Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 97 Indecent_1

Chapter 97: Chapter 97 Indecent_1

Two days flew by, and the news of Xue Han’s engagement to Zhang Rongchuan had spread throughout the village.

In those two days, Zhulan and Lady Li busily prepared the menu for the engagement ceremony. Many were expected to attend—the number of people from Zhulan’s side alone was considerable, and there would also be relatives from the Li family, along with several elders from within the clan whom they had visited. Without counting children, they needed seating for at least five tables.

The tables, chairs, plates, and bowls were all borrowed from the clan. Reintegrating into the clan had its benefits, as when one family encountered difficulties, others would assist. Before Zhulan even asked, everything was delivered to her home.

Zhulan’s hall could fit three tables, with one more in the bedroom where she lived, and another in Lady Li’s room.

In order to show respect and dignity, Zhulan bought half a pig, five hens, five rabbits, and prepared eight dishes: braised spare ribs, soy sauce pork, sauerkraut stew with bones, chicken stewed with mushrooms, red braised rabbit meat, stir-fried pork intestines, sausages, and finally, she reluctantly cut a piece of cured ham to make a soup. For the staple food, there was mixed-grain steamed buns.

Early in the morning, Lady Li and the Clan Leader’s eldest daughter-in-law started cooking, while the second and third daughters-in-law helped with the preparations.

Zhulan was responsible for entertaining the female guests since Zhao Shi was only a few days out of her confinement and couldn’t offer any assistance.

The engagement ceremony didn’t involve Xue Han much since she was too young, and Rongchuan, who was akin to being raised by Zhulan’s family, had no elders of his own. Once the Clan Leader’s family arrived in the morning, Xue Han went to stay with Zhao Shi.

Rongchuan needed to greet the guests and, wearing his new clothes, he stood by Zhou Shuren’s side.

Zhulan and the Clan Leader’s wife chatted in the bedroom. Zhulan enthusiastically said, "I really must thank Auntie today; without your family’s help, I certainly wouldn’t have managed!"

Since Zhao Shi was in confinement, she and Lady Li were indeed swamped.

Zhou Wang’s wife was quite proud. Having birthed eight children, all of whom survived, she had six sons and daughters-in-law who worked hard and were very filial. "In a few years, when Chang Lian and Chang Zhi get married, you’ll have plenty of help around the house."

Zhulan thought to herself that relying on her sons to get married and bring home daughters-in-law to help was less reliable than hoping for Zhou Shuren to gain some official post and hire a cook. Aloud she said, "Auntie is one of the most blessed people in the village."

Zhou Wang’s wife looked around the bedroom. No wonder Yang Shi had envied it; look at those cabinets covered with cloth that showed no sign of patches, and the basket of sewing material—its purpose uncertain. She suddenly realized she had never seen Yang Shi wear patched clothing. Zhou Shuren really doted on his daughter-in-law. She felt a pang of jealousy, "The one with the most blessings in the village is you. Even I envy you."

She had endured her own mother-in-law’s temper for years!

Zhulan, "...."

She shouldn’t have brought up blessings!

Thankfully, Yang’s family arrived, and Zhulan hurried to greet them. She supported Mrs. Sun, "Mother, why did you and father come yourselves?"

She had thought that in the cold weather, only her two brothers would come, bringing their wives and sons.

Mrs. Sun was displeased, "Am I not allowed to see my granddaughter’s engagement for myself?"

"I was just worried about you and father’s health," Zhulan replied.

Mrs. Sun didn’t accept the excuse, visibly annoyed. She had only found out about her granddaughter’s engagement at the last minute, and although she liked Rongchuan, she huffed, "My health is better than yours by far. Worry about your own health instead!"

Zhulan knew she was in the wrong; even the second son mentioned on his return from delivering New Year’s gifts that the grandmother and grandfather were upset. She quickly put on a smile and agreed, "Yes, yes, Mother is right."

Zhulan helped her mother into the house and quickly knelt down to pull off her shoes. "The kang bed is warm, mother. Heat yourself for a while. I’ll go and pour some fresh tea."

Lady Li hmm’d in response, but her anger hadn’t subsided anyway.

