Chapter 83: with translation of chapter title

After returning from town, Du Ruo began her leisurely days again.

Household chores basically didn't need her involvement, and the ghost supervisor only came by two or three times a day; the festival gifts were also ready, and she planned to send them to Xinglin Village in a couple of days.

When the time comes, she'll have the Zheng Clan come over to stay for a while.

Although Du Mingzhu posed no threat for now, the Zheng Clan was still the Original Owner's biggest concern, so it was best to keep them nearby.

Previously, conditions didn't allow it and they had nowhere to stay when they came; now, although this courtyard is rented, it's spacious and has enough rooms.

Waiting for the ghost supervisor to sell off, the family was preparing to build a residence; anyone with experience knows building a house is an extremely tedious project, with details inside and out. Jiang Li would be on duty and likely couldn't help; the younger ones couldn't be counted on either, and relying solely on Du Ruo, it would probably be hard to think of everything.

Having the Zheng Clan elder around put her more at ease.

After thinking through all those matters, Du Ruo strolled around the front and back of the house a few times, but still felt a bit bored.

So she simply took those few pieces of fine hemp cloth and went next door to find Yao Yulan.

Yao Yulan's sewing skills were average, but several of her sisters-in-law were experts in this; the women gathered heads together, murmuring, and settled on the clothing style, letting Du Ruo come pick it up in a few days.

Du Ruo thanked them, then shoved several dozen copper coins into each person's hand before heading home.

Just as she entered the courtyard, she sensed the atmosphere was off.

Chunhua was anxiously pacing at the doorway, and upon seeing Du Ruo return, she hurried over.

"Sister Ruo, Grandma Yan has come," she whispered.

Du Ruo wondered what Yan Pozi was doing here—could she have come in person to urge the Mid-Autumn filial offering?

She smiled, "It's fine, go about your business."

Chunhua replied, heading toward the kitchen, but as she walked she kept glancing back at Du Ruo, her little face full of worry.

Du Ruo comforted her inwardly.

At least she hadn't raised her in vain; this child was conscientious, and she was worried Du Ruo couldn't handle Yan Pozi.

That biased old witch Yan Pozi—she wouldn't…

Afraid, huh?

Upon entering the house and seeing the situation inside, Du Ruo finally understood why Chunhua was worried.

Because not only was Yan Pozi there.

There was also Jiang Dabo, plus four white-haired elders leaning on canes, trembling with age—all clan elders of the Jiang Family.

This show of force clearly meant they came with ill intent.

Du Ruo's thoughts raced forward; she stepped up and performed a proper salute: "Grandmother, third grandfather, fourth grandfather, sixth grandfather."

She also nodded to Jiang Dabo and called out, "Uncle."

Jiang Dabo gave a noncommittal grunt, lifted his eyelids to glance at her, then turned his face away.

The several clan elders were quite amiable, smiling and telling Du Ruo not to stand on ceremony.

The sixth clan elder, being the youngest and clearest-minded, spoke the most pleasantly: "Daughter-in-law of the eldest son, since you moved in, we few old bones have been busy with our own households' trifles, never finding time to visit you; but now, taking advantage of today's free time, we've all come together—please don't take offense."

Du Ruo hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, actually it should be me, the junior, going to visit you all; as long as the several grandfathers don't pick on my shortcomings, that'll be fine."

The three clan elders all laughed and said, "How could we not?" Then they took turns praising Du Ruo.

They said she was capable, having gotten the household running smoothly.

They also praised her virtue, treating her younger brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law as if they were her own siblings; surely her deceased parents-in-law, aware in the afterlife, would rest easy.

They further praised her filial piety, being respectful and obedient to her elderly grandmother, never defying her.

The more Du Ruo listened, the more uneasy she felt, with a growing bad premonition.

Sure enough, after the pleasantries, Yan Pozi spoke.

"Eldest son's wife, Grandmother today must put on a thick face to ask you for a favor; I hope you can agree."

Here it came; Du Ruo felt wary, saying, "Grandmother, go ahead, I'm listening."

She couldn't be thinking of taking the land back, could she? There's no such cheap deal—that was bought with her own hard-earned silver!

Yan Pozi sighed, "You know about Zongbao's situation—this good-for-nothing has turned the household upside down. Money and land are gone, those are small matters, but if a person is gone, the family is finished."

Du Ruo blinked, asking, "Who in your family is gone?"

"For now they're all still alive," Yan Pozi's old face twisted briefly before returning to normal, "but because of Zongbao's affair, his wife Qin Shi has become agitated, her condition not good. Qin Shi is a quiet sort, yet also stubborn; she insists we send Mei Niang away, or else she'll seek death."

