Yun Da sighed repeatedly. He scratched the back of his head, put his hands behind his back, and paced around the house. Liu Shi didn't say anything. If she had to kowtow and beg for mercy from that bitch Pan Shi, it would be worse than taking her life.

Liu would never do such a thing. To ask her to kneel and beg for mercy would be to admit defeat and submit to Pan. Wouldn't all her past struggles have been like those of a clown? Impossible. She would never bow down to Pan.

Besides, she's not going to die. She still has food to eat, so she won't die! She won't die!

Yun Da glanced at Liu Shi without saying a word, his expression turning rather unpleasant. It was true that he and the third brother were blood brothers, but that Pan Shi was a notorious tigress who kept the third brother from saying a word. He couldn't interfere in dealing with his wife, so he naturally had to leave it to Liu Shi.

To be honest, all the grudges and grievances over the years were caused by that wretched woman, Liu. If she could have been a virtuous wife and mother, restrained her temper, advised and yielded to others, the two families wouldn't have ended up like this.

Therefore, the culprit behind all this is Liu, and only Liu could thaw the ice between the two families. Thus, he spoke:

“Go and kowtow to the third son’s wife and beg for forgiveness. Let her say whatever she wants and curse. Once she calms down, the grudges between our two families will be wiped clean.”

"What did you say? You want me to go and kowtow to that bitch and beg for mercy? Have you lost your mind?"

"If you hadn't been so petty and argued with the third brother's family, would the third brother and I be in this situation now? It was you who insisted on picking a fight with the third brother's family, it was you who insisted on competing with the third brother's family, it's all your fault, you wretched woman!"

Liu was furious at these words, and she jumped up and cursed:

"Didn't you help them when they were arguing? Oh, now that they've climbed up the social ladder, you're pushing all the blame onto me. Are you even a man?"

Yun Da grabbed a stool and threw it at Liu Shi.

"You're not a man, you son of a bitch! It's because I married you, you jinx, that my family is so unlucky. We were driven to wander by that Song Zhiping, and now you're ruining our old age. I'm telling you, you have to go today, whether you like it or not."

"Even if you break your head, have your legs broken, or are tortured to the point of being half-dead, you still have to beg for forgiveness from all three families. Otherwise, get out of this house and never come back."

Liu grabbed a broom from the side and was about to hit Yun Da with it, but before the broom could fall, Yun Dazhuang grabbed the handle. He thought about what Yun Da had said and realized that the relationship between their two families hadn't been so strained at first.

At that time, they could still borrow things from the third branch of the family. Later, Liu instigated them, saying that they could use the third branch's things without worrying about returning them, since they couldn't beat them anyway.

That's why they gradually became more and more demanding, narrowing the path they were on. Therefore, the culprit behind all of this is Liu, and it's perfectly reasonable for Yun Da to make her kowtow and admit her mistakes.

"Mom, all Dad wants you to do is apologize. What's the big deal? As long as we rebuild our relationship with the third branch of the family, we'll be able to live a life of luxury. Isn't that what we've always wanted? Why are you so stubborn about saving face?"

"I'm obsessed with saving face? Then why don't you go and beg Yun Shenghua? He's Yun Ling's father, and his words carry far more weight than Lao San's. Go and beg him, why don't you go?"

Yun Dazhuang was unhappy. This was a perfectly normal matter, and they had to drag him into it. Who would be happy about that? He complained:

"Me, go beg Yun Shenghua? I'm your son, and you want me to beg Yun Shenghua? Every time they see me, they'll think of you, won't they? You're making me suffer for nothing by not getting their forgiveness?"

"I'm not going, I'd rather die than go."

The eldest son glanced at Yun Dazhuang, and then joined forces with him to lift Liu Shi up and walk out. They were used to a hard life and did not want to continue living such a miserable life. Now, sacrificing Liu Shi could ensure their wealth forever, so why not?

"Hey, hey, put me down! I'm not going! I'd rather die than go!"

“Yun Dazhuang, I am your mother. I carried you for ten months and gave birth to you. What you are doing is extremely disrespectful.”

"You shameless hussy, put me down right now! What kind of daughter-in-law are you? Encouraging your husband to frame your own mother-in-law, you'll die a horrible death."

"..."

After Liu was lifted up, she kept muttering. Perhaps her muttering had an effect, because it attracted a large group of villagers, who were holding axes that were all too familiar to them.

Liu was delighted, and Yun Da immediately shrank back inside. Yun Dazhuang and the eldest son exchanged glances. They put Liu down, but still held her down with both hands, not giving her a chance to escape. Then they laughed and said:

"Everyone, my mother is going to kowtow and apologize to the third branch of the family, not to cause them any trouble. Please make way for her."

The ten strings of cash that Sister-in-law Luo had been carrying in her pocket for so long were barely warm when she said bluntly:

"Today is a special day for our Ling'er. She doesn't want her to be spoiled by people with ill intentions, so she should go back inside and stay there."

The eldest son immediately put on a smile and said:

“We’re not here to cause trouble. After all, our two families are related by blood. How can we harbor such deep-seated hatred that we’d never see each other again in our lifetime?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Ma family swung an axe at the eldest daughter's face, scaring her so much that she scrambled back into her own house. Yun Dazhuang also hurried back into his house. Although Liu was happy, she was also afraid of being accidentally injured, so she went back into her house as well.

Seeing that their plan had failed, the four reconciled and began cursing Yunling. Yunling sneezed loudly, but looking at the overflowing betrothal gifts, she couldn't think of anything bad and was only filled with joy.

After the betrothal gifts were exchanged, the wedding was discussed by both families and finally set for the eighth day of the fourth lunar month.

However, there were still two months left. Zhang Shi, Granny Yun, and Tang Ling were all extremely busy, while Yun Ling was leisurely, checking on the mushrooms every day, opening the beehives to let the bees collect lychee pollen, and then planting medicinal herbs and weeding in the herb garden. She lived a very fulfilling life.

April arrived in the blink of an eye, and Lu Yinghuai stopped coming up the mountain. The responsibility of supervising the house construction fell to Old Man Yun and Yun Shenghua. Yun Ling suddenly felt a little uneasy, as if there was an emptiness in her heart.

Just as she was beginning to suspect that Lu Yinghuai was a seductive vixen, a commotion arose outside. Little White was barking incessantly at the approaching people, followed by Zhang's voice.

"Hey, isn't this Manager Zhou?"