After hearing what Su’s mother said, Mr. Su was furious. "I mean, what is all this? That daughter of the Hu Family is truly shameless! She’s the one who social-climbed and married some old man as his new wife, yet she has the gall to swagger around and hurt our daughter."

Su Shuochi also let out a cold snort. "Hmph... The Su family shouldn’t have gotten involved in the Hu Family’s business, but they used their influence to hurt my sister.

Ermei, I’ll say it again: are you getting a divorce or not? If you aren’t willing to, then it won’t be easy for me to step in and help you.

After all, you’re a member of the Hu family now. If I punish them, you’ll only end up hating me for it later."

"You were being bullied by the Hu family. Why didn’t you call and tell your parents and your older brother?"

Han Jinghong asked, his voice deceptively calm. Inwardly, he despised people like her. ’She has backing but won’t use it. She deserves to be bullied.’

Su Ermei: ...

’My brother was disabled before, and my parents had no power or influence, while my sister-in-law is the town mayor’s wife.’

’What good would calling them have done?!’

’A while ago, after she got food, clothes, and even money from her parents, the Hu family started sucking up to her again.

She had just been hoping that her family would keep sending things, so she could finally hold her head high in the Hu household.

But to think the Hu family would actually try to send her to prison... a bunch of ungrateful wolves!

If her mom gives her anything else, she swears she will never give a single thing to the Hu family ever again.’

"Exactly, Ermei! If you had called and told us, we wouldn’t have been afraid of her, even if the Third Miss of the Hu Family is the town mayor’s wife."

Su’s mother said through gritted teeth, furious that her own daughter had kept this from them.

"Honey, what are you trying to do?" Mr. Su urged, worried. "We should handle this privately, to avoid making a huge scene."

Su’s mother mimicked her son with a cold snort, then lowered her voice and said, "Afraid of losing face? What face is there to lose?

If that old hag from the Hu Family dared to do it, then I dare to talk about it. I bet the whole village already knows about their sordid affairs.

A self-important person like her is probably throwing her son-in-law’s name around to bully people all over the village!

I want to let the villagers see for themselves how a daughter of our Old Su Family, a perfectly innocent girl, is getting bullied by someone who married an old man as his second wife.

A shameless, spineless woman like that—she’s the one the entire village should be laughing at.

What right do they have to bully our Ermei? I’m going to call our Jiaojiao."

Hearing Su’s mother’s fierce declaration, Han Jinghong found himself wondering who Jiaojiao was. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Su Ermei beat him to it.

"Mom, who’s Jiaojiao?"

"Jiaojiao is my wife. And let me tell you, your sister-in-law is a force to be reckoned with. The Family Heads of the four great families in the Imperial City all have to call her ’Auntie’."

Upon hearing Su Shuochi’s words, Han Jinghong’s eyes bulged like saucers in astonishment.

"Shuo Ci! Shuo Ci!" the village head hollered. "The Zhu Family has a hog that’s at least three hundred pounds! Are you sure you want one that big?"

"That’s the one. Since I said I was treating everyone to a meal, I need to make sure they all eat their fill. How much for it? I’ll pay you now."

"Shuo Ci, don’t you want to go take a look before you decide?" The village head felt that a three-hundred-pound pig was far too big, even for the whole village to eat in a single meal.

"Alright, then. Let’s go take a look together." Su Shuochi stood up and started walking outside.

Han Jinghong naturally followed close behind him. At the door, several other village women also tagged along to go to the Zhu Family’s home and watch the butchering.

When Old Mrs. Hu saw that terrifying man, Su Shuochi, leave, she took the opportunity. Supported by her two daughters-in-law, she rushed to the Su family’s front gate and started shouting.

"My dear in-law! In-law! Didn’t Ermei say before that you’d lend this house to our Old Three to live in for his wedding?"

"Madam Hu, so you *do* know it was just a loan? A loan has to be repaid. We’re taking the house back now, so you’d better be quick about calling your people over to pack up."

Su’s mother’s voice arrived before she did. She abruptly stood up, strode to the doorway, and put her hands on her hips as she yelled.

"My dear in-law, be reasonable," Old Mrs. Hu asked nonchalantly. "My third daughter-in-law has lived here since her wedding. Where do you expect them to go on such short notice?"

"Where they go is none of my business. I’m not their mother. Now move it, and don’t make me regret being civil."

"Aunt Su, you... you’re going too far! Where can I possibly move in such a hurry?" Third Madam Hu asked, clearly unhappy.

’She didn’t want to move out in the slightest. In the entire village, only the Su family had a house made of blue bricks and tiles. All the others were mud-brick homes, and many were even thatched-roof huts.’

"As if I care where you move! My son said he’s giving you ten minutes. When he gets back, you won’t even have the option to move yourselves."

"My dear in-law, are you sure you want to completely tear down all pretenses? My son-in-law is the town mayor. You want my third son to move out? In your dreams.

So what if your son isn’t disabled anymore? He can’t do a thing to us. As the old saying goes, a distant emperor is no match for a local king." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Old Mrs. Hu pointed at Su’s mother and let loose a stream of curses. She’d gotten used to acting high and mighty over the past two years!

Su’s mother’s chest heaved with anger, but she didn’t back down an inch and continued to argue with Old Mrs. Hu.

"You say your son-in-law is the town mayor? Does that give him the right to bully people? My son will have him removed from his post tomorrow!"

"Bah! You think I’m going to believe you? Who says he can’t throw his weight around? Let me tell you, everyone in town is afraid of my son-in-law! There’s nothing he won’t do—only things you can’t even imagine!"

Old Mrs. Hu got so carried away with her cursing she forgot all about being afraid of Su Shuochi. She angrily flung off her daughters-in-law’s hands and began waving her arms about, dropping her frail act entirely.

A ceaseless torrent of insults poured from her mouth. Su’s mother, having spent too long in the city, was quickly overwhelmed and put on the defensive.

But she refused to show any weakness and kept roaring back. The two women argued heatedly at the gate, while Uncle Hu Er stood on the sidelines with his two sons, adding to the pressure.

Their shouting match once again attracted a crowd of village women, who gathered to watch the spectacle. These were the women the village head had arranged to come to the Su family’s home to help with the cooking.

Perhaps they were motivated by the promise of a good meal, or perhaps they had just been sick of Auntie Hu for a long time.

It’s not clear who started it, but soon they were all talking at once, joining in to curse Old Mrs. Hu. The confrontation became so intense that it nearly devolved into a physical fight.

"Enough! All of you, shut up," a sudden sharp voice commanded, startling everyone into looking at the gate.

Su Shuochi was standing outside the gate; no one knew when he had returned. His face was grim, and his entire being radiated a frightening, hostile energy.

He just stood there silently in the gateway. He didn’t speak, but his presence weighed on the women’s hearts like a mountain.

It was so heavy they could barely breathe, yet not a single person dared to make a sound. They were completely awed into silence, terrified of provoking him.

Seeing that her son was back, Su’s mother hurried over to him, her voice full of grievance as she tattled, "Chi, Old Mrs. Hu refuses to move out."

"It’s not up to them," Su Shuochi said. "All of you, go inside now. Throw everything you find in that house out onto the street. I don’t care if it gets broken. Everyone who helps can go to the village head and get a pound of pork."