“We should definitely ask,” Xie Laoda agreed wholeheartedly. “We can’t just leave like stray dogs after someone tells us we’ve been exterminated.”

The three brothers exchanged glances and then looked at Grandma Xie in unison.

"Why are you looking at me?" Old Mrs. Xie asked incredulously. "You want me to go?"

“Only you are the most suitable. We are too junior to keep the clan leader in check.”

"Bullshit, do you want to kill your own mother?" Old Mrs. Xie looked at her eldest son with displeasure. "The clan chief knows all about my dirty secrets. What if he really drowns me in a pig cage if I anger him?"

She spoke arrogantly, but she wasn't really confident in her words.

The clan chief is gentle and protective of his own, but if things escalate, the clan will not tolerate him.

Sigh, now that my old man is gone, there's no one to protect me.

Why is God so unfair? I finally outlived my mother-in-law, and before I could even enjoy a few good years, I became a widow.

If only she had known, she should have advised the old man against carrying the grain.

“How could that be?” Xie Laoda said dismissively. “He didn’t do anything to you before, and he won’t do it again. Mother, don’t be afraid. Go ahead and make a scene. If anything happens, you still have your son.”

Upon hearing this, Grandma Xie couldn't help but purse her lips.

Even if she favored her son, she knew these people were unreliable, which is why she didn't want to sign the pledge.

“I’m not surnamed Xie, I’ll be an outsider until I die, you’ll have to ask me.”

"Mother," Xie Laoda said impatiently, "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"what you up to?"

“It’s fine if you don’t go. We brothers have become refugees, without a house or land. Forget about taking care of you in your old age, we can’t even afford to bury our father.”

"You..." Old Mrs. Xie was speechless with anger, "Beasts, you are truly beasts!"

In the end, Old Lady Xie agreed, grumbling and cursing.

As soon as I stepped out the door, I was met with a bucket of cold water being poured on my face by angry villagers who had been lying in wait. Then, rotten vegetable leaves followed.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"You heartless old hag, it's all because of your family that the Xie family's reputation is ruined. If my son is rejected because of you, I'll kill you all even if it costs me my life."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Old Mrs. Xie said, puzzled. "What does the Xie family's reputation have to do with us?"

The story spread widely, but no one said it to the person involved, so Grandma Xie was unaware of it.

“If it weren’t for you, you old hag, murdering your own daughter and coveting your in-laws’ property, we would have been implicated, you old hag.”

As he spoke, the man picked up a stone and threw it at the person, saying, "Get out of here, get out of Xiaoxiezhuang."

"Exactly, they've already been exterminated from their clan, yet they still refuse to leave. Have they no shame?"

"A scourge, a jinx..."

Unable to bear it any longer, Grandma Xie finally closed the door.

Feeling somewhat bewildered, he wondered, "What exactly happened? What's wrong with the Xie family's reputation?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Laosan lowered his head guiltily.

He overheard some things while he was out shopping, but he didn't pay attention to them at the time, thinking that they wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Brother, let's hurry up and go somewhere where no one knows us, buy a house and land and start over."

"On what grounds?"

Seeing this, Xie Laosan recounted what he had heard.

After hearing this, Xie Laoda was completely shocked. "How could this be? Does the Huang family have such great power?"

“We can’t stay in Xiaoxie Village any longer, brother, let’s leave,” Xie Laosan urged earnestly. “The clan is still showing leniency by giving us fifty taels of silver. If we keep begging and offend the clan, we’ll lose everything. It’s better to go somewhere else, even if it’s tough and tiring, than to become a stinking rat.”

"Okay, pack your things, let's go!"

"Where's your dad? What happened to him?"

"The Xie family made us bury them, and we were all expelled from the clan. We are no longer family with them."

"No, I disagree. I can't let your father die with such unrest."

"If you don't want to, then stay and keep him company. Do you think I'm willing to take on a burden?"

In the end, the family secretly ran away in the dark.

Compared to the chaos at the Xie family's house, Jiang Nuan, who had been shopping all day, was extremely tired.

It's not physical, it's psychological.

"Mother, what's going on?" Madam Xie asked, puzzled. "Why are people always coming up to us and trying to get close to us?"

This was the most frustrating shopping experience she'd ever had, bar none.

Even the rare Jiangnan brocade cannot soothe a restless heart.

"I'll ask you later."

Jiang Nuan was also having a headache.

I was just strolling around town when I encountered all sorts of dramatic women: dropping their purses, losing their handkerchiefs, tripping, twisting their ankles...

She was almost ready to sell herself to bury her father.

She wouldn't find it strange if her son had run into them, but the key point is that they were a group of women shopping together.

"It's so annoying," Xie complained. "People praise me when I buy fabric, people praise me when I buy hairpins, people praise me when I buy candied hawthorns, and I suspect people would praise me even if I farted."

The hypocritical and pretentious tone was incredibly fake.

It's inappropriate to want to curse someone and then have them smile and say nice things to you.

But being with them felt incredibly awkward; I felt uncomfortable all over.

"We can't shake them off," Jin complained softly. "They follow us everywhere we go. Don't they have anything else to do?"

"Moreover," Xie said, resting her chin on her hand, "these people are unfamiliar faces, and their accents aren't from our county. It's strange; why are they trying to curry favor with us?"

"We'll move to a villa on the mountain tomorrow to hide out for a while," Jiang Nuan said helplessly. "Things will get better after this."

Without even thinking, it's obvious what happened that made these people rush over without any regard for the consequences.

I just don't know what earth-shattering thing Ji Xuan did to turn their family into a piece of greasy meat.

"Does Mother know the reason?"

Xie grabbed Jiang Nuan's arm, staring at her with wide eyes, her gaze filled with curiosity.

“I don’t know, but,” Jiang Nuan shook her head, “it should be closely related to Ji Xuan.”

“It must be him. No one else has that kind of ability,” Xie said, slapping herself in frustration. “He can still cause so much trouble after leaving. Mother was right. We really should stay far away from him.”

"Second sister-in-law," Jin asked hesitantly, "he is the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. What if he wants to give our family some benefits? Wouldn't that be a real shame?"

"Take the benefits if they offer them; what's there to regret?"

Jin shrugged helplessly, "Then you still want to stay far away from him?"

"There is no conflict. We should take the benefits we deserve and guard against what we should guard against."

"You're so cunning!"

“Nonsense, I call this wisdom,” Xie said smugly, raising her eyebrows. “It allows me to gain benefits while avoiding trouble. Mother, don’t you agree?”

“Of course not,” Jiang Nuan looked at her amusedly. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Do you think the ruler of a country is a fool?”

After saying that, he couldn't help but shake his head.

She wouldn't even dare to think that way, but this daughter-in-law is dreaming.

“Okay,” Xie stuck out her tongue. “As long as there are benefits, it’s fine. As for troubles, I can just bear with them. Anyway, I’ve already bought a lot of things, so I don’t need to go out for a while.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Jin frowned. "We can manage, but my husband and the others can't. I wonder if they'll encounter these kinds of problems."