Mother Zhou, “……”
Zhao Mingzhu’s shoulders trembled, nearly unable to hold back her laughter. Taking advantage of her tall stature, she looked down at Meng Zhizhi, “You don’t want him? I think a man you’ve used is dirty!”
“You don’t want Zhou the Second, and I don’t want Zhou the First either!”
The situation instantly reached a stalemate.
Mother Zhou’s head ached terribly, “What do you want to do?”
Here it comes!
Meng Zhizhi retorted, “The question should be, Mom, what do you want to do?”
“As for the matter of entering the wrong bridal chamber, both Zhao Mingzhu and I were dead drunk at the time. Whoever was behind this should know.”
She glanced at the people around her.
Her words carried a hint of provocation.
The neighbors nearby immediately fell silent, pricking up their ears.
Mother Zhou’s brow twitched, “You mean?”
Meng Zhizhi didn’t know the truth either; she was merely guessing, “It must have been someone who deliberately led us to the wrong room.”
Mother Zhou fell silent at once, beginning to recall the events. Last night was her two sons’ wedding.
When her sons were first selected to join the army, many neighbors were envious and jealous.
They all said her sons were delicate and wouldn’t last long in the garrison unit, certain to be dismissed.
But unexpectedly, both persisted for six or seven years and were even promoted along the way.
They could be considered young and promising. The only concern was that they often went to the battlefield, and she feared they might sacrifice their lives without leaving any descendants.
That was why she spent a fortune to marry two beautiful daughters-in-law.
For this, they even held a grand and lively celebration.
Last night, many people came to toast and offer congratulations.
It could even be said that it was the liveliest occasion for the Zhou family in twenty years.
And the most glorious moment for her.
After all, her family had produced two soldier sons, each more outstanding than the other!
Seeing Mother Zhou start to think along those lines.
Meng Zhizhi added fuel to the fire, “With both Zhao Mingzhu and me dead drunk and in an unfamiliar place, it would have been impossible for us to enter the rooms on our own. Someone must have deliberately led us to the wrong rooms.”
After being led to the wrong rooms.
She and Zhao Mingzhu naturally ended up in the wrong bridal chambers.
Because Zhou Shechuan and Zhou Ye’s rooms since childhood were one in the east wing and the other in the west wing.
Both had developed habits and went to their own bridal chambers.
Add to that the darkness and the fact that it was an arranged marriage.
Neither side was familiar with the other, which led to the mix-up.
Mother Zhou remained silent, her wrinkled face shifting expressions several times in a short while. She said, “I will look into this matter.”
She then scanned everyone present.
Among them were members of the Zhou family and curious neighbors watching the commotion.
“If I find out which bastard harmed my Zhou family like this, I, Miao Cuihua, will never let you off!”
The surroundings fell into silence, with no one daring to speak.
Only someone at the very back of the crowd lowered their head.
Mother Zhou didn’t notice.
But Meng Zhizhi observed that everyone who made eye contact with her averted their gaze.
This left her unable to guess who it might be.
Mother Zhou and Father Zhou exchanged a glance, and neither of them pursued the matter further.
Getting to the bottom of it wouldn’t happen overnight.
But they had more pressing matters to resolve.
“Let’s go. We’ll handle the rest behind closed doors.”
Taking one by the hand, she led both Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu into the house.
Throughout the entire time, Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu were both visibly displeased, their expressions sour and unfriendly.
Once they entered the room, Mother Zhou closed the door behind them.
The atmosphere inside instantly turned icy.
Father Zhou puffed on his pipe, the smoke curling and swirling, making it hard for anyone to keep their eyes open.
Meng Zhizhi hated the smell of smoke the most. The moment it reached her, she started crying. Under Mother Zhou’s murderous glare, Father Zhou had no choice but to put out his pipe.
Zhou Yushu had always been like air in the family. He hung his head low, sitting as far away as possible, almost like an invisible presence.
Zhou Hongying’s eyes darted around. She didn’t speak, clearly also stunned by the incident of her two sisters-in-law entering the wrong bridal chambers.
“How could you end up in the wrong rooms?”
“You’re grown women. Even if you’re not familiar with my eldest and second brothers, you shouldn’t mistake one man for another, right?”
Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.
Mother Zhou was lost in thought, and since Zhou Hongying had always held a high status in the family, no one dared to reprimand her.
Meng Zhizhi pressed down Zhao Mingzhu’s restless hand. She stared at Zhou Hongying for a moment, then curled her lips into a faint smile.
“You’re an unmarried girl, so you wouldn’t understand. But if you really want to know, you could always get drunk tonight, wander around the courtyard, and find a man you’ve known for over ten years to try it out. See if you can recognize him at the critical moment in bed?”
