Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1762 The Country Girl Looked Down Upon 83
Because the whole family reached a consensus, the matter became easier to handle. In the end, Zhou Erlang's leg was indeed broken. Although he was young and didn't have to stay in bed after recovering, he could still get out of bed and move around with difficulty. However, with that limited strength, it was impossible for him to go out gambling.

When Zhou Erlang saw his mother and younger brother, along with the servants, break his legs, he was naturally furious. But unfortunately, no one in his family, including his wife, concubines, and children, stood by him, so no matter how much he hated them, it was useless.

There was no other way. He used to gamble recklessly, and when he lost, he would run home demanding money. If his family refused, he would become frantic, smashing and destroying things around the house. This had terrified his wife, concubines, and children. So now that they saw him with his leg broken, barely able to stand after it healed, and no longer daring to smash things around the house demanding money or cause a scene if they didn't get it, they felt much more at ease. They increasingly felt that breaking Zhou Erlang's leg was the right thing to do. Who would stand on his side and blame Zhou Silang and Zhou Er's wife for what they did?

It was thanks to Linlang that Grandma Zhou persuaded Zhou Silang and Madam Zhou to do this that the family managed to preserve some of their wealth. In addition, with the house in the capital, they didn't end up like they did after their great-grandfather squandered the family fortune and had to live a miserable life in the countryside. Otherwise, it would have been a matter of time before they were destitute.

Of course, they might not leave and instead cling to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, or even Linlang and others, causing annoyance. Therefore, breaking Zhou Erlang's leg to prevent him from gambling is the outcome that everyone around wants to see.

The mess in the second wife's house wouldn't end there. After all, Zhou Erlang had spent so much money, how could Zhou Silang let it go? So, Zhou Silang and his new wife took over Zhou Er's housekeeping duties, saying that their family would be in charge from now on. They said that since their elder brother had spent so much money, their family was no longer qualified to manage the household. Then, Zhou Er's wife was getting old and it was time for her to retire.

Madam Zhou was overwhelmed by these troubles and was quite distressed, so she handed over the management of the household to Zhou Silang and his wife.

The management of the household was given to Zhou Silang, which naturally displeased Zhou Erlang's wife and children, who then started making a fuss.

Although they understood that breaking Zhou Erlang's legs was the right thing to do, otherwise the family would be completely ruined and they would have no chance to fight back. They might even be sold by Zhou Erlang to pay off his gambling debts when they were broke. Others may not know, but as for the concubines, if Zhou Erlang ran out of money to gamble and owed gambling debts, he would definitely sell them.

Therefore, breaking Zhou Erlang's legs at this moment would be advantageous for them.

But when they saw the steward of Zhou Silang's family, they became unhappy again and brought up the matter of him breaking Zhou Erlang's leg, which angered Zhou Silang and his wife, who called them ungrateful wretches.

They fought tooth and nail over that little bit of money. The second wife is truly a shallow pond with many turtles, a small temple with many demons.

Not only are the sons' two families locked in a fierce battle, but the daughters are also a handful.

Previously, Zhou Erniang, because she was born into a village and was not the eldest daughter of the main wife, would not become the daughter of a duke in the future, so she married the second son of a minor official.

Previously, Zhou San Niang didn't want to marry such a person because Zhou Er Niang's marriage wasn't very good, so she took the risk.

It has to be said that Zhou San Niang's thinking wasn't wrong, because the man Zhou Er Niang married is indeed not doing very well now.

Now that Zhou Erniang's father-in-law has passed away, and no one in her family has succeeded in the imperial examinations and can continue to serve as an official, life has become worse than before after her father-in-law, who was an official, passed away.

Now that her mother-in-law has passed away, Zhou Erniang and her husband separated from their brothers and started living on their own. This minor official's family hadn't accumulated much money over the years, and after dividing it among the brothers, Zhou Erniang and her husband didn't receive much. Fortunately, Zhou Erniang had a dowry of three thousand taels, so the young couple could barely make ends meet.

But it was naturally incomparable to the days when her father-in-law was alive, and even more incomparable to the good days that Zhou Erniang lived in her maiden home. After all, under Linlang's arrangement, Old Master Zhou had dealt with a bunch of corrupt servants, and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was very wealthy, so the family's living conditions improved rapidly, and they lived quite well.

So now that life is tough, Zhou Erniang is having a hard time accepting it. After all, once people get used to a good life, it's hard to go back to the past unless they have no other choice.

Now, Zhou Erniang is in this situation, so she went to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, hoping to get something from them.

She didn't even look for her second wife's family because she knew that her eldest brother had squandered their family fortune, and their current situation was even worse than hers, so there was no need to look for her second wife.

Actually, if it weren't for Master Zhou's misdeeds, and if he were still alive, the second branch of the family would be living a pretty good life.

It should be noted that Old Master Zhou was a Duke. His sons, in addition to the eldest son who was entitled to a title according to custom, also had the opportunity to be granted a hereditary sixth-rank official position. At that time, Old Master Zhou had no other children, so he naturally gave this hereditary position to Old Master Zhou.

—Actually, this honorary title could have been given directly to Master Zhou, who had no official position, so that he would have both a title and an official position. However, Master Zhou considered that he should treat everyone equally. Since his eldest son was to inherit the title, he should also give his younger son some protection. Therefore, he gave the honorary title to Master Zhou.

Little did anyone know that Master Zhou was not content with a sinecure of the sixth rank; he also wanted the title of Duke, and in the end, he met a tragic end.

If Master Zhou hadn't died, or if he were still alive, and the second branch of the family were to divide the property now, they would not only have a share of Master Zhou's salary, but also Master Zhou's supervision of Zhou Erlang, preventing him from gambling. This would not only bring them more income but also prevent them from losing money. In addition, with the money they received during the division of the property, the second branch of the family would definitely live a very good life, with both money and status.

Unlike now, with Master Zhou passing away, no one in the family is in office anymore; and Zhou Erlang has squandered almost all the money, causing conflict between the brothers. I bet Master Zhou is furious and regretful in the afterlife, because if it weren't for his troublemaking, the second branch of the family wouldn't be in this state.

Of course, given Master Zhou's personality, even if he were given another chance, he would probably still target Master Zhou, because he would definitely feel that he was reborn, that he was the darling of fate, and that even the heavens thought he deserved the title, which is why he was reborn. He would be even more eager to seize the title.

Now, Zhou Erniang is trying to get something from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but how could the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion possibly give her any help?

If she is really in financial trouble, the people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion might lend a hand. After all, before he died, Old Master Zhou always said that if any of his relatives in his hometown were in real trouble, and they weren't just lazy people trying to take advantage of him, he should help them out. He couldn't treat them like the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had treated them in the past, ignoring them completely.

On Tuesday, her family was doing even better than the second wife's family. How could the people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion possibly help her, since the couple weren't short of money?