After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1025 Reason
Ma couldn't help but frowned. "Your own child doesn't even want to listen to you. What's the point of asking me? Do you think he will listen if I persuade Baozhu not to give the bottle to his sister as a dowry?"

Fang hesitated for a moment: "He won't disobey. He has always been a well-behaved and obedient child."

You just agree to it in person, but then continue to do as you please when your back is turned, right?
Haitang couldn't help but say, "Cousin, you are Baozhu's legitimate mother and benefactor. If he won't listen to you, then we strangers are nothing to him. If he and his son blame the indifference of the tribesmen and their unwillingness to help them, then our second branch is thousands of miles away and has never helped them from beginning to end. There is no kinship between us, so our words naturally have no weight. For this kind of thing, it would be most useful if you persuade him in person."

Fang was speechless, and after a pause she said, "How could that be? Baozhu is a good boy who knows how to be grateful. He knows that it was you who saved me and his sister, and allowed us mother and daughter to settle down in the capital and live a peaceful life without worries about food and clothing. Even his sister's good marriage was due to your efforts. Baozhu is only grateful to you, so how could he not listen to your advice..."

Ma sneered, "According to me, the child is a good child. He wants to give the bottle to his sister as a dowry. It is also his brother's intention. Just accept it. If the clan really wants to make a fuss, let them come to me and the master. I want to ask them, doesn't the head of the eldest house have the right to decide how to deal with the bottle of the eldest house? Baozhu has no brothers to compete with him, and his mother has been driven away by the clan. He can be the master of the family property by himself. What does it have to do with them? They forced the head of the eldest house to separate his mother and son, and they have offended him to death. Do you still expect the eldest house to sell the ancestral bottle and give them the money to spend? If you have this intention, you might as well give up the idea as soon as possible, so as not to dream in the daydream and refuse to work hard. Even if the Jiang family doesn't rob them, they can't make money. Maybe they will even squander the little ancestral property in their hands and can only go out to beggars! That would be a real disgrace to the ancestors of the Hai family!"

Fang was very happy to hear this, but she still couldn't make up her mind. She didn't hate the Hai family, she just didn't want to cause any more trouble. She just hoped to live a quiet life in Beijing, marry her daughter off with honor, and then she could live with her daughter and son-in-law, and help her daughter take care of her grandchildren in the future and enjoy the happiness of family life...

Haitang saw it clearly and knew that Fang didn't want to accept the bottles from the bottom of her heart, so she said, "My cousin doesn't want to cause trouble, but Brother Baozhu insisted on giving the bottles to Sister Baozhu. I wonder if there is a reason? Even if he and his clansmen are not on good terms, there is no reason for him to give the ancestral treasures to the sisters as dowry for no reason. There must be a reason, right?"

Fang paused and said hesitantly, "Baozhu never told me, but his aunt would urge him to write to me every month, describing how he was studying and living in Yongping Prefecture. In last month's letter, it was mentioned that the clan saw the decline of the Jiang family, and the remaining clan members intended to sell their land in order to get money to move to other places to live. They were a little tempted, thinking that Jianghaitun was the ancestral land of the Hai family after all, and the land there should be controlled by the Hai family, so as to avoid another Jiang family, He family, etc., and squeeze the Hai family out of their business. But the clan members didn't have much money, so they went to persuade Baozhu, wanting the eldest house to spend money to buy land, even if Baozhu didn't return home, they would help take care of it. But Baozhu didn't want to spend that money, and he didn't have that money, so someone in the clan mentioned the pair of bottles..."

Hai Baozhu didn't have much money on hand, and he was already very satisfied with the properties currently owned by the eldest branch of the Hai family. These properties were enough for him to study peacefully for twenty years. If he could save a sum of money, he would also save it for when he went to Beijing to prepare for the exam, and then buy a house and land in Beijing, instead of continuing to increase the land in his hometown. He didn't have a good impression of Jianghaitun, and didn't want to go back often. If he bought more land, he would just let the servants take care of it, otherwise it would be a bargain for the clan members, so why bother? If he had extra money, he might as well buy a bigger house in Beijing, and he could also bring his stepmother home, so that the two mothers and one son could enjoy a happy family life.

Hai Baozhu's idea obviously conflicted with the tribesmen's plan. He refused on the grounds that he had no money, so the tribesmen set their sights on the pair of bottles. Perhaps the tribesmen pushed him too hard, and he got fed up, so he would rather give the bottles to his eldest sister as a dowry than to follow the tribesmen's wishes, which led to this situation today.

It would be good to figure out what's going on. Haitang said, "It seems that brother Baozhu is just angry for a moment, and he doesn't really have to dispose of the antique bottles. In this case, he sent the bottles, and cousin just accepted them. However, she didn't really give them to sister Baozhu as a dowry, but kept them for herself, lest brother Baozhu be forced by the clansmen to break or sell the bottles, and regret it when he needs them in the future." Ma nodded and said, "Tangtang is right. Baozhu is angry now, and you can't really deal with him. Children don't know much. You should keep the bottles first, and when he calms down, or when he gets married and settles down in a house in the capital, you can return the bottles. He will be more grateful to you. You never coveted the bottles, and Baozhu didn't include them in her dowry. Even if the clan members come to make trouble, you are justified. You are Baozhu's elder, and it is reasonable for you to keep his valuables for him. Anyway, you will return the bottles intact in the future, and the things will still belong to the eldest branch. If the clan members make trouble, they are just being unreasonable."

Fang was excited and said quickly, "This is a good idea, but the house I live in now is not big. If I want to keep such valuable things, it will not be safe. If some villains come to the house, those thin doors will not be able to stop them." The house of her son-in-law Qiao Fu is bigger, but she cannot bring the ancestral items of the Hai family's eldest branch to the Qiao family. If the Hai family finds out, she will not be able to explain it.

Therefore, Fang asked Ma for help: "How about I leave my things with my second uncle and aunt? You are also the elders of the Hai family, living in a large courtyard, which is safer and more secure than my place. If the clan knows about it, they will not be able to find fault..."

Ma was stunned when she heard this. She never expected that this trouble would eventually fall on her family.

She rolled her eyes and slammed the table again, saying, "Originally, the bottle was well kept in the old home, but it was the unreasonable trouble of the clan that forced Baozhu to take the things out and send them to the capital. Isn't this just looking for trouble?! They want to buy more land, and they have to find ways to raise money by themselves. Do they expect the eldest house to pay? The eldest house is unwilling to buy more land, so does it owe them?! Baozhu is only a scholar now, and he has more land under his name, but he can't be tax-free. It's just adding to the burden, so he shouldn't buy more. What's there for them to make a fuss about? It's because you treated them too well in the past, so they are arrogant and can't see their own status clearly. I will discuss it with the master later, and I must teach the clan a lesson to let them know what respect and inferiority rules are!"

Ma coaxed Fang away, then turned around and asked her granddaughter Haitang to check the accounts and count the silver.

Haitang had already guessed what her grandmother was going to do, and said with a smile, "Grandma, are you planning to spend money to buy the Jiang family's land?"

"We will have to go back to our hometown sooner or later, so it's not a big deal to buy more land." Ma snorted, "We all have the surname Hai, so what's the difference between us buying land and buying land from our clan members? I'll give you some as a dowry, and you don't have to worry about the management. You just need to wait for the rent. If the clan wants to make trouble, let them know how important our family is now! They were able to kneel before the Jiang family, so do they dare not take our second branch seriously?!"

I wish all readers good luck in the Year of the Snake! Good health! All the best!