Chapter 45

Fang shi wanted to take Song Yulan home, but Wang shi naturally did not want to. Seeing that the New Year was approaching, and her daughter-in-law was taken back to her parents' home because she was miscarriage, wasn't this directly hitting her in-laws' face?

Song Dingxiang heard the cries and curses outside and quickly rushed out. She saw her eldest sister being carried out by her own brother, while Wang shi was crying and shouting as her son and husband were trying to stop Song Junshan.

However, she was held back by Zhang shi, and Xu Dashan and his father were also blocked by Song Zhiyuan and Song Zhicheng.

Li shi also heard the commotion and came out one after another, understanding the situation from the curses, their faces looking grim.

"In-law, you really raised a good son and grandson!" Li shi shook off Old Madam Xu's entanglement. "Take the eldest girl and leave, this family is no longer tolerable!"

Upon seeing the situation, Old Mr. Xu and Old Mrs. Xu hurriedly called their other sons and daughters-in-law to surround the mule cart at the door. Because the mule had been ridden away by Song Junli, it was really difficult for the Song family to leave.

——— TNote: 徐老太太 (Xú Lǎotàitai): Mrs. Xu (an elderly woman with the surname Xu). 徐老爺子 (Xú Lǎoyézi): Mr. Xu (an elderly man with the surname Xu). ———

While wrapping her daughter in a quilt to keep her warm, Fang shi directed others, "Go, bring out the eldest's dowry, we can't live like this anymore!"

Song Dingxiang, afraid of the Xu family taking advantage, informed her aunt and took the opportunity to escape.

Song Yulan had quite a few dowries, including some furniture. Among them were a pair of camphorwood boxes specially bought from the south, with carvings of mandarin ducks playing in water on them.

However, those boxes were not in Song Yulan's room. Song Dingxiang searched other people's rooms and found them in Xu Xiujuan's room.

Seeing the boxes being carried out and their contents scattered on the ground, Xu Xiujuan couldn't help but scream, "That's my box, what are you doing? Put it down, put it down!"

Fang shi cursed, "You?! How dare you?! These are the dowries I gave to my daughter! Alright, alright, not only does your family care about the little silver of the daughter-in-law, but the men steal the daughter-in-law's money for medical treatment; even the sister-in-law steals the sister's dowry. None of you are good people!"

Their arguing and the crying children attracted a crowd of onlookers. Not long after, the village chief rushed over in anger, saying, "What's going on? It's almost New Year's and there's no peace?"

Song Xingyi walked over with a smile and blocked the people, saying, "I'm sorry, but this is our family affair. It really doesn't trouble Village Chief Xu too much."

"A daughter married away is like water poured out. Have you not heard that when a daughter-in-law suffers in her in-laws' house, the entire family comes to take her back, shouting and hitting?"

Wang shi, with disheveled hair, slapped her thigh. "Just because you have money, you can act recklessly?!"

Fang shi was so angry that she laughed, saying, "Let's all be fair here. Is this just a little annoyance? Her son wanted to seek a better future without spending his own money and was only concerned about the little silver my daughter had. When refused, he resorted to violence, causing my daughter to have a miscarriage! I used to think my daughter was living well, but now that I see it, wow, it's really an eye-opener. My daughter was lying sick on the kang, and Xu Dashan, this beast, deceived her into giving him money for medicine to gamble with. There was no warmth in the house, the mother-in-law was afraid of wasting firewood and didn't even bother to heat up the kang. Is this an honest way to make my daughter die?"

Wang shi jumped in anxiety, saying, "in-law, oh, the child is the most important. Even in this freezing weather, she can't be left outside to freeze. Hurry and get her on the kang... Isn't the doctor here? Whatever medicine she needs, I'll pay for it."

Fang shi became even more enraged after hearing this, "Bah! Where were you when it all started? Now you think about paying up? You just want my daughter to die so you can spend her little money on living it up! And what's the difference between the cold inside your house and outside? My daughter would rather sleep in my horse carriage than on your filthy kang!"

