Since Zhang Laoer had already died in battle, he naturally wasn’t counted in this round of conscription. Zhang Laosi’s crippled leg also exempted him from military service.
That left six eligible men in the Zhang family:
Old Man Zhang, Zhang Laoda, Zhang Laoda’s eldest son, Zhang Laoda’s second son, Zhang Laosan, and Zhang Laowu.
Six men, four quotas.
No…
More accurately, it was five men competing for three remaining slots, because Zhang Laosan was guaranteed to be drafted.
After that, Old Madam Zhao found herself in a difficult position.
She didn’t want to sacrifice a single one of the remaining men—neither her husband, nor her eldest son, nor her eldest grandson, nor her lucky second grandson from the set of dragon-phoenix twins, nor her beloved youngest son.
Somehow, she heard that a family in the neighboring village had someone willing to serve in the army as a substitute—as long as the price was high enough.
Without wasting a moment, Old Madam Zhao rushed over.
In the end, she secured the substitute’s place for the staggering price of sixty taels of silver.
Sixty taels…
There was no way Old Madam Zhao could come up with that kind of money.
At most, she had thirty taels.
And even that had been saved for her eldest grandson’s upcoming imperial examination.
So where would the remaining thirty taels come from?
That was where Old Madam Zhao’s cruelty truly showed itself.
She immediately thought of selling children.
Specifically, the three daughters of Zhang Laoer’s family.
In her words, they were nothing but “worthless money-losing girls.” Keeping them around only wasted food, and sooner or later they’d marry into someone else’s family anyway.
She might as well get rid of them early and save the family grain.
Ignoring Madam Cui’s desperate crying and protests, she sold all three girls together to the Zhou family, the wealthiest household in the county, to serve as maidservants.
Because the three girls were sold together under lifetime contracts, Master Zhou generously paid fifteen taels.
That was considered an extraordinarily high price.
They were still fifteen taels short.
In the end, Old Madam Zhao sold five mu of farmland.
Only then did she finally scrape together the full sixty taels.
But those sixty taels only bought them one substitute.
The Zhang family still owed two more conscripts.
After thinking it over, Old Madam Zhao finally pushed Old Man Zhang forward.
In her mind, a husband could be sacrificed.
But not her sons or grandsons.
After all, the family didn’t necessarily need him to be the head of the household.
That left one final quota.
Her eldest son would provide for her in old age.
Her eldest grandson was a scholar.
Her youngest son was her precious treasure.
That left only one choice—
Her fourteen-year-old second grandson.
Little Madam Zhao naturally refused to accept it.
She cried.
She begged.
She did everything she could to stop it.
But in this family, she had no say whatsoever.
Nothing she did changed the outcome.
In the end, Old Madam Zhao made the final decision.
Old Man Zhang.
Zhang Laosan.
And her second grandson.
Those three would go.
From that moment on, Little Madam Zhao began to resent both Old Madam Zhao and Zhang Laowu.
By now, the Zhang family was already on the verge of falling apart.
…
Chen Yuan slept surprisingly well that night.
Well…
It would have been perfect if she hadn’t had to get up twice to feed Daniu and once to change her diaper.
Suddenly—
“Ahhh!”
A piercing scream jolted everyone awake.
“Who’s wailing like someone’s dead? I’m not dead yet!”
The booming voice could only belong to Old Madam Zhao.
“Grandma! Someone’s dead! Someone’s dead! Second Aunt hanged herself!”
The one shouting was Madam Wang, Zhang Renzhong’s wife.
“Who died? Who died? Sister-in-law, who did my niece-in-law say died just now?”
Taohong hurried out of her room while throwing on her clothes.
Ever since her second son had been selected for the draft, Little Madam Zhao had been furious with everyone.
She couldn’t stand the sight of anyone anymore.
Rolling her eyes, she snapped sarcastically,
“Why don’t you go look for yourself? Why ask me everything? Do you think I’m Mother, making all the decisions around here?”
With that, she shot Taohong a dirty look and stormed off.
“What a mess…”
“If you couldn’t save your own son, why take it out on everyone else? If you’ve got the guts, why don’t you send Laowu instead?”
Taohong naturally didn’t dare provoke her eldest sister-in-law right now.
She only dared mutter those complaints under her breath after Little Madam Zhao had walked away.
“Enough. Stop talking.”
“Let’s go see what happened first.”
Zhang Laosi had arrived by then and spoke in a low voice.
Chen Yuan had no intention of joining the commotion.
She was still sick.
Ever since giving birth, the original owner had been bedridden almost every day.
Everyone in the family knew it.
No one cared.
In their eyes, she was simply hanging on by her last breath.
Whether she died today or tomorrow made little difference to them.
Even while lying on the kang, Chen Yuan could clearly hear Old Madam Zhao cursing in the main hall.
“That damned woman! She couldn’t even leave Laoer a son! I fed you and kept you alive without looking down on you, so what more did you want? If you had to die, couldn’t you have died somewhere farther away? What bad luck! Laoda! Laosi! Hurry up and carry her out!”
Chen Yuan was completely speechless.
This old woman was unbelievable.
She was still cursing someone even after they’d died.
Wasn’t she afraid of offending the dead?
She couldn’t help but pity Madam Cui.
Her daughters had all been sold away.
She no longer had anything to live for.
That was probably why she had chosen to end her own life.
Truth be told, among everyone in the Zhang family, Chen Yuan wasn’t actually the one who had suffered the most.
At worst, Old Madam Zhao cursed her every day.
Madam Cui and her daughters…
They were the ones who had truly lived through hell.