“What?!” Yu Laoyezi and his wife, along with Yu Dalang and his wife, were all thoroughly shocked by Yu Zhen’s words.
Having spoken the most difficult part, Yu Zhen seemed to loosen up. In a muffled voice, he revealed what he had been contemplating for a long time: “I never fancied Liu Shi to begin with. It was my mother who arranged the match. I wanted to marry Xing Niang.”
“I knew it! Don’t you dare dream about it! Liu Xingniang is already married!” Zhang Shi was so enraged by her son that she forgot to pretend to cry and lunged forward to slap Yu Zhen.
Yu Zhen dodged his mother’s slap, tilting his head as he glared at Zhang Shi with wolf-like intensity, gritting his teeth as he said, “I know! I know she’s married. I also know she lost her child and can no longer bear children, which led to her being divorced by her husband’s family.”
“Grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, I’ve never asked for anything my whole life. Only once did I mention wanting to marry Xing Niang, but Mother disagreed and immediately arranged for Liu Shi instead. If Liu Shi had been a decent person, I would have lived with her, but…” Yu Zhen fell silent.
“But because Liu Shi caused trouble herself, you don’t want to stay with her anymore?” Yu Laoyezi looked at his eldest grandson as if seeing him for the first time.
As the saying goes, one must turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to be the head of a family. As the father, how could he not know what his eldest son and daughter-in-law were like?
However, with the honest and loyal eldest grandson around, Yu Laoyezi felt confident about being supported by the eldest branch in his old age. But now he began to doubt.
A grown man, having a sweetheart, yet when his mother made him marry someone else, he complied without a word of protest.
After marrying an unsatisfactory wife, he watched her cause trouble without uttering a word, allowing the family to fall into discord until the elders had to step in and drive her away. Then he conveniently decided he didn’t want to stay with her anymore?
“It’s her who doesn’t want to stay with me. Actually, I know perfectly well that even if we gave her twenty taels, Liu Shi wouldn’t spend a single copper coin on the children or me. How could I dare entrust the family assets to her in the future?”
“Grandfather, you tell me—what’s the point of marrying a wife who can’t cook or manage the household, can’t work in the fields, can’t educate the children, can’t harmonize with the family, and isn’t even pleasing to look at? What am I gaining from this?”
After speaking, Yu Zhen lowered his head. There were many more things he wanted to say, to protest, but he knew it was unnecessary—they wouldn’t understand.
Yu Zhen’s words left the four elders present speechless.
Yu Laoyezi looked at his eldest son and daughter-in-law. They had handled their eldest grandson’s marriage entirely on their own, and this was the result they produced?
After a moment, Yu Laotaitai collected herself and turned her fury toward her eldest daughter-in-law: “Eldest daughter-in-law, Zhenzi is your only son. Is this how you treat him?”
The old lady was filled with regret. Back then, she had thought that since the eldest grandson was the first in the family to marry, it must be handled carefully. She had several girls in mind, wanting to pick the best one for her eldest grandson.
But the eldest branch stubbornly insisted on finding a daughter-in-law to their own liking, and the old man had said not to meddle too much, lest the new daughter-in-law clash with her mother-in-law upon entering the household.
The old lady thought the old man made sense. Besides, if she arranged the marriage for the eldest grandson, wouldn’t she have to do the same for the second and third grandsons? If she did it well, there would be no credit; if she did it poorly, she would be blamed. Why bring trouble upon herself? So she didn’t insist on intervening.
As a result, they brought Liu Shi, this troublemaker, into the family, causing unrest in the household and discord among brothers. In the end, even the eldest grandson himself was living in dissatisfaction. As he said, what was the point of it all?
Zhang Shi was also dumbfounded. What was the point? Why had she taken a liking to Liu Shi in the first place?
Because Liu Shi had sent her food a few times, given her some sewing supplies, and joined her in gossiping about the second and third branches of the family?
…
While the main branch remained deafeningly silent, the third branch enjoyed a peaceful calm after the earlier commotion.
Xu Shi began talking about Liu Shi. Though usually quiet outdoors, people often sought her out to chat. Combined with her maternal family being in the same village and her sister-in-law being particularly inquisitive, Xu Shi actually knew more news than even the main branch.
“That so-called traveling merchant is actually just a roaming peddler in his thirties. They say he was injured by bandits while trading abroad, which is why…” Xu Shi glanced at her curious daughter and swallowed the rest of that sentence.
“Then why not adopt? Wouldn’t a nephew from the family be better than an outsider?” Yu Sanlang came to his wife’s rescue, playing the straight man. As a man, he had no interest in others’ fertility or children.
“They say during the famine years earlier, several nephews in the family died young. The remaining ones have all grown up. Seeing that the child in Liu Shi’s womb is still small, if they shift the timing a bit, they could claim it as their own biological child.” Xu Shi shot her husband a meaningful look, and only continued when she saw him catch her meaning and nod.
“But I heard from my sister-in-law that this merchant had been inquiring about pregnant women or new mothers in several neighboring villages earlier. He doesn’t seem like a good person.” After much internal debate, Xu Shi still didn’t voice what she truly thought.
She retained faint memories from her childhood, remembering how her half-brother from the legal wife was already ten years old but still attended by two wet nurses…
“Liu Shi probably won’t leave with that merchant. She’s likely testing the waters now that she knows our family has divided.” Yu Sanlang stated confidently.
What woman would want to marry a stranger of unknown background while pregnant? Only a fool would make such a choice. But Yu Sanlang never imagined that Liu Shi would indeed prove to be such a fool.
Yu Hongdou’s understanding of ancient times was limited, so she felt particularly curious about traveling merchants and asked several questions. She learned that these were merchants who traveled north and south, dealing in goods and profiting from regional price differences through long-distance transport.
These merchants had no fixed business locations. Although they carried travel permits, these weren’t necessarily reliable—money could make ghosts turn millstones, after all. It was entirely possible to buy false identities in small towns with enough money.
“Traveling merchants must carry lots of goods, right? What would he be buying and selling around here?” Yu Hongdou wondered.
Taoyuan Village and Taoxi Village weren’t particularly remote, with three roads nearby. One led to the county town, just half a day’s journey by carriage. The other two roads went to different towns—one prosperous, one wealthy—so buying and selling things wasn’t difficult for the villages.
Besides, some villagers already worked as peddlers facilitating local trade. Was there really need for someone with the grand title of “traveling merchant”?
Yu Sanlang had been leaning sideways, ready to lie down and rest, but his daughter’s words made him pause. He suddenly sat upright and slapped his forehead.
“Oh, my clever girl! You’ve been a great help to your father!” With that, Yu Sanlang scrambled off the kang, not even bothering to properly put on his shoes before dashing out.
Yu Hongdou, completely unaware what nerve she’d struck, and Xu Shi, who hadn’t finished sharing her gossip, both stared blankly as he disappeared from view.
Coming back to her senses, Yu Hongdou looked at her mother’s frustrated expression. She knew too well the agony of interrupted gossip, so she took up the straight man’s role: “Mother, do you think Uncle and Aunt will ask Grandfather and Grandmother to plead for Liu Shi?”
“No, Liu Shi won’t return before we move out.” Xu Shi gave her daughter a definitive answer.
Had it been before, she wouldn’t have dared to be so certain. But now things were different—her husband had established connections with the magistrate, bringing substantial benefits to the village and her in-laws.
This just goes to show that one must have the capability to stand firm. Only then can one earn respect from the world, including that of parents and relatives.