Chapter 25 – Past Life: Madam Chen Boldly Returns the Grain

Everyone was shocked—except He Yanxin.

His face was full of mixed emotions; he hadn’t expected this side of his wife at all.

Then came a wave of bitterness: if not for Prince Qi, they would have had so much more time to understand every part of each other.

Because he was worried that without him around, the long-resentful couple Wu Erlang and his wife would harm his wife and children, He Yanxin always made a point to follow and watch them whenever they delivered meals.

Since it was Wu Xiaoniang who cooked the porridge, he was at least reassured—except for it being thin and saltless as instructed by her second aunt, nothing else had been added during the process.

But today, when he went to inspect as usual, he saw Madam Li spitting into the porridge and even stirring it in.

Panicking, he rushed back to find Qingniang, staying beside her and whispering nonstop that she must not eat it, praying for a miracle.

Then he discovered—she hadn’t been taken advantage of.

His wife was clever! He Yanxin became joyful, gazing affectionately at Lady Song, who was “sobbing” dramatically on the ground.

He didn’t think Qingniang was scheming or manipulative—he just found her adorable. And many of his worries faded.

It’s one thing to bully others, but never let others bully you. Besides, she was simply fighting back.

Over on her end, Lady Song was now being helped up—by none other than Wu Xiaoniang, who had run out.

The child was also remarkable. Seeing the spilled porridge on the ground, she immediately burst into tears. Between sobs, she cried out that this was the food her mother and little brother were supposed to eat today, and she had saved it just for them.

Now that it had been spilled—what would Aunt Qing eat?

Everyone looked at the watery, runny porridge on the ground and instantly understood everything.

Clearly, it wasn’t just that they were bullying a widow and orphans out here; they were also bullying them at home!

It had already been mentioned before—people in this time cared deeply about reputation. Even though the two families didn’t have close ties with the rest of the village, everyone still had to condemn such behavior publicly.

So, all at once, the crowd started scolding Madam Li from every direction and also offered comfort to Lady Song.

Someone even went to summon Wu Erlang, who had been hiding at home, ordering him to return the grain to the He family.

Old Master Wu, who had been eavesdropping behind the door, was so ashamed he couldn’t bring himself to go out. Instead, he returned to his room and painfully tried to speak in front of his bedridden wife.

He was simply too ashamed to face Lady Song. But what could he do? He couldn’t even speak clearly now, and all the money and grain at home were under his second daughter-in-law’s control.

Especially heartbreaking was the state of his wife—paralyzed in bed and only cared for by himself and his eldest granddaughter. The second son and his wife had never stepped into this room to check on her.

At least they hadn’t dared to feed her thin porridge, since he wasn’t mute after all. Being labeled unfilial was serious—it could lead to being reported to the authorities.

Seeing his wife’s eyes darting quickly in agitation, he took her hand and gently patted it to calm her.

“Out…side…no…problem…rest…easy…” With his body in this condition, he didn’t dare make her any more upset.

Wu Erlang finally came out—but not with any grain. Very shamelessly, he claimed the cabinet key was with his wife, and there was nothing he could do.

Madam Li, full of confidence, argued back, saying that Lady Song and her children had been eating their family’s food these past days, so that sack of grain was compensation.

Who on earth could eat eighty jin (about 44 kg) worth of food in two days? Clearly, she was being completely unreasonable!

Suddenly—BANG—the Wu family’s main gate was flung open, and an axe was thrown outside.

Next came Madam Chen, dragging a sack of grain with her son’s help. Her face looked pale and unwell.

Everyone stared at the axe on the ground in stunned silence. No one had expected this usually meek and quiet woman to do something so bold.

“As the eldest sister-in-law of this family, I am taking it upon myself today to return this eighty jin of grain to the He family.”

The phrase “Elder brother is like a father; elder sister-in-law is like a mother” wasn’t just an empty saying. Especially now that she was a widowed sister-in-law, her word held weight.

