A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 6
by Little PandaThe Great Drama of Splitting the Family
No longer alone
Sure enough, on the second day, Jiang Chenyu was besieged by the Jiang family’s various aunts and uncles who came knocking at the door. Seven or eight elderly men and women sat in the spacious main hall. Jiang Chenyu brought Shen Hetang along, introducing them one by one.
“This is Great-Uncle, this is Uncle and Aunt, over here are Second Uncle and Second Aunt, and these two are Great-Aunt and Cousin.” Jiang Chenyu led her to greet them one by one. Outwardly, she was compliant, but inwardly she thought, what kind of monsters and demons1 are these? They had probably long been bought off by Master Wu.
“Yu-girl, you are a proper young lady, how could you do something so absurd? It’s not that your Great-Aunt wants to scold you, but even if that marriage with the Zhang family fell through, there is a ready-made Dong-ge right here. How could you just casually find some stranger from the outside?” The grey-haired old woman nudged the man in front of her. Her tone was full of regret, pity, and unwillingness, as if she had lost half a mountain of gold. Her expressions were entirely written on her face—it was so spectacular one couldn’t bear to look directly at it.
That somewhat heavily-built, clumsy man actually smiled foolishly at Jiang Chenyu, terrifying the young lady so much that she quickly hid behind Shen Hetang.
“Great-Aunt, it’s not that I’m not giving you face, but Cousin Dong is already a divorced man. Besides, I only see him as a brother, how could I marry him?” This old woman is truly dreaming beautifully, still hoping I’ll marry into their family.
“Look at what you’re saying! My eldest grandson is highly sought after even if he is divorced. After you divorce this matrilocal husband2, your cousin won’t despise you. He’ll take you directly into our family. What do you say?” She had had her eye on this girl for a long time. If it weren’t for the previous engagement and that man surnamed Wu blocking the way, she would have long ago let her grandson get his hands on her. After all, this girl’s dowry was quite substantial.
Seeing this old lady’s words becoming more and more outrageous, Shen Hetang wanted to open her mouth to intervene, but was stopped by a single look from Chenyu. She only saw Chenyu continue: “It is impossible with Cousin. My husband and I are deeply in love, and we will not divorce. Today is my husband’s first time meeting the elders. Whether you acknowledge him or not, he is already Chenyu’s husband. There is no way to change this point.”
Jiang Chenyu’s gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Wu Daoyuan, who sat in the seat of honor. Despite having been controlled by him for a long time—leaving a trace of fear in the bottom of her heart—she still gathered her courage and spoke her mind. Today, whether this group of people accepted it or not, Shen Hetang was the son-in-law of the Jiang Manor, and from today onward, he would openly and honorably go in and out of this courtyard.
Watching her go from looking timid just moments ago to straightening her back in the span of a few sentences, Shen Hetang felt she could handle this better herself. After all, this was her home turf. No matter how she swung her little cat claws, Shen Hetang just needed to stand beside her and bolster her courage.
“Sigh, they always say a grown daughter cannot be kept; keep her and keep her, and she becomes an enemy3. Even if I, a man of a different surname, do so much, I am ultimately still an outsider.” Wu Daoyuan put on the bitterly disappointed look of an old green tea4, making Shen Hetang’s teeth ache just looking at it.
“Nephew-in-law, you don’t need to belittle yourself so much,” the Great-Uncle, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. “Everyone has seen everything you’ve done for the Jiang family over the years. In this matter, Yu-girl was indeed ignorant. However, no matter what, she is still my old brother’s only bloodline. Since they are already married, living their days well is enough. Her Great-Aunt shouldn’t say such baseless things anymore, ruining Yu-girl’s reputation for nothing.” He seemed to be speaking up for Jiang Chenyu, but in reality, he had other schemes.
“Exactly, exactly, this girl is already married, don’t make things difficult for her anymore,” the Uncle and Aunt chimed in from the side.
“Father, in order to take care of me, you have delayed your own affairs for far too long. Now that all the elders are here, Father, why don’t we formally divide the family? This way, you can marry another woman and spread branches and leaves for the Wu family. It was A-Yu who delayed Father. Now that I have started my own family, I hope Father can have a considerate person to take care of you, and then I will be at ease.” Hmph, who doesn’t know how to use the ‘for your own good’ rhetoric? She wasn’t entirely clear on what purpose Wu Daoyuan had in calling all these people here, but she wanted to use this opportunity to draw a clear line with him.
Hearing Jiang Chenyu mention splitting the family, the eyes of everyone present lit up. Only Wu Daoyuan could not bother to conceal his reaction; he glared viciously at Jiang Chenyu, clearly furious. He had truly underestimated her. He hadn’t expected her to turn the tables on him.
