Honestly, these things shouldn’t have been said to Lady He; it should have been discussed with Lady Zhou. But Lady Zhang Wang specifically brought in Lady He, yet the words were meant for Lady Zhou and everyone in the Lian Family to hear.

"When our family’s eldest girl married into the Old Lian Family, she had a full set of dowry, clothes, fabric, those jewelry she wore on her head and hands. But when the time came to divide the family, what did she have left? Who used up all those things? Which family member had the nerve to dig into the bride’s chests? Yet you have the face to call our family’s eldest girl unfilial? If she were unfilial, would she have given you all those things?"

"If she were unfilial, could she neglect nursing her own child to nurse her sister-in-law’s child? If she were unfilial, would the nurse of our child come to your house to serve during childbirth, not for her daughter, but for the mother-in-law?"

"Isn’t your Old Lian Family living the high life, with houses and land in the village and even in town, and ordering servants around, yet why do my nieces and nephews always go hungry, watching others eat meat at the table while they can only drink vegetable soup?"

"Our eldest girl was well and pregnant with a son. Why did she lose him, almost losing her life as well? Why did my niece Manman have a big scar on her head and almost got buried on Nanshan slope by you? Our eldest girl is unfilial? Would she keep all this from us? Would she just let things end like this with you? Are we from the Old Zhang family supposed to stay silent, letting you live comfortably as if nothing happened until now?"

"People without conscience, who do too much evil, will face retribution."

"Our eldest girl had a good heart, treating you as people, inviting you, even those who’ve been to prison, to the table at family gatherings. How did you repay her? Just because she has a good heart, you find her easy to bully? Shameless! You stink to high heaven, yet you still consider yourself a human being, having the nerve to spew nonsense that our Old Zhang family took advantage of the Lian family. Pah! Look at what your family has that could be taken advantage of. Good people avoid you like the plague."

"Don’t think I don’t know your little schemes. Our eldest girl is soft-hearted, and all the children are still young. You just want us to sever ties with her, or at least reduce contact, right? So you can bully her at will, make her give you money to support your entire family, doing nothing while waiting to eat and drink for free."

At the same time, in the Upper Room, Old Master Lian, who was being engaged in conversation by Zhang Qingshan, was already distracted, while Lady Zhou sat on the kang, her face alternating red and white, clearly hearing everything happening in the courtyard.

Feeling guilty, Old Master Lian frequently apologized to Zhang Qingshan, while also subduing Lady Zhou, who was about to start a quarrel.

Zhang Qingshan also apologized to Old Master Lian, saying Lady Zhang Wang’s words might have been a bit too much.

"...She was just angry, that’s her temperament. Old brother, old sister-in-law, don’t take it to heart, it wasn’t against you two. It’s just that she doesn’t get along with your second daughter-in-law. I heard that about Manman’s incident back then, it was indeed your second daughter-in-law who pushed for her to be buried, talking about good omens or bad omens."

"These youngsters don’t understand, and as the older generation, we worry."

"...Ah, the brothers? They’re just rough men; they just talk things through. Isn’t that how brothers get along, haha," Zhang Qingshan responded this way to Old Master Lian’s gentle suggestion to talk things over without harming feelings, even reprimanding Zhang Qingnian and his brothers outside the window.

Lady Zhang Wang raised her voice, the neighbors had already heard the commotion. People just let quarrels pass, but when real fights broke out, the neighbors rushed over.

Some tried to persuade Lady Zhang Wang, while others stepped in to break up the fight. Amidst the chaos, Lian Shouyi took a few more punches on his face.

Among those who came to stop the fight were those who just had a meal at Lian Manman’s house and understood the whole story.

Seeing the crowd, Lady Zhang Wang’s attitude softened, and she started explaining to everyone.

"We didn’t make a fuss about these things before, and even now, we intended to let it go, not mention it anymore. But as you all have seen, we’re being forced to bring it up."

In the end, with everyone’s mediation, Zhang Qingshan happily said that it’s good everything has been aired out, they won’t care anymore, and "the clouds of the day have dissipated". Then he cheerfully left with his children.

Soon after, Old Master Lian brought Lian Shouyi to apologize to Lady Zhang.

Lian Manman and the others were quite happy. They couldn’t beat Lian Shouyi themselves, but now their uncle’s family had not only beaten him up but also uncovered all his scars.

"I also realized, if we don’t say or mention anything, on their side, it really seems like nothing happened. This should have been done long ago, it was all brought upon themselves," said Lian Manman.

Before, the Zhang family had reservations about taking action against the people in the Lian Family Main House. Initially, it was because Lady Zhang and her children had to live under Lady Zhou’s control. Later, even after splitting the family, they still had not completely broken free from Upper Room’s dominance. Once Lian Manman’s family was able to stand on their own and time passed, Zhang family still had to consider the reputation of Lian Manman’s family.

Today, it was Lian Shouyi who practically delivered himself, providing the Zhang family with an excuse to settle old scores.

Who could blame him for it, it must have been fate pushing him forward, thought Lian Manman with a slight laugh. Zhang Qingshan had always harbored resentment towards the Lian Family Main House, and it would be surprising if he didn’t seize today’s opportunity.

Lian Shouyi was beaten and then came over to apologize to Lady Zhang, but after discussing it as a family, they still decided never to involve Lian Shouyi again in any future matters. This also extended to Lian Shouren, even though he said nothing today, who could say that Lian Shouyi’s words weren’t something they plotted together and brought to the table?

"If they don’t know how to show respect, then it’s simple—don’t respect them," said Wu Lang.

*** 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Here’s the first update, asking for support with pink tickets.

There’ll be a second update later. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)