Chapter 126 - 115: Compensation
Old Liu was furious as he looked at Old Zhou, "In-law, these aren’t words that can be carelessly thrown around, Dalang has always been honest."
Before Old Zhou could speak, Third Uncle Qian shouted, "Honest? Is it honest to stuff a divorce letter into your wife’s hands at dawn, throw her out with her clothes in tatters? Could it be there’s an illicit child? We’ll know in ten months, won’t we? I don’t buy it—your Liu family would never get rid of that child. In ten months’ time, we’ll see if your Liu family isn’t adding another mouth to feed!"
Old Liu’s face was as black as a pot, trembling with anger.
Insiders know their own family affairs. Why was he so anxious to divorce Zhou Xi if not because Widow Wu’s belly couldn’t wait?
The whole Liu family was extremely angry, yet Third Uncle Qian was notoriously shameless and articulate, and with Zhou Erlang and Zhou Silang egging on from the side, the Liu family was out-argued by them completely.
Old Liu couldn’t help but look for support from his clan members who had come to stand by him, but they all stood back in silence, and the women outside the courtyard who were watching enthusiastically did nothing to support the Liu family either.
Looking at the women brought by the Zhou family, they were all surrounding Mother Liu, pressing her so much that her face turned green.
In this moment, Old Liu deeply felt the benefit of having more sons; talk about other things aside, just the advantage in quarreling was enough to overwhelm the opposition.
The Zhou family quarreled noisily with the Liu family. Old Zhou spoke reasonably, while Third Uncle Qian and Zhou Silang were responsible for creating havoc and cursing people, utterly crushing the opposition in all aspects of reason and unreasonableness, and they trampled the Liu family’s morale underfoot before presenting their demands.
A divorce letter was out of the question, and having Zhou Xi return to the Liu family was also impossible. Old Zhou stated they could separate, but only through a negotiated settlement.
Zhou Xi’s dowry had to be returned in full, and on top of that, Zhou Xi’s dowry had to be compensated for an equivalent amount.