"Wan Shu, as long as you promise to hand over all of Liang Dazhu's pension to our Su family in the future, I will agree to let Fan'er take you as his concubine!"
"But let me make this clear first: you are absolutely not allowed to bring your two children into the Su family!"
Looking at Su's mother, who was arrogant and seemed to be bestowing a favor upon her, Wan Shu frowned.
Who is this old woman? In this day and age, she's still a concubine. She must be out of her mind.
Moreover, Wan Shu is a well-known non-marriage advocate. So which business rival sent this to annoy her?
Wan Shu opened her mouth to curse, but a sharp pain shot through her head, and a memory that didn't belong to her flooded her mind in an instant.
Damn it, she actually transmigrated! And she even transmigrated into the body of a wicked stepmother!
The original owner of this body, like her, was also named Wan Shu, and was twenty-eight years old this year.
Unlike the modern woman who is devoted to her career and has no interest in romance, the original owner of this body was married off by her parents to Liang Fugui, who lived in the same village as Qingshui Village, when she was only sixteen years old.
To be precise, she was sold to Liang Fugui.
The original owner was a sixteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth. She shouldn't have married Liang Fugui, a widower with children. However, her family was short of money, so Liang Fugui gave the largest dowry.
The original owner was sold to that place with tears in her eyes, and she harbored resentment in her heart. Even after giving birth to twins for Liang Fugui, she could not live a peaceful life.
He was lazy and never worked in the fields, and he also mistreated the children born to Liang Fugui's ex-wife.
Seven years ago, Liang Fugui joined the army and left his hometown. The original owner of this body became even more ruthless, constantly beating and scolding his stepchildren, and even having an affair with a stranger.
This strange man was Su Fan, the eldest son of the Su family, who also lived in Xinghua Village.
Su Fan was also a widower with children to support, and his family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat.
What's remarkable is that Su Fan is a rare scholar in this area, and he's a student who has passed the preliminary examinations, just one step away from becoming a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations).
After getting involved with Su Fan, the original owner of this body dreamed every day about Su Fan passing the imperial examination and becoming a scholar's wife, or a powerful official's wife.
If she likes Su Fan so much, why doesn't she leave the Liang family and marry into the Su family?
That's for the money, of course!
In ancient times, studying and taking the imperial examinations were too expensive, and the Su family was too poor. So Su Fan instigated the original owner to stay in the Liang family and steal the Liang family's money and grain to give to the Su family whenever he had the chance.
The original owner of this body was also a fool; she would do whatever Su Fan told her to do.
Even when her own child was crying loudly from hunger, she turned a blind eye and gathered all the food the Liang family had to send over.
Thanks to the original owner's treacherous actions, the Liang family became increasingly poor, while the Su family became increasingly wealthy.
Finally, half a month ago, Su Fan successfully passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
At the same time, news of Liang Fugui's death in battle also came down!
Before leaving, Liang Fugui confidently told his family that he would definitely make a name for himself in the army and enable them to live a good life.
Now, instead of enjoying a good life, he has died.
The entire Liang family held Liang Erfu's urn and wept bitterly.
Of course, "all people here" does not include the original body.
When the original owner learned that Liang Erfu was dead, he was not sad at all, but rather quite happy.
According to the regulations of the Great Sheng Dynasty, the family members of every soldier who died in battle could receive a pension of ten taels of silver after approval.
She thought to herself that now that Su Fan had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, it was time for her to marry him. Once the ten taels of silver were approved, it would be perfect as her dowry!
She excitedly ran to the Su family home, wanting to tell Su Fan the good news, only to find that Su Fan was arranging a marriage with another woman.
It turned out that Su Fan looked down on her, a poor widow who couldn't read a single word.
He kept her hanging on so that she would take money and grain from the Liang family to support his imperial examinations.
Now that he has become a scholar, he has the opportunity to seduce richer young ladies with even better conditions, so he naturally disdains to play along with the original owner and simply tells her to get lost.
How could the original owner bear to see so many years of effort go to waste? Naturally, she refused and made a huge scene at the Su family.
Su Fan was a scholar, but he was physically weak. However, his mother and sister-in-law were not to be trifled with.
They used their hands and feet, and even smashed the original owner's head with a stone.
After her head was smashed, she fainted. The Su family didn't care. In the end, it was Liang's two stepsons who heard the news and carried her back from Xinghua Village. They even sold their surplus food to pay for her medical treatment.
As for why Aunt Su is now in Qingshui Village and in front of her house, it is naturally for Liang Fugui's pension.
The Su family only learned in the last two days that the original owner of this body would receive ten taels of silver after approval.
Ten taels of silver may not amount to much for a rich person, but it is a huge sum of money for a poor family.
After much deliberation, the Su family decided they couldn't let such a huge sum of money slip through their fingers, so they reluctantly agreed to let Wan Shu become their concubine.
"A concubine? Isn't that just a secondary wife?"
"What concubine? I heard from the rich people in the county that the mistress has the right to sell her concubines. To put it bluntly, a concubine is just a servant who can serve the master in bed!"
"Oh dear! It costs ten taels of silver to become a servant. I definitely wouldn't do it!"
"Hmph, you don't care, but wealthy wives do. Let alone a concubine, I think she'd fawn over a dog!"
"Hahaha, that's not true!"
The villagers gathered outside the Liang family burst into laughter, all believing that Wan Shu would definitely agree to become a concubine in the Su family.
Su's mother felt the same way.
She stood tall like a proud rooster, head held high, glancing sideways at Wan Shu: "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you overjoyed? Don't know what to say?"
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