Happiness Consist in Contentment

Chapter 9 The Scholar’s Wife

After Liu Fang followed Anhe back to the mansion, Madam Liu already knew that Anhe almost lost her younger sister. So even if Liu Fang pleaded for Anhe, Madam Liu still punished Anhe to kneel at the ancestral hall to reflect.

Anhe was willing to be punished, and secretly heaved a sigh of relief: Mother still punished her so lightly because she was about to get married. Otherwise, she was bounded to be beaten.

The other elder brothers were not much better, including the eldest brother. All of them were beaten by Madam Liu, the reason was: they did not take good care of their younger sister.

Madam Liu also admonished several daughters-in-law. The servants who accompanied Liu Fang today were all beaten, not too much, but it was also a wake-up call.

No one was dissatisfied with Madam Liu’s aggressive actions.

Today’s matter, they do have their own responsibilities, and no one can shirk. The treatment of Madam Liu was also very reasonable, and everyone accepted their punishment willingly.

Only Liu Fang, because she was the victim, was apologized by everyone and received a lot of gifts as compensation.

Liu Fang knew that her mother’s teaching was strict, but she didn’t expect such a big disturbance today.

After all, everyone has grown up, and they have become a lot more mature. It had been many years since Madam Liu had punished them as severely as today.

From Liu Fang’s point of view, tonight’s incident was actually an accident, and it didn’t really cause any bad consequences. In fact, Madam Liu could just let it go. Unexpectedly, she would be so angry.

Afterwards, the eldest brother said to Liu Fang: “You are the youngest. Today, several brothers and sister-in-law lead you out, but in the end, something happened that made you almost get lost, which is really inappropriate. It is precisely because we all have grown up, you are about to get married. If there is an emergency, it will ruin your life. Mother was naturally angry. Besides, so many of us didn’t look after you, it’s really a breach of responsibility. Mother’s punishment is right. “

Liu Fang suddenly realized, and felt touched in her heart. A woman like Madam Liu was rare in ancient times! She can love concubine children from the bottom of her heart.

In fact, Madam Liu did not treat all concubine children as if they were her own from the beginning.

When Madam Liu was young, she knew that after she got married her husband would take concubines in the future, and there might not be less. Well, this was where Duke Liu’s uprightness come to play

At that time, when Duke Liu Mansion was discussing marriage with Prince Cheng Mansion. The elders of both sides were very satisfied. However, the young Duke Liu often lamented and worried that the family members were too spare because his father had only one son.

So, at the beginning of the marriage proposal, when Duke Liu met with Madam Liu, he told her after the two get married in the future, he wants to take a concubine. If she can’t accept it, then he will explain to his parents that the marriage between the two families ends here, and it will never affect her reputation.

The two families have always been friends. At that time, Madam Liu felt that Duke Liu still had merit, and at the beginning of the relationship, he stated that he would definitely take a concubine in the future. This also showed his uprightness

At that time, both families were extremely powerful, both on equal footing. Prince Cheng’s Mansion was also the founding father of the Great Jin Dynasty, a prince with a different surname from the royal family.

Under all kinds of realities, she as a junzhu with a different surname may seem noble and comparable to a royal princess. But in fact, she was a hot potato that no mansion dares to marry.

And Duke Liu’s mansion was different.

Although Duke Liu’s father was very prestigious in the army, his son was not good. His only hobby was doing business and making money.

And the status of merchants in the eyes of the royal family, and in the circle of nobles was not on par. Therefore, Duke Liu has always been regarded as “a dude who doesn’t do his job properly”.

Madam Liu a junzhu with a different surname who was comparable to a royal princess, married him. On the surface, she suffered a loss, but in fact, it was the best choice for her.

Moreover, at that time, Duke Liu Mansion only had one son⎯⎯Duke Liu. He had no relatives to rely on. Duke Liu’s father was deeply trusted by the emperor, and his family was upright. There were only two of them in such a big Duke Mansion. She was the successor wife as soon as she married, and she had no mother-in-law.

It can be said that as soon as she gets married, she can directly be the master of the house.

Moreover, she and Duke Liu have known each other since childhood. Although they have no love for each other, they also understand each other’s temperaments and have a solid foundation of trust.

In contrast, the fact that Duke Liu wanted to take a concubine after his marriage was really trivial.

After all, in the Great Jin Dynasty, which high-stakes man did not accept a concubine?

In fact, if possible, Madam Liu also wants to go out and make a name by herself.

Unfortunately, she was a young girl. There were three elder brothers above her, and all of them were so outstanding that the student surpasses the teacher.

If a daughter like her was more prosperous than her elder brothers and even her father, it will really cost their family’s lives.

Under the imperial power, even if she was helpless, she had to make sacrifices. Whether it was for her relatives or herself, she couldn’t really ignore them.

Therefore, Madam Liu got married.

After marriage, although Duke Liu wanted to take a concubine, he always prioritized her as the wife.

He never got involved with her dowry maid, and never chose a concubine among the servants in the mansion, but only after she gave birth to the eldest son did he discuss with her to choose a good family girl with a simple character and an ordinary identity as a concubine.

After the concubine entered the mansion, he also trusted her with discipline. No matter whether the other party was beautiful or not, he has never favored any concubine to block her.

In short, although Duke Liu was not a good husband, he was definitely responsible. Responsible for both wife and concubines.

It was precisely because of his clear distinction, he has always maintained his true heart towards Madam Liu and has an upright character. That was why Madam Liu sincerely took care of the Duke Mansion over the years for him and raised his children.

