They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 219 Accusing her of being unfilial gets her slapped in the face.

Zeng Mingzhu returned after the Mid-Autumn Festival. She wasn't pregnant, and her mother-in-law had already arranged for her husband to take two respectable women from modest backgrounds as concubines. Although Concubine Qing and Concubine Jiang seemed honest and dutiful, who knew what might happen next?
The mother-in-law now places all her hopes for pregnancy on Aunt Qing and Aunt Jiang, advising her to be virtuous and generous, and to persuade her husband to spend more time resting in the rooms of the two concubines.

Zeng Mingzhu was proud and arrogant. She was somewhat unrestrained in her own family, but she carefully cultivated a dignified image in her husband's family. Therefore, as the legitimate wife, she would never be jealous of her two concubines and had to act generously.

However, despite her outward calm, her heart was already filled with dark, roaring, twisted, and crawling thoughts. Fearing that she would lose control and expose her true nature if she stayed any longer, she simply decided to stay away from the world and went back to her parents' home.

She's just a concubine, so what if she gets pregnant?
She doesn't care about giving birth to a daughter, but if she gives birth to a son, it's already an honor for the concubine to take him in as her legal wife. Does she dare to refuse?
Zeng Mingzhu was filled with resentment. Back at her parents' home, she no longer had to suppress her anger, and she couldn't control her violent emotions.

Hearing her mother's words, Zeng Mingzhu sneered: "Our Zeng family certainly won't rely on a mere concubine's daughter like her, but she's just too outrageous! If we don't teach her a lesson, people will think that our Zeng family doesn't know how to raise daughters, and that our daughters are all ungrateful wretches. Wouldn't that make us a laughingstock?"

Mrs. Zeng: "."

He was humiliated by his beloved daughter, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Mrs. Zeng was heartbroken.

Zeng Mingzhu's words struck a chord with Master Zeng, and his anger flared up several notches.

He's already been asked this by more than one person, who said that Madam Xu and his daughter have a pretty good relationship, so why didn't she help his family get any good business, instead letting the Qin family benefit instead?
Master Zeng felt a bitter taste in his mouth, mumbled a reply, and died of anger.

"Mingzhu is right, we can't let that brat get away with this! If we don't teach her a lesson, she'll never know her place! Tell her to come back!"

Mrs. Zeng: "."

Mrs. Zeng had no reason to refuse and could only agree.

"It's impossible for me to come back." Zeng Xiaoyan refused.

She won't go back unless she accompanies her sister to the Zeng family to sever ties.

Madam Zeng was more than happy to oblige, and sneered, "Forget it, she's just that cold-blooded and ruthless."

"Ungrateful wretch! Since she's so ungrateful, then we might as well not give her any more face."

Zeng Mingzhu also sneered, and then made a foolish move.

She sent someone to the county government to accuse Zeng Xiaoyan of being unfilial.

The reason given was that the parents couldn't be persuaded to return, and they didn't even send any gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Zeng family didn't care much for gifts, but it was still a filial act from their children, wasn't it?

The fact that she didn't send it shows that she has absolutely no filial piety.

Being unfilial is a grave sin, and one is unworthy of being human.

If an unfilial person appears under the jurisdiction of a local official, and this is used as a pretext, the official will be held accountable for failing to properly educate and for dereliction of duty.

Lord Lu took this very seriously and summoned Zeng Xiaoyan for questioning.

Because the questioning involved a woman, the imperial court had always been quite lenient. Unless there were special circumstances, the court would not hold a public trial in the courtroom, but would instead have the county magistrate, the county magistrate's assistant, and the clerk conduct the questioning in the back room in private.

In the past, Zeng Xiaoyan would have been terrified, but she knew that Magistrate Lu's wife and Sister-in-law Zhichun had a good relationship, so Magistrate Lu was not so scary in her eyes.

Zeng Xiaoyan took out the contract signed by Mrs. Zeng severing ties.

