Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 464: Inside Story

Lian Fang Zhou listened to Madam Jiang’s speech of repentance and remorse and was not moved at all.
Instead, she had even more contempt for her.
But she also had to admire her, this eloquence was really rare!

However, Lian Fang Zhou’s face did not soften at all.

Before Madam Jiang could finish, Old Madam Cai scolded her: “You don’t have use such flowery, formal speech here! You think I don’t know what you’re up to? Isn’t it just seeing these four are doing well now and waiting to convince them for your own benefit? Let me tell you, you earned this! As long as I still have breath, I won’t allow it! This old woman will make it clear to everyone before she dies, you can’t think of ruining even a little bit of their reputation!”

Madam Jiang’s eyes were full of scorn as she reluctantly smiled: “Mother, what are you saying? This kind of joke should only stay in the family!”

“Who is joking with you? What I said is the truth!” Old Madam Cai shouted again.

Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly supported Old Madam Cai and persuaded her with a smile: “Grandmother, please calm down.
We have come to visit after such a long difficult time and we are not fools.
No one with ulterior motives will be able to lie to us!”

It was only now that she realized that Old Madam Cai’s eyes were red and swollen, she had clearly been crying since she had heard the news yesterday.

Lian Ze and the others echoed her persuasion.

Old Madam Cai wiped her eyes and sobbed: “Good girl! I’m so sorry for your mother, I’m so sorry for you! I was wondering why your mother didn’t bring you to see me for so long and it turned out—”

Thinking of her dead daughter, a few tears spilled out of her eyes again.

Without waiting for Lian Fang Zhou to persuade her, she held her tears back and entered the house together, holding their hands.

Lian Fang Zhou put the gifts aside, saying that they were for Old Madam Cai.
Madam Jiang stared at the quilts while Liu Gu Zi and his sons were more interested in the food.

Old Madam Cai couldn’t help but sigh with guilt: “Good girl, it’s hard for you to remember me.
It’s enough for you to have the heart! You don’t have to do this in the future! Ah, otherwise, this old woman will feel even more uneasy!”

Hearing this, Liu Gu Zi became even more uneasy and hurriedly said: “Mother, what are you saying? Nephew and niece have money now, so it’s not a big deal to share with us! Isn’t that right, nephew?”

Lian Ze snorted and didn’t answer.

It was Lian Che who said: “Uncle is wrong! We don’t owe you money, we don’t owe you favors, and we don’t owe you gifts! So why should we share with you?”

Lian Fang Qing pouted: “And yesterday, you came to my house and scolded my sister! You are not good people!”

Old Madam Cai’s face became very ugly and she glared at Liu Gu Zi: “Terrible! It turns out that you went to Fang Zhou yesterday to scold her? Attacking your sister’s family, you are so shameless!”

“Mother!” Madam Jiang jumped in, “He can’t speak well, don’t bother with him! That’s not what he meant, it’s that relatives should help each other.
You can’t be stingy!”

“You!” Old Madam Cai was so angry, she couldn’t breathe!

“Grandma,” Lian Fang Zhou patted her back gently to soothe her and smiled softly.
“Grandma, don’t be angry.
It will be bad if you are angry! We only recognize you in our eyes, it’s useless for others to say anything.”

Lian Ze and the others nodded, agreeing.

Old Madam Cai patted Lian Fang Zhou’s hand and said with tears in her eyes: “If you have the time to visit grandma once or twice a year, grandma will be satisfied.”

“Yes!” Lian Fang Zhou quickly nodded, “Wait until we are free.
We will come pick you up and take you out for a while.”

Old Madam Cai opened her mouth, originally wanting to refuse, but when she thought about going to see her daughter’s grave and offering incense, she nodded and said a few good words.

Seeing that she and her husband and sons couldn’t get in at all, Madam Jiang was secretly very annoyed and her face became a little gloomy.
Why were these hairy children so hard to deal with!

Lian Fang Zhou and her siblings sat and talked with Old Madam Cai for a long time before a smile finally appeared on Old Madam Cai’s face.

Naturally, the four siblings did not want to spend the night here and given the state of the house, it was impossible for them to be allowed to eat.
Seeing that it was almost noon, it was time for them to leave.

Old Madam Cai was very reluctant but she understood the situation of her own family, so she sighed: “You live your life well and take care of yourself! Ah, grandma is old and can’t help you but don’t worry, as long as this old woman is alive, no one can ruin your reputation!”

Madam Jiang felt even more hatred after hearing this.

Lian Fang Zhou nodded gratefully, “Thank you, grandma!”

No one cared more about Lian Ze’s reputation than Lian Fang Zhou.
There were no parents in the family so there could not be room for a bad reputation, otherwise others would say: “Obviously their parents didn’t teach them, how could they be good?”

She didn’t care about herself, but she cared about them!

Lian Fang Zhou took out a silver note of ten taels and a money bag with several taels worth of broken silver from her sleeve and handed them to Old Madam Cai: “Grandma, take these! This is our honor to you! If anyone dares rob it, granddaughter will come and teach them a lesson!” If they gave too little, it would be bad, but if they gave too much, it could be a disaster and they would worry endlessly over it.

Liu Gu Zi and Madam Jiang were furious but they only dared to be angry in their hearts, they didn’t dare to speak.

At first, Old Madam Cai was unwilling to accept it but reluctantly agreed after Lian Fang Zhou repeatedly said: “This is our piety to grandma, no one can take it away! Grandma is not confused.”

Hearing this, Madam Jiang and Liu Gu Zi were stunned and dared not to say anything.

Old Madam Cai had only one son and one daughter all her life.
When her husband passed, her son was still young, so she and her daughter had spoiled him a little.
However, now he was used to be lazy and not working when he didn’t want to.

Seeing that she couldn’t support the wall with mud, Old Madam Cai stopped bothering about it.

But she didn’t expect that her son would be so afraid of his nieces and nephews taking refuge with him, that he and her daughter-in-law would hide the news of her daughter’s death from her, which greatly stimulated Old Madam Cai until she was furious.

If it was disappointment before, now it was despair.

How good was his sister to him when she was still at home? She had been reluctant to spend money on her own food and clothes and saved everything for him.
When he say the neighbor’s son wearing new clothes and cried about wanting it, she sold embroidery just to give him new clothes.

Even his wife’s dowery, his sister gave more than half!

But he forgot everything, everything! He didn’t even send her off and instead hid it!

If she continued to let him and her daughter-in-law mess around to harm these grandchildren and ruin their lives, she might as well go die!

Old Madam Cai usually didn’t care about most things and her temperament was gentle.
Madam Jiang had never paid attention to her mother-in-law but now that Old Madam Cai was revealing her power, she didn’t dare to refute a word.

Although she was angry and embarrassed, she couldn’t speak.
Even after knowing her mother-in-law for a long time, she had never realized she was actually a tough person!

Since the mother-in-law wanted to clean up her daughter-in-law, it was only right and proper.
Madam Jiang had never thought about it but as a young widow, if Old Madam Cai was not a powerful person, wouldn’t she have been bullied to death years ago? How many widows raising young children were weak and easy targets?