Chapter 111 Yang's Unprecedented Beating and Cursing

Madam Yang tried to force-feed her the medicine a second time, but she vomited again. She said worriedly, "What should we do if Ning'er can't drink it?"

“Mother, let me try.” Xiao Xuance took the bowl from Yang’s hand. He had seen the brutal method of military doctors forcing medicine into unconscious soldiers when he was in the army.

"Xiao Wu, hold her nose shut, don't let her breathe."

"Oh, okay." Xiao Xuanwu did as he was told, pinching Xiao Xiuning's nose tightly with his right hand.

Xiao Xiuning opened her mouth to breathe, but Xiao Xuance pinched her chin, forcing her to open her mouth and pouring the medicine down her throat. This time, she didn't spit it out.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and finally drank it down.

Seeing that Ye Hongying hadn't made any move, Madam Wu sent her son, Xiao Xuanjing, to urge Ye Hongying: "Hongying, didn't you say you were going to collect the debt for your mother?"

"Xiuning is sick. Let's talk about it when she's feeling better."

Xiao Xuanjing urged again, "Then hurry up, Mother can't wait any longer. The whole family is starving. We, the second branch, won't survive the next three days without food. We'll not only have to make them pay us money, but also give us more food."

Ye Hongying had her own plans. She felt that the eldest son's family was more responsive to gentle persuasion than force. Once Xiao Xiuning's condition improved, she would then tell Madam Yang to have Yun Zhaoxue return the silver to the second son's family.

Xiao Xuanjing left after he finished speaking.

Ye Hongying, "..."

She made the right decision; that kind of man didn't deserve her, no wonder she was heartless.

Yang sat on the ground, and Xiao Xiuning laid her down, letting her rest her head on his lap, and covered her with a blanket.

Ye Hongying said in a low voice, "Aunt, my mother-in-law fell and injured her leg when she went to the city. It has something to do with Yun Zhaoxue. After she fell, the money disappeared. Our second branch has no money to buy food, and we will go hungry for the next few days. Could you please ask Yun Zhaoxue to return the money to our second branch?"

Madam Yang said, "Xue'er has money; she wouldn't take someone else's money. There must be some misunderstanding."

Ye Hongying had long anticipated that she would favor Yun Zhaoxue, and then turned her gaze to Xiao Xuance, "Your Highness, Yun Zhaoxue stole someone else's silver. She is your wife, and husband and wife are one. Her petty theft is damaging to your reputation. You should ask her to return the money to our second branch. For your sake, we will not tell the escorts, but this will not be allowed to happen again!"

She wanted everyone to know that Yun Zhaoxue was dishonest and a thief, and that such a person was unworthy of Xiao Xuance.

Xiao Xuance countered, "Do you have any evidence?"

If it really was Yun Zhaoxue who did it, then it was Wu who provoked her first.

The second wife's hunger was her own fault, and he wouldn't be foolish enough to admit it on Yun Zhaoxue's behalf.

Ye Hongying rushed up to Yun Zhaoxue and reached out her hand, "Yun Zhaoxue, stop pretending. Can you swear you didn't take my mother-in-law's money? Hand over the money now, and also give half of the grain as compensation for my mother-in-law's medical expenses for her fall."

Yun Zhaoxue struck her palm with a stick, leaving a red mark. "Smack."

"You hit me again?"

Why can people who have done bad things still be so self-righteous?

Ye Hongying raised her foot to kick her.

Yun Zhaoxue grabbed her leg that was about to come towards her and pushed her back. She lost her balance on one leg and fell backward with a "bang!"

Yun Zhaoxue said, "She tried to push me, but I dodged and she fell down on her own. She even impersonated the Princess of Zhenbei, extorted fifty taels from an old woman, and took rice, flour, chicken, duck, meat and vegetables from the common people. Isn't it enough that she has made a fool of herself in the city? And she still has the nerve to come and ask you to settle accounts with me? If she were in the right, she would have come here herself long ago. You idiot, you've been used as a pawn."

Ye Hongying's face stiffened. "...You're the stupid one. If she really did those things, she paid the price for injuring her leg. Taking the money and leaving my whole family to starve is just trying to starve us to death."

"Which eye of yours saw me take her money? You're just slandering me with the slightest word. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are the same; like father, like daughter."

Madam Yang asked, "Xue'er, she impersonated me, and the people gave her grain? That's impossible."

The people in the capital even threw rotten eggs at them.

Yun Zhaoxue recounted the kindness that the Prince of Zhenbei had shown to Weishi County back then.

"Wu, you've been impersonating me to take bribes from others? Luckily Xue'er was here, otherwise you would have succeeded. You're clearly trying to kill our whole family." Madam Yang wasn't stupid. If they had really taken bribes, various forces in the capital would definitely take the opportunity to make things difficult for them or the common people.

