The oil bottle of the Red Chamber

In the upper room, Mrs. Chen was chatting and joking with Mrs. Wu's family. Mrs. Feng and Mrs. Chen sat at the bottom, drinking tea with them.Seeing Chen Wan sisters coming with Mr. Wu, Mrs. Chen said with a smile: "Mr. Wu is tired today, please sit down and rest."

He also ordered the girl to bring tea rolling on her head.

Mrs. Chen smiled and said to Chen Wan and the three daughters: "How do you feel about going to school the first day? What have you learned? Tell us to listen to it?"

When Chen Wan heard this, she lowered her head and smiled, and recited the first four sentences of the "Three Character Classic" taught by Mr. Wu, and the little maid who was serving brought it up with the big characters copied by the three girls in the classroom.Mrs. Chen and the others saw it, and said with a smile, "It's well written."

Mrs. Wu's family felt that Mr. Wu wasted the whole morning and only taught a few words, which was quite suspected of being a foreigner.I'm afraid that everyone in Chen's mansion will find it inappropriate.

Mrs. Chen glanced at his expression, smiled and said to Mr. Wu: "Girls do not have to study harder than boys. What's more, they are just at the age of entering school. It is very good for Mr. Wu to arrange it this way. Don't increase the schoolwork, if If they are exhausted, it will be bad."

Feng Shi also laughed and said: "I often hear people say step by step, and that's what it means."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wu laughed and said, "Sure enough, the old lady and the wife understand that I was thinking about it."

Mrs. Chen asked her elder sister and second sister with a smile, "Do you all understand the lessons taught by Mr. Wu today?"

The eldest sister and the second sister nodded in agreement, Chen was worried, and forced the two sisters to recite it face to face, then said with a smile: "Since we were arguing about studying at the beginning, we should work hard. If you are lazy, Be careful."

Before saying a word, he turned back to Mr. Wu and said, "These sisters will be handed over to Mr. Wu. If they are disobedient, it will be up to Mr. to beat or scold them. Don't let them go lightly."

Mr. Wu looked at the eldest sister and second sister who were obediently standing aside, and said with a smile: "These sisters are very obedient."

While he was talking, there was a rumor from the boy on the second door that someone came to the door with a greeting card.Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chen ordered someone to take the invitation and come in.Because the female family members were illiterate, Mrs. Chen asked Mr. Wu to read it. Mr. Wu took the greeting card and looked down for a while, and his face changed drastically.

Everyone looked at each other, and Mrs. Chen asked, "Whose post is this?"

Mr. Wu hesitated for a while, before he said anxiously: "This is a post from my ex-husband's family. I don't know why they handed over the invitation to the house."

When everyone in the Chen residence heard the words, they looked at each other in blank dismay, deeply surprised.Feng did not wait for Mrs. Chen to open her mouth, and raised her voice to ask the little girl who came in with the invitation, "Where is the person who sent the invitation? Is it a man or a woman?"

The little girl lowered her head and replied: "It's a face-to-face woman who is waiting at the gatehouse."

Old Mrs. Chen frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Tell her to come in, I have something to ask her."

The little girl agreed to step down.Turning around for a moment, the woman who was ordered to deliver the post followed behind.

Everyone looked at the woman carefully, and saw that she was about forty years old, her gray hair was neatly pulled into a bun, with two or three plain silver hairpins stuck on her head, she was wearing a dark blue jacket, and her outer cover was blue. Satin is better than armor, half new and not old.When he stepped forward to bow to salute, his demeanor was still calm.

Old Madam Chen put the post in her hand aside, and said with a smile: "We usually have no contact with the mansion. Today, I suddenly accepted the post from the mansion, and it was a bit inexplicable for a while. I don't know what is going on in the mansion?"

Hearing this, the woman gave Mr. Wu a strange look, then lowered her head and replied: "Our old lady heard that the mansion has hired Mrs. Wu as a female husband. I'm afraid that the old lady will not know the reason, which will make the girls in the mansion tired. Yu. I want to tell you face to face, but I am afraid that there will be no communication before, so I will be abrupt for a while. So I ordered the slaves to send the greeting card first."

Hearing this, Mrs. Chen hadn't spoken yet, Mrs. Chen sneered and snorted, and said, "Your old lady is so lenient that she even cares about other people's housework."

Mrs. Wu's family and Mr. Wu who were sitting on the side flushed with shame and fidgeted restlessly.

