Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 1160: Informing on the Plan

"But how do we get the silver?" Chen Cangjin asked, "Chen Shuihua is someone who values money over her life, she would rather die than be taken advantage of by us."

Although our own mother is formidable, Chen Shuihua is not just any shrew, she’s the type who can topple their entire family with a kitchen knife, acting without concern. Chen Cangjin had learned this firsthand, hence he worried that their own family was not up to dealing with Mrs. Chen.

Chen Canggu also said, "Yes, mother, third sister is willing to go all out, her silver isn’t easy to obtain."

Madam Old Ruan heard this, fell silent, and began thinking of how to handle Mrs. Chen. But Mrs. Chen was truly too fierce. The family had fought with her before but gained nothing good out of it; for the moment, Madam Old Ruan really didn’t know how to deal with her.

Ms. Xiao Ruan then said, "Aunt, do you remember the gossip we heard when we first came to the Prefecture City? About an old father accusing his unfilial son? That family had the surname Gu, and now thinking about it, it should be the same clan as Chen Shuihua’s husband’s family."

They arrived in He’an Prefecture City in June, and heard this gossip back then, even helped curse that old beast accusing his son. Now thinking about it, the old beast was truly pitiful, he should’ve extracted more silver from that unfilial son."

Madam Old Ruan said, "What do you mean? Quickly say it."

Ms. Xiao Ruan said, "Aunt, although Old Man Gu didn’t successfully sue his son, it caused a headache for Dashan’s family. Finally, they heard from women in the city that the clan aunt of the Gu family gave Old Man Gu a thousand taels of silver. A thousand taels! If we could force the elders of the Gu Family’s clan to also give us a thousand taels, wouldn’t our family be worry-free and prosperous?"

"That clan aunt was ranked the third," Madam Old Ruan had caused trouble at Gu Family Village a few times but was not familiar with Gu Dashan’s family, only vaguely remembering that Third Son Gu and his wife were childless. When she went to the village chief’s house to demand money, that childless couple had come out to mediate.

However, since the matter was so long ago, when Madam Old Ruan first heard the Old Gu Family gossip, she didn’t recall; thinking it was just the same surname.

"Childless elders rely on clan descendants to live and must be good to them, asking them for silver is indeed a good method," said Madam Old Ruan, but then felt unsure, frowning.

Ms. Xiao Ruan noticed, seeing through Madam Old Ruan’s concern, asked, "Aunt, are you worried that targeting only Third Son Gu’s family is not reliable enough and might not bring much silver?"

Madam Old Ruan nodded, "Hmm, that childless couple already gave Old Gu Family a thousand taels, how much silver will be left? When it’s our turn, whether we can get any silver at all is another question."

She added with a heavy face, "This is a once-and-for-all deal, if we go for it, we go for the most, otherwise when Chen Shuihua gets angry, we won’t get a single penny."

Ms. Xiao Ruan, being very shrewd, had long targeted the Xu Family, said, "Aunt, wasn’t it said that Chen Shuihua’s nephew was going to be betrothed to a rich family’s young lady? That rich family’s old master is in town now, can’t we go ask him for silver?"

She added, "That family is rich, sure to care about face, unlikely to welcome relatives like ours; we just go to them and lie, saying Gu Dexing and Yinhua have a marriage contract. Now knowing their families are to be betrothed, we are unwilling to be bad people, as long as they give our family three thousand taels, we’ll leave the Prefecture City, never to trouble them again."

Madam Old Ruan heard this, her eyes lit up, feeling tempted, but: "Three thousand taels is too much, the Xu Family isn’t foolish enough to give us that much silver."

After thinking, Madam Old Ruan said, "Let’s do this, we’ll press both sides: press the Xu Family for a thousand taels and then squeeze several hundred taels from the Third Son Gu couple; once we get the silver, we’ll leave."

"Oh dear, my mother! You truly have a way." Chen Canggu was overjoyed, calculating that their family would then have more than a thousand taels of silver, enough for them to eat well and live comfortably for a lifetime.

However...

"Is third sister really not reconciling?"

Chen Cangjin also asked, "Yes mother, third sister’s family is wealthy now, wouldn’t it be better if she reconciled and we could live off her for a lifetime..."

"Ah, spit, don’t dream about it, Chen Shuihua would never recognize us." Madam Old Ruan interrupted Chen Cangjin, saying, "Besides, with Chen Shuihua’s stinginess, even if we lived off her for a lifetime, we couldn’t extract more than a thousand taels; it’s better to clean up with one big ticket and leave."

The Chen brothers, upon hearing this, thought about Mrs. Chen’s temper and felt Madam Old Ruan made sense, ultimately saying, "Alright, we will listen to mother. When should we go to the Xu Family? Should we take Yinhua along?"

When Chen Yinhua returned to the grass hut carrying a cloth bag, she heard this and asked, "Uncle, what are you talking about?"

She was speaking while handing the cloth bag to Madam Old Ruan, smiling, "Grandma, there were many people offering incense today, your granddaughter managed to get quite a lot of things, some food, more than a dozen copper coins, and a few incense bags. If those incense bags are sold off, they could be exchanged for money."

Ms. Xiao Ruan, upon hearing this, secretly glared at Chen Yinhua; this foolish girl, if she got good things, she should’ve hidden them, how could she just give them to aunt? Isn’t this giving them for the whole family to share?

But Madam Old Ruan was quite pleased, thinking Chen Yinhua was a very sensible granddaughter and concerned about the family, but these items compared to the thousand taels of silver were nothing.

Madam Old Ruan set the items aside, pulled over Chen Yinhua’s hand, and told her the family’s plan, adding, "Yinhua, you’ve been sensible since childhood, this matter concerns our family’s livelihood, you must handle it well. When you reach the Xu Family, cry and say you’ve known Gu Dexing since childhood and have a marriage contract with him, only this way can we get silver from the Xu Family."

Chen Jinhua heard this and cried, looking at Madam Old Ruan, said, "Grandma, your granddaughter can do this too, just leave it to her."

Madam Old Ruan said, "Grandma knows you can do it, but Yinhua is more suitable; she can keep her composure. When she’s upset, she looks more pitiable, the Xu Family will be more convinced."

Chen Jinhua heard this, although unhappy, in the family, Madam Old Ruan had the final say and was always partial to the second uncle’s family, Chen Jinhua could only swallow her resentment.

Chen Yinhua frowned upon hearing this, looking at Madam Old Ruan, said, "Grandma, what if the Xu Family doesn’t believe and directly turns against us?"

Chen Yinhua thought her family was delusional, the Xu Family became wealthy, surely not easy to bully; hope they don’t treat their whole family like vagrants and grab and sell them.

But Madam Old Ruan said, "Precisely because the Xu Family is wealthy, they care about face; they’re afraid of not giving us silver."

She added, "Alright, don’t worry, just listen to Grandma."

Madam Old Ruan had made up her mind, no longer listening to Chen Yinhua and instead discussing her plan to squeeze silver from both sides with family members.

Listening on the side, Chen Yinhua felt more and more uneasy. Third aunt’s family had become prosperous, her nephew was even a scholar, had met Lord Magistrate, could they really be calculated against?

This scheme could land them in jail, and the first one to be caught would be her, the fake marriage contract female scammer claiming a tie with Gu Dexing.

The more Chen Yinhua thought about it, the more frightened she became, but she couldn’t outwardly defy Madam Old Ruan, she could only find another way to save herself.

Finally, she decided to go to Mrs. Chen and secretly inform her of the family’s bad intentions, revealing their scheme to Mrs. Chen.