He handed Xiao Xiuning over to his eldest daughter-in-law and rushed over.

He rushed up to Wu, lifted her up, and slapped her twice across the face. "Slap! Slap!!"

"How dare you come to us for money and food? You have a wicked heart, you deserve to go hungry, you deserve to starve to death, losing the money is God's punishment for your whole family."

Everyone was stunned. Madam Yang was usually gentle, and they had never seen her so angry before. She ignored Ye Hongying and returned to her own camp, scolding her away, "You get out too! Get far away and have less contact with Ning'er in the future. None of you from the second branch of the family are good people."

Ye Hongying got up from the ground, a venomous glint in her eyes as she turned around. Now they're stopping her from contacting them? Too late!

Xiao Xiuning will definitely find a token like the one from the eldest son's family and give it to her.

Xiao Xuanwu was stunned when he saw Yang hitting and cursing people. "Third brother, is this still our mother? I feel that mother is becoming more and more like third sister-in-law."

Xiao Xuance replied, "Isn't this good? If we fight back and scare the other party, they won't be bullied."

"It's pretty good, but I'm not used to it yet, hehe."

...

Evening, at the county magistrate's office.

Qin Yurong, having been mistreated by Yun Zhaoxue, ordered the steward to find some yamen runners to throw Yun Zhaoxue into a brothel, but that also backfired. She then vented her anger on the servants and maids.

They were given a severe beating, and as they were being whipped, they screamed in pain, "Ah! Ah! Madam, Madam, spare us! It's our fault, we're useless..."

"Madam, I'll definitely catch her next time, please spare me..."

Qin Yurong fantasized that the person being beaten was Yun Zhaoxue.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter, "Hahaha!!!"

"Beat them! Beat them hard!"

The servants were horrified. The rich man had a bad temper and would beat people at the drop of a hat. They worried that one day they might get a beating too.

After the twenty strokes of the cane were finished, Qin Yurong demoted those maids to the lowest rank and sent them to work in the kitchen. It was impossible for them to rest and recuperate.

The servants are preparing dinner.

The steward casually dismissed the maids with an excuse, glanced at the door, and saw no one.

He quickly pulled out a packet of medicine from his sleeve and poured it into Qin Yurong's beauty-enhancing bird's nest porridge, then quickly stirred it with a spoon.

The food is served.

Qin Yurong picked up a spoon and scooped up a bowl of bird's nest porridge.

The butler standing behind her stared intently at the bowl of bird's nest porridge, his hands clenched tightly under his sleeves, palms sweating, silently chanting, "Eat, eat, eat quickly!"

Seeing that she was the only one with a table full of dishes, Qin Yurong immediately lost her appetite. She threw her spoon back into her bowl and asked angrily, "Where's the son-in-law? Hasn't he come back yet?"

The steward hurriedly stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and replied, "Madam, the son-in-law sent someone from the county government to say that he has a social engagement tonight and will not be home for dinner."

Where should we go for the social engagements?

If a man goes out for business in the middle of the night, it's probably to a brothel. If he dares to find other women outside, she'll definitely divorce him.

"He didn't say where he was going, only that he had a social engagement. He asked me to tell Madam that the young master has been busy with official business lately. I even heard him say that he wants to make a name for himself and be transferred back to the capital as soon as possible to become a high-ranking official, so that Madam can hold her head high."

Qin Yurong was about to send someone to find him when she heard what the steward said, so she changed her mind. "If he's not coming back, he's not coming back. I'll eat by myself."

She picked up the bird's nest porridge and ate it in small bites.

The maid was serving food when she suddenly felt dizzy, her head went heavy, and she collapsed onto the table. Granny Qin and the maids rushed over to help her up, only to find her eyes closed and unconscious. They cried out in alarm:

"Madam, Madam, what's wrong?"

Granny Qin pinched her philtrum, but she still didn't wake up.

The maids shouted towards the courtyard, "Someone come quick! Something terrible has happened! The madam has fainted! Quickly, fetch a doctor!"

The butler said, "You should help the lady back to her room first, and I will go and fetch a doctor right away."

He assigned the two servants outside to do other work.

The steward rushed out the door to fetch a doctor, but instead of going to fetch one, he turned left and walked to a corner to inform the waiting officials, "The person has already gone over there."

Climbing up the wall and jumping into the courtyard, they reached the main courtyard and had just turned a corner when they bumped into Granny Qin and her entourage.

Both sides were so frightened that they retreated.

"Who are you? Is this Weishi County?"

One of the guards stepped forward and knocked Qin Mama unconscious, while the others quickly dealt with the other two maids.

They put a burlap sack over Qin Yurong's head, tied it tightly, hoisted it onto their shoulder, and ran towards the wall.