Song Yutang turned back with a radiant smile. "No need to trouble yourself, little sister of a concubine. I'll certainly live very well."
She had already assessed the original owner's circumstances.
A middle-school education, a living scraped together through odd jobs, and a rented room without even a bathroom.
In her previous life, she had fought diligently for over a decade, only to die suddenly just after becoming empress dowager. What a pity.
In this era, there was no hope of becoming the mother of the nation.
But money could give her a good life just the same.
Marrying into the richest family's household was the best opportunity she could seize right now.
She had heard that the Jiang family's circumstances were indeed complicated, but compared with living in destitution, Song Yutang would rather take a gamble...
The Jiang family's eldest young master was in a vegetative state and could not come to fetch his bride himself.
When Song Yutang stepped into the courtyard, the neatly dressed butler immediately approached her. "Young madam, the eldest young master has no mobility. As previously agreed, there will be no wedding ceremony. We'll take you straight to the ancestral residence."
He wore a smile, but made no effort to hide the contempt in his eyes.
Especially when he saw the pile of bottles and jars in her arms, his gaze could practically be described as scornful.
He had heard that the Song family's eldest daughter had grown up in the countryside. She really was uncouth.
Song Yutang disliked being scrutinized like that. She swept a casual glance over him. "Eunuch Wang, are you blind?"
Butler Wang froze. "E-Eunuch Wang?"
Song Yutang unceremoniously shoved the things in her arms at him. "Is this how you normally attend to the old master? You have no eye for what needs doing."
Butler Wang instinctively took the pile of bottles and jars, only to find that Song Yutang had already extended her slender, jade-like fingers.
Butler Wang finally caught on and hurriedly told a bodyguard beside him to support her.
Song Yutang waved a hand. "Eunuch Wang, you're not just blind, you have no manners. I'm a well-bred lady, and I'm not married yet. How could I let a strange man touch my body? Do it yourself."
Butler Wang froze again. "But... I'm a strange man too."
This time, Song Yutang looked him up and down. "Was the castration incomplete?"
"C-Castra-what?"
"Castration."
Butler Wang was aghast. "Why would I be castrated?"
Song Yutang gave a soft laugh. "Heh... I thought only someone neither man nor woman would speak with such snide insinuations and look down on people through a dog's eyes."
"Pfft..."
The bodyguards beside them could be heard stifling their laughter, and Butler Wang's face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
Song Yutang pretended not to notice and stepped gracefully into the wedding car.
She had seen far too many insolent servants like him in her previous life.
They all bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Especially with her awkward position now, if she did not show him a little of what she was capable of, he would only take a mile when given an inch.
Butler Wang opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only follow sheepishly into another car.
The convoy slowly set off.
Sitting in the back seat of the main wedding car, Song Yutang casually searched for inheritance law on her phone.
She soon reached a very unfavorable conclusion-
She, the eldest legitimate daughter, was actually a first-priority heir just like Concubine Sun and her concubine-born older brother and younger sister.
And given Father Song's favoritism, he probably would not leave her so much as a penny.
But if they all died without a will having been made...
Then it would be the mandate of heaven.
The wedding convoy passed through the bustling downtown into a quiet neighborhood of old villas, finally coming to a smooth stop outside a manor.
After they made their way to the living room, Butler Wang went in first to announce her. "Master, Miss Song is here."
Hearing the sound, everyone in the living room looked up at once.
Song Yutang looked over as well.
The sofas were full of people.
Among them were two middle-aged couples in their fifties.
Just as Song Yutang silently guessed which pair were her future parents-in-law, a plainly dressed middle-aged woman hurried out of the kitchen carrying two plates of fruit:
"Why are you here so soon? I haven't even had time to change..."
Song Yutang instinctively looked over.
The weather-beaten face bore a cautious, uneasy expression.
Probably...
The housekeeper?
Noticing Song Yutang's gaze, the woman wiped her hands on her apron a little bashfully. "You must be tired from the journey, dear. Did you get carsick? We prepared some fruit, but I didn't know what you liked, so I washed a little of everything. What would you like for dinner? We've bought the ingredients. Your dad can cook for you... If we don't have something, that's all right. Your younger brother can go buy it. He's quick on his electric scooter. He'll be back in no time..."
"???" A string of question marks slowly rose in Song Yutang's mind.
"Xiulan, pour the old master a glass of water," the woman sitting beside the old master suddenly said.
"Oh, oh, of course..." Li Xiulan hurriedly agreed and turned to get a glass.
An expensively dressed woman prodded the cherries in the fruit platter with a fork, her face full of disdain. "Sister-in-law, I only eat imported fruit. What sort of roadside-stall rubbish have you bought?"
