beautiful Jiangnan gardens, planted with plants, were refreshing and invigorating. Shujia was almost frantic. What a pity! The remaining four had all moved in! But she didn't dare ask, for fear of upsetting her mother.
Shi Wenbing actually, seemed to, as if... took one of them, Wanrou, as his roommate. Within two days, that person had a separate side room to live in, and Shi Wenbing was happy to move into that room.
No matter how angry Shujia was, she had to calm down. After thinking for a while, she changed into convenient men's clothes and went back to being her father's little helper in the study.
Shi Wenbing, to use a fashionable term, seemed to have 'found a second spring', his face brimming with youthful energy. Shujia cursed him in her heart, but she still managed to smile and ask, "Father, what's so exciting? Tell me so I can be happy too?"
Shi Wenbing clenched his right fist, pressed it against his lips, and coughed twice. He straightened his expression and waved Shujia over. Shujia puffed her cheeks and walked over to him, tilting her head to look at him. Shi Wenbing reached out and pulled his daughter onto his lap, the seat Shujia always had—her father's thigh.
Touching his daughter's nose, Shi Wenbing rediscovered the warm feeling of fatherhood. When his son was born, he was thrilled and excited; he was finally having a son, and naturally, he was happy. However, for the sake of his father's dignity, he couldn't show it too clearly. Then, when his daughter was born, he stayed away from her. When he returned, his son had grown up, and their interactions became more standardized. His eldest daughter also became more well-behaved. The only time Shi Wenbing had ever shown a purely "fatherly" expression in his life was recently, after his little girl had "come to her senses."
Therefore, San Francisco has made an outstanding contribution to the harmonious parent-child relationship between Shujia and her father.
At that moment, Shi Wenbing held his daughter in one arm and tapped her nose with the other, asking, "What did you learn today?" Shujia sighed, "It's still that book. The Four Books are obviously taught very quickly, so why is the Four Books for Women so long?"
Shi Wenbing was extremely patient: "That's the truth of life, you must know it. If you don't know it now, you will suffer when you go out—" Thinking of which scoundrel his daughter would end up marrying him in the future, he felt genuinely unhappy, and the mentality of a father-in-law emerged. He touched his daughter's pink and tender face. It wasn't the most beautiful, but... my daughter is so lovely!
Shi Wenbing earnestly advised his daughter, "This is for your own good. You'll understand when you grow up. Just be obedient..." Meanwhile, he felt that having raised his daughter so well, and yet giving other families a free ride, life was truly miserable. He swallowed his words and continued, comforting his daughter, "Regardless of other things, a woman should have four virtues: virtue, speech, tolerance, and merit. Remember these, and everything else will be up to you." Shujia, seeing his bitter face, immediately expressed understanding, "Okay, I get it." "Oh, everything else is up to me! Great! Mr. Jiang didn't teach us to be nice to concubines in class, did he?"
Shi Wenbing breathed a sigh of relief. "Have you read 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'? Is there anything you don't understand?" When he first bought his daughters history books, it was just for show. He assumed they wouldn't understand. If Shujia was really preschool age, of course she wouldn't understand. It wasn't until he added 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' that he decided this kind of educational storytelling book was more suitable for children.
However, since they hadn't had much time to study, they probably read it in a hurry. Shi Wenbing, in his free time, decided to explain it to his daughter. Shujia said, "I can understand the Chinese version, but I haven't learned the Mandarin version that deeply yet." The Manchu version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" itself was a translation, and the quality isn't particularly high—especially when the original is understandable, as translations often distort the text, making some plot points difficult to understand. There are certain words in Chinese that aren't in Manchu, as well as sentence structures and poetry—things that the Manchu translation lacks.
Shi Wenbing casually pulled a Manchu-language book from a drawer and held it up to Shujia. "What's so confusing?" Shujia asked as she flipped through the pages. Shi Wenbing was surprised. His daughter's level wasn't bad. He had even considered scolding Mr. Jiang when he heard that "Mandarin hasn't been studied that deeply."
Time flew by as father and daughter, one asking, the other answering, and occasionally discussing. When the clock in the study struck nine, Shi Wenbing hustled his daughter to bed, promising to continue reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to her the next day. Shi Wenbing was a good father, and Shujia felt much better. To repay his kindness, she decided to pull him out of his sinful abyss.
