Chapter 139 City Streets 39

Chapter 139: The City's Underbelly 39

The first to speak was Second Sister-in-law Sun. Her father was a butcher, and she had been helping him since she was a child. After marrying into the Sun family, handling sheep slaughter and meat cutting was often her task.

Though a woman, she grew up tall and sturdy, with great strength and a bold, unrefined character.

Beside her were Sun Yueqin's eldest and second brothers, and at the front stood Sun Yueqin's mother, Mother Sun.

Locked inside the room, Sun Yueqin clearly heard the familiar voices outside and immediately guessed that Aunt Cui next door had helped her by fetching her family.

"Ma!"

"Brother!"

"Is that you?"

She banged on the door, her voice occasionally interrupted by the hoarse cries of an infant.

Sun Yueqin had just given birth, weak from childbirth and grief-stricken. Coupled with the chaos outside, her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

But Mother Sun heard Sun Yueqin's voice right away and brushed past Chen Qiaoyun, heading straight for the door with the copper lock.

"Yue'er, Yue'er, are you in there?"

The sudden turn of events left Chen Qiaoyun stunned and unsure how to react.

She instinctively glanced toward the courtyard gate and saw a mule-drawn cart parked outside, with a man sitting in it.

Chen Qiaoyun recognized him—he was the accountant from the Qin family's restaurant next door.

Those Qins really love to meddle in other people's business!

Chen Qiaoyun gritted her teeth in anger but quickly composed herself and smiled. "So it's the In-laws! Why have you come all of a sudden? You should've sent word ahead—I would've had Li Youliang meet you at the city gate... Hey, hey, what are you doing? Why are you grabbing the child?"

Sister-in-law Sun had no patience for her nonsense. She spotted the infant in Chen Qiaoyun's arms, rolled up her sleeves, charged over, and snatched the child away.

Caught off guard, Chen Qiaoyun hadn't even processed what was happening before the child was taken from her.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing? Someone's stealing the child! Stealing the child!"

Chen Qiaoyun began making a scene. Li Youliang, who'd been standing there dumbstruck, finally snapped out of it and stepped forward to help, but Sun Yueqin's eldest and second brothers grabbed his arms, one on each side.

"Where do you think you're going!"

"My mom just wants to see her granddaughter. Is that not allowed? Is the Li family that high-handed?"

"Who's stealing the child? Matters within the family can't be called stealing!"

Locked inside, Sun Yueqin was already sobbing uncontrollably, pounding on the door and saying, "Mom, where's my baby? Where's my little girl? They're going to sell my daughter! Hurry and take the child back!"

"We've got her! We've got her!"

Mother Sun was both furious and heartbroken. She soothed the child first, then turned and shouted at Chen Qiaoyun, "What is the meaning of this? My daughter bore children for your Li family. She just gave birth yesterday, and today you lock her up? And you want to sell the child?!"

"Your Li family has produced scholars! They call themselves a cultured family—how dare you do such a thing!"

"Where's the key? Where's the key? Open the door! Open the door!"

Chen Qiaoyun continued, "In-law, please calm down. It's not about selling—this is my own granddaughter. How could I bear to sell her?"

"It's just that relatives on my side of the family have no children and wanted to adopt one. It's adoption! They brew liquor and run a distillery! Their life is more comfortable than ours, and they have no sons or daughters. It's precisely because she's my granddaughter that I found her a good place!"

"As for Sun Yueqin... she's too quick-tempered. I just thought to let her rest and recover properly in her room. After all, her health is what matters most, right? I really haven't mistreated her!"

"Tell me, when she was pregnant, we stewed fish and meat for her every day. Li Youliang didn't get to eat any of it—we saved it all for her! And she just had chicken soup today. How have I been bad to her? I treat her like my own daughter!"

"In-law, you can't accuse me unfairly! Go ask the neighbors—who doesn't say she's been blessed to marry into our Li family?"

Mother Sun's face hardened. She turned away, unwilling to listen, and said coldly, "Enough of your nonsense. Open the door. I only believe what my Yue'er says. Let her tell me herself!"

Chen Qiaoyun didn't move.

Li Youliang, held by Sun Yueqin's eldest and second brothers, had never suffered such humiliation. Since passing the imperial exams, he felt superior to others and was usually praised outside. Never had he been restrained like a prisoner as he was today.

"What are you doing! What are you doing! Is there no law anymore? Coming to my Li family to cause trouble?!"

"And giving birth to children? How shameless! She's borne two worthless girls for our Li family!"

"Now she can't have any more children. Our Li family line ends with me! I haven't divorced her only out of consideration for past affection!"

