The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

The most popular play in the capital right now is "Please Leave the Hall" performed by the Dacheng Opera Troupe. Madam Zheng has been very happy these days. She is not sad in the Qi Wang's territory, but because General Zheng's case has not been rehabilitated, they can only keep a low profile. The daughter-in-law Zhuang is a bit domineering. She grew up in the Haichen Gang and doesn't know the rules of the rich and powerful, which makes Madam Zheng's life very uncomfortable.

However, after returning to Beijing, the Zheng family was rehabilitated, and invitations from various mansions were sent to her one after another. Zhuang did not know how to respond, and the members of the Haichen Gang had been incorporated into General Zheng. For a time, Zhou felt that she had returned to the feeling of being in charge of the Zheng family.

On this day, Madam Zheng and Zhuang were invited to a banquet hosted by the ladies of the Marquisate. The Marquisate was a new noble in the capital and a close confidant of the King of Wu. It was a newly-conferred Marquisate after the rebellion was quelled.

Everyone was talking and laughing at the table, and the atmosphere was very lively, until the play "Please Leave the Hall" brought the atmosphere to a higher level.

"Please Leave the Hall" was performed by Hua Sigongzi, the top star of the Dacheng Opera Troupe. Who is Hua Sigongzi? Hua Sigongzi is the most popular in Beijing at that time. Originally, he would not perform a script like "Please Leave the Hall", but after reading the script, he decided to perform this play.

As the plot reached its climax, the ladies at the banquet were sometimes in tears and sometimes gnashed their teeth in hatred, except... Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Zhuang.

Mrs. Zheng's expression became more and more unhappy, until she saw that the male protagonist had planned to kill his divorced wife and their two children, then Mrs. Zheng stood up angrily.

All the ladies looked at Madam Zheng in confusion. After they slowly figured out something was going on, they began to think about the rumors that had been getting hotter in the capital recently. At this time, all the ladies had meaningful looks in their eyes.

After the performance of "Please Leave the Hall" ended, Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Zhuang felt very uneasy and went back early.

The lady of the Marquis Mansion looked puzzled. "What's wrong with Madam Zheng? Did I offend her in some way?"

At this time, the lady of the Bo Mansion spoke ambiguously about some recent rumors in the capital. The lady of the Hou Mansion knew that she might have caused trouble, but she was even more disdainful in her heart. What kind of people are they? They are such a piece of shit. The Marquis also asked her to be on good terms with Madam Zheng. How can she be on good terms with this family of such character?

It doesn't matter if she is unhappy, it's not her fault that she gave birth to such an unfaithful and heartless man...

Mrs. Zheng returned home in a rage and smashed a lot of things.

General Zheng and Junior General Zheng were both in court and had not returned yet, so the maid had no choice but to go find Old Madam Zheng.

Mrs. Zheng saw the mess on the ground and looked displeased, "What are you doing?"

Zhou was furious, "Mother, you don't know, this Marquis's Mansion is really going too far!"

So Zhou told her about the play she had listened to at the Marquis' Mansion today. When she came to "Please Leave the Hall", her face was filled with anger.

When Mrs. Zheng heard that Zhou had actually stood up at the banquet, she was so angry that she said, "You are also confused. The fact that you stood up like this doesn't mean that you are guilty."

Zhou turned her head away unhappily, "How could I have thought of so much!"

Old Madam Zheng said solemnly, "If that's the case, then don't worry about your family. There are so many people watching us, and you are still so ignorant!"

"Mother!" Zhou refused to agree.

Old Mrs. Zheng glanced at Zhuang and her head hurt even more. Zhuang just sat aside with an expression as if it was none of her business from beginning to end.

"You should also persuade your mother. This family prospers and suffers together. You should also have a sense of the overall situation." Mrs. Zheng said earnestly.

Zhuang smiled and said coldly, "What's there to persuade? Am I not embarrassed as well? But this play is still interesting. My father has become my father-in-law's subordinate and has no use value. I have to be careful and don't become the second young lady of the former young lady."

"You!" Zhou was even more angry when she heard Zhuang's words. Zhuang was simply stubborn, she didn't know how to behave and didn't know how to be filial. She really didn't know what her son liked about her.

Zhuang was too lazy to stay any longer, so she returned to her own courtyard with her dowry maid.

"Madam, isn't it a bad idea for us to just leave like this?" asked the maid Hongliu.

Zhuang said calmly, "What's wrong with that? I don't have much of a reputation in the capital, and I'm no better than this."

"Will the master..."

"What will happen? Will she divorce me? Don't worry, it's written like this in the opera. Zheng Xiaoyun not only dares not touch his former young lady, but also dares not touch me. I just want to ensure that my son is a legitimate son. I don't care about anything else." Zhuang said sarcastically.

"Young Madam..." Hong Liu grew up with Zhuang since childhood, so she naturally felt sorry for her own young madam.

"It was my fault that I didn't find out clearly and was blinded by love. Now I am reaping the consequences and have implicated my family. However, I can retire and lose my reputation, but my son cannot retire. No one can touch my son's position!" Zhuang said bitterly.

If you ask me whether I love or not, I have definitely loved it.

Zhuang looked at the sky above the square courtyard and sighed slightly.

Xia Mianwan naturally didn't know about what was happening in the capital. He had just spent money to buy some barren hills and found a group of experienced farmers to grow grapes.

Originally, Xia Mian Wan wanted to offer a price to purchase the grapes, so that farmers would spontaneously grow grapes and increase their income.

But Xia Mianwan thought about it carefully. Now the first wave of rice has not been harvested yet. The war has just passed. Farmers only care about the harvest of grain. The government also cares more about the harvest of grain. Besides, few people have planted grapes in Yanzhou. So Xia Mianwan wanted to experiment on his own first, and then promote it when there is a need.

Of course, when the grapes are harvested, her women's workshop will open.

Now it was just preliminary preparations, and Xia Mianwan did not deliberately use the gimmick of recruiting only women as a publicity stunt, as that would be difficult to promote. However, at the end of the recruitment notice, Xia Mianwan requested that the words "women are preferred" be added.

For this women's factory, Xia Mianwan plans to ask Xiuxiu to help promote it.

In the past, Xiuxiu always followed Lady Zhou to show off her flowers. During the time she returned to the city, Xia Mianwan saw other shining points of Xiuxiu, such as her good arithmetic, hard work and long-term vision.

Therefore, Xia Mianwan planned to train Xiuxiu to help her manage the workshop. Madam Zhou was now completely focused on Zhou Chengze's provincial examination and had no time to spare. Besides, although Madam Zhou was a good person, she was too soft-hearted, so Xia Mianwan was somewhat worried about her management.

After finally finishing some of his work and just wanting to take a break, Xia Mianwan received the news that the head of the Xia family had arrived in Yanzhou City. He immediately rolled his eyes.