Ye Ting clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes brimming with tears, and said, "Mother, I can't take it out. I don't want my brother-in-law to get beaten."

"Can I not hit him? Show it to everyone. If you show it, I'll compensate you and make you another pair of silver earrings."

Aunt Zhang was determined to see the silver hairpin and silver bracelet.

Zhang Xiangshan shouted, "Sister-in-law, if you can produce it, I'll kowtow to you and apologize."

The whole family was watching Ye Ting.

Ye Ting was about to make an excuse when Zhang Xiangliang shouted, "Go get it!"

Ye Ting shuddered in fright, sobbing uncontrollably, and said, "Since you gave it to me, why should I prove it myself?"

Zhang Xiangliang could no longer hold back. He stood up, went to his room, and searched frantically.

Naturally, nothing could be found.

Not only were the silver hairpin and silver bracelet gone, but even the five taels of silver Zhang Tiezhu had given them for tea money were gone.

There wasn't a single coin in the silver box; it was even cleaner than if a thief had stolen it.

Zhang Xiangliang grabbed her and angrily demanded, "Tell me, where did the silver and jewelry go?"

Ye Ting was terrified, like a pitiful rabbit.

“Brother, she must have taken it all to her parents’ home,” Zhang Xiangshan shouted. “Mother, she not only took things to her parents’ home, but she also stole the charity clothes from Jiutian.”

His words silenced the entire courtyard.

Aunt Zhang grabbed Zhang Xiangshan and asked, "What did you say? She stole the charity clothes? Who told you that?"

"Mother, if you don't believe me, go to the Ye family and see for yourself. Those cotton-padded clothes, trousers, and shoes are being worn by her family members!"

Aunt Zhang was almost fainting when she sternly asked Ye Ting, "Ye Ting, is what he said true?"

Ye Ting cried, "I didn't steal anything! I found it; other people didn't want it, so I took it back..."

Aunt Zhang plopped down on the ground, muttering, "No wonder... who has Master Wang ever wronged? In these kinds of cases, people always give him face!"

Zhang Tiezhu asked, "What exactly happened? Ye, did you really take their cotton-padded coat?"

Zhang Xiangshan sneered and said again, "They were afraid of wronging us, so they sent someone to Yejia Village to check. Her brother, sister-in-law and nephew were all wearing charity clothes and showing them off everywhere!"

Why do you think they suddenly cut off our land lease? They're afraid we'll steal their grain.

Aunt Zhang sat down and burst into tears: "I've always valued my reputation, and now I've lost it all in one day... No wonder Master Wang refuses to rent land to us anymore, husband of my child, the reason is here, our family has a clever thief!"

Enraged, Zhang Tiezhu grabbed Zhang Xiangliang and started hitting him, saying as he did so, "Your mother told you not to marry him, but you insisted on marrying him anyway. You'll die and drag your whole family down with you."

Aunt Zhang wiped away her tears, stood up, and said fiercely, "Liang'er, I'll ask you one question now: do you still want this wife?"

Ye Ting immediately burst into tears: "Mother, what do you mean? You can't encourage Liang Ge to divorce me! I've never had a mother since I was little..."

Aunt Zhang's lips turned blue with anger. She interrupted her, saying, "Shut up! I'm asking my son a question! Liang'er, you tell me now, are you going to divorce Ye Ting or not?"

Zhang Xiangliang looked at Ye Ting, thinking that she had no mother since she was a child and probably didn't understand many social customs.

He knelt down and begged Aunt Zhang, "Mother, please give her another chance. Teach her what she should and shouldn't do. She's been motherless since she was little, and no one has taught her..."

Are you sure you don't want to divorce her?

"Mother, please, give her a chance."

“Very good! Liang’er, if you don’t divorce her, we’ll separate the family. Your father and I agreed that if the Ye family treats us like suckers, we’ll separate the family.”

Zhang Tiezhu grabbed Zhang Xiangliang and beat him up, cursing, "You heartless bastard! Your mother was a woman of honor her whole life, she would rather starve than take a single blade of grass from anyone. You just got married and you've already forced us to split up the family property. I might as well beat you to death."

Ye Ting kept crying, clutching the hem of her clothes, trembling.

The neighbors didn't know what was going on in his family, but when they saw Zhang Tiezhu beating Zhang Xiangliang, they all came to break up the fight.

"Aunt Zhang, what's going on? Why are they fighting?"

"Stop hitting him, Tiezhu. Liang'er is such an honest boy, what can't we talk about?"

Aunt Zhang was too ashamed to accuse Ye Ting of stealing, so she only said that she had only been married for three days and had already gone back to her parents' home three times, and that no matter what she said, Ye Ting would not change.

No matter how much Zhang Xiangliang begged, Aunt Zhang insisted on separating the family property.

Aunt Zhang was furious and immediately sent them to live in the old house.

The old house was the small courtyard where Zhang Tiezhu's parents lived before they passed away. Aunt Zhang asked Zhang Xiangliang and his wife to move to the old house.

Ye Ting knelt down and begged Aunt Zhang, crying, "Mother, please have pity on us! The courtyard where Grandpa and Grandma lived was uninhabitable. We've only been married for three days, how can you kick us out?"

Aunt Zhang laughed angrily: "I kicked you all out? What nonsense are you spouting? Why would I want to separate the family? Don't you know?"

“I lost my mother when I was young and went hungry and cold for more than ten years. I wanted to take good care of my mother after I married into the Zhang family. Why did you kick us out?”

Ye Ting cried pitifully, kneeling and trembling, looking even more frail.

Some people in the town felt that Aunt Zhang was too harsh a mother-in-law.

"It's too much to separate the family after only three days of the new bride's marriage."

"Your family always seemed nice, but was it all just an act?"

"You can know a person's face, but not their heart..."

Aunt Zhang was so angry she almost vomited blood. She sat on the ground, slapping her ankles and crying, "I regret it so much! Why didn't I listen to advice..."

The divination that Jiutian clearly performed for the second child all came true, so why didn't she insist on believing in Jiutian?

Zhang Xiangshan said to his elder brother, "Let's divide the family property. It's going to happen sooner or later anyway. Brother, if you want our mother to live a few more days and if you want our family to have a way to survive, then don't say anything and just leave now."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!