Once her father kicked Sang Qing out of the family, she’d move into her room. And all those beautiful clothes and jewelry bought from Hong Kong would become hers!
The moment Sang Qingshan saw the clan elders arrive, he hurried over to greet them.
“Elders, thank you for coming. Our family has truly suffered a misfortune…”
Seeing the situation beginning to turn against Sang Qing, Li Xiaohe instinctively glanced toward the gate.
There stood Sun Dajiang.
Good. Everyone they needed had arrived.
Now, even if their sister-in-law wanted to turn the whole place upside down, they had enough people to back her up.
The clan elders glanced at Sang Qing, who sat conspicuously among the crowd, each wearing an expression of disapproval.
The head elder slammed his walking stick against the ground.
Bang!
“Sang Qing! You’ve only just gotten married, and already you’re coming back to your parents’ house to make trouble? Have you no sense of propriety?”
Sang Qing raised her elegant brows.
“It’s precisely because I’ve gotten married that I have to make a scene.”
“Otherwise, some people might actually think the Sang family has no one left.”
The elder frowned deeply, thoroughly confused.
“What do you mean by that?”
Sang Qing couldn’t be bothered explaining.
She reached into the pocket of her blouse and pulled out a yellowed piece of paper.
“This is the agreement Sang Qingshan signed when he married into the Sang family.”
“Less than a year after my mother passed away, he got together with Chu Lanhua.”
“By all rights, he remarried and joined another household. So after getting married myself, what’s wrong with me taking back my family’s property?”
The moment her words fell, the entire courtyard fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared at Sang Qingshan and Sang Qing in utter shock.
No one had ever imagined…
Sang Qingshan had been a live-in son-in-law.
Back then, Sang Qing’s mother, Sang Wanrou, had kept it a secret for the sake of her husband’s pride. She had never told anyone that Sang Qingshan had married into her family.
That was why, when he remarried, hardly anyone had questioned it.
But now…
Everyone knew the truth.
Not only had he been a live-in son-in-law, he’d remarried less than a year after his first wife’s death.
How would people look at him now?
Sang Qingshan’s face immediately darkened to the color of pig liver.
“Sang Qing! Y-you’re talking nonsense! Is this how I raised you?!”
As he shouted, he lunged toward her, trying to snatch the paper from her hand.
Smack!
“Ah!”
“You—”
Smack! Smack!
“AAAH!!”
Before he could even get close to Sang Qing, Auntie Zhao and Auntie Qian blocked his path.
The two women slapped him left and right without mercy.
The sound of the blows was even louder than before.
Earlier, they had simply been doing a paid job.
Now…
It had become personal.
A man like this deserved everyone’s contempt.
Auntie Qian, who had just slapped him, couldn’t help spitting on the ground.
“Bah! Using a young girl’s inheritance to support another woman? Shameless! Ptooey!”
“Exactly! I thought this was just an unfilial daughter making trouble after marriage. Turns out it’s an ungrateful live-in son-in-law trying to seize the entire family fortune!”
“Shameless! Absolutely shameless! And this kind of person is actually a factory director!”
Clutching his burning cheeks, Sang Qingshan shot Sang Qing a venomous glare before anxiously turning toward the clan elders.
“Elders! Please judge this fairly! No matter what, I’m Sang Qing’s father! Treating me like this is unfilial!”
Over the years, the elders had accepted quite a few gifts from Sang Qingshan.
Naturally, they all leaned toward his side.
The head elder coughed awkwardly.
“Sang Qing… let’s set aside the matter of your father’s having married into the family first. He…”
“Set that aside?”
Sang Qing interrupted with a smile.
“Then what should we talk about?”
“About how he deprived his own biological daughter of food, clothing, and daily necessities?”
“Or should we talk about how Sang Yanyan is actually the illegitimate daughter he fathered behind my mother’s back?”
Her voice was gentle and sweet.
But every word exploded like thunder in everyone’s ears.
Chu Lanhua was the first to lose her composure.
It was true.
She had done those things.
But under no circumstances could the truth become public.
Otherwise…
How would her daughter ever get married?
“You’re lying!”
“Qingshan and I were completely innocent before!”
Her shrill voice pierced Sang Qing’s ears.
Sang Qing frowned in annoyance.
If she hadn’t awakened, she would never have known that Chu Lanhua had been Sang Qingshan’s mistress all along.
Nor would she have known that Sang Yanyan was actually his biological daughter.
She had always wondered why, after bringing her “burdensome daughter” into their home, Chu Lanhua had somehow convinced Sang Qingshan to dote on Sang Yanyan so outrageously.
He had treated Sang Yanyan even better than his own flesh and blood.
Now she finally understood.
Because Sang Yanyan was his biological daughter.
Heh.
Sang Yanyan was only a month younger than she was.
Sang Qingshan really knew how to keep up appearances.
“Whether I’m lying or not, a trip to the hospital for a blood test will settle it.”
“Sang Yanyan looks so much like Sang Qingshan that you can’t deny it even if you want to.”
Sang Qing looked at Chu Lanhua with unconcealed disgust.
“Since Sang Qingshan married into the Sang family, he forfeited any claim to this property.”
“He cheated first, and after my mother’s death he remarried into another household.”
“So naturally, everything belonging to the Sang family should be returned.”
Listening to Sang Qing repeatedly calling him a “live-in son-in-law” and saying he’d “married into another household,” the veins on Sang Qingshan’s forehead bulged violently.
Yet he couldn’t lay a finger on her.
Two terrifying old women stood in front of her.
Behind her stood a young man with the upright bearing of a soldier.
Originally, he’d thought he could simply marry Sang Qing off to some random villager and wash his hands of her.
Who could have imagined she’d somehow end up with an army regiment commander?
Not only had she remained in town, she’d even returned with people to challenge him.
He was about to explode with anger.
Grinding his teeth, he snapped,
“Your words don’t count! Since you’ve married out, the Sang family has nothing to do with you anymore!”
Turning to the elders, he pleaded,
“Elders, say something! You’re all respected members of the Sang family. Are you really going to let a mere little girl walk all over you?”
The elders exchanged glances before speaking one after another.
“Sang Qing, now that you’re married, your mother’s family line has effectively ended. There’s no need to fall out with your father over this.”
“That’s right. Parents are never truly at fault. Your mother is already gone—you can’t cut ties with your father too.”
“Our Sang family cannot produce such an unfilial descendant. Filial piety means obeying your elders. You should understand that, Sang Qing…”
…
Sang Qing gently folded her hands together, lightly tapping the back of one hand with the other as though she were watching a play.
She looked at the elders with an amused smile.
She listened patiently until they had talked themselves hoarse.
Only then did she finally speak.
“Finished?”
She slowly rose to her feet.
Looking around at every one of the clan elders, she said calmly,
“As long as I, Sang Qing, am alive, I remain a member of the Sang family.”
“If any of you want to stand up for Sang Qingshan…”
“Step forward.”
“As for everyone else who has nothing to do with this…”
“Get the hell out now.”
“Otherwise, when the fighting starts later, don’t blame me if blood splatters all over you.”