When the truth came out, Lin Qiutao and her companion turned pale.
Su Yunru was in a state of extreme panic. She shook her head and denied doing what she had done, pointing at Lu Changqing and screaming, "It wasn't me! I didn't, I didn't say that! You're lying."
The clan chief was furious and roared at the trembling Lin Qiutao.
"You beast, speak! Have you done anything to harm your own kind?"
Lin Qiutao's head was almost touching the ground. Hearing the clan leader's angry shout, her heart clenched. Unable to withstand the clan leader's pressure, she shrank back and said, "Back then, Lin Yinan left my brother to die without helping him. I was filled with resentment. My brother died, so why shouldn't her brother be alive and well?"
"Su Yunru suggested that we provide some food and lodging to lure the children to the riverbank, and I, I was bewitched and listened to her, and I pushed Lin Yi'an into the river."
As soon as Lin Qiutao finished speaking, Su Kunliang slapped Su Yunru across the face. "I don't have a daughter as vicious as you. You've disgraced the Su family."
A red, swollen handprint appeared on Su Yunru's pale face, and her tears fell like tiny beads, making her look incredibly soft and helpless.
Zhu Jinhui quickly hugged her and held her protectively in her arms, "Su Kunliang, what are you doing?"
"What are you doing?! Look at what she's doing!" Su Kunliang angrily flung his sleeves and turned away, not wanting to argue with her.
The villagers of Linjia Village were in an uproar and began to criticize Lin Qiutao, especially those children who had been lured to the houses by the river.
"I never imagined that someone so young could be so malicious!"
"He's inhuman! How could he do such a thing?"
"Bah! The children told us when they came back that your brother had already been killed by the Hu people before Anan left. Why are you still holding onto this?"
"That's right. If they're so capable, why don't they go after the Hu people to take revenge? Why do they have to hurt an innocent child who's only a few years old?"
"This is utterly depraved!"
"..."
Faced with the villagers' accusations and the strange looks from the surrounding guards, even his mother and brother did not stand up to defend him.
Lin Qiutao knew she had really messed up this time. She knew that harming her own kind would lead to her being expelled from the clan, and now, on the road of fleeing famine, she could not possibly survive alone.
Her face was ashen, her eyes were glazed over, and her mouth trembled as she completely panicked. Ignoring the mud all over the ground, Lin Qiutao knelt down in front of the clan leader.
She pleaded earnestly, "Elder Chief, I was wrong, please forgive me this time!"
The clan chief angrily pointed at Lin Yinan, whose face was pale, and Lin Yi'an, whose face showed obvious fear, and said with heartache, "Ask them if they will forgive you!"
Lin Yinan took a step forward and looked down at the panicked Lin Qiutao.
Seeing this, Lin Qiutao moved her knees toward Lin Yinan, and, annoyed by the mud on the ground, began to kowtow to her repeatedly, her forehead quickly becoming covered in mud.
"Anan, please forgive me! I'll never do it again." Her eyes held a pleading look.
"It's not impossible for me to forgive you, but..." Lin Yinan said.
Lin Qiutao's face was streaked with tears and snot. She raised her sleeve and wiped it haphazardly, saying excitedly, "Tell me, I'll do anything you want."
Lin Yinan pointed to the riverbank and said coldly, "As long as you tie a rope, jump into the river, and swim back, I will forgive and forget about it."
Lin Qiutao froze on the spot. Yu Suqin was so angry that she wanted to run to Lin Yinan, but Lin Zhaohui held her back tightly. "Lin Yinan, you bitch, I knew you had no good intentions. You want Tao'er to die."
Lin Qiutao snapped out of her daze, her face changing drastically. She scrambled to her feet, pointed at Lin Yinan, and cursed, "You want me dead? You'll never succeed!"
The clan chief rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Shut up!" he gestured for someone to come forward and restrain her.
Aunt Li and the village chief's wife stepped forward and restrained her. Lin Qiutao did not move, but she kept cursing. Aunt Li tore off a piece of her clothes and used it to gag her.
The clan chief coughed twice, his face grim, and looked Yu Suqin and her daughter up and down before taking out a notebook from his pocket.
Seeing this, Lin Zhaohui's heart sank lower and lower.
The clan chief then said, "Lin Qiutao, a woman of the Lin clan, is mean-spirited, jealous, and malicious. She has committed acts of harming her own clan. Therefore, from this day forward, her surname is stripped, and she will be forced to take her mother's surname. Her name will be removed from the clan genealogy, and all her future marriage matters will be unrelated to the Lin clan!"
The clan chief's voice, as resounding as a bell, struck everyone's hearts. Then, everyone saw the clan chief take up his pen and cross out Lin Qiutao's name from the list of children under Lin Boren's name in the clan genealogy.
Yu Suqin struggled fiercely, trying to explain herself to the clan leader.
The clan chief's cold gaze was fixed on her. "Yu, you have failed to raise your daughter properly and you cause trouble all the time. If this happens again, I will have the village elders and I divorce you on behalf of the deceased Lin Boren!"
Yu Suqin lost her balance and staggered, almost falling to the ground. Lin Zhaohui quickly caught her.
She looked at her son in a panic, and Lin Zhaohui shook his head at her, signaling her not to speak up for Lin Qiutao anymore.
If they really offend the clan chief, their family's situation will become even more difficult.
Lin Qiutao slumped to the ground, her face ashen. Her mind was blank; she couldn't understand how things had come to this.
Lin Yinan and Lin Yi'an are both fine, so why won't they forgive her?
After dealing with Lin Qiutao, the clan chief glanced at Su Kunliang, then turned and left without saying a word.
The clan chief left, and the villagers dispersed with uneasy hearts.
Although Lin Qiutao was a woman, she was stripped of her surname and removed from the clan. From then on, she had no connection with the Lin family. Whether she married or was bullied, no one in the clan would stand up for her. She became a rootless duckweed. Her only support was her brother from the same mother.
Lin Qiutao was helped away by Yu Suqin and Lin Zhaohui, and left in a sorry state.
After the matter was settled, Yun Mo helped Lin Yinan prepare to leave.
"Anan, wait a moment."
Su Yunzhi called out to her from behind.
Lin Yinan stopped and turned around, only to see that Su Yunzhi's handsome face had become haggard in just one day. He was a masculine and upright man; perhaps he was also suffering because of what his sister had done.
Yun Mo frowned slightly, pursed his lips and remained silent, his gaze towards Su Yunzhi filled with inquiry and scrutiny.
“Anan, I apologize to you on behalf of Yunru.”
Su Yunzhi looked at her, his dark eyes sparkling as if they held some other kind of emotion.
Lin Yinan was taken aback, then looked away, only to see Su Yunru leaving without looking back, carefully supported by Zhu Jinhui. Ha, it seems she has no regrets about her at all.
Su Yunzhi is a really good older brother, Lin Yinan said with a half-smile.
"She's the one who did something wrong, not you. If anyone should apologize, it should be her."
After Lin Yinan finished speaking, she turned to leave. She had been standing there for a while, and her chest felt tight. She wanted to go back and lie down.
Upon hearing this, Su Yunzhi rushed forward in a hurry, trying to pull Lin Yinan away.
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