Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Chapter 1071 The Moon Rises Over the Willow Branches
The moon rose above the willow branches, and it was not yet dusk. A carriage first passed by the Zhou family on the west bank of the river, then passed by the east bank, and finally came to a slow stop outside the gate of Yuyuan.

Gu Erzhu was the first to get out of the carriage. Before he could reach out to help his wife, his good son, daughter-in-law, and daughter rushed to her side.

They were all yelling about their parents and asking all sorts of questions. He was so busy that he couldn't keep up with who to answer first, so he said he'd be back later. They all seemed so worried about something.

See, he said that even though we agreed to stay out tonight before we left, the kids wouldn't sleep well and would rush to Taozhuang tomorrow morning.

“It’s alright. Your mother and I ate over there before coming back. We won’t go hungry. Besides your mother and me, your parents and your eldest uncle and his wife are also home by now.”

Did my eldest uncle and his wife go too?
Ma Shan visits her mother-in-law.

Liu smiled knowingly, signaling her to continue listening to what her father had to say.

"What your Aunt Zhao didn't say when she came this morning was that your Aunt Tian had taken over the Peach Blossom Inn from your Uncle Tian for three days."

Ma Shan knew about the Taozhuang Guest House that Master Liao had booked. She happened to be in the west courtyard that day and heard Mai Huang report a few things to Zhou Banxia.

The guesthouse in Taozhuang was always very popular. Ever since Bai Juren booked the guesthouse there to invite his classmates and friends to stay for a couple of days, many people have followed suit.

They said they wanted to treat everyone before the peach blossoms faded, and they all acted like they didn't care about money and wanted to stay there for a couple of days. I don't know what they were thinking.

“Your Aunt Zhao Er came to pick up your mother and took her to Taozhuang. Afterwards, your Uncle Tian heard that your Uncle Zhao Er was hosting a dinner party, so he went back to Zhao Family Village from the city.”

Just as the banquet was about to begin, your Uncle Liao arrived, saying that your Aunt Liao had also run away. So, Father simply invited them to Peach Village after the banquet.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Banxia became cheeky and said, "Dad, Grandpa Liao must be incredibly grateful to you today. You saved Grandpa Liao's life."

Gu Erzhu was overjoyed.

Although his daughter Sanya didn't explain things in detail, it was precisely because she didn't want to say everything that it was funny. Apparently, the child had also heard that Brother Liao and his wife had been having disagreements recently.

"That's right, even your Aunt Liao invited us to her house tonight, three days from now," Liu said with a laugh. "Your father and I will decline for you."

“That’s great, Mom, I don’t want to go to her house.” Ma Shan shook her mother-in-law’s arm as they walked and laughed. “She has several daughters who haven’t left home.”

They're all from the same mother, and daughters-in-law are divided into legitimate and illegitimate children. Some are too talkative, while others are too afraid to speak up. Being around them is exhausting.

Liu knew perfectly well that her eldest daughter-in-law felt uncomfortable visiting the Liao family, and since her daughter-in-law rarely accepted invitations to visit, she simply declined.

Excuses are easy to find.

Her sixth son wanted to take the provincial examination this year, and her second son was staying at the clinic, so it wasn't easy for him to just not go. She had two daughters-in-law and young children.

“You didn’t go last time, so you don’t know how inferior it is to be the wife of a concubine’s son. I guess Uncle Liao secretly subsidized his concubine’s son because he felt sorry for him.”

It's not that bad. No matter how pitiful, every family has its rules. Although the treatment of illegitimate sons is not as good as that of legitimate sons, how destitute can the status of the wife's family be for an illegitimate son who is already married?

Even if it were just for the sake of face, Mrs. Liao would not find a poor girl to be her son's legal wife. At most, she would not be as well off as the legitimate daughter-in-law who has a good background.

