A Poor Family’s Hereditary Scumbag (3) The original body’s biological mother was fixated on clinging to the two hundred taels of bride price silver in total, rather than on keeping secrets. Her second daughter-in-law had already ducked behind Second Brother, and among the grandchildren, the only one truly on her side had been slapped senseless by his father. How could she expect those two to lie convincingly to Third Son?
Besides, no matter how much the old man doted on her, now that Third Son had passed the provincial exam, the family’s future rested entirely on him. The old man would never tolerate sand in his eyes.
Even so, she had no regrets. So what if Third Son’s success meant the family would be better off? He still had to keep taking exams. No matter what, she couldn’t allow two hundred taels to slip through her fingers!
One look at the original body’s mother told Qin Jingzhou that this woman would dig in her heels to the bitter end—and that the original body’s father and brothers were likely unaware. He decided to ask the original body’s little sister directly. “What happened?”
He settled Tianniu on his lap. With his uninjured hand, he grabbed his dislocated right arm, pushed and twisted—click. After the faint sound, his right hand was usable again.
Then he added, “Say whatever you know. Third Brother will stand up for you.”
The little sister was fifteen this year and already quite sensible.
These past few years, her third brother only came home once or twice a year—and every time he needed silver. She knew that once he passed the exam the whole family would benefit, so even while tightening their belts to support his studies, she never complained aloud. Still, she harbored some resentment.
Two days ago, when news came that Third Brother had passed, she’d been relieved she hadn’t said anything rash—and felt hopeful that she could persuade her mother to hide the marriage her father had arranged for her.
So the little sister steeled herself, knelt before their father, and accused them on the spot. “Mother and Second Sister-in-law took advantage of Father and the brothers being away to arrange marriages for me and Tianniu!”
Qin Jingzhou thought to himself: As expected—when there’s no money, sell the daughters and granddaughters. Truly worthy of Wang-shi, the original body’s mother, who’d been sold twice by her natal family and still bore no resentment. The old man roared, “How dare you!” and moved to strike again.
Wang-shi shuddered, clutching her face as she snapped back at her youngest daughter. “Nonsense! I did it to raise silver for your Third Brother!”
Hearing that, the old man’s raised hand stalled.
Qin Jingzhou hugged Tianniu, then used his mostly recovered right hand to pull his kneeling sister to her feet. With a half-smile, he said, “Father, if you were raising silver for your son, shouldn’t you at least wait until after the exam results? I don’t believe Mother doesn’t know that a juren is never short of money to go to the capital for the metropolitan exam. Besides—when, all these years, have Father or the brothers ever made you worry about raising funds? And if these were good matches, why hide them from Father and me? Taking a step back—even if engagements were made, where is the bride price silver? Mother, don’t change your tune and say you sent your daughter and granddaughter to good homes, not for silver, only to save on household expenses.”
The original body was usually taciturn, but Qin Jingzhou wasn’t worried about breaking character.
Because everything—from his expression to his tone to that long speech—told the entire family one thing: he was furious.
He intended to use this opportunity to completely crush the original body’s mother under labels like “vicious,” “unfilial,” and “short-sighted”—to push her to the very bottom of this household, stripping her of all authority.
His two brothers turned red with rage upon hearing him.
They knew their mother’s character well. The two of them were already suspecting that she’d been instigated—otherwise she wouldn’t have done something so malicious and foolish!
At last, the old man’s slap fell.
This woman was heartless, ignorant, and bold. If she could treat her daughter and granddaughter like this… then without a lesson now, she’d eventually do something even Third Son couldn’t clean up!
After taking two slaps in succession, both cheeks swollen, Wang-shi could barely speak. With everything said by her youngest son, she clutched her face and sobbed, cursing inwardly: Why didn’t you fail?! If you’d failed, selling my daughter and granddaughter would be perfectly justified! Seeing Third Brother speak up and Mother get slapped by Father—this was… indescribably satisfying!
