Chapter 56: Counterattack

  Mr. Chen is not very ambitious.

  He was a younger son, and from a young age he knew that no matter how excellent he was, he could never replace his older brother as the future head of the household. So, he didn't have high expectations for himself, growing up to be an ordinary adult, getting married and having children.

  The Chen family was not a wealthy clan, but they were also knowledgeable and courteous. His younger brothers and juniors all respected Mr. Chen Er, at least on the surface, which made Mr. Chen Er lose further motivation.

  He has almost everything he should have.

  But his son Chen Min is a man with great ideals and self-esteem, far superior to Chen Er in talent, and has been dissatisfied with Chen Er for many things.

  Chen Min said: "I and Chen Ying are both legitimate sons, he just has good luck, relying on the house of my eldest uncle, I was born in the second house, so I am always behind him."

  Chen Min felt that his own misfortunes were all due to his father. Chen Erlao had a poor background, which dragged down Chen Min. Otherwise, the future master of the house should have been Chen Min.

  Mr. Chen was very angry after hearing this. Besides anger, he also felt a sense of desolation.

  He never despised his own origin all his life, but was instead blamed by his son. Later, when his son wanted to do something, Mr. Chen Er would go out of his way to help, making up for his son's shortcomings.

  This time, Chen Min also took the initiative to provoke it.

  Their goal is not Qi Wanxiang, nor Li Shi, but Chen Jing and Da Fang.

  Chen Jiong's attitude was really hateful, making Old Master Chen feel both disgusted and angry; while Li Shi pretended to be calm, but was actually frightened out of her wits.

  The two people in Qiū Wān Háng are also quite ridiculous.

  "Is it about the land?" The last bit of luck was broken, Li's voice trembled slightly as he forced a lie, "The deed is at home, why would Grandfather ask this here?"

  "Haha." Mr. Chen couldn't help but sneer.

  Mr. Chen and Chen Ying also shook their heads.

  Li lied right to his face, he's got a lot of nerve!

  "Is it?" The old man's face turned cold, and he snorted, "Very well, go get it, let me take a look!"

  Li's eyes darted back and forth quickly.

  Upon hearing this, she lifted her face and asked: "Great-grandfather, why the sudden interest in looking at the land deeds? Aren't those deeds from Qiwan Lane?"

  What right do you have to see the private property of Qi Wan Lane?

  The old man's face turned even colder with rage, and he slammed his palm heavily on the tea table, shouting: "You scoundrel! I told you to bring it over, where did all this nonsense come from?"

  Actually, when we divided the family property back then, there were some hidden circumstances involved.

  Those ancestral temples were not set up by Chen Jinnan's grandfather's father, but by his paternal great-uncle.

  Chen Jiong's grandfather and father were both in poor health, often inviting doctors to eat medicine, the cost was not worth it, the people of Jingzhong Alley discussed and complained, many were dissatisfied, thinking that their family spent too much.

  Later, great-grandfather said that since they were afraid of being dragged down by them, they might as well separate the family.

  He took out all his private property and divided it equally with his brother.

  This matter also made great-grandmother extremely angry, feeling that great-grandfather was being overly generous to his younger brother by taking out the private property left for the sons and dividing it among his younger brothers, which she felt was not right.

  So, great-grandfather was qualified to manage those sacrificial fields in Qiwan Lane.

  This is not just a family rule, but also a personal affair.

  In those fields of sacrifice, at least 200 mu were given by my great-grandfather to Qi Wanxiang. At that time, my great-grandfather had not yet made a fortune, and the 200 mu was a large private property.

  "Great-grandfather, are you distrustful of your granddaughter-in-law?" Li continued to socialize with the old master, but refused to go get the deed to confront her.

  "Chen Erlao couldn't bear to watch anymore, and spoke up: 'Jia Xing's wife, don't be so glib! It's all been spread outside that you've sold the sacrificial field. Bring out the deed, let us take a look, and everyone can rest assured.'"

