The Leisurely Life of a Peasant Woman in the Tang Dynasty

"Youyou..." Uncle Tang sighed, his wrinkled face filled with helplessness. "It's not that I won't help you, but you've seen that the people in this family are divided. What your second brother said makes sense. You have to come up with some rules to silence Youyou and the others, don't you think?"

Tang Youyou's heart sank. She should have thought that in this era, family pressure was inevitable. Although Third Uncle Tang was upright, he was ultimately just a microcosm of this feudal family concept.

"Uncle San is teaching me that I will come up with a set of rules as soon as possible." Tang Youyou suppressed the bitterness in her heart and replied lightly.

"That's good, that's good." Uncle Tang finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her agree. He turned to the others and said, "You all heard it too. Youyou has already agreed. Let's go back, let's go back."

Seeing that their goal had been achieved, everyone stopped arguing and stood up to say goodbye. However, before leaving, the calculating eyes of Mr. Tang Er and Aunt Tang Si cast a shadow over Tang Youyou's heart.

After seeing everyone off, Tang Youyou dragged her tired steps back to her room. She knew that a new storm was brewing, and she had to find a way to deal with it before the storm came.

She opened the account book sent by Butler Li and began to carefully study the family's property distribution rules. However, she was shocked by the seemingly detailed rules, but in fact there were many ambiguities. For example, the definition of "family contribution" was very broad, which could include financial contributions as well as contributions in other aspects, which gave some people with ulterior motives an opportunity to take advantage of it.

"Miss, what are you looking at?" Butler Li walked in with a cup of hot tea. Seeing Tang Youyou frowning, he couldn't help but ask with concern.

Tang Youyou put down the account book in his hand, rubbed his swollen temples, and said: "I'm looking at the family's property distribution rules. Uncle Li, you have followed my father for so many years, you should be very familiar with these rules, right?"

Upon hearing this, Butler Li smiled bitterly and said, "Miss, you don't know that these rules are fixed, but people are alive. The actual implementation depends on the specific circumstances. When the master was here, everything was easy to deal with, but now..."

He didn't say the rest of the words, but Tang Youyou already understood what he meant. Yes, now that she is a woman, how can she compete with those relatives who are eyeing her covetously?

"Uncle Li, don't worry, I won't let my father's efforts go to waste." Tang Youyou took a deep breath, a determined glint in his eyes.

Late at night, Tang Youyou was still thinking hard under the lamp, thinking of a solution. Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door.

"Miss, this is bad!" Butler Li's voice was a little panicked. "The Second Master and the others are here again..."

Tang Youyou stood up suddenly, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes. She quickly walked to the door and opened it, and sure enough, she saw Mr. Tang's disgusting face with a hypocritical smile.

"Youyou, why are you still awake so late? We are worried about you, so we came to see you." Mr. Tang said as he tried to squeeze into the house.

Tang Youyou calmly moved aside to block his way, her tone indifferent: "Second Uncle is visiting so late at night, I wonder what brings you here?"

"It's like this," Mr. Tang cleared his throat and said with a serious expression, "I've carefully studied the family rules and found that there are some unreasonable aspects in the property distribution plan you proposed earlier..."

Before he finished speaking, the sharp voice of Fourth Aunt Tang rang out from behind him: "That's right, Youyou, your Second Uncle is your real uncle, how could you treat him so badly? If this gets out, won't people laugh at our Tang family for having no manners?"

Tang Youyou coldly watched them singing the same tune, anger boiling in her heart. This Second Master Tang was clearly greedy, and Fourth Aunt Tang was even more eager to create chaos, spreading rumors everywhere to ruin her reputation.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and said in a cold voice: "Second Uncle, Fourth Aunt, I respect you as my elders, so I have always been tolerant of your unreasonable demands. But you can't go too far! Everything I do is worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth, and worthy of my family ancestors! If you continue to act unreasonably like this, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Mr. Tang Er and Aunt Tang Si obviously didn't expect Tang Youyou to be so tough, and they were stunned for a moment.

"You...how dare you speak to your elders like that?" Aunt Tang Si reacted, pointed at Tang Youyou's nose and cursed, "You heartless ungrateful bastard, your parents died early, and it was your second uncle and I who raised you with all our might..."

"Enough!" Butler Li, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly shouted, interrupting Fourth Aunt Tang's curses. "Second Master, Fourth Madam, please respect yourselves! The young lady is the heir to the family, personally appointed by the master. Aren't you afraid that the master's spirit in heaven will be disturbed by your slander of her?"

Mr. Tang Er and Mrs. Tang Si were so frightened by what Butler Li said that their faces turned pale. Although they were greedy, they also knew the prestige of Mr. Tang in the family. Although Mr. Tang was now dead, his influence still existed, so they did not dare to go too far.

"Butler Li, what do you mean by this? We just care about Youyou, how could you..."

"Second brother, fourth sister-in-law, please stop talking!" Tang Dayuan, who had been standing at the back of the crowd, couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward to smooth things over. "Youyou is new in charge, so it's inevitable that she might be careless. Give her some time to handle it properly and don't cause her any more trouble."

Although Tang Dayuan was Tang Youyou's uncle, he was an upright man and held considerable prestige in the family. As soon as he spoke, Master Tang and Aunt Tang were at a loss for words. They could only glare at Tang Youyou angrily and then turn and leave.