The woman listened, but said nothing.The old lady Chen said with a smile: "Our family has never lived, and I didn't expect the family to be so enthusiastic. I would like to thank you for your trouble. But I also have a word here, please pass it on to your old lady."

The woman bowed her head and said yes.

Mrs. Chen quickly said: "Youdao is a different family, and everyone lives their own life behind closed doors. We don't want to know what kind of enmity there is with Mr. Wu in your family, but which gentleman did our family hire to teach?" Girls study, and they don’t need irrelevant people to criticize. We have received the wishes of the old lady in your house, and we don’t need to say more in the future. It’s so cold, it’s hard to make this trip for you. While it’s still early, You go back."

When the old woman heard this, her face flushed with anger.It's just that, as a servant girl, she is not good at talking seriously to her master, so she has to resign in shame and anger.

Seeing this behavior, everyone in the hall felt very relieved.Thinking about it, Mrs. Chen is really soft-tempered to give birth to a daughter like Chen who doesn't care about etiquette, rules and worldly views.It's just that before facing the family, there is no need to show the spikes on the body.Now, seeing someone inexplicably picking quarrels and provoking troubles, which provoked her head, she couldn't help stabbing back.

After the woman left, Mrs. Wu and Mr. Wu said with shame on their faces: "It's our fault, which caused trouble for the family."

Mrs. Chen didn't wait for Mrs. Chen to open her mouth, she waved her hands and sneered, "It's all because of the screwdriver's peace of mind, and it has nothing to do with you. You don't want to be so restrained. As mother said, every family is different, you Now that you've left that fire pit, don't pay attention to those people."

After a pause, he said with righteous indignation: "The forest is really big, and there are all kinds of birds. I thought the Zhao family's actions were extremely shameless, but I didn't expect that your husband's family is even more serious. Not only are you ruthless, you will repay your revenge , and now it's still in the hands of others, if I don't teach him a lesson, he won't know that Aunt Chen is not easy to mess with!"

Everyone was startled when they heard this.Mrs. Chen hurriedly asked: "What are you going to do? Now that you are a widow at home, you are no better than others. Don't make trouble."

Mrs. Chen sneered and said, "I'm just afraid that we'll let things go, because that scoundrel was so stupid that he wouldn't let it go. Today's mother rejected that family's idea. If the family became angry, they arranged for Mr. Wu. Now Mr. Wu is the girl who teaches our family. My son's study will definitely implicate the girls in our family. I don't care about the reputation of my boudoir, I'm afraid my mother and sister-in-law will be annoyed. There are also some people who don't understand the truth. In this case, if we make him turn upside down first, it will save others from plotting against us."

That Chen's nature is that there will be waves even when there is no wind.When she was not married, she would say one thing at home and play with sex; when she married Zhao's family, she was also arrogant and domineering, and she would never restrain herself.

Now that the widow and widow are at home, they have long felt restrained.The town picks and chooses during the day, wishing to have something to do for entertainment.It's just that everyone in the family knows her temper, and they don't want to seriously argue with her, and old Mrs. Chen suppresses her, so they don't dare to bark their teeth easily.

It is such a person, it is good for her not to seek other people's bad luck, how can she tolerate others to provoke her.What's more, after listening to the words of Feng's elder sister-in-law, Xiao Sun, in the early days, she even defended Mr. Wu.Therefore, without waiting for everyone to comfort him, he asked Mr. Wu about the details of his expulsion from his husband's family.

Mr. Wu has a docile temperament and is used to forbearance.Even if the ex-husband's family betrayed their promises and abandoned her.She was very resentful in her heart, and she still held the mentality of "family ugliness should not be publicized", and she was very ashamed to say it.Seeing her faltering, Mrs. Chen always refused to explain clearly.In a moment of shortness of breath, he cursed: "I respected you for being able to read and write, so you should have a bit of a temper. Seeing you act now, how sticky you are. Others have stepped on your head, and you are still hesitant. Willing to tear your face apart. I can't blame others for being willing to take advantage of you. With your temperament, if you don't bully you, who will you bully?"

