A vicious woman like this deserves nothing less than a bill of divorce.

"We shall deal with whatever comes our way. Fortunately, we still have some backing. As long as we do not leave Tubei Mountain, there is nothing they can do to us."

Old Man Su made the final decision. "We will live just as we always have. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. No matter what malicious plots they hatch, if we refuse, they cannot force us. Enough, everyone back to work. Tend to the vegetable patch properly; we must plant the autumn crops by late July."

The Su family members set their minds at ease and dispersed.

Meanwhile, Su Cheng returned to Tunai Village looking thoroughly disheveled.

The clan of Su Liang lived in small, crude sheds situated deep within the village.

Six thatched sheds formed a crescent shape, enclosing a central courtyard littered with farming tools, kitchenware, and daily necessities.

It appeared utterly chaotic and cluttered.

Dozens of people were crammed into these cramped shelters, devoid of even a single decent room.

Dark, cramped, and stifling.

The early summer days were the most agonizing; one could break into a full sweat just by staying inside the shed for a moment, and snakes, insects, and mice could often be seen slithering or scurrying in the corners.

As Su Cheng stepped back into his dwelling, someone immediately hurried out to greet him. Taken aback by his dust-covered and battered appearance, the person asked, "How did you end up looking like this? What was their reaction over there?"

Pointing at his own face, Su Cheng gritted his teeth in rage. "What reaction? You can tell just by looking at my face! I went there in person, but I couldn't even step through their door. That whole family armed themselves and actually tried to lay hands on me!"

Ever since Su Liang attained an official position, their entire household had migrated to the capital, where they had grown accustomed to feeling superior to others.

Having always maintained a strong sense of superiority over the collateral branches of the family, they were used to accepting the flattery and adulation of their distant relatives.

The reaction of Su Xiang's family left Su Cheng hopping mad. "Country bumpkins are country bumpkins through and through—devoid of refinement in both word and deed! That vicious shrew of theirs even went so far as to announce that she wants to draw a clear line between us and have nothing more to do with the Su clan!"

People trickled out from the surrounding sheds.

Some were in ragged clothes with ashen complexions, while others had hollow cheeks and were wasted to skin and bone.

Hearing Su Cheng's words, the sudden gleam of hope that had flickered in many eyes was extinguished once more. "Nobody is a fool. When we first arrived, they didn't bother to restore ties; what is the use of seeking them out now? Clearly, they are on guard against us coming to sponge off them..."

"Silence!" A stern reprimand rang out from behind the crowd.

Those lingering near the entrance of the shed hurriedly stepped back, lowering their heads with inscrutable expressions.

"As long as we have not passed the fifth degree of mourning and remain undivided, the names of all Su descendants are written in a single genealogy. You cannot write two distinct characters for Su with a single stroke; whether they acknowledge it or not, they are members of the Su family. Being members of the Su family, they must obey the family rules and respect seniority!" An elderly woman of over sixty stepped out of the shed, supported by meek-looking women on either side.

The old woman had graying hair, and though her complexion appeared dispirited after the family's sudden reversal of fortune, the arrogance and dominance in her eyes remained undiminished.

She swept her gaze across the gathered crowd before fixing her cold eyes on the direction of Tubei Mountain. "They assume that because our main branch has fallen on hard times, they can put on airs. Since ancient times, there has never been a rule where a collateral branch places itself above the main branch."

The middle-aged woman on her left lowered her head and murmured, "Mother is entirely right. As the matriarch of the Su clan, Mother has been here for quite some time, yet that Su family has not once come to pay their respects. They are the ones who first showed a lack of manners. Are we to expect Mother to humble herself before a mere collateral branch consisting of only a few mouths?"

The woman on the right chimed in, "If they possessed any sense of propriety, they should have come long ago to escort Mother over to be waited upon. Mother wouldn't have had to humble herself in this wretched grass shack and fall ill, alas."

As the two women echoed each other, Su Cheng immediately chimed in. "Indeed! Mother, you have no idea how vile that lesser Su family is! The woman Su Xiang married actually struck me across the face! Is that any way to behave? No matter what, I am her paternal cousin! She ranted and raved, showing utter disrespect to our main branch in every word she uttered! In the old days, such a vicious shrew would have been cast out with a letter of divorce!"

He exaggerated and embellished the vile behavior of the Su family while omitting the fact that he had been pelted with a barrage of stones.

He was vaguely aware that the lesser Su family had backing, but he had not expected to run right into it upon his very first visit. Deep down, Su Cheng was terrified, yet for some inexplicable reason, he felt reluctant to share this detail with the others.

With a strange, warped twistedness, he hoped that others would meet with the same—or even worse—treatment.

Beside him, the old matriarch's face grew colder still, and she snorted angrily, "Liang'er has gone to the Wan family estate to discuss matters. When he returns, I shall consult with him and summon that shrew from the lesser Su family. As her elder, I will personally teach her some manners!"

There were many people gathered in this courtyard.

Two days prior, messengers had suddenly arrived from the Wan family estate to summon the head of the house, Su Liang, to the estate.

Whatever matters were discussed between them need not be elaborated upon, but in short, they were granted two days to rest at home.

This was the first time since their arrival in the place of exile that the entire family had been able to pause and catch their breath.

Listening to the conversation among the family members, the crowd maintained their habitual silence, though each harbored entirely different thoughts beneath the surface.

Some felt schadenfreude, some experienced a secret excitement, while others held no hope at all.

The messengers from the Wan family estate had mentioned that the lesser Su family was living well on Tubei Mountain—they had built a small courtyard, reclaimed wasteland, and planted vegetables, eating meat and wheat flour every single day, and had somehow managed to hook up with someone powerful.

In stark contrast, the greater Su family was relegated to cramped, filthy grass sheds, eating coarse bran and wild greens, and burdened with endless labor every day, subject to constant beatings and scoldings at the slightest fault.

The difference between the two lifestyles was as vast as heaven and earth.

Yet, previously, it was clearly their greater Su family that had stood upon the high ground.

Such a contrast inevitably bred imbalance in people's hearts.

***

Tubei Mountain.

The lesser Su family was once again busily occupied in their vegetable garden.

In truth, there was not that much actual work to be done, but they simply could not remain idle. Even just squatting nearby to gaze at the vegetables growing in the earth brought a sense of ease and contentment.

They could even strike up a casual chat with the people in the adjacent plots.

"People of the Su family, did someone from your family come looking for you again today?" Li Xiaoxiao's vegetable plot directly bordered the Su family's garden. After becoming familiar with them through casual interaction, his talkative nature surfaced, and he boldly probed.

Su Da let out a hearty laugh. "Don't bring it up. It was just those people from the Su family on the other mountain."

Having mingled here for quite some time, they had developed a sharper insight into human nature. Hearing Su Da's words, the surrounding people immediately caught the drift.

Someone offered a word of caution, "That side is under the influence of the Twelfth Wharf; they are undoubtedly still plotting against your family. You must be careful; the methods employed by powerful factions are both numerous and dirty."

"Although you share the same clan and ancestry, if they are willing to help outsiders scheme against your family, it is clear they do not regard you as their own flesh and blood. In the end, their own interests come first."

Su Da and Su Er naturally understood these principles.

"My mother already made her stance clear today: no matter who comes, it will do them no good. When they were wealthy and prosperous, we did not sponge off their glory; now that we have been reduced to this wretched plight, we haven't actively sought trouble with them either. If they still want to play tricks and harm us, we aren't pushovers, either!"

They would just meet force with force!

Whoever cowered was a coward!

They had experts on their side!

Two of them, at that!

Their confidence was exceptionally high!