"Your Majesty, Mr. Chu Jiyuan's first wife Yao died in October this year. Mrs. Yiji Tongmi and Mrs. Shouchenghou only received Mr. Chu's daughter and granddaughter."

Shen Shiqing paused while correcting the memorial. Shen Shiqing raised her head and looked at the three cats waiting at the side.

"Mr. Yao has gone?"

San Mao shrunk his chin, not daring to laugh, and nodded solemnly: "Yes, counting the days, it's only just over a month."

"That's when I just decided to revive Chu Jiyuan."

Shen Shiqing looked at the memorial in front of him, finished writing the annotations he was going to write, and put the pen back on the pen holder.

The three cats carefully looked at their prince's face and did not dare to say a word.

The emperor's expression remained normal, as if he was tired from correcting the memorial. He raised his hand and rubbed the ink in circles.

The ink sticks rotated sequentially in the inkstone at the end of the dragon's head, and the clear water that was poured in gradually became colored.

It's like a very deep tune, one sound after another.

There was a soft sound from the clock, and the three cats panicked, and then the emperor ordered him: "Go and call the high female official over."

"yes."

Gao Wanxin was sorting out the case files in the main hall of Qianqing Palace, and soon came to Nuange.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"I want to write a letter. You can write it."

"yes."

Gao Wanxin stood in front of the side table and raised her hand to polish the ink when she saw His Majesty wave his hand:

"You come here to write, Mo Zhen has already polished it."

His Majesty polished the ink himself?

Gao Wanxin's heart skipped a beat, and she glanced at His Majesty, only to see that His Majesty's expression was as calm as usual. After calming down for a while, she walked up to the Imperial Case.

Pulling up her sleeves, she raised her pen and waited for His Majesty's orders.

Shen Shiqing stood under the fairy tower of Nuange, holding the red wooden pillar with her hands, lowering her head and saying slowly:

"Mrs. Yao is smart and taciturn, abiding by etiquette. She married into a Chu house. She is frugal and hardworking. She only works day and night, and is respectful and diligent..."

Gao Wanxin wrote down word by word what His Majesty said, and she sighed in her heart when she saw the beautiful and dignified pavilion body falling on the paper.

A wonderful woman died like this.

Shen Shiqing looked at the cracks in the bricks on the ground and suddenly thought of the day she married into the Xie family.

Her marriage was hasty, her mother was not in good health, and her aunt was taking care of her internally and externally. On the wedding day, she thought no one would come to visit, but suddenly she heard Chuiyun smile and say:

"Look, girl, it's Mrs. Yao from Shilang Chu's family here."

Aunt Yao, who always wears plain cloth clothes, rarely wears a crimson shirt with a gold hairpin on her head, which makes her look much brighter than usual.

She walked behind her with a smile and picked up the comb: "I want to help you, your aunt, but your aunt has taken good care of everything inside and out. After thinking about it, I am a perfect person, so I can help little Aqing." How about combing your hair?"

The six corners are complete, that is, the parents-in-law are present, the parents are still alive, the husband is healthy, and the children are complete.

Shen Shiqing looked at herself in the mirror with a smile on her face: "Thank you, Aunt Yao."

Compared to the calluses on Grandma's hands, Aunt Yao's hands were rough in another way, with wide knuckles, dry black skin, and tiny cracks on the fingertips.

Not only would my father, Uncle Chu, and Uncle Li gather together to compose poems, but occasionally, my mother would also send a message to invite their aunts to visit...

At that time, she was no longer Shen Yin and Shen Lizhen, who was talented in painting in front of men, but the little Aqing who was held and caressed by her aunts.

Compared with Aunt Mi who likes to joke, Aunt Yao is always a little cold. Not only does she often refuse to come to the door, but she just sits in the corner and says nothing when she comes. Others talk about fashionable clothing materials and new pen and ink. Aunt Yao was completely silent.

Looking at Aunt Yao like that, Shen Shiqing, who was young and energetic and used to being pampered, naturally didn't like it. She even secretly felt that Aunt Yao was a little cold, boring and petty, and she was not the same as Uncle Chu who was very open and happy in conversation. proportionate.

She told her mother-in-law this.

Grandma didn't say anything, but only gave her one tael of silver, and then told her that in the next ten days, all the expenses in her courtyard would come from this one tael of silver.

Shen Shiqing didn't think it was anything at first. The five or six maids in her yard only spent dozens of cash on food every day. If she was more frugal, she would be able to get by, and maybe she could still have a hundred or two hundred cash left. She had money to buy stones to grind paint with.

But only two days later, she only had three hundred coins left in her hand.

Needlework costs money, straw paper costs money, firewood for tea costs money... What's even worse is that a mere tael of silver has tied up her desire to research new paints, and she can't let it happen no matter what. Let yourself continue to think about paint as long as you are not hungry.

On the fifth day, she even planned to save only the food money for the maids and spend the last two days just drinking water. Tunan knew her plan and refused to eat at any cost.

A pair of young masters and servants in their early ten years sat opposite each other, with only a plate of pickles in front of them and two steamed buns the size of a child's fist. They stared at each other and refused to eat them. In the end, they hugged each other and cried.

