Chapter 55 Filial Piety Produced Under the Stick

Standing outside the courtyard gate, Chen Feng originally wanted to go with Jiang Yeming to persuade Jiang Hongying to find a yin-yang master, but she didn't expect Jiang Hongying to say such harsh things.

She was heavily pregnant, and when she stepped into the courtyard, she had a stern face, with very obvious whites of her eyes, and the spots on her face looked like mud splatters.

Jiang Hongying wasn't afraid of her and met her gaze directly. She thought to herself that their eldest son wasn't bad either, and there wasn't a single ugly girl in the village, so why did they treat Chen Feng like a treasure and even go against their mother for her sake?

Aside from being tall and having a well-proportioned figure, Chen Feng has almost no other advantages.

"Sister, how can you say that about our eldest son? He's been lying on the bed for a month after being beaten by Mother. Don't you feel sorry for him?"

Chen Feng sat to Jiang Hongying's right, looking aggrieved, with tears glistening in her eyes.

“Ever since I married into the family, my mother has never given me a kind look. She thinks I’m not good-looking. Even when I was pregnant, she kept an eye on me and made me do all sorts of things. After we finally separated from the family, she still kept a close eye on us, afraid that we would take too much. She even insisted that she loved the eldest son the most.”

As she spoke, she wiped away her tears. "And Mother suddenly went crazy, driving us from the north room to the west room, and then from the west room out of the yard. I was pregnant, and the thatched cave didn't even have a window. I was so scared at night that I couldn't sleep..."

"Wait a minute, weren't you two supposed to move out to the thatched kiln? Mother said you two were overjoyed, finally not having to cook for everyone anymore. How did it turn into you being kicked out?"

Jiang Hongying, carrying the chives, picked up Xiujuan and walked towards the kitchen.

“Speaking of chores, I was pregnant and had another child with me, but I still cooked at home every day. As my daughter’s mother, I didn’t stop her from doing chores. As a daughter-in-law, isn’t cooking and washing dishes your duty?”

"It's normal for the wife of a wealthy landowner to not work when she's pregnant. After all, they're rich and have maids to serve them. You, a daughter-in-law, are so picky after marrying into the family, and you expect my mother to serve you? Do you really think you're the matriarch?"

"You..." Chen Feng stood up angrily, pointed at Jiang Hongying, and chased after her.

"Ah Feng, what are you doing?" Jiang Yeming quickly grabbed her. "Let's go, let's go outside. Don't take my sister's words to heart."

"Who does she think she is, lecturing me like this? Doesn't she know she's married? What kind of airs does she put on in front of me? Doesn't she consider herself an outsider?"

Jiang Yeming pulled Chen Feng outside and saw Sanwa at the door.

"Then who do you think you are? You've already been divided up, yet you're still restless. Why are you urging my older brother to find a geomancer? Do you want my mother to divide the whole family among you like before before you're satisfied?"

Sanwa's eyes were cold, and when he narrowed them slightly, his gaze was sharp.

This was the first time Jiang Yeming had ever seen Sanwa like this.

"What are you doing? Trying to rebel? She's your sister-in-law. Say another word and see what happens!" Although a little surprised, Sanwa was still the younger brother, and he pushed him away impatiently. "Get out of here."

“She doesn’t even respect my sister, so why should I treat her as my sister-in-law? It’s a two-way street. If you don’t treat us like family, why should I call her sister-in-law?” Sanwa clenched his fist and said, “Before, I thought Mother was too harsh, but now it seems you really are an ingrate. You think you’re still a son of the Chen family after the family split up…”

"Smack!"

Jiang Yeming stepped forward and slapped Sanwa hard across the face.

He gripped his cane, glaring at Sanwa through gritted teeth, "Your mother has been nice to you for a few days, and now you're acting all high and mighty, daring to talk to me like that."

Sanwa touched his cheek and looked coldly at Jiang Yeming.

"I'm just asking you, do you want to see a geomancer to see if there's something wrong with Mother? If the geomancer says she's really not my mother, are you going to drive her away?"

Jiang Yeming shoved him away. "What do you want to do? Teach me a lesson?"

He sneered and poked Sanwa's chest with his finger, "Don't think you can get away with anything just because your mother is on your side now. I..."

He was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly paused, withdrawing his arrogant demeanor.

Song Chunxue held a thick banyan wood stick in her hand. "You want to find a geomancer to see if I've been possessed?"

Jiang Yeming couldn't help but take a step back, swallowing hard as he looked at the stick in her hand.

"Mom, I just feel like you've been acting strangely lately. I'm worried you might be sick or have attracted some evil spirit. Please don't misunderstand..."

"Don't misunderstand," Song Chunxue stepped towards him, a cold smile playing on her lips. "You think I'm not good to you, that's why you want to find a geomancer, right? If I really were possessed, would I be good to Sanwa and let Hongying stay at home to have the baby?"

"Mother, Mother, don't be impulsive, I..." Jiang Yeming saw her grip the stick tightly and was so frightened that he dropped the cane and ran to the side.

"I see you still haven't learned your lesson, haven't realized your mistakes, and still want me to treat you well like before? You're dreaming!"

Song Chunxue pursed her lips and chased after him, then began to whip his buttocks, thighs, and calves hard.

"Ah! Mother, please don't hit me, my leg isn't healed yet... Ahhh!"

"I think you're just asking for trouble. You've been egged on by a few words and you've lost all sense of your place. You want to find a geomancer? Why don't you check your brain? Is it filled with shit?"

"Ah! Mother, I was wrong, Mother, I was really wrong..."

"You don't do a single decent thing all day long, all you do is scheme against your mother. You're really something. You suspect I've been possessed, so you can just hire a geomancer whenever you want. Do you really expect Hongying to pay you to deal with your mother? Do you think everyone is like you, turning into a pig-brain just because they get a wife?"

"Ouch... Mother..." Jiang Yeming begged for mercy, clutching his bottom, "Please stop hitting me, I know I was wrong, Mother... Ah, Mother!"

Chen Feng hid in the thatched cave, too scared to look, afraid that Song Chunxue would see her and she would be the next to be beaten.

The fourth son stayed far away, afraid that his mother would beat him too.

Jiang Hongying stood at the courtyard gate and said to Sanwa, "Why didn't you fight back when he hit you?"

"..." Sanwa covered his burning cheeks and remained silent.

"You treat him like an older brother, but does he treat you like a younger brother? Don't spoil him next time, or he'll take advantage of you and you won't even know he hits you next time. If no one else is around, do you believe me?"

Sanwa pursed his lips and turned to enter the courtyard.

Jiang Yeming sat on the ground pretending to be dead, so Song Chunxue stopped.

"Mom, today I went to the sheepfold to let Xiujuan play with the lambs. When I came back, I found that two eggs were missing from the cupboard and half of the vinegar bottle was gone. There was no one else there except the eldest son."

Jiang Hongying couldn't stand her eldest son, so she took the opportunity to complain, "Even the cooking oil on the cutting board is half a bowl less. You're just spoiling him like this. If he gets into the habit of taking things for granted, he'll end up in jail sooner or later."

“Mother, if he does this, the children will go astray in the future. Then everyone will say that the Jiang family’s children are thieves, and it will also implicate your other grandchildren. By then, it will be too late.”

Jiang Yeming pointed at her and cursed, "Jiang Hongying, you're slandering me! I didn't steal anything! I've been lying on the kang all morning..."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and shut his mouth in a daze.