Chapter 11: Tie the Knot and Get a New Lease of Life
Deng Zhixin
Double Eleven
Before they could formally talk, Tang Bohu first asked eagerly: "Wasn't the words you sang just now, "A Cut of Plum Rain Hits the Pear Blossom Deep Closed Door", which I wrote to the prostitute Pear Blossom in Cuixianglou?" How do you know? Shen Jiuniang smiled and said, "You don't ask me to tell, this happened three months ago." That evening, on the way back from a performance in a foreign country, a rural man came galloping over in a small donkey cart, and jumped out of the car a woman with a cloaked and disheveled face full of horror, who was still good-looking, and she rushed to me at once and said that her name was Li Hua, who had escaped from the Cuixiang Building, and she pointed to the man next to the donkey cart, saying that she was her fiancé when she was in the countryside, and now the old bustard in the brothel was chasing after her with thugs, and if she was caught, she would die. Saying that, she took out a piece of the word you wrote to her, and she said: 'Sister, this is what Tang Bohu, the great talent of today, wrote to me, I have already remembered it in my heart, if I can't escape, his words will be lost, I promised him to pass it on, sister, now I will hand it over to you!' I took the piece of paper and told them both to flee west, but if you could not throw away the little donkey cart, the people hid in the crops, and when it was dark they would be safe, the farther you fled, the better, and I am afraid that you will not be able to go back to your hometown. After the two of them escaped for a while, the people and horses behind them chased after them and asked us if we saw a woman escaping in a donkey cart? I took the lead and said I saw it, and they ran east, and the gang chased them east, so that the two of them probably escaped. After hearing this, Tang Bohu said movingly: "You saved their lives, I and Lihua are good, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart." ”
Shen Jiuniang said, "This matter is over, I want to talk to you about other situations now, okay?" Tang Bohu said, "Well, wow, you ask!" Shen Jiuniang said, "Then how old are you this year?" Are both parents alive? Are your wives and children all right? Shen Jiuniang didn't ask if it was okay, as soon as she asked about this, Tang Bohu's mood immediately sank. He sighed and said, "I'm Chinese New Year's Eve today, where are my parents, wives and children?" My brother has separated, I am now alone, and I came out to find a scribe to look after me. Six years ago, my original wife, Xu Shi, was very kind to me, and after four years of marriage, she contracted a postpartum disease and died, and her newborn son died a few days later. Less than a year later, my parents died of depression, and my married sister also died of illness. At that time, I was discouraged and did not want to win the fame, but I had no choice but to study hard under the persuasion of my friends, and after obtaining the township test solution, I went to Beijing last year to try, and I saw hope. At the time of sanyuan and the first', because Jiangyin Tongkeju xu bought a test paper before the exam, I did not know and helped him solve half of the problem, so I was implicated and sentenced to three months in prison, and after she was released from prison, she was cold-eyed by his second wife, He Shi, when she left me, she took advantage of the fact that I was not at home and wrapped up my only money, and under poverty, I lived by writing and selling paintings, and traveled alone through seven southern provinces for nine months before returning..." Tang Bohu said of his sadness, and could not help but burst into tears. At this time, he suddenly thought that this was a bit out of shape at the beautiful woman's house, and he took out a handkerchief to dry his tears and said, "Let you see the smile!" Hearing this, Shen Jiuniang was also moved to tears. She sighed and said, "I only thought that the world was the only one who suffered from my fate, and I didn't expect that a great talent like you, Sir, would also suffer such a bitter life" Then she told Tang Bohu about her tragic experience:
She said: "I was originally a bridesmaid, the only daughter of a rich family, twenty-four years old this year, I have been reading and reading since I was a child, and I know some poetry and articles. When I was fifteen years old, there was a flood and locust plague in my hometown, and there was no harvest of crops, so it should be no problem to eat like this. I didn't want to follow the plague, my parents fell ill one after another, and after the death of the second elder, I didn't expect that the uncles who had been respectful and respectful to my parents came to divide up my family's land property, they fought with each other, they fought with each other, and a relative rescued me from their armed struggle and took back a life. In fact, my relatives were also poor, and they entrusted me to the head of the drama team to learn drama, and finally had a place to live. When I got to the drama team, I was the ninth girl to come in, and I was young, so I named shen jiuniang, and I didn't care if I was used to it. In fact, my original name was Shen Yan at home, because the Western Han Dynasty King Zhaojun was called Wang Yan, and my father and mother also gave me the name on the word '嫱'. In the drama class, I grew up day by day, plus I loved to dress up, I was loved, and I was also caught in the eyes of bad people. First I was raped by a rich young master, and then by an official official who bought shi dad and shi niang, and adopted me in a foreign house for him to have fun, I searched for death several times but did not succeed, shi dad and shi niang sent maids to serve me, in fact, they were also their eyeliner, afraid that I would seek short-sightedness. Two years ago, there was another official, they were all old men, the family had three wives and four concubines, willing to pay more money to the master and the master to support me, so that there was a contradiction between them as officials because I still had a conflict. Although I am not a prostitute like in the Cui Xiang Building, I have actually become a dust woman, this kind of day of being often bullied by people, it is better to live than to die, I have had enough! "Speaking of which. Shen Jiuniang cried silently for a while, and then looked at Tang Bohu with tearful eyes.
