Chapter 482: Law
Chapter 482: Chapter 482: Law
Bai Suihe couldn’t help but prick up her ears, highly curious about this specially trained concubine.
"A specially trained concubine doesn’t come cheap. Mrs. Lin really paid a hefty price," Madam Li said, unable to help but take another look at Aunt Yu. "How much silver would a beauty like that cost?"
"Heh, that’s because you haven’t seen the even prettier ones. For someone like Aunt Yu, it would cost at least a hundred taels of silver."
"Goodness! If she isn’t even the best-looking, what on earth do the most beautiful ones look like?"
"Ha! Those are completely out of our reach. I heard they’re exclusively prepared for the noblemen in the capital. Only those grand estates can properly shelter them. Besides, Mrs. Lin isn’t stupid. Someone of Aunt Yu’s caliber is more than enough for Mr. Lin."
"That’s true. But she really was willing to part with so much silver to find such a stunning beauty for her husband. I could never bring myself to spend that kind of money."
"That’s because your husband hasn’t experienced a late-in-life infatuation. If he ever ends up like Lin Dali—abandoning his legal wife and legitimate sons for a widow—we’ll see if you’re willing to spend the money then!"
"It looks like Mrs. Lin spent a fortune this time, but think about it—this is her way of securing the family estate for her sons."
"But couldn’t Widow Ma have children too?"
Bai Suihe looked at the woman who asked the question, realizing how utterly ignorant she was of the law. From Bai Suihe’s recent studies of the legal code, she could clearly see that the authorities were quite protective of legitimate lineages. A legitimate son was entitled to ninety percent of the family’s property. If there was no legitimate branch, upon the patriarch’s death, the local government would step in. The majority of the estate would be confiscated into the National Treasury, while a small portion would be allocated as clan property.
This was designed to prevent clan members from stealing the wealth of a household without male heirs. But thinking about it carefully, the ultimate beneficiary was actually the National Treasury. The person who drafted this law was simply brilliant. No wonder the authorities strongly supported it. This was exactly why Widow Ma—oh, wait, Aunt Ma—refused to sign a concubinage contract. It was nothing but a delusional fantasy...
"You really live too comfortable a life. Has no one ever explained the law to you?" Madam Li asked with a look of surprise.
The woman simply stared back in pure bewilderment. "Ignorance is a woman’s virtue. Are these things we are supposed to know?"
Everyone gave her a strange look, while Mrs. Qian, sitting nearby, wore a knowing expression.
Bai Suihe whispered, "What’s going on here?" No matter how ignorant one might be, that saying shouldn’t be interpreted quite like that. One could lack education, but they couldn’t lack basic common sense.
"Her father is that pedantic Scholar. He only luckily passed the exams in his middle age, but he is incredibly stubborn and old-fashioned. In their family, women have absolutely no status to speak of. Their definition of ’ignorance is a woman’s virtue’ literally means taking pride in being illiterate."
"It can be interpreted like that?" Bai Suihe quickly lowered her head to hide the surprise in her eyes, asking softly, "But surely she shouldn’t be this clueless. Didn’t her husband’s family teach her anything?"
"She hasn’t been married for very long. This time, she came out with her sister-in-law to experience social gatherings. See there? The one sitting next to her is her sister-in-law. Right now, she looks just as shocked. She probably never expected her new sister-in-law to have such a mindset."
Mrs. Jiang chimed in from the side. "I actually know a bit about their family. They believe women should never step out of the inner courtyard. Their daughters literally don’t leave the front door until the day they are married off. Looking at it now, this kind of upbringing is truly harmful."
"Which family is she from?" Bai Suihe asked. She needed to know so she could steer clear of them in the future.
"Speaking of which, they live quite close to you. They are only two houses away from your home," Mrs. Qian told Bai Suihe.
Bai Suihe thought for a moment. "Are you talking about the family at the end of our street? I remember their surname is Zhu."
Mrs. Qian whispered in her ear, "Yes, that’s them. Their family owns a few dozen acres of land on the outskirts of the county town, and they also rent out a storefront in town. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to afford supporting a Scholar. That family gives people a really indescribable feeling.
"Aside from the male heads of the household who occasionally socialize, their women never leave the house. So it’s perfectly normal that you don’t remember them. Honestly, if Scholar Zhu didn’t hold an official title, no one would be willing to associate with him.
"Whenever you’re around him, all he does is flaunt his literary knowledge, spouting archaic phrases that leave you completely baffled. And if you say just one word, he’ll cite history and classical texts to spout a whole bunch of nonsense. Even for things clearly stipulated by the law, he insists on quoting Confucius this and Confucius that. This whole ’ignorance is a woman’s virtue’ nonsense also spread from his household.
"Frankly, it’s a good thing he doesn’t let the women of his family interact with us. Otherwise, we’d have to give them a good talking-to and clear their heads. What kind of rubbish is that?"
After speaking, she cast a meaningful glance at Miss Zhu sitting opposite them. "If she doesn’t even understand this kind of law, her fate would be predictable if her in-laws and husband were even slightly ruthless."
Bai Suihe glanced at the woman sitting next to Miss Zhu who had just spoken. "It might not be that bad. From what I can see, that woman takes good care of her younger sister-in-law. The fact that she brought her out today probably means she wants to change her."
Madam Li was a bit skeptical. "How could sisters-in-law ever reach that level of care? Just refraining from framing each other is already considered good.
"I have sisters-in-law too. Before we divided the family estate, everyone kept their eyes glued to the family fortune, constantly on guard against one another."
Bai Suihe smiled. She also had sisters-in-law, and each of them was quite shrewd and calculating. "That may be true, but considering Scholar Zhu’s upbringing, if Miss Zhu is easily manipulated, how do you think her situation would affect the other daughter-in-law in the same household?"
These words suddenly awakened the others. Everyone’s gaze shifted toward the woman sitting opposite them, realizing that she was the truly shrewd one. It turned out this elder sister-in-law had long sensed that something was wrong and had made preparations in advance. It was just that Miss Zhu still didn’t seem very bright; otherwise, she wouldn’t have foolishly asked such a question.
When Bai Suihe looked over again, she saw that Miss Zhu was already being thoroughly lectured by her elder sister-in-law and the other ladies around her. Seeing the shocked look in her eyes, these new ideas were likely turning her entire worldview upside down. This perfectly illustrated the importance of a person’s upbringing in their family of origin.
Feeling a bit worried, Bai Suihe asked, "Can she even be changed? When marrying such a daughter-in-law, wasn’t the family afraid that their next generation would be held back? How did the two families even arrange this marriage?"
Seeing that the people opposite them weren’t paying attention, Mrs. Qian began to whisper to Bai Suihe. "That is a good question. Those two opposite us are the daughters-in-law of the Xiao family. Speaking of which, the two patriarchs are pretty much cut from the same cloth.
"Mr. Xiao also read some books in his youth and dreamed of bringing glory to his ancestors. However, his talent was ultimately limited, and he didn’t even pass the preliminary county exams. Despite that, he highly reveres scholars and loves associating with those who hold official titles. In his own words, he wants to absorb more scholarly atmosphere, hoping it might improve his family’s feng shui."