Chapter 1 — The Mother Who Wouldn't Go Hungry

On the third day after entering the Marquis Palace, because at midnight I was grilling pork belly in the yard, my mother caught me in the act. She is the cold-faced King of Hell, famous in the capital. She values rules the most. She requires her female relatives not to eat after noon, and her waist to be as small as a willow branch. At this time, the mother was holding a lantern and standing at the door of my hospital, her face as if she wanted to devour and peel my skin. I closed my eyes and waited for death, then conveniently stuffed a piece of grilled pork belly that was sizzling and dripping with fat into her mouth. Even if you die, you will have to bring along someone to act as a cushion. Who would have thought that the imagined whipping would not come. I opened my eyes, only to see my mother-in-law, who, despite the strong wind from all directions, still did not move her throat, with difficulty opening her mouth: "... How about? Sprinkle some dill."01 That night, my mother and I squatted in the corner behind the small kitchen, cleaning up two full plates of grilled pork belly. She ate without any image, fat flowing from the corner of her mouth to the hem of her shirt completely unaware. After eating half of it, the mother suddenly stopped, stared at the meat skewer in her hand, then blankly asked me: "Tell me, if I had eaten like this when I was young, what would it have been like?" I thought for a moment: "I will retire." She was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, laughed and laughed, and tears fell again. It turned out that that year, after the mother gave birth, the bad servant criticized her for having a big waist and brought three concubines into the door. He once said in front of everyone: "Your wife is good everywhere, it's just that her taste is not like a woman's." From then on, she never ate a full meal again. I passed the chicken wing that had just finished being grilled: "It's because he doesn't know how to enjoy it. A person's skeleton like this would need to gain another twenty pounds to be balanced." The mother gnawed on the chicken wings and sadly asked me: "Is it time to eat now?" "Time." I said: "Tomorrow, we will eat hot pot, let's eat first." Early the next morning, the Marquis Palace's rules for calling peace were still the same. I stood at the bottom of the main street, looking at the mother named Lam sitting on the chair. She had changed into that dark blue official robe, her back straight, her expression so cold that not even a trace of humanity could come out. If it weren't for seeing her with my own eyes last night, killing three grilled chicken wings in one go, sucking all the bones clean, I would have really thought the person sitting in front of me was a clay bodhisattva statue without the seven emotions and six desires. At this time, Concubine Lieu, who was most loved by the Bui Hau family, was holding the maid's hand as she walked in. Concubine Lieu's waist is really small, so thin that one hand can hold it completely. When she walks, she sways back and forth, looking like she has childish paralysis. She walked to the front of the street, and just as she was about to kneel, her legs went weak and she fell sideways against the maid. Marquis Bui just walked out of the inner hall, quickly walked over and hugged her, his eyes full of sadness. "Why are you so weak?" Concubine Lieu was as weak as silk leaning against the man's chest: "Mrs. Marquis, I remember your teachings, I don't eat after noon." "It's just that my body doesn't know how to work hard, making Marquis laugh." Marquis Bui's eyebrows immediately frowned, turned her head to look at the mother who was sitting neatly on the chair, her tone full of blame. "Madam, the rule is to die, the person is to live." "You are strict with yourself, eating those bland boiled vegetables for more than ten years like a day, do you also want to force all the female relatives in the palace to suffer like you?" The mother did not say anything, only the hand on the armrest of the round chair tightened little by little. I stood next to it and saw clearly. The rules in this Marquis Palace were clearly determined by the Bui Marquis himself that year. He likes small waists, likes the appearance of women who are weak and boneless, so pitiful that in order to stay in shape, he doesn't even dare to eat rice. Now Concubine Liu is so hungry that she faints, and he has become a king again