Looking at the bitter man in front of him, Tang Bohu boldly asked Shen Jiuniang, "If you don't think I'm poor, are you willing to marry me?" Hearing this, Shen Jiuniang was pleasantly surprised to dry her tears and not cry. She said, "If you really want to marry me, of course I will, and I will live with you for the rest of my life, but I am a dust woman, don't you hate me?" Tang Bohu said, "They are all people who have fallen into distress, and I will never abandon you, as long as you do not abandon me, I will be satisfied." You must know that I Tang Yin's half life is bumpy, fate is uncertain, I have been married twice, the original wife who loved me is dead, the second wife who dislikes me has run away, in order to seek spiritual comfort, I have been to the brothel, and I have met Li Hua and Xu Su, who are also prostitutes with bitter lives. If you can marry me, I hope that we can both grow old together and spend the rest of our lives together. However, if you want to marry me, will your master father and teacher be willing? Shen Jiuniang listened to Tang Bohu's statement and strengthened her confidence even more. She said: "I have a way to let them let me marry, when I just entered the team to learn art, not sold to them, there is no problem of 'redemption', it is a big deal that I quit the 'music book', in the future, do not engage in music, do not sell singing, do not mix their line of business, right? In this way, tomorrow I will go to the master's father and the master's mother and say, and the next afternoon you will come to listen to my reply. If this happens, don't make a big deal out of it, I will marry you, and it is true that I will live a good life in the future. They were whispering, and the beard ran and said, "The meal has been delivered, please come to the side house to eat!" ”
At this time, they walked into the canteen, and Tang Bohu and Shen Jiuniang only cared about eating and drinking, and did not say anything to each other. After the meal, Tang Bohu just smiled at Shen Jiuniang, nodded and left. The two squirrels looked at it and wondered? According to the past situation, after the meal, they must have gone into the room to sleep, what happened today? The male guest actually left, is it reluctant? Enough for both of them to think about it for a while.
In the afternoon a day later, Tang Bohu knocked on the door at Shen Jiuniang's residence on time, and the maid opened the door and said, "The master is in the back room, you go!" Tang Bohu went straight to the back of the main room, only to see that Shen Jiuniang had already come out of the inner room and said, "Let's go to the inner room!" She pulled Tang Bohu to the bed in the middle and sat down, snuggled up to Tang Bohu's shoulder and said, "Tell you what, Master Daddy and Master Niang were reluctantly agreed by me to say left and right, they nominally said that they were reluctant to let me go, but in fact I cut off one of their financial paths, and I took the initiative to ask for the withdrawal of the 'Happy Book', anyway, I will not do this business in the future." Master Dad saw that he could not be saved and said fiercely, if you want to go, you can go clean, except for your own things, you can't take anything! I replied yes, and the master asked me who I was going to marry? I told them that you will know that if you want to marry, you will marry a sentient and intentional cultural person, and ordinary people will not think about it! I also told them that I would not receive any officials for the past two days, and that I would hand over the key to the servant before leaving, and that the other sisters would not say goodbye. I have been performing for nearly ten years, making money for them, and I am really discouraged by this for me before leaving! Tang Bohu said, "Since this is the case, then we will grasp it as soon as possible, and strive to marry the palanquin the next morning, and you can take your personal things to the palanquin" Shen Jiuniang nodded.
On November 20 of the thirteenth lunar calendar of Hongzhi, Tang Bohu married his beloved Shen Jiuniang as he wished. Because there is only one day to prepare in the middle, the bedding is purchased, and the guests have not had time to send invitations, all of which are temporary notices. Attending the wedding was Tang Bohu's friends Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming, Xu Chanqing, as well as local celebrities, calligraphers Wang Pet and close neighbors, etc., specifically his younger brother Tang Shen and the scholar Tang Xing, eating and drinking in the restaurant, not lively, but also decent.
Needless to say, on the wedding night, the scribe Tang Xing still returned to Tang Bohu's younger brother Tang Shen to work, and the silver he kept, except for the happy event, was handed over to Tang Bohu, and Tang Bohu took two or two pieces of silver from it to Tang Xing in return.
Due to the completion of the ten beautiful pictures on schedule, Zhu Zhishan paid Tang Bohu three hundred and two pieces of silver at a time, which greatly alleviated Tang Bohu's economic difficulties, and Tang Bohu gave all the silver and silver tickets to Shen Jiuniang. And said: "From now on, this home will be yours, and it will all depend on you." After Shen Jiuniang put away the money, she took five or two silver tickets to Tang Bohu and said, "Man, how can you not carry a little money with you?" What if I encounter difficulties? "After marriage, the newlyweds feel re-born, incomparably happy, and with each other, their wishes are enough! But the two have a good relationship, as Jiu Niang said: "It is true to live a good life." "So, how did they live their lives?