My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

After talking for a while, An Susu's emotions stabilized a little, and she was willing to talk more with Si Muyan, so she told her everything.

"My husband's surname is Gu. My parents-in-law, my husband, a sister-in-law, two brothers-in-law, and a cousin who lives with us year-round. We have some small plots of land and two vacant houses in the county town. My father-in-law is a janitor in the county government. Because there were so many people, after I got married, they hired a family of servants to do the rough work. We used to be a happy family, and life was pretty good. But after Xier was born three years ago, my mother-in-law was unhappy, feeling that I hadn't given birth to a son. And in the three years since, I haven't been able to conceive, and my mother-in-law has become even more dissatisfied."

"I'm not afraid of my sister laughing at me. Actually, after Xi'er was born, I had to take care of her and the household chores, so my husband and I...were rarely together. Last summer, an old gentleman from the capital, rumored to have been a Jinshi (a successful jinshi), settled in Anlong County. Many students came seeking his guidance, and my husband did the same. But his salary was very high, eight taels of silver a month, and our household expenses have been so high over the past five years that I've almost spent all the money I brought with me. I'm a little unhappy about it."

"My mother-in-law wasn't happy about this. She said I was from a wealthy family and couldn't possibly be without this little money. I had no choice but to compromise. I gave her money for several months in a row, and I reduced my expenses elsewhere. This made my sister-in-law and brother-in-law quite dissatisfied with me. Later, my husband's studies progressed, and my parents-in-law were very happy. My father-in-law made the decision and asked me to send my two younger brothers-in-law over as well. It cost 24 taels of silver a month. How could I afford it? But my mother-in-law said I was from a wealthy family and forced me to go back to my parents' home to ask for money. They knew how I married into their family in the first place!"

Having said this, An Susu covered her face and started crying again.

Si Muyan grasped the key point and asked, "So you went back to look for your father because you had no money. And they also changed their attitude because you had no money?"

"Hmm..." An Susu nodded. "From that time on, the house was in chaos. My two brothers-in-law were always clamoring to go to school, and my sister-in-law blamed me for not buying her new clothes and jewelry. My mother-in-law probably didn't like me, and her dislike for me became more and more obvious. She said I couldn't give her a grandson, and she said she wanted to take my cousin home as a concubine for my husband!"

When she said this, her face was full of indignation.

"I've been so good to them, how could they do this to me?"

Si Muyan asked, "How old is your cousin?"

"Ah? Twenty-two this year..."

Si Muyan said, "Where is your husband?"

"A year older than me, twenty-five, what's wrong?"

Si Muyan said, "You got married at the age of eighteen or nineteen, which is not too early. Why is your cousin from your husband's family still not married at the age of twenty-two? Didn't your mother-in-law find a husband for her before?"

"I've looked for quite a few good families before, but the circumstances weren't quite right, so..."

An Susu froze in the middle of her words, her eyes wide open in disbelief. She looked at Si Muyan, too shocked to utter a word, while Si Muyan nodded faintly.

"So, they already had a beginning and an end? But I... didn't realize it!"

Si Muyan said: "Maybe it will take longer than you think now."

An Susu still didn't believe it: "He... shouldn't be that kind of person."

Si Muyan spread her hands. "I always assume the worst of others. Think carefully about his cousin. Did your relationship with her start off on the wrong foot? Did she always show hostility towards you?"

"Yes... I thought it was because I dressed better than her and she was jealous of me, so I treated her as well as my sister-in-law."

"If she's jealous, she grew up in your husband's family. Why isn't your sister-in-law jealous of you, but she is? She's not jealous, she's angry. She was originally the daughter-in-law of the Gu family, but you took her place. How did you take her place? Because you're rich. For the sake of money, the Gu family didn't hesitate to sacrifice their own son and forcibly separated the two of them from being together."

An Susu had never imagined this was the case. She wanted to deny it, but some things, if you think about them carefully, you will find many clues. It's not that she hadn't noticed something unusual before, but she just didn't think about it that way.

When the veil was torn off and the truth was clearly revealed before her, she realized how ridiculous the true love she had always insisted on was.

Si Muyan continued, "You think it's a conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but you and your mother-in-law originally had no connection at all. It's because of her son, your husband, that you two are connected. All conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are caused by your husband's inaction!"

An Susu lowered her head and couldn't even cry.

Si Muyan waited for a while before asking, "Boss An told me a general overview of your situation before the Lunar New Year, saying that your husband's family would be moving to Fenghuang County after the Lunar New Year. Apparently, you didn't reach an agreement during the Lunar New Year?"

An Susu nodded helplessly. "I had no choice but to shamelessly return to my parents' home. My parents felt sorry for me, so they made an agreement with my husband's family to find a good husband for my cousin. Then we would move to Fenghuang County. He would open a teahouse for my family, buy two new wives to serve us, and even send my two brothers-in-law to college in Fenghuang County..."

"Well, what now?"

An Susu whispered, "Dad said I couldn't live without the skills to make a living. He said I used to like tea art and making pastries, so he wanted to send me to you to learn. I had already agreed on all this with my husband's family, but they changed their minds during the New Year."

"At first, they said my cousin's mother's death anniversary was at the beginning of the year, and she couldn't get married until a month after the anniversary. My father asked her to stay in Anlong County and not come with us, but her husband's family disagreed. Then they demanded that the new teahouse my father opened for me couldn't be called Susu Teahouse, but had to be called Gu's Teahouse, so as not to give people the impression that her husband was a gigolo. And it had to be registered under the Gu family's name..."

Si Muyan guessed it and asked, "Merchants can't enter the government nowadays. If you are registered under the Gu family name, how will your husband and your two brothers-in-law take the imperial examinations?"

"They said it should be registered under my sister-in-law's name."

"Heh." Si Muyan sneered, "You're really taking advantage of me. It seems like you think I'm a pushover, someone who's easy to bully? You... don't you want to agree?"

An Susu's thoughts were exposed, and she felt even more embarrassed. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Dad disagrees. He said that the An family's assets must not be registered in someone else's name. I am a married woman. He can give me all the profits from the teahouse so that I can have enough income to support my family, but he will never give me the shop. I... I..."

She clutched her chest. She'd even argued with her father about this matter, crying, wanting to take the shop back. Now that she thought about it, how could the Gu family compromise? They clearly wanted to get rid of the shop once and for all. As for her cousin? She probably had no intention of getting married.