People these days were very superstitious. Li Ke had just died yesterday, and no one dared to get involved with his family now. What if Li Ke came back at night to look for them?
At the back of the crowd, Aunt Zhang called over her grandson.
“Little Stone, hurry and go get the village head. Quickly—if you’re any later, someone’s really going to die.”
Wan-niang was all alone, and she had just given birth. The Li family had so many people—if they all joined in, Wan-niang would definitely lose her life.
Little Stone nodded and turned to run toward the village head’s house.
Meanwhile, several people in the courtyard were already closing in on Xia Wanyue.
Hearing the voices from the wall, Old Madam Wang roared angrily:
“Shut your filthy mouths! If Li Ke dares to come back, he’ll come looking for this little slut. His wife beat his mother—if he still sides with his wife, then he’s unfilial!An unfilial son like that—if I dug up his grave, he’d deserve it!”
“If he has the guts, let him come find me! I gave birth to him—why would I be afraid of him?”
Though she sounded fierce, her heart still trembled slightly.
“Second daughter-in-law, don’t blame your father. If you must blame someone, blame your bad fate.”
“Do it—”
With Old Man Li’s command, Li Xin, Li Shi, even Li He and Miao-shi, along with Li Shi’s children—Li Cai, Li Daya, Li Er’ya—all rushed forward.
Screams rang out one after another in the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard, Aunt Zhang stamped her feet anxiously.
She glanced at the tightly closed gate, then toward the village head’s house. After what felt like forever, she finally saw Little Stone running back with the village head.
“How is it?” the village head asked.
“Hurry, hurry! Village head, they’re fighting! They’re trying to kill Yue-niang!”
The village head stood on tiptoe and peeked over the wall.
He had braced himself mentally, expecting to see Xia Wanyue beaten half to death.
Instead, he saw bodies scattered all over the courtyard—everyone lying on the ground.The only one still standing was Xia Wanyue.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The village head knocked on the door.
“The village head is here—it’s the village head!”
“Hurry, hurry, let’s go see—”
The villagers watching from the walls quickly jumped down and rushed to the Li family gate.
Soon, a large crowd gathered behind the village head.
“Village head, save me!!!”
The gate opened, and Old Madam Wang suddenly lunged forward—straight into the village head’s arms.
She even accidentally pulled open his collar, exposing his chest.
The village head jumped in fright and shoved her away hard. Old Madam Wang fell backward again, landing squarely on the doorstep. Her tailbone, already aching, hurt even more.
It wasn’t that she meant to pounce on him—her backside hurt so badly that she couldn’t stand steady when she opened the door. She stumbled forward and instinctively grabbed at him, tearing open his clothes.
She was also terrified. Her legs had gone weak. What had just happened was truly horrifying.
Xia Wanyue had been like a madwoman.
So many people couldn’t restrain her. Though she had taken a few hits herself, compared to everyone else, it was nothing.
There wasn’t a single person in the courtyard who wasn’t injured.
Even the old man had been struck hard on the back and kicked to the ground. He was still lying there, unable to get up.
In no time at all, everyone had been knocked down. And after knocking them down, she even went around with a stick, giving each of them an extra blow.
When Xia Wanyue started walking toward her, Old Madam Wang’s adrenaline surged. She no longer felt the pain in her backside at all.
She was scared out of her wits.
When she heard the knocking, she forced herself up on her injured backside and rushed to open the gate—leading to her dramatic dive into the village head’s arms.
The surrounding villagers either lowered their heads or looked away—no one dared to stare.
“You old hag! At your age, you still dare to seduce my man? I’ll beat you to death!”
The village head’s wife had originally been cooking. Hearing there was trouble, she tossed her spatula to her daughter-in-law and hurried after her husband to watch the commotion.
But instead of a spectacle, she saw Old Madam Wang throwing herself into her husband’s arms.
That was it.
She forgot everything else and charged forward, grabbing Old Madam Wang by the hair while yelling curses.
“You shameless old thing! At your age you’re still seducing men? Look at your wrinkled yellow skin—do you think my husband would even look at you?”
“If you love seducing men so much, there are plenty of old bachelors in the village! But instead you set your sights on my husband? I’ll tear your face off and see how you seduce anyone then!”
Old Madam Wang had just been shoved away by the village head and fallen painfully onto the steps, nearly passing out.
Now she was pinned to the ground by the village head’s wife, hair yanked and face slapped—beaten awake again by sheer force.
The villagers were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped.
How had things ended up like this?
Weren’t they supposed to be dealing with the Li family’s problem first?
“Enough! Stop it!”
“Wife, what are you doing? Stop hitting her!”
“……Stop it, now!”
The village head straightened his clothes and hurried to stop his wife. What had been nothing now sounded, coming from her mouth, like he truly had something going on with Old Madam Wang.
Old Madam Wang had fallen twice on her injured backside—her bones were already cracked. After being beaten again by the village head’s wife, she finally passed out completely.
Seeing her unconscious and being scolded by her husband, the village head’s wife tremblingly withdrew her hands.
The village head shot his wife a glare, then said to a young man beside him, “Go get a doctor.”
After that, he stepped into the courtyard.
Seeing the village head arrive, Xia Wanyue took advantage of the chaos. She crouched down, smeared some blood from Little Li-shi onto her own face and clothes, then fell to the ground.
“Wuwuwu—”
“Village head, save me! They’re trying to kill me—wuwuwu—”
People always sympathized with the weak. If the village head saw everyone else lying injured on the ground while she stood there perfectly fine, who knew where his judgment would lean?
When the village head entered the courtyard, he saw bodies everywhere—everyone injured. Two were unconscious, and even those still awake were clutching themselves and rolling on the ground in pain.
The worst-looking of all was Xia Wanyue.
Her face, hair, and clothes were covered in blood. She lay pale on the ground, tears streaming down mixed with blood.
She looked utterly miserable. Combined with her darkened skin from years of labor and her thin, gaunt body, she looked like a pitiful soul who had been severely bullied.
The village head felt confused. He clearly remembered that when he looked in earlier from outside the wall, Xia Wanyue had still been standing.
Had something else happened during the short delay?
Looking at her tragic state, even the village head couldn’t help but feel sympathy.
He knew a bit about the second branch of the Li family. Sons or not, even if you couldn’t treat them equally, you couldn’t keep bullying just one of them endlessly.