Poor Lady Chapter 22: Blood poetry

Su Bao held his sister's hand, looked up at her side face, his expression was as quiet and elegant as usual, feeling the warmth of his palm, his anger gradually calmed down, but the tears still couldn't stop falling down.

Getting into the carriage, Qi Surong took out a handkerchief to help him wipe away the tears on his face, and said softly, "Why are you crying?"

Su Bao pursed his mouth and did not speak, but wept silently.

"Feel wronged? Feel ashamed? Feel uncomfortable?" Su Rong wiped his tears and said earnestly, "Then be strong. You will be strong even after thousands of blows. Since ancient times, a man should be strong, remember today's humiliation, It will be doubled in the future."

Su Bao nodded, gradually suppressing tears.

"Su Bao is good." Su Rong touched his head, caught a glimpse of the bruise on his wrist, and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Su Bao withdrew his hand and pulled the sleeve back.

"Self-improvement does not mean trying to be brave." Su Rong said with a smile, "My sister will go back and give you medicine."

"Sister, don't tell mother." Su Bao whispered.

"Okay, I won't say anything, and I don't want my mother to worry. But Su Bao must not hide it from me when he encounters difficulties in the future. Although my sister has no great talent, she can at least share your worries. Our sister and brother are united, why don't you?" Afraid of making things difficult for others?"

"Okay." Su Bao faded away from the haze and smiled again.

After returning home, Qi's father and Qi's mother didn't find any abnormality, Qi Surong thought that the matter was over.

Unexpectedly, the next day, a matchmaker came to the Qi family, brought the Cao family's concubine documents and some dowry gifts, and threatened to take Qi Surong, the eldest daughter of the Qi family, as a concubine.

Concubinage is different from marrying a wife. There is no need for a matchmaker to be married, or even a matchmaker to lead the match. You only need to sign a contract to bring someone in.

There are two types of concubines in Weiguo, one is good concubine and the other is lowly concubine. A good concubine comes from an innocent background. Although her children are not eligible to inherit the family business, they have enough food and drink and have the right to education. In the future, if they can become talents and gain fame, they can set up another family; concubines have low status and can be bought and sold as gifts at will. After their children are born, they are also of low status. Unless the head of the family helps them get rid of their low status, they will be slaves for life.

Qi's father's concubines are all from humble backgrounds, and most of them fled away after leaving Qi's mansion. Qi's father has their contract in hand, if he wants to, he can report to the police to arrest them, but he obviously doesn't care.

Cao Xiang wants to take Qi Surong as his concubine, no matter how arrogant he is, he dare not treat him as a concubine.

However, his move meant an insult to the Qi family. Although the Qi family has lost its honor and favor, it is a famous family after all.

The Cao family is not the case. They do not have a deep background in the capital, and they can barely be regarded as third-rate upstarts. Cao Xiang's father was only a small official who issued orders, and the reason why he was classified as a new nobleman was also due to the honor of the court officials. The Cao family is related by marriage to Wu Run, a court official.

It is conceivable that Cao Xiang wanted to accept Qi Surong as his concubine, which made Qi's father furious. He mentioned the matchmaker on the spot and threw her out of the house.

"If you want to take my Qi family's daughter as a concubine, let the Cao family kid take her head in exchange." Qi's father shouted angrily.

General Qi's reputation for bravery is not fake after all, and the Cao family would never dare to appear in front of him. But in this way, Qi Surong's reputation will inevitably be damaged. Although the Cao family's concubine behavior is ridiculous, Miss Qi's family is also underestimated. In the past, she was a lady with a famous family name, but now she is only worthy of being a concubine.

In the boudoir of Liu Qian'er in Taiwei's Mansion.

"Hahahaha... It's so funny that someone wants to take Qi Surong as a concubine." Luo Yanyi was overjoyed.

"Cao Xiang's little son who gave orders, also wants to climb the flowers of Gaoling?" Liu Qian'er touched her lips with rouge, and said calmly, "Courage is commendable, we should help him."

"What are you going to do?"

Liu Qianer's slightly raised mouth revealed a hint of a smile.

Soon, the news that Cao Xiang wanted to take over Qi Surong's house spread like wildfire.

Whether it is the dignitaries in the court or the common people in the market, everyone is discussing this matter.

There are those who sneer, those who watch the show, those who sigh, and those who look on coldly. But most people still think that the Cao family is too aggressive and doesn't know the depth.

