For a moment, the scene descended into chaos—some pulling hair, others clawing faces.
With three women fighting, the men couldn’t easily intervene, leaving Du Shi at a disadvantage.
“Stop this at once! Feng Meixiang, at your age, still brawling like this!” The village head arrived, panting heavily.
He felt a headache coming on just looking at the mess.
“Village Head, you must stand up for our family! Du Shi brought people from Dujia Village and ruined all the crops in our fields. They weren’t even ripe yet—such a waste of food! How are we supposed to survive? They’re trying to starve us to death!”
As soon as Grandma saw the village head arrive, she let go, plopping down on the ground to wail and roll around.
She used to scoff at village women who behaved like this, but now, crying that there was no way to survive, her sobs were heart-wrenching.
“Why are you causing trouble again? Shen Zhiqiu settled everything properly yesterday. Are you dissatisfied with the decision made by me, the village head, and the clan elders? How could you destroy someone else’s crops? That’s ruining a family’s livelihood!”
“Grandma, stop crying. Let’s report this to the authorities. The seeds for these fields were bought by the Second Branch, and the Second Branch planted them. Before, Old Scholar Shen said his scholarly status exempted the family from taxes, so the eldest branch didn’t contribute but still took half. Now that the family is divided, our branch can’t avoid taxes, so all the grain from these fields should belong to the Second Branch. Yet they got one-third of the land, stole some, and destroyed most of it. They should compensate for all of it!”
Shen Xixi’s words stunned everyone.
Grandpa Shen glared fiercely at Shen Xixi—this girl again, always full of wicked ideas.
“That’s right! The fields were bought by the Shen family elders back in the day, but the crops were all planted by the Second Branch. The eldest branch did nothing all day but still took one-third. Instead of being grateful, they destroyed the fields!”
“Exactly! The Second Branch has been too honest, bullied like this. Du Shi is too vicious—not content with taking advantage, she even wants to ruin others’ livelihoods. This family is full of ingrates!”
“Listen! The villagers see things clearly. What have you done? You’ll face retribution for this! Since you’re not satisfied with the decision made by me and the clan elders, take it to the authorities!”
The village head was furious. This matter was never-ending. Now, with two families involved, the crops in the fields were ruined, but the taxes owed by the Second and Third Branches couldn’t be reduced.
“That’s right! How shameless! Such lack of virtue—I wonder if the County Magistrate will report this and strip you of your Xiucai status!”
“You venomous woman! How could you be so cruel? In this alone, you’re no match for Yan Liu. If it weren’t for my parents’ disapproval back then, why would I have given up Liu Yan to marry you, you venomous woman? You hate me for loving Yan Liu, hate me for abandoning you, and now you want to ruin me!”
Grandpa Shen was seething with rage. His Xiucai status was his greatest asset. Without it, he’d be no better than those mud-legged peasants.
“Aunt, this isn’t my father’s fault. It’s all this wretched woman’s doing. I’ve already beaten her—what more do you want? If you push this too far, no one will come out looking good!”
Shen Wu grew anxious. The comfortable life he enjoyed in the village was all thanks to his Xiucai father. As long as his father remained a Xiucai, they could attach their land to Third Uncle’s household to avoid taxes, and Third Uncle’s family would help farm their fields.
Just yesterday, Third Uncle had discussed this with his father, so his life wouldn’t change much.
But Du Shi’s foolish actions—if his father lost his Xiucai status, his good days would be over.
“Kneel down, and kowtow to apologize to Auntie!” Shen Wu pressed his wife to the ground.
“Auntie, it was just a momentary lapse in judgment on my part. Please forgive me. It has nothing to do with my father-in-law. I’ll kowtow to you right now!”
She even managed to look aggrieved, tears falling continuously.
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The scene became chaotic for a time, with hair-pulling and face-scratching.
With three women fighting, it was difficult for the men to help, and Du Shi was at a disadvantage on her own.
“Everyone, stop! Feng Meixiang, you’re at such an age, and you’re still fighting!” The village head arrived, panting for breath.
His head began to throb the moment he saw the mess.
“Village head, you must seek justice for our family! Du Shi brought people from Dujia Village and ravaged all the crops in our fields. They aren’t even ripe yet! Wasting grain like this—how are we supposed to live? She’s trying to starve our family to death!”
Grandma let go as soon as she saw the village head. She slumped onto the ground, wailing and rolling around.
In the past, she would have turned up her nose at the sight of village hags acting this way, but now, she cried heart-wrenchingly, shouting that there was no way left to live.
“Why are you making trouble again? Shen Zhiqiou, the Division of Family Property was settled perfectly well yesterday. Do you disagree with the decision made by the clan elder and me? To actually destroy someone else’s crops—isn’t that destroying a family’s livelihood?”
“Grandma, don’t cry. Let’s go report this to the officials. The seeds in this field were bought by the Second Branch, and the crops were planted by the Second Branch. Previously, Scholar Shen said his scholarly honor exempted us from taxes, and the Eldest Branch got half the harvest without doing any work. Now that we’ve had a Division of Family Property, our branch no longer gets tax exemptions. All the grain in this field should belong to the Second Branch. Yet they took a third of the land, stole some of the crops, and ruined most of them. They should compensate us for all of it!”
Shen Xixi’s words stunned everyone.
Grandpa Shen looked at Shen Xixi viciously. It was this girl again, full of wicked ideas.
“That’s right. The land was settled by the Shen family elders back then, but the crops were all planted by the Second Branch. The Eldest Branch does nothing every day and still gets a third. Instead of being grateful, they ruined the fields.”
“Exactly. It’s just that the Second Branch is too honest and gets bullied like this. Du Shi is too malicious. Not only did she get an advantage, but she also wanted to destroy their path to survival. This whole branch is a bunch of ungrateful wolves.”
“Listen to that. The villagers see everything clearly. What have you done? You’ll face divine retribution! Since you’re unsatisfied with the judgment the clan elder and I made, then we’ll go to the government office.”
The village head was furious. This matter was never-ending. They were two separate families now; the crops were ruined, but the taxes the Second Branch and Third Branch had to pay wouldn’t be any less.
“Yes, doing something so shameless shows a lack of moral character. I wonder if the County Magistrate will report this and strip you of your Xiucai scholarly honor.”
“You poisonous woman, how can you be so heartless? In this regard alone, you aren’t even a fraction of Yan Liu! If my parents hadn’t disagreed back then, how could I have given up Liu Yan to marry a poisonous woman like you? You just hate that Yan Liu and I loved each other; you hate that I abandoned you, so you want to ruin me!”
Grandpa Shen was fuming with rage. His Xiucai scholarly honor was his capital. If he lost even that, he would be even worse off than those mud-legged peasants.
“Auntie, this isn’t my father’s fault. It’s all this b*tch’s doing. I’ve already beaten her. What else do you want? Do you have to push things to the extreme? It won’t look good for anyone!”
Shen Wu was anxious. He could live a good life in the village only because he had a father who was a Xiucai. As long as his father remained a Xiucai, they could register the land under his name for tax exemption, while the land was farmed by the Third Branch.
The Third Branch had mentioned this to his father yesterday, so his life wouldn’t have changed much.
But Du Shi’s clever-clever troublemaking—if his father lost his Xiucai status, his good days would be over.
“Kneel! Kowtow to Auntie and admit your mistake!” Shen Wu shoved his wife to the ground.
“Auntie, it was just a temporary lapse in judgment. Please forgive me. It has nothing to do with my father-in-law! I’ll just kowtow to you!”
She acted as if she were the aggrieved one, tears falling non-stop.