Onlookers tried to advise and mediate, while Wang shi didn't mention her son's gambling at all, only crying about her own grievances, never seen a mother like this before.

Song Dingxiang said, "They say a daughter married away is like water poured out, but even if she's married away, she still carries the Song surname. She has her natal family to support her. Our family may not be wealthy, but we can afford to support my sister."

Xu Xiujuan exclaimed, "You have no shame living in your maternal home, so naturally you would say that!"

Song Dingxiang retorted, "Occupying your own sister-in-law's dowry, spending her money, and then turning your back on her, what right do you have to speak to me? You want to get married and still live with your maternal family, just wait and see if your maternal family will allow you to stay!"

The group of people argued fiercely, with the Xu family members refusing to let them leave. The village chief wanted to intervene for his villagers, but couldn't get a word in.

This situation was truly embarrassing, leaving him unable to offer any comforting or reassuring words.

Several large mule carts appeared at the village entrance and quickly arrived. Village Chief Xu looked at the drivers and felt a sense of dread.

The door opened, and a group of men from different branches of the Song family jumped out. Zhang shi followed behind, carrying a few heating stoves, and went straight into their own horse carriage, placing them in the arms of Song Yulan.

Song Xingyi smiled and said, "Family matters, everyone, please don't worry. We'll take the person and leave, not causing any trouble."

Although he said this, the group of men behind him showed no signs of attending to family matters and directly pushed aside the Xu family members, grabbing Xu Dashan and giving him a beating.

Wang shi hugged her son, crying and lamenting, "Is there no justice left? Is there no justice at all! Oh heavens, open your eyes, there has been a murder!"

Fang shi coldly remarked, "Justice? Is it justice for the mother-in-law to be obsessed with spending the daughter-in-law's money? Or is it justice for you to be obsessed with spending the daughter-in-law's natal family's money? Previously, Xu Dashan said he wanted to make a name for himself and asked my family for twenty taels of silver. I was puzzled because my daughter brought the silver herself. How could she ask for it back? Only after inquiring did I find out that this mother-in-law constantly cries poverty, crying that her mother-in-law doesn't provide for her, and insisting that my daughter use her own money to pay for her expenses. Twenty taels of silver, my daughter could have paid that herself, but all of it was spent in just two or three years!"

Wang shi screamed, "Didn't I give it back to you?"

Fang shi said, "Give it back? You returned a silver bracelet, a silver hairpin, how much are these worth? At that time, I didn't argue with you for the sake of my daughter, but now you've gone too far, trying to kill my daughter for that little money!"

"Stop talking nonsense with her, go home!" The third son of the eldest Song family, who had a short temper, saw Wang shi rolling on the ground covered in mud, with a look of disgust on his face.

"You go, if you leave, you'll never set foot in the Xu family's door in this lifetime!" Wang shi, unable to salvage the situation, got up from the ground and pretended to be aggressive, stomping her feet, "Who do you think you are? If it weren't for your shamelessness, could the Song family's girl have married into our Xu family? At the time, my son only treated her a little better, and she couldn't wait to marry into our family. Who knows if the son she bore is even surnamed Xu!"

"Shut up!" Village Chief Xu, angered by her words, shouted, "Someone get this crazy woman out of here!"

The Song family married two girls into the Xu family, one was Song Taohong, and the other was Song Yulan. Wang's words seemed like an insult to Song Yulan, but they were also insulting Song Taohong.

While Song Taohong's past actions were unsightly, as the wife of Xu Qiang now and the wife of the county magistrate, she still deserved respect.

Upon hearing this, Fang's face turned pale with anger, and Li shi was also visibly upset.

Before Fang shi could say anything else, Li shi held her arm and calmly said, "Since the in-law family deems my daughter unworthy and doubts the lineage of the child, today we will change the child's surname to Song. Let everyone bear witness. Someone, bring out the child, from now on, this child belongs to the Song family."

Old Mrs. Xu frantically stepped forward to stop them, "In-law, oh, it's all my daughter-in-law's nonsense due to her madness. Da Bao is my favorite grandson, how could he not be surnamed Xu. Eldest son, hurry and take your wife back inside and shut her up, such a wife is a nuisance, she must be divorced!"

