Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Thanks to the glory their ancestors once achieved, Clan Chief Han and the other elders of the clan had always put considerable effort into educating their descendants.

Though it was hard to avoid the common bias favoring males over females, the Han clan did not treat their daughters and young lads as poorly as other families did. Before marriage, the girls and lads of the Han clan mostly lived quite comfortable lives.

Thus, when the clan proposed that they take in husbands through matrilocal marriage to stay and expand the family line,

most of the divorced or separated women and lads who had returned home were very willing!

After all, in this world, only those who had married truly knew what married life was like. Those who could live contentedly were truly rare.

Although taking in a husband might invite some gossip, since the clan was willing to back them up, and they weren't the only ones doing it, staying at their natal home was still better than remarrying as a second wife.

Of course, there were also stubborn ones who refused and insisted on marrying out.

There was no helping such people; one could only choose to respect their choices.

After confirming everyone's intentions, Han Zhang did not delay. He spent a day using his Plant Power to gather information from various households.

Then, on the third day, he led the clan directly to the families that had divorced or separated from their Han clan daughters and lads, negotiating the custody of the children.

Actually, there wasn't much to negotiate.

For those who had mutually separated, there was room for discussion. It was understandable for couples to part ways when disaster struck, given Master Sun's power. Though heartless, it still left some leeway.

But for those who had unceremoniously sent a divorce letter without even a word, it was a blatant slap in the face to the entire Han clan—an insult that could not be tolerated!

After all, a mutual separation and a unilateral divorce were vastly different in nature.

A separation still allowed for some salvaging of dignity, but a divorce implied that the wife or husband had committed one of the "seven grounds for divorce," which would cast doubt on all the unmarried girls and lads of the woman's or lad's family, with very serious consequences.

So.

Han Zhang did not stand on ceremony with them.

He went straight to their homes, without a word, dragged out the men of those families one by one, and gave each a thorough beating.

Only then did he reveal the secrets and leverage he had on those families, threatening them.

"Change the divorce letter to a separation agreement, return the dowry intact, hand over the children to our Han clan, and write a letter of severance—then this matter is settled."

"Otherwise, come tomorrow, when your family's little scandals spread across the countryside, don't blame the Han clan for showing no mercy!"

The dowry had to be returned as well.

The Han clan had provided quite generous dowries when marrying off their daughters and lads—they couldn't let those bastards keep it.

The Han clan took a tough stance and held leverage over them.

Even if these families were unhappy about it, in the end, they could only bow their heads and mutter a few harsh words as they gave in.

"Take the kid, then! Who knows if that bitch's brat is even mine? I don't care! If I want kids, plenty of women and young lads will be fighting to bear them for me!"

And then…

That foul-mouthed man got beaten by Han Zhang again.

"Though it is said a gentleman uses words, not fists, Confucius himself taught that when necessary, one must persuade with reason. Since you all are stubbornly ignorant, I shall offer some guidance today to help you see the light."

After beating the man,

Han Zhang, who cultivated both Buddhism and Taoism, clasped his hands and said, "Amitabha, Infinite Heaven—my apologies."

Very polite, indeed.

Everyone: …

In short, with the strong backing of Han Zhang and the elders, the divorced and separated daughters and lads who had returned home were all soothed in their emotions.

As for those who had been laid off from their city jobs, they were temporarily kept in check by the prospect of benefits from the "Match Workshop," obediently following the clan's arrangements.

Just when Han Zhang thought the clan's problems were temporarily resolved, an unexpected incident occurred.

His Fifth Aunt, who had married into the city, came back to the clan to make a scene!

"Fifth Aunt?"

Han Zhang suddenly recalled this person from his original self's memories, and his face turned green.

The reason was simple:

This Fifth Aunt was truly a troublesome one.

He had earlier been congratulating himself on his good fortune, thinking the Han family was mostly united and harmonious, unlike the protagonists in other time-travel stories who ended up with a bunch of awful relatives.