Sun Yueqin's second brother, like his wife, had a fiery temper. Hearing this, he shoved Li Youliang to the ground and was about to pounce on him and throw punches.

"You scoundrel! You worm, thinking you're a dragon just because you’ve turned over?"

Li Youliang was startled. He hadn't expected Sun Yueqin's second brother to be so impulsive as to raise his fists against him.

Covering his head, he hurriedly shouted, "What are you doing! How dare you hit me! I'm a scholar! I have a scholar's status. You, a commoner, dare to hit me! Just you wait—I'll report you to the authorities and have you caned!"

Sister-in-law Sun, holding the child, grew anxious. She knew her husband had a hot temper and feared that once he started, he wouldn't stop with just a few punches. If he seriously injured someone, her husband might end up in jail!

Mother Sun clearly thought the same and immediately turned to shout, "Second Son! Don't be foolish!"

Sun Yueqin's second brother was furious. "Mom! This bastard bullied my sister. I'm standing up for her, and you're stopping me?"

Mother Sun glared at him and scolded, "Hit him! Go ahead, and after you're done, you'll go to jail. What about your wife and son then?"

Sun Yueqin's second brother choked up, both angry and frustrated.

His mother glared at him again, then glanced at Chen Qiaoyun, who was watching Li Youliang nervously.

"You foolish boy, come here quickly! Break this damn door open for me!"

Wasn't this the door locking up his sister? Hearing this, Sun Yueqin's second brother hurried over.

Li Youliang, rubbing his lower back, got up from the ground and sneered at Mother Sun, saying darkly, "So my mother-in-law understands propriety after all. Now that I have a scholar's status, how could—"

Before he could finish, Mother Sun grabbed the shoulder pole for carrying baskets and charged at him, whacking his buttocks and thighs fiercely while shouting:

"A scholar, huh? I'm beating up a scholar! I'll have bragging rights if this gets out!"

"Let's see you talk nonsense now! Some scholar you are!"

"Go ahead and report me if you dare! A mother-in-law beating her son-in-law—even if I beat you, it’s justified!"

"As a junior, reporting your mother-in-law would make you unfilial, disrespectful to your elders! Let's see who the magistrate sides with—me or you—in court!"

...

She really let loose with this beating, driving Li Youliang to dodge and cover his head. When he tried to fight back, Sun Yueqin's eldest brother held him down, leaving him to endure blow after blow.

Chen Qiaoyun was horrified. Usually, when the two families visited each other, the Suns were always very proper and polite—nothing like today's madness, where they cursed and hit without hesitation!

"What are you doing!"

"How dare you hit someone!"

"Stop hitting!"

"Stop it already!"

How could Chen Qiaoyun possibly restrain an enraged mother? Not only did she fail to pull Mother Sun away, she even ended up taking a couple of blows herself.

Mother Sun swung the shoulder pole a dozen or so times, putting all her strength into the strikes until she was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted. She leaned on the pole, panting heavily, then turned her head to look at Old Sun.

The elder Sun brother was holding a cleaver he’d scrounged up from somewhere and shouted toward the room, "Little sister, step back. Second Brother is going to get the door open for you."

He waited a moment, hearing the person inside indeed take a step back, then began chopping at the door lock with the knife. After two or three strikes, the copper lock broke off, and the door swung open.

"Brother!"

Sun Yueqin cried out, her legs trembling as she staggered out. As she walked, she called out, "My child, where’s my child?"

Sister-in-law Sun heard her and hurried over with the child, saying, "Here! Right here!"

She handed the child back to Sun Yueqin and noticed that Sun Yueqin was still wearing only light underclothes. In such cold weather, she didn’t even have a padded jacket on indoors.

She quickly said, "Quick, quick, inside. Yueqin just gave birth—she mustn’t catch a chill."

The whole family shielded Sun Yueqin and Yinzi as they entered the room. Mother Sun immediately snatched the quilt from the bed and wrapped it around Sun Yueqin, holding her tightly as she burst into tears.

"My Yue’er, my Yue’er, you’ve suffered! Suffered so much!"

"Mother is taking you home right now!"

Chen Qiaoyun grew anxious and hurriedly tried to stop them, saying, "In-laws, you’ve had your say and made your point—isn’t that enough?"

She didn't realize she’d been struck in the face by the shoulder pole at some point. As she spoke, she covered her cheek—half her face was red, and a bloody gash marked her forehead.

Li Youliang was even worse off. He was moaning and groaning, collapsed on the ground, clutching his back, then his waist, then his legs, as if every part of him was in pain.

Chen Qiaoyun added, "But Yueqin is my Li family’s daughter-in-law. You can’t just take her back with you—there’s no such custom in the world!"

