Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 24 - 23 Harm others will Harm Oneself

Chapter 24: Chapter 23 Harm others will Harm Oneself

Chapter 24 -23 Harm others will Harm Oneself

Mrs.

Shen was so angry she felt her lungs would burst.

She wished she could tear Mrs.

Li’s mouth apart.

Cowed by Mr.

Shen’s words, she prevented herself from hurling any more accusations.

She did, however, look at Mrs.

Li with such malicious hatred that if eyes could kill, Mrs.

Li would have died several times over.

“Housekeeper Hu, the Shen family is a family of literati, even if we’re steeped in poverty, we would never sell our children.

Our misfortune stems from an unvirtuous daughter-in-law.

How about we recompense you the silver according to our contract?”

Housekeeper Hu, not wishing to escalate the situation and being interested solely in acquiring his money, agreed upon the contractual repayment.

Mrs.

Li would owe him a hundred taels of silver and there was no reason to argue, “Alright, as long as you compensate me the hundred taels, we can leave the matter at that.”

Mr.

Shen instructed Mrs.

Li and Mrs.

Shen to bring out the silver.

Mrs.

Shen brought out twenty taels, and Mrs.

Li brought out thirty.

Together, they had only fifty taels.

“Where is the remaining fifty taels?” Mr.

Shen asked Mrs.

Li.

Mrs.

Li, looking at the fifty taels in Mr.

Shen’s hands, whimpered in deep distress, “This incident took place before the family divided.

Back then mother agreed to it, so this money should come out of the public fund.

Even if the money does not come from the public fund, mother should pay a portion.”

Upon hearing this, Mrs.

Shen was furious.

She pointed at Mrs.

Li accusatorily, “You unscrupulous woman!

You’re trying to take my life by deviously causing harm to me like this!

Has a dog eaten your conscience!?

Son, divorce her or she will be the death of me!”

“Father, Jinghua and the others are your grandsons.

We just divided the family assets, and we haven’t had the opportunity to buy anything.

I’m afraid I don’t have enough silver to afford the compensation.” Mrs.

Li genuinely burst into tears.

She did not hold have fifty taels to pay the compensation.

Mr.

Shen remained silent, contemplating how to resolve the situation.

“You made this mess, you clean it up.

You can’t expect someone else to clean up after you!” Mrs.

Shen spat out in disgust.

“Father, my head hurts so much.” Xiao’er clutched her head in pain.

“What’s wrong, Xiao’er?

Does your head hurt a lot?” Shen Chengyao, slightly moved, cradled Xiao’er and examined her carefully.

Mrs.

Liu stopped crying, her eyes red and swollen.

She gently touched Xiao’er’s forehead, “Xiao’er, what’s wrong?

Why did your head suddenly start hurting?

Don’t scare me!”

This commotion drew everyone’s attention to Xiao’er.

Xiao’er shook her head, pretending to regain consciousness.

Then, she said, “Father, mother, I remember now.

The reason I was injured by the stream was because my second cousin pushed me.

I heard Aunt Li and Uncle talking and she pushed me knowingly.”

Shen Bei’er and Mrs.

Li went pale with fright upon hearing this.

Mrs.

Li first regained her composure and pointed at Xiao’er, rebuking, “You wicked child, don’t talk nonsense!

You fell because you were not careful.

Stop trying to frame Bei’er.”

Xiao’er deliberately shrank into Shen Chengyao’s arms and weakly countered, “That’s not true, I heard you and Uncle saying you’re going to sell me to Hu Mansion to become a maid.

Uncle even mentioned that Hu Mansion buys maids to train them and then send them to Juhua Pavilion to work as prostitutes!

I also heard that you’ve saved twenty-three taels as private funds!”

“Mother, what is a prostitute?” Xiao’er feigned innocence and asked Mrs.

Liu.

Seething with rage, Shen Chengyao thundered, “Mrs.

Li, you’re no longer my sister-in-law.

I don’t want such a wonderful sister-in-law!”

Mrs.

Liu handed her daughter to Jingrui and rushed forward.

She grabbed Mrs.

Li and slapped her, “This slap is for wanting to sell my daughter!”

Then she swung her hand back and slapped Shen Bei’er, who was still in a daze, “This slap is for nearly causing the death of my daughter!”

She then picked up the pole from the corner, broke it with her knee and forcefully tossed it onto the ground, “I’m telling you all, whoever dares to harm my children in the future, I don’t care who they are, I won’t let them off!”

Mrs.