He had completely forgotten about this Fifth Aunt!

But he couldn't be blamed for forgetting. Since her marriage, this Fifth Aunt rarely returned to her natal home. When she did come for holidays, she'd only stay for a meal before rushing off with bags full of things. She was almost never around.

Every time she suddenly showed up, it was definitely to ask for money.

Sure enough.

Fifth Aunt came back crying and complaining:

"Father, Mother, do you have any idea? You've ruined me!"

"I told you back then—betroth my sister-in-law to Big Brother. Our families know each other well, we're a good match, right? But you wouldn't listen. You insisted Big Brother aim high and marry Miss Sun."

"Look what's happened now. He didn't reach high, and instead offended Master Sun. With a word from the Sun family, how many of our clan's girls and lads were divorced? I've been caught up in it too…"

"Now my in-laws are furious with me, and my husband is threatening to divorce me. How… how can I go on? Hurry, think of something for me! Scrape together some silver, buy some nice gifts, so I can win back my in-laws' favor!"

"Boo-hoo… Father, Mother, if you don't help me, and I get divorced, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life…"

Fifth Aunt was rolling on the floor, wailing and making a huge scene.

Hearing the commotion, Fourth Aunt, who had also rushed home in concern, was furious: "Silver, silver! Fifth Sister, look at the state of this family, and you're still thinking about silver?"

"If your husband really wanted to divorce you, he'd have thrown the letter in your face long ago. How could he let you come back home and carry on like this?"

"Over the years, haven't Father and Mother secretly given you enough? And still you want more!"

Fourth Aunt grew angrier as she spoke: "And about Big Brother's marriage—you still have the nerve to bring that up? Don't you know exactly what your sister-in-law is like?"

"That girl has long been entangled with some noble outsider, and her reputation is ruined. And you wanted to foist her off on Big Brother? What do you take our Han family's eldest grandson for?"

Grandpa Han and Grandma Han had five children in total.

Three sons and two daughters. Besides the two uncles, the original host had these two aunts.

Fourth Aunt was hardworking and capable, getting along well with the family;

However, Fifth Aunt, perhaps because she was the youngest daughter and frail since childhood, was favored a bit more by the whole family, which fostered a rather selfish and callous disposition.

Moreover, she was rather ungrateful: whenever her maiden family had something good, she would move it all to her husband's family; but when her husband's family got any benefits, the Han family never saw any gratitude or returns in return.

Even on ordinary days, a word of care was rarely heard from her.

Previously, she even had the wicked idea of using the original host's marriage to curry favor with her husband's family—truly a waste of the family's upbringing.

This made Grandpa Han and Grandma Han very sad.

But after all, she was their own flesh and blood; even though they were disheartened, they couldn't just ignore her.

Grandpa Han furrowed his brow and said pensively.

"Don't count on getting any silver. Our family can't afford it. Just as Cuicui (Fourth Aunt) said, all these years, seeing you living in the city and afraid you'd be looked down upon by your in-laws, how much have your parents given you?"

"Next year, Big Brother will take the imperial examination. Right now, the clan has also gotten into trouble with the Sun family, making it hard even to make ends meet. You ignore the struggles of your own family—do you no longer care about your maiden family?"

"There's no silver, but if your husband's family truly wants to divorce you, your parents and brothers will not stand idly by. Big Brother is at least a scholar. Our Han family is not a pushover to be taken advantage of..."

On hearing this, Fifth Aunt was both angry and anxious.

"Father! How can you treat me like this? My husband is a constable at the yamen. When I married into the city, didn't you also share in the glory? Isn't it only natural for the family to help me out a bit?"

"Besides, this time it's clearly the family's affairs that implicated me! The clan spends money and effort on those young ladies and lads who are divorced or separated and returned home. Why is it that when it comes to me, there's not a bit of compensation? Am I not a daughter of the Han family?"

Well, she was just jealous that others got benefits while she didn't.

