"Miss Lin, what you're saying is outrageous!" Upon hearing Lin Xihe's words, the old woman was instantly enraged. Her face turned bright red, and the veins on her neck bulged. She took a step forward, her fingers almost poking Lin Xihe's face.
"How could an unmarried young woman like you know anything about what's going on in our village? Stop pointing fingers!"
“Look at you, I only said a few words to your daughter, and you can’t stand it. Can you all turn a blind eye to all the injustices that Yue Niang has suffered?” Lin Xihe’s expression was solemn, her eyes filled with questioning, and she looked directly at the old woman without backing down.
"How can that be the same?" The old woman put her hands on her hips, her eyes wide with anger.
"How is it different? It's not your child, so don't you feel sorry for her? Other people's daughters are also raised by their parents, so they deserve to live a life worse than pigs and dogs?" Lin Xihe raised her voice, which echoed in the crowd, attracting the attention of those around her.
"Miss Lin, how can you speak so rudely, the daughter of a general?" someone in the crowd shouted again, the voice filled with dissatisfaction, seemingly both wary and somewhat disdainful of Lin Xihe's status.
"It's your fault for doing things so badly!"
Lin Xihe turned around abruptly and scanned the crowd.
“I understand your feelings, but you can’t just think of yourselves and put others in such a difficult position. As women, haven’t you ever considered Yue Niang’s situation? She’s a weak woman who has single-handedly supported this family for eight years, with a sick mother-in-law and a young sister-in-law. Is it easy for her? Now she’s just trying to find a way to survive. What’s wrong with that?” Lin Xihe spoke earnestly, her eyes filled with anger and indignation.
Upon hearing Lin Xihe's words, some people looked ashamed, while others remained stubborn.
“She has already married into our village, she was born in our village and she will die in our village, how can she easily remarry! Isn’t that breaking the rules?” An old man leaned on his cane and said shakily, each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, his eyes showing stubbornness.
Lin Xihe sneered, her laughter tinged with mockery: "Rules? What are rules? Is letting a widow die alone in this harsh world what you call rules? If so, then these rules are better left unwritten! Have you selectively ignored all that Yue Niang has done for this family over the years? Her youth, her prime years, have all been spent in this family. Now that she wants to start over, you want to kill her. Is this your benevolence and morality?"
At this moment, Yue Niang, who had been tied up and silent all along, burst into tears: "Fellow villagers, I know that what I have done may seem inappropriate to you, but I really have no other choice. I also want to protect this family, but I am so tired and suffering."
“I don’t want to live the rest of my life in such a hopeless way. I promise that even if I remarry, I will come back to visit my mother-in-law and sister-in-law often and take care of them to the best of my ability. Please, let me go.”
The sound of the moon goddess's cries stirred a slight feeling in many people's hearts, but their long-standing traditional beliefs still made them hesitate. Some whispers began to emerge in the crowd, but they were quickly suppressed by a few cold snorts.
Seeing this, Lin Xihe turned to the crowd and said, "As you all have seen, Yue Niang is a woman of great kindness and righteousness. In this world, women already have a hard life. They have to manage household chores, bear children, and endure all kinds of suffering and prejudice. Yue Niang has already suffered too much, and we should not add insult to injury."
Silence fell over the crowd. Lin Xihe continued, “Although my father died on the battlefield, he always taught me to be righteous and kind. Now that I see Yue Niang suffering such injustice, how can I sit idly by? If you insist on opening the ancestral hall to drown pigs in cages, then I will report this matter to the county magistrate and let the government judge whether this so-called rule is reasonable.”
When everyone heard that Lin Xihe was going to report to the authorities, they couldn't help but feel a little scared.
They knew that once the government got involved, things would become complicated and might even cause them trouble.
For a moment, the crowd was abuzz with discussion, and no one spoke.
Lin Xihe pressed her advantage, saying, "We're all from the same village, and we should support each other instead of making things difficult for one another. We can sit down and discuss Yue Niang's matter properly to find a better solution, instead of resorting to such a cruel method."
Under Lin Xihe's persuasion, everyone's attitude gradually softened.
Finally, after some discussion, they decided to let Yue Niang's mother-in-law and sister-in-law make the final decision.
Although the mother-in-law was reluctant, she understood Yue Niang's hardships. With Lin Xihe's encouragement, she tearfully agreed to Yue Niang's remarriage, but on the condition that Yue Niang find a reliable person and not forget this family, and come to her house to help occasionally.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Yue Niang swore to her mother-in-law and sister-in-law that she would definitely keep her promise.
Lin Xihe breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that the storm had subsided for the time being, but she also understood that this was only the beginning. There was still a long way to go to change people's deep-rooted ideas, and Yue Niang's future path would certainly not be easy.
Lin Xihe knew that her strength was insignificant and she did not have such grand ideals. Faced with this feudal ideology that had been passed down for many years and was deeply rooted, she was as powerless as an ant trying to shake a tree.
But her stubbornness and sense of justice wouldn't allow her to back down. She thought to herself, "Even if I can only save one person, it's better than doing nothing."
Fortunately, Lin Xihe brought many servants with her, and because she was the daughter of the deceased General Lin, otherwise, anyone who dared to say a few words in this situation would definitely have caused a fierce conflict.
After resolving the matter, Lin Xihe returned home, her emotions remaining unsettled for a long time.
The image of Yue Niang's sorrowful yet hopeful eyes, and the stubborn yet somewhat receptive expressions of the others, kept flashing through her mind. She knew that this was a long road, and no one could complete it alone.
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