Seeing this, Mr. Wu couldn't help crying: "I know it's my fault. Now I don't dare to teach in the house, for fear of bringing down the reputation of the girls in the house. The old ladies and aunts in the house are good people, yes I'm not lucky. I'm leaving here with my mother now, and I don't want to implicate the family anymore. "

Mrs. Chen laughed angrily, and shouted: "Are you leaving now? It's too late. What kind of family is our Chen family? How can you come and leave as soon as you say it! Let that bastard listen to it!" Don't say that you are afraid of tiring us, but our Chen family seems to be afraid of them. Let me tell you, if you want to fight today, you have to fight, and if you don't want to fight, you have to fight like this. So that the bastard knows, I Aunt Chen is not easy to mess with!"

When Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Feng saw this, they felt annoyed and amused.Quickly opened his mouth to persuade: "Sister Hui, sit down and talk. If you do this, people who don't know will see you, and they will think that they have done something to you."

Mrs. Wu's family also said: "I know that my aunt is kind enough to fight for our two mothers. I thanked my daughter in advance. She is young and low-faced, and she is not willing to talk about people's merits. My old lady is not afraid of others to say I have a long tongue, so I say it."

When Mr. Wu heard this, he cried and stopped immediately.Mrs. Wu's family looked at her daughter who was weeping, and said bitterly, "Don't do that. It's because the Zhou family was sorry for you. Since she is shameless, why should I cover it up for her? On the contrary. I have wronged my daughter, and there is no place to complain."

When Mrs. Chen heard the words, she hurriedly asked Mr. Wu not to say more, and sat down next to Mrs. Wu's head, intending to listen to the other people's gossip.

Mrs. Wu's family adjusted her thoughts a bit, and then told the story.

It turned out that when Mr. Wu's father was still there, he taught in Yuanxiang.Because of his good teaching skills, he has trained several scholars to raise people, and even one or two have won the Jinshi and become officials in the court.Therefore, it is very popular in its hometown.Those who have a little wealth in that area and want to make progress all like to send their boys to study in the private school of Mr. Wu's father.

This is the case with Mr. Wu's husband—that is, the favorite student of Mr. Wu's father.

It's just that unlike those disciples whose families have wealth, Mr. Wu's husband's family was originally poor.His family has no money for his heirs to study.Mr. Wu's husband, whose real name is Zhou Zhougou, was originally hired by Wu's father to carry water and firewood for the school.It's just that he is smart and motivated, and often hides secretly under the window of the teaching dormitory to listen to Father Wu's lectures in his spare time.

Wu's father saw that he was handsome and willing to work hard, so he often found time to raise some points.Later, seeing that he was really good at studying, he accepted him as a student, changed his name to Zhou Pu, and even sponsored him to study and take scientific examinations.Later, that Zhou Pu was selected as a scholar, and Wu's father married his daughter, Mr. Wu, to that Zhou Pu.

The relationship between Mr. Wu and Zhou Pu is not bad. The young couple treats each other with respect and beauty. Even though Mr. Wu has been married to the Zhou family for more than ten years, he still has nothing to do. Pu also refused briefly.

As a result, Mr. Wu's notoriety of jealousy spread among the villagers.At that time, although Mr. Wu was dissatisfied, when he thought that Zhou Pu treated her consistently, he felt that his heart was sweeter than honey, and he didn't care much about the rumors outside.

Until Wu's father passed away due to cold and old age, and Zhou Pu won the Juren at a young age, the Zhou family thought that they could compare with the Wu family in terms of family status and wealth, and Mr. Wu had indeed been in the family for more than ten years There is nothing out there, which is really a pity.Under the instigation of others, he once again wanted to be a concubine for Zhou Pu.

This time, what the old lady of the Zhou family took a fancy to was her niece and daughter in her natal family, that is, Zhou Pu's cousin.Fearing that Zhou Pu would be stubborn and refused to agree, the old lady of the Zhou family, under the instigation of her natal brother, had the idea of ​​killing first and playing later.

She was thinking logically, but felt that no matter how stubborn Zhou Pu was, he was still a man, so he must have some sexual desires.On weekdays, he is ruled by Mr. Wu, so he dare not do anything, if the raw rice is cooked, there is no reason to twist it any longer.What's more, that person was not an outsider, but his direct cousin. Even if Zhou Pu was dissatisfied, he would agree to it because of the relationship between the two families.At that time, as long as the cousin is pregnant with the flesh and blood of the Zhou family, and has the support of the aunt and aunt, even if Mr. Wu is the main wife, it will not be difficult.

