An old couple came to the door of Bofu, the old man who watched the door looked familiar, the old couple was dusty, as if they came from afar, in June, put on a single shirt, the noon sun was enough, people were staying in the shade, the old couple wiped sweat, Aunt Ying's father looked at the paper money hanging in front of the door, as if there was a white thing in the family, the fox suspected that the master of the Zhan family was dead, her mother said; "Master, you come up and ask."

Aunt Ying's father stepped forward and respectfully opened the door: "May I ask this uncle, there is a funeral in the uncle's mansion?" ”

The old man had just eaten dinner, drank tea in the porter, rolled his eyelids, and looked, "Who are you?" I didn't have anything to ask about, so I stayed there coolly. ”

Aunt Ying's father was choked back by a few words, and gestured to her mother behind her, her mother understood, and groped for a piece of silver, her father turned around and stepped forward again, and stuffed it into the hands of the old family, "Give the uncle hard money for drinking." ”

The old family was upside down, quite satisfied, looking familiar, but there are many people in the Bofu these days, and the relatives in the countryside have also come over, I really can't remember Zhang Laosan and Li Laosi, for the sake of the money, there is a smile on his face, "Who are you two looking for?" ”

"My daughter, your aunt surnamed Ying, is in your second master's room." Her father hurriedly reported to his home.

"It's Aunt Ying, are you her second father? I remember, the last time I came, she was keeping a watch in the mourning hall, so she could go in and worship, so that I could see you girls. The gatekeeper kindly told him that at this time, no one who came to worship would be hindered.

Her father and mother walked a few steps, and her father turned back and said, "Dare to ask this uncle, who died in the house?" ”

"You still don't know the way, do you? Dare you not get a letter to mourn, tell you, hold on to the wall, don't be afraid, that is, the second master that your girl followed is dead, this has been dead for a month, and my aunt's maiden family is not considered a relative, so I should have given a letter as soon as possible, you girls want to come to this time to be busy keeping vigils, and they can't get out, so they don't carry the letter home. ”

Aunt Ying's father and mother were surprised, "The head of the house, we saw my aunt when we went back a while ago, so good, why is it suddenly gone?" ”

Aunt Ying's father pondered for a moment and sighed, "The hairy boy who delivered the letter didn't say it clearly, so he hurried back, saying that it was late and the housekeeper was to blame, and I said that if it was a trivial matter, the girl couldn't give us a letter, and I didn't expect such a big thing to happen." ”

Aunt Ying's mother said: "The head of the house, did you see our daughter and in-laws and say goodbye and take it back?" ”

Her father spread his feet and walked forward, saying as he walked: "What do you do to guard without a name and no point, it is also his wife's business to guard." ”

Her mother suddenly realized and slapped her thigh, "That's right! The last time I saw him, she should guard it. ”

Say, take a few steps and catch up with her father.

Aunt Ying has been vomiting continuously in the past few days, and she vomited two or three times in the first afternoon, and Peony complained to Shen Wanzhen with disgust: "How can you stay in this mourning hall, in the summer, there is a smell of rancid food, it smells bad to death, and I am nauseous when I think about it." ”

After the peony finished speaking, Aunt Ying spit out a few more mouthfuls of sour water, and her stomach calmed down, and her body had no strength at all, leaning on the vermilion pillar like a dead dog.

The two maids in charge of cleaning the mourning hall pinched their noses, cleaned up, and left the front and rear doors open, the breeze passed through the hall, and the dirty air in the mourning hall was a little fresher.

At this time, no one came, so the people guarding outside the mourning hall were also leisurely, after lunch, looking for a place to rest, Aunt Ying's father came at this time, there was no one at the door, so he walked in directly, as soon as he entered the mourning hall, he saw the coffin of the second master, the tablet, sure enough, the aunt died, and the old couple did not have a little sadness on their faces, they came to the hall, and did not worship, but their eyes were looking around, and Aunt Ying was leaning against the pillar at the moment and resting with her eyes closed.

Her father and mother looked around, and saw two women behind the coffin, both leaning on the still, and did not find the two coming in, one of them was in a trance The last time she saw it, her mother whispered: "The one sitting on the left seems to be my aunt's daughter-in-law, I remember that she looks very delicate." ”

Look at the other one, I don't know, these two are not daughters, her father and mother are not good to stand, her mother howled twice at the spiritual position, this cry, Aunt Ying was startled, and turned back sharply, and saw her father and mother looking for her anxiously everywhere, and shouted, "Dad, mother." ”

Holding her hand and mouth, she whimpered and couldn't speak, her father and mother still cared about worshiping the dead, and rushed to her, Aunt Ying vomited so weakly that she got up a few times, and her legs were weak and didn't get up, her father and mother pounced on her, hugged her, and cried.

