Zi Fu and several others helped to gather things, Lin Kangping supported Zi Qing to find a place to sit down and went to help. Zi Qing heard someone talking, turned her head to look, Tian Shi's three sisters were in the house, Zi Qing concentrated on listening, it seemed that Tian Shi's sister was scolding Tian Shi.

  "Can I be blamed? Your family's sons and grandsons, you can't even take care of them properly. What does it have to do with being biased or not? Which mother can bear to see her own children living poorly? He's not like he doesn't have the ability, if he couldn't bring it out, I wouldn't be angry with him. But knowing that others will laugh at me for being poor and stingy, laughing at my sisters for being petty, he still acts as if nothing is wrong. Alas, this son is also a waste of raising. He wasn't like this before, it's all because of someone's instigation." Tian Shi said.

  "You're comparing yourself to me? Your second brother is obviously a kind and honest person, and his behavior doesn't need to be mentioned. If you hadn't hurt his heart so badly, would he treat you like this? Other people still send me food from time to time. Who am I? Am I not your sister? And what about third sister? She's also taken care of, but you're different, you don't care about your own son, and you've wronged him. Don't think I don't know about the things you've done, what kind of heart is this? You still won't admit it? I've never seen anyone like you, so stubborn and unreasonable. This time, even Xiang Yu's heart has been chilled. You can reflect on your own."

  "I agree, I also think that Second Sister did something wrong. Don't be angry when you hear this, but when has Chunyu ever been reliable? With Yan Renda around, it's even worse. What kind of person is he? He's the type who would begrudge someone a piece of meat and wouldn't spend a single penny on anyone over the years. I didn't agree with you marrying Chunyu to him in the first place. It was obvious that he had dug a trap for you, calculated everything, and was waiting for Xiaobao to pass the imperial examination so he could borrow some glory. Chunyu is stupid to death, insisting on jumping into it. You're the one who's good. Not only did she not blame herself, but instead blamed Xiaobao, even going as far as to bring him back home. This isn't something a younger sister would say. Among these children, only Xiaobao and Xiayu have some integrity." said Xiao Tian Shi.

  "Was I the one who wanted to bring him back? You all know the situation at home, we're so poor that we can't even afford to cook. Xia Yu's illness has been delayed because of this, he doesn't go out to earn money, who else is going to support the family?" Tian Shi said angrily.

  "Don't mention this, we still have a few acres of land at home, and my brother-in-law is diligent, how can it be that bad? Ruiqing isn't already working? There are still several taels of silver to supplement each year. I really don't understand you, obviously a farming family, but the girls are all spoiled and none of them can go down to the fields to help with some work. Instead, they're all waiting to eat idle food." said Da Tian Shi.

  "Can Rui Qing's silver all be given to me? My wife is not unclear, she has been keeping a private house for a long time, and she thinks that Er Ye doesn't make money and spends too much. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made up my mind to bring Er Ye back. Later, Er Ye got married and had many children, if he can give me five taels of silver out of ten taels per year, it's already not bad." Tian Shi complained.

  Zi Qing only knew then. In those years, his family made great sacrifices, and he was afraid that his parents still didn't know the truth, thinking that his father had handed over all the silver every year? Thinking that he had helped raise their family and still had to repay this kindness. It turned out that his own father was foolishly obedient, letting Lao Yezi and Tian Shi do whatever they wanted, manipulating him at will. No wonder Tian Shi wanted to bring back her youngest son, because if he passed the exam, Tian Shi would no longer be able to control him as she pleased. This son earned a lot and listened to them, who else could they deceive?

  Ziying's heart ached, thinking that his father was worthless. He had devoted himself to the family, even when his own children were not well-fed or warmly dressed. However, others had long since stopped being on the same page as him and had joined forces to scheme against him, oppress him. If Ziying hadn't intervened, who knows what state the family would be in now? Perhaps they would still be being drained of their blood by these parasites.

  At this time, Zi Fu and the others had finished gathering, and were just about to leave when Old Master called everyone back. He said: "Today is a rare occasion when our whole family is together, let's sit down and have a good chat. Fu Er, go call your parents over, as well as your uncle and aunt, and Zi Ping and the others."

  At this time, several members of the Tian family also heard and came out. Zi Qing had already moved to a different location. Originally, the old master tried his best to persuade Da Yizi and Xiao Yizi to stay, but they both said they had things to attend to at home. It's likely that they didn't want to get involved in these family matters either, after all, today's events weren't very dignified, and they didn't want to offend anyone.

  The front hall was a bit small, so everyone moved to the back room. Shen and Zeng Rui-xiang looked at each other in dismay, wondering what the old master had up his sleeve. However, they both felt a twinge of anxiety in their hearts, guessing that they would inevitably be scolded.