She said very cutely that she would send his father back to his room and then go back herself to show her filial piety. His father wanted to stay at Wanrou's place today, is that okay? Shi Wenbing was in a dilemma.
Shujia said softly, "I want to go and see the new sister. I heard that women in the south are good at needlework. I am very busy during the day. I study in the morning and learn etiquette in the afternoon. I also want to spend more time with my mother." Shi Wenbing was moved. What a good daughter.
The daughter stretched out her right index finger, pointing upward, and made two "hook" gestures. Daddy cooperated, his head lowered in a mysterious manner. He only heard the daughter say, "Let's go over there secretly without telling Mom, okay? We don't want Mom to wake up after falling asleep." The daughter was a caring little cotton-padded jacket for her parents. See how thoughtful she was. Daddy agreed dumbly.
The most prominent father and daughter in the family were determined to "move quietly," and the accompanying maids and servants naturally cooperated with them to the utmost. Despite their large group, they entered the courtyard with minimal noise. Shi Wenbing even gestured to everyone he met—"Silence!" Like Japanese invaders entering a village, the group crept into Miss Wanrou's room.
At this moment, Miss Wanrou was washing her feet. Wanrou was only a concubine, without a maid to serve her, so she fetched water herself (the Xiluo family never treated people harshly in these details of life) and soaked comfortably.
By the way, Miss Shujia’s goal was to lead her father to see someone else’s…feet! Only feet!
In this regard, we can only say: Girl, you are so cruel!
——————————————————————————————————————————
Foot binding is extremely harmful to women's physiology and psychology. From a very young age, in pursuit of some kind of "beauty," women would have their feet broken and bound into strange shapes with long strips of cloth. Don't think that simply breaking the bones will fix the problem. Flesh will definitely grow back, and if you just bind them, the flesh will grow back, resulting in an extremely ugly lump of flesh. To make it look better, it's best to let the feet rot a little while being bound, allowing pus to drain and reducing the flesh. When they grow back, they will still be slender. It's best to bind the feet so that the toes are slightly bent inward, which makes them look even better. Paired with beautifully embroidered shoes, they look really beautiful from a distance, and they also look beautiful when you look at them up close.
What about the embroidered shoes? It's the foot bindings. Besides the bindings, there's the deformed foot. The broken bones of the pinky and ring toes are pressed against the sole, the big toe is squeezed inward, and the entire arch of the foot is bulging. It's said that in order to keep it this small, the feet would be bound again after washing at night to prevent it from growing during the night.
—I've said all this just to illustrate how ruthless this girl's idea is. Back then, bannermen were registered from birth, and upon reaching adulthood, management became even stricter. According to Shujia, everyone in the banner, whether from the Eight Banners or from the Bonded Personnel, was state property. In other words, they couldn't be sent back and forth like this, at least not by someone of her family's stature. The gifts from merchants could only be of bound feet...
Wanrou was so startled that she tripped over the basin, then lost her balance and fell to the ground, exposing the soles of her feet...
Shujia has reason to believe that the reason ancient women couldn't show their feet was simply because they were too ugly! Packaging is crucial at all times. Without the intricately crafted, narrow shoe arches embroidered with flowers, plants, insects, and birds, and without the foot bindings, the deformed flesh and bones, twisted beyond imagination, were exposed to the world.
Even Shujia, who was mentally prepared, was shocked and completely unexpected.
Besides, the smell in the house wasn't pleasant. Think about it, after standing all day in the hot summer, even if one's skin was as cool and sweat-free as ice, it's impossible for their feet to smell good, right? Rules must be established, even a proper concubine would have to set them, and as an outsider, she certainly had to be careful. Regardless, anyone with a bit of common sense wouldn't be too arrogant when they first arrived, right?
Here, I would like to solemnly introduce a Chinese idiom: The old woman's foot binding is long and smelly.
Wanrou wasn't an old woman yet, and she washed her feet regularly, including her foot bindings. The problem was, she was still washing her feet, and the foot bindings she'd used that day were still emitting a stench by the basin, and she hadn't had time to clean them up. In the summer, when the weather gets hot, according to science, molecular motion speeds up, and the odor becomes even more potent.