“Nephew-in-law, I think what Yu-girl says makes sense. You’re not even forty yet; you must have your own incense and heirs,” Great-Uncle added fuel to the fire, not minding if the commotion grew larger. He was thinking that if the Jiang family carved up the meat, they might get a mouthful of soup to drink.
“I have always treated Yu-girl as my own flesh and blood. I have never thought of finding another woman. Let’s forget about splitting the family. She is still young and won’t be able to manage the family business,” Wu Daoyuan said, putting on the appearance of someone willing to continue bearing a heavy burden.
Jiang Chenyu lowered her eyes. They had already torn away all pretenses. If they couldn’t tear it to the very end today, he would definitely make her wear small shoes5 in the future.
“Father, although your daughter is also very grateful for your upbringing these past few years, as the old saying goes, even blood brothers must settle their accounts clearly. Although I took in a husband, the dowry my maternal grandfather left for me back then cannot be omitted. You have been in the Jiang family for many years; even if you don’t have merit, you have worked hard. I will only take the dowry that belongs to me, and I also want to give my uncles a little pension money. It’s better for you to calculate it clearly.” Jiang Chenyu forced the words out in one breath, but she still felt a little uncertain and leaned directly against Shen Hetang. Today’s matter only allowed for victory, not defeat. Feeling the person behind her supporting her waist with one hand, no matter how hard she had to try, she was going to finish singing this great drama of splitting the family.
The moment everyone heard her say this, they all instantly switched sides. There was fish soup to drink now! Although Wu Daoyuan had provided some relief to everyone over the past few years, it was ultimately not much. If they could pull some sheep’s wool6 from here, it would be a different story.
“Yu-girl is making sense. She’s married now; you can’t exactly hold onto her dowry, right?” Great-Uncle spoke up again at this moment.
Wu Daoyuan’s eyes were practically splitting open with rage. His face darkened, no longer wanting to pretend. His gaze, like a falcon’s, secretly darted toward the two people in the middle.
Shen Hetang took an imperceptible step forward, perfectly blocking Wu Daoyuan’s man-eating glare. This guy can’t keep up the act anymore, so he wants to use his eyes to scare the little girl off, huh?
“Chenyu, since you have acknowledged this boy, then I will not stop you anymore. But if he wants the Jiang family’s dowry, does he really think he can just catch a white wolf with empty hands7? Even if he is a matrilocal son-in-law, he can’t just trick my delicately raised daughter away completely empty-handed, right?” Before old man Jiang died, he had indeed allocated a third of his assets to be Jiang Chenyu’s dowry, letting him manage it on her behalf. And over the years, there were also old employees in the shops who outwardly listened to him, but secretly favored Jiang Chenyu.
“This son-in-law truly has no family left. By chance, my wife did not despise me and was willing to tie the knot with me. I will definitely not let her down in this life.” Shen Hetang played the part of a down-and-out youth who had caught the eye of a lady from a wealthy family, and who had nothing to offer in return but his deepest gratitude—playing it to the hilt with vivid realism.
“Saying nice words is of no use. If you cannot show your sincerity, how can I comfortably hand Chenyu’s dowry over to you?”
“How should this sincerity be shown? I hope father-in-law will teach this son-in-law. I wonder what sincerity father-in-law brought when you married into the family back then?” Shen Hetang put on an appearance of humbly seeking advice.
Wu Daoyuan was getting older, and his brain couldn’t keep up with the rhythm. He was almost suffocated by Shen Hetang’s anger-inducing words. Good boy, exposing my past! But he was, after all, someone who had navigated the business world for many years.
He twisted the corner of his mouth and gave two light chuckles. “Although I was completely broke back then… at that time, I had achieved a scholarly honor. An Xiucai scholar status matched with a woman who had already been married once—I felt it was more than enough. Of course, I don’t mean anything bad about Yu-girl’s mother, just stating the facts. So, with you being entirely destitute and alone, on what basis are you marrying the pearl in the palm of our Jiang family?”
“This son-in-law is untalented, but I personally believe that in terms of looks, my wife and I are a perfectly matched pair. In terms of ability, my wife is beautiful and intelligent, a master at managing the household, and having practiced martial arts since childhood, I can be considered to have a specialized skill. Furthermore, my wife has a generous dowry, and I didn’t come empty-handed either.”
“Here are the silver notes I got from selling off the hundred mu of fields from my home, totaling five hundred taels. Although it cannot compare to the richness of my wife’s dowry, I know that nowadays, buying a position as a County Magistrate in an impoverished place only requires two hundred taels. So I cannot be considered to have entirely empty hands. I personally believe I am still barely worthy of my wife.”
