Now that her own husband had spoken, the second son's wife became more agreeable, bypassing Granny Fang and speaking directly to the person with the most authority at the scene.

“Village head, look at the mess we’ve made today. It would be hard for anyone to bear in this situation. Why don’t you take charge and divide our family’s property?”

Just as the village head was about to speak, Granny Fang jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, grabbing Li Lao Er's sleeve and saying, "No, no, your father and I are still alive. How can we just divide the family like this?"

The second son, burning with anger, brushed away Granny Fang's hand. "Mother, I'm your son too. Why do you only care about my elder brother and not me? Over the years, how much of the money I've earned has you given to my elder brother? Don't think I don't know."

No sooner had the second brother finished speaking than Li Dayong couldn't sit still any longer.

"Second son, you have no conscience at all. Your parents spent a lot of money to get you married, but what happened? Your wife is always sick and uncomfortable during the busy farming season. We do all the work in the fields. Your mother is biased and has secretly given your son a lot of money. And you still have the nerve to complain here."

Granny Fang stood there blankly. She never imagined that after a lifetime of hard work, in her old age, both of her sons would accuse her of favoritism.

Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes. The village head, looking at the chaotic scene before him, shook his head helplessly and turned his gaze to the head of the family, Old Li, who had been sitting silently in the corner.

"Old Li, tell me, what are you going to do about this in your family?"

Old Li, who had been sitting on the ground, finally spoke his first words: "The family cannot be divided."

Upon hearing this, the second son's family became anxious and were about to refute when Old Li continued, "But this wife must be divorced."

He stared intently at Li Yunxiang with his murky eyes. "Eldest daughter-in-law, you have failed to properly discipline your daughter and caused such a huge disaster. How can you still have the face to stay in our Li family? Take your daughter and leave our house immediately."

After hearing Old Li's words, the other members of the Li family in the courtyard suddenly realized, "Yes, there is such a way. If we separate Li Yunxiang and her daughter, wouldn't this troublesome matter be solved?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunxiang was struck dumb and collapsed to the ground with a thud. "Divorce me? No, no, father-in-law! If you divorce me now, you're forcing Er Ya and me to our deaths. What's the difference between that and sending us to our deaths?"

Immediately afterward, Li Yunxiang crawled on all fours to grab Granny Fang's leg, pleading, "Mother, please save Er Ya! Er Ya is your own granddaughter! Let's think of a way. Let's take out all the money in the house. If that's not enough, we'll sell the land too. And this courtyard of ours, although it's a bit old, can still fetch a few taels of silver. If that's still not enough, we'll go and beg the villagers, borrowing from house to house. Fifty taels of silver—as long as we work together, we can definitely raise that much, Mother!"

At the same time, Li Erya hugged Li Dayong's leg and cried, "Dad, I was wrong, Dad, I really know I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again, please save me."

The onlookers in the courtyard were in an uproar, discussing the matter amongst themselves. Some said that the Li family had gone too far by divorcing his wife at this time, while others said that Li Erya and her daughter deserved to be divorced because they owed so much money.

The village head, annoyed by the noise, raised his voice, "Old Li, if you want to divorce Li Yunxiang, I have nothing to say, but Li Erya is your own granddaughter. She can't go with Li Yunxiang."

Old Li was silent for a moment after hearing the village head's words, then covered his face and said, "Village head, you don't know, my eldest son was diagnosed with impotence many years ago. He... he simply can't have children. Who can say for sure whose daughter Li Erya is?"

These words stunned even Li Dayong, who stared at his father in shock and murmured, "Huh?"

Seeing Li Dayong's appearance, Old Li's anger intensified, and he glared at him fiercely.

Everyone present was stunned; they hadn't expected the Li family to have one exciting event after another.

"No wonder that old woman Fang always torments Li Yunxiang like this; it turns out there's something going on behind the scenes."

"Don't talk nonsense here. I've never seen Li Yunxiang leave the village. Where would she go to steal someone?"

"You don't understand. Who said you have to run out of the village to steal someone? There are so many people in our village. You can just hide in any field and no one will see you."

If her expression just now had some element of acting, then at this moment, what Li Yunxiang's face showed was utter, deep-seated despair.

Since she married into the Li family, she has been the first to get up every day to cook and clean, and the last to go to sleep every night after all the chores have been finished. She believes that she has not let the Li family down at all.

Li Yunxiang guessed that disaster was imminent and she would be kicked aside, but she didn't expect that kicking her aside wasn't enough, they also wanted to throw mud at her. Didn't they know what kind of scorn and torment a woman with the stigma of adultery would suffer in this village? How could they so easily pin such a reputation on themselves that could ruin her life?

Li Yunxiang said fiercely, "Heaven and earth bear witness, if I, Li Yunxiang, were to commit adultery outside, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

Granny Fang was not intimidated by Li Yunxiang's anger at all. "You little slut, don't think you can get away with this by swearing oaths here. Village head, divorce her. Today, our Li family will definitely drive this little slut and this bastard out of the Li family together."

Looking at the angry Li family members filling the courtyard, and then at Li Yunxiang's despairing face, the village head felt that something was amiss. So he shouted angrily, "Shut up! Look at the mess you've made! You've ruined the village's reputation! If you dare to make another sound, I'll kick your whole family out of the village!"

After everyone quieted down, the village head looked at Li Yunxiang and said, "Dayong's wife, Erya, come with me." With that, he turned and walked towards the other end of the courtyard.

The three of them walked to the other end of the courtyard. The village head stopped, turned around, looked coldly at Li Erya, and asked, "Erya, tell me, where did you buy your ginseng?"