Hu Cuihua had never been treated like this by her mother-in-law since marrying into the Song family.
She clutched her face, stinging from the slap, feeling deeply aggrieved.
“Mother, how can you hit me?”
In the past, she had been used to speaking ill of Shen Juye, and her mother-in-law had never scolded her. What was happening today?
Lu Minggui didn’t indulge her: “What’s wrong with hitting you? You’ve done wrong and said wrong things—you deserve it!”
“Look at you now; it’s obvious you’ve hardly ever been disciplined!”
After raising three sons and a daughter on her own for so many years as a widow, of course she had some backbone.
She had always been good-natured, though, and age had tempered her temper.
Now that she stood up, a certain aura of authority surrounded her, frightening Hu Cuihua into silence.
Seeing that Hu Cuihua didn’t speak, Lu Minggui barked again: “Hurry up and help me get to the other room!”
Hu Cuihua hesitated. “Help… help you see what?”
Lu Minggui glared at her. “I’m going to check on the second household. If anything happens to her, I’ll deal with you too!”
At this moment, Lu Minggui’s thoughts became clear.
People say even a tiger won’t eat its cubs, yet these unfilial children had forced their mother—who had raised them for decades—into the brink of despair. It was truly disheartening.
Reborn, she had no intention of being kind to the eldest branch again. But now was not the time for revenge.
Her second son had died in battle, her second daughter-in-law was heavily pregnant, her third daughter had only been married a couple of years, and her youngest son was apprenticing in town. The only people she could rely on were the eldest branch.
Not truly “rely on”—she merely needed them for labor.
Moreover, as long as she still held money in her hands, the eldest branch couldn’t cause trouble.
She hated how unfilial they were, how they had been cruel to her, but she didn’t yet know how to deal with them.
It wasn’t famine season yet—she couldn’t kill them even if she wanted.
But the resentment in her heart made Hu Cuihua uneasy.
She obediently stepped forward to help Lu Minggui down, not daring to talk back.
Lu Minggui hurried out of the room straight to her second daughter-in-law’s room.
Before even entering, she heard crying from inside:
“Mother, Mother, don’t die!”
“Wuwuwu, Manman doesn’t want you to die!”
This was her second son’s daughter, Manman, only five years old.
Later, during the famine, she would be sold by the eldest branch to the village’s human traffickers.
For now, the sound of her crying startled Lu Minggui. Had she come too late?
She pushed the door open and saw her second daughter-in-law, Shen Juye, lying on the bed. Her thin, emaciated hands caressed Manman’s head:
“Don’t cry, Mother is going to see your father…”
Her eyes were swollen from crying, her body frail, but her belly was clearly swollen from pregnancy.
Her breathing was rapid, clearly weak, and her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, as if waiting for death.
Lu Minggui’s heart ached. Shen Juye was a good woman, hardworking and obedient during her five years in the Song family.
She had been blind before, treating Hu Cuihua—a wolf in sheep’s clothing—as precious, and neglecting the truly good one.
The most important thing now was to remove Shen Juye’s desire to die.
She stepped forward and grabbed Shen Juye’s hand: “What are you saying?”
“If you die, what will happen to Manman?”
Shen Juye’s hand was icy cold. It sent a shiver through Lu Minggui, but she held on firmly and continued: “You must stay alive to carry this child and raise Manman!”
Shen Juye seemed to snap out of it. After a long pause, she murmured:
“Mother… but Dahe… he’s dead…”
“Dahe is gone, I don’t want to live either…”
Her voice was mournful, and she couldn’t hold back her tears. Big drops streamed down her cheeks.
This frightened Manman into crying even harder.
Lu Minggui, having lost children herself, knew grief well—but she understood clearly that if she cried now, she would collapse as in her previous life, and Shen Juye’s fragile will would crumble immediately.
Moreover, it had been two years since her second son’s death; although still painful, time had dulled her grief.
She raised her voice sharply, feigning anger: “Nonsense!”
“Dahe isn’t dead! The death notice from the magistrate clearly says he went missing while pursuing the enemy—his fate is unknown!”
“This child has always been clever and strong-willed—there’s no way he’s gone just like that!”
“Don’t you remember? When he was little, he went hunting with your father-in-law—he was very skilled!”
Lu Minggui spoke with such conviction that even she began to believe it herself.
Shen Juye seemed to take her words to heart. Her eyes regained some light.
She hesitated, asking: “Mother… are you telling the truth?”
“Is there any reason to lie? How could I not know my own son?”
Lu Minggui’s reasoning felt convincing, even to herself.
She instructed: “Take care of yourself, understand?”
“If Dahe comes back and can’t see you, how will I, as his mother, explain myself?”
Her words gave Shen Juye a bit of strength. She placed her frail hand on her belly:
“All right… I will take care of myself and carry this child for Dahe.”
“And Manman… my Manman.”
Manman stopped crying and obediently called “Mother,” snuggling next to Shen Juye.
Lu Minggui still wasn’t fully at ease. Although Shen Juye no longer wanted to die, she had suffered the loss of her husband and done heavy labor—she might have other ailments.
She turned to Hu Cuihua: “You, go to town and fetch a doctor immediately.”
Hu Cuihua, already irritated by Lu Minggui’s kind treatment of Shen Juye, now frowned even more.
“Mother, she’s fine, isn’t she? Why need a doctor?”
“Everyone in the village suffers from headaches and fevers—they all endure it themselves.”
“She’s not some noblewoman!”
She didn’t want to move. Fetching a doctor meant going to town at midday without a cart—and spending money!
The family’s money should belong to the eldest branch, meant for Jinbao and Yinbao!
Lu Minggui’s expression remained cold: “I told you to go, so go. Stop talking!”
She handed her ten copper coins: “Hurry! If anything happens to Juye’s pregnancy, you’ll pay for it!”
Hu Cuihua counted the coins, muttered, but her fear of her mother-in-law forced her to set off for town.
Once Hu Cuihua left, Lu Minggui went to the kitchen.
The kitchen had always been kept clean and tidy by Shen Juye, but it still seemed empty.
Although it wasn’t famine yet, the household was very poor.
Not only the Song family, but every household in the village was far from wealthy.
The kitchen held only some firewood—nothing else.