Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1764 The Country Girl Looked Down Upon 85
However, because of her status as Mrs. Zhou's daughter-in-law, she sometimes finds it difficult to stop her parents-in-law from doing things. After all, now that Old Master Zhou has passed away, she no longer has the support of her elders. If Mr. and Mrs. Zhou want to do something, it is difficult for her to stop them. She can't just do whatever she wants, otherwise the old couple will say that she is talking back to them. In this situation, she sometimes can't help but feel that she can't take them on, that she really can't.

Fortunately, she had a sensible sister-in-law, Zhou Linlang. Sometimes, when she couldn't persuade her in-laws, it was more effective to have Zhou Linlang do it. After all, in her in-laws' eyes, Linlang was very capable, and they listened to her.

Fortunately, Zhou Linlang was there; otherwise, if the old couple hadn't listened to her since the old man passed away, the family would have been in chaos.

The Zhou family elders are like this, and so is Zhou Erniang this year; they both like to spout what they believe to be the truth, which is actually just twisted logic.

Hearing what Zhou Da Nai-nai said, and seeing that she was really determined not to give a penny, Zhou Er Niang had no choice but to leave dejectedly. Once outside the mansion, she spat and cursed angrily, "The richer they are, the stingier they become!"

Then, after thinking about it, she didn't go to her parents' home. Instead, she turned around and went to the Prince of Ying's Mansion. Obviously, she planned to take advantage of Linlang. After all, her parents' home was poor, and she couldn't take advantage of them at all. It was the Prince of Ying's Mansion that was rich and she could take advantage of them.

This time, unlike at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, she didn't confidently demand that Linlang help her because she had taken more of her dowry. Firstly, her previous assertion that the Duke of Zhenguo's family had taken the lion's share of the property and she owed him 500 taels had not only been ineffective but had also earned her a scolding from Madam Zhou. Therefore, she wouldn't say such a thing at the Prince of Ying's mansion. Secondly, while she could confidently say that the Duke of Zhenguo's family had taken more property and should help her, Linlang was merely her cousin, and a married one at that. Even if Linlang had taken more dowry, so what? Linlang didn't owe the second branch of the family anything, and certainly not her. Therefore, if she dared to say that Linlang had taken more dowry and needed help now, they would be even less likely to listen to her. So, she changed her tune, directly feigning poverty, saying, "Elder sister, I want to buy a house, but I'm short 500 taels of silver. I wonder if you could lend me 500 taels?"

Once she gets the loan, she won't pay it back. Does Zhou Linlang think she can send people to her door every day to collect the debt? Even if she dares to do that, she just won't pay it back. Does Zhou Linlang think she can just barge into her house and rob her?

Zhou Erniang's main tactic right now is to swindle money and then refuse to pay it back.

She thought this method was pretty good, but unfortunately, apart from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and the Prince of Ying's mansion, everyone else was poor and not as rich as her family. Otherwise, she could have taken advantage of everyone around her and then never paid them back, and then she could have lived a good life.

Don't mention anything about how people would gossip about her and she'd be embarrassed to go out. In her hometown, everyone is envious of those who have money and resentful of those who don't.

As long as she has plenty of money to spend, she won't care about this or that.

Unfortunately, Linlang, like Grandma Zhou, refused her, saying, "My husband and I have always been extravagant. We've already spent all the dowry money from back then, so we don't have any money to lend you."

Although Linlang knew that no one in the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion would harm them after the second branch of the family separated and the aunt and others could no longer cause trouble, so she stopped sending little bees to monitor the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion and did not know that Zhou Erniang had gone to the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion to borrow money.

Although she didn't know that Zhou Erniang had gone to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to borrow money, nor did she know what Zhou Erniang was thinking, she still made the right choice.

The reason Linlang was able to make the right choice was naturally because she knew that the money Zhou Erniang and her husband had divided, plus the three thousand taels of dowry Zhou Erniang had brought, while not much, was enough to buy a small house; if not, they could buy one outside the capital, which was just as prosperous. Having enough money to buy a house, why would she come to borrow so much money? Who knew what she was up to? Thinking this way, Linlang naturally wouldn't give her the money.

If Zhou Erniang really couldn't afford a house, not even one outside the capital, Linlang might lend a hand, since she could afford something else.

Fortunately, when Cao Shi, Li San's grandmother, and others had previously discussed the matter, they speculated that she and her husband had spent money extravagantly and that their dowry had been spent. So now Linlang could bring it up.

Zhou Erniang didn't know if Linlang was really broke, but since Linlang had said so, there was nothing she could do. After all, if someone said they had no money, was she supposed to say they had money and ask them to give her money? That wasn't realistic.

So all he could say at that moment was, "Not even five hundred taels?"

Five hundred taels! It's as if that's a small amount. You know, an ordinary family can live very well with twenty taels a year. Five hundred taels is enough for an ordinary family to live on for twenty-five years. That's no small amount. But in Zhou Erniang's mouth, it's as if it's a very small sum of money. Obviously, this woman is rich, otherwise she wouldn't say something like "not even five hundred taels".

Linlang said, "No, I really don't. I'm still relying on my husband's grandmother for support."

Hearing Linlang's resolute words, Zhou Erniang had no choice but to leave dejectedly. As she left, she spat outside the mansion, just as she had done to Zhou Da Niang, calling Linlang a stingy woman. She felt that Linlang must have money, but was just unwilling to give it to her. After all, Linlang had such a large dowry, and after Old Master Zhou passed away, he gave her another two thousand taels of silver. In addition, her husband's grandmother was one of the heads of the Wang Mansion and held great power in managing the household, so she could make a lot of money and often gave it to Linlang to use. How could Linlang possibly run out of money? If she had no money to use, she must be just making excuses for her. No wonder she was angry.

Having failed to earn any money, Zhou Erniang had no choice but to return home. She did not use the money her husband had divided the family property to buy a house, nor could she use her dowry to do so. As a result, she continued to rent a house.

Fortunately, unlike Cao Shi and others, Zhou Erniang did not like to spend money extravagantly. So although her money did not generate income by buying shops or estates, and she would spend a little and then lose a little, the rate of loss was relatively slow, and it could last for many years.

Without the trouble caused by the second aunt and others, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion finally calmed down. Although Master Zhou and Madam Zhou were shallow and often did things that made people laugh, at least they didn't make any major mistakes under the watchful eyes of Linlang and Madam Zhou, which was not bad.

Meanwhile, at the Prince's residence, the atmosphere has improved considerably since the Prince made it clear that he would not appoint a principal wife.

Then the King lived for many years, so for a considerable period of time, the various branches of the royal family did not have to separate and move out after the King's death, which would have led to a decline in their social status. In a way, everyone benefited from the King's legacy.