Yuan Qingling asked: "Then why is she guarding you? She is guarding you instead of guarding others? Do you know what you have done? Do you want me to tell you everything about your mean daughter-in-law these years?
Do you want to tell me?"
The old lady fell to the ground and cried, "Please forgive me, Madam. I'm just afraid that she will run away and leave her poor sons behind. My family treated her very well before and pampered her like a pearl. She
You can’t be ungrateful.”
"Did she run away?" Yuan Qingling raised her voice and her expression became stern, "To prevent her from running away, you should be nice to her instead of trying to make things difficult for her. You used to think you had this house in your hands.
You can control their mother and son, but in fact she bought a house outside and didn’t leave. Why do you think this is? She still wants to stay and take advantage of your house, right?"
"No...no, that's not what the old woman meant. Please forgive me."
"Who wants your life?" Yuan Qing said sharply: "I want you to cherish your blessings. You are young and widowed. How come you don't know the hardships? Her life is already difficult, and everyone else understands her plight.
What about you? You are deliberately making things difficult for me, do you think I am a relative like you?"
The old lady burst into tears. She didn't know whether she was scared or really awakened. Yuan Qingling didn't ask her for the time being, but turned to ask Master Xu, "Your husband left early and could have remarried. Why didn't you marry then?"
?”
There were tears in Master Xu's eyes, "I'm going back to my mother-in-law for three reasons. The first is that I can't let go of my sons. They are all the meat that fell from the bellies of civilian women. If they find someone to marry, they will have to be left behind. Second, just like civilian women,
The mother-in-law said that her late husband was very good to the common woman, and he really doted on her. The common woman did not want to forget him, nor did she want anyone to take his place. Thirdly, the common woman's late husband was extremely filial.
Before he left, he was worried about whether his mother-in-law, who had raised them, could bear it as a widow, and feared that she would be lonely and helpless in the future, so the women of the country fulfilled their filial piety for him and stayed with their mother-in-law to serve her until she grew old."
Yuan Qingling's eyes were filled with pity, "You are a person who values love and justice, and I admire you."
"Don't dare, don't dare!" Master Xu didn't know what to say, he just felt that everything in front of him was like a dream.
Yuan Qingling looked at the old lady again, "Listen to your daughter-in-law, and then think about what you have done over the years, whether it is too much or not."
The old lady cried even harder. She was used to being domineering and always had to have everything in her hands to feel safe.
Mrs. Chen did not expect that she had made things difficult for her daughter-in-law. After listening to their conversation, she sighed deeply and said, "Aunt Lu, you used to hold the position of guidance in the mansion. You have a set of principles.
How come you are so domineering and selfish when it comes to you? You are so disappointing."
The old lady reached out to pull Mrs. Chen's sleeves, tears streaming down her face, "Madam, I know I was wrong..."
"What's the use of talking to me? Your Majesty is here, you go talk to her." Mrs. Chen pulled her hand away and said.
The old lady then went to ask Yuan Qingling to admit her mistake. Yuan Qingling shook her head and said, "Why do you want to admit your mistake to me?"
The old lady was startled and looked at her daughter-in-law. She couldn't help but admit her mistake for a moment, but the empress stared at her sharply, so she had to go over and murmured, "I...I was too mean to you in the past.
Now, can you forgive mother..."
"Now is not the time to admit your mistakes." Yuan Qingling interrupted her, "If you admit your mistakes in front of me, you may not really know that you were wrong. There are some words that I will not say today and I will not be happy with them. Mrs. Chen, please listen to them.
Let’s see if what I say makes sense.”
Mrs. Chen suddenly became solemn and said, "Please give me a lesson."
Yuan Qing Ling said: "Since the emperor ascended the throne, the law has been modified to protect the status of women. However, for thousands of years, the concept that women are inferior to men has been deeply ingrained, and it has become the norm for women to despise men. There is also the suppression of women by men.
, but what makes me most angry is that women always look down on women, and women always make things difficult for women. We women will not unite to protect our own interests, but will find a lot of reasons to excuse men and further look down on women."
"Just like what the old lady of the Lu family did today, her son died early and left her daughter-in-law and several children behind. Instead of caring for her, she made things difficult for her daughter-in-law, making her daughter-in-law's life even worse. Fortunately, Master Xu is strong enough.
He is self-reliant enough to establish himself in the capital with his craftsmanship and build a family fortune for his sons. If he were weaker, he would probably have hanged himself and followed his husband long ago."
"In today's world, men's status has become entrenched. Changing this will not happen overnight. Should we women also think about how to unite to improve our status, instead of just waiting for men to show weakness or ask for their protection? The court
In the future, there will be relevant laws to protect women's status and rights, but we also have to think about how to take this step. Can this first step start with women not making things difficult for women?"