The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

The clan brought generous gifts with them on this visit. They were also worried that if the Marquis's family was determined to seek justice for Rong, they would not gain anything.

How can ordinary people fight against officials! They still have that much self-awareness.

He dared not show any disrespect to Lady Hou, but when it came to Hua Sirong, who shared the same surname as him, he was completely unruly.

"Please forgive me, Madam, but my children are disobedient. Today, I would like to borrow your esteemed place to teach them a lesson." The clan chief's younger brother said with a stern face, adopting the demeanor of an elder disciplining a junior.

When Shen heard him repeatedly emphasize that he was disciplining his own child, the implication was that she, as an outsider and aunt, should not use her power to interfere.

But this is the Marquis's residence, and she happens to be the Marquis's wife.

"It's true that Rong's surname is Hua, but her mother's surname is Shen, so it's not wrong for her to call me aunt." The implication was clear: he should consider it carefully.

The clan chief's younger brother had never met many high-ranking officials in his life. The last time he came to the Marquis's mansion, he only met the steward of the outer courtyard.

This time, as he walked in, he truly witnessed the difference between scholars and merchants. He had already been terrified by the wealth of the Marquis's mansion, and now that the mistress of the house had pointed it out so bluntly, his words of reprimand were stuck in his throat.

It's impossible to reprimand someone in front of Lady Hou, but the questions that need to be asked still need to be clarified.

He bowed to Lady Hou again before speaking to his distant niece, who was looked down upon by the clan, saying, "Rong girl, if you want to come to your aunt's house in the capital, the clan won't stop you."

But you left quietly with your maids and servants. We elders were so worried when we found out!

Your second uncle is so worried he's fallen ill. You're the only child in the eldest branch of the family. If anything happens to you, your father and mother won't rest in peace.

“When your father was alive, he took good care of the clan. Now that he’s gone, leaving you behind, we clan members may not all be as well off as your family, but we can’t let an orphan like you go hungry.”

"Look at you, why are you so troublesome? Why don't you trust the clan leader and elders? Do you think we'll just stand by and watch you get bullied?"

"Besides, as long as you live in the old house, your neighbors are all relatives and family members. You are in mourning and are an unmarried young woman. It's not easy for you to manage the family business, but the manager left by your father can continue to run it step by step."

There were also clansmen supervising the cooperation, and the clan only took a symbolic small reward for their labor. Why are you so reluctant to give up that little bit of benefit? Why are you so temperamental, running away from home over such a trivial matter?

"A little bit of profit? A trivial matter?" Wang's mother couldn't stand it anymore. "Three prime shops on East Street in the county, two large estates outside the city, and hundreds of acres of fertile land—and Uncle calls that a little bit of profit?"

"How dare you! You're just a servant. How dare you interrupt your master?" The clan chief's younger brother was furious. These were all internal clan matters; how could they be discussed in the Marquis's mansion?

“My mother was right. My uncle kept saying that he was just looking after the shop for me, but my family was already giving away so much of our property.”

I will have to observe a three-year mourning period in the future. After that, how much benefit will I have to give to the clan so that they can continue to run my family's shops and estates properly?

My father only has one child. He seems to have left me a considerable fortune, but it can't withstand the clan's continued drain on resources.

“Money is just an external thing. My parents are gone, but my clan is willing to spare my life. I’m willing to give up all my possessions.”

But when my good second uncle, relying on his elders' power, wanted to give me away to someone else as a concubine, why didn't anyone in the clan speak up for me?

When I refused to become a concubine, I bribed my personal maid to switch my daily medicine. Why didn't anyone in the clan stand up for me then?

"My uncle said my second uncle is sick? He's worried about me? I'd like to ask my eldest cousin, do you dare swear to God that my dear second uncle fell ill because he was worried about me? Eldest cousin, do you dare?"

Looking at the aggressive little girl in front of her, Madam Shen's eyes twitched slightly. She hadn't expected her to be a wildcat cub with hidden claws.

Seeing that Hua Sirong had no scruples whatsoever, the clan chief's younger brother had no choice but to use his seniority to intimidate her.

"A woman should be virtuous and gentle, and look at yourself! What qualities do you possess? Stop staying in the Marquis's mansion and defiling their home. You're just dragging down the noble ladies of that household." Their goal was to bring Hua Sirong back to her clan, and they were willing to give some money to the Marquis's mansion for this.

"I want to be that kind of mother, but have you given me the chance? I don't even have a way to survive, what use are these empty titles?" I'll also let my aunt see that she's a troublemaker, so that we can have some sincerity towards each other in the future.

“You are truly stubborn and incorrigible! It’s no wonder your second uncle had to send you away so early. It’s simply unreasonable. If you continue to stay in the clan, it will only damage the reputation of the women of my Hua clan.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Hou frowned, slammed down her teacup, and said sternly, "What, are you going to remove my Rong'er from the clan's records on behalf of the clan?"

The clan chief's younger brother wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed, and said, "I dare not." He had been provoked by Hua Sirong's words and lost his composure in the heat of the moment. Otherwise, he would not have dared to be so arrogant in front of the Lady of the Marquis.

"Although Rong'er's parents are no longer alive, she still has her maternal grandparents' family and me, her aunt who is the wife of a marquis, to support her."

How dare you bully a girl like this while her brother-in-law's body is still warm? "You're too greedy. She was just looking after the family business, yet you demanded so many benefits."

Once the beggar family has swallowed it, it's hard to spit it out.

Even if she could use the Marquis's mansion's power to force them to sue, her behavior was too ugly. She was afraid that the Hua family would be willing to risk everything to drag the Marquis's mansion into the mess, which would damage the Marquis's reputation and be a loss that would not outweigh the gains.

At this moment, Lady Hou felt a little regretful. When her third brother-in-law passed away, the two mansions should not have just sent a steward to make the trip. They should have sent a master with some people to take control of her third brother-in-law's family property under the guise of raising his granddaughter and niece.

Forget it, we'll deal with this later, but we can't easily give up on the immediate benefits.

“Madam Hou, you are too kind. Rong’er is still surnamed Hua, and she is a child of the eldest branch of the Hua family. It’s just that she is a girl and cannot inherit the family business or carry on the family line. We elders cannot watch the eldest branch of the family line die out.”

Lady Shen, the wife of the Marquis, couldn't bring herself to say that she was wrong.

"Therefore, the clan thought of adopting a son for the eldest son's family, so that during festivals, Rongjie's biological parents would have descendants to burn paper money and make offerings in the afterlife, so that they would not become lonely ghosts."

"My father and mother only have me as an child, and I also want to have a younger brother."

I originally sought the son of a weaver in our clan, who was almost five degrees of kinship with me. The weaver died giving birth to him, and her husband remarried before the mourning period was over. How difficult it must be for a baby to live with a stepmother! I'll give his father and stepmother ten taels of silver and have him adopted into my family. What's wrong with that?