Oddly, in the Lian Family, a large household, not a single person stepped in to stop the fight. Could it be that everyone was out? That seed impossible. They had just finished dinner. Old Master Lian, Lian Shouyi, and Lian Shouli had gone to look at the fields; Lady He had gone out visiting neighbors. But Lian Shouren and his family were definitely all at ho.
It was Lian Shouren who had taken the group into town, with the plan devised by soone in the main house. If any of them ca out to stop the fight, wouldn’t that just redirect Zhao Xiue’s anger toward them? Zhao Xiue had a sharp tongue, and nobody knew what unpleasant words she would hurl next. The mbers of the main house were all clever people; why would they step in to diate the fight?
Then there was Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye. Lady Zhao was an exceptionally timid person; she would get so scared her heart would pound just from Lady Zhou’s angry stares. With the current tumult, who knew how frightened Lady Zhao might be, let alone step in to intervene. As for Lian Yeye, Manman glanced towards the West Wing Room. The door to the West Wing Room was ajar, and Lian Yeye was peering out with her little head.
When Lian Yeye t Manman’s gaze, she stuck out her tongue and quickly pulled her head back in.
At that mont, Lian Xiuxiu burst into tears with a loud cry.
"I’ll shove you, I did shove you, what will you do about it?" Lian Xiuxiu extended her arms, pushing wildly.
Manman touched her forehead, Lian Xiuxiu was really sothing else, clumsy and obstinate, utterly unbearable to watch.
Zhao Xiue was even more pleased with herself.
"Go ahead and push. Isn’t it exactly what you want, to kill the child inside so that mother and child wouldn’t bother you anymore..."
"Wife of Erlang, shut your mouth!" Lady Zhang suddenly exploded with a roar.
Indeed, it was a roar. Manman was standing right in front of Lady Zhang, and her ears were ringing a bit from the shock. As she rubbed her ears, she turned her head to see that Xiao Qi was innocently touching his own ears, too.
Manman hugged Xiao Qi.
Wu Lang and Lian Zhizhi both looked anxious.
"You’re with child, stop talking about dying. That’s your child..." Lady Zhang, clearly very agitated, blurted out incoherently, then turned and headed toward the West Wing Room with heavy footsteps.
"Fourth Aunt, please, persuade Xiue," Erlang said, appearing to grasp at a lifeline, pleading with Lady Zhang.
But Lady Zhang was like soone deaf, striding into the West Wing Room and slamming the door with a bang.
Manman and the others exchanged glances and silently turned to head back to the West Wing Room as well.
Zhao Xiue was stunned by Lady Zhang’s sudden outburst.
"You heartless, sharp-tongued woman," Lady Zhou finally caught her breath at this mont, protectively pulling Lian Xiuxiu behind her while pointing at Zhao Xiue and scolding, "You don’t care about your own child in your belly, throwing tantrums, spewing malicious lies, blaming others. You good-for-nothing, raised without a father or a mother’s teaching, you’re not even as good as an animal. What sins did our Old Lian Family commit in our past lives to have taken in a curse like you!"
Lady Zhou, with a heart full of old and new grudges, was truly scathing when she cursed soone, definitely not soone most people could withstand.
Zhao Xiue, on the receiving end of the tirade, was not one to take things lying down; she imdiately retaliated.
"How can I not love my child? But whose surna will this child take in the future, Zhao or Lian? Should a child of the Lians be raised by a Zhao? Aren’t you afraid of being pointed at when you go out?... Raised without a father or proper teaching, aren’t you talking about your own family? Whose old man lost face by bringing the Yan officers to their doorstep? Whose father and uncle shalessly grabbed their daughter-in-law’s dowry? Are these the ’good sons’ you bore? If we’re talking about committing sins, why bla the past life? Why don’t you look at yourself?" Zhao Xiue’s eyebrows were raised, indicating she had entered a higher level of quarreling, "Which of your family’s husbands didn’t walk a straight path, bringing the governnt officials knocking?"
"Pah, you wretched woman, acting as if your Old Zhao family comprises saints. You haven’t cleaned your own backside, yet you strut around, your monkey butt still hanging out," Lady Zhou shot back, "Your Old Zhao family, running a shop full of deception, has done every despicable deed under the sun... Zhao Xiue, what do you think you are, so high and mighty creature? Couldn’t climb a high branch and yet you couldn’t be married off. If our Old Lian Family hadn’t taken you in, would anyone even care about you now?"
It has to be said, Lady Zhou had previously spared Zhao Xiue so dignity, but now, with all pretense cast aside, her berating pierced like a series of sharp knives straight to Zhao Xiue’s heart.
"...Your Zhao family, too poor to wear trousers? Demanding a hundred and eighty Taels of Silver for a dowry right off the bat, pah, have you never seen silver in your lives? You didn’t sell your daughter that ruthlessly. Saying the dowry included one or two hundred silver, barely worth picking up if thrown in the street, that junk you brought. And fooling us by saying it’s part of the dowry, what did you bring back, a single coin or two? Our Old Lian Family’s hard-earned money, all swallowed by your Old Zhao family."
Speaking to this point, Lady Zhou was truly emotional, her voice breaking with a sobbing tone, painting the picture of one heartbroken over being swindled.
"Selling a pound of sugar, yet skimping on a nub of it, you treat silver as your kin, earning that dirty money, rushing to buy your own coffin, are you? And you still posture as if you’re the daughter of so noble family. Disdainful of marrying Erlang, did our Old Lian Family mistreat you? Pah, you shaless creature, if you were with any other family, you’d be bought as a pack mule, deserving of a whip. And yet you’re picky about what you eat and drink, getting too big for your britches. You said you wouldn’t live with Erlang anymore, didn’t you? We didn’t ask you back; it was your Old Zhao family who begged us, you shalessly returned. If you can’t stand this household, get out now!"
Lady Zhou’s powerful "Get out!" was accompanied by spit flying directly into Zhao Xiue’s face.
"I’ll leave, I’ll leave right now. Erlang, hurry up and take away!" Zhao Xiue, so harshly berated she turned deathly pale, tottered and fell into Erlang’s arms.
***......****
How did it co to this.
More updates coming later. (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it by casting your recomndation votes or monthly votes at Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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