Eldest son Xu looked displeased but had to listen to his mother, dragging Wang shi back into the house. She knew she had spoken out of turn and just wailed loudly, before quieting down after a while.

Old Mrs. Xu said, "This is all the fault of that boy, apologize to Yulan, the old lady will make amends here. It's so cold, let the girl come inside."

Li shi said, "No need, I'm afraid if my granddaughter enters your yard, we'll be called to mourn in a few days. This yard seems like it wants to devour people. Let's go, let's go back."

The Xu family continued to block their way, refusing to let them leave. Both sides continued to struggle, getting physical.

"Wow, what a commotion!" Suddenly, a voice sounded.

Everyone looked up to see a luxurious horse carriage with two horses parked nearby, not knowing when it had arrived or how long it had been there.

A smiling middle-aged man, the steward of Wang Yuanwai from town, upon seeing everyone look at him, said, "I am the steward of Wang Yuanwai from town, just here to deliver the New Year's gift to Master Song, but when I heard all this commotion, I hurried over. What's going on?"

Song Dingxiang walked over and bowed politely, "I'm sorry for the trouble, Steward Wang, it's just a family matter, really not worth mentioning."

Steward Wang laughed heartily, "Such a fuss and you call it a family matter? Tell me about it, Wang Yuanwai will support your family."

After hearing this, all the Xu family members' expressions changed. Despite Xu Qiang holding the position of county magistrate, the town's Wang Yuanwai was the highest-ranking official here, and he was wealthy.

Supporting Song Dingxiang's family meant Wang Yuanwai was clearly taking sides.

Song Dingxiang briefly recounted the situation. After hearing it, Steward Wang said, "Cheating a wife to get money for gambling? If this were the Wang family, legs would be broken. Only your Xu family would tolerate such a person. Since it's come to this, hurry up and take the daughter back to get proper treatment, don't leave any lingering issues."

"Absolutely not, absolutely not!" Old Mrs. Xu was on the verge of madness, "You can't bring her back, bringing her back would be a disgrace to our Xu family!"

Steward Wang burst into laughter again, saying, "Her mother-in-law steals the daughter-in-law's money, the husband steals his wife money, and then they come to talk to me about dignity?"

Village Chief Xu blushed and hurriedly interjected, "Although we are all from the Xu family, there are distinctions. This family is a branch of the Xu family, they have already exited fifth degree of the kinship filial etiquettes."

——— TNote: 出了五服 (chū le wǔ fú) is a Chinese idiom that literally translates to "exited the five degrees of kinship." It refers to a person who is no longer considered a close relative according to the traditional Chinese kinship system.

In ancient Chinese society, kinship was a cornerstone of social structure. The concept of wǔ fú (五服) defined the five degrees of relationship between individuals based on blood ties. These degrees determined the level of closeness and the corresponding social obligations and rights.

When someone is said to have "exited the five degrees of kinship," it means they are outside the range of close relatives and therefore, the intricate web of obligations and privileges associated with family ties no longer applies to them. ———

"And who are you?" Steward Wang asked Village Chief Xu.

"I, I am the village chief here," Village Chief Xu replied.

Steward Wang chuckled, "Is the village chief here to watch other people's family affairs during the New Year? Why is everyone so free during this festive season?"

Village Chief Xu's face turned even redder, and in the freezing cold, steam seemed to rise from his head.

"Alright," Steward Wang said, "I have other matters to attend to Old Mr. Song, Young Madam Song, quickly come onto my carriage. It's warm inside, don't freeze. Let's go back quickly, it's so cold out here..."

With his words, the Xu family members didn't dare to stop them anymore, and could only watch as the Song family's carriage rumbled away, leaving behind a mess.

After they had all left, Village Chief Xu exploded in anger, "During the New Year, everyone's causing trouble, and if your family members go to Qiangzi's place, they'll just stir up more trouble, do you think you can still enjoy this luck? Disperse, everyone, stop watching this commotion! Aren't you busy back at home during the New Year?"

