Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Jiang Chun was sitting on a wolf fur rug that she had snatched from the east wing room of the main house in Pine Crane Courtyard, occasionally grabbing a handful of snow to mold into a snowball and throw at the crowd below.

She felt like a complete victim.

She was a new bride. Although she had been married for two years, due to special circumstances, she had only just arrived at the Song family and could still be considered a new bride.

Therefore, the first time she met the younger generations, she needed to give them gifts.

She had indeed prepared in advance. Each young lady received a silver hairpin and a silk flower; each young master received two reels of Xuan paper and four blocks of pine soot ink.

These were obtained when she clocked in at the empty shop at the West Market using the check-in system.

There was no way she would buy them. With free benefits from the system to take advantage of, she was not willing to spend money.

Although the silver hairpins produced by the system were of substantial weight and exquisitely carved, and the pine soot ink was of premium quality, the quantity was limited, so Zhou Shi couldn't find fault even if she wanted to.

The problem arose with the two pairs of silver ingots as a reward.

In the Great Zhou, there is a saying that the Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year. Every Winter Solstice, besides sending a rich gift in advance, the female relatives would also give money to the younger generation.

Jiang Chun naturally had to give as well.

Lady Zhou gave each two pairs of silver ingots, and Jiang Chun saw that her mother-in-law, Lady Zhuang, also gave two pairs of silver ingots, clearly intending to compete with Lady Zhou.

Jiang Chun wanted to take advantage of the situation and give the younger generations of the clan a bit more, so she had Gui Zhi change the reward from one pair of silver ingots to two pairs.

After all, for ordinary families' young ladies and young masters, gaining an additional two taels of silver was an extremely joyful event.

In any case, with Lady Zhuang taking the lead, even if Lady Zhou became furious, she would only cause trouble for Lady Zhuang.

The result...

Lady Zhuang was fine, but she, Jiang Chun, ended up being the victim.

Lady Zhou, not following the rules, bypassed Lady Zhuang and directly targeted her, the granddaughter-in-law!

Where is the fairness?!

After arriving at Pine Crane Courtyard, Lady Zhou cited her disrespect to elders to punish Jiang Chun by making her kneel in the ancestral hall.

She was not a tragic drama heroine to meekly kneel in the ancestral hall for a day, waiting for Song Shi'an, who was away on official business, to return to the mansion, rush to her rescue, and feel heartbroken as she collapsed in his arms.

Of course, she immediately refused Lady Zhou's punishment: "I'm afraid I cannot accept your punishment, Elder."

This made Lady Zhou so angry that her face turned dark, and she immediately called in several stout matrons to apprehend Jiang Chun.

Clearly, they were prepared.

Jiang Chun was not afraid of them. Even if they all rushed at her at once, she could easily toss them aside.

But during the festival, these people were the Song family's servants, not unrelated outsiders. Jiang Chun did not want to injure them seriously.

Moreover, striking the elders' servants could be done, but it could not stand scrutiny.

However, Jiang Chun had no intention of yielding and begging for mercy. She had to teach Lady Zhou a memorable lesson to let her know who could be challenged and who could not in this household.

After spotting a wooden ladder by the wall, which the servants used to clear snow, she grabbed the waterproof wolfskin mattress from the Luohan bed and dashed outside.

She reached the corner of the wall, propped the wooden ladder against the main house roof, and scrambled up.

Once on top, she hauled the ladder up.

Seriously, if she didn’t bring the ladder up and keep it in her control, Madame Zhou might play a trick on her—a "pulling the rug out from under her"—by having someone remove the ladder...

Then whether she wanted to come down or not, and whether she could, would be entirely up to Madame Zhou.

Initially, Madame Zhou didn’t want to deal with her, calmly seated in the warm pavilion, sipping tea, and coldly remarked, “If she wants to stay on the rooftop and catch the northwestern wind, let her! I’d like to see how long she can stay up there!”

Later, upon hearing that Madame Zhuang had arrived and was trying to persuade Jiang Chun to come down, but Jiang Chun refused, the two daughters-in-law were now facing off—one on the rooftop and the other beneath the eaves.

Madame Zhou couldn’t hold back anymore and wanted to go out to watch the drama between the two.

Little did she know, Jiang Chun was waiting for Madame Zhou to come out.