Unexpectedly, one day later, the direction of the rumors will change.

Someone said: "Now the Qi family is in a bleak situation, and it is precarious. It is understandable to marry off the daughter."

"Miss Qi sacrificed herself in order to protect her family, which is a righteous act."

"Although the Cao family is not prominent, it is also an official family, and has a relationship with Mr. Wu. Although it is a concubine, it will not wrong her."

"The Qi family has the name of a family, but not the reality of a family. Now they are just ordinary people, why can't the daughters of the Qi family be concubines?"

"If she is not a concubine, who else in the capital would dare to marry her?"

…

The discussion gradually changed from sympathizing with the Qi family to supporting Miss Qi's concubine, and even called this move "great righteousness", which brought a lot of solidarity to the Cao family and put the Qi family under great pressure.

"Let's get married." Gu Jinyun appeared in front of Qi Surong again and said so.

Qi Surong concentrated on embroidering, the needle and thread shuttled nimbly, without any panic.

Seeing her calm as water, Gu Jinyun understood that she was not bothered by the rumors, this kind of disposition is really rare.

He sat beside him, staring at her quietly.

A moment later, Qi Surong retracted the needle, and a cedar picture was completed. As the saying goes, "the posture of a thousand-year-old is corrected, and the sky is like a dance of emerald greens".

"Send me off." Gu Jinyun said.

"No, it's already reserved."

"When will you embroider one for me?"

Qi Surong thought for a while, and said: "Let's wait until the turmoil subsides."

"Marry me, it's over."

Qi Surong looked at him: "If I marry you now, I will lose without a fight. This is not only about my reputation, but also about the reputation of my Qi family. How can I escape?"

"What are you going to do?"

Qi Surong looked out of the window and said calmly: "The name of the family is not just talk. Cao Xiang wants to take me as a concubine, but he can't afford the price."

Cao Xiang had someone to support him, and he had enough confidence. He sent people to Qi's house to make trouble every three days. He was a little cautious at first, but later became more and more brazen. They didn't dare to enter the door of Qi's house, they just shouted outside.

On this day, the closed door of Qi's family was suddenly opened, and Qi Surong walked out slowly, dressed in white and covering her face with a gauze.

"Young master of the Cao family's great love, the little girl is not blessed to accept it, so I present a poem as a token of my ambition." She handed a letter to Gu Yufeng who was next to her, and asked him to send the letter to the academy.

Gu Yufeng smiled slightly, and quickly ran towards the academy with the letter in hand.

Seeing this, everyone around followed closely behind.

At this time, Cao Xiang was discussing with his classmates about taking concubines in the academy, with a confident and proud expression on his face, as if Miss Qi's family was already in his pocket.

The book boy came to report, and Miss Qi has a letter.

"Oh? She has a poem as a gift?" Cao Xiang was very interested and couldn't wait to say, "Bring it quickly."

School Tong Wei said: "The person who sent the letter asked you to pick it up in person. If you don't go, he will directly publish the letter outside the courtyard for everyone to read."

"Let this young master pick it up in person?" Cao Xiang snorted, "It's just a concubine, how can there be such a big air? She is not afraid of making it public, so let's make it public. I would like to see a little concubine What kind of shocking poems can a woman make."

The corner of Luo Chengyang's mouth twitched, but he finally swallowed the words back.

The book boy went out to reply.

After a while, he ran back with an unnatural expression on his face.

"How? Has her letter really been made public?" Cao Xiang asked.

"Yes."

"Ha, I'm really not afraid of embarrassment." Cao Xiang sneered, "Tell me, what did she write?"

The book boy hesitated and said: "Master, you should go out and have a look."

Cao Xiang frowned, and was in doubt when he suddenly heard noises coming from outside.

He exchanged a glance with the others, got up and walked out at the same time.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the academy, discussing around the wall of the outer courtyard.

As soon as Cao Xiang came out, he immediately received strange looks.

With a numb scalp, he walked through the crowd and walked towards the outer wall.

The people around gave way consciously, and Cao Xiang soon came to the wall. When I looked up, my eyes were blood red, and I saw a poem written in bright red blood on the white silk:

Blooming flowers are not combined with hundreds of flowers, but independent hedges are full of fun.

I would rather die with the fragrance on the branch, than blow it down in the north wind. (Excerpt from "Painting Chrysanthemums" by Zheng Sixiao)

"I'd rather die with the incense sticks on the branches than blown into the north wind." Cao Xiang murmured with a blue face.

