Jiang Qinyu's expression changed upon hearing this. Her body reacted faster than her brain. She took a big step forward and slapped Ma Shi across the face. "Who are you calling a bastard?"
"You dare hit me?" Ma stared at Jiang Qinyu in disbelief, and immediately reached out to pull Jiang Qinyu to the ground. "They have the surname Jiang, not Lu, so why..."
"Second son! Is this the kind of scum you married? Take her away right now, stop making a fool of yourself here!" Old Man Lu slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and angrily pointed at Lu Yancai.
Lu Yancai was stunned by Ma's sudden move and couldn't react for a moment.
Madam Chen slammed the bowl down on the table. "I kindly invited your whole family back for dinner, and if you're not going to eat, then get out! Our Lu family doesn't have such ill-mannered daughters-in-law and grandsons!"
Lu Yanzheng frowned, unable to bear the noise any longer. He stood up, grabbed Ma Shi and Lu Tianbao by the collars, and strode out of the courtyard. "If you don't want to eat, then go outside."
He threw the man to the ground and looked coldly at the two people on the ground. "Besides, it's not your place to make decisions about the Lu family. Shufan and Pan'er are my brother-in-law's children. Their staying in the Lu family is none of your business."
At this moment, Jiang Qinyu also came out and stood beside Lu Yanzheng, coldly staring at Madam Ma and said, "Shufan and Pan'er have never eaten a single grain of rice from your second branch of the family, nor have they drunk a single drop of water from your house. You have no right to insult them!"
"If I ever hear you spouting nonsense again..." Jiang Qinyu sneered, "you can try and see what happens!"
Not to mention Lu Yancai's family, the water used by the entire Dingshui Village can be said to be provided by her. She has given so much, she is not here to be mistreated.
If Ma continues to be stubborn and refuses to see the light, don't blame her for showing no mercy!
The commotion at the Lu family's house attracted neighbors and other villagers who couldn't help but come over to watch. Hearing Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu's conversation, they could roughly guess what trouble Ma had gotten into.
"Hehe, this Ma woman is lazy and good-for-nothing, all she does is stir up trouble in the village. She deserves to be thrown out now!"
"That's right, there's Lady Yu who lives over by the walnut tree. She's been a widow for so many years, but this Madam Ma insists that she has something going on with Meng Tianze. Luckily, Meng Tianze's family is clear-headed and didn't take it to heart, otherwise Lady Yu might have had to die to prove her innocence!"
"Oh dear, she's really done something terribly wrong. How could she do such a thing?"
"To be honest, the Lu family is pitiful; they married a daughter-in-law like her..."
"Hey, I do know a little about this. Her marriage into the Lu family wasn't exactly honorable..."
The discussions gradually increased and grew louder, and people began to mention the less-than-honorable past of Ma and Lu Yancai.
Upon hearing this, Madam Ma's face flushed red and then turned pale. She quickly pulled Lu Tianbao to his feet, then turned back and pinched Lu Yancai's ear, saying, "Hurry up and go home! If they won't feed us, do you think we can't afford to eat?"
After saying that, she pulled Lu Yancai and Lu Tianbao away. When they reached the gate of her house, she turned back and glared fiercely at the crowd, saying, "You people just spout nonsense without a care in the world! You just wait and see!"
After saying that, she quickly went inside and slammed the door shut.
The onlookers, realizing what had happened, were all furious. Several women and older women stood with their hands on their hips, pointing at Lu Yancai's front door and cursing.
"Ma Guizhi, what are you so smug about! Don't think nobody knows how you managed to marry into the Lu family back then!"
"You're the shameless one who should stay home and not come out, so as not to offend our eyes!"
"That's right, that's right, Ma Guizhi, you..."
Chen was also displeased by what the villagers said, and quickly pulled Jiang Qinyu and Lu Yanzheng into the house, saying, "The food is getting cold, let's go back and eat first."
Once inside the courtyard, Old Man Lu quickly closed the door.
Lu Yanzheng asked, "Father, Mother, what's going on with Lu Yancai's family?"
He found it strange when he looked at the roster of Dingshui Village; Lu Tianbao's age seemed a bit off.
Lu Yancai got married not long after he left, but six months later they went to the county government to register Lu Tianbao's household registration.
"Sigh, to be honest, it's also because your mother and I didn't handle this matter well." Old Lu shook his head and sighed, but he, a grown man, couldn't talk about such things.
With a stern face, Madam Chen was too annoyed by Madam Ma's antics to bother covering for her anymore, and told Lu Yanzheng the whole story directly.
"Back then, it was Ma who took the initiative to seduce the second son. She was the niece of the Ma family's wife in our village. Because they both had the surname Ma, the Ma family also helped her, which led to the second son having an affair with her before their engagement..."
"Later I found out that her initial target was you, but you had been conscripted by the government before that. She was too old to delay any longer, so she turned to the second son."
Every time she thought of these things, Chen felt extremely resentful, but for Lu Tianbao's sake, she kept these things to herself.
If Lu Yanzheng had asked at another time, she would have easily given him a vague answer. But this morning, her good mood was ruined by Ma's antics, and she didn't even feel like eating. She was too lazy to cover for him anymore.
“Shufan, Pan’er,” Old Man Lu patted the two children’s heads, “Don’t listen to her nonsense. Your grandmother and I have always treated you as our own grandchildren.”
Shufan looked up at Old Man Lu with an innocent smile, "Grandpa, we know!"
If the Lu family didn't have Madam Ma and Lu Tianbao, he and Pan'er would definitely be living a very comfortable life.
"Alright, let's eat first, or we'll have to heat it up." Madam Chen patted the two of them on the head and said affectionately.
The group returned to the main room and quietly finished their meal.
As usual, Chen and Jiang Qinyu went to tidy up the kitchen first, while Old Man Lu and Lu Yanzheng talked inside the house.
However, not long after, Village Chief Li arrived with the village's supervisory team.
"Ah Zheng, we came back too late yesterday, so we didn't bother you. Do you have time to come today?" Village Chief Li said to Lu Yanzheng somewhat reservedly.
Only after he finished speaking did he realize that there was something wrong with how he addressed him. How could he address someone so casually?
Yesterday, after they went to the county government office and handed those people over to Qin Shen, they inquired with the people at the county government office and learned that Lu Yanzheng was actually the Great General Protector of the Nation!
Someone with that name must be a very high-ranking official.
Lu Yanzheng smiled gently at him, "Uncle Village Chief, you flatter me. I'm back this time to take care of some things and will be staying in the village for a few days."
"That's good, that's good..." When Village Chief Li heard how he addressed him, he immediately felt relieved and then introduced the supervisory team members to Lu Yanzheng.
After everyone had finished their introductions, Village Chief Li explained the current situation of the village in detail.
"Work point system? High-yield grain varieties?" Lu Yanzheng raised an eyebrow, grasping the two key points.
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