Han's mother, watching anxiously, fearing that the old couple would soften and give away the money for her son's imperial examination, quickly cut in to argue:

"Sister-in-law, it is indeed your ability that you married into the city, but all these years, what benefit have we gained from you?"

"When Fourth Aunt got married, her dowry was only two taels of silver, but our family managed to scrape together ten taels for your dowry to make a grand display!"

"At that time, it was agreed that you would return the silver after the show was over. But what happened? The silver never came back, leaving only your empty promises. It made our whole family tighten our belts for a whole year! Even during New Year, we dared only buy half a catty of meat!"

Mentioning old matters, Fifth Aunt felt a bit guilty.

But not much.

She soon became righteous again, reiterating: "My husband is a constable at the yamen office! Fourth Sister married a rural hunter—can she compare to me? If my dowry were too small, it would be a disgrace to the Han family!"

"Sister-in-law, today we're talking about the matter with Master Sun. Don't change the subject. In short, all the grievances I suffer in my husband's family are caused by the family. If I'm not compensated with eight or ten taels, I won't let it go..."

Having said that.

She plopped down on the ground again and began wailing loudly: 'My fate is so bitter—my maiden family doesn't care, my husband's family doesn't love me—'

This gave the Han family a headache.

If it were an outsider, they would have driven her out long ago. But this was their own younger sister, and she was indeed implicated, making it hard to break ties.

Every time Fifth Aunt made a scene, she was banking on the Han family's value of kinship.

Unfortunately, she met her match today.

Han Zhang was a time-traveler, not the original who grew up in the Han family. He had no affection for this Fifth Aunt, and such a nasty piece of work wasn't going to drag him down!

Fifth Aunt could throw tantrums and play the victim.

He also had his own sugary sarcasm.

Han Zhang put on a forced smile and said: 'Grandpa, Grandma, if the family has any spare money, let's help Fifth Aunt get through this difficulty first. Your grandson is still young, only twenty. I can afford to wait a few more years for the exam. I can't let Fifth Aunt have a hard time in her husband's family because of my future.'

As soon as these words were spoken, Grandpa Han and Grandma Han's hearts immediately swayed in his favor.

The eldest grandson was young and could wait, but the old couple couldn't afford to wait. They still wanted to live to see their grandson bring glory to the family!

A promising and obedient eldest grandson versus a daughter who only freeloaded off her maiden family.

The choice was obvious.

Grandpa Han immediately put on a stern expression: 'No money! Not a single coin left in this family! If it doesn't work out, separate and come back. Your father and mother will support you!'

Grandma Han also slapped her thigh and said: 'Fifth, the silver you took from home before, you claimed it was a loan. Now it's time to pay it back! Just in time, Big Brother's exam expenses haven't been fully saved up yet. Come on, let's go to your in-laws' house to collect the money!'

'Let your in-laws' neighbors be the judge: is there a married daughter who comes back to her maiden family every day to drain it dry?'

The old couple not only refused to give her money but also started demanding repayment of old debts.

Fifth Aunt: ...

Who spits out meat they've already swallowed?

'Well... Dad, Mom, I have things to do at home. I... I'll go back now. I'll come see you another day!'

Feeling guilty, Fifth Aunt quickly slipped away, like a jackrabbit.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to snatch the cured meat hanging in the kitchen, worried she might not get her share of the family's meat.

Grandma Han anxiously shouted after her: 'You wretched girl, come back! Put down the meat! That's for Big Brother to build up his strength—you can't take it!'

The grandchildren of the Han family also chased after her: 'Fifth Aunt, give back Big Brother's meat! That's Big Brother's meat!'

A group of teenagers caught Fifth Aunt, and a scuffle broke out between the two sides.

In the end, the younger ones won by sheer numbers. Fifth Aunt, outnumbered, left with scratch marks on her face, cursing and muttering.

The owner of the cured meat, Han Zhang: ...

The younger siblings did a great job, but maybe don't do it again next time—it's kind of awkward.