On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year chicken is slaughtered.
Every household in Qi County is preparing for the New Year, killing chickens and sheep, which is very festive.
Only the newly mourned Yao family cannot put on lights and festoons.
Just after lunch, Liu Rui, the housekeeper of Yao's East Crossing Courtyard, sent a message to the second and third masters of the old house, saying that they had invited the second and sixth masters and wanted to discuss the separation of the family again.
The two gentlemen took the time to go there.
Mengying watched the group of people coming out of the old house and heading straight to the East Crossing Courtyard.
Yao Qingqiao supported Mrs. Yin and walked in the front, while the third aunt followed with her daughter.
Mengying saw this and said in her heart: It seems that the third aunt still doesn't want the Yin family to welcome her, and she doesn't hide it in front of outsiders.
Looking at her third aunt, who was younger than her mother but looked a bit older, Mengying felt a little pity.
Speaking of her third aunt, the Qi family, her fate was also unlucky. She was the only sister among the five brothers in her natal family, and she was quite favored at home. Her father was also very capable, and there was an oil press at home.
It is said that the grandfather initially wanted to tell the Qi family to Yao Qingshan, but Yin Shi firmly opposed it, saying that the Qi family was the youngest daughter at home, and she might be spoiled and spoiled and could not be a clan wife.
Yao Qingshan's marriage was delayed until he was twenty-one, and he chose the Yang family, who was impoverished and had only one useless brother, who is now Mrs. Yao.
Mrs. Yin also has a saying, saying that the daughter of a poor person will be the head of the family early.
However, the Qi family was so picky that they waited until they were eighteen years old to leave the cabinet.
When Mrs. Yin waited for Yao Qingqiao to turn fifteen, she hurriedly went to the Qi family to propose marriage.
Yao Qingqiao, the eldest daughter of the Qi family, is three years old. She also said that the third girl holds a gold brick.
The matchmaker praised Yao Qingqiao so much that there was nothing in the sky but nothing on the earth.
Mr. Qi believed it and actually promised his daughter.
After getting married, I found out that Yao Laosan was obsessed with the casino house all day long and was actually a dandy with all five kinds of poisons.
The third lady also saw Mengying staring at her, looking a little embarrassed. She looked away and touched her bun uncomfortably, as if she was arranging her temples.
Mrs. Yao whispered something to her third son who was walking near.
Master Yao San nodded frequently.
Obviously, Mrs. Yin is coming up with ideas.
Mengying was a little disdainful. After planning for so long, she still had to tell her before leaving, how useless her third uncle must be.
After Mengying finished her salute, she led everyone to Mr. Yao's study.
Mrs. Yin was given the honorary seat, and the others took their seats respectively.
As soon as everyone sat down, Liu Rui brought in Mr. Yao Liu, but Mr. Yao Er said he was sick and didn't come.
After everyone exchanged pleasantries, they got to the main topic.
Old man Yao Liu is the clan leader, so he naturally takes the lead: "Now you three brothers, Qingshan's illness is not cured, and your sister-in-law can also make the decision. The Chinese New Year will be in two days, so you can discuss a charter today and save money."
I'm such an old person that I can run in both directions."
The Sixth Old Master looked at Mrs. Yao again: "Sister-in-law Fourth, what do you think?"
Mrs. Yin nodded and said: "What Uncle Liu said is exactly what he said. It should be so. Our Yao family has never had any disputes due to family division. Although the eldest son was not born to me, he was also the daughter-in-law I raised and married.
There is no difference between biological children. If the three of them separate, they will definitely take care of their brotherly love."
After Mrs. Yin finished speaking, she glanced at Mrs. Yao, "What do you think, boss and wife?"
"If you ask my wife, let's follow the rules. As the eldest brother, we should inherit the winery. As for the rest, let's leave the rest to my two younger brothers."
Last night, Mengying told her what she was going to do today. Seeing that her husband was groggy, Mrs. Yao couldn't make up her mind, and her son was young, so she picked up her brother and sister-in-law from Xingshu Village, ten miles away, overnight. p>
Mrs. Yao's brother was timid, and her sister-in-law was a fierce Jia family member, so he gave her some advice: "The wine shop is a money tree, so be sure to snatch it."
Therefore, Mrs. Yao worked hard to win over the wine shop, and she kept urging her son before coming.
Mengying behind her said: "Don't let others lead you by the nose." She also seemed not to hear it.
When the second lady heard this, she was reluctant and said, "We are still the eldest grandson. The old man said when he was still alive that the winery belongs to the eldest grandson."
Second Mrs. Yao was originally very scared, fearing that Mr. Yao and his family would report the matter of Butler Song to the officials. Mrs. Yao reminded her that they were going to report the morning report, and now they are using it as a bargaining chip to share more money, but there may not be any real evidence.<
/p>
The two sisters-in-law were arguing endlessly, and the sixth old man slapped the table: "Okay, stop arguing!"
Then he glanced at Mrs. Yao who was sitting next to her: "Fourth sister-in-law, the two families are arguing endlessly, but the total score is the same. What do you think about this...?"
