Chapter 739 - 381: Inconvenient to Stay (Part 2)

Chapter 739: Chapter 381: Inconvenient to Stay (Part 2)

’Under normal circumstances, she would never treat a little girl like this, but she couldn’t afford to be soft-hearted now. Otherwise, was she supposed to wait and play mind games with them later, getting embroiled in household drama? Who had the time for that? She still had plenty of plans for reclaiming land and farming.’

She ignored the fiery glares from Grand-aunt and Seventh Granny, and the hostile expression on the other wife’s face. Turning her head, she saw her mother entering the courtyard, cracking melon seeds. She quickly said, "Mom, what are you doing here again? We were about to head over. My mother-in-law and I are just seeing our guests out. We’ll be right there."

She turned back and explained apologetically to the bewildered Grand-aunt and the others, "My mother cooked a meal and asked our whole family to go over and eat, so we don’t have to cook dinner tonight. Huai Zi and I just came back to get them. Mom, is Yangzi back from his grandmother’s house?" She directed the last question to He.

He was staring blankly at Juhua. When asked, she quickly replied, "He’s back. He’s in his room studying."

Huai Zi looked at Juhua with a slight smile. "I’ll go get him. We two can head over first so we don’t keep Mom waiting." He then said to Grand-aunt, "Take care," and went into the first room on the east side.

Madam Yang had come to see what was going on and hadn’t known how to start the conversation. Hearing what Juhua said, she chimed in, "I finished cooking, but you all still hadn’t come over, so I came to check. Are you seeing guests out? Oh, it’s Grand-aunt. Well now, what a rare guest. Good thing it’s not Fifth Granny, or I might not have been able to stop myself from cussing someone out on the second day of the New Year!"

Juhua quickly stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and said in a low voice, "Mom! Listen to you. Grand-aunt is the kindest person. How could you compare her to Fifth Granny? She would never do something so black-hearted and rotten, so despicable and shameless, that would just get people gossiping behind her back."

Hearing this, the expressions of Grand-aunt and her companions changed instantly.

Just then, Liu Heizi finished hitching the ox cart. He removed the threshold from the courtyard gate, leaned it to the side, and called out, "Young Madam, the cart is ready. The grannies can get on now."

At this point, Grand-aunt and the others had no choice but to leave. The little girls were the first to run out. The one in the red dress had already left the courtyard and was nowhere to be seen.

Grand-aunt stared at Juhua with a dark expression. ’I really underestimated her.’

Juhua stared right back without hesitation, not bothering to hide her contempt, disgust, and ruthless determination. Her gaze seemed to say, ’If you dare try something like this again, just see how I’ll deal with you!’

The old woman felt a chill run down her spine under the young wife’s terrifyingly cold stare. She quickly said to Seventh Granny, "Let’s go, let’s not keep them waiting. We’ll be home just in time for dinner." With that, she stumbled down the steps and headed for the ox cart.

Only one wife remained. Seeing how Juhua had sent them all packing in just a few sentences after she arrived, giving them no chance to speak, she was naturally furious and wanted to say a few malicious words.

"Well, well! I never would have guessed. Huai Zi’s wife is so capable, isn’t she? The mother-in-law stands to the side without saying a word while she sends the guests packing. Who’s really in charge of this house? The way I see it, the daughter-in-law seems more important than the mother-in-law here!"

Juhua sneered. "No matter how capable I am, I could never compare to you, Auntie—so virtuous and polite. Grand-aunt is already on the cart, yet you’re still standing here spouting unpleasantries. Don’t you know who the host is and who the guest is in this courtyard? Such a ’rare’ guest indeed! We haven’t seen you in years, it’s like you just popped out of the woodwork. My mother is kind-hearted and very reasonable. As the saying goes, ’A hint is enough for a wise man,’ but there’s nothing you can do when you meet someone thick-skinned and shameless. We clearly didn’t ask them to stay, but they stayed on their own, acting as if someone was desperate to have them here. And that’s not all. They love to run their mouths, criticizing other people’s affairs, all while harboring shameful schemes. They’re obviously bullying my mother-in-law because she’s soft-hearted and agreeable. As her daughter-in-law, of course I have to step in. Otherwise, if one day they cause trouble and make my mother-in-law sick with anger, who would we turn to for justice?"

She then turned and called out loudly to Liu Heizi in the courtyard, "Uncle Liu, tell Heipi too. From today on, you need to be stricter about who you let into this courtyard. Don’t just let anyone in. Relatives have ranks too, you know. Don’t let in the kind who fawn on the powerful and trample the weak, the ones full of schemes who have no respect for the scholar of the house, the ones without a shred of human decency."

Liu Heizi quickly replied, "Understood, Young Madam!"

Grand-aunt, who was in the cart, was so infuriated by Juhua’s words that she nearly fell over backward. She stuck her head out and yelled at the wife, "Qing’s wife, are you getting on this cart or not, you worthless wretch? Do you enjoy being cursed at that much?"

Seeing Qing’s wife glaring furiously and fearing she would start cursing at Juhua, Madam Yang stepped forward with a stern expression. "You go back and take a message to Fifth Granny. Tell her to stop getting funny ideas. If she has so much free time to dream up crooked schemes and covet what others have, she’d be better off spending that energy making sure her kids study hard. Maybe she’ll raise a scholar that way. It’s better than doing wicked things."

When He saw that Qing’s wife was about to blow up, she feared a fight would break out that wouldn’t end. Desperate for her to leave, she stepped forward and said, "Sister-in-law Qing, hurry and get on the cart. Grand-aunt is waiting for you. My dear in-law," she said to Madam Yang, "Sister-in-law Qing doesn’t agree with Fifth Granny’s ideas either. She’s a sensible person, very courteous, and she dotes on her children. But she’s a junior, so it’s not her place to deliver that message to Fifth Granny." As she spoke, she gently pushed the other wife toward the cart.

Being called "sensible and courteous," the wife had no choice but to swallow the bellyful of barbed insults she was about to unleash. She climbed onto the cart resentfully, and Liu Heizi cracked the whip, driving the cart away.

Once the cart had left the courtyard, Madam Yang spat on the ground. "Ptooey!" she cursed. "So they really were up to no good. Do they think our family is that easy to bully?"

He felt awkward about Juhua’s major outburst that day—’If only I had been a bit quicker on my feet and found an excuse to send them away’—and quickly said to Madam Yang, "Sister-in-law, don’t say such angry things. It’ll just make Juhua feel uncomfortable hearing it. No matter what they’re plotting, it’s just wishful thinking. Dashuan and I will never let them have their way, and Huai Zi would never even dream of it."

(To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting the author with your recommendation votes and monthly passes on qidian.com. Your support is their greatest motivation.)