Chapter 142 Dog Bites Dog

As for those five taels of silver, they weren’t simply given by the clan for nothing.

Village Chief He made He Sanlai sign an indenture, making him owe the clan a debt, promising to pay back one tael and one hundred copper coins each year, and to clear the debt within five years. Otherwise, the village would seize his family’s house.

Although the house was shabby and not worth much money, having it was still better than nothing.

Even so, the He Family People still made a fuss, claiming it was unfair. Why did the clan lend He Sanlai money to marry a wife?

Because of this, many unmarried men from the He Family Members rushed to Village Chief He’s house, demanding to borrow money from the clan to get married, which infuriated Village Chief He. He had some of the most aggressive He Family People held down and beaten, finally quelling the disturbance.

After enforcing his authority twice, the He Family People finally understood that Village Chief He wasn’t the same ineffective leader as before; he was truly determined to discipline the He Family People.

Once the He Family People understood this, they all behaved and dared not cause trouble recklessly.

At the Lu Family, as soon as Shuan Da’s wife heard about the affair between Mo Chunyue and He Sanlai, she was furious, grinding her teeth in anger. The money-tree she had finally found was now lost.

Luckily, she still had two farm girls who did not pale in comparison to Mo Chunyue, otherwise she too would have faced a loss today.

But because of this, she lost the opportunity to earn five taels of silver. No, she must get those five taels back; she couldn’t afford a loss.

Full of rage, Shuan Da’s wife stormed into the Mo Family’s house, kicked open the half-broken door, and seeing the Mo Family People counting silver inside, she placed her hands on her hips and cursed loudly: "What a deceitful Mo Family, daring to trick our Lu Family; you must be tired of living! I’m warning you, this matter isn’t over, just wait. Once Third Master finds out and sends word to the County Governor Mansion, your Mo Family will be kicked out of Da Feng Village and become drifters!"

Shuan Da’s wife sneered, "Being drifters isn’t the same as being disaster victims. Disaster victims get relocations from the court, but as drifters, the government can arrest you directly; men will be sent to work in the official mine, and women will become official slaves. If your luck’s bad, they could even throw you into the Teaching Bureau and let you endure a lifetime of humiliation."

Her words struck the Mo Family People dumb, knocking them senseless. Just a moment ago, their family was happy as they got two more taels than what the Lu Family offered; suddenly, were they about to be destroyed?

The Mo Family People were scared witless. Old Mrs. Mo fell to the ground in fright, and Dayong’s wife hurriedly helped her up. Not caring about Old Mrs. Mo, with tears in her eyes, Da Kui’s wife cried to Shuan Da’s wife: "Sister-in-law Shuan doesn’t know, our family had no choice. It was that worthless girl Chunyue who ran to He Sanlai’s place and let him sleep with her. By the time we found out, it was too late; not just rice turned into cooked rice, but it was almost like overnight rice. With such a ruined shoe, our Mo Family would dare not send her to Lu San. After much consideration, we agreed to the marriage between Mo Chunyue and He Sanlai."

Da Kui’s wife also assured, "Sister-in-law Shuan can rest assured, He Sanlai is just a rogue, his home is so poor it clinks, Mo Chunyue shouldn’t hope for a good life, just wait for her to endure poverty."

Da Kui’s wife, knowing a bit about the Lu Family masters’ tendencies, leaned close to Shuan Da’s wife, and whispered, "After that girl suffers enough, we’ll send her to the Lu Family, and then she’ll be at the mercy of Third Master and the others."

Shuan Da’s wife thought about it, indeed it was true. The men of the Lu Family, whether it was the village Lu Family or the county house, ended up killing a girl or two every year, and those experienced ones could last a bit longer.

But she was supposed to earn five taels of silver, and she couldn’t let the Mo Family off so easily. She pushed Da Kui’s wife aside, gritting her teeth, "Don’t give me that nonsense; it was your Mo Family who reneged first. If you don’t want to die, you better resolve this matter properly."

As for how to settle it, of course, it is by paying money.

The Mo Family People all understood this, and as they feared the Lu Family, they thought it wise to spend money to avoid disaster.

Elder Mo took out a tael of silver and handed it to Old Mrs. Mo, who hurriedly took the silver to Shuan Da’s wife, stuffing the silver into her hands and saying apologetically, "My niece-in-law, our family didn’t anticipate this matter; it’s all that wretched girl Chunyue’s fault. Here’s a tael of silver, please help our family smooth this over."

"A tael of silver? You think you’re dealing with beggars." Shuan Da’s wife spat in Old Mrs. Mo’s face and threw the silver on the ground: "Ten taels, no less than ten taels, or this matter won’t be settled!"

"Ten taels, are you robbing us!" Elder Mo couldn’t help but curse: "You just gave our family three taels to buy Chunyue, and now you want ten! You can’t devour people like this. Besides, you haven’t paid us, and we haven’t signed an indenture with the Lu Family, why should we give you ten taels?"

The deal to send Chunyue to the Lu Family was only agreed verbally, with no indenture signed yet.

Shuan Da’s wife sneered, "It’s true the purchase of Chunyue was three taels of silver, but since you Mo Family tricked the Lu Family, you have to compensate ten taels! Or do you think the Lu Family is as rootless as you? They are the County Governor’s Yue Family, with grandchildren and granddaughters who are legitimate young masters and mistresses of the County Governor Mansion. Do you think they’d allow you to bully them?"

Shuan Da’s wife sat on a stool inside the house, crossing her legs and said: "I’ll give you two hours to gather the silver. If you can’t come up with it, prepare to be driven out of the village."

Shuan Da’s wife, relying on the power of the Lu Family, behaved arrogantly and was not in the least afraid of the Mo Family.

Seeing that Shuan Da’s wife was not leaving and thinking of the Lu Family’s power, the Mo Family truly became fearful, but the idea of coming up with ten taels of silver felt worse than death.

Da Kui’s wife, a venomous woman, suggested: "Sister-in-law Shuan, how do you think Sister Qin is? That girl is thirteen, and she looks good. Why not send her to the Lu Family instead, and let’s call this matter settled."

When Shuan Da’s wife heard this, after looking at Da Kui’s wife for a while, she lifted her hand and slapped her hard: "Mo Xiaoqin is Mo Kui’s daughter, can you make this decision? Your rotten idea is clearly trying to set me up."

If she really dragged Mo Xiaoqin to the Lu Family, Mo Kui and his wife would chop her into pieces.

After slapping Da Kui’s wife, Shuan Da’s wife said: "If you want to swap, swap with your Qiuyue, she’s twelve this year, isn’t she? Let me take her back, and we’ll consider the matter closed."

"You dream!" Da Kui’s wife exploded when she heard this: "You poisonous woman, Qiuyue is only twelve, and you’re already scheming over her. I’ll fight you."

Although she said this, she didn’t dare to really fight with Shuan Da’s wife and could only stew in her own anger until her face turned blue.

Shuan Da’s wife kept sneering and pointing at her: "Look at yourself, happy as can be when selling someone else’s daughter, but when it comes to your own, you put on that face. Who doesn’t know your thoughts?"

Shuan Da’s wife looked at Mo Da Li, saying: "Brother Da Li, look at your sister-in-law here, sacrificing your daughter and using her to make money, yet you’re the fool, even helping to sell your own daughter."