Chen Shiying couldn't bear to see his mother divorced, so he said stubbornly, "My mother didn't treat Wang as her daughter-in-law and didn't marry her. It was my mother's fault. But my father was seriously ill for many years and unfortunately died young, so it can't be blamed entirely on my mother. It's just speculation that my mother offended the gods, but there is no evidence. The government's judgment is based on evidence..."
Old Ancestor Chen's nose was crooked with anger, and he shouted, "Shiying boy, even though you are an official, you are still a member of my Chen family. You will be buried in the Chen family's ancestral tomb after you die. Don't show off your power to me."
Old Man Chen said unhappily, "Nephew Shiying, we are not the government office, we are not trying to solve a case, we are telling the facts. That Wang is not an ordinary daughter-in-law, but a daughter-in-law who was married into the family for good luck. If you don't treat her as a daughter-in-law and don't give her a high status, it's a fake good luck, and it's a double-edged sword. Your father died of illness, who else can you blame if not your mother? We said that she killed her husband, and we were right. You are a high-ranking official now, even if you don't take us old men seriously, you should think about your father who died young, and think about the many children in the family. You can't let your father die with regrets because of that evil woman, and make it difficult for your children to become officials and your daughters to get married, right?"
That's a bit of a heavy word.
Chen Shiying knew the power of the clan, not to mention that his father was raised by the clan, and his mother did make an unforgivable mistake. He quickly bowed and said, "The old man misunderstood what I meant. No matter where I go, no matter how high an official I become, everyone knows that my hometown is in Hu'an, and I am grateful to the Chen family for raising my father and supporting him to study and take the imperial examinations... Starting this year, I will add another 100 taels of silver to the 100 taels of silver I donate to the clan every year to make life better for the clan members. In addition, I have always thought that there are so many good young people in the family, and they should get a better education. I will donate another 50 taels of silver to build a clan school so that every boy in the Chen family can study. If a young man in the clan passes the examination for a scholar, a juren, or a jinshi, I will cover the expenses for the examinations."
These two conditions were so attractive that the eyes of several elders lit up and they discussed in a low voice.
Money can attract people. Chu Lingxuan shook his head secretly, it seemed that the old woman would not be divorced.
Chen Shiying didn't show it on his face, but he felt much more relaxed in his heart.
After the discussion, Old Man Chen said, "We all know that Shiying has not forgotten his roots and has always cared about the family. However, Zhao's evil deeds are too great. If she continues to stay in the Chen family, it will not only harm you, but also the children and daughters of the Chen family. For your sake, she can stay as a bride, but she cannot stay in the Chen family any longer. Let her go to the nunnery and practice asceticism until she dies."
Patriarch Chen added, "We can only retreat to this point. We will never allow the Zhao family to continue to stay in the Chen family and cause harm. If Shiying is still unwilling, we have nothing to say."
Chen Shiying knew that this was the best outcome. Going to the nunnery to practice asceticism, her mother would still be a member of the Chen family and could be buried in the Chen family's ancestral tomb after her death.
He nodded in agreement.
He felt very conflicted. He was sad that his mother had to suffer in the nunnery in her later years, but he also felt relieved.
It was already late noon, so the elders were invited to have lunch.
Chu Lingxuan also joined them and toasted several clan elders.
Old Ancestor Chen is 78 years old this year. He is so old that his teeth are almost falling out and his hair is gray, but he is still energetic and his mind is clear. He said to Chu Lingxuan, "Go back and tell Ah Fu that we all know she is a good child and she and her mother have been wronged. After we deal with that evil woman Zhao, we will write Wang into the family tree when we return to our hometown. Ah Fu is the real eldest daughter of my Chen family."
Chu Lingxuan bowed and thanked him.
After dinner, the group went to Andang, where the clan leader announced the treatment for Zhao.
Chu Lingxuan felt that it was not right for him to go as a son-in-law, but he knew that his wife had wanted to see this scene for a long time. In order to explain it to his wife in more detail, he shamelessly went along.
When they arrived at Andang, they couldn't go into the old lady's inner room, so they all stood in the yard.
Patriarch Chen stomped the ground with his cane majestically and said to Jiang, "Go, have someone carry Zhao out."
Jiang led a few maids to the inner room. The old lady was still angry and smashed tea bowls all over the floor. Her son was back, and her backbone was finally back. But her son only came to the hall to talk to her for a few words yesterday, and he has not shown up since then. She knew that her son was angry with her.
She thought that her son was a filial son with a soft heart, and that she would be able to coax him over with a few nice words. She asked the servants to carry her to see her son, wanting to tell him that she missed him very much, that no mother in the world would harm her own child, and that everything she had done before was for his own good...
But the servants were the same as before, as if they didn't hear her and ignored her.
The old lady was so angry that she cursed, "This family belongs to my son, not Jiang! My son is back. If Jiang dares to disobey me again, I will let my son divorce her..."
The servants still refused to lift her.
Old Madam Chen was so angry that she asked for tea. The servant dared not disobey her and handed the tea to her. She hit the servant and asked for tea again. The servant was very smart and did not hand it to her, but put it on the small table at the bedside and kept it far away.
The old lady had difficulty moving, so she picked up the tea bowl with trembling hands and threw it at the people below, but she couldn't hit anyone at all and it fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
Seeing that Old Lady Chen was obviously in better spirits, Jiang bent her knees and said, "Grandma, the elders from our hometown are here, and they want to see you."
The elders from her hometown wanted to see her? Old Mrs. Chen had a hunch that something bad was going to happen, so she said loudly, "I don't want to see them. I want to see my son."
Jiang said, "The master is outside too."
When Mrs. Chen heard that her son was outside, she felt relieved. Her son was still a high-ranking official, and those clansmen must have come to curry favor with her again. They wanted to pay their respects to her, the old lady, but it was not convenient for them to enter the house, so she asked her to go out and meet them.
She smacked her lips and said to Jiang, "People always flatter the powerful and bully the weak. When my son was in trouble a few days ago, they didn't come to our door. Why are they coming to our door now that he's reinstated? My son is a kind person. He shouldn't pay attention to those who only care about money and not people." She looked at Jiang and said, "Not to mention the clan members, even my own daughter-in-law is like this. When my son was in trouble, he left me here and even spoke bad words to me. After he was reinstated, his attitude changed and he ran around more often."
Seeing Jiang looking at her calmly instead of saying something hurtful like before, the old lady felt relieved. She wanted to scold this shameless daughter-in-law again, but when she thought about the clan members still outside, she resisted the urge to scold. She called the maid who served her and said, "Comb my hair and put on that red embroidered jacket for me. Those old fools have eyes on the top of their heads."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
