Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Zhu Meiru had been sleeping in late when the voices woke her up. She was already annoyed when she heard Zhu Chenxi's voice. The man speaking must be her ugly, penniless husband!

Ha, this ugly freak and scoundrel dare to bully her mother?

Zhu Meiru walked into the main room. "Zhu Chenxi, you shameless scoundrels, what are you two? How dare you say I'm a daughter of the Zhang family? My father allowed me to be called Zhu Meiru!"

"And Zhu Chenxi, what's wrong with selling yourself and using the money as my dowry? You ugly hag, it's your honor to contribute to the family."

“I’m going to marry Chen Jinfeng, the young master of Meishan Pavilion in the county town. He can provide so much help to Dad and Wendong. What can you, an ugly freak, do?”

"Oh dear, by the way, you married a notorious scoundrel in Qingshan Town. You'll only be a burden to your family from now on. How can you compare to my future husband?!"

Qian Jinfeng felt relieved by her daughter's scolding.

Who are these two people? How dare they provoke her? Do they think they can become rich and powerful just because they have embroidery skills and earn a little money?

dream!

Her future son-in-law is powerful and influential; how could this scoundrel compare?

Zhu Chenxi said in disbelief, "I'm still Father's daughter, how can you sell me off like this? Mother, I wasn't born of you, is this how you treat me?"

Zhu Dehai had wanted to go in for a long time, but Zhu Qingxing stopped him.

"Third Uncle, you teach in Laishui County, and Chenxi has suffered a lot of injustices. Today is a rare opportunity, so please listen carefully."

Zhu Dehai had no choice but to stop. The more he listened, the angrier he became. Qian Jinfeng and Zhu Meiru were completely disregarding him!

Today, in front of Zhu Qingxing, he, a scholar, has completely lost face!

Just as Qian Jinfeng was about to say something even more embarrassing, he shook off Zhu Qingxing's hand and strode in, saying, "You two, shut up!"

Zhu Meiru was stunned. When did her father come back? Did he hear everything she just said?

Qian Jinfeng looked surprised, but then a smile appeared on her face. She walked towards Zhu Dehai with a swaying gait, saying, "Husband, you're finally back." Her phoenix eyes were sparkling.

"Hmph!" Zhu Dehai flicked his sleeves, but his attitude softened a little.

"Qingxing, why don't you go home first? Look, your third uncle is busy entertaining guests..." Zhu Dehai gave her the order to leave.

Zhu Qingxing seemed not to understand, and suddenly hooked her arm around Zhu Chenxi's arm, "Third Uncle, Chenxi can hardly be considered a guest. I haven't seen her in a long time, and I miss her terribly."

Anyway, she's not leaving. Uncle San is such a proud man; he certainly can't show favoritism towards Qian Jinfeng and Zhu Meiru in front of her today.

Zhu Chenxi held Zhu Qingxing's hand and said, "Qingxing, I miss you so much too."

Zhu Dehai had no choice but to give up.

Yuan Sheng bowed to Zhu Dehai, saying, "Father-in-law, it is truly impolite of me to meet you for the first time."

The son-in-law's extraordinary demeanor and polite manners made Zhu Meiru and Qian Jinfeng appear even more like country women.

Yuan Sheng's words were clever. Why was it their first meeting? Was it because they were selling their daughter, yet the son-in-law claimed to have been rude? Then who was truly rude?

Zhu Dehai held Yuan Sheng's hand, "My dear son-in-law, we were impolite. Your mother-in-law is foolish! She did such a foolish thing. As for the twenty taels of betrothal gifts, we will use them all as part of the dowry."

Zhu Qingxing whispered from the side, "Third Uncle, people are preparing a dowry for their daughters."

Zhu Qingxing's voice seemed soft, but everyone could hear it clearly.

Zhu Dehai, his old face flushed with shame, had never been in such an embarrassing situation before. “Of course, Chenxi also has her own dowry money to keep. I’ve been preparing it for her for a long time. There wasn’t enough time to buy dowry items, so I’m giving Chenxi ten taels of silver to keep as a dowry.”

what?