Her mother cried and said: "As soon as I received the letter from your central people, I was in a hurry to come, but there was no cash on hand, your father and I were busy selling some land, delaying for some time, or I would have come early, I wanted to sell the shop in the east, but no one bought it for a while, and I was ruthless, so I sold more than ten acres of paddy fields in Shanghaolu." ”

Her father said with old tears; "The last time I came to my uncle, I had a good time, how can I say that it is gone, such a big event, why don't you give it a letter."

Her mother tore off her shirt and wiped her tears, and said: "Girl, your father and I have just calculated, when the funeral is over, you will go back with us, and now that my uncle is gone, you have nothing to worry about and count on, stay in this ...... that is not right." ”

Aunt Ying is thinking about the dynasty these days, looking forward to it night and night, worried about whether the little guy is on a business trip halfway, whether the letter can be delivered to her parents, and finally the little guy will come back soon, saying that the letter has been delivered, her father and mother immediately packed up her things, and she is going to the capital, but she waited for more than half a month, did not see the shadow of her father, and complained to Chunxiao that the little guy lied and deceived her, the letter was not delivered, and the silver money kicked her pocket, Chunxiao said, the little guy is reliable, sincere, and will not lie, so she wondered blindly, whether her father and mother had an accident halfway, or something stumbled, Or leave her and don't want to care, and think about the worst.

Listening to her father's words, Aunt Ying cried: "My daughter is willing to go back with her father, but I'm afraid that Mrs. won't let go." ”

"Why doesn't she let go, Bofu also has to be reasonable, what reason is there for you to be widowed for her son." Her father was unconvinced.

Aunt Ying looked around, seeing that Shen Wanzhen didn't look at this end, but Peony was listening, pulled her father and mother behind the curtain, and said in a low voice: "Madam is going to sell me to the kiln." ”

"What? Bofu is a big official, with a black heart, what did she do to sell you? Short silver makes? When her father heard this, he became angry, and his voice became louder, so frightened that Aunt Ying hurriedly waved her hand at her father and asked him to be quiet, for fear that people outside would hear.

Her mother cried again: "The people can't fight the officials, and the people are in the Bofu, how can they live now?" ”

Her father coughed, squatted on the ground, and had no idea, Aunt Ying pulled her father and mother and muttered quietly for a while, so that her father and mother stopped talking.

The mourning hall is not a place to stay for a long time, her father and mother reluctantly said goodbye to their daughter out of the Bofu, and stayed in the inn near the Bofu, her father and mother were all together at night, and the in-laws took their daughter home to wait for the filial piety to be finished, and the aunt was buried before he spoke.

Her father was instructed by his daughter, and when he saw the door of Bofu in the sky, he was afraid that his daughter would be sold, and he didn't know it.

Zhao went to Mrs. Zhan's room, and Mrs. Zhan asked the first thing she said when she saw her: "Shen agreed." ”

Zhao shook his head in embarrassment, "I didn't agree." ”

"Why not? Want to remarry? Mrs. Zhan's eyes were sharp, and her hand unconsciously grabbed the placket of her dress and pinched out a handful of folds.

Zhao's eyes drooped, her mother-in-law's anger, she was in awe on the surface, but she didn't think so in her heart, "My brother and sister said that if she hits the flag, it will be equivalent to telling the world that the second master has no queen, let Qiaohui's child be born, where to put it, for the Zhan family is also the second master, let the daughter-in-law go back to her mother-in-law, forgive her for not obeying her fate." ”

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhan sneered twice, "What an excuse, for the second master, let's plan for herself!" You go and tell her that if you don't beat the spirit flag, she won't want to walk out of the gate of the Zhan family, so that she still has this heart! ”

At the beginning of summer, the night was long, the genius was dark, the mother-in-law in the kitchen sent dinner, Shen Wanzhen and the three went to the side hall to eat, Aunt Ying held a big bowl of gruel, held a steamed bun in her hand, sat on the north kang, the porridge was still a little hot, she couldn't wait to drink it, the full bowl went down most of the time in the blink of an eye, suddenly, she stopped her movements, pressed her neck with her hand, vomited twice, one mouth, 'wow', a torrent erupted from her mouth, and the peony sat close to her, 'Ah! With a bang, he couldn't dodge and splashed his skirt.

Then, Aunt Ying spit out a few more mouthfuls, and she was so uncomfortable that tears flowed out.

Peony held the soiled skirt in one hand and covered her mouth with an embroidered handkerchief in the other, complaining that she went to the ear room to change into a clean skirt.

Shen Wanzhen couldn't eat anymore, and the sour smell in the house was disgusting, so she went out of the door and called a girl to clean up.

Peony changed into a skirt and came out of the ear room, saw Shen Wanzhen standing under the corridor, pointed to the side hall with her hand, and whispered; "Don't pretend to be this hoof, the second master is gone, she will never get pregnant..."

