Upon hearing this, Land Officer Yang’s face turned as black as ink, stomping over to Old Lady Hua and kicking her viciously. He then said to the oncoming villagers, "Take them back to the village and deal with them there. Don’t let them disgrace us out here."
When Land Officer gave the order, several village men immediately stepped forward to grab Old Sun, while Land Officer’s wife and Old Aunt-in-law Gen and others held down Old Lady Hua. Old Lady Hua tried to struggle free and escape, but seeing her defiant expression, Land Officer’s wife slapped her without hesitation, "You old hag, you’ve shamed our entire village and you still dare to think of running away."
Old Lady Hua was held down, unable to move, but her mouth couldn’t be silenced. Seeing her two sons and daughters-in-law beside her, no sign of shame crossed her face, and she loudly yelled for them to help her.
"Eldest, Fourth, are you two dead? Can’t you see your mother being humiliated by these filthy women? Come help your mother get these people off me!"
Yang Da’an and Yang Xiaochuan heard this, their faces already flushed with embarrassment, and now they were practically dripping with blood. How suffocated they felt! Was this really their mother? Yang Xiaochuan couldn’t help but ask himself.
Ms.Liu and Ms.Luo who came along also hung their heads, too humiliated to lift their faces. Earlier, Brother An had returned to the village only shouting that an adultery had been caught, and the two of them had tagged along thinking there would be excitement to see, never expecting it to be their mother-in-law. This was utterly disgraceful.
Seeing her two sons ignoring her, Old Lady Hua turned to call her three daughters-in-law, but they kept their heads lowered and said nothing.
Yang Chuxia looked at the scene and laughed, then kicked her leg again. "You should stop wasting your energy; looking at your disgraceful state right now, anyone would want to avoid you."
Not to mention, Yang Xiaochuan’s heart really thought so. He wished he had never had such a mother.
"Enough talk, take them away quickly." Land Officer Yang noticed that the group hadn’t moved yet and angrily said again.
Soon, a group of people escorted Old Lady Hua and Old Sun back to Yangshu Village, taking them directly to the ancestral hall.
Yang Family’s few clan elders who received the news were already waiting for them in the ancestral hall. Upon seeing the two people being escorted in, they all pounded the table in anger.
One of the four clan elders, Uncle Old Gen’s father, pointed at Old Lady Hua and shouted repeatedly, "Shameful, disgraceful, utterly disgraceful!"
After saying that, he yelled at Old Yang, "Now tell us, how do you plan to handle this?"
When the Fourth Clan Elder asked Old Yang, all the people present turned their gazes to him, including Yang Chuxia. On the way back, she had been watching her grandfather’s face, but couldn’t tell his emotions, and he hadn’t said a word the whole way, not showing the expression a cuckolded man should have.
But now, hearing the Fourth Clan Elder’s question, Old Yang finally cracked. He picked up the tobacco pipe he’d been holding and struck Old Lady Hua with it. He didn’t speak, just kept beating her, making Old Lady Hua howl in pain.
"Yang Baozi, you damn bastard, you dog..." Old Lady Hua was beaten and kept cursing, but with each curse, Old Yang’s hand grew heavier. No one beside stepped forward to stop him.
Even her own two sons remained motionless, their initial disbelief and anger now giving way to shame.
Seeing her cursing nonstop, Land Officer Yang grew impatient and said, "Gag her mouth, hit her hard! A bitch like her deserves to be beaten to death!"