Chapter 134 - Chapter 134: Clearing Up a Meal (2/2)
“Su Wenyue, don’t push us too far. I know my daughter better than anyone, and she’s not the type of person you describe. You must have set a trap for my Chunlan. Don’t think you can absolve yourself with just a few words. We’ve come to your doorstep today, and you won’t be able to send us away so easily!” Mrs. Yang declared.
“Oh? And what do you propose?” Su Wenyue raised her eyebrows.
“Considering we’re relatives, I’ll overlook the things you’ve done. Just go to the county magistrate and tell him to release Chunlan, and then compensate us with fifty taels of silver. Let’s put this matter to rest, we can forgive and forget. Otherwise, don’t think the Jiang family is so easily bullied,” Yang Juxiang stated, her head held high, as if she was doing Su Wenyue a favor.
Su Wenyue wasn’t surprised at all. She had expected the Jiang family to come with such a grand gesture, leaving their farm work behind. Naturally, they wouldn’t come just on behalf of Chunlan. They were here to take advantage of the situation, demanding fifty taels of silver with quite the appetite. Even wealthy village families might not earn five taels of silver in a year.
Xiao Xi was infuriated by the Jiang family’s brazenness. It was Chunlan who was at fault, yet the Jiang family had the gall to demand benefits, the likes of which she’d never seen or heard of before.
“Fifty taels of silver? Do you even know how much that is, to make such a brazen demand? I bet you haven’t seen that much silver in your entire lives!” Xiao Xi snorted disdainfully.
Mrs. Yang simply thought that since Su Wenyue was the daughter of the Su Family, she would have excessive wealth, and therefore she shouldn’t ask for less. Of course, a wealthy family’s daughter wouldn’t care about a bit of silver, so she casually demanded fifty taels. Even if Su Wenyue disagreed, they could still haggle down to thirty taels. Hearing Xiao Xi’s response made her a bit guilty, but she couldn’t show weakness.
“You little wench, your mistress hasn’t even spoken yet, and you dares to be so insolent! What’s wrong with demanding fifty taels? My beautiful daughter was sent to the county government by you, and you’ve ruined her life. Isn’t she worth fifty taels?” she retorted.
“Of course not. Buying a decent servant girl only costs about ten taels. Your daughter from the countryside, lacking in both appearance and brains, would at the most fetch seven or eight taels. Even selling your entire family might not get you that much money. You really think too highly of yourselves,” Xiao Xi was merciless with her words.
“Damn it, listen to how she talks! You dead little girl, daring to be so arrogant in front of so many of us. Mother, there’s no use arguing with them. Let’s just beat them till they fall in line,” Han Hu, the Jiang family’s rough and hot-tempered oldest child, who had been listening in impatience, proposed a straightforward solution.
The Jiang family members, already upset after being ridiculed by Su Wenyue and her maidservant, felt the eldest’s suggestion made sense. Each of them was eager to try as they faced two unarmed weak women, and even the Jiang family’s daughters-in-law felt confident they could overpower them.
Seeing their intention to get physical, Xiao Xi stepped in front of Su Wenyue, her disdain for the shamelessness of the Jiang family growing even stronger.
At that moment, Han Hu and Han Quan, hearing that the Jiang family members had come to cause trouble, had also rushed back from the fields, arriving to find a large group of Jiang family members crowding around the fourth child’s house.