Chapter 845 - 848: Persuasion
Chapter 845: Chapter 848: Persuasion
Jin Qianqian knew that Xie Ruyi was pinning all the blame on her daughters-in-law. It seemed their earlier guess had been right.
She smiled and spoke up for Xie Yuewei. "Ruyi, that’s a bit unfair. Since we came back this time, I’ve seen Yuewei bustling about and solving a lot of problems. She’s done a beautiful job with all the tasks handed to her. We shouldn’t dismiss her efforts entirely and chill her heart."
Xie Ruyi hadn’t expected Jin Qianqian to speak up for her second daughter-in-law. She gave a dry laugh. "Her work is fine, but she’s just too stubborn. She loves to butt heads over everything. If it weren’t for those two women fueling the fire behind the scenes this time, Le Di and his brother wouldn’t have come to blows."
A moment of speechless silence fell over the room.
Liu Liu chimed in, "Speaking of which, it really is quite something! It was late last night, so we couldn’t ask too many questions, but why exactly did the two brothers start fighting? They caused quite a commotion. I reckon the clan elders have already received the news by now."
"Exactly," Xie Ruyi said, her brows knitting together tightly. "First thing this morning, my husband was called away, and they didn’t let a single person accompany him. Those two unfilial sons! They don’t know how to share the family’s burdens all day, yet they still cause trouble for us."
It was only at this moment that Xie Ruyi finally started scolding her two sons. It was clear that, compared to her husband, her sons still took a backseat.
Jin Qianqian said, "Ruyi, why don’t you tell us what happened so we know what’s going on? We don’t want the whole village to know while we’re left in the dark. If it can be resolved, we can handle it internally and keep the matter from blowing up."
No matter what, they had to maintain their outward appearances. Otherwise, Jin Qianqian truly wouldn’t have wanted to make this trip.
Xie Ruyi knew this matter would be exposed sooner or later. She had her own selfish motives in this, making it rather hard to speak up.
"Ruyi, if it’s too difficult for you to say, how about we go call Le Tian over and ask him?" Liu Liu prepared to get up and call Le Tian inside.
Xie Ruyi finally sighed. Rather than letting Le Tian explain, it would be better if she said it herself.
"It’s all a sin, really. You all know that Xiuyang hasn’t given birth to a single child in all these years. I’ve been anxious about it. Even if we wait until Lejia is old enough to take a concubine, others will already be grandfathers by then. I was thinking that Le Di has three sons, so perhaps we could adopt one out to Lejia first. Who knows, it might even bring him luck to have his own child later.
"But who would have thought that Yuewei would have absolutely no sense of the bigger picture? She stubbornly refused, caused a huge scene, and we eventually just went along with her. The matter was already settled back then. But yesterday, Xiuyang brought it up again, and Yuewei lost her temper on the spot. That bastard Le Di actually talked back to me right there and then to defend his wife!
"Lejia was also furious, so he threw the first punch. The two brothers started fighting just like that. I didn’t expect it to alarm everyone."
The three sisters-in-law exchanged silent glances. Although she was stating the facts, she was far too biased toward one side.
"Ruyi, we’ve heard a bit about this matter," Liu Liu said. Instead of arguing about who was right or wrong, she offered her own opinion. "Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Whatever issues they have, let the brothers discuss it themselves. If this happened to me, I wouldn’t be able to bear parting with a single child."
They were all mothers; she didn’t know what Xie Ruyi could possibly be thinking.
"What’s there to be unable to bear?" Xie Ruyi argued. "They’d still be in the same family anyway. Furthermore, Lejia doesn’t have any children right now. If the child goes with him, they’ll receive his undivided care."
Jin Qianqian couldn’t listen to this anymore. "Ruyi, we have elderly widows and widowers in our clan too. They have been lonely and helpless their whole lives, without any descendants. If you were the one having to adopt Lejia out to them, would you be willing?"
Xie Ruyi opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Just the thought of it made her heart ache. How could she possibly be willing? But they were blood brothers, which was different from outsiders. She could only try to justify it to herself.
"See? Even you aren’t willing." Liu Liu felt that Jin Qianqian’s analogy was excellent; it instantly struck Xie Ruyi’s sore spot. "Don’t try to use the ’blood brothers’ excuse. Our husbands are blood brothers, aren’t they? I think your grandson is very cute. How about I take him back and raise him? Would you be willing?"
Xie Ruyi was rendered speechless. Why on earth would she do that?
At that moment, it dawned on her. These sisters-in-law hadn’t come to console her; they had come to mock her.
Jin Qianqian brought up another issue. "Even if it’s an adoption between blood brothers, why are you only targeting Le Di? Why not Le Tian? I believe Le Tian’s second son is about the same age as Le Di’s third son."
Everyone present actually knew the reason. It was simply because Xie Yuewei was easier to talk to, and they were picking on the softest target.
"Le Tian is older and only has two children. He’s also the eldest son, and he’s suffered outside all these years. I..." Xie Ruyi couldn’t continue. Feeling bad for her eldest son was only a small part of it. The real reason was that Le Tian’s wife had a good background, and she didn’t dare bring it up with her.
Seeing that she had provoked her enough, Liu Liu patted Xie Ruyi’s hand. "Ruyi, we’ve known each other for so many years. Who doesn’t know who here? Don’t say that we’re here to make things difficult for you. We truly came here to mediate for your own good.
"You haven’t been fair. You don’t dare offend Le Tian’s wife, and Xiuyang is fierce, but you can’t just keep picking on Yuewei to torment. Even we can see this clearly, so how could Le Di, who is caught right in the middle of it, not understand? If this goes on for too long, you will truly chill his heart.
"Everyone was living in peace, but because you brought it up so much, I think Lejia definitely became tempted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to raise his hand against his older brother over such a small conflict this time."
Jin Qianqian also had the worst impression of Gu Lejia. Back then, he had tried to plot against his own uncle for Song Xiuyang’s sake, and now he wanted to victimize his own brother. It was no wonder that Gu Wenheng had previously preferred to take other clan members on his travels rather than taking Lejia along.
"Ruyi," Li Xiaohua also spoke up to persuade her. "This hasn’t even reached the worst part yet. If you really adopt the child over, and Lejia later has his own children, what position will the adopted child be in? Don’t tell me they’d be treated the same. Can a nephew really be treated the same as a biological son?
"Even you don’t believe that, so do you really think they can do it? Besides, with Xiuyang’s temperament—and I’m not just saying bad things about her as her aunt—if she really got a child, who knows what kind of fuss she’d make."
Sometimes, she even speculated about that possibility. If Song Xiuyang really gave birth to a child, Xie Ruyi’s household would become even more chaotic.
Jin Qianqian practically wanted to give Li Xiaohua a thumbs-up. That woman was certainly a piece of work. It was just that she rarely stayed in their hometown nowadays. Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have tolerated someone like that jumping around in front of her.
"What are you saying?" Liu Liu shot Li Xiaohua a glare. "Ruyi, please don’t hold it against Xiaohua. She might have a sharp tongue, but she doesn’t mean any harm."
Gloating about a daughter-in-law’s infertility right in front of her mother-in-law—this Xiaohua was truly an expert at stirring the pot.
Li Xiaohua realized her words had been inappropriate. She gave a dry laugh and said, "Ruyi, you know I didn’t mean it like that. I just really dislike the way Xiuyang does things."