Zhulan soon returned with the tea. Her mother and the Clan Leader’s wife were chatting spiritedly.

Zhulan and her sister-in-law talked as they served tea, feeling guilty and uneasy. After all, she wasn’t the original person; she and Zhou Shuren were both used to being independent, to handling things on their own. To change that completely was difficult, and sometimes they fell short. They could only slowly make up for their inadequacies. She had planned to apologize to her parents in person after her engagement, but she didn’t expect her mother and father to come over in the cold weather.

Lady Li was comfortably attended to and the frustration in her heart dissipated. She wasn’t truly that upset, nor did she want to meddle in her granddaughter’s marriage. It was just that her daughter hadn’t informed her about such a significant matter, and she couldn’t get over it for a moment. Deep down, she cherished her daughter and didn’t want her to overexert herself after barely recovering her health. "Alright, stop bustling about and take a seat to rest."

Zhulan exhaled in relief that the situation had been resolved, "Mother loves me the most."

Lady Li felt a warm affection inside, though her daughter was truly the closest to her, yet she said, "Even grandmothers are acting coy, aren’t you embarrassed?"

"Even if I become a great-grandmother, I am still your daughter. I’ll always be your daughter for life."

Lady Li, slightly amused, pointed at her daughter’s forehead, "You’ll have people laughing at you."

Madame Zhou was stunned. The rumors about Madame Yang being favored in the Yang family were not baseless. She couldn’t watch anymore, it made her jealous!

The Li family came as well, with the elderly matron of the family making a personal visit. Several other families followed, and suddenly Zhulan’s seniority dropped, leaving her without a seat.

The tokens of engagement between Xue Han and Rongchuan were jade pendants. Zhou Shuren personally spent ten taels of silver to buy them in the county. The Clan Leader wrote the marriage letter, and the two children exchanged jade pendants in front of witnesses. The marriage letters were entrusted to Zhulan for safekeeping, marking the end of the engagement.

There was no helping it, since Rongchuan had no elders to speak of.

The Zhang clan members all knew about the engagement, but they also knew how Rongchuan had been compensated to Zhulan’s family. When the incident initially happened, rumors speculated that he was a permanent worker; later, rumors about him being a boy raised by his maternal grandparents turned out to be true. The Zhang clan was ashamed that no one stood up for Rongchuan within the clan when he was humiliated, and they considered the matter of the boy raised by his maternal grandparents to be disgraceful, so they were too embarrassed to visit, let alone offer their blessings.

Zhulan heard from Madame Zhou that Zhang Datie and his wife Zhu wanted to come but were warned by the Clan Leader, which is why there was no disruption.

Zhulan was clear in her heart that the Clan Leader didn’t particularly care for Rongchuan. In the past, he never stopped Zhu from secretly troubling Rongchuan. At the end of the day, Zhou Shuren had been reintegrated into the clan, and the Zhang family, now wary of creating enemies, managed to keep Zhang Datie and his wife in check.

After all, Zhang’s children were reading in the Zhou clan’s school!

This period was more than enough to let the entire village know how much Zhou Shuren was valued within the clan!

By the time everyone had eaten, it was already afternoon. Zhulan, busy all this time, hadn’t even had the chance to speak with her eldest daughter, Xue Mei. Zhulan first saw off the Yang family, who needed to travel a distance, then bid farewell to several clan elders and the Li family. The Clan Leader’s family, after helping to wash the dishes and tidy up everything, left.

Zhulan truly felt embarrassed; she had intended to clean up with her two daughters and Lady Li, but the Clan Leader’s family had been a big help. Zhulan was not one to be stingy. Since a lot of food was left in the pots, she packed two large bowls of food and added Two silver taels of tea as gifts for the Clan Leader’s family.

After seeing the guests off, Zhulan called for her third son and eldest son, who hadn’t drunk any wine, to return the tables and chairs. Rongchuan helped as well. Now that the engagement was settled, Zhulan could delegate work to her half son without any qualms. Once the ox cart had departed, Zhulan stretched her back and straightened up. Finally, she could rest.

Xue Mei immediately went up to help, "Mother, let me assist you to go back and rest. You’ve worked too hard today."