So that's the situation, Du Ruo understood.

But what does this have to do with her? She has no connection with Qin Shi—could she possibly have the ability to persuade her to change her mind?

Even if she could, Du Ruo feared she wouldn't persuade her to reconcile but rather talk her into divorce.

That scoundrel Jiang Zongbao—isn't he waiting to divorce and still celebrate the New Year?

"Qin Shi is my legitimate granddaughter-in-law, so I naturally favor her; besides, she's carrying our Jiang Family's flesh and blood—if anything happened, it would be two lives lost."

Yan Pozi continued, "But Mei Niang is already one of our Jiang Family; we spent so much silver on her—we can't just let her go. So……"

She looked at Du Ruo, eyes full of hope and pleading, "I'd like to temporarily lodge Mei Niang in your second branch, until Qin Shi safely delivers her child, then bring Mei Niang back—what do you think?"

Du Ruo: "……"

It turned out they'd been waiting for her here.

She was certainly unwilling; aside from Mei Niang being from the main household, Du Ruo didn't want anything to do with the main house, and even if that weren't the case, she felt no fondness for that woman.

Regardless of the reason, extramarital affairs during marriage are disgraceful.

"Isn't that inappropriate?" Du Ruo frowned, troubled, "Mei Niang is so beautiful, and her worth is several dozen taels; if anything happened to her while she's in our household, I couldn't bear that responsibility."

"Don't worry, you won't be held responsible for anything that happens."

Yan Pozi gave her son a look; Jiang Dabo reluctantly pulled a paper from his pocket and tossed it over, snapping, "I knew you'd refuse, so I'd already drawn up this waiver—take a look."

Du Ruo raised an eyebrow.

As expected, they came prepared—even having a waiver ready, just to shut her up.

She took the paper and glanced at it quickly.

It was clearly written above that Meiniang would be lodged in the second household until Qin Shi gave birth; during that period, whether Meiniang fell ill or died had nothing to do with the second household, and even the main house would provide food expenses, calculated by the day, twenty cash per day.

Really not at all like the main house's style.

Du Ruo became even more alert, constantly suspecting there might be some conspiracy; otherwise, given Yan Pozi and Jiang Dabo's natures, they would never be so agreeable.

Seeing Du Ruo silent, several clan elders exchanged glances, and the sixth clan elder spoke first with a smile: "Dalang Fu, I know you two households have long since split; this matter shouldn't drag you, the second household, into it. But though we split the property, we didn't sever familial ties. The main house is now in difficulty; besides relying on our own brothers, who else can we turn to? Don't you think that makes sense?"

The third clan elder, being the oldest, naturally held the most authority, and now he also spoke up.

"Yes, Dalang Fu, you just said it—Meiniang is outstanding in appearance and high in value; precisely for that reason we few old folks agreed to speak up for her."

"First, we fear the village ruffians and old bachelors might lust after her beauty and do something improper, which would be hard to settle; with Dalang's reputation as a constable to deter them, they likely wouldn't dare act rashly."

"Second, Dalang has long resided at the Ya Men, rarely returning home, leaving only you and the children; this also conveniently avoids outside gossip."

The arguments came one after another, each leaving no room for rebuttal.

Du Ruo could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb; she smiled and said, "Both elders are right, but you only considered the main house and Meiniang's side, without thinking about me and our second household."

The three elders looked at each other, and the sixth clan elder hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Du Ruo looked at him, her tone calm yet resonant: "? You said splitting the household meant dividing property; then may I ask, what property did our second household receive back then?"

"Well..." the sixth clan elder was at a loss for words.

The other clan elders also had flickering gazes, daring not to meet Du Ruo's eyes.

They naturally remembered what happened back then and felt the division had been unfair. However, Yan Shi was the widow of Jiang Changhe; Jiang Changhe had fought desperately against the refugees for the village, ultimately dying of severe wounds, and Yan Shi thus became a widow.

Out of guilt toward Yan Shi, they turned a blind eye, allowing her to expel the second household with nothing.

Who would have thought that this old scar would be ripped open today by Du Clan's newly arrived daughter-in-law...

Before they could come up with an excuse, Du Ruo turned again to the third clan elder.

"Third Elder, you said Jiang Li's long stay at the Ya Men means he won't attract gossip. But have you considered that Jiang Li is merely away for a long time, not that he never returns? Moreover, Mid-Autumn is coming soon; he will surely return to reunite with the family. Seeing Meiniang such a beauty, can you guarantee he won't change his heart? If that happens, what am I, his wife, to do?"