A few concubines, no matter why they entered the mansion in the first place, or whether they had ambitions in the first place, after a long time, they will always see what Duke Liu looks like and know what to do to live better in this mansion.

The concubines didn’t bother to fight for favor anymore. No matter how many children were born, it was actually the same, and there was nothing to worry about.

And they were all raised by Madam Liu from childhood to adulthood, so Madam Liu has sincerity and affection.

Fortunately, all of them lived up to her efforts.

Although they were naughty in their childhood, that made people angry. But when everyone grows up, they truly respect her, understand her painstaking care for them, accept her teaching, and be sensible and obedient.

Naturally, they got along with each other sincerely, and their feelings were as deep as their own.

If there was any concubine child who was not taught by Madam Liu at the beginning, Madam Liu would definitely not take a glance and would send them away at will.

No matter what, she has her own pride. Even if she was forced to marry someone due to the situation, she will not really wrong herself and be generous to others.

It can be said that Madam Liu now treats the children of concubines as if they were her own. It was not just a matter of her years of dedication, everyone understands and sees her contribution, and was grateful for her contribution to make this situation.

If Duke Liu turned a blind eye to her contribution and took it for granted, and in return demanded more without restraint, or had reached the point of favoring a concubine and destroying his wife, Madam Liu would have destroyed him long ago and become a widow.

If the concubines continued to toss and fight with her, it was afraid that she would have destroyed all the concubines long ago, leaving Duke Liu Manson with only direct descendants and no concubines.

Furthermore, if she sincerely taught the concubine’s child, but they never appreciated it, and instead hated her as their mother, then Madam Liu would have let them recreate and reincarnate long ago.

No relationship can be long-lasting only if one party pays. It was necessary to understand each other, give to each other, and be grateful to each other so that the relationship can last for a long time.

Liu Fang believes that the harmony of Duke Liu Mansion was created by Madam Liu alone, but the truth was not so simple.

It should be said that Madam Liu has paid a lot, but it was the family’s joint efforts to manage it, day after day, year after year, to create such a unique good atmosphere and good environment.

Take her case for example.

In another Duke Mansion, perhaps the wife didn’t care about the life and death of a concubine’s children at all, and it was even less likely that the main wife would beat her own son, admonish her daughter-in-law, and go to war like this.

Therefore, the extraordinary feeling that Liu Fang was feeling now was something that her family’s joint efforts to make it possible for her to have this feeling.

It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t Madam Liu’s nature was really so generous and loving.

Of course, Madam Liu herself was a person with clear love and hate, and her mind was indeed different from ordinary people.

But if she didn’t have the sincere love of her husband, the peace of the concubines who never surpassed her, and the sincere respect of her children, she might have looked different.

    ……

The nineteenth year of Emperor Wen’s reign has completely passed in the midst of the Lantern Festival.

After the new year, Anhe was about to get married, and Liu Fang was also waiting for her mother to choose a future husband for her.

In March, the Spring Festival in the capital begins, and everyone who has plans to catch a son-in-law below the list was gearing up to prepare, wanting to “catch” a good son-in-law as soon as possible.

[Bang xia zhou xu (榜下捉婿) is a marriage culture in Song Dynasty. That is when the list of people who passed the imperial exams was announced, the wealthy family all over the country will go out and competed to choose a son-in-law on the list]   

Madam Liu was not the kind of person who embrace Buddha’s feet and pray for help in time of emergency. At this moment, she was not in a hurry but instead shows Liu Fang the roster.

[Lin shi bao fo jiao (临时抱佛脚) idiom that refers to someone’s inability to prepare in time, forcing them to rush to deal with the issue at the last minute]

“These are some of the poor scholars that I have selected that meet the conditions, none of them are particularly talented, they are all ordinary people. You. You have the same temperament as your biological mother. You like simplicity and ease. So, I chose these people for you.”

Madam Liu leaned on the soft couch, pointed to the roster and said to Liu Fang: “All of them have good character, and the family members are simple, but each has its own shortcomings, not perfect. You can take a look, if you like it, I’ll find someone to ask him to come over to propose marriage.” 

Madam Liu looked relaxed as if she was talking about what to eat for lunch today, and she never thought that the other party might reject it.

But Liu Fang could understand Madam Liu.

In Madam Liu’s opinion, the concubine daughters of Duke Liu Mansion can be married to the right family and not to such an extent as to marry into a poor family.

If it wasn’t for Liu Fang’s own willingness, Madam Liu would never have chosen such a family for her. The people who didn’t know the inside story will think Madam Liu was treating the concubine daughters harshly.

And those poor scholars, as long as there was no pit in their heads. They will never refuse such a good marriage that was similar to a pie n the sky.

“However, you have to think about it.” Madam Liu looked at Liu Fang lightly and said, “Marrying a poor family is not necessarily less of a problem. If one is not good, you will really become poverty-stricken. If that’s the case, even if you cry to death, I will let your brothers go and tie you home. understand? “

Madam Liu was not afraid of a concubine’s daughters getting married, but she was afraid that the concubine’s daughters have no brains. If she really takes her husband as her god and was at the mercy of others after she gets married. Then it will really make Madam Liu pissed off.

She spends so much effort to raise her daughter with dignity and honor. But after she get married, she was foolishly manipulated. Just imagining that scene made Madam Liu want to kill someone, let alone when it actually happened.

Of course, Liu Fang understood the concerns of her mother. It’s just she was not really a naive girl, she nodded with a smile, “Mother, daughter understands. “

Madam Liu smirked, “Don’t worry. I have sent people to these people’s hometowns to inquire thoroughly. There will never be such a thing that he has been married and has children, but is unknown to others.”