Double the brutality!
Shi Wenbing was stunned on the spot. He was relatively calm, and he quickly recovered after losing consciousness. Regardless of whether his cheeks were twitching or not, at least his eyes had returned to normal. He even had the energy to look down at his daughter. Well, the little girl was completely frightened. The maids and servants next to him gasped, and the sound of so many people gasping at the same time was quite spectacular. When they noticed it, they all covered their mouths.
Shi Wenbing was so frightened that he forgot why he and his daughter had a seizure and why he took the maids and old women to his concubine's room. He quickly moved to block his daughter, coughed, and said directly: "It's late, let's pack up and go home." Then he turned around, picked up the little girl and ran away.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Just as Shujia had no idea how her mother had defeated her two sisters, Xiluo Te also didn't understand: why did the master never mention the matter of those Han women again after he came back with a pale face?
Shujia didn't understand. Xiluotai had issued a gag order, so she couldn't find out. Xiluotai didn't understand, but after she brought someone over and questioned them, she understood everything. Xiluotai was both angry and amused. What was this little girl up to? Learning needlework from them? Did they look like decent women? Could they handle a needle and thread? Didn't you give me a headache just a few days ago, insisting I find a local embroiderer from Hangzhou to be my apprentice? Yesterday, you were praising this woman's craftsmanship, saying there was so much she could learn!
Just talk nonsense!
There is no one who loves a daughter better than her mother. Although this girl entered the industry lately, her mother actually spent ten months carrying her and raising her to be her daughter. Compared to Shujia's treatment of her, Xiluo Te cares more about Shujia and knows everything she needs to know about Shujia's study and life.
On the other hand, Mrs. Xiluo was deeply touched by her daughter's thoughtfulness. While her methods were a bit crude, they demonstrated her solidarity—mother and daughter were of one mind. However, she still needed to be warned to keep her from straying down the wrong path. To establish oneself in the family, one must first be upright; constantly engaging in such petty practices was ultimately not the right path.
Shujia hadn't expected her mother to question her about her behavior behind her back. She thought, "This is perfect. See, it's just the way it is. I'm just a kid who doesn't know anything, so I just keep talking." Who could have guessed that I was a time traveler and not a real lolita? It all seemed like a coincidence, didn't it?
She believed that after eliminating the outsiders, there shouldn't be any trouble with the concubines who lived under the Xiluo family. According to her assessment, three concubines and four women like dodders were not a match for each other in terms of domestic fighting - in terms of attracting men's attention, the latter was clearly superior to the former.
How wonderful! Her mother could rest assured that she would not be an eyesore or upset. A pregnant woman's bad mood could affect the health of the fetus. But she didn't know that her mother was much smarter than she thought.
Furthermore, Shujia felt a bit guilty. No matter how disgusted she had been before, seeing those deformed feet made her feel uncomfortable. Wanrou was also quite miserable, and she felt guilty about bullying the disabled. Especially since Shi Wenbing, after being provoked, made it clear that he didn't want these four people to serve him in front of him, citing the good of the fetus as the reason.
According to the "Book of Zhou" or some other ritual book, when a pregnant woman is pregnant, she should look at people with good looks, sit properly, eat proper food, and listen to proper music... These girls looked okay, but they had "disabilities" in their bodies and were not proper enough, so they were sent directly to the backstage to do needlework.
Why would they use such an excuse? Shujia believed that if she had misinterpreted the Four Books for Women, she could be considered to have been led astray by this father who misinterpreted the classics.
As for the other three, they were okay. Wanrou had originally taken in the room, but now they were like this... neither up nor down, which was enough to make her sad. Shujia was a little uneasy about their current fate, and her mood was a little low. Therefore, she felt a little out of sorts that day. To be frank, she was completely lost in thought, which made her seem dull.
In the evening, when she was taking a walk with Xiluotu, she was suddenly asked by Xiluotu: "Why did you think of taking your father to see the people in his room?" Shujia thought that the expression on her face at that time completely revealed her inner feelings.