  "Second Uncle, when are we going to see what's at the bottom of your family's trunk?" Li sneered, glancing at Second Uncle. "Why do you want to see our private belongings?"

  "Is that private property?" Old Master Chen erupted in fury, "That's ancestral land, it's our family's foundation!"

  "This is our family's home at the bottom of Seven Crooked Lanes, it's our private property!" Li knew she couldn't get through today, so she decided to be stubborn. As long as she didn't give in, what could these men do to her?

  There's no other way out, so I'll just have to throw a tantrum and be unreasonable, like a shrew.

  Just die then.

  Drag it through today and then hurry back to buy those sacrificial fields!

  Li had over 10,000 taels of silver given to her by Chen Xiang, and as long as she could find a buyer, Li was willing to sell at any price. In any case, she couldn't let people know that she had sold the sacrificial field.

  Clan rules are unforgiving.

  "......What are you doing, adding fuel to the fire?" The old man was also angry. "Do you still have respect for your elders and our family rules? Do I need to send someone to Yaojiang to call your older brother here so that we can discuss this face-to-face between the two families? If you really don't want to sincerely be a daughter-in-law of the Chen family, I can let your older brother take you back home."

  This is threatening to fire Mr. Li.

  Li's heart suddenly turned gloomy.

  Her eyes were full of fear.

  "I'll go home and get it!" Chen Jiong said.

  He thought that if he continued to speak, his sister-in-law would say even more rebellious words and really provoke Grandfather Bo. He had originally thought that Grandfather Bo would exert pressure on her, and she would have no choice but to go home and fetch the deed to the land, at which time Chen Jing would follow her back, and tell her about the situation along the way.

  Unexpectedly, her sister-in-law didn't even think of going back to get it.

  She couldn't get it out, so she decided to stick to the end.

  But in this matter, there are elders and clan rules pressing down, so being unreasonable won't work.

  Li looked at Chen Jing in shock.

  She gently shook her head at Chen Jing.

  She didn't expect her persistence to be disrupted by Chen Jiong in the end. In her heart, she must think that Chen Jiong is a pig-like teammate.

  Actually, after returning from Yaojiang, Eldest Sister's mindset had already changed, and Chen Jing also planned to hand over the land deed and the two thousand taels of silver that Wen Niang gave him to his eldest sister.

  He had just returned for two days and was accompanying Li Balang, strolling around. Because of the matter of offering sacrifices to the land, he did not know that Jingzhong Alley had discovered it, thinking it was nothing, so he didn't take care of it immediately.

  This is Chen Jie's fault.

  Only today did he have some free time, and then Jianzhong Alley sent someone to invite him.

  He didn't even have time to have a good talk with his sister-in-law about this matter, and then something unexpected happened.

  "The key is on Qingyun's body, I asked Qingyun to hand it over to me. Eldest sister, I'm leaving." Chen Jing ignored everyone's expressions and didn't respond to the pleading in his sister-in-law's eyes, turning around and walking out.

  Mr. Chen almost burst out laughing.

  Chen Yang and that little brat, really have no shame at all!

  Li is about to collapse!

  When Chen Yang returned home, he realized that there was no deed to the land. He estimated that from now on, Li would not dare to come to Jingzhong Alley again. For privately selling the sacrificial field, a severe beating for Li was inevitable, and even Chen Xuan could not be spared.

  The matter of Song He Tang studying will definitely have to be put on hold.

  At that time, Old Master Chen and his son will fan the flames again, shifting the blame to the eldest branch of the family. Chen Ying and Old Master Chen Da will also be held accountable for dereliction of duty.

  Slowly weakening Chen Ying's position in the family and Old Master's heart, Chen Mian will have a chance to rise.

  The whole Songhe Hall was filled with everyone's own thoughts and worries.

  The old man was both heartbroken and disappointed: This Li family is simply beyond words. If they were short of money, come to Jingzhong Alley to borrow some, would they not help her?