With that, he stormed off in a fit of rage.

Finally, Old Mrs. Xu burst into tears, crying out, "What kind of situation is this, how are we supposed to go on living like this..."

"Mother, please don't worry, don't stress yourself out." The aunt supported Old Mrs. Xu into the house, whispering, "Isn't Da Bao still here with us? As long as Da Bao is here, Yu Lan will naturally come back. It's just my sister-in-law... she's really not behaving properly, turning our peaceful home into this mess. And that Xiu Juan, don't spoil her too much, this young girl who hasn't married yet, she really dares to say anything."

Old Mrs. Xu has three sons, but this time she favored her youngest son and the grandson of her second son, who was married to her. Normally, Wang shi relied on her wealthy daughter-in-law's family and spent their money, being quite arrogant for a while, which make her detested.

Even though her husband had lost his position now, Wang's misfortune brought joy to her. She knew that with so many members in the Xu family, her husband wouldn't have a chance to be chosen as the heir, so she thought living at home peacefully was a good thing. So, she felt relieved about this matter, without any complaints.

But she still wanted to add some fuel to the fire.

"Mother, you are truly a great mother-in-law in your daughter-in-law's heart. Even if there are some issues between relatives, your daughter-in-law doesn't want to bother you. But as you saw today, ignoring some things won't make them disappear. I don't want to talk about my sister-in-law's past behavior, but with the commotion today... my child is still young, but the second sister-in-law's daughter is also almost the one to be marry..."

Old Mrs. Xu was really furious, angrily slamming the table, "Go, go! Summon the eldest, the eldest's family, and Da Shan to me!"

Old Mr. Xu was not at home at the moment, as he didn't usually deal with household matters, leaving time for his wife to handle them. As for him, he had to go cover up his family's scandals, so the jokes wouldn't spread further.

After a while, Xu Dashan's father, Xu Mao Gen, dragged his wife into the house, followed by Xu Dashan. As soon as they entered, they all knelt down.

The aunt discreetly left to boil water, eavesdropping at a corner.

Old Mrs. Xu scolded Wang shi harshly, using extremely offensive language that embarrassed her daughter-in-law.

Wang shi initially kept her head down, pretending to be dead, but when she heard her mother-in-law talk about divorcing her, she quickly kowtowed and cried, "Mother, please don't divorce me. Your grandson can be without his mother, but your great-grandson can't be without his grandmother."

Mentioning the great-grandson made Old Mrs. Xu even angrier, "So your grandson can be without his mother? Wang Xiuhua, oh Wang Xiuhua, how can you be so heartless? You don't know about the incident where your daughter-in-law Xiao Yue couldn't move from the bed, and your son took her money but didn't buy medicine?"

"Bought medicine, really bought medicine!" Wang shi cried out, "The medicine residue is still on the small road outside."

"Despicable! You bought medicine? The doctor said, in the future, if anyone in our family has a headache or fever, don't go find him, he's not willing to come! You steal money, go ahead, why do you still blame the doctor?"

Wang shi remained silent, just bowing and crying. She was truly afraid of being divorced.

At her age now, her family would definitely not accept her back, and even if they did, she would likely be married off to an old widower directly. Could she bear that kind of punishment?

So, even though the floor in the room was cold and hard, she kept knocking loudly.

"Grandmother, stop scolding my mother." Da Shan finally managed to speak up.

"I scold her, not you? Don't you care about your wife? Don't you care about your son?" Old Mrs. Xu looked at her grandson, truly exasperated. How could she have raised such a spineless grandson!

"I also want to make something of myself..." Da Shan hung his head, "I want to earn more money, be filial to grandma and my parents."

"Earning more money means going out to gamble? Haven't you heard what people from the Wang Yuanwai's family say, if anyone there gambles, their legs will be broken!" Old Mrs. Xu was so angry that tears even came to her eyes, "You think any kind of excuse is acceptable to go gambling? People know you gamble and still let you go to your brother's place? Are you out of your mind?!"

