HUSINIANG

 Cheng Xiaosi was a native of Jiannan, Sichuan. When he was very young, he was very clever and could write very well. When his parents died early, his family was so poor that they had nothing to live on, so they begged General Hu, the Minister of General Administration, to hire him to do clerical work. Duke Hu asked him to write an article to try, and after reading it, he appreciated it very much and said, "This man will not be poor for a long time, so you can marry your daughter to him."

 Duke Hu had three sons and four daughters, most of whom were betrothed to big families when they were still in their infancy; only the youngest daughter, Si Niang, was born to a concubine, and her mother died at a very early age, so she had not yet been betrothed to a family at the age of fifteen, and Duke Hu recruited Cheng Xiaosi to be the son-in-law of the family. Some people laughed at Mr. Hu, thinking that it was a ridiculous decision made by an old man, but Mr. Hu paid no attention to it and packed a house for Cheng Xiaosi to live in, and supplied him with food and clothing very generously. The three sons of the Hu family all despised Cheng Xiaosi and refused to eat at the same table with him, and the maids and servants often mocked him. Cheng Xiaosi silently do not care, just buried reading, study hard. The people beside him constantly sarcastic ridicule him, he still kept reading; the people beside him and beat the gongs and drums, the noise is unbearable, he picked up the book, to read in the room of the four niang.

 When Sinniang was not yet betrothed to a man, there was a divine sorcerer who could tell the worthiness of a man, and he went from one to another of Hu's children, without saying a word of flattery; only when Sinniang came to her, the divine sorcerer said, "This is a real nobleman!" After Cheng Xiaosi was recruited as her son-in-law, the sisters called Sinniang "Noble Person" and mocked her; but Sinniang was dignified, quiet, and turned a deaf ear to their mockery. Gradually, even the maids and servants followed suit and called her "Noble Lady". One of her maidservants, Gui'er, was very angry for her and said loudly, "How do you know that my husband can't be a big official?" When Erniang heard this, she sneered at Gui'er and said, "If Cheng Lang becomes a big official in the future, you will gouge out my eyes!" Gui'er said angrily, "By that time, I'm afraid you won't be able to part with your eyes!" Erniang's maidservant Chunxiang said, "If Erniang goes back on her word, I'd like to replace her with my two eyes." Gui'er was even more furious, and immediately swore with Chunxiang, saying, "Guanbao will teach your two eyes to go blind!" Erniang, angry at Gui'er for speaking impulsively, slapped her, and Gui'er cried and screamed. When the old madam heard this, she didn't say who was right or wrong, but just laughed slightly. Gui'er noisily told the Fourth Mother; the Fourth Mother was spinning thread, and was neither angry nor speaking, but still spun there in a godly manner.

 On that day, which coincided with Hu Gong's birthday, all the sons-in-law came, and the birthday gifts filled the courtyard. Everyone laughed at Fourth Sister and said, "What is your family's birthday gift?" Second Sister-in-law said, "It's two shoulders carrying a mouth!" Sinniang looked frank and did not feel the least bit ashamed. When everyone saw that she looked like a fool in everything, they treated her with even less respect. Only Duke Hu's concubine, Mrs. Li, Sanniang's own mother, always respected Sanniang and often took care of her, and often said to Sanniang, "Sanniang is smart inside, but simple on the outside. Her cleverness is thick and unobtrusive, and those maids are all in the middle of her schemes without even realizing it. Besides, Cheng Lang studied hard day and night, where is he to live under others? You should not emulate those people, but should be friendly with Sanniang, so that you can meet them later." So whenever Sanniang returned to her mother's house, she was doubly affectionate to Sinniang.

 That year, Cheng Xiaosi entered the county school by the strength of Hu Gong. The next year before the countryside examination, the school ambassador circuit held a test, selecting outstanding students to participate in the countryside examination, when Hu Gong happened to die, Cheng Xiaosi wearing mourning, as if his own son, so failed to participate in the examination. Mourning period expired, Sinniang gave him some silver, let him go to the provincial capital to participate in the supplementary examination. She also told him: "You used to live here for so long, the only reason why you were not thrown out was because your father was still alive; but now you can't say anything else! If you can pass the examination, you may have a home when you return." At parting, Mrs. Li and Sanniang presented him with many possessions. After entering the examination hall, Cheng Xiaosi thought deeply and composed his essay with all his heart, in order to make sure that he would be successful in the examination. Soon, the list was issued, but surprisingly failed. Volunteers did not realize, he was very depressed, really feel ashamed to go home, but fortunately the pocket silver is still relatively sufficient, so with luggage into the capital. At that time, many relatives of his father-in-law's family were in the capital as officials, Cheng Xiaosi was afraid of being ridiculed and laughed at by them, so he changed his name and forged his place of origin, hoping to do something under the door of a big official. East China Sea of Li Royal Shi see his literary talent is very good, very important to him, accept him as his own curtain guest, supply him with the cost of reading, but also for him to donate a supervisor, let him participate in the Shuntian Province of the countryside examination; Cheng Xiaosi successive successes, the countryside exams, the second year of the examination and won the first year of the examination, the temple examination, was awarded the Hanlin House of the common people's honorary degree. At this time, he told the royal historian Li about his life. Li Royal Secretary lent him a thousand taels of silver, first sent a housekeeper to Jiannan for him to build a mansion. Coincidentally, at this time Hu Gong's eldest son because of the death of his father, the money is empty, to put a garden villa for sale, the housekeeper will buy this garden villa. When all the arrangements were ready, he hired a carriage and horses to fetch Sinniang.