Before Madame Zhou appeared, Jiang Chun casually chatted with Madame Zhuang, her mood as stable as if she were sitting in the east wing room of Dangui Courtyard, rather than on a rooftop covered in snow.

As soon as Madame Zhou came out, Jiang Chun brightened up instantly, patting the wolfskin mattress beneath her and shouted, “I’m the biggest wronged person under the heavens! I’m so tight on money that I wish I could split a penny in half, and I’m too reluctant to spend money to add even one more dish to my husband’s lunch, yet I squeezed out silver to give gifts and bonuses to the clan for the sake of the Song family’s reputation.

In the end, I didn’t even get a word of praise but was instead labeled as ‘disrespectful to elders’ because I gave the same amount of bonus as the elders.

Had I known this would happen, I should have been a miser and not spent a single penny no matter who asked.

Don’t ask, because I have no money.

Anyway, it’s not just my face that’s being lost, so what do I have to fear?”

With that, she formed a large snowball, “Bang!” and threw it at the column of the covered walkway below, causing snow to scatter everywhere.

Along with it came her heavy snort, “Hmph, if you don’t give me an explanation today, don’t expect me, the Madam Song, to engage in any more social graces.

From now on, I’ll only take, demand, and extort, and I won’t spend a single penny again!”

Madame Zhou was unmoved and coldly said, “Then don’t expect to attend any more banquets in the future. Just stay at home for the rest of your life!”

Jiang Chun said with a grin, “I won’t. I’ll go anyway. There’s no stopping me. Even if you don’t take me, I’ll go myself.

It doesn’t matter if I don’t have an invitation. I’ll just show up and rely on my face as Madam Song. Which household’s door can’t I enter with this face?

If anyone asks why I’m not with my great grandmother or mother-in-law, I’ll just be honest and say that my grandmother-in-law looks down on the poor and loves wealth, and she forbids her rural daughter-in-law who used to butcher pigs from going out to socialize.

We’ll see who ends up losing more face. I won’t say more.”

Madame Zhuang almost burst out laughing.

This defiant daughter-in-law, who used to drive her to fury, was now using her shameless tactics against her own mother-in-law, which made Madame Zhuang feel as refreshed as eating an ice bowl on a scorching June day.

The old lady had been domineering in the household for decades, and today was truly her comeuppance.

If the situation allowed, Madame Zhuang would have laughed out loud and shouted, “Serves you right!”

Madame Zhou was so furious she nearly fainted. She rapped her cane on the ground several times and huffed, “What a misfortune for the family to have married such a madwoman into the household!”

Jiang Chun said with a smile, "Our Jiang family is quite fortunate to have welcomed a husband who is outstanding in every way, like our ancestors are smiling down on us."

If she hadn't said this, Zhou Shi would have almost forgotten that her eldest grandson had become a son-in-law living with the wife’s family in the Jiang household, and was immediately at a loss for words.

After a long while, she finally slammed her cane on the ground and said coldly, "Someone, go invite the young master here. Let him see how his wife is angering her grandmother."

Zhou Shi wasn't being unreasonable; it was the Winter Solstice, and the government offices were closed for the day. She thought that Song Shian, as the eldest grandson, should be accompanying his father in receiving relatives in the front courtyard.

But just as she spoke, Jiang Chun, with her infuriating remarks, said, "I must inform you, dear grandma, that my husband is accompanying his brother-in-law, the Crown Prince, to the Ciyou Institute to care for the elderly and children. He is not in the estate right now."

In the Great Zhou, there were official charity institutions called Ciyou Institutes, which combined homes for the elderly and orphanages. Although it was mostly a political gesture, because of this tradition, the officials at the Ciyou Institute didn’t dare to mistreat the elderly and children.

This year, the old emperor had assigned this task to Crown Prince Li Junxing, who had specifically requested his brother-in-law Song Shian to accompany him.

Zhou Shi was left speechless and immediately changed her words, "Then go invite the eldest master. He should be in the estate?"

As she said this, she looked at Madame Zhuang.

Madame Zhuang spoke truthfully, "The master is receiving relatives who came to pay their respects today. He is certainly in the estate."

She didn’t offer any words of dissuasion.

She had realized that Jiang Chun was about to stir up a major incident to show the old lady her "power," so that she wouldn’t dare to provoke her again.

