She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

Zhou widened her eyes, her expression fierce but her voice weak: "She's also a member of the Gao family, why can't I interfere?"

Gao Dakai retorted irritably, "If it weren't for the fact that you're keeping all the money, I wouldn't bother arguing with you!"

It seemed that the clan chief cousin was really angry. Gao Shangzhi tugged at Zhou's sleeve, signaling her to stop arguing.

Lu Huan slowly strolled in, carrying a plate of snacks.

"Uncle Jiu, please calm down. Things need to be dealt with one step at a time!"

Gao Yan went to greet her, took the plate from Lu Huan's hand, and said with a hint of reproach in his voice, "Wife, why did you come out? I'm enough here!"

Lu Huan followed behind him and said with a smile, "There are no outsiders at home, why can't we come out?"

With Gao Dakai present, Zhou couldn't say anything openly, so she could only say sarcastically, "You finally decided to come out? I thought you were going to die in the house!"

Lu Huan smiled slightly, "My mother-in-law still has the energy to joke with me, so I'm relieved that there shouldn't be any major problems!"

"Who's joking with you!" Madam Zhou glared at Lu Huan, then changed the subject, "You're here just in time. I gave you nine hundred taels of silver last time, so take it all out!"

The chill in Gao Yan's eyes intensified. He knew he wasn't well-liked in the Gao family, but after so many years of raising him, surely there must be some affection between them!

Unless they are all emotionless animals!

He asked coolly, "Does Mother mean that my husband and I should pay off this debt?"

Zhou glared at him, "Don't say such unpleasant things. I still have to take out a hundred taels!"

"Nonsense!" Gao Dakai slammed his hand on the table. "Don't you two have any shame?! How can you ask your adopted son and daughter-in-law for money and even pay off debts?!"

He looked at Gao Shangzhi and asked, "Are you going to do anything about this kind of wife? Do you want me to use clan rules?"

If Gao Zhongbao hadn't held the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), Gao Dakai would have really wanted to gather the clan elders and separate Gao Shangzhi's branch from the family genealogy.

Gao Shangzhi whispered, "Zhongbao's mother, let's hear what Ninth Brother has to say first!"

As if remembering something, Zhou grabbed her sleeve and retorted, "Last time I listened to Ninth Sister-in-law too much, which is why we left behind a troublemaker, and that's why Zhongbao is suffering like this!"

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and she covered her face and started to cry.

Now, the person who looked completely bewildered has become Gao Dakai.

"What, is there something else going on here?"

Gao Shangzhi nudged Zhou Shi and said with a forced smile, "It's alright, it's alright!"

Although the news of Zhongbao's poor offspring would eventually reach Gaojia Village, it was not appropriate for him to say it at this moment.

Gao Shangzhi didn't speak, and Gao Dakai didn't intend to press him further. Instead, he started talking about what had happened that day.

"I just wanted to ask if you have enough money on hand and if you're considering selling that small estate on the east side of the village. If you're planning to sell the estate, I'll have the people in the village who have rented your land prepare as soon as possible."

Gao Dakai's gaze was deep and fixed on Gao Shangzhi, making him feel very uncomfortable.

He began to regret his decision, realizing he shouldn't have succumbed to his brothers' persuasion and sat down at the card table.

Before Gao Shangzhi could speak, Zhou asked Lu Huan, "Eldest daughter-in-law, how much money can you come up with?"

"What a coincidence. I added another hundred taels to the original nine hundred taels and donated it to the Prince of Yan's residence." Lu Huan pointed to the door with a light tone, "The plaques of reward have all been delivered!"

Zhou felt as if a huge piece of her heart had been ripped out. "A thousand taels! You just donated it like that!"

Lu Huan said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? In previous years, when there was no disaster, the Lu family would set up one or two soup kitchens! Besides, I'm never stingy when it comes to showing respect to you and my father-in-law!"

Zhou waved her hand, signaling Lu Huan to stop talking.

You could give yourself mountains of gold and silver and never think it's too much; but that's a thousand taels of silver, how can you just give it away for nothing!

"Just tell me, how much silver do you still have?"

Lu Huan pretended to calculate carefully, dawdling for a while before excitedly saying, "There are still more than fifty taels left!"

Zhou's mind went blank for a moment, and she no longer cared that Gao Dakai was still sitting next to her.

She yelled, "Are you out of your mind? You only have a little over a thousand taels of silver, and you dare to donate a thousand taels? What will your family eat and drink after that?"

Lu Huan explained, feeling wronged, "These fifty taels are enough for our family to eat and drink for half a year!"

Zhou felt the words "a thousand taels wasted" swirling in her mind.

If it weren't for the fact that making the plaque wasn't a matter of just a day or two, Zhou would have seriously suspected that Lu Huan had known about it beforehand, which is why he donated one thousand taels to the Prince of Yan's mansion.

Otherwise, she would risk everything to get that money back!

"you……"

Before Zhou could say anything more, Gao Dakai spoke up.

He shouted, "Zhou, shut up! I think the one with the problem is you!"

What kind of in-laws are these, constantly eyeing their daughter-in-law's dowry! Have you no shame? Don't you have any respect for your son?

Gao Dakai had completely lost his patience. "I'll go and inform those villagers right away, and tell them to finish planting this season and then return the lease to you."

From now on, you can sell or keep this estate, it's up to you! I'm no longer involved in your family's affairs!

Gao Shangzhi panicked now. He grabbed Gao Dakai's arm and begged for forgiveness, "Ninth Brother, I know I was wrong! I don't know what got into me! I promise I won't hang out with those people anymore! Please don't abandon me!"

He finally saw it clearly.

What kind of brother is Wei Shuo? If the clan leader hadn't brought people here in time today, his house would probably have been emptied out.

Those evil spirits will come again in a few days. If Ninth Brother really washes his hands of it and those evil spirits try to cheat him, his family will be all alone and helpless.

Gao Dakai had watched his frail cousin grow up, and when his cousin cried and begged like this, Gao Dakai really felt a little bad.

"Alright, alright! It's good that you know you're wrong! You only have one small estate left in your family, do you think you can touch those dice?"

Gao Shangzhi nodded vigorously, behaving extremely obediently.

"Ninth Brother, I'm never going out to hang out with those shady friends again!"

Even Gao Yan didn't believe this, let alone Gao Dakai.

He waved his hand, interrupting Gao Shangzhi's oath, "Tell me honestly, will you actually touch that estate?"

Gao Shangzhi frequently asked Zhou for money, so he was well aware of the family's financial situation.

He shook his head. "No, that won't happen. It's just that after we take out this thousand taels of silver, we won't have much left for our coffins."

If Zhongbao passes the imperial examination and wants to travel to the capital for the next examination, he will need the travel expenses…

Gao Dakai glared at him. Gao Zhongbao had only just passed the county-level imperial examination, ranking near the bottom, and he was already thinking about going to the capital for the final examination!

"Alright! You think I don't know? Ever since Ayan's wife married into the family, you haven't had to pay for any of the daily expenses!"

"From now on, stop going out and fooling around. Save up your earnings from the past few years, and you won't have to worry about Zhongbao not having enough money to go to the capital."

“Yes!” Lu Huan chimed in, “If my brother-in-law really does come to that, there’s no need to worry about travel expenses! I imagine my sister-in-law or my father would be happy to pay for it!”