The Female Cannon Fodder With Boundless Merits
Chapter 437 - 441 Shang Family’s Daughter (Part 2)

Chapter 437: Chapter 441 Shang Family’s Daughter (Part 2)

It was clear that Su Li’s response was not anticipated by the Longfeng twins.

They were frightened by their own mother’s sudden severity, their eyes brimming with tears, on the verge of falling.

After waiting awhile without hearing an apology from their mother, Yuan Jiaming and Yuan Xiaoxiao felt even more aggrieved. It was clearly their mother who was wrong, yet she scolded them.

Stomping their feet and wiping their tears, the siblings ran outside, forgetting even the tasks their father had assigned them.

Su Li watched the retreating figures of the twins with a heavy gaze and then closed the door.

The siblings, deliberately slowing their pace, heard the door closing behind them, their mouths pouting enough to hang an oil bottle.

Su Jiaming pursed his lips and grasping his sister’s hand, said, "Come, let’s go find father first."

This was a dynasty Su Li had never heard of before, the Wei Dynasty.

The development of the era seemed similar to the ancient Ming Dynasty on Blue Star.

The original owner was the eldest daughter of a wealthy merchant in a small town.

In his lifetime, Mr. Su had three daughters, and he shared a deep affection with Mrs. Su. Although he also longed for a son to continue the family line, he had never considered taking a concubine. Even when Mrs. Su gave birth to their third daughter and harmed her body, he merely lamented his fate of having no sons.

Because of their parents’ loving relationship and the relaxed atmosphere at home, the bond between the three Su sisters was exceptionally strong.

Thus, when their father expressed the desire to take a scholar as a son-in-law to elevate the merchant family’s status, as the eldest daughter, the original owner stepped forward.

The second sister and the youngest sister already had their hearts set on someone—they felt mutual affection with the son of Mr. Su’s friend, also of merchant status.

The youngest sister, however, had taken a liking to a cousin from her mother’s maternal family, and as the eldest, she naturally wanted to facilitate her sisters’ happiness.

In ancient times, the hierarchy was scholars, peasants, artisans, and merchants, with merchants ranked at the bottom. Even if the Su Family possessed wealth, they still had to humble themselves in public.

And even with wealth, according to the rules of the Wei Dynasty, everything was regulated, from clothing to dining; nothing could exceed these boundaries.

Even if one could afford Five-colored Treasure Clothes, they could not wear them.

This is why Mr. Su considered finding a scholar for a son-in-law, so the next generation could break away from the merchant status.

He did not require the groom to marry into their family; as long as his daughter bore two sons, and one carried the Su surname, the family line would be continued.

Once the original owner agreed, Mr. Su began to look among the many scholarly students.

With slightly better family conditions, none were willing. Mr. Su could only choose from among the poorer students.

After some searching, Mr. Su took an interest in the young man from the Yuan Family in Guihua Village.

This young man from the Yuan Family seemed to also have a talent for study, having achieved the title of Scholar at the age of fifteen, which was much talked about for a while.

However, after achieving Scholar, he seemed to be constantly unlucky, taking the exams several times without passing any further.

In those days, peasants in the countryside barely scraped by, let alone supporting a scholar in the family.

Because they had a scholar in the family, the Yuan Family’s days were not very good.

Mr. Su took the opportunity to send a matchmaker to propose marriage, but as soon as Old Man Yuan and his wife heard Mr. Su’s terms, they immediately refused.

Their son was destined for greatness. Mr. Su wanted to invest, to sponsor the eldest son—they agreed to that, reasoning that once their son succeeded in his exams and became wealthy, he could repay them later. But to marry their daughter into the Su Family and have a child take their surname was absolutely unacceptable.

A merchant’s daughter aspiring to become the wife of their heavy literally?

Even Yuan Wen, the eldest son of the Yuan Family, shared this sentiment.

Since the other party disagreed, Mr. Su also gave up, as such matters require mutual consent.

But even after many years of study, Yuan Wen still could not pass the exams.

Before, the family united like a twisted hemp rope, supporting Yuan Wen wholeheartedly, with the hope that after he made something of himself, he would lead the entire family to better days.

Now, not only had he failed to pass his exams, but his monthly expenses were also increasing day by day.

They struggled to get by while Yuan Wen, needing to go to school outside, dressed in bright and splendid clothes.

Without mentioning what the two other brothers in the Yuan Family were thinking, even Old Man Yuan and his wife were having doubts.

Could it really be as those people said, that their youngest son had exhausted his talents?

When Yuan Wen came back to ask for money again, the first to confront him was the Third Son of the Yuan Family, Yuan Ping.

Despite being the youngest, he was the most quick-witted. In a few years’ time, he would also be discussing marriage, but if all the money was given to his eldest brother, what would he have to offer for a dowry?

It remained unclear how the internal conflicts of the Yuan Family were resolved, but eventually, Old Man Yuan employed a matchmaker to visit the Su Family.

After some negotiations, the original owner, with a sizable dowry, married into the Yuan Family.

The original owner was very dissatisfied with the initial arrangement at the Yuan Family, and Old Master Su was also somewhat uneasy, insisting on a clear written contract to specify the terms.

Each party got what they needed; after marrying into the Yuan Family, the original owner used her dowry to help her husband continue his studies, while she chose to stay out of all other affairs.

Old Lady Yuan still tried to set rules for the original owner, overtly and covertly pressuring her to contribute the dowry money to help out with family expenses.

Her husband had the same idea.

However, the original owner was not foolish; apart from their own household expenses, she would not contribute a single extra cent.

The other members of the Yuan Family had no choice, as even the law stipulated that the dowry money belonged to the wife alone, and no one else had a right to it.

Still, the original owner wasn’t completely heartless; under her husband’s sweet talk, she occasionally let slip some funds to somewhat ease the family’s financial burdens.

The original owner believed she had done everything morally right, yet in the eyes of other members of the Yuan Family, she became someone who looked down on her in-laws and disregarded her brother-in-law out of snobbishness.

In fact, she did nothing, yet not just in Guihua Village, but even in the town, she became known as a symbol of being snobbish.

This affected the Su Family as well.

The original owner felt wronged, but didn’t know how to defend herself.

Even her own children could not understand her.

After her husband failed his exams again and was even persuaded to return from the county school, she started to regret it slightly.

Perhaps they had misjudged Yuan Wen; he really wasn’t suited for academics at all.

But since they had already had a pair of twin children, the Longfeng twins, the original owner had resigned herself to her fate.

With children involved, she couldn’t possibly abandon them and return to her own family.

However, her husband didn’t see it that way; he thought his failure was due to bad luck, not a lack of intelligence.

Upon returning home, he demanded that the original owner take out her dowry to gift someone who could offer him guidance, hoping to gain insight into the preferences of the examiners.

It was said that this schoolmate was somewhat familiar with several examiners, and he wanted to gauge the examiner’s inclinations.

The original owner was unwilling, but couldn’t stand her husband’s persuasion.

Out of frustration, she returned directly to her parental home.

However, she didn’t expect that upon her return, all the silver notes and valuable things in her cabinet had been stolen by her husband.

And the hiding place for the key, she had only ever told her son.

Not only that, apart from her, everyone in the Yuan Family was exceedingly cheerful.

Yuan Wen had taken the money and, apart from his own expenses, had handed the rest over to his mother.