"This humble woman is sensible and wouldn't dare to come and cause trouble. Miss Zeng may not be aware of this, hence the misunderstanding."

Magistrate Lu, Assistant Magistrate Zhao, and Clerk Shao exchanged bewildered glances. "Huh?"

So, it wasn't that Zeng Xiaoyan was unfilial at all, but rather that Madam Zeng had long ago secretly expelled Zeng Xiaoyan, her illegitimate daughter, from the family without her husband's and children's knowledge.
"Absurd! How ridiculous!"

Magistrate Lu came from a prominent family. Although he was a man and did not concern himself with the affairs of the inner quarters, he had been exposed to such things since childhood. He had heard bits and pieces of gossip and stories about the intrigues and underhanded tactics among the women of wealthy and powerful families.

Among them, the struggle between legitimate and illegitimate children was the most cruel and brutal.

It is common for favored concubines and their illegitimate children to frame legitimate children, and for the legitimate mother, who controls the household affairs, to harshly mistreat her illegitimate children.

It was quite common for Madam Zeng to dislike her illegitimate daughter, but Lord Lu had never seen anyone secretly drive her out of the house and sever ties with her husband like this.
I've learned something new!

In that case, it makes sense that Zeng Xiaoyan didn't visit.

When this matter came to light, Zeng Mingzhu was dumbfounded.
Even Master Zeng was dumbfounded.
Madam Zeng's vision went black.
Why didn't you say so sooner? Why didn't you say a word?

Zeng Mingzhu also complained to her mother, "My mother didn't say a word, and I lost so much face. If I had known it would turn out like this, I definitely wouldn't have sent someone to report it to the authorities."

Master Zeng suddenly looked at her: "Did you send someone to report to the authorities?"

Zeng Mingzhu secretly regretted it, "I—"

Having let it slip, she blurted out, "That brat Chun Chun is such an ingrate, I can't stand it and I have to teach her a lesson!"

Looking at the mother and daughter, Master Zeng suddenly felt a sense of helplessness.

If it is said that severing ties with Zeng Xiaoyan was only his wife's idea, who outside would believe it?
The Zeng family's reputation for being ruthless and forcing their illegitimate daughter into submission is now firmly established.

This is not good news for business people.

But now that things have come to this, Mr. Zeng understands that it would be too embarrassing for him to ask Zeng Xiaoyan to get back together at this time.

His status and the dignity of being a father did not allow him to bow down to a concubine's daughter.

The Zeng family had to suffer a loss in this matter and wait until things calmed down before making a decision.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the rice ripens, and every household is busy harvesting it.

This year's harvest is quite different because of threshing machines and windmills.

Needless to say, wealthy families bought enough threshing machines and winnowing fans without hesitation, becoming the most dazzling stars of the autumn harvest. In some villages where money was plentiful, several families gritted their teeth and pooled their money to buy one.

Anyway, it can be used for many years. Twenty taels of silver can save a lot of time and effort. If it rains, while other families are still struggling to thresh the grain using clumsy methods, we will have already harvested it all. Wouldn't the loss we avoid be the same as gaining?

You could be a little more flexible; after your own family has used it, you could rent it out.

With a threshing machine, eight to ten acres of rice can be harvested a day, and several families can quickly finish their rice harvest.

Of course, the taxi driver wasn't entirely at ease letting go of the vehicle, but kept a close eye on it, afraid that it might get damaged.

At five cents per mu, rice that would normally take three days to harvest can be done in a single day. There are plenty of people willing to rent it out.

Xu Zhichun's family owned the only threshing machine and windmill in the entire village, making them quite the show-off. The villagers were reluctant to buy them, but when they heard that Xu Zhichun was renting out an acre of land to the villagers for only three copper coins—or even for free, or even just for eggs (one copper coin per egg)—everyone rushed to his door, eager to rent it.

(End of this chapter)