Because Sirut went on to say, "I know you don't know everything. There are some things you're better off knowing. I originally thought I'd tell you when you were a little older, but now it seems it's not too early."
Then, with her experience as a person, more than a decade of observation in her mother's family, and nearly twenty years of practical experience, Xiluo analyzed Shujia's behavior in a simple and easy-to-understand way. She pointed out very clearly that Shujia's method was quick to work, but it was too harsh and had no sustainability.
Then Xiluotai posed a subtle question. "The next one, will you do the same?" Shujia blinked. "Father, will you still dare to... see a woman with bound feet in the future?" Xiluotai was speechless for a moment, then poked her forehead with a finger. "What if she doesn't have bound feet? You'll deal with every one of them. Will you still have a good reputation? Even if you risk your reputation, how can you handle it?"
Being jealous isn't a good reputation; it's one of the seven grounds for divorce. It's fine if I don't want to argue with you, but once I get tired of it, it's a ready-made offense. Shujia's face grew serious. After all, her mother is almost ready to marry and have grandchildren, but her father is still in his prime, isn't he? If this kind of thing happens more often, it will be a real problem.
So what should she do? She tore through the Four Books on Women but couldn't find any specific cases or effective methods for dealing with concubines. She became increasingly certain of the nature of the Four Books on Women, and spontaneously understood it as: deal with concubines however she wanted, depending on her mood and the effectiveness.
Xiluo smiled. "What's so difficult about that?" You need to present yourself as a virtuous and good wife, a good image that everyone knows about, including your husband. Then, no one will doubt anything you say, believing you're right, or at least that your intentions are good. This way, you'll earn even more respect.
Shujia pondered for a long time, until her feet ached from standing. She concluded: She must maintain the moral high ground and grasp the direction of public opinion. Furthermore, whether to argue or not to argue is to argue—and whether not to argue is to argue—she must not engage in excessive petty behavior, as it would be noticed and appear narrow-minded. Furthermore, Xiluo Te disapproved of Shujia personally going shirtless to deal with Shi Wenbing's concubine. What young lady would do that? It would be a sign of poor taste.
To this end, Sirut used his own battle record as a teaching material.
Under the current dynasty's system, officials were forbidden from visiting prostitutes, following regulations passed down from the Ming Dynasty. Those who dared to do so would face dismissal for minor offenses and permanent dismissal for serious offenses. Of course, generally speaking, people would be tolerant of such common male mistakes. However, many things went wrong because of this "but."
Whether it was the Ming or the Qing, factional strife was an unavoidable issue. This illicit crime wasn't a big one, but it wasn't a small one either. The law clearly stipulated it. In the court, they clung to one another, making it incredibly difficult to find fault. If there were any issues with their lifestyle, Guan Zhi would have a perfect handle on them, and not using it would be a shame.
Therefore, this law is implemented quite effectively, pushing the great pillars of the country further and further down the path of BL.
Oh, I've strayed off topic. Let's get back to the topic. What if someone isn't into BL but still craves it? One of the benefits of being an official is power. With power comes requests, as the saying goes, "When you offer a gift, you must have something to ask for." So, if you ask for something, you have to be polite. So, some people buy off, uh, pretty women, uh, women who work in certain professions, as gifts. Once they're bought off, they're no longer prostitutes, so... right?
The two who were knocked out belong to this category.
Of course, Shujia didn't know this.
Xiluotai felt uncomfortable, but she also accepted the fact that Shi Wenbing had another woman he liked. After all, having her at home, under her control, was much better than Shi Wenbing setting up a concubine outside, completely out of her control. (Shujia: I've made a note of this.)
Xiluo Te didn't take these young girls seriously at all. As everyone knew, the new arrivals posed no threat to her. But she couldn't accept someone she didn't know anything about. She had children in the inner house. What if they were influenced by her?
So, when Shujia was thinking about sending her loli spy to gather intelligence, Xiluo directly grabbed the servant who had followed Shi Wenbing out.
So, when Shujia used her painstakingly selected little loli spy, Hongxiu, to gather information but found nothing useful, Xiluo Te used her privileges as the mistress of the household to arrest the man who had accompanied Shi Wenbing. Shi Wenbing's outings also took shifts, and the servant who was off that day had no choice but to come and report to the mistress.