Mr. Yao Liu had a good idea. He would not mess with this muddy water and let them decide for themselves. No one would be offended by him.
"I'm the first stepmother, so it's hard to say. Since my sixth uncle asked me, I'll interject. The eldest brother has been in the capital for six years, and I heard that he also bought a house and farmland, which was also the father's money.
The second boss has always been in charge of the winery, and the third boss has been in charge of the land. I think it’s better to continue as before, each taking care of his or her own business. What do you think?”
The second master Yao and the third master Yao both nodded in agreement, but Mrs. Yao was so angry that after talking for a long time, she didn't want to give them any points.
Then he got up from the chair and went straight to Mrs. Yao, wanting to "spit" her and ask her if she wanted an old face.
It was Mengying who grabbed her mother and said to Mrs. Yao: "What the old lady said is wrong. The money my father used to go to the capital was the dowry money of my deceased grandmother. Historically, the dowry money cannot be counted among the public, so the money from Beijing
The property in it is my father’s private property.”
Mrs. Yao put down her bowl, raised her eyebrows and said, "How come I don't know about your late grandmother's dowry money?"
"It doesn't matter, madam. Here is my grandfather's letter as proof. Please read it." After Mengying finished speaking, she handed the letter to the sixth old man.
The sixth old man took out the peepshow, looked at it for a long time, and said to Mrs. Yao: "It's the handwriting of the fourth brother."
Mrs. Yao took the letter, and Mrs. Yao indeed wrote in the letter: "My son Qingshan, the two thousand taels of silver you brought to the capital are your late mother's dowry. Now they are used to make a living in the capital, and what you earn in the future will be your personal property.
No need to hand it over to the public."
"How is this possible?" Mrs. Yao was stunned when she looked at the letter. She didn't expect that Mrs. Yao had such a hand behind her back.
"My daughter-in-law doesn't know much about literacy, but she also knows that there are people who imitate pens, and they can imitate them exactly the same." It was Mrs. Yao Er who said this.
Mengying didn't answer her, "Call Butler Liu?" After a while, Liu Rui came in.
The sixth old man asked, "Liu Rui, do you know this letter?"
Liu Rui took the letter, read it, and returned it to the sixth old master: "I know that this letter was written by the old master in front of the old slave. At that time, the old master also said that he would take the dowry of his late wife.
I went to make a fortune with money, thinking I would lose everything, but I didn’t expect that I would become famous.”
"You lied, you are uncle's housekeeper now, of course you are talking to them." Mrs. Yao Er pointed at Liu Rui and shouted angrily.
"I, Liu Rui, have an upright behavior and have served the old man for more than thirty years. Others don't know it, but the sixth old man knows it. Besides, even if I go to court, I will say the same thing." Liu Rui stood there with a low eyebrow,
But he said it forcefully.
"Okay, I'll let this go first. Liu Rui, you go down first." The sixth old man spoke, and Liu Rui turned around and left.
Mengying stood up and said to the sixth old man: "My granddaughter also wants to say that when my grandmother got married, she had a very rich dowry. Should my grandmother's dowry also belong to my father?"
The Sixth Old Master nodded, Yao Qingshan was born to his late wife, and it was natural for him to inherit his late mother’s dowry.
"Old madam, please take out my grandmother's dowry list and let us count it."
Mrs. Yao used the lid of the bowl to stir the tea leaves on it, and said without raising her head: "I haven't seen any dowry list since I opened the door. Besides, our family was robbed in the early years. Even if there are some valuable things, they must be all."
Lost."
"Why is it such a coincidence? I think it's possible that the thief committed the crime, right?" Mrs. Yao snorted and said.
Mrs. Yao slapped the table: "What are you talking about? I have managed the Yao family for so many years, and it's not your wife's turn to criticize me yet!"
"That's right, my sister-in-law is disrespectful to my parents-in-law, but it's a crime of 'seven outings.'" Mrs. Yao Er said beside her.
"For someone like you, my elder brother should divorce you!" Mr. Yao San, who had not spoken for a long time, couldn't help it when he saw his sister-in-law humiliating his mother.
"Uncles and aunts, there is no need to argue. The old lady doesn't have it, I have it."
After Mengying finished speaking, she handed a piece of yellowed rice paper to the Sixth Old Master.
Mr. Yao Laoliu looked at it for a long time but couldn't tell whether it was true or false, so he handed it to Mrs. Yao.
Ms. Yin took the dowry list and her hands trembled. She had obviously burned the dowry list. But another one came in front of her. She couldn't help but murmured to herself: "It's impossible, it's impossible, how can there be another one?"
..."
"My granddaughter and my grandmother's natal family got this from the Cui family in Qingzhou. If the old lady needs a witness, my granddaughter will immediately send someone to Qingzhou to ask for it."
"Your grandmother is the only daughter in the family. How can anyone else have a dowry list? Stop fooling me with a piece of tattered paper!" Mrs. Yin said and tore up the dowry list.
Mengying smiled and said, "I took out another pile from my arms. My granddaughter still has copies here. Everyone has seen that the original one has been torn up by the old lady."
Ms. Yin shouted in her heart that she had miscalculated: Oh no, I fell into the trap!