The Storage Room.
Have you ever seen someone casually toss a rare calligraphy or painting on a damp floor?
Have you ever seen someone use a fine jade ring to prop up a table leg?
Have you ever seen someone place precious ceramics by the roadside where they could be easily kicked?
I saw all these in the Li family's storage room.
Moreover, when Li Qiyu took me to the storage room, she accidentally kicked over a fine ice porcelain herself. Her expression was as if she had just broken a shabby porcelain bowl. She just pushed the porcelain shards into a corner to make sure they wouldn't scrape one's feet, looking completely calm.
She's a tough one.
I stopped her from going further in to mess up these treasures. I checked and stored them one by one. I tried to salvage the calligraphies and paintings if possible; if not, they had to be treated as damaged items. This project was really huge. It took me a full three months to finish it. My father - in - law and husband were complete hands - off managers. Only Li Qiyu would come over occasionally. Of course, I didn't dare to let her help. She just came to chat with me to relieve my boredom.
I asked her why there were so many treasures in the family. She casually replied, "They were bestowed by the emperor."
I was so shocked that I almost choked on a mouthful of water. "Since they were bestowed by the emperor, they should be treated even better. Aren't you afraid of the emperor's blame?"
Li Qiyu shook her head and said, "The emperor won't."
"Are you so sure?"
"Yeah, because these things were exchanged with the blood of our Li family's men. Father and elder brother stored them in the storage room because they were afraid of remembering their brothers and getting sad when they saw them. Forgetting about them like this and living happily is actually more comfortable."
I was stunned by Li Qiyu's words.
It turned out that behind this seemingly carefree family, there were actually sorrows that no one could bear.
Yes, the honor of the Li family was built on lives. The more rewards the Li family received, the more brothers died on the battlefield. Even Mrs. Li died on the battlefield.
The Li family seemed unrestrained, but wasn't it actually a form of escape?
Moreover, Li Qiyu suddenly blurted out a sentence.
"Sister - in - law, teach me how to be a woman."
Li Qiyu had always been optimistic and cheerful. She often took her little follower to fight with hooligans on the street. Such a girl suddenly asking me to teach her how to be a woman really left me at a loss.
My intuition told me that she must have encountered something.
I quickly asked her, "What's wrong?"
I had never seen Li Qiyu so dejected. She lowered her head and said, "Everyone says I have no femininity and will definitely never get married."
"Who is so blind?" I was both心疼 and angry. After I married into the Li family, I couldn't have liked this younger sister - in - law more. She was sincere, straightforward, and always spoke her mind without hiding anything. Moreover, different from the other men in the Li family, although she seemed careless, she was actually more considerate than anyone else. For example, now, knowing that she couldn't be of much help, she would still come to find me on her own initiative to relieve my boredom and talk to me.
Such a wonderful woman would be a blessing to whoever married her. How could there be people saying that she would never get married? It was really too much.
"Xiaoyu, you don't need to panic at all. You're so beautiful. How could you worry about getting married? In the future, there will definitely be plenty of young masters chasing after you and wanting to marry you." At this moment, I thought of Zhou Donglin next door, the little boy who often followed Xiaoyu around. I joked with her, "Xiaoyu, doesn't that Master Zhou like you very much? In my opinion, childhood sweethearts make a perfect match. You don't have to worry about anything. Why don't you just get together with Master Zhou?"
"Master Zhou?"
"Zhou Donglin."
Unexpectedly, Li Qiyu had a strong reaction after hearing this. She almost jumped up.
"Absolutely not. It's impossible between him and me."
Actually, the stronger Li Qiyu's reaction was, the more it showed that there was something on her mind. I asked her, "Why is it impossible? You two are well - matched in appearance and family background. You grew up together and know each other well. Is there anyone more suitable than Master Zhou?"
Li Qiyu sighed and then told me the reason.
"It's impossible for the Li family and the Zhou family to form a marriage alliance. Both the Li family and the Zhou family are at the height of their prosperity, which makes people jealous. If we became in - laws, those with ulterior motives would definitely make a big deal out of it. Moreover, the emperor wouldn't feel at ease entrusting the military power to our Li family anymore."
Of course, I knew what Li Qiyu meant. I didn't expect that this seemingly simple - minded girl could think so far - reaching. But at the same time, I was also a bit unwilling.
"Actually, retiring to the mountains and living a simple life away from wealth and power is also good." During these days when I helped the Li family organize their finances, I found that the Li family didn't really care about power and wealth. Although they spent money generously, their consumption level was actually that of an ordinary family. Moreover, the Li family really hated socializing. They didn't even care about the weddings and funerals of court officials, and they even avoided the royal weddings of princesses and princesses. The funniest thing was once when a court official came to the Li family in person to deliver an invitation, hoping that the Li family would do him the honor of attending his son's wedding. I witnessed with my own eyes how the three men in the Li family made excuses and refused to go out. For them, this was worse than killing them. In the end, I had to represent the Li family to avoid a situation where the father, daughter, and siblings would draw their swords against each other.
So, I never understood why the Li family, who didn't pursue anything and lacked nothing, had to stay in the court. Compared with the court, the whole Li family was more like free - flying eagles in the mountains.
Li Qiyu's expression was very determined.
"If we retire to the mountains, who will protect the common people in the world?"
I was being narrow - minded.
I measured the Li family with the darkness and indifference of human nature, not knowing that the Li family had already put life and death aside.
In this world, there were actually people who took the well - being of the common people as their own responsibility, sacrificing their own families for the greater good.
Such magnanimity, not to mention court officials, even the emperor might not be able to achieve it.
I really wanted to persuade Li Qiyu, "This is not the responsibility of your Li family."
The world belonged to the Song family, and the common people were also the people of the Song family. The Li family shouldn't take all the burdens on their own shoulders.
However, I knew that if I said such words, it would be a blasphemy to the Li family.
They were heroes, true heroes.
And all I could do was to protect them when they were defending the country.
At this moment, I finally understood what Li Yuanhua always meant when he said that the children of the Li family had backbone.
I seemed to have also grown the backbone of the Li family.
I was proud to be a member of the Li family.