"Well..." the third clan elder choked up.

Indeed, one cannot guarantee it; as the saying goes, heroes find it hard to pass the beauty test—no matter how capable Jiang Li is, he is still a man.

The four elders looked at each other, unable to speak.

Yan Pozi saw the situation turning unfavorable and quickly began calculating in her mind.

She truly could not justify the division of property, but the matter of whether Jiang Li would change his heart could be debated.

"Dalang Fu, you're mistaken," Yan Pozi said in a lecturing tone, "An ordinary man who can take a wife is already doing well, but Dalang is different—he is now a constable, essentially a favorite of the officials, so taking a concubine is perfectly normal. As his original wife, you shouldn't speak of actively getting him a concubine; at the very least you shouldn't stop him—that is what a virtuous wife does."

Du Ruo almost couldn't help spitting at that old face.

Pah, old fogey, you sure know how to sweet‑talk.

So virtuous—why didn't you voluntarily get your husband a few concubines back then? Now you speak so righteously, standing there without back pain, pinching your nose at others' stench.

"Grandmother, you misunderstand; I, the granddaughter‑in‑law, am not opposed to my husband taking a concubine." Actually I am opposed—if Jiang Li dares to utter those two words "take a concubine," humph...

Of course, I still have to put on a show, after all this is a deformed era.

"But I cannot accept Meiniang as a concubine, for she is my husband's cousin's woman; if because of her my husband and his cousin were to fight each other, wouldn't that be a tragedy?"

The clan elders all nodded.

That's right—brothers are like limbs, women like clothing; of course the limbs matter more.

Yan Pozi, however, showed no panic; she had already prepared her excuse: "Dalang Fu, you're overthinking. I've already inquired—Meiniang and Zongbao are completely innocent, with no impropriety. He did lust after her looks, but hadn't had a chance to act before Meiniang's man caught him, leaving him unable to defend himself and suffering this loss. If Dalang truly likes Meiniang, it's no big deal; they are both my close grandsons, I am impartial—Meiniang may be with whomever she likes."

Saying this, she glanced at the several elders with a helpless expression.

"To be frank with you elders, I actually hope Meiniang will follow Dalang, for Dalang differs from Zongbao; with his ability he could certainly protect Meiniang. But Zongbao is another story—he has always been a good‑for‑nothing; even if Meiniang went with him, she would sooner or later be taken by someone else, possibly causing trouble, which would ultimately harm Zongbao."

The clan elders, thinking of Jiang Zongbao's character, also felt a headache.

They cause trouble every few days, and the matters keep growing; if someday they stir up a huge scandal over a woman... being of the same clan, it's hard to avoid being implicated.

Thinking of this, several people became uneasy.

."

Anyway, this woman must absolutely not stay in the main house!

Yan Pozi's eyes lit up, and she readily agreed, "Ah, I was thinking the same thing."

Everyone's gaze snapped to Du Ruo, awaiting her reply.

Du Ruo coldly snorted inside.

She finally understood what scheme Yan Pozi and her son were hatching: they wanted to use Meiniang to drive a wedge between her and Jiang Li's marital feelings.

Moreover, they blocked all her retreats, forcing her to agree.

If she refused, she would earn the name of being unfilial and unvirtuous.

But if she agreed, she would clearly fall into their trap.

Du Ruo lowered her eyes, remaining silent.

Yan Pozi suppressed the upward curl of her lips and added another log to the fire: "Dalang Fu, rest assured, Dalang may not necessarily like her; even if he does, you're older and she's younger, she wouldn't dare disrespect you. If you really find her displeasing, just kick her out."

The clan elders also voiced their agreement.

Du Ruo lifted her head and smiled: "Fine, then send her over."

Leaving the courtyard of the second household, the mother and son walked along the village path.

Jiang Dabo wore a grim face and said nothing.

Yan Pozi glanced at him: "The Du Clan agreed, yet you're not happy?"

Jiang Dabo frowned: "Mother, is it really necessary to send Meiniang to the second household?"

"Of course there is." Yan Pozi slowed her steps, patiently explaining to her son: "The Du Clan is not the Qin Clan; she won't tolerate a grain of sand in her eye. If Jiang Li is unfaithful to her, she will certainly not forgive him lightly; once they turn against each other, do you think the second household will still have good days?"

Jiang Dabo paused: "But Mother, have you considered what if Meiniang also falls for Jiang Li?"

Yan Pozi curled her lips: "Then the show would be even more entertaining."

She turned sideways to face her son, solemnly asking: "Tell me the truth, Mother—do you also have designs on Meiniang?"