In just a few dozen words, it expresses his noble and unyielding determination.

It is better to have broken pieces of jade than to have whole tiles. The daughter of an aristocratic family will never be a concubine.

Whether it is a literati or a famous family, the most important thing is the festival. They do not speak, does not mean acquiescence. If the Qi family didn't respond, they would naturally not be troublesome, but as soon as this poem came out, it immediately won the support of many senior scholars.

In the face of rumors and rumors, Ms. Qi expressed her ambition with poems and defended her integrity with blood. The bright red handwriting is shocking.

"Brother Cao, do you still dare to accept this woman as a concubine?" Someone asked with a smile.

Cao Xiang had no words to answer.

If he dares, I am afraid that the day he takes a concubine will be the day when his blood will be splashed on the spot.

He regrets it now, why didn't he come out to receive the letter in person just now. Now that this poem is made public, it is not Qi Surong who is ashamed, but Cao Xiang.

The remarks that were originally favorable to him were reversed because of this poem.

As Su Rong said, the name of an aristocratic family is not just talk.

There is a saying in the capital that is widely circulated: the famous family enjoys the fame, and the new rich take power.

Famous families have a long history and deep roots, but if several generations of talents wither, they will gradually move away from the center of power, and the Qi family is one of them. Within the three generations of the Qi family, only Qi's father entered the court, and he was a highly feared military officer. After the Qi's mansion was sealed off this time, the Qi family has survived in name only. However, although the real power is lost, the reputation is still dependent, and the famous family who has a personal relationship with the Qi family, even though they dare not support openly, but they always have a steelyard in their hearts.

The upstarts are the absolute power families. They have risen for a short time, but they are full of talents, determined to innovate, and their future is limitless. If they can maintain the prosperity of the three generations, they will also enter the ranks of the aristocratic family. Dangchao Taiwei is the most famous representative among them.

The first ones to attack this matter were the major families that were closely related to the Qi family.

Although the Qi family is defeated, their dignity still exists. This is not only a disgrace to his family, but also a disgrace to all aristocratic families.

The so-called one prospers all prospers, one destroys all ruins. The aristocratic family must stick to its integrity until death.

Cao Xiang is just a small person who can't stand on the stage to the famous family. If he wants to marry Miss Qi as his wife, that's all. How dare he humiliate her as a concubine. Such arrogance, where is the name of the family?

The Cao family's move seemed to be calm at first, allowing them to run amok without anyone stopping them. But in fact, he has offended many aristocratic families, but the Qi family did not express their position, and it is inconvenient for them to say more. But Qi Surong counterattacked with a poem, with outstanding literary talent, lifting weights lightly, touching the eyes with blood, and expressing his determination, he immediately gained solidarity.

Four of the seven famous families in the capital expressed dissatisfaction with the Cao family.

Gu Jinyun's father also had some contacts in the capital, so he secretly reminded the Cao family.

As a result, Wu Run, Cao's in-law, was also impeached by the minister. It was a small matter, but it damaged his reputation.

The Cao family's property has also been severely suppressed, among which Gu Jinyun was the most serious. Several shops of the Cao family were embezzled by him without a trace.

Cao Xiang lost all face and was almost expelled from the academy.

One day not long after, his hair was shaved off without anyone noticing in his sleep. Hiding so far, he dared not show his face in front of people for a long time.

The downtrodden family may have lost its rights, but it has a reputation and influence that ordinary people can't imagine, even the unpopular Qi's father.

In the previous life, the Qi family did not realize the power of the family, and did not know how to deal with insults from others. Qi's father only knows how to be brave, while Su Rong only knows how to stand alone and be noble, and dare not fight back, so that he loses his support in the end and becomes an unknown piece of loess.

The emperor can seal up the residence of the Qi family, but he cannot erase the name of the family. It is precisely because of this that Qi Surong dared to strive for survival in the turbulent current.

As long as rights are not involved, the emperor will not interfere.

Before this, probably no one would have thought that a poem could play such a big role.

That blood poem got its name because of it, and it was sung by the world.

The Qi family.

"Miss, you write poems with chicken blood, aren't you afraid of being discovered?" Ping'er asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, who has nothing to do to do a blood test?" Qi Surong said calmly, "Besides, isn't chicken blood blood? As long as it can scare people, it's good blood."

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