Sister Chen Debates Old Mrs. Li

The warm atmosphere in the Yang family’s courtyard suddenly froze.

The village head was the head of Wanshou Ward. He also held the rank of a third-grade Chai Niao noble.

Before Li Yan received his title, he had been the most highly esteemed person in Wanshou Ward. Although the village head was kind and easygoing, Old Lady Li and Li Yan’s wife had long been accustomed to throwing their weight around.

Supporting Old Lady Li, Li’s daughter-in-law urged Yang Ning, “What? Didn’t you hear me?”

Yang Ning looked at Old Lady Li and her daughter-in-law.

Her expression gradually turned cold. It was obvious that she was angry.

Li Yan knew that Old Lady Li and his wife had never gotten along with Yang Ning, but the village head was a good man, and Li Yan did not want to cause a confrontation.

He did not want to leave the village head embarrassed.

Li Yan hurriedly stepped in front of Yang Ning.

Thinking that it would be best to spend a little money to avoid trouble and send this troublemaker away, the kindhearted Li Yan cut twenty pounds of meat from the Black Hawk, tied it up, and handed it to Old Lady Li.

“Madam, please take this.”

Old Lady Li said nothing.

Her daughter-in-law merely hummed in response. Without even offering a word of thanks, she reached out to take the meat from Li Yan.

But then—

Smack!

A rolling pin struck the wrapped meat, making Li’s daughter-in-law jerk her hand back.

She glared angrily at Yang Ning. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Yang Ning gripped the rolling pin.

Meeting the gazes of Old Lady Li and her daughter-in-law, she refused to back down even an inch.

“Nothing much. I just don’t want to give this piece of meat to you.”

Seeing that the two sides were about to start arguing, Li Yan steeled himself and tried to step in to mediate.

But before he could say a word, he met Yang Ning’s icy gaze.

Recognizing the situation at once, he decisively retreated to the side and joined Yang An, who had already tucked his hands into his sleeves and was hiding nearby with Manman in his arms.

Yang An grinned. “Brother-in-law, why did you provoke my sister for no reason? Just leave this sort of thing to her.”

Li Yan gave a bitter, helpless smile and nodded.

Amid the crowd, Old Lady Li shook off the arm of her daughter-in-law.

She planted her hands on her hips, thrust out her neck, and leaned forward before launching the first attack.

“Yang Ning! If our family hadn’t lent Li Yan a horse, who knows whether your second brother would have made it out of prison! Our whole family is your family’s savior, and this is how you treat us?”

Faced with Old Lady Li’s aggressive onslaught, Yang Ning remained completely composed.

“The horse was lent by the Village Head. Naturally, our whole family is grateful to him. But what does that have to do with you? Why should I give you any meat? Because you’re old? Because you’re missing a tooth and your words whistle through the gap?”

Old?

Her words whistle through the gap?

Several young married women nearby covered their mouths and snickered.

Usually, the villagers only knew Madam Yang as a kindhearted woman with a proper, beautiful appearance, as delicate and gentle as a little white flower.

No one had expected her to be so fierce.

Then again, if Yang Ning had truly been weak, she could never have raised Yang An by herself all those years after becoming an orphaned teenager.

Old Lady Li found herself unable to save face.

The wrinkles on her face deepened as she shouted at the surrounding villagers, “What are you laughing at? Let me see who dares to laugh!”

No one in Wanshou Ward dared disrespect the village head.

As for Old Lady Li, everyone usually chose to yield or endure her temper. One after another, they lowered their heads.

Seeing that her authority remained intact, Old Lady Li gave a satisfied snort before continuing to press Yang Ning.

“This is sophistry! I’ll ask you one thing: did you ride our family’s horse or not? If you rode our horse, then you owe our family meat!”

Yang Ning’s expression remained calm.

“No problem. Bring the Village Head here, and our family will give him however much meat he asks for. But we won’t give you any. Even if you throw a tantrum and roll around on the ground, don’t dream of getting a single piece.”

“Who’s throwing a tantrum? You’re the one throwing a tantrum!”

Old Lady Li was so furious that her whole body trembled.

At that moment, her grandson, Li Dabao, noticed Manman.

His eyes fixed on the fragrant dried meat in her hands, and he was so greedy that he nearly drooled.

He tugged at her clothes and shouted, “Grandma, I want meat! I want to eat meat!”

Old Lady Li forced down her anger and coaxed her grandson.

“Good boy, Da Bao. Don’t worry. Grandma will get you some meat right away.”

Then she turned a cold glare on Yang Ning.

“Did you hear that? My grandson wants to eat meat! Hurry up and hand it over! The prefectural examination is in two days. My grandson needs meat to replenish his strength. If you delay him and he fails to come first, can you bear the responsibility?”

Yang Ning was speechless.

She was both angry and amused.

“Whether your grandson can come first has nothing to do with me. Why are you trying to pin the responsibility on me?”

“If you refuse to give us the meat, then it does have something to do with you!”

“Why?”