  Ziying glanced over and saw Chunyu and Yanneren hiding in the corner, trying to minimize their presence. Unfortunately, the old man didn't give them face this time and said: "Chunyu, you two come sit up front, today's matter is mainly because of you two, come and have a good talk with everyone."

  "Dad, it's like this, our family's situation, everyone..." Yan Renda said.

  "Shut your mouth, this is a matter for Chunyu to say." The old man said.

  "What can I say, this is the fact. With many children at home, we can't even afford to eat our fill. This autumn, we still have to hold a good wedding for Guiying, but we don't even have a decent dowry. The groom's family is also very poor, what can I do? Can't just keep the child at home and not marry her off, right? Poor Guiying is already 18 this year. Do any of you relatives care about us? It's not like we're the only ones who mix grains with our rice, who doesn't do that these days? You think every family is as rich as Second Brother's? We have plenty of silver at home, it's just a matter of spending it. If Second Brother had been more decisive this morning and spent some silver to buy 100 catties of white flour, wouldn't this matter be settled?" Spring Jade had wanted to say these words all morning, but unfortunately, Yan Renda didn't let her. Now she finally got to say them."

  "Xiang Er, what did you say?" asked the old man.

  "Dad, who's been spending the money? Didn't you agree on that already? Chunyu has been doing things this way for a long time, I won't be able to control her until she's old. You and mom know how much you've been supplementing her every year, if she had a heart, she wouldn't even spare good materials to make a pair of shoes for mom. Think about it yourselves?" Zeng Rui Xiang said, actually, he originally wanted to say that he couldn't control her until death, but thinking that today was his mother's birthday, he couldn't say that word.

  "Ruqing, you're the eldest son, speak up, what's going on today?" the old man asked.

  "I have nothing to say, I just do what I should do. Other people's affairs are none of my business." Zeng Ruiqing said, simple and clear, as always.

  "Good fortune, you are a big grandson and have grown up too. You say something." The old man asked.

  "Grandfather, I'm a younger generation, if I said something unpleasant, please don't take it to heart. I think my elder sister has always been unreliable in doing things, just because you and grandmother have always spoiled her. If we had let her learn from her mistakes from the very beginning, she would have known what was wrong and wouldn't be like this today. It's precisely because of your support that she dares to make mistake after mistake, without having to take responsibility for herself." Zifeng said.

  "Hey, Zifu, you're still a scholar-official? Don't forget, no matter how high an official you become, I'm still your aunt and your elder. Is it my turn to teach you now?" Chunyu said.

  "Shut up, I told him to say that. Are you all done? Now it's my turn to speak, today's events are indeed Spring Jade's fault, but I thought in this situation, you would put family first and take responsibility for the matter. Xiang Er, Father is really disappointed today, I thought no matter how angry you were with your sister, you wouldn't make a joke out of your mother's birthday. After all, it concerns the entire Zeng family's reputation, isn't it just 100 catties of white flour? I know this amount of silver is not a problem for you, but your mother only has one 60th birthday in her life! Taking a step back, even if Zi Fu passed the imperial examination, wouldn't you consider his future? If this gets out, it will ruin the Zeng family's reputation." The old master sighed, this son of his was becoming more and more disappointing.

  "It's not just that, but also, the longevity gifts for Zi Lu and Zi Qing are not even as good as taking them out early. I want to wear those things early, isn't it also your face? Do you have to see me being poor, before you're happy? Isn't this just letting outsiders laugh at us for nothing? You've all seen it, a group of people surrounding me asking this and that, just waiting for me to make a fool of myself. The ones who are being laughed at are our Zeng family, what face do you have?" Tian Shi said hastily.

  "Auntie, we should take it out earlier, but it's not about our dignity, it's about the three aunts' dignity. My grandfather was right, I'll just do what I should do, my father always gets confused about this point, that's why he's always being pulled in to clean up after you guys. My father isn't arguing with my eldest aunt, it's just that she has been wrong for so many years because of her parents' support, and still doesn't admit her mistakes, one mistake after another, not like a child, who can let her get away with it forever? No wonder the old saying goes, 'good people are bullied', I think from now on, things should be like this, whoever's problem is whose problem, don't always think about letting others take responsibility for you." Zi Qing said, thinking back to what she heard earlier, feeling a lump in her throat that couldn't come out, finally speaking out.

  "Neither of you has spoken up, what right does this little girl who's married out have to speak? Who among us is not older than her?" Tian Shi glared at Zi Qing with dissatisfaction.

  "Ah Po, that's not right. Didn't you just mention Zi Qing's birthday gift? We've only just started talking about it. Since it doesn't concern us, let's leave first. After all, we're also daughters who will be married off one day. Even if we don't have any status, we should still show more respect than others." Lin Kangping pulled Zi Qing up to leave, but was stopped by Xia Yu.