The reason Mrs. Liao argued with Mr. Liao this time was because of Mr. Liao's poor judgment. What Mrs. Liao cared about was not that Mr. Liao gave his illegitimate son a few hundred taels of silver. To the Liao family, what was a mere five-hundred-tael silver note? Her eldest son had already basically taken control of the entire Liao family business.

What she cared about was that Master Liao had kept this from her. If they didn't have a fight, where would the dignity of the mistress of the house be? Would outsiders think she couldn't tolerate her illegitimate son?

Sure enough, Mr. Liao knew he was in the wrong, so as soon as a ladder appeared, he quickly climbed it, decisively showing everyone that he still respected his wife very much.

They're all putting on an act. They'll wait for the illegitimate son to apologize to his stepmother, who will then generously say that the child wasn't at fault and will even use this opportunity to reward her illegitimate daughter-in-law.

These are all the same tricks taught to benevolent and virtuous in the backyard. They're so easy to understand. How pitiful can a concubine's daughter-in-law be? If she doesn't fight for power, why would Mrs. Liao care about her?
Rather than saying that she can make people see how inferior being the wife of an illegitimate son is, it's more accurate to say that she's not an honest person!

Ma Shan was stunned. She didn't care that her parents-in-law had already stepped into the main hall with the support of their son and daughter. "So she's pretending to be pitiful in order to seize the family property?"

"You can't take it." Zhou Banxia tugged at her, signaling her to hurry up. "Mrs. Liao has found herself a good eldest daughter-in-law, with connections in her family and the ability to give birth to sons."

Even if the eldest son were to pass away, Master Liao would not choose any of his other sons to head the household, given that the eldest son has three sons. No matter how skilled one is in business, one cannot succeed without powerful backers.

Their eldest daughter-in-law filled this gap; even without the support of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, her uncles and aunts could still offer some assistance.

As for the concubine's wife you mentioned, as far as I know, the families of the Liao family's concubine's wives all seem to be merchants, and it seems that none of them have even passed the imperial examinations.

If they want to seize the family property, it's no different from courting death. Even if they can bring down their elder brother and sister-in-law, they'll have to see if they can protect the family property.

The Wu family is the best example. Once Master Wu passed away, the discord between the legitimate and illegitimate children became public knowledge, and in the end, who benefited the most? It was the outsiders who profited.

Speaking of the Wu family, Ma Shan said she didn't understand what the Wu sisters were thinking. Even if they weren't born of the same mother, they were still brothers from the same father.

She's still closer than a cousin, right? If you don't have any brothers from your mother's side, how can you expect to be better off in your husband's family? If you can't give birth to a son and are divorced by your husband's family, you won't even have any brothers from your mother's side to support you.

Yes, sisters born of the same mother are close, but once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup. If you want to support your sister, you have to consider whether she'll even acknowledge you.

They don't look like brothers from the mother's family at all!

As long as the clan isn't completely wiped out, if a paternal aunt is divorced by her husband's family, and her brothers lead the way in demanding her return from the clan, no one will refuse.

Once you go, it's no longer just a matter for one family; it's a major event for two families. It can't be decided solely by the husband's family. It's not like children in other families can't be married.

"...Now look what's happened. My brother has been forced to rely on his in-laws, and the clan has also benefited. Whoever takes the lead will benefit from supporting those sisters."

"...I haven't told you yet. Even Xiaohe went back after Yuange fell asleep. My wife isn't in a hurry to go back to her room either. She and my sister-in-law are probably outside telling the kitchen what kind of midnight snack to prepare. They'll be coming in soon."

Before Ma Shan could finish speaking, Gu Wenxuan's words rang out simultaneously, almost overwhelming Zhou Banxia. Fortunately, Ma Shan stopped talking.

"Mother, my sister-in-law and I are here." Zhou Banxia pulled Ma Shan up the steps and called out. Then she saw that the curtain at the entrance of the hall had been lifted at some point.

The person walking towards the door and looking towards it was none other than her mother-in-law. On the contrary, her husband, who had just been talking, had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Liu Lang has gone inside."