Chapter 16: Secondary Equal Wife
“Disappointed?” Bailian sneered, “Uncle is disappointing, the whole Li Family is disappointing!”
“What are you saying? Fifth, quickly admit your mistakes to your grandparents.” Liu Meijun softly chimed to Bailian.
Liu Meijun said it as if it was really for her own good.
“Kneel down!” Patriarch Li slapped his hand on the table again with a loud thump.
“Haha,” Bailian coldly chuckled, “For what reason?”
“You!” Patriarch Li stood up abruptly, glaring down angrily at Bailian.
Bailian calmly placed her small hand on the table, lightly tapping it. Then, in one quick motion slammed her hand on the table.
“Crack-”
The wooden table was forcibly broken off into two pieces! The table was made of very dense and sturdy pear tree wood, but it had actually been shattered by Bailian’s palm!
Stunned into silence, Patriarch Li had been stupefied by Bailian’s outburst, even Matriarch Wang was dumbfounded into silence. The elderly couple’s eyes widened in shock.
This was a pear tree wood table ah!
At the time Liu Meijun had been married to the Li Eldest Son, this table had been a part of her dowry Liu Meijun’s family was considered a middle to low class peddlers, but they had money to spend, so they bought this expensive handcrafted pear tree wood table as part of her dowry.
No one would have expected it to be so easily snapped in half by Bailian like this!
Liu Meijun’s heart was currently bleeding in anger on the inside because she knew precisely the true worth of the table and just how solid the wood was! Even two strong men would not be able to carry the table!
Of course, the most important reason why no one had said anything was due to the frigid aura radiating off from Bailian, it was truly too frightening ah!
“Patriarch Li must have forgotten, when Grandmother Ciying married into the family, her dowry granted her the status of Secondary Equal Wife! She is also included in the family records and genealogy as the secondary wife. It stands to reason that she has the same status as the one next to you. The villagers all have eyes, then how could the Third Branch not feel disappointed?”
“Bah! What nonsense! How could she be the same!” When Matriarch Wang heard that Bailian’s grandmother had the same status as her, she sputtered, becoming very upset.
“Uncle is a talented scholar, he should obviously know what Secondary Wife means. If the Matriarch wants proof, we can just go to the authorities and confirm it. They will have evidence that Grandma Ciying is a secondary wife!” Bailian coldly glanced at Patriarch Li, “After all, this is where Uncle is truly too disappointing! As a self-proclaimed scholar, he didn’t even teach his family this truth, if the county elders found about this, they will surely investigate this matter!”
Matriarch Wang paled and shivered when she heard Bailian mention the government authorities. The common people were most afraid of incurring the wrath of the government!
“You…Fifth, how could you be like this towards your Uncle ah!” Patriarch Li forcefully squeezed out a smile.
“Whether we’ve been treated well or not, the County Magistrate may not care too much, but Uncle is a scholar after all. How can he not intervene? If Uncle’s political opponents learned about how he enslaved his family’s Third Branch to do work, extremely demanding even towards his younger brother, would he still be seen as worthy of being a true, dignified scholar?”
Just with this poor personality and inner character, of course, he would feel no shame in deliberately mistreating the Third Branch.
“You…you’ve misunderstood!” The Eldest Master’s heart skipped a beat and he suddenly turned frantic, suddenly remembering that he indeed had a few hard to handle rivals that he had butted heads with during his studying days.
Moreover, this dynasty’s definition of a secondary wife did indeed denote that the two wives would be of equal status.
“Shut up!” Patriarch Li had stopped slapping the table this time, but he was still angrily glaring at Bailian.
This was because he considered his Eldest son to be the pillar of the Li Family and had set all his hopes onto his son’s future. How could someone so easily slander a talent who had just passed the exam?
“Ah, that reminds me, Grandfather was also once a learned scholar, it’s a pity…” Bailian sighed and shook her head pitifully, “Too bad all that studying went to waste!”
“You!” Trembling in hot rage, Patriarch Li could only helplessly point his finger at Bailian. This was the first time he had ever been so insulted and scolded by someone of the younger generation.