 In the beginning, after Cheng Xiaosi was awarded a bachelor's degree, a person who transmitted the joyful news came to the Hu family to report the news. The whole family did not even want to listen to the news, and saw that the names did not match, so they scolded the person who reported the news away. Suddenly, a man rode to the Hu family on horseback and presented a letter sent by Cheng Xiaosi to Sinniang; the brothers opened it and looked at it, you looked at me, I looked at you, and they were shocked. Only then did the relatives at the banquet go to invite Sinniang. Several sisters were anxious, fearing that Sinniang would harbor a grudge and refuse to come. Not long afterward, the Fourth Mother came in a light and graceful manner. Some people congratulated her, some pulled her into a seat, some asked for warmth and warmth, and the room was filled with a cacophony of voices. It was the Four Niang that everyone listened to; it was the Four Niang that they looked at; it was also the Four Niang that they spoke of. And Sinniang was still as dignified and staid as before. Seeing that the Fourth Niang did not care, everyone was slightly reassured, and they scrambled to toast for the Fourth Niang.

 While they were drinking and laughing, suddenly a burst of cries came from outside the door. Everyone was very strange, busy asking what happened. A moment later, only to see Chunxiang ran in with a face full of blood. Everyone asked after her, she cried so much that she could not speak. Erniang scolded her, and only then did she cry and say, "Gui'er forced her way to my eyes, and if I hadn't broken free, she would have almost gouged them out!" Erniang was so ashamed that her sweat mixed with the fat and powder on her face and ran down her face. But Sinniang still looked indifferent; there was not a sound at the feast, and then, one by one, the people said good-bye and went away. Sinniang put on her dress, and only bowed to Mrs. Li and Sanniang, then went out and got into the car and left. Only then did everyone realize that the person who bought the garden house was Cheng Xiaosi.

 When Sinniang first moved into the villa, most of the daily furniture was lacking. The old lady and several brothers, to present her with maids and servants and all kinds of furniture, Sinniang did not accept; only Mrs. Li sent a maid, she accepted. After a short time, Cheng Xiaosi leave to return to his hometown to visit the ancestral tomb, a large group of carriages and horses. He came to his father-in-law's house, first paid homage to his father-in-law's coffin, and then went to see Mrs. Li. By the time the Hu brothers came out to meet him, Cheng Xiaosi had already left in a sedan chair. After the death of Lord Hu, the three sons squandered the family's possessions every day, and the coffin was not taken care of. After a few years, the inner hall where the coffin was placed was already leaking and decaying, and was about to become a barren mound where the coffin was buried. Cheng Xiaosi see this situation, the heart is very sad, and Hu family brothers do not discuss, and chose an auspicious day, the Hu public security burial, everything is held in accordance with etiquette, do very thoughtful. On the day of the funeral, many officials came to offer condolences, carriages and horses one after another, the townspeople all marveled.

 For more than ten years, Cheng Xiaosi has held many important official positions. Whenever he encountered folks in trouble, he did not fail to do his best to help them. The second son of the Hu family happened to be arrested because of a lawsuit for human life, the governor is Cheng Xiaosi's clansman, the law enforcement is upright and impartial. Dailang begged his father-in-law, Wang Observatory, to write to this official to plead for leniency, but there was no reply at all, so he became even more afraid. Want to go to beg Sinniang, but feel ashamed to ask, so I had to take Mrs. Li's handwritten letter to find Sinniang. To the capital, do not dare to process home, secretly see Cheng Xiaosi to go to the court, which went in to see Sinniang. I hope that Sinniang will consider the love between brother and sister and forget about the past grudges. After the gatekeeper notified, then came out an old servant, led him into the living room, set up wine and rice, but also a few simple dishes. Only after eating did Sinniang come out to meet him, her face gentle as she asked, "Big brother has always been very busy, why did he have the time to come all the way to the capital to see me?" Dalang fell to the ground and kowtowed, crying as he told the reason for his visit. Sinniang hurriedly helped him up and said with a smile, "Big brother is a man, what's the big deal that warrants this? Though my sister is a woman, when have you ever seen me cry to anyone?" Dalang then handed Mrs. Li's letter to Sinniang, who said, "Several of my brother's wives, all of them from official families, could have solved the problem by simply asking their own mothers' fathers and brothers, why would they have to come all the way here?" Dalang was speechless and just kept pleading. Fourth Niang sank her face and said, "I thought you came all the way here to visit your sister, but it turns out that you came to ask for help from a 'nobleman' because you've been hit with a big lawsuit!" After saying this, she flung her sleeves and went back to her inner room.

 Dailang had to leave the Cheng Mansion in shame and annoyance, and returned home to tell the story of how he had begged to see Sinniang, and there wasn't a member of the family who didn't scold Sinniang; Mrs. Li also thought that Sinniang had gone too far. After a few days, Erlang was released and returned home, and everyone was so happy that they couldn't help but laugh at Sinniang for taking a spiteful scolding from her family for nothing. A while later, Sinniang sent her servant to greet Mrs. Li. Mrs. Li called the servant in, who took out a gold coin and said, "My wife sent me here in such a hurry for the sake of Erlang's affairs that she didn't have time to write you a reply. Just bringing a little meager gift in lieu of a letter." Only then did everyone realize that Erlang's release to go home was the result of Cheng Xiaosi's help from this. Later, as San Niang's family gradually fell into disrepair, Cheng Xiaosi repaid her far beyond common sense. And because Mrs. Li had no son, he took her into his home and raised her as he would a mother.