Her mother-in-law had been paying attention to the news in her yard, and she came with someone to look at the two little tabby cats that were crying and smiling for a moment.

After she finished laughing, Aniang took the handkerchief herself and wiped her face, and asked her again:

"How about it, now you know it's hard to be poor, right?"

"I know." Shen Shiqing pouted, "I will make a lot of money, just like my mother, and I will never live in poverty."

Her mother laughed: "Your mother, I can live freely because my mother's family is rich. Even if you can make money to support yourself in the future, it is because the family has raised you and taught you your skills. My method of training horses is from It was trained on hundreds of horses, and your literary talent and painting skills were taught by the number one scholar in the dynasty."

Shen Shiqing sniffed.

He also heard her mother say: "How many women in the world are as lucky as us two? Just like your Aunt Yao, she is averagely educated, has a mediocre family background, has both parents in law, and your Uncle Chu's little salary She has to support the elderly and meet the household expenses, how can she do that? It costs money to marry her son or daughter. Her family has only one old servant, and she has to do all the work like fetching water, cooking, clothes, and sleeping. I have to make my own quilts, and I have to weave in the dark at night, and I don’t even want to part with lamp oil.”

Shen Shiqing raised her head and heard her mother-in-law say:

"Look at Uncle Chu again. Everyone in the capital knows that he is diligent and thrifty, but are his clothes damaged? He drinks tea with your father, but is there ever a time when his money is particularly unlucky?"...

Shen Shiqing, who was still a little girl, flattened her mouth:

"Mom taught me this because I said Aunt Yao was poor. I understand."

Her mother rubbed her head:

"Little Aqing, the name Chu Jiyuan shines in the government and the public because there is a woman named Yao Dujuan behind him. You have to remember it."

Shen Shiqing remembered it.

She understood Aunt Yao's silence and indifference and treated her just like everyone else. Her mother taught her to prepare gifts for those close to her during the New Year. She also learned to give Aunt Yao less gold and silver ornaments and more real cloth, vegetables and meat.

She also pretended that she liked Uncle Chu's calligraphy very much. Whenever Aunt Yao refused to accept the gift as a gift, she would smile and say that Uncle Chu made a copybook for her, which was an excellent gift.

Because of her dexterity, she could really copy Uncle Chu's calligraphy to an eighty-nine-point likeness. Aunt Yao was somewhat convinced and asked Uncle Chu to copy the copybook neatly and send it to her.

After getting along for a long time, it was like spring water washing away the dust and soil on the stone. Shen Shiqing also tasted a little beauty from Aunt Yao's dull and peaceful appearance.

Aunt Yao is kind-hearted. Even though she has to work until midnight, she still buys medicine for her poor neighbors.

Aunt Yao was also cunning sometimes. When buying meat, she felt happy to get a few extra bones. She would write in a letter to her grandma, saying:

"One pound of lean meat and two pounds of pork bones will bring you three days of joy and four days of aftertaste. It will teach your five internal organs to be in harmony."

Looking at the letter, Shen Shiqing felt like she was looking at a painting. The painting was hidden behind layers of clouds and mist, with a rhododendron on it.

Little by little, she saw clearly the appearance of the flower.

"His Majesty?"

After waiting for a long time, Gao Wanxin called out softly.

Shen Shiqing dug her fingers on the red pillar and said:

"Have a loyal heart, hide beauty inside, help the poor and show mercy to the weak, and do good deeds..."

These words did not sound like an imperial edict, but more like a memorial. Although Gao Wanxin had some doubts in her heart, she still wrote down everything His Majesty said.

Shen Shiqing raised her feet and walked up to the fairy tower. The stairs made of mahogany made even the sound of footsteps when stepping on them.

Yao Dujuan.

Yao Dujuan.

Yao Dujuan, who finally saw her true nature, combed her hair again and again on her wedding day.

"Little Aqing."

"Aunt Yao?"

The two faces were reflected in the mirror at the same time. Shen Shiqing was smiling, and Yao Dujuan was looking at Shen Shiqing.

She said: "Little Aqing, you are getting married today. You can't force yourself to smile all the time. If you want to cry, just cry."

Shen Shiqing was stunned: "Aunt?"

"Cry. A woman who cries when she gets married is the one who has a family behind her. After crying, she has left her tears in the place where she was born. From then on, she can endure the grievances that she couldn't bear before and do what she wants. Things you couldn’t do before.”

Rough hands stroked her head and held her in his arms.

What Shen Shiqing thought she could endure was the pain of losing her father, the pain of her mother's illness, the uncertainty of her origins, and the uncertainty of her future. She had clearly endured it until today, and she thought she could endure it forever.

But the moment she was hugged, she cried.

Her mother asked her to be patient, her aunt asked her to be virtuous, and her uncle asked her to be cautious when she came to the Xie family. Only Aunt Yao, who was like the purest cuckoo in the mountains, saw a pure little girl and made her cry...

"Fifty-seven years of my life, I am worthy of admiration in the world. The fairy flower is an extraordinary thing, the cuckoo is the most affectionate and pure human being."

The ink was almost dripping on the paper. Gao Wanxin quickly straightened the tip of the pen and raised her head to look at His Majesty in a hurry.
To be continued...