As for the master who was summoned, would he side with his mother and scold his daughter-in-law, or would he play the peacemaker and smooth things over?

She was quite curious herself.

＊

In the front courtyard, Song Zhen Ting had just seen off a few close clan brothers when he received his mother's summons.

The maid who came to relay the message embellished the situation as she told him everything.

After hearing it all, Song Zhen Ting fell silent.

Having navigated the bureaucracy for twenty to thirty years, if he couldn’t see through the intricacies of this situation, he would have been a failure.

Because he saw through it, he was left speechless.

His mother was penny-pinching, only willing to give a few pairs of silver ingots to the younger members of the clan, while his wife found it embarrassing and refused to reduce her gifts to save her mother-in-law’s face.

Shian’s wife also gave two pairs of silver ingots, either out of ignorance of the rules or to stir the pot further.

Thus, the duel became a three-way standoff.

His mother and wife had been at odds for a decade or two, knowing that his wife, though seemingly gentle and virtuous, was actually someone not easy to deal with.

So, his mother chose the easier target, Jiang Chun.

Song Zhen Ting sighed.

His mother had miscalculated this time.

Jiang Chun was unconventional, strong, and was currently learning martial arts from Coach Yu. Although she hadn’t mastered it yet, she had learned to use leverage, and a dozen or twenty people rushing at her at once couldn’t overcome her.

She wasn’t someone so easy to handle.

Moreover, there is the most important point.

Shian is a son-in-law of the Jiang family, but he has made an agreement with his father-in-law that only the firstborn of Jiang Chun will take the Jiang family's surname, while the subsequent children will take the Song family's surname.

Therefore, Jiang Chun is considered a daughter-in-law of the Song family, yet also not quite a daughter-in-law.

On usual days when there are no major conflicts, she naturally acknowledges herself as the daughter-in-law of the Song family.

However, once she has a conflict with the Song family, she can at any time declare that she is not a daughter-in-law of the Song family, but rather a guardian of the hearth of the Jiang family, and then move to the Jiang residence on Shengping Street with Shian.

At that point, the Song family would become a laughingstock throughout the entire Imperial City.

Therefore, his primary goal this time is to pacify his mother.

Scolding Jiang Chun, his daughter-in-law, is impossible.

Not only can he not scold her, but he also needs to gently soothe her, making her feel the warmth of the Song family, so she won't make a fuss about moving out.

＊

At Pine Crane Courtyard, Zhou Shi, who was expecting her son to come and stand up for her, immediately said upon seeing Song Zhen Ting, "Eldest, look what your daughter-in-law is doing! She wants to anger me, an old woman, to death!"

Song Zhen Ting saw Jiang Chun leisurely sitting on the rooftop, sitting on the precious silver wolf skin rug that his mother cherished dearly, playing a snowball game with great enthusiasm.

The servants of Pine Crane Courtyard were scattering in panic, though their escape was so lacking in sincerity that it looked rather fake.

Song Zhen Ting stepped forward to greet Zhou Shi. "Son greets Mother."

He then pretended to be oblivious. "What's going on here?"

Zhou Shi said concisely, "Your daughter-in-law is disrespecting her elders. I punished her to reflect in the ancestral hall, but instead, she refused to comply and climbed onto the rooftop to threaten me.

I'm old and have little authority in this household to properly discipline her."

Song Zhen Ting immediately cupped his hands and bowed, expressing his fear. "Mother, please don't say that, or your son will be ashamed."

This was clearly in response to Zhou Shi's remark about having "little authority."

Zhou Shi snorted coldly. "Don't talk nonsense. Look at this situation and tell me how to handle it."

Song Zhen Ting put on a contemplative expression, then gently advised, "Mother, it snowed yesterday, and it's freezing outside. If either you or Chunniang catches a cold, it wouldn't be trivial.

Why don't we both take a step back? You can rest in the warm pavilion, and Chunniang can come down from the rooftop.

We can discuss what to do next later.

The household is hosting guests tomorrow, and this will be the first banquet we've held since the Song family was rehabilitated. If both of you miss it due to illness, who knows what kind of wild speculations people outside might make.

Why cause unnecessary trouble?

Mother, would that be acceptable?"

Zhou Shi, being older and having endured considerable stress over the past two years, was not as strong as before. Standing outside for a while made her knees weak.

