Yuan Huiniang knew that Yan Qingqing was wholeheartedly protecting her and never let her suffer any grievances.
With such a good mother-in-law, what does she have to fear? Besides, she needs to become strong herself.
She is the young mistress of the household and cannot rely on her mother-in-law for everything.
Thinking of this, Yuan Huiniang said, "Then let's go with the terms I've drafted. If my husband and the others have any objections, we can discuss it further. If there are any unreasonable ones, we can also make changes."
Yan Qingqing nodded after hearing Yuan Huiniang's words.
She is still very democratic and willing to listen to their opinions; if they are reasonable, she is willing to adopt them.
Yan Qingqing had Yuan Huiniang rewrite the family rules she had written, and then sent people to deliver the message that everyone had to come back for dinner that night.
Li Xiangping and Li Xiangan returned early after receiving the notification.
Even Li Yueniang returned from the embroidery workshop in a flurry of activity.
As soon as she entered the door, she grabbed Yan Qingqing and said in a coquettish tone, "Mother, did you miss me? You even sent someone to invite me back for dinner."
Yan Qingqing looked at her graceful daughter and said honestly, "This time it's really not an invitation for you, but mainly for your two older brothers. You're just there to accompany them."
Li Yueniang was immediately displeased upon hearing this and said that Yan Qingqing was biased.
Although she said that, she knew that her mother treated her daughter better than her son.
Aside from her sister-in-law buying several hundred acres of land, her brothers and sisters don't have any private property. However, she owns shares in the embroidery workshop and has saved up quite a bit of money in the past two years.
The dividends from Guangxiu Workshop alone amounted to nearly 20,000 taels.
If they can promote their cotton and cotton fabrics again this year, they will definitely make a fortune.
Seeing this, Yuan Huiniang laughed and teased from the side, "Sister, you'd better bribe your mother in private, otherwise your brothers will take all the benefits, and you might not even get a dowry when you get married."
Li Yueniang knew perfectly well that Yuan Huiniang was teasing her, so she laughed along and said, "I don't know if Mother is biased or not, as long as you, sister-in-law, are on my side, that's enough."
"When I get married, just put lots of valuable items in my dowry."
Li Yueniang's words made Yuan Huiniang laugh heartily, and then she said to Yan Qingqing, "Mother, everyone says that girls are inclined to leave home, and this is indeed true. Look at my second sister, she's only a few years old and she already knows how to take things from her husband's family."
Whoever marries our Yue Niang will truly be blessed for generations to come.
Yan Qingqing also teased Li Yueniang, saying that her daughter was too old to stay at home.
Li Yueniang's personality was different from Li Xinniang's. She was an outgoing and cheerful person, and she didn't get angry when Yan Qingqing and Yuan Huiniang teased her together.
The mother and her two daughters laughed and joked for a while before Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an finally returned home.
The two brothers entered at the same time, glanced at each other, and both had a bad feeling about it.
Li Xiangping, in particular, was even more uneasy because he had just been reprimanded by Yan Qingqing yesterday.
They went to Yan Qingqing's courtyard together and saw that Yuan Huiniang and Li Yueniang were both there, and the three of them were chatting and laughing. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
It doesn't seem like anything serious.
After the two greeted Yan Qingqing, she smiled and said, "Alright, although it's a family rule, there aren't many people in the family."
The third brother is in the military camp and won't be back for a while, while the fourth brother has gone to the prefectural city to take the exam.
Xiaoqi is too young to understand at all.
So having the four of you here today to set the family rules is enough.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an both exclaimed in surprise, "Oh!" They had no idea about setting family rules.
Even Li Yueniang was a little surprised when she heard this, but she immediately covered her mouth and laughed. Her mother was right. Today, she was just an extra. The main characters were her brothers.
Yan Qingqing didn't care about their reactions and went straight back to her room.
Yuan Huiniang and Li Yueniang followed them into the house, leaving Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an looking at each other in bewilderment.
Finally, the two brothers reluctantly followed them into the house.
Yan Qingqing had already placed the written family rules on the table.
Li Xiang'an craned his neck to take a look; it was covered with dense writing.
The mention of things like dividing the family property and taking concubines made Li Xiang'an mutter to himself.
Upon seeing this, Yan Qingqing coughed, which startled Li Xiang'an so much that he immediately sat down in his seat.
Yan Qingqing picked up a piece of paper from the table and said, "They say that without rules, nothing can be accomplished. As our family is doing better and better, it's time to set some rules for the family."
If you have no objections, this rule in my hand will officially become the first set of family rules for the Li family head.
After Yan Qingqing finished speaking, she secretly observed the expressions of the four people.
Seeing that they were all sitting upright like elementary school students, listening attentively with their ears perked up, he smiled with satisfaction.
Yan Qingqing continued, "The first rule of the family is that the Li family will implement a patriarchal system. Each patriarch must be virtuous and talented, and able to win the support of the family. He must be elected only if more than half of the family members approve of him."
Each head of household must be a woman.
After Yan Qingqing finished speaking, she explained to them, "It's not that I favor women, but this era is one where men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs. Men are out there building their careers, and they need a strong-willed woman to support them at home so that they can have no worries."
Li Xiang'an laughed and said, "Mother, I have no objection to this. If the women in our family had half of your talent and wisdom, they would be able to manage our family well."
Li Xiangping quickly nodded in agreement.
Yan Qingqing looked at her two sycophantic sons and found it somewhat amusing. Don't think that a few kind words will make her back down.
Yan Qingqing then added, "Secondly, adult men can separate from their families when they are over twenty years old, and the latest age for separation is no later than thirty."
All family property was distributed equally based on the total public property and the number of family members at that time. It could be divided into property or converted into cash and paid in a lump sum.
This also includes women. If a woman marries out of the family, she receives a share of the family property as part of her dowry. If she does not wish to marry, she can establish a female household.
Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an were naturally unwilling to split up the family property.
However, Yan Qingqing did not give them a chance to refute, and said directly: "I know you brothers have a good relationship, but a tree grows big and branches spread. Even if you don't separate now, you will have to separate after I'm gone."
Furthermore, since you two will be pursuing different paths in the future, it's better for you to separate early on.
Only when each of your branches becomes strong can our Li family ultimately become strong.
Although the two disagreed, they didn't say anything more when they saw that Yan Qingqing had made up her mind.
Yan Qingqing continued, "The third rule is that no man in the family is allowed to take a concubine unless he is over forty and has no children. In such cases, with the consent of the mistress, he may take a concubine. The child born to such a concubine will be raised by the legal wife and will be considered a legitimate child."
The same applies to sons-in-law; they can only take a concubine if they are forty years old and have no children.
Otherwise, our daughter has the right to divorce.
Furthermore, anyone who secretly keeps a mistress, even if they outwardly comply but inwardly disobey, will be expelled from the household.
Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an were terrified as they listened. Fortunately, neither of them had any other thoughts, otherwise their mother would definitely not have tolerated them.
Li Yueniang was quite happy; with this family rule, she would have more confidence even after she got married.
Of course, in addition to these, Yan Qingqing also listed ten other regulations.
After reading it aloud in one breath, Yan Qingqing said, "Take a look and see if there's anything else that needs to be added. If not, leave it at that for now, and we can add more later if we remember anything."
What else could Li Xiangping and Li Xiang'an say? In the end, the two of them shrank back and left Yan Qingqing's courtyard.
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