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“Is this about selling your daughter at a high price to a crippled, unmarried man who can’t find a wife, or sending her to a wealthy household to be a concubine? The scholar wants to sell his daughter for glory; truly a man of noble character!”
Ye Caiping continued mocking.
Li Zhiyuan, who was most sensitive about his reputation, couldn’t stand the slightest insult: “Absurd! Absurd! How could I, a scholar, ever… ever sell my daughter for glory!”
Ye Caiping sincerely gave a thumbs up: “With you here, it’s really something! Giving you a like!”
“Come, everyone, take a look! Our scholar is a man of high moral character, truly worthy of becoming an official!”
“Also, also, the Li family is now a prestigious, wealthy family, and the daughter is truly a financial burden!”
“With a bride price of ten taels, they give a dowry of twenty. With fifty taels, they give a hundred. Otherwise, how could they even be considered a prestigious family?”
Old Man Ye, watching Ye Caiping’s antics, was already stunned—could it really be done this way?
The two young sisters-in-law, who were supporting Ye Caiping, exchanged a glance and quickly joined in:
“Oh wow, truly deserving of the scholar! My nephew’s cousin’s uncle is a storyteller at a wine house. I’ll make sure to find him tomorrow, so he can spread the word about the scholar’s noble character!”
“My brother-in-law just happens to be a classmate of the scholar. If he hears about this, all their classmates will definitely admire the scholar’s character!”
Second Aunt Ye chimed in: “I’m very familiar with the matchmaker at the town entrance. I’ll talk to her directly and tell her that the scholar’s family is a prestigious one, and the daughter is of high value. If she’s going to marry, it must be to a good man, no dowry required, and the dowry should be doubled! She’ll need to keep an eye out for a good family!”
Whether it’s the matchmaker or the gossipers, news spreads fast.
If Second Aunt Ye really goes to the matchmaker with a few words, the entire region will know, and by then, no one will be able to marry their daughters for money.
Old Li nearly had a stroke from anger: “What are you all babbling about? Ask anyone in the village—whose daughter gets married for a loss?”
“Well, us poor folks who can barely make ends meet, we have no choice but to do things like this,” Ye Caiping shrugged, “Isn’t the scholar’s family supposed to be prestigious? Why does it seem that a scholar isn’t worth much?”
“Sigh, even becoming a scholar isn’t anything impressive. They’re just like us peasants—they have to sell their daughters to make money!”
Old Li was so furious her eyes nearly rolled back in her head: “You insolent woman, if you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll tear your mouth apart! The scholar is certainly impressive—unlike you mud-legged folks, he’s from a prestigious, wealthy family!”
“Exactly!” Ye Caiping clapped her hands, “A prestigious family always offers a generous dowry; they don’t sell their daughters for glory.”
She kept twisting the knife! Old Li was on the verge of spitting blood: “You, you evil woman… Very well, very well!”
Suddenly, Old Li seemed to have thought of something, and her anger seemed to subside a bit.
“Go ahead and spread the word! Once the heat dies down, I’ll just sell these two financial burdens to the county!”
But to her surprise, Ye Caiping said something even more infuriating: “From now on, I’ll keep a close eye on both my daughters, hoping they marry into a good family soon! I’m sure the noble scholar won’t disappoint anyone.”
“And if one day they suddenly disappear, it must be because some greedy, shameless man abducted them. At that point, I’ll definitely report it to the authorities!”
Old Li’s anger flared up again, her temper interrupted once more.
In the Zhou dynasty, selling children wasn’t illegal, but causing a scandal like this would bring shame!
Especially with Li Zhiyuan’s status as a scholar—he was afraid it could affect his prospects for future exams.
“This won’t work! That won’t work! We still need to provide a generous dowry for these two financial burdens!”
Could it really come down to losing money?
“Enough! Everyone, shut up!” Li Zhiyuan snapped, his face darkening as he waved his sleeve. “Ye, I know you want to take my daughters as your own, but I’m not unreasonable.”
“Zhiyuan, what are you planning to do?” Old Li immediately cut him off.
Was he really going to give those two burdens to Ye?
They were worth tens of taels!
“Listen to me!” Li Zhiyuan shot her a glare.
Old Li immediately backed down; in their home, Li Zhiyuan had always been the one in charge.
Li Zhiyuan knew full well the value of his two daughters, but Ye, that venomous woman, had them all strung up like roasted game, and yet they couldn’t get down from the fire!
The problem was, he couldn’t explain this matter to anyone outside—if he did, how would his peers and classmates see him? Would they say that a scholar like him was unwilling to provide a proper dowry? That he was selling his daughters?
He either had to sacrifice money to marry them off, or risk losing all face and becoming the laughingstock in front of his classmates.
