Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When my brother saw my sister-in-law cry, anger entered his voice. “Lord Qiao, I cannot understand what you are saying. On the day of our wedding, we bowed to Heaven and Earth. My wife was also waiting for you to come and make decisions for her. But your household only rushed to carry the dowry back. Not one person came to take my wife home.

“She was only eighteen, a weak young woman who had bowed in the wrong ceremony. Her parents ignored her. Other than following Lord Gu’s example and accepting the mistake, what else could she do?”

After my brother finished, the passersby who had just been pointing at my sister-in-law suddenly understood.

“That’s right. The bride is so young. How could she know how to handle something like this? Of course she could only copy what others did. If the Qiao family truly did not want this marriage, her parents should have come to take her back that same day.”

“Did you not hear? They only cared about the dowry. Poor girl. I had heard the Qiao Mansion had a stepmother in charge. Sure enough, once there is a stepmother, there is a stepfather too.”

“You people do not understand. The bride was originally marrying into the Gu family. For the sake of appearances, the dowry must have been large. The stepmother might have been heartbroken over it. The moment she heard the bride had gone to the wrong house, of course she hurried to carry everything back.”

The voices came from every side, choking Old Man Qiao so thoroughly that for a moment he stood stunned and could not answer.

Just as he froze, a middle-aged man walked out from the crowd and glared at him. “So this is how you treat the child my sister left behind? You did not invite us, her uncles’ family, to her wedding. We rushed over as soon as we received the news, and by chance we witnessed this scene. Otherwise, who knows how much my niece would have suffered?”

I was so delighted that I shook my sister-in-law’s hand. My brother was of the younger generation, but a mother’s brother had weight in a woman’s affairs. My sister-in-law’s uncle could truly speak for her.

Her uncle waved, and more than a dozen young men stepped out of the crowd, each carrying gifts tied with red silk. He shouted toward the Qiao family gate, “If you do not acknowledge this son-in-law, then I, as her uncle, will. If you will not give her a dowry, I will.

“Filial obedience is built on elders first fulfilling their responsibility. With a father like you, Niece’s husband, do not come to the Qiao family again. From now on, I will be the relative you acknowledge.”

My brother immediately climbed along the offered ladder. “Neighbors, you all heard it. The Qiao family is the one refusing to acknowledge me, their poor son-in-law. Once my wife married me, she became part of my family. It is not that she is unfilial. Her father was the first to reject this filial bond. Since that is the case, the Song family will obey Master Qiao’s instruction. We will never come to his door again.”

After saying that, he cupped his hands and turned to welcome my sister-in-law’s uncle back to our home.

Old Man Qiao was still shouting behind us, “Her mother’s family had only one daughter! Where did she get an uncle?”

But at that moment, the wedding musicians the uncle had hired began to play, drowning out his words. Everyone looked at the Qiao Mansion with disdain, then followed us along with the lively music. It really looked like they were sending dowry for my sister-in-law with proper ceremony.

I climbed into the carriage with my sister-in-law. Before entering, she looked at my brother’s back.

For some reason, I felt stars shining in that glance too, just like the ones in my brother’s eyes on their wedding night.