"No! I don't agree!"
Supported by his wife, Tang Qiyue's father blocked the cart, refusing to let Chen Dazhuang and the others load the dowry chests onto it.
He pressed his cane down on the chests Chen Dazhuang and Hu Peng were carrying, as if trying to pin them to the ground.
When Tang Qiyue came outside and saw the confrontation, the three Tang brothers who had come with their father all looked extremely embarrassed.
They had never heard of a married daughter's dowry being taken back by her natal family.
Their father might be shameless, but they still had their pride.
The eldest brother kept trying to persuade their father, but Tang's father refused to explain himself. He simply said coldly,
"This has nothing to do with you. I said no, and that's final!"
The eldest brother looked apologetically at Tang Qiyue.
Although they did not share the same mother, Tang Qiyue was very beautiful, and since she had lived separately from her biological mother since childhood—only seeing the family during holidays—the eldest brother had always treated this younger sister fairly well.
"Dad, what are you doing?" he said anxiously.
"Qiyue and her husband are leaving. What's the point of withholding her dowry? Our family isn't lacking these things."
Tang Erge, who shared the same mother as Tang Chunlan, grabbed their father as well.
He was equally ashamed.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that his father could do something like this.
Their parents had forced Tang Qiyue to marry in Tang Chunlan's place.
And now that she had already been married off, they wanted to take back the dowry.
What kind of behavior was that?
Even Tang Sange stepped forward to persuade their father.
But Tang's father stubbornly insisted on taking the dowry chests back.
Tang Qiyue watched the entire scene.
Surprisingly, she wasn't angry.
Instead, she smiled.
She knew her father was anxious—but what could he do?
"Father," Tang Qiyue said calmly,
"if you really want to take my dowry, that's fine. I, Tang Qiyue, won't stop you."
"But I've always been someone who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment."
She reached behind the door and pulled out a wood-chopping axe.
Then she walked directly toward Tang's father and gestured for Chen Dazhuang and Hu Peng to put the chest down.
"If that's the case," she said coldly,
"I'll just chop these chests apart. I'm disgusted by this dowry anyway."
Tang's father's expression changed drastically.
He watched as Tang Qiyue raised the axe and swung it down without hesitation.
Ignoring his age, he immediately lifted his cane and struck toward Tang Qiyue's wrist.
At that exact moment—
Zhan Zeyi, who had been watching silently, drew his pistol and fired.
Everything happened in an instant.
Although several people witnessed the entire sequence of events, no one had time to react.
The gunshot rang out.
Tang Qiyue leaned backward and was instantly pulled into Zhan Zeyi's arms.
The bullet struck Tang's father's cane, shattering it into pieces. Wooden fragments flew everywhere.
The sudden gunshot terrified the onlookers, and people scattered in panic.
Tang's father stared blankly at the broken cane in his hand. Only the carved dragon-head handle remained.
It took him a long time to recover from the shock.
"Dad! Are you alright?"
The Tang brothers finally reacted and rushed forward to check on him.
Tang Qiyue dropped the axe.
Meanwhile, Chen Dazhuang, Hu Peng, and their comrades instinctively drew their sidearms and aimed them at Tang's father and the others.
The scene was something ordinary people had never witnessed before.
Even though Tang's father had once been powerful, he was now old.
Years of experience kept him from collapsing completely, but when he saw several gun barrels pointed at him, he finally realized what kind of people he had provoked.
With the frightened gasps of his sons ringing in his ears, his knees suddenly went weak.
His body collapsed backward.
Zhan Zeyi calmly holstered his pistol and signaled for Chen Dazhuang and the others to do the same.
All of them were legally armed.
In special circumstances, they were even permitted to fire without prior reporting.
As the dark gun barrels disappeared, the people hiding in corners finally breathed sighs of relief.
For a moment, everyone felt as though they had just escaped death.
From that day forward, the neighbors silently agreed on one thing—
It was better to offend the King of Hell than to offend the Zhan family.
After all, the Zhan family had someone who could pull the trigger without hesitation.
Zhan Zeyi spoke calmly,
"Tang Yaozong, are you senile?"
"I told you yesterday that my wife's dowry had already been donated to the country."
"Today we're simply delivering it."
"Are you trying to rob state property?"
His voice wasn't loud.
But the neighbors who had gathered to watch clearly heard every word.
Only then did they realize how shameless Tang's father's behavior had been.
He had actually tried to take back his married daughter's dowry.
What a cunning businessman.
Even the Tang brothers, who hadn't known the truth before, flushed red with embarrassment.
Ignoring their father's protests, they immediately lifted the old man and pushed him into the car.
"Brother-in-law," the eldest brother said through clenched teeth,
"Our father is getting senile. He's only reluctant to see our sister leave with the army—he didn't really intend to take the dowry back."
"Please don't take it to heart."
"It's a good thing to donate the dowry to the country."
"Our Tang family is not stingy either. We've decided to donate all of our assets to the state."
He knew very well that if this matter wasn't handled properly today, the Tang family might not survive.
Their situation was already extremely dangerous.
Originally, they had hoped to rely on Zhan Zeyi's connections.
But now their father had ruined everything.
The only thing they could do was sacrifice their wealth in order to protect their lives.
Zhan Zeyi glanced at Tang Qiyue.
Seeing that she showed no reaction, he understood that she didn't want to push the Tang family further.
So he forced a polite smile.
"Brother-in-law's political awareness is admirable," he said.
"On behalf of the working class, I thank the Tang family for their generosity."
Tang's eldest brother smiled bitterly and waved his hand.
Polite words were easy to say.
The neighbors who had gathered to watch the commotion also began praising the Tang family's "righteousness."
Soon the Tang family hurriedly left.
The dowry chests were loaded back onto the cart.
The four military wives who had been sitting on the cart had already gotten down when the commotion began.
Now they looked at the sandalwood dowry chests that filled most of the cart.
Then they looked at their own patched bundles in the corner.
The contrast was painfully obvious.
Each of these military wives had children—at least two per family.
The adults could restrain themselves.
But the children couldn't hide their curiosity.
They peeked from behind their mothers and secretly looked at Tang Qiyue.
Tang Qiyue was simply too beautiful.
So beautiful that she seemed almost untouchable.
Noticing the children's curiosity, Tang Qiyue took out the candy she had prepared earlier and asked Zhan Zeyi if she could give it to them.
Zhan Zeyi nodded.
"They're just kids. Do as you like."
"Those women are my comrades' wives. They'll probably call you 'sister-in-law,' so don't be surprised."
Tang Qiyue was startled.
At first she didn't understand why.
Then it suddenly made sense.
She was the youngest among them—so why would they call her sister-in-law?
And Zhan Zeyi certainly wasn't the oldest among his comrades.
Still unable to figure it out, she didn't think about it further.
Instead, she smiled and handed out candy to the children.
The four military wives thanked her politely.
Sure enough, they addressed her as "Sister-in-law."
Returning to Zhan Zeyi's side, Tang Qiyue picked up the axe from the ground and asked curiously,
"How did you know they would call me 'sister-in-law'?"