Besides, he was about to marry soon, and keeping these two illegitimate children around would only disgust her bride.
Li Zhiyuan sneered coldly: “It’s not that I’m unwilling to pay for a generous dowry for my daughters. It’s that they want to run away themselves. It seems they really want to live with Ye family.”
With that, he turned his gaze to the two girls.
“Zhaodi, Laidi, have you thought it through? Do you really want to go with your mother?”
“She’s a woman who beats her mother-in-law, a wicked woman, and a divorced woman with a ruined reputation. If you follow her, don’t expect to marry into a good family in the future.”
“If you stay with us, you’ll still be the daughters of a scholar! Have you thought about living a better life?”
Ye Caiping almost burst out laughing with a “pfft.”
A penniless scholar, just because she praised him a little, truly thought he was some kind of noble family? A “daughter of a noble family” indeed!
Old Man Ye and the others nervously watched the two granddaughters, fearing they wouldn’t want to go with them.
Old Li and Li Zhiyuan were just as anxious.
The sisters clung to each other, their faces filled with panic. In the end, Li Zhaodi spoke in a low voice: “I want to live with Mother.”
“I… I do too,” Li Laidi said timidly.
Li Zhiyuan’s face darkened: “Very well, this is your choice.”
Ye Caiping quickly pulled the two girls behind her: “Bring out their household registration, and also, write the Severance letter!”
Li Zhiyuan turned and went into the house. After a short while, he returned with the household registration and paper and pen.
With a few swift strokes, Li Zhiyuan wrote the Severance letter.
Ye Caiping took the household registration and the Severance letter, breathing a sigh of relief—finally, it was all settled.
Old Li glared hatefully at Li Zhaodi and Li Laidi: “Blind, ungrateful brats! Once you leave this house, you’ll no longer be the daughters of a scholar’s family!”
Ye Caiping, now holding the Severance letter, finally couldn’t hold back her laughter:
“Hahaha, tell me, how much gold does your family have? Will it allow them to drink half a bowl more of coarse rice porridge a day, or do less farm work? A penniless scholar digging for food in a pit, and yet you think they’re ‘daughters of a noble family’? Pah!”
“Poof, hahahahaha!” The people around, hearing this, all burst into laughter.
Although a scholar is impressive, he still has to farm! And their family certainly doesn’t have much gold!
The people of Li Family Village chuckled briefly, but quickly suppressed it—after all, they were on Li Zhiyuan’s side. How could they boost someone else’s morale?
“Scoundrel!” Li Zhiyuan finally reacted.
Though he was a scholar, he still had a long way to go; calling himself a “daughter of a scholar’s family” was far from accurate:
“I, Li Zhiyuan, hereby declare once again that Li Zhaodi and Li Laidi are no longer my daughters. From now on, don’t even think about using the title ‘daughter of a scholar’ to marry!”
“Rest assured! Who would want to be associated with dog shit?”
“You—wicked woman! Vulgar! Hmph!”
Li Zhiyuan, with an air of self-righteous superiority, acted as though he would not stoop to argue with vulgar people. With a sharp flick of his sleeve, he turned and walked back into the house.
Ye Caiping, with the two girls in tow, went into the house to pack their things.
Old Li stood at the doorway with a dark expression, staring fixedly, afraid that Ye Caiping would take even a single stitch from the Li family.
The money Li Zhiyuan spent was all from Ye Caiping’s family, yet her own wardrobe barely had ten sets of clothes.
The sisters, Zhaodi and Laidi, had even fewer—only four sets of clothes, two for summer and two for winter.
The three women, carrying small bundles, climbed onto the ox cart and left, departing with Ye’s family.
Old Li watched the two ox carts disappear in the distance, fuming with anger and cursing loudly:
“Shameless things! A divorced woman, and two vile brats—back to that poor, wretched Ye family! Let’s see how they live!”
The neighbors quickly tried to calm her down: “Aunt, don’t be angry. Zhaodi and Laidi are just blind to their own situation. They’ll have their share of hardships ahead.”
“Zhiyuan is a scholar now, and he’ll become a juren and then a jinshi. Once he becomes an official, he’ll earn you titles and honor!”
“They’re just a bunch of poor wretches, born with no luck or fortune.”
Old Li was flattered by the neighbors’ praise, and her mood finally improved:
“Dogwa’s mother, Yanzi’s mother, you two have been such a great help these past couple of days. Come, come, sit in my house for a while.”
Yesterday, when she claimed that Ye Caiping had pushed her, Dogwa’s mother had been the first to stand up for her, saying she had witnessed Ye Caiping pushing someone.
Yanzi’s mother had been the second to support her. If it weren’t for these two good neighbors, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.
Note:
Characters
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Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty