Chapter 219: Accusing her of being unfilial and getting slapped in the face
Zeng Mingzhu returned after the Mid-Autumn Festival. She was not pregnant, and her mother-in-law had already taken two clean-born women from small families as concubines for her husband. Although Concubine Qing and Concubine Jiang were relatively honest and respectable, who knew about them?
The mother-in-law now placed all her hopes of pregnancy on Concubine Qing and Concubine Jiang, advising them to be virtuous and generous, and asking her to persuade her husband to rest in the two concubines' rooms more often.
Zeng Mingzhu is a proud and arrogant person. She is a bit unscrupulous in her natal family, but she is very careful to cultivate a dignified image in her husband's family. Therefore, as the wife of the main wife, she would never be jealous of the two concubines, and she has to act generously.
However, even though she appeared calm on the surface, her heart was already roaring and twisting in chaos. She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would not be able to hold it back and would reveal her true nature, so she simply turned a blind eye and went back to her parents' home.
She's just a concubine, so what if she's pregnant?
She doesn't care about giving birth to a daughter, but if she gives birth to a son, she, as the wife of the main wife, will take him in to raise as a favor to the concubine. Does she dare to refuse?
Zeng Mingzhu was very unhappy, but when she returned to her parents' home, she no longer had to suppress her anger, and she couldn't suppress her violent emotions.
Hearing her mother's words, Zeng Mingzhu sneered, "Of course, our Zeng family won't rely on a mere concubine like her, but she's too outrageous! If we don't teach her a lesson, others will think our Zeng family doesn't know how to teach their daughters, and that all our daughters are ungrateful. Wouldn't that make us a laughing stock?"
Mrs. Zeng: “.”
My beloved daughter ruined my plan, but I couldn't say anything about it.
Mrs. Zeng felt miserable.
Zeng Mingzhu's words touched Mr. Zeng's heart, and his anger rose several levels.
Someone had already asked him, more than one person, about how Madam Xu and his daughter had a good relationship, and why she hadn't brought any good business to his family, only to benefit the Qin family.
Mr. Zeng felt bitter in his mouth and responded vaguely, feeling very angry.
"Mingzhu is right. We can't let that damn girl be like this! If we don't teach her a lesson, she won't know her place! Send her back!"
Mrs. Zeng: “.”
Mrs. Zeng had no reason to refuse and could only agree.
It was impossible to come back. Zeng Xiaoyan refused.
She would not go back unless she accompanied her sister to the Zeng family to sever ties with them.
Madam Zeng wished it, and sneered, "Forget it, she is so cold and heartless."
"You ungrateful bastard! Since she's so shameless, I might as well not give her any face."
Zeng Mingzhu also sneered, and then made a stupid move.
She asked someone to go to the county government to sue Zeng Xiaoyan for being unfilial.
The reason was that the parents could not be recruited, and they did not even send Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. The Zeng family did not care about any festival gifts, but this is still a filial piety, right?
If she doesn't send it, it means she has no filial piety at all.
Being unfilial is a serious sin and does not make one worthy of being a human being.
If an unfilial person appears under the rule of a senior official, and someone makes a fuss about it, the official will be held accountable for poor education and dereliction of duty.
Lord Lu took this very seriously and summoned Zeng Xiaoyan for questioning.
Because it was a woman being interrogated, the court had always been quite considerate. Unless under special circumstances, the interrogation would not be held in public. Instead, the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the legal advisor, and others would question her privately in the back hall.
In the past, Zeng Xiaoyan would have been terrified, but she knew that County Magistrate Lu's wife had a good relationship with Zhichun's sister-in-law, so County Magistrate Lu was not so scary in her eyes.
Zeng Xiaoyan took out the deed of severance signed by Mrs. Zeng.
"I am a sensible girl and would not dare to offend you. Miss Zeng may not be aware of this and therefore misunderstood."
Magistrate Lu, County Assistant Secretary Zhao, and Mr. Shao looked at each other in bewilderment.
Ah this?
So, it’s not that Zeng Xiaoyan is unfilial at all, but that Mrs. Zeng had already driven Zeng Xiaoyan, a concubine’s daughter, out of the house without telling her husband and children?
"Ridiculous! Absurd!"
Magistrate Lu came from a prominent family. Although he was a man and did not take charge of the inner court affairs, he had been influenced by them since he was a child. He had heard a lot about the intrigues and sinister tactics among the women in the inner courts of the wealthy families.
Among them, the struggle between legitimate and illegitimate children was the most cruel and brutal.
It is common for favored concubines and illegitimate children to frame the legitimate family, and for the legitimate mother who controls the household affairs to harshly abuse her illegitimate children.
It is normal for Madam Zeng to dislike concubines, but Lord Lu has never seen anyone expel a concubine from the house and sever ties with her without telling her husband.
I learned something new.
In this case, it makes sense why Zeng Xiaoyan didn't come to visit.
When this news broke, Zeng Mingzhu was dumbfounded.
Mr. Zeng was also dumbfounded.
Mrs. Zeng's eyes went dark.
"Why didn't you say it earlier? Why didn't you say a word?"
Zeng Mingzhu also blamed her mother, "Mom, you didn't say a word, and caused me to lose so much. If I had known this would happen, I would definitely not have sent anyone to report it to the police."
Master Zeng looked at her suddenly and asked, "Did you ask someone to report it to the authorities?"
Zeng Mingzhu was secretly upset, "I——"
Having let the cat out of the bag, she simply said, "That damn girl Chunchun is such an ungrateful person. I can't stand it and I have to teach her a lesson!"
Mr. Zeng looked at the mother and daughter and suddenly felt powerless to save the situation.
If he said that it was only his wife's idea to sever ties with Zeng Xiaoyan, who would believe it?
The Zeng family's reputation as a cruel and ruthless family that oppresses concubines' daughters has been established.
This is not a good thing for businessmen.
But now that things have come to this, Mr. Zeng knows in his heart that it would be too embarrassing to go to Zeng Xiaoyan and ask for a reconciliation at this time.
His status and dignity as a father did not allow him to bow down to a concubine's daughter.
The Zeng family had to suffer a loss in this matter and would settle the matter after this period of time was over.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the rice is ripe and every household is busy harvesting it.
This year's harvest is very different because of the thresher and windmill.
Needless to say, the wealthy families bought enough threshers and windmills without any regrets, making them the most beautiful things in the autumn harvest. There were also several families in the village who were well-off and gritted their teeth to pool their money to buy one.
Anyway, it can be used for many years, and twenty taels of silver can save a lot of time and effort. If it rains, other families are still struggling to thresh the grain using clumsy methods, while your family has already taken it all home. Isn't the avoided loss equivalent to a profit?
You can be more flexible and rent it out after a few families have used it.
With a thresher, eight to ten acres of rice can be harvested a day, and several families can harvest their rice quickly.
Of course, the rental owner was not at ease to let go completely, but kept an eye on it, fearing that it might be damaged.
At five cents per mu, the rice that would normally take three days to harvest could be harvested in one day. Many people were happy to rent the land.
Xu Zhichun's family owned the village's only thresher and windmill, making them a real sensation. The villagers were reluctant to buy their own, but when they heard that Xu Zhichun rented his land to villagers for just three cents per mu—or even for eggs, which cost one cent each—they rushed to his house, expressing their willingness to rent.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