"I just wanted to live a better life, my in-laws don't give me any money, I..." Da Shan wanted to explain further.

Old Mrs. Xu clutched her chest, looking as if she might faint from anger, "If you want your in-laws to give you money, you should treat their daughter better. Beating her for no reason, causing her to miscarry...I'm telling you, if you don't bring your wife back, we'll split the family! Me and the old man will live with third son, you can live on your own!"

The aunt outside heard this and suddenly felt a bit moved. She had been wanting to split the family, but never had the chance. If only the old lady would initiate the split...then absolutely, Song Yulan must not come back!

After scolding enough, Old Mrs. Xu didn't mention divorcing Wang shi again. After all, she had given birth to a son and a daughter for the Xu family, and now was a grandmother.

Being divorced like this would also harm her own children. However, she restricted Wang shi's movements, not allowing her to go out until spring planting, let alone return to her parent's house.

Wang shi returned to her room and collapsed on the bed, crying loudly. Xu Maogen impatiently said, "Crying, crying, what's the use of crying? I told you, stop bullying your daughter-in-law with a good temper. Are her family members just decorations? They all came in force today, all six men from their family were here, and each one of them wanted to eat us alive! If anything happens to my parents, I'll personally thrash you!"

"For whom am I doing this? Isn't it for your son?" Wang shi cried, "You are the eldest in the family, and your son is the eldest grandson. If the old lady is not biased, she should rely on you and your son. But now? The old lady's bias is as clear as day, always favoring the other two families! Also, the Song family came in force, but most of this village is surnamed Xu. Which of Grandpa Xu's brothers stood up for us?"

"Why should they stand up for you? Everyone was shivering in fear!" Xu Maogen saw his eldest son cowering next to him, flew into a rage and kicked him, "All because of you, go, go and bring back your wife!"

Xu Da Shan cowered, "Dad, I won't go! Didn't you see today? People from their family wanted to kill me. If I go again, you might not see your son again!"

Xu Maogen also realized this was the case, feeling vexed, scratching his head, "Then what do we do?"

The room fell silent, only the sound of Da Bao crying could be heard.

The aunt was consoling Da Bao outside, saying, "Da Bao, don't cry, your little face is all red from crying. Do you miss your mother? Your mother misses you too, when the time comes, you can go to your mother's house and bring her back, right?"

Wang shi heard this and suddenly had an idea.

Song Yulan was taken back to her mother's house, with the steward Wang helping to bring an old doctor from town to treat her and provide some tonics. Fortunately, Song Yulan was young and healthy, so although it delayed a few days, there were no major issues. With proper rest during the winter, she would recover.

After seeing off Steward Wang, Li shi brought out the previous ginseng, cut the roots and slices, and had Fang shi boil water for Song Yulan to drink.

Fang shi returned home still fuming about the divorce, and Song Dingxiang also agreed to the divorce, but they needed to consult Li shi first.

Li shi was a bit hesitant, as wise as she was, she was still a woman from ancient times, and like any woman, she had reservations about divorce.

Song Dingxiang comforted Fang shi and asked her to take care of Song Yulan, then went to the main house.

Li shi was discussing with Song Xingyi about increasing the New Year gifts this year, as all families had helped, and having a sick person at home in the middle of winter was not suitable for hosting guests. It would be better to increase the gifts to make it more presentable.

When she saw Song Dingxiang, she invited her, saying, "Come up, so, are you here for your sister's matter?"

Song Dingxiang nodded and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, my brother-in-law is really crossing the line this time. If someone hadn't come to report, my sister..." She choked up as she spoke.

Li shi sighed, "I understand what you're thinking, but this matter is ultimately not good for Yulan. Let me think about it carefully. For now, we should focus on your sister's health and make sure she recovers properly without leaving any lingering illness."

However, before Li shi could come up with a solution, a sudden event occurred.

On the morning of the 31st of New Year's Eve, they found Da Bao fainted at their doorstep.

——— Author's Note: Li shi: "I was still trying to figure it out, and the other party already handed me a solution. It would be embarrassing not to take it."