Speaking of which, stop, look inside along the window, the side hall has been lit up, and Peony saw Aunt Ying sitting under the lamp on the kang and said to herself: "Is it really pregnant with the second master's child?" ”

Shen Wanzhen began to think that she was hungry and full these days, and her stomach and intestines were bad, but Aunt Ying vomited for a few days in a row, and she vomited when she drank saliva, thinking that something was not quite right, maybe it was really like Peony said that she was pregnant.

At this time, I saw a girl coming out of the mourning hall, pouring incense ashes, and waved her hand, and the maid saw the second young lady waving her hand, so she walked over, Shen Wanzhen said: "You go back to the young lady, just say that Miss Ying has vomited for a few days in a row, as if she has a body, and look for a doctor." ”

The girl didn't dare to slack off, and went to the big room to go back to Zhao's, Zhao's heart responded, Qiaohui was not enough, and another one, the second child died and didn't let people stop.

I didn't pay attention to it that night, and the next day, Fang invited a doctor to come over and check Aunt Ying's pulse.

Aunt Ying was lying on the bed in the side hall, in the tent, and heard the doctor outside say to the mother-in-law who brought him, "This aunt is pregnant." ”

When Aunt Ying heard it, it was like five thunderbolts, could it be the kind left by the second master before he died, he didn't come when he should come, he didn't come when he shouldn't come, and he didn't know if he was a man or a woman when he gave birth to a child, he left a child, he had no father, what future could he have with a mother like her, guarding this child, living without seeing the light of day, how to survive for decades, Aunt Ying thought desperately.

After sending the doctor away, the next person returned to Mrs. Zhan and said that Aunt Ying was pregnant, Mrs. Zhan was overjoyed, but she didn't expect her son to leave some blood after the worst, this is really a great joy, Aunt Ying and Qiaohui always have a son who can give birth to a son, so that the second room will not be extinct.

Mrs. Zhan hurriedly sent someone to find Zhao, and Zhao listened to Moyu beside Mrs. ask if the yard allocated to the second room had been cleaned, in fact, how could she have the time to take care of this miscellaneous matter, how many important things to do, and her mother-in-law was worried about the idea of the second room, so she said perfunctorily: "It's cleaned up." ”

Mrs. Zhan heard Mo Yu come back and said that she had cleaned up, so she immediately ordered someone to tell Qiao Hui to move in first.

He said to Ruan's mother beside him: "Aunt Ying, you don't need to keep a vigil, you go and watch her move to live in the small cross courtyard in person." ”

Ruan's mother thought that Mrs. meant to let these two rooms be guarded and not let go, so she said: "The old slave heard that Miss Ying's father and mother came a few days ago, and said that she wanted to bring Miss Ying back, and her father and mother are now living outside, and said that when the second master is buried, she will come to beg Mrs. These days, Miss Ying's father has been waiting at the gate of the house, and he is familiar with the people on the door." ”

Mrs. Zhan held the agarwood Buddha beads in her hand and dragged a long voice, "Take it back?" She didn't love Shaoting, she pestered Shaoting, she just fulfilled her wish, she couldn't leave, she kept it, and she also counted her wish. ”

Ruan's mother listened to this, and there were mostly mocking elements in it.

Aunt Ying was moved into the small cross-courtyard at the back of the house, only three meals in the morning, noon and evening with the mother-in-law to deliver meals, usually no one comes, this small cross-courtyard is quite far away from the main house, usually no one comes nearby, so quiet that it makes people panic.

The day after Aunt Ying moved in, her father and mother were allowed to enter the house to see her daughter, and her father and mother were taken to the small courtyard where her daughter lived.

Her mother said suspiciously: "The place where I lived at first was smooth, how did I move here, this lonely place, there is no sound around, I suffocate people to death, or go with my father's house." ”

Aunt Ying didn't know how to tell her father and mother, so as not to make them too sad and sad.

Her father said, "Son! The first trip into the house, in the mourning hall, your mother is here, it is inconvenient for my father and mother to say, no one in this kung fu, let me tell you the truth, your cousin's family has suffered, a fire and the family wealth has been burned out, your mother and uncle have also gone to our house in a hurry, your cousin is now living in our house, helping to take care of the shop, serving my second elder, this time I want to follow, there are many things at home, I didn't let him come, now my uncle is gone, even if my uncle is here, I want to ask for a grace, let you go. ”

Her father and mother don't understand the rules, and they call one aunt after another, don't they know that a concubine's family is worthy of calling the master and aunt, and Aunt Ying doesn't care about these irrelevant things.