Zhou Hongying was eighteen this year and not entirely ignorant of such matters.
Hearing this, her face flushed bright red. She immediately turned to Mother Zhou, grabbing her arm to complain, “Mom, look at Meng Zhizhi!”
Meng Zhizhi also grabbed Mother Zhou’s arm, sobbing pitifully, “Mom, I have no face left to live! I was already schemed against by the Zhou family’s enemies on my wedding day. And now, my unmarried sister-in-law is mocking me too. I can’t go on like this. I’m leaving.”
She grabbed Zhao Mingzhu’s hand, her face filled with anger. “Are you coming with me?”
Zhao Mingzhu shot to her feet without hesitation. “If you’re leaving, I’m leaving too!”
Mother Zhou sprang up, grabbing one of them with each hand, and shouted, “No one is leaving!”
She herself wanted to leave!
This was no way to live.
Meng Zhizhi ignored her, and so did Zhao Mingzhu.
Left with no choice, Mother Zhou dragged Zhou Hongying over. “Hongying, apologize to your sisters-in-law.”
Zhou Hongying felt as though something had changed.
Her mother had always been her fiercest protector before.
“I won’t apologize. Why should I apologize to two outsiders?”
Meng Zhizhi started packing her things, ready to leave.
Zhao Mingzhu followed closely behind.
With no other option, Mother Zhou raised her hand and slapped Zhou Hongying, shouting sternly, “Aren’t you going to apologize to your sisters-in-law?”
Meng Zhizhi watched Zhou Hongying get slapped, unmoved.
In the book, she and Zhao Mingzhi had suffered plenty of grievances from their sister-in-law Zhou Hongying while living with the Zhou family.
How could being a daughter-in-law ever be as comfortable as being a daughter?
But Meng Zhizhi refused to believe that.
She was determined to live comfortably as a daughter-in-law.
As for those who made her uncomfortable—let them suffer misfortune!
Zhou Hongying, humiliated and furious, glared at Meng Zhizhi before running out of the room, refusing to apologize.
Meng Zhizhi didn’t care for Zhou Hongying’s apology either. She feigned concern, saying, “Mom, Hongying is still a child. As her sisters-in-law, we naturally won’t hold it against her. But—”
Her tone shifted. “We’re family, so of course we’ll be forgiving. I just wonder if Hongying will find a mother-in-law who’s as forgiving when she gets married in the future?”
Mother Zhou had initially been somewhat angry with Meng Zhizhi, but upon hearing the latter part of her words, she actually felt they made quite a bit of sense.
“I’ll discipline Hongying properly from now on.”
Having achieved her goal, Meng Zhizhi instantly fell silent.
Mother Zhou felt somewhat awkward and could only change the subject. “Now that the bridal chamber mix-up has already happened, tell me, what do the two of you want to do?”
Meng Zhizhi remained silent.
Zhao Mingzhu crossed her arms and sneered coldly.
Before they even began, the two were already at each other’s throats, giving Mother Zhou a splitting headache. “Meng Zhizhi, you speak first. Since you and the eldest son have already consummated the marriage last night, why don’t you just marry the eldest son?”
Meng Zhizhi looked up at her, her tone gentle but her words resolute. “No. You paid a hundred yuan for me to be your second son’s wife, so I will marry the second son.”
“I, Meng Zhizhi, will belong to Zhou Ye in life and be his ghost in death.”
Zhao Mingzhu also spoke up. “I received two hundred yuan in bride price. I came to be the eldest daughter-in-law, the eldest sister-in-law. Why should I marry the second Zhou son?”
“To let me be inferior to Meng Zhizhi for no reason?”
“I won’t do it. If you want me to call Meng Zhizhi ‘sister-in-law,’ I’d rather die!”
The two exchanged a glance, each looking up at the sky with disdain.
They simply couldn’t stand the sight of each other.
Mother Zhou, “…”
Mother Zhou was so angry she could hardly breathe. Panting, she took deep breath after deep breath. “Then what do you want to do?”
It was impossible for them to have entered the wrong bridal chamber and still marry as originally planned—that would be cuckolding her two sons!
Meng Zhizhi looked up, her eyes reddening, and said softly, “If you want me to marry the eldest Zhou son, that’s fine.”
Mother Zhou immediately looked over with delight.
“Zhao Mingzhu received two hundred yuan in bride price. I want two hundred yuan too, not a single cent less.”
The conversation had circled back to the starting point.
“That’s not a problem. Let Zhao Mingzhu make up the hundred yuan bride price difference for you.”
Before Mother Zhou could finish speaking, Zhao Mingzhu protested loudly. “What? Am I cheaper than Meng Zhizhi? Never mind whether I’ll make up that hundred yuan bride price—just the thought of calling her ‘sister-in-law’ is absolutely impossible.”
