Chapter 5

Chapter 5

We went to pick up Shen Sui’an. My eldest sister-in-law had gone back to her maiden home, hoping to ask her parents for help-just enough silver to give Mother-in-law a place to settle for the time being. When she left, she hadn’t yet looked completely hopeless. When she returned, her face was ashen. There was no need to ask how it had gone.

Eldest Brother clenched and unclenched his fists. Then he took a document from his sleeve and said, “Your parents have always doted on you. Take these divorce papers and sever your ties with the Shen Family. They will take you back.”

My eldest sister-in-law just stood there, silent, making no move to take the papers.

How could she possibly take them? She loved Eldest Brother so much.

Eldest Brother was a gentleman, but he did not understand a woman’s heart. Thankfully, the one in my family was a wastrel and would never do something so-called noble like I don’t want to drag you down.

But the moment I turned my head, Shen Sui’an was staring at me with bright, intent eyes. He said, “Actually, we still haven’t consumm-”

“Shen Sui’an, if you dare say it out loud, I’ll leave you here alone, then take Mother-in-law and the others home with me. Let’s see if you’re scared by yourself!”

Fine. The men of the Shen Family all had the same rotten habit. I shouted over him before he could finish, then snatched the papers from Eldest Brother’s hand and tore them up in a huff. “No, no, and no. I’m saying this on Eldest Sister-in-law’s behalf. If you two keep acting so dramatic, I’ll throw both of you grown men away.”

Once I finished tearing them up, both of them behaved themselves. Mother-in-law came out to smooth things over. “Don’t mind these two fools. But Second Daughter-in-law, the Liu Family’s door will probably be even harder to enter, won’t it?”

I grinned. “But my surname isn’t Liu. It’s Jiang. Besides, I had someone send my mother a thousand taels of silver earlier. A thousand taels may not even be enough for you to grease the wheels once, but in our countryside, it can support a whole large family for a lifetime.”

I hadn’t mentioned it before because I was afraid they would be unwilling to leave the capital. But now, even Eldest Sister-in-law’s parents didn’t dare help. It was better to leave.

The only problem was that my home was truly far away. What were we going to do about travel expenses? Just as I was worrying over it, a little maid came rushing over and bumped into me. By the time I came back to myself, there were two silver ingots in my hand-twenty taels, enough for us to return to my hometown.

She was one of Liu Anhe’s maids. This little sister of mine really was a good shoot growing from rotten bamboo.

We began buying what we needed for the journey. No one noticed that when I mentioned the thousand taels, Eldest Sister-in-law’s already gray complexion turned even paler.

When we reached my family home, it was my turn to be dumbfounded. Where was my big brick-and-tile house? Where were my dozens of mu of fertile fields? Where was my fat pig?

I knew they couldn’t read, but I had told the person delivering the silver to pass along a message: once they had the money, they should hurry and build a big house, buy fields and livestock, and live a better life.

So why were the few mud-brick rooms before me still exactly the same as when I left?

My family wasn’t considered poor in the village. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have picked me up and brought me home as an extra mouth to feed back then. Truly poor families couldn’t afford tile roofs; they all had thatched ones.

But not being poor in the countryside merely meant you could eat coarse grain until you were seventy percent full. The walls were built of yellow mud, and the floors inside were packed earth, dark and grimy. When it rained, there would be an unpleasant smell. We younger ones could make do, but how was Mother-in-law supposed to manage?

I was just about to go inside and ask my mother what was going on when Eldest Sister-in-law stepped forward first. She knelt straight down and said, “Mother, Husband, Sister-in-law, I have wronged all of you. I withheld that thousand taels. I only had someone send back thirty taels of silver.”

I was stunned. “But what were you trying to do?”

The Shen Mansion was truly wealthy, so I could make the decision to send that thousand taels back without even telling Mother-in-law. And Eldest Sister-in-law had never been stingy either.

She smiled bitterly. “Because I judged noble hearts by my own petty mind. I was afraid that if you sent so much silver back at once, it would stir up thoughts of currying favor. If your family found their way to the capital and caused trouble, with the court so complicated these past few years, it might implicate my husband.”

Her scheming made me suck in a cold breath. Suddenly, I thought of Nanny Tao, who had come to fetch me back then. No wonder when I asked her to leave some silver for my parents to rely on, she had refused no matter what. So this was how aristocratic families raised people.

She continued, “I should have explained this while we were still in the capital, but my mistake should not drag Mother and my husband down with me. Now that I’ve seen with my own eyes that they arrived safely, I can rest easy. I won’t trouble you to worry about me, Sister-in-law. I’ll leave now.”

Eldest Brother stepped forward and helped her up, then gave me a deep bow. “Your eldest sister-in-law was in the wrong. Husband and wife are one body; we have nothing to defend. We will leave now. I only ask that you look after Mother for the time being. Once I have a way to make a living, I will come for her at once.”

If this had happened in better times, with Eldest Sister-in-law suspecting my parents like that, I would definitely have fought it out with her. But in the current situation, where could the two of them go, raised as they were with servants all around them and hands that had never lifted anything heavier than a teacup?

I stamped my foot. “Leave? In your dreams. It’s the busy farming season right now. You made it so my parents had no money to hire laborers. Until all the grain is harvested, neither of you is allowed to go anywhere.”

Mother-in-law gave me a grateful look and chimed in, “Did you hear that? You made a mistake and still think you can leave? Hurry up and work to make up for it.”

We were just talking about the busy farming season when, from afar, my mother’s booming voice rang out. “Who’s that? It’s the height of harvest, and instead of going to the fields, you’re standing in front of my house. Is there gold to be picked up or something?”