Upon hearing this, Chen Er took a step forward, while touching the corner of his mouth and then gritting his teeth, saying, "Elder sister, honestly speaking, I’m not happy about my wife being shared with others, no matter how bad it is, she’s still my wife. But my words don’t count, my mother makes the decisions at home. I told my mother that I really didn’t want to give away the silver for my elder brother and younger brother’s betrothal gifts, so why not use the silver to buy a couple of girls from the town? It would be cheaper, but my mother still doesn’t agree."
Chen Er felt quite wronged too. Who wouldn’t want their wife all to themselves?
"You, as the second son, have become quite ambitious, haven’t you? How dare you blame your old mother?" Old Lady Chen glared angrily, "If it wasn’t for your elder brother not being at home back then, would this wife have ended up marrying you?"
Yang Chuxia understood now. No wonder Yang Dongzhi ended up marrying the second son instead of the eldest.
"Enough, no matter what the situation was initially, I just want to ask you now, Chen Er, do you want a wife, or do you want your wife to be shared? Or divorce?" Yang Chuxia paused and then continued, "Don’t even think about divorcing her, our Yang Family will not agree!"
Chen Er pondered for a moment and said, "Of course, I want a wife." At this point, he had also figured out some things. It seemed that the Yang Family was determined to stand up for their daughter-in-law. Furthermore, he knew that the third branch of the Yang Family was quite wealthy. This cousin was said to be quite capable, and all these questions she asked just now might be her way of helping them out.
Since that was the case, he couldn’t drag his feet. Otherwise, he would just be a fool, wouldn’t he?
Yang Chuxia nodded with satisfaction and then turned to Old Lady Chen, "You made my grandfather sick with anger, and now he’s lying in bed. The doctor just came to prescribe medicine, which cost eight taels of silver in total. You have to compensate us for this. First, pay me the silver, and then we’ll talk about your daughter-in-law."
"You’re farting!" Old Lady Chen suddenly jumped up, and although she had been scolded before and was in a lot of pain now, it still didn’t hinder her movement, "You hit us too, so you also have to compensate our medical expenses."
"Shut up! Who do you think you are, daring to yell at my young lady?" Before Old Lady Chen could say anything more, one of Yang Chuxia’s maid-chaperons rushed out and scolded Old Lady Chen.
Yang Chuxia was quite satisfied with the chaperon’s actions, giving her an approving look.
Then she looked at Old Lady Chen and continued with a wag of her finger, "You barged into my house and caused trouble, so you deserved to be hit. In any case, you must pay for my grandfather’s medical bills today. If you don’t, I’ll have someone report it to the authorities. I’m curious to know whether the County Magistrate will believe you or me. By the way, I’ll also ask the County Magistrate about whether there’s a law in our Great Zhou that allows a mother-in-law to force her daughter-in-law to share her husband."
As soon as Old Lady Chen heard about reporting to the authorities, she became afraid. In this era, there weren’t many common people who were not afraid of officials, and she also knew very well that she would never have the upper hand if she took the matter to court. It was said that the third branch of the Yang Family was quite rich, and just the number of servants and maids in their household was enough to prove it. If the Yang Family casually bribed the County Magistrate at that time, her entire family would be finished.
With these thoughts in mind, Old Lady Chen’s expression immediately changed, and she hurriedly tried to flatter Yang Chuxia, saying, "We can talk this out, please don’t report it to the authorities. Eight taels of silver is really too much... Can it be... reduced?"
Yang Chuxia raised her hand to interrupt her, and then asked, "Is eight taels of silver enough to buy a person to be your daughter-in-law?"
"This..." Old Lady Chen hesitated.
"If you don’t want to pay the silver today, and you don’t want to go to the authorities, I can give you a chance!" Yang Chuxia said, "If you want to take your daughter-in-law back, I won’t stop you. But you have to go back home and settle the marriage matters of your two sons first, whether you buy additional wives or find them through matchmaking. That’s your family’s business. But our Yang Family’s daughter will not be treated as you wish. You can come to take your daughter-in-law back only after your two sons have found their wives."