Qian Jinfeng was so angry she almost twisted her nose. What kind of nonsense is this? Not only do they have to return those twenty taels, but they also have to pay an additional ten taels in compensation.

Does that old bastard Zhu Dehai even know what he's saying?

Zhu Meiru's eyebrows furrowed together. She had already planned to use the twenty taels of silver to make a peony gold hairpin as part of her dowry, but now it was all gone.

The family has to pay another ten taels of silver? The family only has so much money in total. If they give Zhu Chenxi ten taels as dowry, her dowry will naturally be less.

She was already marrying up to the young master of Meishan Pavilion, and if she couldn't come up with a decent dowry, she didn't know how her sisters-in-law would ridicule her in the future.

"Father..." Zhu Meiru was about to say, "Father, how could you do this?" when Qian Jinfeng stopped her.

Qian Jinfeng was able to control Zhu Dehai, which meant she had some skill. In front of outsiders, she never embarrassed her husband, and no matter how angry she was, she could suppress it.

Yuan Sheng was naturally somewhat satisfied when he heard that the Zhu family had shed thirty taels of silver.

In her previous life, Zhu Chenxi's tragic fate was mainly due to him. He tormented and beat her, leaving her with calloused hands that made it impossible for her to earn money through embroidery. However, her father-in-law was also quite indifferent to this daughter, perhaps offering her a small amount of financial assistance a few times in private, but that was all.

He was determined to spoil Chenxi rotten for the rest of his life, and no one would be allowed to bully her again!

"I heard from Chenxi that my father-in-law is a scholar, and indeed he is very particular about etiquette. I thank my father-in-law on behalf of Chenxi." With that, Yuansheng bowed to Zhu Dehai with a crossed bow.

Zhu Chenxi smiled faintly, "Thank you, Dad."

Her father witnessed the entire ordeal of her stepmother and stepsister, but he only reprimanded them briefly, and they were not punished further. This shows that her father's concern for her was only so-so.

That ten taels of dowry was probably more for the sake of his scholar's reputation!

Zhu Dehai took out his book box and said, "I left in a hurry today. You two younger generation members brought gifts back to your parents' home, but I didn't have time to prepare a gift for you. I am really sorry."

Zhu Dehai laid out several items from his collection of books, saying, "Yuansheng, take a look and see if there's anything you can use. Pick one."

Yuan Sheng flicked his nose. His father-in-law was concerned with both appearance and substance. He only brought it out because he knew Yuan Sheng was a farmer.

Ha, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Yuan Sheng looked at the items in front of him. The Xuan paper was good, the brush was good, and the paperweight looked to be of good quality, but the best thing should be this inkstone. It was a top-quality Duan inkstone!

It's estimated to cost at least several tens of taels of silver.

“Father-in-law, you are too kind to refuse. I happen to be going to a private school in a few days, so I’ll choose this inkstone.” As he spoke, Yuan Sheng took the inkstone directly into his hand.

Zhu Dehai wished he could slap himself twice.

Damn it!

This inkstone was the most precious gift Master Ma had given him, and he usually couldn't bear to use it. He never expected that Yuan Sheng would take it all today.

Why did he have to ask that question?

Zhu Dehai's smile was about to fade, and his face began to tremble.

Zhu Qingxing gave a thumbs up, "My third uncle is so particular! I have to have a good talk with my dad when I get back. Everyone in the village is saying that Zhu Dehai's family is going to sell their own daughter for money. I even argued with them. My third uncle is a respectable scholar, he's not the kind of person who would sell his daughter! I have to make sure that my third uncle gives his daughter a dowry and gives his son-in-law a gift."

Zhu Dehai took a deep breath, composed himself, and said to Yuan Sheng, "You're going to study? That's great! If you don't understand anything, just ask me. After all, I've been a teacher for over ten years."