Mother Sun’s breathing grew heavy with rage, her chest heaving.

Sun Yueqin was the only daughter in the Sun family, cherished and doted on by her parents and brothers. When she came of age, they sought a matchmaker to find her a good family.

As people from a small county, they naturally thought highly of families in the prefectural city. The Li family’s son was a scholar, with a bright future ahead. They believed their daughter might one day become a Scholar’s Wife, or even the wife of a provincial graduate—a life of comfort and prosperity.

Little did they know Li Youliang was heartless, Chen Qiaoyun was hypocritical and pretentious, and Sun Yueqin never complained to her family, only sharing the good things.

Until today, the Sun family had believed their daughter was living a happy life.

Mother Sun pointed at them and scolded, "Looks like you haven’t had enough of the beating!"

Chen Qiaoyun seemed angered as well. After a pause, she said, "Alright, Yueqin can go. But Yinzi and Liuer are my Li family’s children. You can’t take them away!"

She thought to herself: Sun Yueqin had suffered a major hemorrhage during childbirth, and her confinement would likely be costly. Perhaps it was better to let the Sun family take her back for now. Once her confinement period was over, she could return. After all, with the two children in their hands, she would have to come back.

Chen Qiaoyun secretly schemed.

Sun Yueqin glared at her, gritting her teeth as she said, "I told you, my daughter is not called Liuer!"

Chen Qiaoyun sighed, then said with a forced smile, "Liuer is such a lovely name! This is the season when pomegranates ripen. Pomegranates symbolize many children and blessings—such a wonderful meaning!"

Sun Yueqin laughed bitterly. "Many children and blessings? Didn’t you hear what your son said? I can’t have more children—your family line ends with him! Still dreaming of a grandson?"

"Liuer..."

"Do you really think I don’t know what you’re scheming?"

"Yinzi to welcome a son, Liuer to retain a son... You’re obsessed with having a boy, aren’t you!"

Chen Qiaoyun’s expression stiffened as her plan was exposed. It took her a moment to recover before she said, "This... this is none of your concern. As long as my son can have children, that’s what matters. After he passes the provincial exam, I’ll find him a concubine. She can bear children just fine."

"Yueqin, you can’t blame me for this. It’s your fault for not bearing a son. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to find him a concubine."

Sun Yueqin laughed in fury. "You claim you can’t afford to raise your own granddaughters and want to send them away, yet you have money to find him a concubine? Do you even know your own family’s situation? What kind of girl would willingly become a concubine here? Do you really think your son is some kind of treasure?"

Chen Qiaoyun adored her son. His status as a scholar was something she loved to boast about. Hearing the disdain in Sun Yueqin’s voice, her carefully maintained facade cracked.

"How dare you! What? This family truly can’t tolerate you anymore?"

Sun Yueqin didn’t answer. Instead, she turned to look at Li Youliang, her gaze cold as she regarded her husband. "Weren’t you going to divorce me? Go ahead. Write the divorce paper now."

Divorce?

The Sun family was stunned, especially Sister-in-law Sun.

She had thought they were there merely to stand up for Sun Yueqin and humble the Li family, ensuring they wouldn’t dare bully her in the future. She never imagined it would come to divorce.

Sister-in-law Sun naturally had her own concerns. If her sister-in-law, freshly postpartum and with two children, were divorced and returned to the family, it would place a significant burden on them.

She had many thoughts, but Mother Sun, First Sun, and Second Sun didn’t dwell on such matters.

They simply said:

"Fine! Divorce it is!"

"As if this is some wonderful place to be!"

"Her parents are still alive! She can be cared for back home!"

Chen Qiaoyun was briefly flustered, and Li Youliang was also taken aback. His earlier words had been spoken in anger, meant to pressure Sun Yueqin—he never actually intended to divorce her!

On the surface, Sun Yueqin seemed to have married well—moving from a small county to the prefectural city, with a scholar for a husband. Who wouldn’t envy her?

But though the Sun family was from a small county, they ran a mutton soup shop that had been passed down through generations in Wuxi County—a long-established business with a solid foundation.

She had entered the marriage with a generous dowry.

Chen Qiaoyun hurriedly said, "This... what nonsense is this! A mere quarrel, and now you’re talking divorce? It’s not that serious, not that serious! Yueqin has given birth to two children for the Li family. Even without credit..."

Before she could finish, Sun Yueqin cut her off.

Sitting on the bed, held in Mother Sun’s embrace with the warm baby Yinzi nestled beside her, she said, "Then you can forget about having a grandson. As long as I remain in the Li family, no other woman will ever enter this house."