The little sister grew bolder. “Mother promised me to a wealthy household in the prefectural city, and sent Tianniu to be a child bride.” She glanced cautiously at her third brother’s face. “The rich family in town—the one with the idiot son…”
This time, the old man didn’t use his hands—he used his feet.
As Wang-shi cried out in pain, then wailed outright… setting aside bias, the original body’s father had beaten his sons all his life; this was likely the first time he’d ever struck his wife.
Qin Jingzhou never particularly advocated solving problems with violence, nor did he think the old man’s actions were appropriate—but Wang-shi truly deserved it.
Even the original body remembered the idiot son of the town merchant. Not only was he slow-witted, he frequently beat people—he’d crippled a maid before. Her family refused to let it go, and the matter ended up in the county yamen. People in the county, town, and surrounding villages all knew.
For silver, Wang-shi truly didn’t care whether her descendants lived or died.
The old man actually had some restraint, but after three or four kicks, Wang-shi couldn’t endure any longer. Urgently and indistinctly, she blurted, “It was Ah Pei who made the connection!”
That was the line he’d been waiting for!
Wang-shi hadn’t named the original body’s son at first only because that son had entangled himself with a passing commandery princess. In Wang-shi’s eyes, Ah Pei with a princess as backing was far more formidable than her old man or her youngest son!
Who would’ve thought she’d cave so quickly under fists and feet from her own family?
Qin Jingzhou saw it clearly. He stood, lifted Tianniu—who’d been obediently quiet—the right hand steadying her, while his left grabbed a nearby stool. He strode toward Yu Depei, whose face was twisted from the earlier slap. Ignoring the cheap son’s pig-slaughter screams of “I was wrong, I know I was wrong, Father spare me!” as he scrambled backward, Qin Jingzhou poured in strength and smashed the stool down on his left leg.
A dull thud.
He struck precisely—fracturing the bone.
He didn’t break it outright, fearing another dislocation himself… yet after a barely audible sound, he inhaled sharply, set his daughter down, and used his not-quite-functional right hand to grab and twist his left arm—joint resetting as he shook his head. Deal a thousand to the enemy, lose eight hundred yourself. In this world, he’d have to develop brand-new methods to discipline a scumbag son.
Still, with a half-smile, he faced his bargain son clutching his leg, unable even to cry. “Still want to gamble? Still want to beat your wife? Still want to seduce powerful patrons? You can crawl there now.”
Yu Depei couldn’t withstand the blow. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
The Yu family: …
Even Wang-shi forgot to cry. It was as if they’d met their Third Son anew.
Qin Jingzhou turned it over in his mind: before heading to the capital to prepare for next year’s spring exam, he’d need to settle his sister’s and daughter’s marriages—and, while he was at it, fulfill the female lead’s fate by letting her divorce the scumbag son.
…
Meanwhile, back at her natal home in the county, the female lead Rui Li had been unable to sleep for days after hearing her father-in-law had passed the provincial exam.
After Yu Depei shoved her hard, she’d struck the corner of a table and lost consciousness. When she woke, her mind was filled with many “stories.” Distraught, and with her great-grandmother-in-law and second aunt busy plotting within the family, she took her maid and returned directly to her parents’ home.
Once she sorted through the memories newly added to her mind, she heard that her father-in-law had passed—seventh place, with jinshi prospects… In her previous life, this same father-in-law had failed, gotten drunk, fallen into the city moat, and died.
With things changed like this, how was she supposed to divorce? She only wanted to live differently from her last life—yet the very first step was already proving impossible…
Rui Li was sinking into despair when her maid rushed in with news: her in-laws had come to apologize, bringing her husband—whose leg had been personally broken by his father. They were now in the study, and Master and Madam were calling for her immediately.
Rui Li’s heart dropped to the bottom. A bitter-meat tactic… Is this marriage truly impossible to leave?! Then what use is knowing all this? It’s nothing but added misery…
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