Thus, upon hearing her eldest son's suggestion, she pursed her lips and said nothing.

Jiang Chun, however, suddenly threw a snowball to an empty spot and shouted, "No way! If the accusation of 'disrespecting elders' isn't resolved today, as someone accused, I'm unworthy to set foot on the Song family's grounds and will have to stay on the rooftop overnight."

"If I am unfortunately frozen to death, my father, out of love for his daughter, will definitely go to the Dali Temple to file a case and ask them to clear my name."

Song Zhen Ting: "..."

As expected, she’s not so easily deceived. Mother really shouldn’t have provoked her without reason.

Song Zhen Ting could only patiently persuade her, "Chunniang, you've only just entered the household, so you might not be aware of some of the family's rules yet.

For instance, when giving rewards, the younger generation shouldn’t exceed the amount given by the elders."

Jiang Chun smiled and said, "But I didn't give more than the amount the elders gave. I was just following the example of the old lady and gave the same amount.

They say elders are role models for the younger generation. Is it wrong for me to follow their example?

Please forgive my limited education. I’ve only recently learned the 'Three-Character Classic' and the 'Thousand-Character Text.' I wasn’t aware of this rule."

Song Zhen Ting was left speechless.

How was he supposed to respond to that?

He couldn’t deny that elders are role models for the younger generation, could he? If he did, how would he teach his grandchildren in the future?

Madame Zhuang covered her mouth and laughed silently.

It was quite amusing to see such a scholarly person as Master Song rendered speechless.

Indeed, as the saying goes, 'It’s difficult to deal with both women and fools.'

Inwardly cursing, 'Women and children are hard to raise,' Song Zhen Ting struggled to defend, "Whether elders can be role models for the younger generation depends on the situation. For example, some parents themselves are not upright, so how can they teach their descendants?"

Jiang Chun immediately clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Father, you’re absolutely right! Completely right! Very right!"

Her manner clearly implied something.

Madame Zhou reacted, her face turning as black as the bottom of a pot. Her fingers trembled as she pointed at Jiang Chun and gritted her teeth, "What do you mean by that? Are you accusing me of being unprincipled? You’re rebellious!"

Jiang Chun immediately protested, "Even if you want to falsely accuse me, Grandmother, at least make it plausible. Don’t just make something up out of the blue!"

Then she looked at Song Zhen Ting with a pained expression and said, "Father, you heard everything. I didn’t say anything. It was the old lady who made wild guesses. Convicting someone based on guesses, that kind of case is bound to lose no matter where it’s taken."

She really had a hundred responses for every word someone said. Truly sharp-tongued.

Song Zhen Ting decided to avoid her sharp tongue and not argue further. He once again advised, "It’s windy up there. Chunniang, why don’t you come down first? We can discuss things calmly once you’re down."

Jiang Chun argued back, "Father, just say what you need to say. I’m sitting here."

You’re sitting, but the rest of us are standing.

Song Zhen Ting moved closer to his mother and said with a troubled expression, "Mother, why don’t you take a step back and say a few soothing words to coax her down?

Shian treasures her dearly. If she really catches a cold and something happens to her, we won’t be able to explain it to Shian.

Moreover, I’ve heard that women who haven’t given birth shouldn’t be exposed to cold, as it might affect their ability to have children."

Our An-ge is indeed the son-in-law living in the wife’s family home of the Jiang family. If she can't conceive, and we don't allow An-ge to take a concubine or have a secondary wife, wouldn't that mean An-ge's lineage will die out?

Zhou Shi had intended to shout, "How dare she!" but the words stopped at her lips.

Jiang Chun really would do it.

She has already defied her elders, so why wouldn’t she prevent An-ge from taking a concubine or secondary wife just because she can’t bear children?

An-ge isn’t just the eldest son of the Song family; he’s also the young clan leader, the future patriarch.

If the clan head’s lineage dies out, who knows how people outside would mock the Song family!

Zhou Shi fell silent for a long time.

Taking the opportunity, Song Zhen Ting glanced at his wife, Madame Zhuang.

Seeing her with her eyes fixed on her nose and her nose on her heart, in a meditative posture, he couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Keep pretending.

On the surface, she acted as if she couldn’t intervene, but inside, she was probably laughing her head off.

However, he didn’t blame her.

His mother could sometimes be overly domineering and a bit stingy; his wife had certainly endured a lot from her.

