Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 327 - 326: Shameless

Chapter 327: Chapter 326: Shameless

Seeing several men glaring at her menacingly, Mrs. Wu was slightly scared, but she was Wang Cheng’s mother-in-law, what did she have to fear? As impudent and obstinate as she was, once she realized this, her backbone instantly stiffened. She raised her voice and exclaimed, "I am your uncle’s mother-in-law, a superior to your grand madam. Offend me, and you’re offending your uncle, and your grand madam too."

Those guards were accustomed to judging people’s status, and they knew the grand madam’s favourite maid did not like this old woman, so they were certain the grand madam must feel the same way. "Nonsense, just who do you think you are? A country bumpkin trying to play at being the grand madam’s elder? You must know, our grand madam is an imperial consort appointed by the emperor himself. How dare you compare! Leave, don’t disturb our grand madam’s peace."

Upon hearing of such a distinguished background, Granny Wu was even more determined to flatter this prestigious guest.

At this point, Wang Cheng and Mrs. Li came out.

On seeing Wang Cheng, Granny Wu began to shout, "Oh, there you are, son-in-law! Quickly send your niece to my house. This hovel of yours is hardly fit to host an imperial consort."

Wang Cheng glanced at Granny Wu and said, "Mother-in-law, let’s go then, to your place." He walked quickly towards the exit.

Granny Wu noticed only a woman in her forties following Wang Cheng. Although this woman was draped in jewels, Granny Wu knew she was definitely not Wang Cheng’s relative. The age didn’t match.

Wishing to leave a good impression on the consort within the house, she jovially called out, "Is it just these few of you going? Where’s your niece? We must invite her. Bring my daughter, my grandson, my granddaughter, all of them. Those two little monkeys have a taste for meat, today we’ll let them feast."

Wang Cheng had already reached the gate, he turned back to Granny Wu and replied, "My niece has no intention of going anywhere and neither do the children. My niece has bought plenty of meat, they’ll have enough to eat. I’m going to return the nine taels of silver to you at your home, so finally our two families can cut ties, and they no longer need to do the embroidery work."

Thinking of finally being able to separate from the Wu family, Wang Cheng felt a sense of relief, but the thought of his wife’s illness brought him overwhelming sadness.

Upon hearing this, Granny Wu was shocked. Not only was her son-in-law not willing to let her family associate with these wealthy guests, he also wanted to sever ties with her, dramatically deviating from her and her husband’s expectations. In a panic, she hastily questioned, "Son-in-law, you’ve climbed the branches of wealth and power, but you can’t ignore your wife’s family. What do you mean by cutting ties? How heartless of you."

Wang Cheng sorrowfully replied, "A doctor from the Capital City is treating my child’s mother. The doctor says because of the overwork during her confinement period and lack of proper nourishment, she’s contracted postpartum consumptive fever. If not treated properly, she won’t survive more than two years." His voice trembled as he continued, "You sold your daughter for 100 taels of silver and added interest, making a total of 126 taels of silver. Your daughter has nearly gone blind from doing so much embroidery. Even during her confinement period, she didn’t dare to rest ... the doctor said, she can’t do any more embroidery work."

People crowded outside the fence wall of the Wangs’ house heard Wang Cheng’s words. They were familiar with the dilemmas of both families and began to discuss among themselves.

"The Wus are too hard-hearted, how could they force their own daughter like this? Selling their daughter for 100 taels of silver was cruel enough, but they even added interest. Even if she’s their daughter, she’s still their own child."

"If they weren’t cruel, how could they build a large tile house and buy so much land? They sacrificed their daughter, but in return, they managed to feed their big family. They’ve made quite the profit."

"Not just feeding a big family, they’ve fed several generations of a big family! Over a dozen people don’t do anything and wait for the daughter to bring home silver."

"Shui Linglong is such a good girl. Smart, skilled, and excellent at producing work for the Embroidery Workshop. She’s brought great honour to the girls in our village. If only the Wus would treat her better and not pressure her so much. Who knows what amazing pieces she could have produced. What a pity."

...

When Granny Wu heard that her daughter could no longer do embroidery work, she was devastated. Suddenly, she didn’t care about the prestigious guests anymore. She yelled, "How can my daughter possibly be unable to do the embroidery! Son-in-law, she was initially intended to remain a spinster, it was only because you desired her and proposed that my husband and I allowed you to marry her. How could you be so ungrateful! Let me remind you, my daughter’s skills were learnt from her mother at home. These skills are the Wu family’s skills. Although she married into your family, her skills remain those of her parental home."

Mrs. Li couldn’t believe there were such shameless people. Desperate to slap the old woman, she each step forward and snapped, "I’ve never seen such heartless parents, who in order to satisfy their own greed, forced their own daughter to remain a spinster. Nor have I seen such an imperious and overbearing mother-in-law who could claim ’although the person has married into another family, her skills have to remain in her birth family’. The common saying is, ’marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog’. Your daughter married my lord, and thus became a member of the Wang family. Everything she owns belongs to her husband’s family and has nothing to do with her birth family. How could her skills still belong to her birth family? Are you suggesting that we should chop off her hands and leave them at her birth home? Today, I really have seen it all."

Luo Yuan arrived as well, joining in, "Mrs. Li, there’s no need to waste your breath on this greedy, wicked woman. Get the Junior Officer of Jiuli Village, then let’s go to the Wus’ house and settle the account. If the Wus don’t agree, we’ll go straight to the County Government Office and let the County Magistrate decide. Let’s see just what the great ’Green Sky’ has to say about these unruly, shameless people within his jurisdiction."

Wang Xiaodi bravely took the lead to get the junior officer.

Granny Wu again tried to grab Wang Cheng, crying shrilly, "Son-in-law, now that you have wealthy relatives, you should be supporting your wi... You can’t use your power to bully others, trying to sever our familial ties..."

Two old women went over to push her away, shouting, "If you dare to scratch or grab our lord again, we won’t be polite."

Granny Wu sat on the ground and began to sob.

Upon hearing Granny Wu’s words, Wang Cheng was heartbroken; they were planning to have his wife support them for life. He ignored Granny Wu, turning to the bystanders, he cupped his hands and said, "The Wang family has lived here for nine years. I don’t have any relatives, and I’m not often at home. I’m grateful for the care my neighbors have shown towards my wife and children."

After speaking, Wang Cheng bowed to them. He couldn’t understand why his life was so bitter, neither his biological parents nor step-parents treated him well, even his wife’s biological parents were like this...but luckily he found his sister, and now also has his niece.

Junior Officer He followed Wang Xiaodi to the Wangs’ house. On the way, Wang Xiaodi told him what had transpired. He first laughed and nodded to the few guards around the courtyard, "I live far away and didn’t realize the Wangs have guests. My apologies." He cast several glances at Granny Wu, continued, "I’m embarrassed that you had to see this. Apart from Mrs. Wu, everyone else in the Wu family is lazy and entitled. Let’s go to the Wus now. I’m aware of the matters between both families, and I’ll serve as a witness."