Old Lady Li suddenly let out a cold laugh.

“I understand now! You’re deliberately targeting my grandson! Your Yang An has failed the examinations three times in a row, and you’re jealous because my Da Bao became a tongsheng. So now you want my Da Bao to fail the prefectural examination too, don’t you?”

“Yang Ning, how vicious can you be?”

“No wonder your brother can never pass! He deserves it!”

“Today, you’re giving us this meat whether you like it or not! Our family has decided to take it!”

As she spoke, Old Lady Li gave her daughter-in-law a meaningful look, signaling her to snatch the meat from in front of Yang Ning.

Yet Yang Ning, who had been calm and unruffled moments before, now wore an expression of fury.

She could ignore Old Lady Li’s insults toward her.

But she absolutely could not tolerate the woman dragging her younger brother into it.

Yang Ning shouted, “Sister Chen, throw them out!”

At once, Widow Chen and her daughter stepped in front of Yang Ning and blocked Li’s mother and daughter-in-law.

Widow Chen’s family had no men, and without a man in the household, they could not even manage to farm their land.

With no man to run the family, Old Lady Li had always looked down on the widowed mother and daughter.

Seeing someone as powerless as Widow Chen dare to help Yang Ning oppose her, Old Lady Li immediately felt that her position in Wanshou Ward had been challenged.

“Widow Chen! What business is this of yours? Get out of the way!”

Normally, Widow Chen would never have dared provoke Old Lady Li. She would have taken her daughter and hidden in a corner long ago.

But now she had completely taken on the role of a servant in the Yang household and regarded Yang Ning as her mistress.

Yang An was a second-grade Gongshi noble.

Li Yan was a third-grade Chai Niao noble.

The Yang family’s titles were no inferior to the village head’s. With the Yang family supporting her, Widow Chen—whose spirit had been worn down by years of hardship—no longer had to swallow her grievances in silence.

Her thick, dark brows drew together.

Then she launched into a furious tirade.

“You shameless old hag! Our mistress is beautiful and kindhearted—who in all of Wanshou Ward doesn’t praise her? You’re the only one who acts like a pair of rotten trousers, constantly making snide, unpleasant remarks! What has our mistress ever done to offend you that you have to smear her like this?”

For so many years, this was the first time anyone in Wanshou Ward had ever pointed at Old Lady Li’s nose and cursed her.

The surrounding villagers stood dumbfounded.

Old Lady Li had never dreamed that the timid, easily bullied Widow Chen would dare talk back to her like this.

Enraged, she raised her hand to slap her.

Widow Chen was in her thirties, young and strong.

How could a woman in her fifties or sixties like Old Lady Li possibly be her match?

Before the slap could land, Widow Chen seized her wrist and clamped down hard.

Seeing that Old Lady Li still dared to raise a hand against her, Widow Chen cursed even more fiercely, as if she intended to vent all the grievances she had endured over the past several years.

“And your precious grandson, Da Bao—he’s fifteen this year, isn’t he? All he knows how to do is eat and sleep. He’s practically a halfwit!”

“Everyone in Wanshou Ward knows he’s taken the tongsheng examination five times without passing. He’s driven eight private tutors away in a fit of rage!”

“If the village head hadn’t paid to buy him a tongsheng title last year, he’d still be crammed in with that bunch of eight- and nine-year-old children, peeing in the dirt and playing with mud!”

Seeing that Old Lady Li had been thoroughly subdued, Li’s daughter-in-law hurried over to back her up. “What’s wrong with our Da Bao? No matter what, our Da Bao is still better than Yang An…”

Before she could finish, Widow Chen pounced like an aggressive old hen, cutting her off and pinning both Old Lady Li and her daughter-in-law down with her words.

“What’s wrong with our young master? Our young master began studying at the age of six, and when he took the local examination for the first time at ten, he passed and became a tongsheng!”

“He was the first one in our Wanshou Ward to do so in over fifty years!”

“He was hailed as a genius back then. Every private school in the entire city of Yunzhou was fighting to take him as a student!”

“That blockhead from your family—does he even deserve to be compared with our young master?!”

“Are you both blind?!”

Li’s daughter-in-law’s face flushed crimson under the onslaught.

With all her family’s shameful secrets exposed, Old Lady Li felt as though someone had clamped a hand around her throat. She could not utter a single word in retort.

And after Widow Chen finished speaking, she and her daughter-in-law could clearly feel that the people around them were looking at them strangely.

They had never suffered such humiliation before.

Old Lady Li’s fingers trembled as she pointed at Widow Chen. Her lips had gone blue with rage, and she stammered, “You…”

“You what?” Widow Chen shot back. “You shameless old hag, hurry up and get out! It’s bad enough that you’ve made a fool of yourself—you even dragged your grandson and daughter-in-law into it!”

“The Village Head is such a good man, yet you’re going to ruin his reputation for the rest of his life, you old corpse!”

“How do you still have the nerve to come out here and make a scene?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t even dare show my face!”

“Get out!”