Li Village.
In Li Yao's family courtyard, a large group of people had already gathered.
In addition to Li's three aunts and six grandmothers, there were also more than twenty strong young men, all discussing what to do next if Li Yao did not come to pay compensation voluntarily.
"She dare not compensate!" Li Fu, who had previously been embarrassed at Li Yao's house, said loudly, "If she dares not compensate, wait for me to take you guys later and demolish her house!"
"Even her own family gets beaten, this kind of wolf-hearted dog-lunged thing, must be severely dealt with."
"Look, is she coming?"
The crowd turned to look, and indeed saw Li Yao's figure, walking quickly towards them.
When Li Yao arrived in the yard, Li Fu asked a little smugly, "It seems you are still afraid, so you came so early. Did you bring the silver?"
"What silver?" Li Yao asked.
"What silver do you say?" Li Fu was angry when he heard these words were wrong, and immediately became angry, "Wang Er injured Li Xian and has to compensate five taels of silver!"
"Oh, you're talking about this," Li Yao said unhurriedly, "That day Wang Er was also injured by Li Xian, and spent a whole ten taels of silver on medicine. So if you calculate it this way, you still owe me five taels."
When Li Yao's mother Lu Shi heard this, she immediately scolded, "Shameless cheap slut, are you trying to rebel against heaven? You beat your own family members and still dare to ask us for money?"
Li Fu also shouted loudly, "Today if you don't pay, I will beat you to death!"
More than a dozen strong men surrounded them with unkind expressions.
But Li Yao was not to be easily threatened either. With one hand on her hip, she pointed at Li Fu's nose and said, "Come on if you dare! If you take half a step back, I'll curse your name backwards!"
"You little slut, you really want to rebel against heaven! Watch me fix you today!"
As Lu Shi spoke, she picked up a broom and hit Li Yao, but she didn't expect that the usually obedient Li Yao would not tolerate it today. She grabbed the broom.
"I'll spare you for your age, I won't fight you. But if you continue to be shameless, don't blame me for turning against you!" Li Yao said.
"You... you..."
Lu Shi didn't expect Li Yao to be so arrogant. She was so angry her face turned pale.
"Beat her! Beat this little bitch to death!"
As soon as Li Fu heard this, he directly grabbed Li Yao's hair, but before his hand arrived, he was kicked in the belly by Li Yao. The intense pain made him involuntarily bend over, but waiting for him was Li Yao's knee.
Snap!
Li Fu's nose was smashed and tears and blood spurted out together.
When the other Li men saw this, they wanted to come forward to help, but Li Yao raised her broom, "Who else dares to come! I'll say it today, whoever comes across me, don't blame me for fighting desperately with him!"
The crowd was deterred by her momentum, and no one dared to take another step forward.
After all, the injured Li Fu was just a clansman, not a brother. And Li Yao's notoriety was already well known to all. If they really provoked her to desperation, it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Seeing that so many people were helpless against Li Yao, and her eldest son was groaning in pain on the ground, Lu Shi jumped up again.
"Little slut, you ate leopard guts and still dare to hurt people! Take her to sue!"
"Hurry up and sue!" Li Yao didn't back down at all, "I'd love to see how the magistrate will rule when dozens of men bully a woman alone! It will also let everyone know how you rely on power to oppress the weak, and add glory to Li Xian's face."
At the mention of Li Xian, Lu Shi panicked.
The literati's greatest fear was losing face.
Li Xian was going to take the imperial examination and become an official in the future. If this matter got big, it would definitely affect his career.
"You unfilial thing! When Li Xian becomes an official, don't expect to get any favors! From now on, don't expect me to say a word for you for anything!"
"As if you've ever helped me," Li Yao said, "How much have I given you over the years, how much money have I taken, and you say nice things, that you'll help when there's an issue. But what happened? When Wang Er was rejected for marriage, who hid in the room like a tortoise? A natal family like this is better off not having!"
