Chapter 184 A Concubine is Better than a Mistress (2)_1
Fang Li hurriedly agreed, "Young Master Chang is right! They drove my elder sister to her death, intending to make that rich family’s daughter the principal wife, relying on their wealth and power, and even insisted that Qinqin and her brother pay their respects to this stepmother first! They claim that after Qinqin pays her respects, she will then go to kowtow to my elder sister’s spirit tablet! We disagreed and demanded they follow the rules for promoting a concubine to principal status! No matter how rich and powerful the Qian family is, she knew well that Pei Zongli had a wife and children when she shamelessly married him—if not a concubine, what is she? Our Fang family has no power or influence and can’t fight them, but we must fight for justice for Qinqin and her siblings!" He rattled off a bunch, hoping to get Chang Yonglin’s help and make a show of himself.
Old Scholar Fang didn’t stop him, looking at the young Chang Yonglin, who was only seven or eight years old. If Qinqin and her sister could get the protection of Landlord Chang’s house, even the Qian family on her mother’s side wouldn’t dare to do anything in the future!
Chang Yonglin frowned, eyeing the people of Old Pei’s House with disdain and displeasure.
Pei Qin, however, was not in the habit of complaining. She asked him, "Would you like to come inside and sit?" pointing to the small courtyard nearby.
"This is where you live!?" Chang Yonglin’s eyes widened in shock. Hadn’t she sold many skateboards and also those hand-pulled carts? He had even rewarded her with ten taels of silver! Why was she still living in such poverty? Could it be that she had debts to pay off, and all the silver went to paying bills?
"These two rooms, we’re still borrowing them! Qinqin’s mother and the others had nothing when they split from the family! Not a grain of food to their name!" Fang Li quickly explained.
Chang Yonglin found it hard to believe. He entered the small courtyard to look around, called Pei Qin into the house, and upon seeing the interior, his brows furrowed even tighter. Not letting outsiders in, he called over his servants, "Before I came here, Grandfather gave me some silver to bring to you for emergency relief. Since you’re teaching me, you can be considered a teacher, I guess! I haven’t given you any tuition, so I just added ten taels to my private savings for you." He said this with a tinge of reluctance.
The servants handed the bag of silver to Pei Qin.
Pei Qin knew that many people in feudal ancient times liked to give silver, and of course, much of it was bribery. Another case was when rich families saw a scholar down on his luck or with potential, they would offer a sum of silver. Hadn’t Jia Yucun received some silver taels from Zhen Shiyin, which enabled him to go to the capital to take the imperial exam? She hadn’t expected to encounter the same.