Wu Daoyuan laughed out of sheer anger. This was a blatant slap to his face! Saying he could easily buy an official position and was ‘barely worthy’ of his wife—was this reminding him of what he had just said about Jiang’s mother?
“Oh my, putting it that way, Nephew-in-law is indeed young and promising! A perfect match, a perfect match.” Second Aunt, who hadn’t spoken the entire time, opened her mouth and delivered the killing blow. “I say, Brother-in-law, just hand Chenyu’s dowry over to her to manage. No matter how much you are thinking of their well-being, you can’t just keep holding onto it. It’s only a matter of time before these two young ones separate and start their own stove. Not to mention, you and Yu-girl are only related by marriage. Don’t blame me for speaking harshly, but when a girl grows up, you have to avoid arousing suspicion.”
After Second Aunt finished speaking, the relatives all began chiming in, launching a siege on Bright Peak8. At this moment, the two people involved looked at Wu Daoyuan, who was like a good tiger unable to fend off a pack of wolves, exchanged a smile, and sat back to wait to pick the fruit.
This time could be considered hurting the enemy a thousand times, while losing eight hundred of their own. Since this group of relatives had exerted effort, they wouldn’t be so easy to dismiss. However, as long as she could completely break free from Wu Daoyuan’s control and get her maternal grandfather’s hard-earned family business back, it was worth it.
Wu Daoyuan never expected that his own move would truly lose him his wife and his troops9. Seeing that Jiang Chenyu could distribute benefits to them, this group of people pounced with reckless abandon. They talked about ancestral rules, bloodline inheritance, and him being an outsider. It wasn’t until the words ‘what are your intentions in keeping your stepdaughter’ came out that he knew he absolutely had to split the family today.
“Alright, stop talking! It was truly a waste of my, Wu Daoyuan’s, effort all these years, maintaining the Jiang family for everyone, only to end up with no good feelings. Since Chenyu wants to split the family, then let’s split it!” He finally relented.
“It’s just that I can only return her dowry to her. The rest has nothing to do with her. If it weren’t for my hard work over the years, these shops, including her dowry, would have been lost long ago. Being able to separate her dowry for her now is already doing the utmost out of humanity and duty.”
“Thank you for your care, Father. It’s just that while your daughter certainly only wants the dowry, the uncles cannot be left without even hearing a sound. If Grandfather were still here, he would definitely help the uncles a little too.” What a joke. If I don’t help them demand it now, the next time this group of people will try to entangle my dowry. It’s better to snatch it from Wu Daoyuan’s hands.
Wu Daoyuan looked at this girl and thought to himself, is she crazy? Why is she still thinking about giving the family business to outsiders? He had forgotten that he was the actual outsider, while that group of people still carried a bit of the Jiang family bloodline.
“Chuntao, go get my dowry list. Since the uncles happen to be here today, Father can just hand everything over to me!” Jiang Chenyu pressed her advantage and chased the victory.
Footnotes
- Literally 'ox ghosts and snake spirits' (niúguǐ shéshén), a Chinese idiom referring to a rogues' gallery of bad characters or a motley crew of absurd people.
- 'Dàochāmén' (倒插门) is a colloquial, somewhat derogatory term for a matrilocal husband—a man who marries into his wife's household, often surrendering his own family name and status.
- A common Chinese proverb (nǚ dà bù zhōng liú, liú lái liú qù liú chéng chóu) meaning that when a daughter comes of age, she must be married off; if kept at home too long, resentment will fester and turn to enmity.
- 'Old green tea' (lǎo lǜchá) is modern Chinese internet slang for someone who appears innocent, pitiful, and well-meaning on the outside, but is actually manipulative and calculating on the inside. Its usage here hints at Shen Hetang's modern origins as a transmigrator.
- To 'make someone wear small shoes' (chuān xiǎoxié) is a Chinese idiom meaning to secretly make life difficult for someone, exact petty revenge, or abuse one's power to punish a subordinate.
- 'Pulling sheep's wool' (hāo yángmáo) is another piece of modern slang, meaning to exploit a situation, system, or person to reap small personal benefits or freebies.
- 'Catch a white wolf with empty hands' (kōngshǒu tào báiláng) is an idiom for getting something of great value for nothing, or profiting without making any investment.
- A reference to Bright Peak (Guāngmíng Dǐng), a famous location in Jin Yong's wuxia novel 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,' where a massive siege took place. Here it playfully describes the relatives swarming to attack Wu Daoyuan.
- An idiom (péi le fūrén yòu zhé bīng) meaning 'to give away a bride and lose one's army on top of it' — a metaphor for suffering a double loss while trying to gain an advantage.
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