The servant felt so wronged. His master, as Wang You had said, was very honest and had never been anywhere he shouldn't have been. So where did these lovers come from? The servant racked his brains and finally dug out some dregs from the depths of his memory, from the blazing fire of gossip.
"Madam, maybe some time ago, someone from outside invited the master to drink. You know, they are those people from outside the city who came to our family to take advantage of our influence. In order to please the master, they invited him to watch a play and drink, so there are people to accompany him for drinks, right?" The people who followed them out were also led to a place for entertainment and chatted with the servants of the merchant. After three glasses of wine, they started to gossip. Today, the master of the merchant specially found two people to accompany him for drinks.
Continuing with the gossip, the servants were all envious. What a blessing! She was a famous courtesan. The following dirty talk was inappropriate to say in front of the mistress, so the servant kowtowed.
Xiluo Te's face immediately turned pale! She could allow new people to enter, but she couldn't allow anyone so disgusting to come in! How could she bring someone from a brothel into the house?! This family couldn't be so unrefined, it would bring bad atmosphere to the family! She didn't want to believe that her husband was so unrefined. It was common to have a casual affair, and her brother had done it before, but bringing someone home was another matter.
While Xiluo sent trusted family members to investigate, she also brought several of the women in for a chat, carefully observing their behavior. While trained prostitutes might observe proper etiquette, they could always detect subtle inconsistencies in the details. Xiluo had a clear idea and waited for Shi Wenbing's return to report.
Shi Wenbing's face instantly turned as cold and hard as his surname, a stone sculpture. He had no idea about this. Gifting servants and the like was commonplace in official circles. He'd simply smiled and told his wife to handle it. He hadn't expected two of these to be sent. Okay, no more talk. Back off. The gift-giver has flattered the horse!
Shi Wenbing, in her daughter's words, was a typical feudal patriarch. He could keep a prostitute as his confidante, but he would never bring her home. You could call this behavior a matter of principle, or you could say it was a case of doing XX while still trying to be a virtuous woman. These days, respectable men are generally like this. (Shujia: Regardless of who achieved the victory, the fundamental point was that they were exploiting Shi Wenbing's principles.)
Xiluo Te rubbed her belly with one hand and touched Shujia's head with the other, and asked, "Do you understand? I didn't want to tell you this so soon, but now that I've said it, just keep it in mind and don't tell anyone. Do you understand? What's wrong with being generous at home? It only makes people sit more firmly. Do you have to be like a black-eyed chicken, letting everyone know about it? That would make you a target, and I've never seen anyone rush to be a target."
Finally, Xiluo Te concluded the lesson: "If you act in a righteous way, you will sleep soundly at night. You are in a bad mood today, aren't you? Mother, please don't let your imagination run wild, okay?"
Shujia threw her guilt into a corner. "No matter how pitiful Wanrou and the others are, I can't let them use my father as compensation. We only have one father. If I give him to you, what will happen to my mother? Even if you are good, that won't work! This is a matter of principle."
But—Shujia asked again: "What if…Ama really…uh…fell in love with her, then what should I do?"
Xiluo Te's eyes narrowed into slits: "It's not too late to use your method. If he is really an honest man, there is nothing wrong with him staying." Shujia thought to herself, I understand.
No! Because Xiluo Te murmured to herself again: "If he likes bound feet, then let them be unbound. Anyway, we are a banner family and that is not popular. If he doesn't like it, then let them continue to bind their feet."
Shujia thought to herself, now I understand, this is to destroy the opponent's advantage.
What if you like her face? Can you destroy her appearance? Xiluo said: "Wanrou's feet are wrapped in colorful clothes day and night. Didn't you let your father see her feet, which she didn't want your father to see?"
The theme of the entire course is: establish your own advantages first so that your opponent has no chance to take advantage. Then, if you encounter an airborne attack, find a way to destroy your opponent's advantages.
And, the educational implication for Shujia: First, you must become a 360-degree perfect person. Even if you're not a beauty, you can't have any flaws. Is this the application of the "weakness theory" to the domestic drama? Therefore, various pretense are very important.
In short, Shujia gained a lot this time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
