Chapter 205: Selfishness
The old lady leaned listlessly on the kang, the maid half-knelt beside her and gently held her legs, the maids were all sent out, the eldest master sat aside and accompanied her carefully. Seeing that the old lady was silent, the eldest master persuaded her:
"My son is unfilial and has caused my mother to worry. I will definitely discipline Jun'er strictly in the future. I hope my mother will not get angry and hurt herself."
"Jun'er is still kneeling in the ancestral hall?"
"Yes, Jun'er was just impulsive and said some obscene words. He will be fine once he calms down. That's why my son punished him to reflect on his mistakes in the ancestral temple. He can come back when he has figured it out."
After the master finished speaking, he sighed secretly. It had been almost a day and a night, and Jun'er was still kneeling there, refusing to come back and admit his mistake. Jun'er had been filial since he was young and had never disobeyed him. Why was he so willful this time and refused to repent?
The father-son relationship was unbreakable. He was also secretly worried about his son in the ancestral temple, but he could not show it in front of his mother , fearing that his mother would feel more distressed. Moreover, Jun'er had said such a rebellious thing, and he should be punished. Just as he was thinking about how to comfort his mother, he heard her sigh and say:
"It's been a whole day and night, and Jun'er is kneeling there without eating or drinking. This is really a sin. God has eyes and will not tolerate people being too selfish. This is God punishing our Xiao family!"
"Mother……"
"At the beginning, your father had selfish thoughts. When he arranged the marriage for Jun'er, he did not write down the birth date of the legitimate daughter of the Li family. As a result, the root of trouble was left, and the Li family took advantage of the opportunity to marry a concubine's daughter instead. After Xi'er married, he knew that she was a concubine's daughter, but he kept her because of his selfish thoughts. That's why Jun'er is willing to go against the rules and give up the position of head of the family for her. It's a pity that Jun'er is the only legitimate grandson of this generation. If there was another one, I would really like to help him. Xi'er is graceful and generous, and is indeed a good daughter-in-law. I can't bear to let her go, but it's hard to violate the ancestral teachings!"
As the old lady spoke, she seemed to have aged a lot. Was it really God's will? Was God punishing her for calculating too much and making her lose more?
After hearing what his mother said, the master asked in disbelief:
"Mother has long known that Xi'er is not a legitimate daughter?"
"A few days after Xi'er came into the family, I knew about the concubine's daughter marrying in her place. Jun'er was seriously ill at the time, and there was also talk of a half-month deadline. Because this matter would hurt the Xiao family's reputation if it got out, I sent someone to keep it a secret. I thought that once the half-month deadline was over and Jun'er was well, I could find a fault to get rid of her early. Although I felt sorry for her, the Li family was at fault first, so we can't be blamed for being ruthless."
"Why didn't the mother send her away later? The son didn't even know about this."
After hearing her son's question, the old lady sighed and continued:
"I don't blame you for not knowing. I didn't want you to worry, so I kept it a secret from you. Well, if I had divorced her then, I wouldn't have had the disaster today. Later, I went to Jingyun Temple to fulfill my vow and listened to Master Jingyun's words. I believed that Xi'er was a noble person who could ensure the prosperity of the Xiao family's descendants. I secretly had selfish thoughts and kept her for the time being. I originally thought that Jun'er was young and had no interest in her. It wouldn't be too late to find an excuse to divorce her when I took over as the head of the family. I didn't expect that this bad relationship would be created by mistake."
"Mother, don't blame yourself. It's Jun'er who is confused and can't tell good from bad."
"It's all my fault that I was soft-hearted and indecisive, which led to the root of today's disaster. When Jun'er went south the year before last, the eldest wife and Xiu'er both made trouble and wanted to drive Xi'er out of the Xiao Mansion while he was away. I had the same intention at the time. You also saw that when Jun'er was in the mansion, he protected Xi'er in every way and wouldn't let her rest. It would have been better to get rid of her early while he was away. But I didn't expect that there would be news that Jun'er was critically ill on the road. I sent people to pick him up several times and asked him to return to the mansion to recuperate, but Jun'er refused to come back. Finally, he sent me a letter written in blood, saying that his mother couldn't tolerate Xi'er and begged me to take care of Xi'er for him on her knees. He also said that if he died this time, he asked me to consider the relationship between him and my grandchildren, and to take good care of Xi'er, let her return to her mother's home, let her remarry, and give her a good place to go..."
When the old lady said this, even though she had been through many hardships, she couldn't help but burst into tears. She took the handkerchief handed over by the secretary, wiped her eyes, and continued:
"After reading Jun'er's blood letter, I finally realized that Jun'er would rather die in a foreign land than return to Pingyang to recuperate when he was seriously ill. He must have been disheartened by the fact that he was forced to divorce his wife and remarry. He just wanted to crawl to the south to start a career as long as he could, for fear that something would change if it was too late and he would be forced to divorce his wife again. When I read Jun'er 's blood letter at that time, I thought of Xi'er's origin as a concubine's daughter, and I felt a pain in my heart. But if I really drove Xi'er away, the news would reach Jun'er, who was seriously ill, and she would really die. I also superstitiously believed that as long as Xi'er was in the Xiao family, Jun'er would be out of danger. For Jun'er's safety in the south, I gritted my teeth and endured the pain to reprimand the eldest wife and sent Xiu'er away. When Jun'er went south, I also arranged someone by Xi'er's side. With my protection, Xi'er was able to enjoy herself in the Xiao Mansion for two years. I was also selfish at the time, always thinking that after Jun'er was gone for a year, I would not see Xi'er anymore, but I never thought that man proposes, God disposes, and he would end up not being the head of the family..."
