Chapter 205
Li Zhiwei rolled her eyes inwardly; the sound of these people's calculating beads was practically hitting her in the face.
By now, the onlookers had mostly figured out what these few individuals were scheming.
"Look, Li Yaozu, that's about enough. Your parents are in this state; you should hurry and take them to the Mingyi Hall for a look. At least the Li family is kind enough to offer to pay the medical fees," someone who couldn't stand it any longer soon advised Li Yaozu.
Li Chengshan, lying on the plank cart, was about to speak, his face already flushed bright red. After all, they hadn't come today for medical fees.
They wanted to take possession of the Li family's large house.
What good would a little medical money do?
But they had completely forgotten that even that little bit for medical fees was something they couldn't usually afford.
Otherwise, he and his wife wouldn't have fallen so gravely ill.
Moreover, Li Chengshan, seeing only the mother and daughter at home with no sign of Li Tianyou, felt smug.
They were just two women at home; what was there to fear?
Besides, they had evidence.
Such a large compound—better it benefit them than some stranger.
Seeing that Li Zhiwei and her mother remained unmoved, Li Chengshan, sitting motionless on the cart, trembled as he pulled out a tattered book from his robe. Pointing at a name on the page, he said, "This old man isn't educated, but we wouldn't claim kinship without cause. This clearly has your master, Li Tianyou's name written right here."
Some curious bystanders leaned in to look. Indeed, Li Tianyou's name was written there.
Behind Li Tianyou's name, it also stated his lawful wife, née Li, and that they had a daughter named Zhiwei.
The characters were somewhat yellowed, not looking newly added at all.
Li Chengshan then flipped to the page with his own family's names and pointed. "Here, our whole family's names are recorded. It's true, I am indeed Li Tianyou's uncle." As he said this, he looked somewhat triumphantly at Li Zhiwei and Lady Yao above him.
However, what was written in the clan register differed from what Li Chengshan had just claimed.
He was an uncle, yes, but a distant cousin, separated by who knows how many branches. At best, they were merely listed in the same clan register.
Feeling pleased with himself, Li Chengshan continued, "Tianyou only had Lady Li as his wife, and you only bore him this one daughter. Your household has no son to inherit the family property. According to custom, these things should all revert to the male kin within the clan."
"Anyway, these things will be ours eventually. So, us moving in a bit early isn't too much to ask, is it?" Li Yaozu chimed in loudly upon hearing this.
The crowd looked at each other, momentarily unable to voice any rebuttal.
Yet, thinking that this person was just some uncle who appeared out of nowhere, everyone felt it was rather despicable.
After all, the family currently had no son, but that didn't mean they wouldn't in the future.
For this uncle to come demanding their house—what kind of relative was that? It seemed more like poor relatives coming to scrounge.
And using such a high-sounding reason too.
Li Zhiwei was also stunned by the shamelessness of this whole family before her.
She used to think the Lin family was shameless enough.
Now, here came an even more brazen family, the Li Yaozus.
"You think showing a clan register entitles you to my family's house? Do you really believe we'd agree to that?" Li Zhiwei asked sarcastically, looking at the visibly smug Li Chengshan.
"Little girl, your family lacks a male heir. The family property should rightfully belong to the clan. Blame your parents for not giving you a brother," Li Yaozu said with a smug expression.
He thought to himself, what did it matter if Li Tianyou knew how to make money?
Without a son, all that silver would eventually benefit them anyway.
The thought made Li Yaozu feel quite good.
"Which law states that if my family has no son, our property must go to the clan?" Li Zhiwei asked angrily, mentally searching through Lan Nuo Kingdom's legal codes to see if such a rule truly existed.
"You people, just because you're poor, how can you think of scheming for someone else's family wealth?"
Others who couldn't stand it looked at Li Yaozu with disdain.
"What do you know? Since ancient times, women cannot inherit ancestral property. Since Li Tianyou failed to produce a son, these things rightfully belong to our family. Isn't that only natural?" Li Yaozu declared triumphantly.
"I think you're just jealous that we stand to gain so much property," Wang Cuihu hastily stepped forward and said to that person.
The person originally wanted to say more, but seeing Wang Cuihua's unreasonable manner, they took a few steps back instead.
Li Chengshan felt immensely pleased, as on this matter, no one could really argue against them.
Moreover, recently in a neighboring village, a similar case happened where the daughter's family possessions all went to the male clan members.
Li Chengshan believed they were the ones in the right here.
Yao Qisheng looked at his sister and niece with concern. After all, he had seen such situations not infrequently.
He had previously wanted to advise his sister to arrange a concubine for Li Tianyou to bear a son, who could then be raised under her own care—it would be the same.
But his brother-in-law disagreed, so he hadn't pressed the matter.
Now, with him still present, these so-called uncles from who-knows-where dared to bully his sister like this.
If he weren't here, wouldn't these people devour his sister and niece alive?
"You claim these things should revert to the clan. Then, may I ask, which item among all the Li family's possessions was given by your clan?" Yao Qisheng asked, looking at Li Chengshan.
In his understanding, only property originally distributed by the clan should be returned to the clan if there were no son to inherit.
Currently, both Li Tianyou and his sister were still alive, so that condition didn't really apply.
But if there truly were any clan property, he believed his sister and brother-in-law wouldn't want it anyway.
Better to return it and have peace.
"Every single possession in our master's residence was acquired bit by bit through his own efforts. What clan property is there?" Steward Zhou quickly stepped forward, saying with clear displeasure.
"Since there is no clan property, on what grounds do you several gentlemen think you can claim the Li family's belongings? Everything the Li family owns has no connection to you. Having received not an ounce of favor from you, yet you come to claim their family wealth—even if this were taken to the authorities, you would be in the wrong," Yao Qisheng said coldly.
However, as he said this, Yao Qisheng wasn't entirely confident. He wasn't sure if this argument would hold.
What if it didn't work? Would he cause trouble for his sister and brother-in-law?
Upon hearing this, Li Zhiwei's eyes lit up.
That's right! Everything her family owned was earned later by her father. What did it have to do with that Li clan?
And judging by their appearance, they didn't seem like the type who could have given them anything of value, did they?