Her mother took her hand and said with relief: "Now that my aunt is gone, it just so happens that your cousin has not married a daughter-in-law, and his family is poor, and he doesn't dislike you, and the two of you just make a couple, so that you don't have to marry someone else's family to be angry, and the family is not good enough to have a place and a shop, which is enough for the two of you to live." ”

Her mother looked at the doors and windows on the four walls again, and looked into the yard from the window, and said: "Mother only when you climb high and other people's homes, my mother sees that this residence is not as good as at home, and the furnishings are not as good as at home. ”

The more her mother said, the deeper Aunt Ying's head lowered, if she knew now, why bother at the beginning.

Her father saw that she was silent, thinking that she couldn't let go of the dead man, so he said: "It's not that I'm not kind, pay attention to the dead, when my uncle was alive, he said that you two loved each other, but you abandoned your father and mother to follow him, and you didn't even earn a name, what kind of good is this?" ”

Her mother was afraid that her husband's words would be heavy and make her daughter sad, so she said: "Once upon a time, you were young and ignorant, and a man said a few good words, so he coaxed him to do anything, don't you know that a man's words are the most unbelievable, my mother is a person who has come over, I can see it better than you, listen to my mother's words, I don't mention the past, and now it's too late to turn back, and it's too late for someone to be old." ”

When Aunt Ying heard this, she couldn't help it anymore, she hid her face and cried bitterly, her mother panicked, and said: "Are you afraid that Bofu won't let you go, if Bofu really doesn't let you go, my second elder will kneel at the door of the mansion when he sees the sky, and he will spend money to redeem you." ”

Aunt Ying only shook her head and cried, but did not speak, her father and mother said anxiously: "What is it because of Lu?" Speak, you used to be inseparable from your man, but now that the man is dead, it can't be your turn to be a widow, he has a wife, what are you, and you are also a white guard. ”

"I'm pregnant." Aunt Ying cried loudly, leaning on the kang and wailing in despair.

This cry, Qiaohui, who was outside in the sun, listened to the miserable and desperate, wiped away her tears, and was also sad.

After a long time, there was no movement in the house, her father and mother were depressed, and the family of three did not speak, and after a while, her father said; "Old woman, let's go! Now that it's here, what's the use of staying? ”

Her mother was still reluctant, seeing her father go to the door, she had to follow and go out, Aunt Ying suddenly knelt on the ground, crying and calling: "Dad, mother, it's my daughter who is confused, but it's too late to regret it." ”

Her father and mother had no choice but to wipe her tears and walked out of the small courtyard, her mother looked back frequently, wiped her tears, and said sadly: "In this mansion, how can you live in the future, the wife is not a wife, the concubine is not a concubine, and the child is born and discriminated against, isn't it a sin." ”

Her father said: "Don't look at it, the girl has a dead seed in her belly, and if she doesn't keep the way, she will only treat it as if she doesn't have this girl, go back to marry a wife and have children for her nephew, and consider it an adopted son, you and I are the second elder, and rely on him to live." ”

Her mother was reluctant and couldn't say anything else, so the second elder left gloomily.

Aunt Ying cried for two or three days, couldn't sleep at night, resented Zhan Shaoting, abandoned herself alive like a shoe, and didn't let herself go when she died, opened the wooden box on the kang head, turned out the bag of small tokens, fell to the ground, still angry, and stomped a few feet fiercely, stepping on a mess.

Hou'er is Zhan Shaoting's funeral day, Shen Wanzhen rested on the kang in the east house of the back hall, and slept on the kang with peony.

Peony stared at the roof, regretting that she had misunderstood her mind and climbed into her master's bed, even if she was waiting for someone like autumn frost now, or she was old enough to be a servant. She is the son of a family, and her brother and sister-in-law in the family regard wealth as their life, and they will not redeem her, even if Mrs. Kai let her go, let her brother and sister-in-law take her back, and will also sell her.

Shen Wanzhen listened to her tossing and turning, and she couldn't sleep herself, waiting for the dawn, an idea, and mature thinking.

Mrs. Yan was instructed to go to the big kitchen to help, taking advantage of the breakfast effort, the kitchen was idle, came to find the master, and stole a piece of sauce beef with the master, the master was weak, these days I haven't seen meat, make up for it, Ming'er is the day of the funeral, and another good toss.

Shen Wanzhen got up early and drank a bowl of porridge, and according to the rules, her relatives kept vigil all night.

Mama Yan came in, Shen Wanzhen pulled her to the ear room, and as soon as she entered the room, she closed the door and said hurriedly: "Mama will help me prepare a pair of sharp scissors." ”

Mrs. Yan frightened; "The master is young and can't think about it, as the saying goes, it's better to die than to live, ants are still greedy for life, the master is a big living person, there is always a way out."

said that he was comforting the master, but he was sad in his heart, how could the master go in the future.

Shen Wanzhen whispered a few words in her ear, and Mama Yan bit her lower lip and said for a moment, "What the master wants, I will help the master prepare it, and the master will take it with him before going out early tomorrow." ”