  She was unwilling to accept even half of the favors from Jingzhong Alley, but instead had the audacity to ignore family rules and clan rules, selling the sacrificial fields!

  Once this precedent is set, the younger generation will follow suit, and this family business will eventually go bankrupt! This time, we can't indulge her!

  Li's lips turned white.

  Mr. Chen and Second Master Chen also blamed Mrs. Li.

  Chen Erlao and Chen Min couldn't help but feel pleased with themselves. Just now, Chen Jing had spoken disrespectfully to Chen Erlao, and soon they would teach him a good lesson!

  The room is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.

  No one spoke up. Li stood, others sat, and everyone breathed very lightly.

  Mr. Li felt sweat on his palms and back.

  Half an hour later, Chen Jiong finally returned. In his hand, he held a purple sandalwood box and went straight to the front of the old man.

  Everyone stretched their necks to look.

  "What's going on?" thought Mr. Chen Er and Chen Mei, "What did Chen Yang take?"

  The father and son stared at Lao Taigong's expression, trying to figure out some clues from his face.

  But Li didn't see this small box and was puzzled in her heart.

  She looked up at Chen Jing.

  Chen Jiong winked at her.

  For some reason, Li suddenly felt calm in her heart. Chen Xuan's wink was like a tranquilizer. She inexplicably felt that Chen Xuan had already solved the problem.

  Although she knew it was impossible, she still had such a luxurious wish.

  She gently lowered her head again.

  The old man opened the sandalwood box and took out all the deeds inside.

  There is a thick stack of them.

  Li and Old Master Chen and Chen Min were all shocked.

  Especially Old Master Chen II, who can no longer remain calm: What's going on? Didn't they say that selling the sacrificial field would pay off the debt? Then what is this thing in Old Lady's hand?

  Mr. Li was both surprised and delighted: the person from the pawnshop said that the land had been bought by someone else. Could it be that the buyer was Zhang? What's wrong with this child, why does he have such extraordinary talent?

  Mr. Chen and Chen Ying didn't understand either.

  To them, father and son, this thing was like a farce.

  But why did it get noisy, Chen Ying is still confused until now.

  The old man looked at it carefully and put the deed back in the box, closed the lid and placed it heavily on the tea table.

  "Take this and show it to your Second Uncle!" The old man snorted coldly.

  The old man felt a bit embarrassed. What's the point of making such a fuss and almost framing Li? At the same time, he also felt angry: what were Erniu and his son doing?

  Falsely accusing Li's family for no reason and dragging the old man into the water!

  Are they treating you like a monkey?

  Chen Ying stepped forward, holding a sandalwood box and handed it over to Old Master Chen.

  Mr. Chen Erlao opened it and took a look, Chen Ying and Chen Mei also stretched their heads to take a look.

  As he looked on, Old Master Chen's hands began to tremble and his eyes turned red: So many deeds! The entire Jingzhong Alley had only this much good land!

  Seven bends and alleys, how did you accumulate such a thick family foundation?

  "Second Uncle, you've seen clearly now?" Chen Jing's voice rang out at this moment, "My sister-in-law didn't sell the sacrificial field, what I said wasn't wrong, was it?"

  Mr. Chen's hands were shaking and Chen Mei's face was as pale as death.

  This is losing the rice while trying to steal the chicken.

  The father and son both looked extremely unpleasant.

  "Since... since you didn't sell the sacrificial field, why don't you just take it out?" Old Master Chen struggled with his last breath.

  Li looked at the opportunity, knelt down to Old Master and said: "Great-grandfather, you be our master! Our seven curved alleys, plus the line is not at home, and we are humble and courteous, although we have some family property, how dare we show it off? Today, Second Brother forced us to take out our family property and let everyone see it, what's his intention?

  Great-grandfather, things have been forced to this point, and even the granddaughter-in-law doesn't know what to do. You make the decision for us!

  Want to make things difficult for her?

  Now she also wants to throw the difficult problem back!

  This matter won't be settled if you don't give her an account!