Good news from the start: reborn, free of the greedy, exploitative relatives, and successfully splitting off to live independently!
Bad news: only three taels of silver, a drafty shack, and four daughters, all considered "money-losing burdens."
The Di family elders laughed and watched, sneering, "In three days, that widow will be on her knees with her burdens, begging us for a bowl of slop!"
But three days later:
Scene One:
The wicked eldest uncle schemed to take both branches of the family into his household and sell Lian Xin's child.
Lian Xin swiftly carved flesh from his body with her knife, then turned his own schemes against him and sent him to prison and exile!
Di Dahe wailed in despair behind bars: "Where did that timid sister-in-law go?!"
Scene Two:
Her rotten cousin fancied himself a future top scorer in the imperial exams and sneered that girls were born worthless and didn't deserve an education.
The eldest Lian daughter produced a gold-lettered plaque personally bestowed by the prefect, crushing his imperial exam ambitions with ease.
Di Changmao knelt in a frenzy: "How can a little girl become an imperial merchant?!"
Scene Three:
The rotten old woman lay in a muddy ditch, staring longingly at the Lian family's carriages rolling by and their silks and satins.
Lian Xin passed by, fanning herself with a round fan, while four celebrated young ladies coldly sealed the old family home's gate shut.
Everyone cried, "Wait, weren't those five money-losing burdens supposed to have starved to death? How come even their washbasins are made of gold?!"
