Xu saw that Fifth Uncle Sun was about to lead his two sons inside to catch a thief, and she became somewhat panicked.
She hurriedly said, "Uncle Five, it’s not a thief, it’s not a thief, it’s my elder brother from my maternal home, inside the house."
Fifth Uncle Sun raised his hand and pointed, "How could your brother from your maternal family be rummaging through your mother-in-law’s trunk? You must be mistaken. Second and third brother, quickly go and catch that thief for me."
Mrs. Sun stepped forward to stop them, "That’s my own brother, how could I be mistaken?
Besides, didn’t your old self say you wouldn’t care about my family’s business in the future?"
Indeed, Fifth Uncle Sun had said those words before, but situations differed. He recalled the harsh words Xu had said about him in the past and decided to reckon both new and old grievances altogether.
Elder Xu, hearing the commotion, hurriedly started stuffing the clothes he had taken out back into the trunk.
But before he could tidy up, he was grabbed by the collar by Sun’s second and third sons and knocked down.
The two brothers didn’t even let Xu speak; they pinned him down and started beating him up.
In their minds, they thought of their cousin Sun Fengshou, who had been badly beaten by the Xu brothers, and vowed to hit back exactly the same, losing even one punch would feel like a loss.
Dare to bully their cousin as if no one in the Sun family exists.
At first, Elder Xu just covered his head trying to dodge, but as the beating intensified, he started to fight back, leading to a brawl between them.
However, Elder Xu alone was no match for the two, and the more he fought back, the harsher the beating from Sun’s second and third sons became.
Xu saw her brother with blood pouring from his nose, howling continuously, grabbed a broom in the yard to help.
The three daughters-in-law of the Sun family saw this and immediately stepped forward to stop Xu; how could they let their men suffer secretly?
The Sun family’s daughters-in-law and Xu, from blocking and tangling, gradually evolved into a bigger fight.
The scene in the Sun’s courtyard was so grand that it soon attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
Some people were even in the fields turning the soil; hearing the news, they came running with their hoes to catch the spectacle.
Fifth Uncle Sun, seeing more and more onlookers, and that his sons and daughters-in-law had almost beaten the Xu siblings up, then waved his hands, telling them to stop.
Xu’s face was scratched with cat scratch marks by Sun family’s daughters-in-law, with streaks of blood crisscrossing her face.
Elder Xu was even worse than his sister, beaten so badly that his face was disfigured, and it was unrecognizable.
The Sun brothers dragged Elder Xu into the yard, and in front of everyone, searched his body and pulled out a purse.
"Dad, this thief pried open my aunt’s cupboard lock, look, this purse is exactly my aunt’s."
Sun’s second son smartly showed the purse to the onlookers and loudly shouted, "This thief dares to come to our village to steal things in broad daylight. I guess the things lost in our village recently are all stolen by this guy. Shouldn’t we tie him up and send him to the authorities?"
"A chicken disappeared from my home two days ago..."
"Our warehouse’s salted fish and dried vegetables are gone..."
The onlookers didn’t recognize the black and swollen faced man as Elder Xu, only believing that the Sun brothers had actually caught a thief.
At this moment, Elder Xu’s regret had reached the intestines; he regretted listening to his father and coming to the Sun family with his sister.
Before Elder Xu came, Old Xu had specially called him out, avoided his sister, and explained some things to him.
In short, it was all for the Sun family’s silver.
Elder Xu had never before done anything like stealing someone’s silver and didn’t know the severity of the crime, but hearing the villagers repeatedly shout to send him to the authorities, already chilled his heart.
Xu brushed her tangled hair back, tried hard to bear the pain on her face, hands, and feet, and managed to get up from the ground.
"Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding, this is my brother from my maternal family, he’s family, not a thief at all."
Ma Tongsheng walked out from the crowd, frowned, and asked Xu, "Before I left for the spring trials, Sun Fengshou asked me to write a divorce letter for you, so why are you still at the Sun family without leaving?"
Ma Tongsheng had gone to participate in the spring trials in Yangcheng after helping Sun Fengshou write the divorce letter, so he didn’t know the details and thus asked.
Xu scolded, "You, Ma Tongsheng! Being a scholar and all, you schemed with my husband to write a divorce letter for the sake of a few coins, ruining my marriage. You’ll go to the eighteen levels of hell."
Ma Tongsheng was a bit bewildered; he hadn’t asked for money to help Sun Fengshou write the divorce letter.
It’s all within the village, why take any money? Sun Fengshou indeed wanted to give him money, but he didn’t accept it.
Moreover, when did he ever incite Sun Fengshou to divorce Xu? He hadn’t incited at all, he had even advised against it, how could Xu muddle the facts and spray nonsense?
Ma Tongsheng, also angered, furiously replied, "First, I did not incite Brother Sun to divorce you, and I did not sow any discord between you and Brother Sun. Writing the divorce letter was Brother Sun’s own initiative. Secondly, I didn’t take any money for writing the divorce letter, so don’t slander recklessly."
Xu shouted loudly, "Even if he sought your help, you shouldn’t have written it. Writing a divorce letter for someone, ruining someone’s marriage, you lack great virtue."
Ma Tongsheng was left red-faced and speechless by Xu’s words.
Suddenly, a naive voice rang out, "My mother tore up the divorce letter."
Xu incredulously looked at Xiaohu, furiously, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Xiaohu tightened his grip on Yu Xiaolian’s hand, took a deep breath, then looked firmly at Xu and asked, "My grandmother was sick, you said you were going to my maternal grandmother’s for a folk remedy, but you were gone for many days, what exactly did you do?"
With Xiaohu’s words, buzzing discussions erupted around them immediately.
Without exception, they were all denouncing Xu.
At this time, filial piety was above all.
Unfilial people would be criticized and cursed behind their backs.
If there were an unfilial person in the village, that person would become the village’s public enemy.
Wherever they went, they would receive contempt and disdain from everyone.
Sun’s old lady was sick, yet Xu left her sick mother-in-law and young son at home, returning alone to her maternal home, which was sheer unfilial behavior to the extreme.
As the discussions grew louder and more numerous, the crowd’s anger also reached a peak.
This matter was too outrageous, the influence on our Upper River Bay Village was tremendously bad.
"Expel Xu from the village..."
"For such a vicious and unfilial daughter-in-law, she should be driven out of our village."
"Driving her out is letting her off easily; if Old Lady Sun dies, we should make her pay with her life."
"Yes, if Old Lady Sun cannot be saved, let’s put Xu in a pig cage to drown."
The mounting denunciations surrounded Xu.
Xu was guilty and scared but still stubbornly defended, "Indeed, I went to ask your grandmother for a folk remedy, but something held me up at your maternal grandparent’s."
Xiaohu lowered his head, his mother was still lying by now, what could he do?
Yu Xiaolian pressed, "What could have held you up for so many days?"
Xu couldn’t find an excuse and froze there.
Then Yu Xiaolian asked again, "Where is the folk remedy? Where is it?"
Xu was speechless; how could she have a folk remedy? She’d wished that the old lady would die sooner, how could she get any remedy?
Yu Xiaolian sneered, "You didn’t bring back a folk remedy, but brought back a mat used for rolling corpses, how so? Did you all decide that my grandmother was already dead?" Latest content published on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
The people’s gaze focused on the mat in the courtyard, and indeed it seemed to be used for rolling corpses by its weave and size.
At this moment, the angry gaze of the people shot towards Xu like knives.