The abacus was well calculated, so Mrs. Zhou sent Mr. Wu's family to accompany her mother under the pretext that Wu's father died of illness and Mrs. Wu's family needed someone to accompany her.Mr. Wu thought it was because his mother-in-law was caring for her, but he couldn't think of it anymore, so he immediately packed his bags and went home with gratitude.

The old lady of the Zhou family took advantage of Mr. Wu's absence to intentionally get Zhou Pu drunk, intending to cook raw rice.Unexpectedly, after Zhou Pu sobered up, not only refused to follow the wishes of the old lady of the Zhou family to take a concubine, but also scolded his cousin for being shameless in front of everyone, because it was a time of anger, and some words were very unpleasant, and the cousin was ashamed and angry It's hard to bear, taking advantage of the time when everyone is not paying attention, he threw himself into a basket and hanged himself that night.

Since a human life was lost, even if it was a steal, the two families became enmity.Old lady Zhou's natal elder brother refused to let her go, and instead of mentioning the dirty schemes behind it, he just said that Zhou Pu failed to rape and forced their girl to death instead, clamoring for an explanation.

Even though Zhou Pu was not ashamed of his cousin's character, he never thought that he would really kill her, and immediately lost his mind.I also saw that my uncle was really making a lot of trouble, and this kind of family ugliness is not good to be too publicized-not only is it not light, but it becomes darker and darker-and I am afraid that my uncle's family really doesn't care, and they will make a scene in the yamen, and they will also tarnish His full name.And it's not easy to tear your face, so you can only pinch your nose and let the uncle's family extort. Not only did you lose a fortune, but you were also persuaded by Mrs. Zhou to accept your cousin's memorial tablet to enter the door.

I thought this was over.Unexpectedly, after this incident, Mrs. Zhou's natal family thought they had a handle, and they treated the Zhou family as a cash cow. Every now and then, they would visit the door to make a fuss, and exchange two money to go back.If the money is not enough, they will make troubles again - and so on again and again, in less than a year, the original rich family wealth of the Zhou family is gradually revealed, and the relationship between the two families is no longer what it used to be.

Because of this bad debt, Zhou Pu felt wronged, and it was not easy to tell others, so he could only hold it in his heart.Mr. Wu also felt very wronged, and even looked down on the behavior of the Zhou family.Although Mr. Wu has a gentle temperament, he behaves innocently.Uncomfortable in the heart, actions and words will naturally reveal.Although Zhou Pu also agreed with Mr. Wu's words, he felt that death was the most important thing, and it was his uncle's house - even if he didn't look at his uncle, he still had to worry about his mother's face.Therefore, I often advised Mr. Wu not to do this, and the young couple had several quarrels because of this.

After this incident that week, the old lady not only didn't think about her own faults, but complained that Mr. Wu was usually too jealous, so he was controlling Zhou Pu's mind.Otherwise, Zhou Pu took her niece and daughter as his concubine that day, and everyone was in harmony with each other, so what happened today.Sometimes Mr. Wu couldn't bear it anymore, so he argued with Mrs. Zhou, and Zhou Pu was caught in the middle, neither persuading his mother nor persuading his wife. Added a serious illness.When the medicines and stones fail to work, the disease is terminally ill, and it will take a year to let go.

Seeing that her husband died of depression, Mr. Wu felt that it was his own fault while grieving.If he had a more open mind and didn't quarrel with Zhou Pu, maybe Zhou Pu wouldn't have died early.Therefore, when Mrs. Zhou expelled her from Zhou's house on the grounds that she had no children, Mr. Wu was ashamed and angry, but he refused to argue with Mrs. Zhou.Even when Mrs. Zhou was instigated by her natal family to deduct her dowry, Mr. Wu endured it.

Gein's heart was ashamed, and those external objects were worthless.

If it wasn't for the fact that there was still an old mother who needed to be taken care of at home, Mr. Wu wished he could just go with Zhou Pu, which would be considered a complete bond between husband and wife.So no matter how much Chen shi hated iron and steel to question her, she refused to say a bad word about the Zhou family.It's not that she is thinking of the Zhou family's good, but in her heart, she really feels sorry for her husband, Zhou Pu.

Except for the three families involved, even the Xiaosun family, who is as close as Mr. Wu's boudoir, is not known about these private matters in the back house.If it wasn't for Mrs. Zhou being too aggressive, the Mrs. Wu's family who loves her daughter couldn't bear it. I'm afraid no one will know about these things after all.