The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 671 Providing More Cotton to the Weaving Workshop

"Since you've decided to establish a female household, act quickly. Otherwise, you'll remain under their control."

Seeing that she had persuaded Li Mingxiu, Tong Huaqiong added fuel to the fire.

Li Mingxiu said, "I'm fine with anything about myself, but I'm worried that my grandma won't come with me. She always says that we're family after all, and if she comes with me, people will gossip and say that her sons are unfilial."

Li Mingxiu's grandmother did indeed love Li Mingxiu the most, but that didn't stop her from having concerns about the reputations of her other sons.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Given your current situation, your grandmother is even more frightened because of you. You should stand up first, and we can decide whether your grandmother lives with you or not later. Even if you take a step back, if your grandmother stays in the Li family, does that mean you can't be filial to her? Does it mean you can't give her money or buy her clothes? If your grandmother stays in the Li family, your uncles and aunts would never mistreat her out of filial piety."

Li Mingxiu wanted to provide her grandmother with a comfortable life, and her current wages were enough.

Although her grandmother was not mistreated while staying with the Li family, she lived the life of most rural women, having to work in the fields and take care of household chores at such an advanced age.

As the landlord said, if she continues to consider whether her grandmother will live with her or not, it's possible that neither of them will have a good life.

Rather than that, it would be better to establish female households first.

At worst, she could bring her grandmother to visit from time to time. She could ensure her grandmother had enough to eat and wear, but she wouldn't consider giving her grandmother money. She didn't want the money to fall into the hands of those bastards in the Li family.

Li Mingxiu said, "I will listen to my master."

Tong Huaqiong said, "After you establish your own household, you and your uncles and aunts will be strangers. How many strangers have you seen who can take charge of other people's homes? From now on, whether it's your marriage or the money you earn, it will all be your own business. If they dare to interfere with your marriage, you can file a lawsuit, but they won't treat it as a family matter."

This is similar to the later generations in which she once lived.

Domestic violence by a husband is a family matter; removing the label of family member from violence makes it an illegal act.

Once Li Mingxiu establishes herself as a woman, it will be difficult for the Li family to interfere with her marriage.

She didn't need to risk her life arguing with the other party; she could simply report it to the authorities and let them uphold justice.

Li Mingxiu, who was ignorant of the law, heard Tong Huaqiong say that if she established a female household, she and her uncles would be strangers. Her eyes burned with rage, and she became even more eager to establish a female household.

“I’ll have Tao Hua and Su Qing accompany you to the county government in the next few days. You should register your household registration as a woman first,” Tong Huaqiong said, afraid that Li Mingxiu would continue to delay.

Li Mingxiu nodded vigorously.

She knew that her employer had influence with Magistrate Liu, and with the government backing them up, the Li family wouldn't dare to make things difficult for her.

Li Mingxiu was excited at the thought of the good days of establishing a female household.

“Master, as long as the weaving workshop exists, I will work here. I will definitely make more cotton for the workshop in the future.” Li Mingxiu pledged her loyalty to Tong Huaqiong, then added with a quick glance, “My uncles and aunts plotted against me, and I will not let them get away with it.”

She wants to take back the land her parents left behind, which belongs to her uncle.

As for my second uncle's family?
Tong Huaqiong said, "I heard from Aunt Qin that your uncle is arranging a marriage for your cousin and has raised fifty taels of silver. Do you want to get your hands on that silver?"

Li Mingxiu nodded, thinking, "I really want to."

She's not short of money right now, but she's happy to annoy them.

Uncle and Aunt Li are the worst; they're the ones who come up with all the bad ideas.

Her cousin was ugly and had a bad temper, so he hadn't been able to find a wife for a long time. Now that he had finally found a match, the other party was asking for a dowry of fifty taels of silver.

In the countryside, a dowry and wedding banquet usually cost no more than twenty taels of silver, which shows how unpopular her cousin was in the marriage market.