After hearing what his mother said, the master was already dumbfounded. Some of these things he knew, but some he had no idea about. Although he was still shocked, he saw his mother crying and hurriedly advised:
"Mother, don't blame yourself. Jun'er is young and it 's . Jun'er has been filial since he was young and listens to you the most. Let him reflect on himself. He will turn around when he gets over it."
"It's easy to say, but can't the master see that Jun'er's personality has changed drastically since he came back from the south? This time he didn't care about the old friendship and dealt with Xiao An behind our backs. I privately guessed that he was also standing up for Xi'er."
"Stand up for Xi'er!"
"The eldest master is busy with affairs outside the mansion every day, so he naturally doesn't know about the trivial matters at home. The eldest mistress has always been resentful because Xi'er is from a merchant family, and with Xiu'er in between, she dislikes her even more. She secretly instigated Xiao An to treat her harshly. Although I had heard about it a long time ago, Xi'er's background as a concubine's daughter bothered me, so I just let it go. I never thought that it would harm Xiao An. It's hard for Xiao An to follow me since he was a child, but he ended up being exiled when he got old."
"Xi'er is graceful and generous. If her background was not against the ancestral teachings, she would be a good daughter-in-law. How could Xiao An, a servant, listen to the lady and do something to deceive the master? Jun'er knew about it, but never mentioned it. If Jun'er had told me at that time, I would have punished the servant, and things would not have become irreparable. It seems that Jun'er has really grown up and has long been alienated from us. He keeps everything in his heart. But mother, don't worry, your son will definitely teach him a lesson this time, so that it is not too late for him to turn back now."
"I'm afraid it will be difficult this time. I'm old and useless. I just figured it out these days. In this world, love is the most changeable thing. Jun'er's temperament has changed since he fell in love with Xi'er. He is no longer the filial and obedient Jun'er. The eldest master and Aunt Zhang were deeply in love back then. Aunt Zhang's character, appearance, and family background were more than enough to make her a legitimate wife. It was only because of her status as a concubine that she had to be a concubine. Fortunately, she could always be with the eldest master. But Jun'er is different. Not to mention that the Great Qi Law does not say that a wife should be demoted to a concubine, Xi'er's pride would not let her be a concubine. Looking at Jun'er's attitude, if we really drive Xi'er out of the Xiao Mansion, I'm afraid Jun'er has completely turned his back on us."
When the master heard his mother talking about Aunt Zhang, the muscles on his cheeks twitched twice. He glanced at the old lady and fell silent.
He and Zhang were childhood sweethearts, and he promised to marry her, thinking that his mother would not object. But when he mentioned it to his mother, he learned about the Xiao family's ancestral precepts. He was young and hot-headed at the time, and had made a fuss, but he could not persuade his mother to do so, nor could he go against the ancestral precepts, so in the end he had to make her a concubine.
I had wanted to treat her well, but unfortunately, Cui was narrow-minded and often made things difficult for Zhang. Although I protected her, she was the head of the family after all. No matter how much I doted on her, I could not favor my concubine over my wife. There was a world of difference between a master and a maid. What's more, I was often not at home, so she still suffered a lot of grievances.
Over the years, he was confident that he had given her all the favors except the position of wife and the future position of head of the family, which he could not give to her and Yun'er. However, he still could not erase the growing resentment in her eyes. He often saw the hatred flashing in her eyes.
Yesterday, Jun'er wanted to give up the position of head of the family to Yun'er for Xi'er. It's not that he didn't feel the tenderness of Zhang last night that he hadn't felt in many years, and he understood her heart better. It's just that Zhang didn't understand his difficulties. Yun'er was naughty and lazy, and she didn't have Jun'er's calmness, wisdom, decisiveness and ruthlessness. How could he let such a huge family business be entrusted to the wrong person and destroy the foundation of his ancestors? He couldn't give her this promise.
Seeing Jun'er walking down his old path again, he could still marry Zhang as a concubine, but Jun'er couldn't. Thinking of his passion in his youth, a trace of resentment in Zhang's eyes flashed before his eyes. He sighed that the ancestral precepts of the Xiao family were harmful to people, and said:
"Ancestral precepts! Why would our ancestors establish such inhumane ancestral precepts?"
Hearing the master's question, the old lady sighed and began to talk:
"At the beginning of the founding of the Great Qi, our great grandfather Xiao Jize followed the Emperor Taizu Shanggong Shengxian to conquer the world. He had a pair of sisters by his side. The elder sister, who was born a concubine, was named Lu Yao. She was smart and clever, and the younger sister, who was born a legitimate daughter, was named Lu Yuan. She was open-minded, cute and lovely, and her martial arts were superb. The two sisters, one literary and one martial, followed the great grandfather and assisted him in making great achievements."
"Lu Yao? There is no such person as my mother mentioned in the Xiao family tree? There is only great-grandmother Lu Yuan."
After hearing what his mother said, the eldest master couldn't help but interrupt and ask. The old lady didn't answer, but just looked at him and continued:
"Grandpa Taizu treated them equally. In the troubled times, the two sisters were treated equally, without distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. Later, when Emperor Taizu conquered the country and established the Great Qi Kingdom, he rewarded the Xiao, Situ, Li, and Ouyang families who had assisted him in ascending the throne and made great contributions. He also granted them palaces and government offices. Grandpa Taizu was famous and held a high position, so he wanted to establish his own family lineage. However, there was one thing that made it difficult for Grandpa Taizu to establish a family tree."