“I, Zhao Mingzhu, will never call Meng Zhizhi ‘sister-in-law’ in this lifetime.”
This wouldn’t work.
That wouldn’t work either.
Mother Zhou collapsed to the ground, pounding her chest and crying. “What a calamity! How did I end up with such daughters-in-law!”
Father Zhou coldly added, “You picked them yourself.”
“After careful selection, you brought a pair of sworn enemies into the family.”
Mother Zhou cried even harder.
She might as well have become a nun when she married.
At least she would have suffered less.
Seeing that the negotiation was going nowhere, Father Zhou had to step in. “Meng Zhizhi, Zhao Mingzhu, propose some realistic conditions. As long as we can do it, we will definitely do it.”
From this moment on,
Meng Zhizhi knew that her and Zhao Mingzhu’s status in the Zhou family had changed.
After all, in the book, although she and Zhao Mingzhu were sworn enemies, when they became daughters-in-law in the Zhou family,
both of them suffered greatly from the hardships of being wives.
Meng Zhizhi pursed her lips and smiled shyly. “Dad, my condition is very clear. If you want me to marry the eldest Zhou son, you must at least make up the hundred yuan bride price difference. Otherwise, I cannot marry him.”
Father Zhou frowned and remained silent for a long while before saying, “The bride price for both of you was already higher than the market rate.”
My wife was afraid that our sons wouldn’t like this kind of blind marriage arrangement, so when picking daughters-in-law, she specifically chose beautiful ones.
To avoid being rejected by our sons.
But beautiful brides come with high bride prices. Back when we were arranging the marriages, I disagreed—the bride price would be three to five times higher than others.
Where would the Zhou family get that much money?
But I couldn’t stop my wife from insisting. She was determined to marry them in, even if it meant selling everything we had.
Hearing Father Zhou say her bride price was high, Meng Zhizhi instinctively leaned her face closer. “That’s because we’re worth it, Dad. Look at my face and Zhao Mingzhu’s—aren’t we worth this bride price?”
One face was snow-white and delicate, flawless.
Her features were equally striking—almond-shaped eyes, peach-blossom cheeks, red lips, and white teeth.
Even Father Zhou was momentarily dazed. He felt a bit embarrassed and instinctively took a step back.
Meng Zhizhi raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly, “Dad, even if you think Zhao Mingzhu and I aren’t worth it, what about when we have children in the future?”
“I’ll have two, Zhao Mingzhu will have two. You know, neither of us is bad-looking, so our children are guaranteed to be beautiful. Buy one, get two—three people for a hundred yuan, which works out to just thirty yuan per person. Is that a good deal?”
Zhao Mingzhu truly admired her best friend.
She could take things to this level.
If someone else told her to have two children for a hundred-yuan bride price, she would definitely tell them to get lost.
But with Zhizhi, the situation was completely different.
Those adversities and humiliations had instead become bargaining chips in her hands.
To be honest, Father Zhou was somewhat persuaded.
He turned to Mother Zhou and said, “How about we do as Little Meng says? Give her an extra hundred yuan and let her marry the eldest son?”
Mother Zhou still thought it was too expensive and remained silent.
After all, the original bride price was already exorbitantly high. Adding more felt like taking her life.
Meng Zhizhi wasn’t in a hurry either. She just said slowly, “If you don’t want to give it, that’s fine too. I could marry the second Zhou son instead.”
This was a dead end.
Mother Zhou had no room for negotiation or compromise. She gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll give it!”
She absolutely could not let Meng Zhizhi marry the second son while carrying a child in her womb.
As soon as she said this, Zhao Mingzhu’s eyes lit up instantly, though her face showed anger. “She’s marrying the eldest Zhou son? Then what about me?”
Mother Zhou instinctively replied, “You’ll naturally marry the second son.”
Zhao Mingzhu sprang to her feet in an instant, grabbing a rolling pin as if ready to fight. “Then Meng Zhizhi would become my sister-in-law!”
“Want me to call her sister-in-law?”
“Dream on!”
This person was truly fierce.
Mother Zhou, afraid a fight would break out, grabbed her and tried to mediate, though clearly taking sides. “Don’t fight, don’t fight! Meng Zhizhi’s frail body can’t handle a blow from that rolling pin.”
Meng Zhizhi, “…?”
Is it possible that blow wasn’t meant for her!?
Author’s Note:
Mother Zhou: Seems like I’m the only one getting hurt here.
PS: Red envelopes from the previous chapter have been sent. Still asking for favorites, comments, and nutrient solutions. Rolling around, acting cute, and sending red envelopes to beg—please look at me, babies! I’m begging you~ Love you all~