Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1419 - 723: Skinning (Part 2)

Old Master Lian’s eloquence was clearly superior to Lian Shouyi’s, and compared to Lian Shouyi’s coarse voice and loud demeanor, Old Master Lian carried himself with enough grace. The way he explained things made it seem like his decision was perfectly fair, that he wasn’t biased at all, and marrying off Lian Shouren was just natural, whereas Lian Shouyi was being unreasonable.

Moreover, the topic of who gets married first seemed to subtly shift to another issue. It was silver coin that mattered, and if only Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin — with Shouxin being the focus — were willing to lend them silver coin, this argument wouldn’t have been necessary.

"The old master has his plans," said those who were not familiar with the Lian Family and didn’t have the age or status to enter the hall, but couldn’t help sneaking into the yard amid the chaos, standing under the window to watch the spectacle. "He gives the ready money to the eldest son for marrying. His eldest son and Fourth Son bear a grudge, and there’s no younger brother to arrange a wife for the elder brother. The old master first took care of his eldest son. As for the remaining grandsons, the matter of their marriages inevitably falls to their fourth uncle, who definitely can’t just stand by and do nothing."

"He once managed a big store, unlike us," someone else chimed in.

Old Master Lian’s words seemed reasonable and convincing. He even assured everyone that there was no issue with having money for Si Lang’s marriage. However, these words didn’t pacify Lian Shouyi.

Now, Lian Shouyi couldn’t be satisfied with mere empty promises of the future. He wanted to seize immediate benefits.

"Dad, you’re still trying to fool me like I’m a kid." Lian Shouyi sneered, "In the past, you never stopped with your fancy words. Saying we should endure hardships now, tighten our belts, and when my elder brother succeeds and becomes an official, we’d live a good life. We’ve struggled for twenty years, twenty years, working like animals, earning money only for him to spend. And what did we get in the end?"

"We’re worse than the long-term workers at Old Fourth Family!... And wasn’t Erlang delayed because of him? Didn’t you keep saying year after year, ’wait one more year,’ almost turning Erlang into a lifelong bachelor? If you hadn’t had him in mind, would Erlang end up speaking with Old Zhao Family’s riff-raff! Now Erlang can only serve as labor to the Old Luo Family!... He, as soon as Lian Shouren became an official, he wanted to break up the family and kick us out."

"What kind of person is he? He’s not satisfied with having killed two wives, he also wants Si Lang to remain single, and then marry off a wife for himself. Our Si Lang hasn’t even touched a woman, while he’s chased away both his first wife and second wife, and there’s no count to the women he’s slept with! And on top of this, you still arrange a marriage for him, Dad, and claim you’re not biased? You’ve had long-standing favoritism!"

Such topics, of course, were the kind everyone loved to hear about. The people outside watching, some nearly stretching their necks into the window, hoping Lian Shouyi would reveal more of Lian Shouren’s romantic affairs.

Lian Shouren’s face turned beet red, and Old Master Lian, feeling extremely awkward, coughed repeatedly, his black-red complexion turning purplish-red.

"He, Lian Shouren, don’t be fooled by his silence now; he’s foul-minded," as if sensing the crowd’s emotions, Lian Shouyi became even more spirited. "He cares for no one but himself. We treated him as a brother, but he never saw me as human."

"Years and years, he would gorge while we labored over gruel and greens, perpetually hungry, dressed like beggars, without a hint of remorse. He looked down on us, treated us like slaves! Selling Manman to make money, wasn’t that all him? His entire family is no good, marrying him off is just setting up more disaster for us, isn’t it?"

"...poisoning Step’s moves, using Xiuxiu as a pawn, caused Old Fourth Family’s nearly newborn child to die, and Old Fourth’s wife barely escaped death... Selling Xiuxiu to an old decrepit coffin dweller, all just to find someone to back him, so he could grab money..."

When it came to knowing what misdeeds Lian Shouren had done, none in the Lian Family knew better than Lian Shouyi; even things Old Master didn’t know, Lian Shouyi knew them all. He would recount these things piece by piece, occasionally revealing one or two details everyone else was unaware of.

Much of what Lian Shouyi said had already been common knowledge on the streets. However, to say it again in front of everyone, especially when spoken by Lian Shouyi, seemed akin to reopening freshly healed wounds.

Bloody, heart-wrenching, and creating new wounds simultaneously.

Old Master Lian’s face felt like it was ablaze, his insides churning like they were being fried in boiling oil, the veins on his forehead pulsing intensely.

"Second Brother, those old matters, bringing them up now for what reason. Whatever the case, he is your elder brother. Let’s discuss what should be discussed, don’t drag irrelevant things into it!" Old Master Lian sternly stopped Lian Shouyi. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Dad, I’m not talking irrelevant things here. Everyone knows what kind of person my brother is, better save others from harm!" Lian Shouyi grinned.

Old Master Lian was so angry he couldn’t stop coughing; he understood that Lian Shouyi, by speaking like this, wasn’t just venting about Lian Shouren but also aiming to make everyone disdain Lian Shouren, further tarnishing his reputation.

Because of this, it would be even harder for Lian Shouren to arrange a marriage. Lian Shouyi was determined not to let him marry off a wife for Lian Shouren.

First, one update here, asking for support, slightly later will be the second update. (Not finished yet. If you like this work, welcome to vote recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)