Watching them leave, Tang Youyou rubbed her brows tiredly. She knew that this was just the calm before the storm, and greater challenges were still to come.

Tang Dayuan walked over to Tang Youyou, patted her shoulder, and whispered, "Youyou, don't be afraid. Third Uncle will definitely stand by you. It's just..."

He hesitated to speak, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Just what?" Tang Youyou asked.

Tang Dayuan sighed and said, "It's just that many people in the family have been deceived by my second brother and his men. If I want to convince them, I'm afraid..."

"I understand, Third Uncle." Tang Youyou took a deep breath, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, "I will do my best."

As the night deepened, Tang Youyou stood alone in front of the window, gazing at the dark night sky in the distance, her heart filled with confusion and uneasiness...

Tang Youyou looked at Tang Dayuan's departing figure, feeling mixed emotions. She knew that Tang Dayuan really wanted to help her, but family affairs were complicated, and many people were blinded by interests. It was not easy to change their minds.

"Miss, don't be discouraged." Butler Li walked over to Tang Youyou with a cup of hot tea, "This old servant has an idea that may be able to help you, Miss."

"Uncle Li, go ahead." Tang Youyou took the teacup and took a sip.

"Aren't there several respected elders in the family? They all watched the master grow up and are most familiar with the family rules. If we can ask them to come out and judge this matter, I believe the second master and his men will not dare to make trouble again." Butler Li suggested.

Tang Youyou put down her teacup, frowning slightly. Butler Li's suggestion was a good idea, but she also knew that although these elders were highly respected, they had long since withdrawn from worldly affairs. If they were involved, would it only make things more complicated?

"Miss, I know what you are worried about." Butler Li seemed to see through Tang Youyou's thoughts, "But this matter is of great importance. If it is not resolved quickly, it will only make the Second Master and his men even more unscrupulous."

Tang Youyou was silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. Butler Li was right. If she allowed Mr. Tang and the others to continue making such a fuss, it would only further divide the family and affect her ongoing charity work.

"Okay, Uncle Li, I'll do as you say." Tang Youyou finally decided to follow Butler Li's advice. She couldn't believe that she, who sincerely wanted to manage the family well, could be defeated by these evil spirits!

It was late at night and everyone was asleep, but Tang Youyou had no desire to sleep. She stood up and walked to the window, looking at the bright moonlight outside, her mind full of thoughts.

"Dong dong dong..."

Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door broke the silence of the night. Tang Youyou was startled, and an ominous premonition came to her heart. She walked quickly to the door, took a deep breath, and slowly opened it.

Standing outside the door is...

Standing outside the door was a panicked Third Uncle Tang. He walked hurriedly, his expression anxious, a stark contrast to his usual calm and composed demeanor. "Youyou, this is bad! Something's happened!" He spoke hastily, not caring about etiquette. He pushed past Tang Youyou, who was still stunned, and quickly walked into the room.

Tang Youyou's heart tightened. Third Uncle Tang was always dignified and rarely lost his composure like this. Could something serious have happened? "Third Uncle, don't be anxious. Tell me slowly. What happened?"

Uncle Tang San sank down in his chair, sighed deeply, and frowned, as if he'd encountered something daunting. "Alas, it's your second brother. He heard from somewhere that you were going to invite the elders to judge the case, and he actually brought people to make a scene overnight. Now the elders are very dissatisfied with you, thinking that you're not a good wife and making decisions without permission. Alas, what should we do now?"

Tang Youyou felt dizzy. Master Tang was really pushing her to the brink of death! She was clearly doing this for the good of the family, so why did she become the target of public criticism? She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. "Uncle San, Brother Er...how could he do this? I asked the elders to come out so that the family could unite and develop together!"

"Youyou, I know you're doing this for the good of the family, but your second brother and the others have been blinded by their own interests and won't listen to your explanation at all!" Uncle Tang said bitterly, "The most important thing now is to find a way to calm the anger of the elders. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to gain a foothold in the family in the future."

Tang Youyou rubbed her aching temple. The family dispute had already made her extremely anxious, and now, because of Mr. Tang's instigation, she was in an even more passive situation. She knew that she had to come up with a solution as soon as possible, otherwise, not only would her charity be affected, but her position in the family would also be in jeopardy.

"Uncle San, don't worry, I will find a way to solve this matter." Tang Youyou took a deep breath and said with a firm look in her eyes. She was not someone who would give up easily, and she would not watch her efforts go to waste.

"Alas, this is all we can do. Be careful." Third Uncle Tang patted Tang Youyou's shoulder and stood up to leave. When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something, stopped, turned around and said, "By the way, I heard from your second brother that you have been sorting out the family accounts and deeds recently?"

Tang Youyou was slightly stunned, and a sense of uneasiness suddenly rose in her heart, "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Uncle Tang hesitated to speak, and finally just sighed, "It's nothing, you should go to bed early." After that, he turned and left.

Tang Youyou stood there, her confusion growing. What did Third Uncle Tang mean by his last words? Could there be some problem with the family accounts and the deeds? Thinking of this, she quickly walked to the desk and pulled out a thick account book from the drawer. She flipped to the first page and her eyes fell on the first line. Suddenly, she seemed to discover something, and her face changed drastically...