Occasionally standing up to her was understandable.

There were indeed people who swallowed their anger all the time, but his wife, Madame Zhuang, was definitely not one of them.

After a long silence, Zhou Shi finally spoke in a dry tone, "You don’t understand the rules of rewarding people in this household, so I wanted to teach you. But you were so stubborn, and I, an old woman, just kept talking, which led me to say that you should be punished to kneel in the ancestral hall.

Alright, the punishment of kneeling in the ancestral hall is canceled; come down quickly and stop causing a fuss."

Jiang Chun blinked her eyes.

Did Zhou Shi really back down so easily?

She had thought they would be deadlocked on the rooftop for much longer. She was dressed in layers upon layers, with a fox-fur cloak drawn from the check-in system, and truly wasn’t afraid of the cold.

It seemed she had overestimated Zhou Shi’s stubbornness.

It’s not easy; she actually said something soft.

Just look at how astonished her mother-in-law, Madame Zhuang, was. Clearly, she was surprised.

But if she came down just because her mother-in-law said something soft, it would be too demeaning for her.

So Jiang Chun hummed and hawed, "Who knows if the old lady genuinely thinks I shouldn’t be punished or if she’s deliberately saying this to trick me down and then lock me in the ancestral hall’s dark room?"

Zhou Shi said irritably, "Lock you in the ancestral hall’s dark room? If the servants in my Pine Crane Courtyard could do anything to you, you wouldn't have been able to climb onto the rooftop and threaten me."

Jiang Chun put on a thoughtful expression, then said with a grin after a moment, "You make a very good point, Old Lady; I really can't argue with that."

But she still didn't come down and instead pushed her luck further with Song Zhen Ting and Madame Zhuang, "Father, Mother, I need you both to be my witnesses. If the old lady tricks me into coming down and forces me to engage in a full-on fight, she'll have to compensate me with a thousand taels of silver."

"A thousand taels of silver?" Zhou Shi exclaimed sharply.

Jiang Chun crossed her arms and snorted, "If the old lady doesn't agree, it means she’s planning to deceive me; since I know you’re trying to trick me, I naturally won’t fall for it."

Madam Zhou was speechless.

Song Zhen Ting deliberately looked troubled, letting out a sorrowful sigh and "quietly" discussing with Madame Zhuang: "Alas, Shian's fate is truly bitter. Not only is he a man married into the family, but he might also end up without an heir..."

Madam Zhou shot Song Zhen Ting a fierce glare.

Is the old man so confused that he can't see through his ulterior motives? He's trying to act pitiful here.

But Madam Zhou couldn't ignore this concern entirely.

Allowing Jiang Chun to sit on the roof like that was risky. Whether it was catching a cold that could be life-threatening or suffering from infertility due to cold, she wouldn't be able to explain it to her great-grandson.

She gritted her teeth and said, "A thousand taels of silver it is, then. I agree. You better come down now."

Jiang Chun immediately beamed with joy.

She even had the mood to joke with Madam Zhou: "Since you want me to come down, should I roll over and tumble down?"

Madame Zhuang knew she was joking, but still felt a shiver down her spine and hurriedly scolded, "No way! Be careful, Shian's wife. If you fool around and fall, you might end up paralyzed on the bed."

Jiang Chun pulled the wooden ladder lying across the roof ridge and lowered it.

Madame Zhuang raised her hand and ordered the old women behind her, "Quickly, go help Madam hold it steady."

A few old women rushed forward.

Jiang Chun stepped onto the ladder and slowly climbed down from the roof.

Then she hopped over to stand before Madam Zhou and said provocatively, "Madam, should we call someone to drag me to kneel in the ancestral hall?"

Madam Zhou glared at her viciously and waved her hand like shooing away a fly with her hand. "Get out of my Pine Crane Courtyard."

Jiang Chun clicked her tongue and said regretfully, "What a shame. A thousand taels of silver just flew away."

Madam Zhou: "..."

Song Zhen Ting: "..."

Madame Zhuang: "..."

Jiang Chun lifted her foot to leave, but turned back to Madam Zhou and added, "Madam, if you want to make me kneel in the ancestral hall again, just call me. I'll come whenever you want."

Madame Zhuang's mouth twitched.

This girl is really something else, driving people crazy without any remorse.