After drying her hair, Chen Yuan went to bed.
She glanced outside the storage space. It was already dark, yet no one had come to call her for dinner.
Then again, considering the original owner’s status in the family, who would bother? Even if she went out to eat on her own, they would probably complain that she was wasting food.
Forget it.
She might as well sleep.
As for whether Chen Yuan was worried that Zhang Laosan would discover she was sleeping inside the storage space…
There was no need.
Zhang Laosan most likely wasn’t coming back.
That was the one piece of good news she’d received since arriving in this world.
As for why…
Well, that was a long story.
The original owner lived in Zhang Family Village, located in Hedong Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture of the Yuansheng Kingdom, bordering Yanmen Pass.
The harvests had been poor for the past two years, and the Tatar tribes beyond the pass frequently launched raids.
Since no rain or snow had fallen since last winter, the Tatars had suffered tremendous losses. Desperate, they launched a large-scale invasion of the Yuansheng Kingdom, and were on the verge of breaking through Yanmen Pass.
Five days ago, the imperial court began conscripting soldiers.
Every healthy man between the ages of thirteen and sixty was eligible.
The Zhang family had many adult men, so they were required to provide four soldiers.
Zhang Laosan was one of them.
Speaking of Zhang Laosan, it was impossible not to mention the Zhang family as a whole.
At present, the Zhang family had twenty-six members living under one roof.
The patriarch was Old Man Zhang, whose given name was Zhang Changfa, fifty-five years old.
His wife was Old Madam Zhao, fifty-four years old.
Together, they had five sons.
The eldest son was Zhang Youfu, commonly called Zhang Laoda, thirty-six years old.
His wife was Little Madam Zhao, who also happened to be Old Madam Zhao’s niece.
They had five children—four sons and one daughter:
Their eldest son, Zhang Renzhong, was eighteen years old. He was married to Madam Wang, and they had an eight-month-old son named Huzi.
The second and third children were fourteen-year-old twins, Zhang Renxiao and Zhang Fengxian, a boy and a girl. Neither was married.
The youngest were ten-year-old twin brothers, Zhang Renli and Zhang Renyi.
The second son was Zhang Youlu, thirty-three years old.
He was already deceased.
His wife was Madam Cui, and together they had four daughters:
The eldest, Daya, fifteen years old, was already married.
Then came twelve-year-old Erya, nine-year-old Sanya, and six-year-old Siya.
The third son was Zhang Youshou, thirty years old.
His wife was Xiao Yanyan, the original owner whose body Chen Yuan now occupied.
They had one daughter, the eight-day-old Daniu.
The fourth son was Zhang Youxi, twenty-five years old.
His wife was Taohong.
He had one stepson, six-year-old Zhang Renke, and one biological son, one-year-old Zhang Renliang.
The fifth son was Zhang Youxin, twenty-one years old.
His wife was Madam Lin.
They had a three-year-old son named Zhang Renhe, whose childhood nickname was Jinbao, and a five-day-old daughter named Jinju.
As for why Zhang Laosan hadn’t married until he was nearly thirty…
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to.
His mother, Old Madam Zhao, simply couldn’t bear to spend the money.
Or rather…
She simply didn’t care about him.
Whenever Zhang Laosan brought up getting married, she always repeated the same excuse.
“My son, it’s not that your mother doesn’t love you. I’m anxious too. But we still have a scholar in the family who’s about to take the imperial examination. We can’t afford any distractions right now. There really isn’t any extra silver to marry you off. Just wait a little longer. As soon as we have enough money, I’ll find you a wife immediately.”
Zhang Laosan wasn’t stupid.
He knew perfectly well those were empty promises.
If the family truly had no money, then why had his eldest nephew already gotten married while he, the uncle, remained single?
In the end, it all came down to favoritism.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
If he dared utter a single word of protest, his mother would unleash a torrent of abuse.
Besides, the virtue of filial piety alone was enough to crush him.
He was timid.
He didn’t dare resist.
To be fair, she hadn’t only refused to arrange a marriage for Zhang Laosan.
She hadn’t done so for Zhang Laosi either.
And Zhang Laosi’s marriage…
That was another story altogether.
Several years earlier, the imperial court had also conducted a military draft.
The Zhang family had been required to send two able-bodied men.
Wealthier families could pay a commutation fee to avoid conscription.
But Old Madam Zhao was far too stingy to spend that kind of money.
As a result, the burden fell upon the second, third, and fourth brothers.
Although Zhang Laosan looked honest and simple on the surface, he was actually quite crafty.
No one knew what he had said, but somehow he managed to persuade both Zhang Laoer and Zhang Laosi to volunteer in his place.
In the end, Zhang Laoer died on the battlefield.
Zhang Laosi returned home with a crippled leg after being discharged from the army.
On his journey home, he met a widow named Taohong.
For reasons known only to them, the two fell in love and got married.
Old Madam Zhao was more than happy to see the marriage happen.
After all, with his crippled leg and advancing age, Zhang Laosi wasn’t exactly an attractive marriage prospect anymore.
More importantly…
She didn’t have to pay a single coin in bride price.
Naturally, she had no objections to a free daughter-in-law.