Liang Shuyan noticed that the old lady's eyes looked a little strange, so she said, "Mother, I'm fine, don't worry."
In the courtyard, the wheat harvesters were chatting idly, their conversation revolving around the county magistrate. Ruyan, sitting on a small stool, leaned close to Sanwang's ear and said, "Sanwang, does the county magistrate have any feelings for your aunt?"
Jin Sanwang gave an awkward smile: "What could he possibly think? My mother is good at disciplining children. She even managed to teach Zhao Heng, who was so disobedient, to a standstill. The magistrate admires my mother!"
Ruyan clearly saw that the magistrate's eyes held a gaze that was far more than just admiration, yet Sanwang said it this way. What else could she say?
Liu leaned against the window, growing angrier the more she thought about it. She sat up and said, "No, I can't just let this go like this. This matter with my second aunt can't just be left like this."
Liu felt that Zhao had to be punished for this, otherwise, who knows how she would bully people in the future?
Just then, Liang Shuyan walked over and looked at Liu Shi: "Second son's wife, when did you come back? Did something happen at home?"
Liang Shuyan knew that Zhang was very secretive about everything, but Liu was different. With just a little prompting, she would definitely give everything she knew!
Liu hurriedly said, "Mother, my second aunt, she bullied my grandmother and scolded her. My second uncle was caught stealing grain by the county magistrate and taken away. She cried and made a scene, scolding my grandmother. Grandmother told us not to say anything, but seeing my grandmother angry, I'm worried that she won't be able to hold a grudge."
Liang Shuyan finally understood that the old lady's mood was a bit unusual just now. She wasn't as talkative as usual, and the way she looked at her with concern was different.
Liang Shuyan didn't let her enjoy any happiness in her previous life. Now that she's come to this ancient world with her, how can she be allowed to suffer such injustice? No, we must talk to this Zhao family about this.
In the courtyard, everyone was chatting. Zhao Heng was squatting to one side, tending to the smooth fur of the big black dog. One of the big black dogs had one paw on Zhao Heng's arm, and they were having a great time. However, Liang Shuyan had no time to care about any of this. She walked straight out of the courtyard and went to Zhao's house.
Zhao was sitting at the doorway, eating a bowl of noodles.
"You little slut, whose daughter are you anyway? How can you speak so favorably of your aunt? No matter what, you can't hand your father over to the magistrate. The magistrate and your aunt must be having an affair. Otherwise, with so many people harvesting grain, why would the magistrate come to your aunt's wheat field to help her?"
Liang Shuyan was standing at the door when she overheard these words. She was furious and clenched her fists tightly.
"How dare you speak like that in front of the child! If I, Sangji, don't teach you a lesson, do you think I, Liang Shuyan, am easy to bully?"
Jinwang and his wife thought that they were relying on the little money Chunyan earned from Liang Shuyan every month to make a living. These past two days, it seemed that there was really no food left at home, so they had the idea of stealing grain.
“Mother, don’t talk nonsense. My aunt is not that kind of person. The magistrate went to my aunt’s house to help because of Zhao Heng. Zhao Heng is the magistrate’s son. How could he not go and see his son?”
"Hmph, what do you know, you're just a girl? Your auntie has been climbing the social ladder all these years by relying on men, hasn't she? The village is backing her up, and now she's even colluded with the county magistrate. Look at her, isn't she smug now?"
Liang Shuyan lifted the curtain, staring intently at Zhao Shi before her, and said, word by word, "Is that so? How did I collude? Tell me then, Li Zheng is backing me up, how is he backing me up? Or is Li Zheng's wife a fool who needs your help to enlighten her?"
Before Zhao could react, Liang Shuyan slapped her across the face.
Zhao covered her face and said, "You still think you're right? You came to our house to beat me up?"
Liang Shuyan retorted in a clear and forceful voice, "This slap was on behalf of my mother. How dare you come to our house and insult my mother? Just because my mother didn't hit you doesn't mean no one else dares to. You unfilial child, I'll teach you a lesson and show you how to be a daughter-in-law."
Then, two more slaps landed, making Zhao wince and almost fall to the ground.
“This slap was delivered on behalf of Jinwang. Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been encouraging Jinwang to do this kind of thing all these years. I know that stealing grain from our house yesterday wasn’t Jinwang’s idea, was it?”
Before Zhao could even think of how to start the conversation, she was slapped twice across the face.
"These two slaps are meant to teach you a lesson: don't make baseless accusations without solid evidence. My innocence isn't something someone like you can just spout off. Next time, if you dare say anything out of line in front of the children, I'll knock all your teeth out!"
This time, Zhao collapsed to the ground, trying to speak, but unable to utter a single word.
"Chunyan, aren't you leaving? What can you get by following a woman like this?" Liang Shuyan pulled Chunyan away.
Chunyan stammered, "Auntie, I'm sorry. It was my mother who encouraged my father to steal grain. I... I'm too ashamed to work at your house now, and I'm too ashamed to go to school."
"Nonsense! You are you, and she is she!"
Chunyan then followed Liang Shuyan back to Liang Shuyan's home like a tail.
Erniu pulled Liu Shi away, saying, "You woman, why can't you control your mouth? Do you know what will happen to your mother if she finds out about this? Why did you still tell her?"
"My second aunt bullies Grandma so much, why should I hide it from Mother? Besides, if Mother finds out we're keeping it from her, won't she be even angrier?"
As soon as Liang Shuyan stepped into the courtyard, she saw Jin Erniu scolding Liu Shi with a fierce expression. She raised her voice and said, "What's wrong, Jin Erniu? Don't you know who's to blame for this?"
Jin Erniu lowered his head and admitted, "Mother, I know we were wrong and shouldn't have kept it from you, but we were just following Grandma's advice."
Liang Shuyan coughed lightly twice: "It's not wrong for you to be filial to your grandmother, but if you continue to tolerate what happened today, will she bully your grandmother again in the future?"
Everyone fell silent. Then they looked at Chunyan, who was following behind them. Chunyan's eyes were red. "I'm sorry, brothers, sisters, and sisters-in-law. It's all my mother's fault. She encouraged my father."
Liang Shuyan knew that Chunyan felt bad because of her parents, so she said in a deep voice, "Chunyan, from now on, your wages will be given to your grandmother to keep for you, don't give them to your parents!"
"Apricot kernels, time to harvest apricot kernels!" A series of clear voices came from outside the door.
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