Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

To be honest, Consort Zhang thought Cao was a fool. She didn't care that her family didn't provide a dowry, which Consort Zhang understood—some families don't want their property to go to someone outside their family. But Cao actually left the betrothal gifts and dowry her husband gave her to her own family, arriving at her husband's house empty-handed. Didn't she ever consider that money gives courage, and having your own money is worse than having your parents'? Even a hero can be brought down by a single penny; how difficult life is without money! She dared to leave herself empty-handed. With such a stupid mind, it's no wonder Erlang didn't like this wife. If she were Erlang, she wouldn't like her either, because she was too foolish.

But the eldest granddaughter-in-law is different. She brought back all the betrothal gifts and dowry that her eldest son gave her, and her family also gave her a dowry of five thousand taels. She is now very wealthy and can buy whatever she wants without relying on anyone. Naturally, she lives a leisurely and enjoyable life.

Upon hearing Consort Zhang mention that Aunt Cao had subsidized her family and that her family had withheld her betrothal gifts, Madam Cao's face flushed red and then turned pale. She could no longer speak and left angrily, cursing Consort Zhang in her heart for favoring Li Yu's family and treating them badly; she wished Consort Zhang would die quickly so that she wouldn't be able to get the money from Consort Zhang, and Linlang's family wouldn't get it either.

As for Consort Zhang's claim that her family withheld her betrothal gifts and refused to provide her with a dowry, leaving her penniless and living a miserable life, she showed no remorse whatsoever, only launching a tirade against Consort Zhang.

Because Consort Zhang didn't intend to cover up what Cao had done, the servants around Consort Zhang saw it and it naturally spread, eventually reaching Li Erlang's ears. When Li Erlang heard about it, he was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do with his hands. After all, his wife had gone to his grandmother to ask for money, which was extremely shameful.

Li Erlang immediately went to find Cao Shi. Seeing Cao Shi's overjoyed expression at his initiative to seek her out, he was not moved at all. On the contrary, he almost slapped her foolish face. He only refrained from hitting her because her birth mother, Aunt Cao, was her aunt. Then he pointed at her and said, "Are you crazy? Going to Grandmother to ask for money? She is so old. It is only right that we, the younger generation, support her. There is no reason for her to give us money! If she wants to give, that is her business. How can we, the younger generation, ask for it on our own initiative!"

When Cao saw Li Erlang come to her, she was initially quite happy, thinking he had remembered her and wanted to share a room with her. However, instead of sharing a room, he came to scold her for asking Consort Zhang for money. Cao felt wronged, but she didn't say that Li Erlang was bad for taking her monthly allowance, leaving her penniless and forcing her to ask Consort Zhang for money. After all, if she dared to bring that up, Li Erlang would definitely mention that her family had withheld the betrothal money and gifts, saying that if she had brought them back, he certainly wouldn't have confiscated her monthly allowance. In that case, she wouldn't be able to produce the betrothal money and gifts, putting her at a disadvantage. So, she could only whine and shift the blame, saying, "I did this for my family! Look, Her Majesty gave my sister-in-law a box of gold and silver beans. I estimate there are at least a hundred taels of silver, which is a lot. It could buy so many clothes and jewelry. But she didn't give any to our family. Our family is definitely at a disadvantage, so I went to ask for it."

Cao wanted to smear Linlang and incite her husband's dissatisfaction with Consort Zhang's favoritism so that they could join her in attacking Consort Zhang and Zhou Linlang. However, Li Erlang said, "Grandmother often asks my sister-in-law to come and massage her. And my sister-in-law is not her servant. Isn't it normal for her to give her some rewards for this? It's because you don't please Grandmother that you don't get any rewards."

Cao said aggrievedly, "I'd love to massage Grandmother too, but she doesn't like me and won't let me go over to massage her. What can I do? What do you mean by 'the massage is tiring, so I'm giving money to my sister-in-law'? Don't I know this kind of biased trick? It's just finding an excuse to give money to my sister-in-law."

Actually, Cao wasn't entirely wrong, because Consort Zhang gave Linlang money for half the reason. One reason was that Linlang's massages were indeed comfortable for Consort Zhang, making Consort Zhang genuinely enjoy them; the other reason was indeed as Cao stated.

There are five grandchildren, three sons and two daughters, but Consort Zhang cannot give money to everyone. After all, among these grandchildren, there are those she likes and those she doesn't like so much. So how can she give money to those she likes and not to those she doesn't like? She either gives it secretly or finds a suitable reason to give it openly. This is how old people usually do things if they are biased.

Therefore, Cao Shi wasn't entirely wrong. Li Erlang also understood this principle, but he certainly couldn't say it like that, lest word get out and people say that he criticized his grandmother for being biased because he coveted her money.

Although it's wrong for his grandmother to be biased, outsiders might gossip and say things like, "How can this old lady be so biased?" But if he covets his grandmother's money, people will criticize him even more, saying that it's one thing for him to ask his parents for money, but to ask his grandmother for money is just too despicable.

People might still criticize him, saying that his birth mother gave the money to someone else, and he didn't dare to argue with her, but he dared to criticize his grandmother who had never taken his money. He's a fool who can't distinguish right from wrong.

So when Li Erlang heard Cao's complaints, fearing that it would be bad for him if it got out, he immediately stopped her, saying, "Don't talk nonsense, what favoritism! That day, Grandfather gave me a task, and after I completed it, he also gave me some rewards. If you say that the rewards Grandmother gave to my sister-in-law for massaging her were favoritism, then what about the rewards Grandfather gave me?"

You should know that when elders in the family give subsidies to younger generations, as long as it's done openly and legitimately, they will always find some proper and appropriate reasons.

Since they can give it openly and honestly, it must be because their reason is valid and no one can say anything about it. Therefore, if Madam Cao says that Consort Zhang's reward to Linlang is biased, then unless their family never receives any extra money, others can also say that the money their family receives from an elder is also biased, and that everyone is the same. This will stop their family from talking nonsense. So Madam Cao's words must not be said, as it will cause trouble if it gets out.

Upon hearing Li Erlang's words, Cao Shi fell silent. She hadn't considered that the Prince of Ying had given Li Erlang a task and rewarded him. In that case, it was indeed difficult to say that Consort Zhang's money to Zhou Linlang was favoritism. After all, it couldn't be that it was normal for your family to receive a reward, but it was considered favoritism for Zhou Linlang to receive one.

What Li Erlang didn't tell Cao Shi was that the things the Prince of Ying had asked him to do were genuinely important, and the rewards he received were far less valuable than what Consort Zhang had given Linlang.

But you can't say it like that; if you do, things will become difficult later. (End of Chapter)