Re-embroidering life

It is difficult for a man to take care of a newborn baby. He has to beg for a mouthful of breast milk and endure all kinds of ridicule. But with just a mouthful of milk mixed with a mouthful of rice soup, he miraculously manages to feed the baby.

At that time, he had not yet married, and it was easy to imagine what kind of storms an illegitimate child brought back from outside and whose mother was unknown would encounter in his life. When he officially married and had children, this child would have no place to stand in the Ji family.

After returning to Jiangxia, Ji Zixuan knelt down in front of his mother and begged her to acknowledge the baby as her youngest son and give him the identity of the third legitimate son of the Ji family.

From then on, the child grew up under the full care of his mother and elder brother.

After hearing this story, Ji Zimo slowly moved his head away from the tombstone, turned around, and faced Ji Zixuan. He straightened his clothes, kowtowed deeply, and performed the ritual of a son kneeling to his parents, thanking him for giving birth to him and raising him.

Ji Zixuan stood there and accepted the salute, and both of them burst into tears.

"Brother has been very kind to me, but Ji Ji is the only heir to the Ji family. For the peace of the Ji family and my sister-in-law's peace of mind, I ask you to let the third room move out." Ji Zimo touched his forehead to the ground and requested.

After a long while, Ji Zixuan finally responded, "That's fine."

A few days later, the third branch sent people to clean up the old house in Yuquan Town and moved in.

Before leaving, Old Lady Ji cried bitterly, holding Ji Zimo's hand and saying, "Your elder brother has done his best for you. He wants to give you everything good, but he also has his own family to take care of. Wait for me for a hundred years, and then you brothers can officially separate."

Ji Zimo kowtowed to the old lady seriously and said hello.

I don’t know what agreement Ji Zixuan and Tan Meixue reached. Until they moved out, Tan Meixue never showed up, let alone caused any trouble.

***

After many twists and turns, she returned to the place where this life began. Shui Qinghua looked at the plants and trees in the old house, and felt very close to it. Compared with the Ji Mansion, she undoubtedly liked this place more.

"Who's there?" Shui Qinghua asked when she saw the figure outside the door.

The maid came back and said, "The fifth young lady from my family is here."

Shui Qinghua came out and saw Yuhua standing outside the door with red and swollen eyes.

"Second sister," Yuhua forced a smile, paused and said, "Tang Hao and I are done."

Shui Qinghua couldn't help but be surprised, but soon understood what was going on.

Yuhua tried to hold back her tears: "I can't accept that the Tang family used me to deal with my second sister, causing her old illness to relapse! Although this matter has nothing to do with Tang Hao, since he is named Tang, even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. He can't possibly abandon his relatives, and I can't become a member of the Tang family. Rather than both of us suffering, it's better to end it early."

Shui Qinghua sighed for Yuhua, but she had to admit that her sister was right. She didn't want her sister to be involved with the Tang family from the beginning.

"The women in our Shui family have always been able to take on and let go. Your good marriage is still to come." Shui Qinghua hugged her sister.

"Yes, I'm only twenty years old. No ordinary man is worthy of the girl from our Shui family. It's better to be alone than to marry someone unworthy!" Yuhua wiped away her tears and smiled.

Shui Qinghua took Yuhua's hand and led her to the embroidery room: "Do you still remember this place? Back then, you, Jinlan, Huixin, and Yajing learned embroidery here together, and we worked together to embroider "Wang"."

"Of course I remember! That period of time was the happiest time in my life. Now, Yajing is the Crown Princess, my second sister has become a master of embroidery, Jinlan's embroidery schools are spread all over the north, and Huixin has learned the unique skills of Jiang embroidery. I'm not bad either, and from now on, I will be the one to manage all the embroidery business in Chu!" Recalling the past, Yuhua temporarily forgot the emotional pain.

"Yes, it seems that my embroidery room is a blessed place for everyone. All the sisters who walked out of this embroidery room have achieved something." Shui Qinghua smiled, "Yuhua, second sister hopes that you can bravely pursue your own life and take the initiative in everything."

She looked out the window of the embroidery room at the azure sky above the courtyard. "In fact, I never understood Yajing's choice before. She has such a good family background and talent, why did she have to get involved in the vortex of the royal family, climb to a higher position, and fight for power? But now I understand."

After she had traveled to the south of the Yangtze River and personally experienced the stories of two generations of Miss Shen, Shen Xue and Shen Xin, she realized that if a woman wanted to gain a foothold in this world, birth and talent alone were far from enough.

Shen Xue and Shen Xin, both daughters of aristocratic families, have amazing gifts and talents. Among women, they are the best and should have made great achievements, but unfortunately one was trapped in a love affair in her youth and ruined her life; the other suffered from depression and died young due to a failed marriage. If they were both alive and the two of them joined forces, how glorious would Suzhou embroidery be!

"Second sister, why?" Yuhua asked puzzledly as she looked at her second sister who was daydreaming.

Shui Qinghua pulled back her thoughts, looked at Yuhua and smiled: "Because birth and talent are not enough for a woman to control her own destiny. Birth is given by the family, talent is given by parents, what can really allow you to control your own destiny is a firm heart, a calm mind, and the power in your hands."

"Power?" Yuhua was puzzled.

"Yes, if women don't have the right to choose, they will be controlled by others all their lives."

If Shen Xue had power, she wouldn't have been forced into self-exile to see her son. If Shen Xin had power, she wouldn't have been unable to divorce after being betrayed, and would not continue to be hurt in a marriage that existed in name only.

Are they not good enough? No matter how good they are, they still have no room to speak in front of such a huge family.

"Yuhua, remember, you must take your destiny firmly into your own hands. I know it's difficult in this world, but we have to do it step by step." Shui Qinghua said, looking deeply at her sister.

Yuhua felt that what her second sister said was very profound. She didn't quite understand it, but she could see the deep sadness in her second sister's eyes. She nodded heavily.

After Yuhua left, Ji Zimo walked into the embroidery room and hugged Shui Qinghua from behind, bringing with him the fragrance of pine smoke and sawdust.

In the past few days, Ji Zimo has been hiding in the study, carving a memorial tablet for his mother. He can finally write down his biological mother's name stroke by stroke, and write "Son Ji Zimo stands in tears". From then on, Shen Xue is no longer a lonely ghost without a name or whereabouts. She has a name, a son and a grandson, and people worship her and pay tribute to her.

"Qinghua, we've been through so much along the way. Many times, I thought I couldn't get over it. I'm lucky to have you always by my side. Qinghua, I love you." Ji Zimo said affectionately and couldn't help but kiss her on the ear.

Shui Qinghua smiled, turned around and looked at Ji Zimo and said seriously: "I like you too, Zimo. But if one day you leave me, I can live my life alone."

Ji Zimo was stunned, perhaps he thought of something, and smiled with curved eyebrows: "This is the best."