They stared at Su Jiaoniang, their expressions subtle and ambiguous.

Someone else said, "Now that Lu Daishu has become a scholar, the Lu family will have an easier time. Su Shi is as stubborn as a mule. Wouldn't it be better if she admitted her mistake early and became the scholar's third aunt?"

"Who knows, with that effeminate look, she might actually want to be a scholar, hehehe..."

The rumors were awful. Su Jiaoniang felt the little girl gripping her hand tightly. The child was starting to understand things. If she grew up being insulted, she would become weak-willed, which was not good.

She stopped walking and turned to look at the gossip. It was Wu, the village's most talkative woman. She said, "Sister-in-law Wu, nothing good comes out of your mouth. I heard you wanted to marry your daughter to Daishu, but Zhu refused. So you're just spouting nonsense because you're unhappy?"

"You vixen, spouting nonsense!" Wu's face darkened, looking ugly. Now that Lu Daishu was a scholar, she dared not offend him. Seeing Su Jiaoniang's sense of superiority, she couldn't help but mutter a few words.

Su Jiaoniang reached out and grabbed Wu's clothes, pulling her into her hands: "What, you want to be a vixen? I'll help you!" As she spoke, Su Jiaoniang grabbed her clothes, used her toes to lift Wu up the tallest, straight tree, and hung her on the tree.

Wu was hanging precariously in the tree, screaming in terror. It was a truly horrifying sight.

A fox spirit must have fox makeup and fox decorations. Su Jiaoniang picked up a few yellow grasses from the ground and stuck them in Wu's head. She also took off the outer garment that Wu was wearing, braided it into a big tail, and tied it to Wu's buttocks.

Wu's clothes were hanging on a tall tree.

Wu swayed in mid-air, and her tail also wagged.

The tree was very tall, and even the best tree climber in the village would have a hard time getting a person down safely.

Su Jiaoniang left the village with Xiaoya, while Wu Shi kept shouting behind them. A group of people came to watch, but no one was able to climb to the top of the big tree.