Chapter Fifty: Retribution Has Arrived

See you in court?

The housekeeper's heart skipped a beat when he heard those four light words, and he looked at her in disbelief.

He had never heard of children suing their parents before. This was unfilial. Even if the parents had a thousand faults, they shouldn't do this. Was the eldest daughter really going to risk everything to become such an unfilial daughter?

After a moment, the steward stammered, "Young lady, the Earl and Madam are, after all, your parents."

Meng Jinyao's expression was cold as she corrected him, "Meng Dongyuan is my father, but Sun is not my mother. My mother's surname is Zhou, not Sun."

A stepmother is a mother too.

The steward didn't dare to say those words out loud. As the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife, the eldest daughter was treated worse in the Yongchang Marquis's mansion than the second son, who was born out of wedlock. The second son was still somewhat liked by the Marquis and the old lady, but the eldest daughter was disliked and mistreated by her elders. No wonder the eldest daughter was so heartless.

"That's all for now. Have them carry everything to Wei Rui Xuan." After saying that, Meng Jinyao instructed Ning Dong, "Ning Dong, lead the way for them."

Ning Dong replied, "Yes, Madam."

Meng Jinyao's commotion was so big that it naturally alarmed the first and second wives' families. Her unusual behavior really left them speechless. They didn't know whether to call her foolish or too young and impulsive.

Doesn't doing this mean openly telling her husband's family that having her own family is the same as not having one, and that without her family's support, she can be bullied at will? No matter how bad her own family is, she still has to put on a good show in front of her husband's family, otherwise they will look down on her.

Not only the eldest and second wives, but even the reclusive Madam Gu heard the rumors.

Inside Shou'an Hall.

Madam Gu gently turned the prayer beads in her hand and sighed softly, "Ayao has suffered so much, having such a father and stepmother."

Granny Feng sighed, "By doing that, Madam has completely offended her family. A weak woman like her wouldn't dare to cut off her last escape route unless absolutely necessary."

Upon hearing this, Madam Gu recalled her daughter-in-law's calm and bold demeanor on her wedding day, and a look of admiration appeared on her face: "There are quite a few stepmothers who seize their stepmothers' dowries, but there are very few girls as brave as her. With such a character, she can shoulder the responsibilities of a matriarch."

Granny Feng nodded in agreement and added, "Madam, I heard that the Marquis and his wife returned together yesterday. I guess the Marquis also went to the Yongchang Earl's residence yesterday."

Madam Gu was quite surprised, but then smiled with relief: "It seems he listened to what I said."

Granny Feng smiled and said, "The Marquis has always listened to you."

Madam Gu snorted in annoyance: "If he had listened to me, he wouldn't have gotten married so late. It was only because Xiu Ming ran away from his arranged marriage and A Yao insisted on marrying him that he got the chance."

Granny Feng gently comforted her, "It was just that our fate hadn't arrived before, but this year it has." With that, she picked up the teapot and thoughtfully refilled Old Madam Gu's cup with tea.

These words truly resonated with Madam Gu. She was a Buddhist and believed in fate, emphasizing that everything depended on "fate." If something was obtained, it was fate; if something was lost, it was because they were destined to meet but not to be together, and it couldn't be forced.

-

The Yongchang Earl's Mansion, Rongfu Hall.

The steward returned to the Yongchang Marquis's residence and told his masters what had happened at the Changxing Marquis's residence, and tremblingly presented the list of missing items.

Meng Dongyuan took the form, glanced at it, and flew into a rage. He slammed his fist on the table, slamming the form down with him in his anger, and roared, "You wretched child!"

Not only him, but also Madam Sun and Old Madam Meng were so angry that their faces turned pale and then red.

Who could have imagined that Meng Jinyao would show no mercy, ordering the boxes to be opened and inspected in front of the Gu family servants at the Changxing Marquis's residence, trampling the Meng family's face on the ground and rubbing it mercilessly?

If the inspection had found no defects, that would have been fine, but unfortunately there were defects. This invisible slap in the face made the elders of the Meng family feel the pain.

Madam Meng was so angry that her blood rushed to her head and her face turned red. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, waved her hand to signal the steward and maid to leave, and gritted her not-so-firm teeth to say hatefully, "If I had known that this jinx would bring disaster to the entire Meng family, I should never have given her the chance to grow up. For such a small thing, she would harm the whole family."

With tears streaming down her face and her voice choked with sobs, Mrs. Sun asked, "Mother, what should we do now?"

She was truly terrified at that moment; an unprecedented panic was about to engulf her.

After this incident, she would be pointed at and gossiped about whenever she went out. Even if she didn't go out, the servants at home would despise her in their hearts. Chengxing was a man, and he could still have a chance to turn his life around if he worked hard to pass the imperial examinations.

Her daughter, Ayu, is of marriageable age and will be influenced by her, leading to difficulties in finding a husband. She will have to marry someone of lower social standing, making a marriage between equals impossible, and marrying someone of higher social standing is out of the question.

Madam Meng was already irritable, and hearing her crying made her even more irritable. She scolded her with a stern face, "What are you crying about? As an elder, how come you can't even handle a little girl? How can you suffer at her hands? The whole family will be embarrassed because of you."

Sun wiped away her tears and said aggrievedly, "I never expected that she would have a dowry list of Zhou's in her possession."

"You still have the nerve to complain?" Old Madam Meng glared at her, her reproach intensifying. "Whether she has that dowry list or not, you should have made two copies when you were doing the accounting, to be prepared for both possibilities."

Sun whimpered softly, not daring to argue back, and said, “Mother, it’s one thing to exchange goods for cash, but she also wants to take stock of the profits from the estate and shops. Most of that money has already been spent. It’s not easy for our family to come up with such a large sum of money. My husband has to entertain guests, and Ayu will be getting married in two years. We also need to prepare a dowry so that my husband’s family won’t look down on us.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Meng's face darkened terribly. Such a large sum of money, just handed over like that, who could be willing to accept it? But that brat still wanted to make a scene at the government office, which was already embarrassing enough, and making a scene at the government office would only make things worse.

She glanced at Madam Sun, who was wiping her eyes with her head down, and immediately had an idea. She said, "Don't you have a dowry? We can use it to make up for it with cash. Although it can't completely make up for it, we can draw money from the mansion if it's not enough."

Madam Sun looked up in astonishment: "My...my dowry?"

Meng Dongyuan also thought it was a good idea and chimed in, "Madam, you know the situation in the manor. I need to entertain guests outside, and we still have three children who are not yet married. Dowries and betrothal gifts are a huge expense. You can use your dowry to cover the costs first, and we will make up for it to you when the children become successful."

Hearing this, Sun felt as if thunder had struck her. Dowry was a woman's private money, which even her husband could not touch. Now her husband's family was asking her to take out all her dowry and convert it into cash to fill that hole.

She managed the generous dowry left by Zhou, but the money earned from those estates and shops wasn't just spent on her. Her husband was concerned about appearances and had high expenses, and her mother-in-law was used to using the best things and wanted everything to be the best.

Even some valuable vases and jade items were given away by her husband as gifts, so why did she have to bear the burden of it all?