Before she even got close to her house, she saw a group of villagers gathered at the entrance to her yard.

When the villagers heard the sound of horses' hooves and turned around to see Lin Yan returning, they all automatically made way for her.

Now that those few parasites are gone from the village, and after learning about Lin Yan's killing of the bear, they have long regarded Lin Yan as their leader.

Some older women, unable to bear it any longer, came to her and complained to her with great distress:

"Yan girl, your live-in son-in-law is such an ingrate! You work so hard to earn money to support him, and he actually sleeps around with other women while you're not home!"

"That's right! He's a man from the capital, after all, he's not honest! If you ask me, you should divorce him. Just say the word, and countless young men from the surrounding villages will want to marry into your family! We don't want an ungrateful wretch!"

The women sang in unison, their voices so loud that Lin Yan felt her ears were about to give way.

"My aunts told me to go back inside and see what was going on. Maybe it's a misunderstanding!"

Once she entered the courtyard, she realized why those aunties had said those things.

It turned out that Xinghua's mother had brought Lin Xinghua to their house, and they were talking about something.

Xie Muqing sat in his wheelchair with a cold, handsome face, his lips pressed tightly together, not uttering a word.

When they saw Lin Yan leading the horse into the courtyard, they all turned to look at her.

Upon seeing her, Xie Muqing finally breathed a sigh of relief, pushed his wheelchair to her, raised his beautiful head, and looked up at her.

"My wife, you're finally back..."

Looking into his eyes, which seemed to ripple with the passage of time, Lin Yan could actually detect a hint of grievance in his voice.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Yan'er, you're finally back! It's not that we want an explanation, it's just that what you, this live-in son-in-law, did was really despicable! Yesterday, someone saw Xinghua running out of your house crying, her clothes disheveled. He was the only one home at the time, so it was obvious he'd done something shameful! The problem is, he did it but won't admit it. Our Xinghua is a virgin, and to have such rumors spread like this, how will she ever get married in the future!"

Thinking about the rumors circulating in the village these past two days, Xinghua's mother felt heartbroken, and her tone inevitably became somewhat harsh.

After tying up the horse, Lin Yan didn't look at her, but stared straight at Lin Xinghua:

"Lin Xinghua, is this what you told your mother?"

Faced with her sharp questioning, Lin Xinghua bit her lip, twisting the handkerchief in her hand, and stammered out:

"Silly girl, it wasn't me... I explained, but my mother doesn't believe me..."

From her evasive eyes, Lin Yan guessed that her so-called explanation was probably a bit exaggerated.

“Auntie, I was home yesterday too. It was Xinghua who drugged my husband. If I hadn’t arrived in time, my husband would have committed suicide because of the humiliation. How did it become that my husband bullied her? If you don’t believe me, come with me to the brothel in town now and confront the madam. Did Xinghua buy the aphrodisiac from her?”

As soon as Lin Yan finished speaking, Ye Lan's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Lin Xinghua, seemingly unable to believe that she would dare to do such a daring thing.

Xinghua's face turned red and then pale, and she retorted angrily:

"What? You used aphrodisiacs? Yan'er, you can't just slander my Xinghua like that! Xinghua, don't be afraid, tell me what happened yesterday, and I'll stand up for you!"

"Mom, please stop talking, let's go home, please..."

As the wife of the village head, Xinghua's mother was not a fool. Seeing her daughter's evasive eyes, she desperately grabbed her sleeve and pulled her away.

Looking at Lin Yan, who had her arms crossed and looked very confident, how could she not understand? With a pale face, she took Xinghua home.

Fortunately, Lin Yan closed the gate as soon as she entered the courtyard, preventing the people outside from hearing.

When everyone saw the mother and daughter come out, they rushed to surround them. Despite their aggressive questioning, Xinghua's mother remained tight-lipped.

Just as she was about to break down, an unexpected voice came from behind her.

"It's all a misunderstanding. I was at home yesterday! Xinghua just got her coat dirty because of me. You all know how vain she is, so she ran home crying."

Things are different now. If Lin Xinghua's affair were made public, not only would her own reputation be ruined, but her entire family's reputation would be destroyed.

It wasn't that she was soft-hearted, but rather that her father used to work in town and was greatly helped by the village head's family.

Lin Xinghua was also the only person in the village who was willing to play with the original owner when she was mentally impaired, and would bring them snacks from time to time.

However, ever since she met Xie Muqing, she has been like a person under a spell, but fortunately nothing bad has happened.

This time, consider it as her repaying the debt of gratitude owed to them on behalf of the original owner.

Seeing that there was no show to watch, everyone chatted and went home.

For a moment, only Xinghua and her daughter, filled with remorse, remained at the doorway; they had never expected Lin Yan to step forward.

Especially Xinghua, whose heart was filled with shame, trembled as she barely managed to say "thank you" before running away crying.

After dealing with the matter, she did not go home, but went next door. Xie Rui opened the door, and she handed over the three taels of silver she had earned from selling the embroidery.

"The price offered by the prefectural city is high. If you don't mind the distance, you can sell your goods in the prefectural city later, where the price can be double that of the town."

After handing over the silver, Lin Yan was about to leave when Xie Rui stopped her, blushing, and asked with an embarrassed expression:

"Thank you, sister-in-law. Rui has a favor to ask... Does your shop need any helpers? My brother and I are quite strong and can do a lot of work..."

"Have you stopped studying?"

Lin Yan did initially consider having him work at the hot pot restaurant, but she was worried that it would affect his studies, so she gave up on the idea.

"Sister-in-law, you don't know this, but we are no longer qualified to take the imperial examinations..."

At this point, Xie Rui's voice choked up, his eyes gradually reddened, and his head slowly drooped down.

He used to be a very good student, passing the county-level imperial examination at the age of fourteen. If he had continued his studies, passing the provincial-level imperial examination before the age of twenty would have been no problem.

But it's all useless now; he'll never have a chance to take the imperial examinations in his lifetime!

Nowadays, everyone in the family except for the young children can work and earn money; only he and his younger brother can at most run errands...

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. My shop is already full, but I'm planning to open another hot pot restaurant in the county town in the next few days and hire you as the manager. You can also live in the shop with your brother. What do you think?"

When Xie Rui heard that the venue was full, he was dejected, but unexpectedly, a glimmer of hope appeared!

His dejection vanished in an instant, and he joyfully raised his wet eyes, staring intently at Lin Yan:

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

When she met his peach blossom eyes, which were almost identical to someone else's, Lin Yan hurriedly looked away.

As she approached her home, she saw Xie Muqing sitting in a wheelchair at the doorway, craning his neck as if looking at something.

"Xie Muqing, what are you doing?"