Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 165: Female Household_1

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Female Household_1

Lady Li had long been annoyed with the Sun family. Ever since they became wealthy, they’ve changed, parading around the village to show off their riches, and they even dared to look down on her. Every time she saw Lady Sun, there was some sort of disdain, and now, "Someone dares to marry into their family willingly, and the shameless ones nearby are delighted to do so. Who can blame them when Wang Laosi’s family is rich!"

Zhulan recalled the few times she encountered Wang Laosi, noting that he was dressed differently each time, as if he was afraid others wouldn’t know he had money. Lady Sun’s jewelry also kept changing. If it weren’t for Young Master Shi coming over every now and then to deliver gifts, Wang Laosi’s home would have long been targeted by thieves. "What was Wang Laosi’s reaction when you saw him?"

Lady Li shook her head, admitting that she really hadn’t seen anything. If she hadn’t run into Wang Laosi’s wife, she wouldn’t have even known they were removed from the family registry. "Nothing, but the busybody neighbor lady went to watch the commotion at Wang Laosi’s home. Mom, should I go and find out more?"

Zhulan didn’t want to have anything to do with Wang Laosi’s family and stopped Lady Li from stirring up animosity, "No need, tomorrow is your maternal grandparents’ birthday celebration. You should go back and prepare what you’ll wear tomorrow so you’re not scrambling at the last minute."

Though Lady Li was curious, she had curbed a lot of it and suppressed her curiosity, "I’ll go back right now and get the clothes ready for tomorrow."

In the afternoon, Zhulan could hear the commotion from Wang’s family even without inquiring. Though it wasn’t clear, she vaguely heard Wang Ru’s threats, and after a while, the noise died down.

Lady Li couldn’t resist going out to take a look and came back quickly to share the spectacle she witnessed. "Wang Laosi was infuriated after being crossed out and hit Wang Ru. The couple even robbed Wang Ru’s bedroom of its jewelry. The commotion started right after that. That girl Wang Ru is fierce; though she’s young, she plans to establish her own ’woman’s household’!"

Zhao’s wife teased her son, "Wang Laosi must have returned the jewelry by now. He can’t afford to lose Wang Ru, his cash cow."

Lady Li felt unsettled, as her sister-in-law always hit the nail on the head. Frustrated that she couldn’t keep up with her, Lady Li sullenly said, "Yeah, not only did he return it, but he also beat his mother, Wang Zhang. Wang Ru declared that they’re no longer in the family book, and Wang Zhang isn’t her grandmother anymore. She was quite harsh!"

Zhulan thought to herself that Wang Ru must have been thrilled. After all, she didn’t like her brother, and his future had nothing to do with her. If they were disowned, it was their burden lifted. The harsh response had been a year’s worth of pent-up anger; she had long wanted to deal with Wang Zhang. But dreaming of setting up a woman’s household in broad daylight was futile.

In the new dynasty, establishing a ’woman’s household’ wasn’t easy, with strict regulations. Unmarried women could only set up such a household if they had no living grandparents or parents, and as the eldest sister, she had no choice but to do so. Widows could also establish it. The reason for such strictness was that a ’woman’s household’ reduced land taxes, needing to pay only one and a half percent, and it also exempted the sons of these households from military conscription, among other benefits. However, once a woman remarried, the household registration was voided, and the policies no longer applied.

Thus, the two widows in Zhou’s village had established their own women’s household, showing no intention of remarrying. Being without a man, the reduced land taxes they saved each year was a significant amount of money. As long as they weren’t lazy, they could save enough each year to afford education for their children.

Zhulan truly appreciated this policy, which provided some protection for vulnerable women.

Due to the stringent conditions, Wang Ru’s wishful thinking was in vain.

Early the next day, the Zhou family, being numerous, borrowed the Clan Leader’s ox cart. Two ox carts were filled with people. It wasn’t feasible to leave no one to watch the house, so Zhou Shuren asked the Clan Leader for help. The Clan Leader, along with Zhou’s wife and eldest son, stayed back to help look after the house, given the Zhou family’s many possessions.

This time, the entire Zhou family was out, which was rare to see no one left behind.

Over six months, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had practically shown her parents through gifts that she truly didn’t need subsidies anymore. Only then did her parents stop reciprocating with overly generous return gifts.

This was the first time Zhulan’s parents were hosting a grand birthday banquet, celebrating together. The family alone—with children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren—constituted a large crowd. Furthermore, there were friends coming to extend their good wishes. Even if they didn’t bring their entire families, they would bring along one or two sons. Adding the in-laws and relatives from the village, not only was the Yang’s courtyard filled with tables, but the outside area was too.

In the temporary kitchen set up, not including those preparing food, there were six people just cooking. The aroma of meat wafted through the entire courtyard and spread throughout the village.

After tying up the ox carts, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren led their children into the main house.

Yang, the eldest brother, came out to greet them, "Sister, brother-in-law, you’ve arrived. We’re just about to start the birthday respects; we were waiting for your family."

Zhulan said, "Last night’s heavy rain slowed down the ox cart, or we would have arrived much earlier."

This was the result of the family setting out early in the morning. Unfortunately, the journey still took a long time due to the road conditions.

"Mother was worrying about you this morning. It seems the road was indeed difficult," Yang, the eldest brother, commented.

To herself, Zhulan thought it was much more than difficult—the road had many mud pits. There was a stretch they had to walk, and good thing they wore black shoes, or the mud spots would have shown, making for a messy appearance.

The main house was exceptionally crowded even though the younger ones had gone out—those of lower seniority were all standing!