"Young Miss, the old lady is unwell and requests your presence."
The woman, in her fifties, spoke in an unfriendly tone, showing no respect for the young lady of the house, but rather full of contempt.
Shen Ning then remembered that in this year, the old ancestor of the family was still alive.
She rose gracefully: "It's time to pay my respects to my grandmother."
He glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye. It was Aunt Liu, her grandmother's capable maid, who had been by her side since her marriage and continued to serve her even after her own marriage. She was a highly respected elder in the household.
However, her triumph wouldn't last long, because the old lady's health was indeed poor, and she didn't have much time left to live. Counting the days, she probably only had a little over a year left.
In her previous life, the old lady died, and these people lost their authority. Since the second wife couldn't afford to support them, Shen Ning took advantage of their misfortune quite a bit.
Who would have thought that I would be reborn, and even a dead dog can bark again? It's truly amazing.
Walking along the familiar road, Shen Ning arrived at Nan Song Hall, where the second wife and her husband were sitting in front of the hall, eagerly waiting for her.
Aunt Zhao said sarcastically, "Your grandmother is sick and you didn't even come to see her. How can you take care of people? You have no filial piety at all."
Shen Ning had been bullied by them for a long time, and she was already tired of it.
"My second aunt is so filial, she must serve her at her bedside every day. After all, my grandmother only has my second uncle as her own son, so it's not up to anyone else to be filial."
He even smiled as he spoke, looking regretful.
Zhao's expression changed, and she was about to speak when her husband pulled her back. Remembering why the old lady had summoned Shen Ning, she held back for the time being.
Shen Ning knew perfectly well what they were plotting. They were just looking at her as she was getting married, thinking they could finally take control of the eldest son's property.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered, the old lady had already been helped to sit down and was waiting in a ready position. She went straight to the point.
"Your wedding is approaching. Once you're married, you'll belong to another family. Just focus on being a good wife and mother, and you won't have to worry about things at home anymore."
“Shen Shu is of marriageable age, and Shen Yu is still young. There should be an elder in the family to take charge. Your second uncle and aunt are your father’s brothers, your closest elders. Blood is thicker than water, so they should be in charge of this family.”
"Your second uncle and aunt have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, how could they possibly mistreat you?"
A sharp tongue but a soft heart? That's a lie.
The sole purpose of these words was to get her to relinquish her power to manage the household.
The battle for the family fortune, which began three years ago, will never cease until her death.
When her father died, the old lady wanted to take control of the family, but her mother was still alive at the time, so she couldn't easily seize the eldest son's property. However, before they could come up with any schemes, her mother also followed her father in death.
The eldest son's wife only has three children left, so wouldn't they be at the mercy of the other family members?
At her mother's funeral, Shen Ning confronted them with a knife, threatening to kill anyone who dared to bully her three children to accompany her mother in death. In the end, she forcefully seized all the wealth of the eldest son's family.
The old lady, however, remained steadfast in her ambitions. Even though Shen Ning had separated the second branch of the family, she insisted on staying in the first branch, hoping to one day rightfully help her son inherit his stepson's estate.
Yes, the old lady was the second wife of the old master of the Shen family. The eldest aunt and the father, Shen Shuyuan, were born to the first wife, while the second uncle and the youngest aunt were born to the current old lady, Zhang.
Although she was a second wife, the old lady's status was what it was, and out of filial piety, the grandchildren of the first wife also had to be filial to her. But what the old lady wanted was not filial piety, but everything.
My second uncle held no official position and spent his days idly, his entire family living off the blood of the eldest son's family.
Their father was burdened by them a lot during his lifetime, and his selfish and self-serving nature was revealed early on. If all the property of the eldest son's family were given to the second son's family, I don't know what kind of life the three sisters would have to live.
Leaving aside whether the second branch of the family would still take care of them, just considering the second uncle's gambling addiction and the eldest cousin's group of cronies, the eldest branch's meager fortune would probably have been squandered by them long ago.
It wasn't that Shen Ning was overly competitive; rather, she had clearly understood what her path to survival truly lay.
No matter how hard she tried, she still faced too much criticism because of her gender.
Wei Congwen's father was a third-rank imperial censor. She wanted to marry Wei Congwen so that her husband's family could keep the local scoundrels in check, but in the end...
Let's not talk about it.
Now she doesn't want to rely on anyone, and she can't rely on anyone. The only thing she has is the wealth she holds tightly in her hands.
“Grandmother is right, but we’ll talk about everything on my wedding day. As long as my bridal sedan chair hasn’t left the house, I’ll be in charge of this main house.”
"You..." Old Madam Zhang glared angrily, "Do you even have any regard for me as your grandmother?"
Shen Ning lowered her eyes: "Grandmother is joking. Grandmother is someone to be filial to, not someone to be respected. If I were not filial to you, your food, clothing and daily necessities would not be like this, and you would not have much room for Second Uncle to squander."
Filial piety is of paramount importance. Since the old lady insisted on living in the main house, Shen Ning naturally had to be filial.
All she wanted was some money. Although it all ended up in the hands of the second wife, Shen Ning couldn't refuse to give her any, or she would be humiliated.
If she wants to manage the household, she must be good at maintaining appearances.
But Shen Ning was never one to back down. Her usual kind demeanor was simply because she didn't want people to think she was a madwoman who only knew how to threaten people with a knife.
Now that we've all died once, who wouldn't go crazy?
Aunt Zhao, unable to bear it any longer, rushed in, about to start cursing, when Shen Ning blocked her with a smile: "Aunt Zhao, are you sure you want to cause trouble? My father died in the line of duty, and His Majesty ordered him to be posthumously honored and buried. Only three years have passed, and his younger brother is already trying to seize his elder brother's family property and bully his children. If I go to the government to complain, do you think my cousin will still be able to pursue a career in government?"
Zhao was both shocked and furious, her face flushed red with anger: "You... how could you be so vicious? You actually wanted to harm your cousin! How could our family have such a scourge like you?"
Ha, a bunch of parasites calling others a menace.
Second Uncle Shen Changlin's gaze was cold, his eyes filled with greed and calculation: "You just said that you would hand over the power to manage the family as soon as the bridal sedan chair leaves the house, is that true?"
Shen Ning: "When have I ever broken my promise?"
She said she would hand it over, but she didn't say she would hand it over to the second wife. However, the second wife obviously didn't think anything was wrong and naturally assumed that the property that Shen Ning handed over would definitely fall into their hands.
"Alright!" Shen Changlin pulled his wife back: "You'd better remember what you said today."
Zhao also realized that, according to the schedule, Shen Ning was to get married next month. Next month, she only had to wait one more month, and everything in the Shen family would be hers.
She waited a month!
Looking at the greedy faces of the couple, Shen Ning seemed to see again the time when they encouraged her younger brother Shen Yu and his wife to seize power and drive her out.
If they couldn't get it themselves, they made her beloved younger siblings stab her in the back.
Those two idiots...
This time, she won't. She won't get married, nor will she hand over the reins of the Shen family's household management. The wealth she's desperately protecting will not be touched by anyone!
As for her younger siblings, well, they'd better die somewhere far away from her!
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