This fifty taels of silver was probably the result of my uncle and aunt emptying their savings and borrowing money; it was more precious than their lives.

"Master, how can I get their money away?" Li Mingxiu asked eagerly.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Didn't you say before that your aunt was envious of your wages and wanted to work at our embroidery workshop? I'll have Su Qing go back to the Li family with you. You can secretly tell your aunt that our embroidery workshop needs people right now, and have her bribe Su Qing with fifty taels of silver." "Then you can trick your uncle and aunt into paying part of your cousin's dowry. Their daughter is of marriageable age and they're asking for more dowry. That way, your cousin's fifty taels of dowry will be covered, right?"

Su Qing was Tong Huaqiong's capable assistant. Every time the weaving workshop recruited people, Su Qing would register and post the list. Therefore, everyone in the surrounding area who wanted to work at Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop had seen Su Qing.

Many people would privately ask Su Qing about her, and some even secretly gave her gifts.

Li Mingxiu smiled happily; the employer always had the best ideas, and her aunt couldn't help but take the bait.

The thought of her aunt giving her money with high hopes, only to end up losing everything, made her want to celebrate halfway through the trip.

If her uncle and aunt lose their money, will they hold her responsible? She had already established a female household and run away long ago, so why would she be afraid of them?
She was almost impatient to go home.

At this moment, Su Qing had already come to Tong Huaqiong's side and said, "I can definitely act this play so well that your aunt will willingly take out her money."

Everyone knows that Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop has high monthly wages and good benefits. Once you can enter the workshop and pass the probation period, you are guaranteed a job. After that, you can become a skilled worker and make no mistakes. If you do well, you can earn fifteen or sixteen taels of silver a year.

An initial investment of fifty taels of silver could yield an annual return of fifteen taels.

In addition, being able to enter the weaving workshop proves that one has entered Tong Huaqiong's sphere of protection, and one will be respected by everyone when one goes out.

Only a fool wouldn't be willing to pay fifty taels of silver for a spot.

Li Mingxiu said, "Okay, then we'll split the money in half."

Tong Huaqiong said with a smile, "A 30/70 split will do."

Dividing it in half is too much.

We can't let Su Qing work for nothing.

A 30/70 split is just right.

“Tell your aunt that she can earn money working in our weaving workshop, so why is she worried about not having a daughter-in-law? Maybe she can even find a way to get your cousin into the family. Your cousin had trouble finding a wife before because he didn’t have the ability to earn money. Now that he has the ability to earn money, why is he worried about not having a wife?” Madam Hong also came to join in the fun.

Regardless of whose words Li Mingxiu's uncle and aunt listened to, or how far they had gone in trying to ruin her life, she wouldn't mind adding fuel to the fire.

What is the most painful thing for a person?
It dashed all hope.

Strike while the iron is hot, Li Mingxiu and Su Qing went to the Li family that very day.

The two were not only plotting to swindle their uncle and aunt's money, but also trying to find out for Tong Huaqiong and Madam Hong who had whispered in the Li family's ear that they were targeting Manager He.

Li Mingxiu's return home did not cause much of a stir.

Su Qing's arrival caused quite a stir in the Li family.

Li Mingxiu's aunt gossiped with her sister-in-law: "It seems that Mingxiu is highly regarded by Widow Tong, as she can even have Su Qing accompany her."

Li Mingxiu's aunt said, "Could it be that Manager Tong knows we're going to give Mingxiu to Manager He as a concubine, and deliberately sent Su Qing to intimidate us?"

Aunt Li shook her head; she didn't think so.

Her cousin, Aunt Qin, scolded her after she mentioned probing Widow Tong's intentions, and told her that she was ashamed to bring it up.

Since her cousin was too ashamed to bring it up, then Widow Tong must not know that they were going to give Li Mingxiu to Manager He as a concubine.

"What are you afraid of? Let's just ask Su Qing directly, and we'll know what she wants to do at our house."

As they were talking, Li Mingxiu and Su Qing walked in.