“Fifth!” The Eldest Master and Madam incredulously looked at Bailian. They didn’t expect the little girl to curse people so openly, even possessing the gall to curse Patriarch Li!
Didn’t this girl usually dare not say another word?
“You stupid wench, you dare to act like this towards your grandfather? See if I won’t kill you!” Matriarch Wang screamed at Bailian, but like a dog with the bark but no bite, she dared not to rush over.
Because this girl had hidden monstrous strength.
Bailian set her hand lightly on the remaining surface of the table and tapped her fingers threateningly, indifferently looking towards the Patriarch: “Well, Grandmother Ciying had brought with her a large dowry and the government naturally would have such records of it. If we go to the authorities, you think that the Magistrate won’t investigate this case? With so much dowry to their name, the Third Branch is actually living a life no better than that of a beggar on the streets. Uncle’s reputation as a scholar and your friends who haven’t passed the exam won’t be able to keep their positions ah!”
“The County Magistrate wouldn’t care about this small thing!” Patriarch Li hatefully gazed at Bailian, a vicious expression forming on his face.
“Ha,” Bailian coldly snorted, “Even if he doesn’t care, would Patriarch’s students really not care? If their teacher is so muddleheaded, is he still qualified to be a teacher? Won’t Uncle’s friends laugh and mock you for relying on my Grandmother’s dowry all this time? Wake up, back then the Li Family’s status and wealth were far inferior to my Grandmother Ciying’s!”
“Bah! Nonsense! She was the one that tried to climb up a higher social branch!” Matriarch Wang’s expression fumed with fury, screeching at Bailian’s claims. But after seeing the table’s fragments littered all around Bailian’s feet, she dared not make a move.
Today, Bailian was acting extremely abnormally and she dared to talk back to her elders! The aura she exuded from her tiny body was especially threatening.
“Very well, since it was my Grandmother, the one trying to climb up the social ladder, then I’ll go declare my grievances to the authorities right now. I don’t know whether the County Magistrate will investigate or not! I don’t know if there is a single clear-headed and object person in the village! I also don’t know if Patriarch Li’s students have been misled or not!”
After Bailian turned to walk out the main hall’s door, the Eldest couple hurriedly stepped forward to block Bailian.
Patriarch Li’s heart showed a sliver of panic and his heart was very hectic. After all, when Ciying had married over back then, Ciying’s father had indeed hired someone from the Magistrate’s office to record Ciying’s dowry. Moreover, her dowry had indeed granted her the status of a secondary equal wife.
He was naturally aware of this fact, but after so many years, Matriarch Wang had treated Crying like a lowly concubine and the Third Branch had eventually been so suppressed that they had eventually become the slaves of the family. All of this, he knew it to be all true in his heart.
However, today, he really wanted to strangle Bailian right now after hearing her words. The Li Family had indeed been inferior to Ciying’s back then, and the Eldest Master’s studying expenses had been very costly. Most of the expenses had been paid for by Li Ciying’s dowry that Matriarch Wang had snatched away.
It was not like Patriarch Li wasn’t aware of Matriarch Wang’s actions, but he always thought himself as a man. If a man had two wives, it indicated that you were a large and rich family, and the Master of a great family usually always had a few concubines…
Now that Bailian had so harshly uncovered the truth, he felt very uncomfortable. He never imagined that someone from the Third Branch would have the audacity to talk to him like this, nor did he think that someone would dare to speak about their grievances to the Country Magistrate and the authorities.
If….this matter was spread to the ears of his students…
A dark glint flashed in Patriarch Li’s eyes, if he lost his scholarly standing, with how many students there were at the academy, his reputation…
“What the hell do you want?!” Patriarch Li gritted his teeth and was slightly dazed after looking at his ferocious granddaughter..
Was this girl really his granddaughter?
Hadn’t she always been extremely shy and introverted?
He had witnessed Jinyu beating this girl before, and at the time she didn’t dare to resist.
However, the girl before his eyes was so fierce that she even dared to rush over and criticize…
Early release today! Hope you guys enjoy!
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