Chapter 254 Yue Niang will stay by her mother's side for the rest of her life, to take care of her in her old age and see her off in her final days!
What is this fifth village rule written by Li Shiyue?
Article 5: Unmarried women in the village are not allowed to marry outside the village!
The option is for the husband to marry into the wife's family, or for the husband to move in and live with the wife!
To put it bluntly, this is akin to digging up someone's ancestral grave!
Why do I say that?
If it were just a family where the daughters of the household were to find men from other families to marry into the family, then that would be perfectly acceptable.
Jiang Huai had heard Li Xiatian say that she and Li Qiutian were Zheng Meiniang's only two children, so it was easy to understand why Li Qiutian said she would find a son-in-law to live with her in the future.
If a woman has no son, then finding a husband for her daughter to marry into the family and keeping her by her side so that she can rely on her daughter and son-in-law to care for her in her old age is indeed a viable option.
After all, there are indeed families that only have daughters and no sons.
You can't expect families without sons to marry off their daughters and leave the elderly couple at home to die, can you?
But what is Li Shiyue writing?
The rule is that no unmarried woman in the village can marry outside the village; they can only marry into the family!
What about "foreign men moving in and living with their wives"?
Isn't this still just taking in a son-in-law?
How can this be allowed?
If a daughter doesn't get married and stays at home, then an extra head tax will be paid.
The land allotted to the mother was less than that to the son, and the mother did not have the strength to grow food for the family.
If there are only daughters in the family, it's fine, but if there are also sons in the family, and the daughters are not married off, then not to mention whether the parents agree or not, the sons and the wives who have been married into the family will cause a huge uproar!
How can a sister-in-law who never marries, or who stays at home to find a husband to marry into her family, possibly continue living like this?
How should the parents' private land, house, and even pots and pans be divided?
Besides, if she doesn't marry out of the family and can only marry into the family, how can she find a good man?
Any capable young man would not become a live-in son-in-law!
Therefore, Jiang Huai was startled when he saw this.
Jiang Huai looked up and stared at Li Shiyue, who was sitting above him, calmly drinking tea. He was shocked, but also curious.
He really wanted to know why Li Shiyue, who had become the person in charge of Liujiatun, would make this a village rule.
There must be some reason he didn't expect, right?
Li Shiyue put down her teacup. Just by looking at the way Jiang Huai was looking at her, she knew that Jiang Huai had already read the fifth item.
She didn't say anything, but simply nodded to Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai opened his mouth but then closed it again. "This is a matter for Liujiatun. As an outsider, it's not appropriate for me to say too much."
Jiang Huai didn't say much, but naturally, those who saw this message spoke up.
Li Youfu slapped Gao Ji hard across the face. The slap was quite loud, and Li Shiyue said that Li Youfu's hand must have hurt.
"Nonsense!"
October, I can let the first few rules go, but what is this fifth rule even about?
They actually forbade the woman from marrying outside the family!
Have you gone mad since becoming an official?
If a woman doesn't marry when she's grown up, and you ask someone to keep her at home, can you expect to provide financial support for her in the future?
This is utterly ridiculous!
This one won't do! This one has to be removed!
Marriage is a matter of custom; don't think that just because you're better than other women, everyone is like you!
Li Youfu spoke these words in a rapid-fire and forceful manner, and at the end, he turned his head away and didn't even glance at Li Shiyue, as if Li Shiyue were something dirty, looking down on her with great disdain.
With Li Youfu stepping forward, several men from Eighth Uncle's side also started shouting.
"That's right! That's right!"
"Marriage is a rule established by our ancestors, so what? You, Li Shiyue, think you can just change it because you want to!"
"Hmph! Fine, change it if you want! But tell us, if the girl doesn't get married, you'll raise her for us!"
"Marrying into the family? Are you trying to find a son-in-law to live with our mother?"
"October is mistaken. Where can you find a woman as powerful as her?"
We still need to get the girl married off, otherwise what will happen to the family's property and land?
If that's the case, how will the young men be able to find wives in the future?
"If I can't find a wife and have children, how will I continue the family line?"
As soon as these people started talking, the people in the ancestral hall started buzzing and talking non-stop. Everyone was saying their piece, and I thought what you said made sense too.
Among them, Yu Zhenniang, who was Li Wangren's wife, whom Li Shiyang had deliberately tricked into being killed by the Japanese pirates, sat behind Li Youfu and his eighth uncle, holding Li Yueniang.
She had overheard Li Shiyang say that their deceased head of household (Li Wangren) had an affair with Qin Tao and had a child out of wedlock, which made her want to leave the family.
However, if she were to remarry, she would have to leave Liujiatun. Putting aside the question of whether she could find a man with a good family background outside of Liujiatun;
What will happen to Li Yueniang if she leaves?
If she were to take Li Yueniang with her, Yu Zhenniang knew that Li Youfu would not agree.
After all, even though Li Yueniang was a woman, she was still the only offspring of the deceased Li Wangren.
The illegitimate child in Qin Tao's belly was beaten to death by Li Wangguang (Li's father)!
But Yu Zhenniang also thought that even if she remarried after Li Yueniang grew up, she would be too old to find a good family.
I wonder if she'll still be able to have children by then?
If she can't have children, what man would want her?
But today, after hearing Li Youfu's words, she started to think about it!
"If Yue Niang can find a husband in the future!"
Then I can keep Yue Niang by my side, and when she grows up, I'll find her an honest young man.
"When Yue Niang has her baby, I can help take care of it. Then I'll have someone to rely on for the rest of my life!"
Yu Zhenniang's heart was pounding. She looked down at Li Yueniang in her arms and received a sweet "Mother" from Li Yueniang.
"Hey, are you thirsty? Would you like some water?"
Li Yueniang obediently shook her head, and instead asked Yu Zhenniang, "Is Mother thirsty? If so, tell Yueniang, and Yueniang will fetch some water for Mother!"
Yu Zhenniang shook her head. She heard the people around her loudly criticizing Li Shiyue's rule that forbade women from marrying outside the family. She felt a mix of excitement and unease.
Suddenly she felt a pull on her clothes. When she looked down again, she saw Li Yueniang beckoning to her. Yu Zhenniang lowered her head and put her ear to Li Yueniang's mouth.
Then Li Yueniang whispered in Yu Zhenniang's ear, "Mother, Yueniang will not marry in the future. Yueniang will marry into a family and stay by Mother's side for the rest of her life to take care of Mother in her old age and see her off in her final days!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Zhenniang suddenly looked up at Li Yueniang's small face. After looking at it for a couple of seconds, she smiled and gently tapped Li Yueniang's nose with her finger.
"How old are you? And you already know about taking in a son-in-law?"
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