Chapter 1 Weared (1)

It was the winter of the twenty-eighth year of Shengwu of the Jin Dynasty.

Heavy snowfall, coupled with the howling north wind, has been falling for several days, covering the remote Mujia Village in white.

It was the twelfth lunar month and the bitter cold was unbearable. As usual, the villagers in Mujia Village hid in their homes. The whole family sat on the fire kang.

The village is located in Bianzhou Prefecture in the northeast of the Jin Dynasty. It is a village in Yushu County. The village is not big, with about a hundred households. Most of the villagers are surnamed Mu. Counting them all, they are all from the same family. Only three or five other surnames are from other families. Moved from somewhere else.

At the west end of the village, not far from the Mu family ancestral hall, there is a short and shabby thatched house built of adobe and thatch. It is similar to the houses of most poor households in the village, but it looks smaller.

The owner of this family, whose surname is Mu and whose name is Zhongqing, is said to be the most knowledgeable in the village. He is a well-known scholar, a junior student, and a person who eats royal food. Unfortunately, although this scholar is good at reading, he has not done anything. A confusing thing: More than ten years ago, he traveled to Beijing and brought back a woman of unknown origin. She was rejected by her parents and kicked out of the house.

The woman Mu Xiucai brought back was named Meiniang. She was as beautiful as her name!

According to Mu Xiucai, he accidentally saved a scholar named Du in Beijing. Du Xiucai was grateful and married his daughter to him. When he saw that the daughter was gentle and virtuous, he married her back.

It stands to reason that this marriage did not cost the two elders of the Mu family a penny, and they should be enjoying themselves secretly. But in fact, in order to disturb the marriage, Father Mu and Aunt Mu almost sued their son to the government.

The father, Muliankui, believed that since his son was a scholar and was a commoner, and received grain and rice every month, he was considered decent and noble, so he should marry the daughter of an upright person or the daughter of a yellow member from the next village. match. Although Mrs. Du was beautiful, she didn't have a dowry of a penny, and she couldn't lift her shoulders or lift her arms. How could she be worthy of marrying his scholar son?

Mu Bai also believed that Mrs. Du was not worthy of marrying her son, especially when she saw Mrs. Du's frail appearance. What a waste!

The old couple made up their mind that their son would divorce his wife, and it would be best if they could sell Du. Du's rare beauty would definitely fetch a good price.

However, although Mu Zhongqing was filial, he was resolute this time and refused to obey his parents' orders no matter what. After a few fruitless quarrels, the old couple became cold-hearted and finally punished the couple in the name of unfilial piety. Mu Zhongqing was kicked out of his home and not even a penny of his belongings was given to him.

After Mu Zhongqing was separated, he asked a few familiar people in the village to build three small houses next to the ancestral hall in the west of the village, and settled down with his wife Du, where they lived for more than ten years.

Madam Du was not only beautiful, but also had an extremely quiet temperament. She was always soft and gentle, and people in the village had never heard her speak loudly. But at this time, Madam Du was beating her chest and crying loudly.

"Weier! Mom is sorry for you! Please open your eyes and look at mom..."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Eldest sister, eldest sister, there is food at home, please come back to life..."

On the kang, under a tattered quilt with exposed cotton wool, a young girl with a pale face was lying upright. The girl's eyes were closed tightly, her lips were gray, her sunken cheeks and stiff body all showed that the girl had already passed away. The dead can no longer die.

Du Shi stroked her daughter's cold body, her heart hurting like a knife.

Life at home was difficult. In order to earn more money to support the family, my husband resigned from the church in the town as early as June and went to the south with a mountain product seller in the village to sell local mountain products. He originally promised to return in half a year, but in the blink of an eye, Eight or nine months have passed, and not a single person has been seen.