The great master Thanh Thien knew how to have mercy on his subordinates, and blamed Lam Thi's harsh reputation. I took a step forward and spoke directly: "Father says so, daughter-in-law doesn't understand." Marquis Bui glanced coldly and looked over: "What don't you understand?" "If the rules are dead, then don't keep them anymore." I looked at Concubine Lieu: "If Concubine Lieu is hungry, there are big meat buns in the kitchen, eat four in one gulp. It is guaranteed that the person carrying the sandbag can run three times around the Marquis Palace, why do you have to stay here to catch the wind and shed tears?" Tears immediately welled up in Concubine Lieu's eyes, and she sadly snuggled into the Bui Hau family's arms. Bui Hau was angry, pointed at my nose and scolded: "You foolish woman! Women look for softness, obedience, and slenderness as beauty. Your mouth is full of meat buns and sandbags, unbearably vulgar!" "My son Bui Canh, why would you marry someone who can't get on the table like you!" "Because you can reproduce." I was not angry at all, I smiled and replied: "If you find it vulgar, then don't marry your son's daughter-in-law! Marry one." The chastity lesson about worship, smelling the incense and smoke every day, how elegant and elegant it is." "You!" Bui Hau was so speechless that I couldn't say a word. The mother spoke up at the right time, her voice still cold: "That's enough, what's the point of arguing so loudly!" "Miss Shen, I've been grounded here, punished for copying scriptures ten times. Marquis, Liu's body is weak, please send her back to rest." Bui Hau waved his sleeves, hugged Concubine Lieu and left. In the street, there's only me and my mother left. The rules teacher next to her was just about to go get paper and pen, when Lam Thi raised her hand and chased everyone out. As soon as the door closed, Lam Thi's hand holding the cup of tea finally put it down. She looked at me, her eyes no longer had the coldness from before, but instead showed a bit of urgency. "Are there any meat buns left?" I took out two oil paper packets from my large sleeve pocket, still steaming hot. "I have prepared them for you a long time ago, filled with pork and green onions, when you take a bite, the fat sizzles out." The mother took it, biting off more than half of it in one bite. I looked at her eating like a hungry tiger, lowered my voice and said: "Tonight I have finished stewing the hot pot broth, spicy hot pot with beef fat." "Wait until it's dark, you will come to my hospital through the side door." Thi Lam swallowed the piece of meat in her mouth and nodded solemnly.02 At night, the overpowering scent of pepper and beef fat spread throughout my small hospital. The red oil is billowing, the extremely thin slices of goat meat just dropped into the pot, rolled up and can be picked up immediately. The mother-in-law sat across from me, so spicy that the tip of her nose was sweating, but her chopsticks still refused to stop. "Is there still a dish like this in this world?" She picked up a piece of beef stomach covered with crushed garlic and sesame oil, bowed her head to eat without looking up. "Is it delicious?" "You put duck blood in the pot, if it's delicious, you'll eat more." "In life, if even what you put in your stomach, you have to look at other people's faces, then what's the point of living? more.” The mother's chewing movements slowed down. She put down her chopsticks, looked at the hot steam rising from the pot, her eyes were a bit distant. "Today you opposed the Marquis in the main street, it was too rude." "Tomorrow Bui Canh will return from the library. If he knew, he would definitely show his face to you." Bui Canh, my arrogant husband, who got married in the night because he criticized me for not learning the rules well, directly waved his sleeves and went to the library. I pouted: "If he shows his face, do you have to accept it? I married here to be a daughter-in-law, not to be a punching bag to vent my anger." "If he doesn't let me feel comfortable, I will destroy his study." Lam Thi looked at me with disbelief. In her opinion, marrying one's husband is an iron law. "Aren't you afraid he will retire you?" "If you retire then retire." I stuffed a slice of lotus root into my mouth: "Once you retire, you will bring your dowry back to your hometown to buy land to farm, every day."

eat grilled meat, dip in hot pot." "Could it be that after leaving a man, you don't even know how to eat rice?" The mother was completely stunned. The education she received all her life was that a woman could not survive after leaving the house. She used fifteen years of hunger and thirst to exchange for the majesty of the mother and the housekeeper of the Marquis Palace, thinking that this was the best place for a woman to return. "Mother." I looked straight into her eyes: "You starved for fifteen years, in exchange. What do you get? Concubine Liu was so hungry that she fainted once, and Marquis was so upset that she couldn't bear it." "What about you? Now even if you starve to death on the main street, I'm afraid the Marquis will only feel that you are oppressing others at the expense of your master and mother." The mother's face immediately turned pale. She opened her mouth, but could not refute a word. Because every word I said was the cruel truth. I didn't force her anymore, just picked up a chopstick of boiled intestines and put them in her bowl. "Eat a little more, eat enough, then you will have the strength to scold you." That afternoon. Later, Bui Canh returned. This man inherited his father's hypocritical appearance, wearing an ivory white shirt, waving a folding fan in his hand, looking noble. He walked straight into my yard, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. He stared at the barbecue tile in the corner of the yard that had not yet been cleaned up, sniffed again, smelling the lingering smell of beef fat hot pot in the air, his face full of hate. "Master, in the yard. What kind of dirty smell is that?" I was lying on the rocking chair, munching on an apple, too lazy to even stand up. "The aroma of rice and soup. If your nose is broken, I advise you to go see a doctor, don't hide your illness because you're afraid of the doctor." Bui Canh strode forward, kicking over the fruit basket next to him. "Insolent! Father sent a message saying that she rebelled against her elders and was rude and disrespectful. I still don't believe it." "Look what you look like now? Can't stand, can't sit, is there any dignity of a noble woman?" I conveniently threw away the half-eaten apple core, exactly hitting his folding fan. "Can Doan Trang eat it instead of rice? Every day in the library, you eat well and drink well, and when you come back, you ask me to eat the wind and drink the dew." "What's wrong, you think your Bui family's rice and soup is poisonous, are you trying to help me avoid danger?" Bui Canh's face turns pale: "Women should have a clear mind and maintain their figure." "Look at Aunt Liu's daughter, her waist is small, every step is like a blooming lotus, that's what a famous lady is." "On your mind, there's only that. The desire to eat and drink is unbearably unsightly!" "That's really strange, isn't it?" I stood up, pressed a step forward: "You eat meat, I eat meat, is your stomach more noble than mine?" "You ask me to clear my mind and fruit of desire, why don't you go become a monk yourself?" "Isn't it pleasing to my eyes? The door is over there, go leisurely." Bui Canh had never been criticized so directly by a woman. He was so angry that he became so embarrassed that he became angry and pointed at me: "Okay, well done, Tham Thi!" "I'm going to find my mother right here, today I must use family law to teach her harsh personality!" Having said that, he turned around angrily and walked back to the main courtyard. I clapped my hands and called the maid. "Go, let's go to the main courtyard to watch the play."03 The main courtyard was brightly lit. When I arrived, Bui Canh was kneeling in front of Lam Thi, adding salt and salt to blame me. Bui Hau was also present. Tonight he rarely slept at Aunt Lieu's place, but sat on the head's chair, showing the family's price. Seeing me enter, Bui Hau smiled coldly: "Miss Shen, do you still have the face to come here?" I didn't pay attention to him and looked directly at the mother. Lam Thi sat next to Bui Hau family, her hands placed on top of each other on the pillow. I noticed the back of her hand was tense. “Mother.”