"Fine, fine, since you say it so heartlessly, don't blame me for disowning you! From now on, don't even think about stepping through my Li's door again!"
This was exactly what Li Yao was waiting for her to say; "Consider me already dead. Let's all bear witness, in case she goes back on it later."
Lu Shi was so angry her face turned green.
She didn't expect that Li Yao, a widow with four children to raise, would really dare to disown her own mother.
But breaking off relations was impossible.
Everyone knew Li Yao had made money from her business. If relations were really cut off, how would she still give money to support Li Xian's studies?
So she neatly lay down on the ground.
"Heaven, what sin have I committed?"
"I raised an unfilial and rebellious thing who won't even recognize her own mother!"
"Heaven, strike her dead with lightning!"
...
After wailing for a while and seeing Li Yao hadn't left, thinking this tactic was working, Lu Shi secretly signaled her eldest daughter-in-law Zou Shi.
"Sis, what's all this noise about?" Understanding her meaning, Zou Shi hurried forward to reconcile, "We're all one family. Arguing a few words over a small matter, it'll be over after turning away for a bit. What's more, you're mother's own daughter. Just say a couple good words to coax her, her anger will vanish. We'll still be one family in the future, right?"
"Done?" Li Yao asked. "Hurry up and return my old hen, I'm in a rush to go back."
Zou Shi: ...I tried to reconcile, you talk to me about an old hen?
"I'll go find it myself."
Li Yao went straight to the chicken coop, immediately spotting her family's old hen.
Seeing her really leaving with the old hen, Lu Shi jumped up from the ground and hurled all kinds of vicious curses and foul language at her retreating back.
Li Yao knew it wasn't realistic to completely free herself of her original family.
But at least she could have some peace for now.
Thinking this, she couldn't help feeling light and refreshed.
But she hadn't gone far when she saw He Xiaoya and Second Sister-in-Law Zhou walking anxiously towards her.
"Mother!"
"Sister-in-law!"
"What are you doing here?" Li Yao asked.
"Xiaoya was anxious at home, so she went and told Mother," Zhou said, "Mother told me to come see if something really happened, then hurry back and tell her so she could bring people to come snatch you back."
Li Yao: ...
"What happened, are you alright?"
"What could happen to me?"
Seeing she really was fine, Zhou and He Xiaoya finally felt relieved.
Also seeing her still holding their family's old hen, He Xiaoya's admiration grew even more.
Mother really is amazing!
"Hurry back, don't let Mother worry at home," Zhou urged.
Under her urging, the three hurried back.
Da Zhuang had already packed up his stall and returned home, where he was being scolded by his mother-in-law for not going with Li Yao to her natal family, listening with grievance on his face.
He had wanted to go, but Mother insisted against it.
But when Mother returned home, he was spared scolding, as Grandma Wang directly shifted her aim to Li Yao.
"A mother of four children, no sense when doing things!"
"If you got beaten to death, it would be over and done, but what about your children?"
"You're still my Wang family's person before you remarry! If something like this happens again in the future, if you dare hide it from me again, believe I'll skin you!"
...
Facing the old lady's torrent of scolding, Li Yao uncharacteristically didn't talk back, and went straight into the kitchen to make lunch.
By the time she tired of scolding, the food was also ready.
"You're already here, eat before going back?"
Hearing this, the old lady shot up from her stool as if it had sprouted teeth, got up and walked away.
"I won't eat, I can't stand the food in your home."
"Don't put on airs just because you have some money, save it for Wang Er to get a wife!"
Her voice continued drifting over, but the old lady's figure had already disappeared.
"It's rare you didn't argue with her," Zhou said with a smile. "She'll probably feel proud for a while this time."
Li Yao had made extra food to begin with, so she let Zhou sit down and eat with them.
"I shouldn't..."
"Sit down," Li Yao said. "I have something I want to discuss with you."
The braised food stall had gained some fame in Baichuan Market, and the business could stabilize. Next she needed to expand operations, so more manpower was needed.
The first franchise, Li Yao planned to hand over to Zhou.