Li Xiulan immediately became flustered, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward Song Yutang. "They looked quite fresh and weren't expensive, so I bought them..."
Song Yutang vaguely felt that something was not right when a clattering came from an inner room-
"Dad, slow down! Do you want to wreck that old back of yours?"
"Your sister-in-law is already at the door."
"Slow down, slow down. Can that old rheumatic leg of yours even move fast?"
"I told you, your sister-in-law's here..."
"So she's here. What are you so worked up about? She can marry into the family or not, whatever..."
Amid a commotion of flying chickens and jumping dogs, an older man and a youth emerged one after the other.
The older man's hair was more than half white, and he wore an apron.
The younger one was about seventeen or eighteen, sporting a head of unruly yellow hair.
An enormous character for "bull" was printed across the chest of his baggy white T-shirt, with an equally conspicuous character for "cunt" on the back.
He wore skinny jeans and driving loafers, with a thick gold chain around his neck.
"And these two are..." Even Song Yutang, who had seen her share of grand occasions, was a little bewildered now.
Li Xiulan's face was filled with embarrassment. She hurriedly pulled the two aside and scolded them in a lowered voice:
"Didn't I tell you? Our daughter-in-law is coming over for the first time. We have to make a good impression. Didn't I buy you a suit? Why won't you wear it? And you, what do you look like dressed like that? Did you cut holes in the sportswear I just bought you again? That Akenas cost over five hundred yuan..."
The older man quickly tugged at her clothes. "That's wrong. It's Adinice. Yes, nice. Its English name is Nice. It's an imported brand."
The yellow-haired youth was speechless. "It's Adidas and Nike."
Li Xiulan looked a little embarrassed. "Never mind all that nice and Nike. Look at you two. What do you look like dressed this way?"
The older man awkwardly untied his apron. "It's our daughter-in-law's first day here. I had to make a few decent dishes. I went to that big market in the north of town first thing this morning to buy free-range chicken and duck. I'd have ruined good clothes wearing them there."
"Then you should have changed after you got back from buying the groceries."
"Butler Wang said our daughter-in-law wouldn't arrive until four in the afternoon, so I thought I'd get the chicken simmering first..."
Song Yutang raised her eyes to the clock on the wall.
It was just past half past one.
No wonder the family looked caught off guard.
Eunuch Wang really did look down on people through a dog's eyes.
The yellow-haired youth chewed gum with an utterly unconcerned expression, leaning to one side and jiggling his leg. "Do you two really need to make such a fuss? Once she marries into our family, she's one of ours. If she doesn't listen, just give her a beating. Women all need training..."
Li Xiulan smacked him on the head. "I think you're the one who needs a beating. Her parents worked hard to raise their daughter. How does she turn into a cat or a dog just because she marries into our family?"
The yellow-haired youth curled his lip and rolled his eyes, then brandished his fist menacingly at Song Yutang. "You're Miss Song? Let me say the unpleasant part first. My parents are honest people. If you dare bully them... See this? A fist as big as a clay pot..."
"You dare threaten your sister-in-law? I'll show you a fist as big as a clay pot right now." Jiang Guoqiang punched him in the bridge of the nose.
Two streams of blood slowly trickled down.
The yellow-haired youth touched them, let out a miserable cry, and rolled his eyes back. "Ah... Blood..."
Jiang Guoqiang and his wife caught their son with practiced ease and tossed him onto the sofa, then walked up to Song Yutang a little awkwardly. "Sorry, dear. His mother and I haven't taught this brat properly. But don't worry. Our family absolutely does not beat daughters-in-law."
Song Yutang finally confirmed that this bizarre family of three was her parents-in-law and younger brother-in-law.
This was not quite what she had imagined.
They seemed rather...
Down-to-earth?
Song Yutang forced a polite smile and was just about to answer when the old master beside them gave a heavy snort. "All this shouting and carrying on. What sort of behavior is this?"
She looked up at the true head of the Jiang family.
The old master looked to be in his seventies. Although his eyes were somewhat cloudy, his gaze held shrewdness and authority.
The woman beside him appeared to be in her sixties, wearing an elegant qipao, her hair dyed brown.
She was adorned with glittering jewelry and wore immaculate makeup.
"Guoqiang and Xiulan have always been uncouth. Why get angry with them? But as for this Miss Song..."
She gently patted the old master's hand, her reproachful gaze falling on Song Yutang. "You came through the door without even greeting your elders. I hear you grew up with your mother in the countryside and didn't even finish high school? Our Jiang family observes proper rules. Now that you've married into the family, you'll have to follow them from now on."