Sure enough, with that one sentence, Wu Erlang and his wife fell completely silent. The villagers also praised Madam Chen’s righteousness, saying she truly had the grace and authority of an elder sister-in-law.

Madam Li was seething, but no matter how arrogant she was at home, she couldn’t show any disrespect in public. All she could do was watch helplessly as the grain she had gotten her hands on was taken away.

She glared hard at Madam Chen, cheeks puffed in anger.

Just wait—I’ll deal with you later at home!

Madam Chen’s body trembled slightly but she stood firm. With help from her daughter and son, she dragged the sack of grain to the feet of Lady Song, who had been frozen in place since Madam Chen first stepped out the door.

Madam Chen gave a faint smile. Lady Song smiled in return—no words were needed.

No matter what, for the sake of their children and for themselves, they had to start fighting back. Otherwise, people would only keep stepping on them, grinding them into the dirt.

From that day forward, Madam Li never again gained the upper hand over Lady Song.

Even Madam Chen, once timid, began asserting her authority as the eldest sister-in-law at home. Old Master Wu also fully supported his eldest daughter-in-law.

Madam Li could only rage helplessly, again and again, in frustration.

After being shut down once more by Madam Chen, Madam Li sat in her room, deeply puzzled.

How had her once docile, submissive sister-in-law suddenly become so formidable?

But things couldn’t go on like this.

With her not-so-bright mind, Madam Li began searching for a solution—but she truly had none.

She couldn’t outtalk Lady Song, nor counter her moves. And she hadn’t even realized what her own reputation outside the home had become.

In terms of status, she couldn’t overpower Madam Chen either. Even her father-in-law sided with Madam Chen now.

Was she really going to be crushed under the feet of these two women for the rest of her life?

It was all Wu Erfan’s fault—such a useless man! She glared at him as he snored like thunder on the bed.

Return to her maiden home? She wasn’t stupid enough to use her own money and food to feed that whole family. And frankly, her own sisters-in-law there weren’t necessarily any better than Madam Chen.

Suddenly, she remembered something the man who bought rice from her in town had said last time.

Nowadays, grain in Qizhou wasn’t exactly worth its weight in gold—but the prices were outrageously high.

She had brought five jin of rice that day and sold it for twenty taels! Four taels per jin—two years ago, that would’ve bought over four stones of grain.

While making the deal, the man had vaguely said, after hearing she had more at home, “No need to bring it next month. I’ll be leaving Qizhou soon.”

Leaving? Even she, a village woman, knew that no one could get out of Qizhou these days. How was he planning to leave?

Madam Li flew into a rage and grabbed the man, threatening to report him unless he told her how.

Helpless, the man revealed the method.

In the southwest of Qizhou was a checkpoint called Juhuang Pass. The guards there weren’t as strict as other places. Plus, he had some connections with the soldiers stationed there.

So, he arranged to smuggle his whole family out on the sixteenth of next month at night.

However, since there were other guards too, everyone needed to be bribed. The cost was one hundred taels of silver per person.

Next month’s sixteenth? That was just three days from now!

Madam Li bent down, pried up a floorboard under the bed, and pulled out a cloth bundle. Then she climbed up to the ceiling beam and retrieved a dusty pouch.

Inside the cloth bundle was a silver ingot worth twenty taels and over six taels in loose change. The pouch held a silver note worth fifty taels.

Of the total, forty-four taels were what she had secretly saved over the eleven years since marrying into the Wu family.

How did she manage to save so much?

Did people really think every time she carried big bundles home, it was for her mother’s family? Of course not! She’d secretly sold them in town and only brought a token portion back home.

And most of the money Wu Erfan brought back from his labor? She kept it.

The two taels that Granny Ge found in the cabinet last time? That was just a decoy to protect her real savings.

The remaining thirty-two taels had come from selling rice over the past few months.

Besides that five-jin batch, she had also sold smaller one- and two-jin amounts in secret.

And all that rice? She’d stolen it—night after night, sneaking into the kitchen and taking it from the pantry under cover of darkness.

(End of Chapter)