Sun Yueqin endured the pain, caught her breath, and continued:

"Mother, this is the last time I'll call you Mother."

"You're a smart woman—otherwise, you wouldn't have earned such a good reputation among the neighbors. If you divorce me, Li Youliang can remarry and marry a proper wife. He doesn’t need to wait until after the Provincial Exams to marry a primary wife."

"As for the Provincial Exams... you should ask him yourself: does he even have what it takes to pass?"

"If he fails this time, wait another three years? Keep waiting, and your grandson will truly be gone for good!"

After all, Li Youliang was only a scholar—not that rare in the prefectural city. The Li family’s finances were thin, and with just this credential, it would be hard to convince any girl to come in as a concubine.

That’s why even Chen Qiaoyun herself had said she would wait until Li Youliang passed the Provincial Exams before arranging a concubine for him.

She made a very reasonable point, and Chen Qiaoyun actually began to ponder it.

After a long while, she finally said, "You can leave, but the children must stay."

Sun Yueqin held the child in her arms tightly and wrapped her other arm around Little Yin, standing her ground.

"That won’t do. The children are coming with me."

Though she hated to say it, she took a deep breath and continued:

"Raising two daughters at home—in your eyes, aren't they just burdens? What decent girl would want to come in and be a stepmother?"

Li Youliang seemed to think of something, as if it were a good idea, and tugged at Chen Qiaoyun urgently, saying, "Mother, just do it! Divorce her, and I don’t want the children either! Our family can’t afford to raise them!"

"Divorce her and remarry! I already have someone in mind! You’ll definitely approve!"

With her own son pressuring her, Chen Qiaoyun soon relented.

The letter of divorce was written, and Sun Yueqin felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

Just then, Sister-in-law Sun suddenly shouted:

"What about the dowry! My sister brought twenty taels of silver (a significant amount) as dowry when she married into this family, plus silver bracelets, hairpins, jewelry—worth another ten taels or so! And tables, chairs... all sorts of household items!"

"Your Li family has a scholar—surely you wouldn’t dare to keep my sister’s dowry, would you?"

That was all money!

With that money, Yueqin and the children could support themselves back at her parents’ home without relying on them, making life easier.

They absolutely had to get that money back!

It was no small sum. The Li family was struggling financially and counting on that money to get by.

Chen Qiaoyun immediately retorted, "What dowry! She’s being divorced—what right does she have to her dowry!"

Sister-in-law Sun planted her hands on her hips and scolded, "Hey! Did your family write the laws of Dayong? You think you can just decide not to return it? All together, it’s over thirty taels, right? You think you can just pocket it?!"

"You brain-rotting, venomous woman! You’re dreaming! If you don’t return the dowry, we’ll go ask at Xiangshan Academy! Let’s see which teacher taught you such law!"

Chen Qiaoyun had never really been one to curse—she played the part of a virtuous woman and never spoke like this. Hearing such words, her face flushed red with anger.

"Then there'll be no divorce! No one is going anywhere!"

Sister-in-law Sun pressed on, "You old hag! The divorce letter is already written! You think you can just say no one leaves? Is the magistrate’s court yours to run!"

As she argued, Mother Sun was far more direct. She waved her hand and called out, "Eldest son, go inside and search. We can leave the tables and chairs, but not a single coin less."

Sun Yueqin added, "The silver jewelry is in the box on my dressing table. The Li family’s money is in her room, under the bed. Lift the quilt, and you’ll see it. It’s locked, but the wooden box can be smashed open."

Following her words, the eldest Sun brother first found the silver jewelry, then went into the room to locate the money box.

Chen Qiaoyun and Li Youliang were frantic and rushed to stop them, but fortunately, the Sun family had brought plenty of people. Just the eldest Sun brother and the second Sun brother alone restrained them. Sister-in-law Sun followed closely behind, entered the room, quickly found the money box, smashed it open, and took the silver.

She didn’t take more than what was owed—only twenty taels.

With the matter settled, Sister-in-law Sun carried the child, Mother Sun held Little Yin’s hand, and said to her son, "Carry your sister out. Wrap her up tightly—don’t let her get chilled."

Then, turning to Sun Yueqin, she said, "I'm taking you home!"

"We rented a cart—with a cover, fully enclosed. I promise you and the baby won’t freeze!"

Sun Yueqin tried to hold back her tears, but couldn’t stop two from rolling down her cheeks.

The group walked out, leaving only Chen Qiaoyun and Li Youliang crying and shouting behind them.

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Author’s note: Wanted to wrap things up, so I wrote a bit more. The update is late again [please forgive me][please forgive me].