Chapter 543: Tang Yu in "Despair"
"What? How could she be so cruel?" Zheng widened her eyes in astonishment. Although she had accepted that her son was really getting a divorce, she could not accept that her son would suffer after the divorce.
Zheng was anxious at that moment, "Since we don't have a servant anymore, we have to buy another one quickly. We can't let you do all the dirty work!"
Tang Yu agreed and nodded, "After I rented this yard, I bought a lot of things. I still have five taels of silver left. A servant would cost about seven or eight taels. I can buy it when my salary comes in next month."
Zheng's expression changed completely, "You only got this little money for the divorce?"
Tang Yu patiently explained: "You all know the circumstances when I left home. I almost starved to death on the street because I had no money to eat. I was invited by the Shen family to teach their children and I was able to earn a meager income.
My current monthly salary is five taels of silver, which is sixty taels a year, plus food and cloth. It's already pretty good, but there are many places where money is needed to move around in official circles and to deal with social interactions, and my five taels of silver are simply not enough.
When I was discussing the divorce with Mrs. Ke, she was originally unwilling to give me a penny. However, considering our relationship as husband and wife, she gave me thirty taels.
It's not easy to live in the imperial capital. I rented this yard for twenty taels, and bought some daily necessities, so I only have five taels of silver left."
This was the first time he explained his salary so clearly.
In the eyes of Zheng and Yang, five taels of silver plus food and cloth a month was already very good. They had no doubts about the salary, but only questioned Tang Yu's spending.
Yang frowned in dissatisfaction, "What kind of social etiquette is this? Five taels of silver a month is not enough?"
Tang Yu smiled and gave them a few examples. "Let's talk about other things. Last month, a big banquet was held for the birthday of the official of the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the promotion of officials, so they always have to build good relations with the officials of the Ministry of Personnel. The cheapest gifts sent to their homes are more than dozens of taels, either famous paintings or antique vases, or precious brocade. Things that are too cheap are not good to give away. The gift I sent that time was a famous painting, worth thirty taels.
There is also the Qushui Liushang held in the summer, which is an annual activity in the officialdom. Each trip costs several taels of silver. When my superior is blessed with a son, I give him five or six taels as a gift. When a colleague takes a concubine and holds a banquet, I give him another one or two taels as a gift. When a colleague's child passes the imperial examination, I give him another one or two taels as a gift.
The annual expenses for such social interactions are about fifty taels. My annual salary is sixty taels, and I have to send fifty taels to you back home every year, which is far more than my salary.
What I calculated was only my own expenses, and I didn't take into account a penny for supporting my family.
Now that I'm divorced, the Ke family can no longer help me, and the Shen family behind the Ke family will no longer give me any help. I can only walk the road ahead on my own. I don't know what I can do with a salary of five taels a month, but I will definitely not ignore my mother and sister-in-law. I'm sorry to have to let you down."
Zheng and Yang were so frightened by Tang Yu's words that their faces turned pale.
Zheng grabbed Tang Yu's hand and shouted anxiously, "You can't divorce! You can't divorce Ke. Even if you do, you can't leave without giving up! At worst, I'll make a scene! I must make Ke give me back all the money!"
"No!" Tang Yu stopped him with a serious expression, "Mother, the Shen family is behind the Ke family, and the Shen family is related to the Yong'an Marquis. The eldest daughter of the Shen family is about to marry into the Princess Huai'an's residence. I was able to gain a foothold in the imperial capital thanks to the support of the forces behind the Ke family.
If you go and make trouble, if you anger them, my career as an official will be over. Do you want us to be driven back to the village? I don't know how to farm, so how can my mother support me for the rest of my life?
Even if we take a step back, those things are Ke's dowry. The laws of Langya State are there, and it's useless for you to make a fuss. If Ke reports it to the authorities, you will be punished. Why bother?"
"Then there is really no way?" Yang's eyes widened, angry and unwilling.
She also brought her daughter this time, hoping to marry her off with Tang Yu's name so that she could support her family in the future. Originally, she had her eyes on Tang Cheng, but because Tang Cheng is now Tang Yu's son, it is difficult to do so.
Before she could think of a solution, Tang Cheng was sent to the academy by Ke Yunyun.
Yang originally thought that she had time and was not in a hurry, but she never expected that Ke Yunyun was so cunning and difficult to handle. Now that their family had inexplicably left the mansion, all her plans had gone to waste. In the future, not only would she have to order servants around, she might even have problems getting enough food and clothing.
Tang Yu sighed again, shook his head, and reminded: "Mom, sister-in-law, this is the imperial capital. The people have an inexplicable sense of superiority. It's not as easy to talk to people in the countryside. There are many families nearby. You must not conflict with them, and don't bring up your son at every turn.
If I piss someone off and they report me to the government, my career will be even more difficult. I don’t want our whole family to be driven out of the imperial capital in the end.”
Several women were stunned by Tang Yu's words.
Because it was dark and they were tired, they didn't bother with it anymore.
When they arrived at the backyard, they found that there were only three rooms in the house. Tang Yu had one room, and Zheng lived in the remaining two. Yang had to share one room with her daughter.
The room was small and cramped, with no space left after putting a bed in it. The floor was covered in dust, and only the bed was wiped and relatively clean.
The conditions are not as good as a house in the country.
In recent years, Tang Yu sent fifty taels of silver to the countryside every year, which was enough for them to build a spacious blue brick and tile house.
When her father-in-law was still alive, he arranged to build four connected blue brick and tile houses, one for each of her three sons, and one for her parents-in-law to live in with them. It was obvious that the house was for their eldest son, and it could be considered compensation for her husband.
Except for the fact that life is difficult under the nose of my mother-in-law, everything else is going well.
Now that she has to live in such a shabby house, you can imagine how disappointed she feels.
The more Yang thought about it, the more angry she became. She didn't sleep well all night. In the morning, she walked out of the room with dark circles under her eyes. Seeing Zheng was already awake, her heart skipped a beat. She hurried forward to try to please her and explain, "Mom, I didn't sleep well yesterday because of all the trouble I had. I only took a nap when it was almost dawn. I didn't expect it would be too late."
Zheng glanced at her depressedly, but didn't care. She just said sullenly: "Ayu has gone to work. What do you think we should do next? Should we continue to stay in the imperial capital or go back?"
Originally, she had made up her mind to die in the imperial capital, otherwise she would not have acted like a mother-in-law as soon as she arrived in the imperial capital and asked Ke to hand over the housekeeper power. She never expected that Ke was so difficult to deal with. She ended up losing more than she gained.
If she stayed in the imperial capital, she would have to squeeze into this shabby courtyard with her youngest son, have to work on her own, and even have a tight budget. Why would she stay here?
Yang was actually also shaken, but she was unwilling to accept it, "Mom, you said that my uncle has been an official for so many years and has not made any money?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