Li and Shen Bei’er were scared stiff, not daring to make a sound.

Xiao’er was close to applauding Mrs.

Liu: My mother is so mighty!

This was the first time Mrs.

Shen had seen Mrs.

Liu angry.

She was so shocked that she thought Mrs.

Liu was going to use the pole to beat her.

Seeing Mrs.

Liu just breaking the pole and throwing it on the ground, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, thinking back to Xiao’er’s words, she inwardly fumed at Mrs.

Li for having so much private assets.

The battle began anew.

“How wonderful, Mrs.

Li.

Not only do you sell your nieces, but you also have so much private money.

You eat the most and do the least all day long.

Your heart is as black as coal.

Since you have so much silver, use it to compensate.

Don’t think I am giving you a penny!” After saying this, she took back the 20 taels she had just taken out.

She had long wanted to do this, and now finally had an excuse.

Mrs.

Li now deeply regretted her actions.

Shen Chengzong, seeing the situation in his mother-in-law’s house causing more damage despite all the commotion, became anxious: “Father, mother, you can’t ignore the life and death of your son and grandsons.

We can’t afford so much silver.

We won’t have anything left to live on!”

“Don’t call me mother!

How could I have given birth to such a heartless and unfilial son like you?

If you don’t pay, should I?

We have already divided the family.

You should deal with the trouble you’ve caused.

Don’t bother me, you heartless ones.” Mrs.

Shen was furious at these words.

“Since there is no silver to compensate, then I’ll just take Shen Bei’er back to be a maid.

Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to report you.” The manager of the Hu Mansion had seen the silver diminishing with all the noise and was also getting impatient.

Shen Bei’er cried and clung to Mrs.

Li: “Mother, I don’t want to become a prostitute.”

The Hu Mansion has always done its maid recruitment secretly, with no one ever daring to expose the fact that they were essentially recruiting prostitutes.

Now that it was being brought up repeatedly, the housekeeper was also angry: “If you’re going to give the silver, do it quickly.

Otherwise, we’ll take this to the authorities at once.

A hundred taels, not a coin less!”

Mrs.

Li trembled in fright and cried, “But I really don’t have that much silver!”

Shen Chengzong remembered that he had a hold on his eldest brother.

If he asked him for money, his brother would surely give it to him.

So he said, “Mr.

Hu, my eldest brother runs a grocery store in town.

He’s definitely got a hundred taels.

I’ll take you to get it.”

“Shen Chengzong, you dare!

If you dare to go and take silver from your brother, I’ll break your legs today!

Your brother doesn’t have that much silver.” Mr.

Shen became angry as well when he heard these words.

This rebellious son was intent on bothering his eldest son, Wen’er, during this critical period.

“Father, but I know a secret about my eldest brother.

Once I ask him, he will definitely gather the silver for me.” Shen Chengzong said with a cheeky expression.

“Don’t bother your older brother.

Since your mother was also involved in this matter, the money should be divided equally between you and her.” Mr.

Shen closed his eyes – this unfilial son, so disrespectful, so uncontrollable!

“Wife, take out fifty taels.

If it’s not enough, put Shen Yuzhu’s dowry first!

Make up to Yuzhu later.”

Mrs.

Shen glared harshly at Shen Chengzong and his wife when she heard this, but looking at Mr.

Shen’s tone, she dared not refuse.

Normally when Mr.

Shen spoke in this tone there was no room for discussion.

“The remaining 50 taels, you two should be able to afford them.

Any more and your mother and I can’t afford them either.” Mr.

Shen turned to Shen Chengzong and said weakly.

He was utterly disappointed.

After hearing Shen Chengzong’s words, Xiao’er couldn’t help turning over in her mind: What exactly is the secret?

And do Mr.

Shen and Mrs.

Shen also know about it?

Otherwise, they shouldn’t have reacted like this.

She glanced at Shen Chengyao and Mrs.

Liu again; their faces were full of confusion.

They were clearly unaware.

Then she glanced at Shen Chengzu and his wife; they were similarly clueless.

Could this be her family’s matter?

The matter was eventually resolved after Mrs.

Li also took out the fifty taels.

But the aftermath was that Mrs.

Li became a despised figure to Xiao’er’s family and was further resented by Mrs.

Shen and Shen Yuzhu.

As a result, for a long time afterward, Mrs.

Shen would deliberately assign every possible task to the second branch of the family, making their life miserable.

It’san understatement to say that Mrs.

Li has lost more than she had gained in this matter.