My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

Before she could move, something hit her leg, causing her to buckle and fall to the ground.

At that moment, several women who were spreading rumors were also talking about Wu Xialian.

The group recounted everything they had heard from Wu Xialian, and then stated that they had only heard it from Wu Xialian and that it had nothing to do with them.

Ji Yunshuang loosened her grip and slowly walked towards Wu Xialian. "It seems the rumors originated from you."

She smiled at Wu Xialian and said, "Tell me, when did you see my second uncle and Sister Gao going into the grove? And which grove were they going into?"

Wu Xialian felt a stinging pain in her cheek as she thought about how she had hit Old Lady Wang earlier. I said in a panic, "When did I say that? I didn't say that."

"Wu Xialian, you were the one who said it, why don't you admit it?"

When Wu Xialian denied it, the women became anxious and said to Ji Yunshuang, "She not only said that your second uncle and Wang Er's wife went into the woods, but also that your family was stingy and fed the workers pig intestines that hadn't been cleaned properly, just so that the workers would eat less and save some for the next meal."

"Yes, yes, she also said that if she works for your family, she might not even get paid in the end."

……

Several women chattered amongst themselves, recounting to Ji Yunshuang everything Wu Xialian had said.

"Really?" Ji Yunshuang grabbed Wu Xialian's clothes by the chest and lifted her up.

"Tell me, which grove of trees did you see it in? Take us there! How come you're so lucky? You just happen to see something so erotic right outside your door?"

"I didn't, I really didn't say that." Wu Xialian tilted her head back, trembling as she avoided Ji Yunshuang, and said, "You... my family lives nearby. If you dare to hit me, my family won't let you get away with it."

"Your good-for-nothing brother?"

Ji Yunshuang tightened her grip slightly, and Wu Xialian instantly felt short of breath.

"Don't you know we're fleeing from war? Do you even know what fleeing from war means? The corpses along the way are piled up like small mountains, and nobody cares. Tell me, how did we manage to get here safely?"

Wu Xialian could no longer hold back and shouted, "I was wrong, please let me go. I was just angry that you listened to Gao Lan's gossip and refused to ask my husband and brother to do the work, so I made up those rumors..."

“I didn’t mean any harm. I just said a few words casually. I never expected that Old Mrs. Wang would believe everything she heard and come to cause trouble for your family. I only said a few words.”

"You call this not having bad intentions? Haven't you heard of how public opinion can melt metal and how accumulated slander can destroy bones? Can gossip drown a person? You fabricated lies and pinned them on a married woman, spreading rumors everywhere, and you still think you did nothing wrong, that you only said a few words?"

Ji Yunshuang narrowed her eyes, a flash of murderous intent suddenly appearing in them.

Lu Yinheng sensed the murderous intent in her eyes, suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Wu Xialian, put her on the ground, and said to Ji Yunshuang, "You're tired, go back and rest first. I'll handle the rest!"

Lu Yinheng seemed to have rescued Wu Xialian, but that seemingly gentle release was anything but.

Ji Yunshuang sensed the internal energy Lu Yinheng was secretly using and knew that Xia Lian wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least ten days after returning home.

She knew that now that she had arrived in Jiangzhou, it was no longer time to flee. At least not openly, she couldn't kill anyone.

She gave Wu Xialian a cold glance, then turned and left.

At this moment, Wu Xialian felt no relief at all from escaping the clutches of evil. Instead, she felt pain all over her body, her legs went weak, and she suddenly knelt down.

“Since you have already knelt down and apologized, you must know you were wrong. However, it’s not just our family who have been harmed by this.”

Lu Yinheng said, "You fabricated stories about the Wang family's wife and my brother, ruined my brother's reputation, and almost caused the Wang family's wife to be drowned."

You should kneel down and apologize properly to the Wang family, and then go to each household in the village to explain the situation, so that no one is still unaware of today's events and continues to misunderstand the relationship between the Wang family's wife and my brother.

Wu Xialian knelt on the ground, unable to express her grievances. Why was she kneeling to apologize? Her legs were clearly weak and she couldn't stand, which was why she knelt down.

But looking at Lu Yinheng's cold face, she dared not say these words. In the end, she could only swallow her pride and apologize to both the Lu and Wang families.

Old Mrs. Wang lost a lot of face today because of her; she was even slapped and lost three teeth.

She didn't dare hit Ji Yunshuang, but she didn't dare hit Wu Xialian either? She pounced on her, grabbed Wu Xialian's hair, and slapped her across the face, saying, "I'll teach you to spread rumors about my wife, I'll beat you to death, you gossipy woman."

Li Mancang's mother, Old Lady Li, also kicked Wu Xialian hard, saying, "I told you not to spread lies about my family outside. My Mancang never said that the Lu family's pig intestines contained pig excrement. The Lu family clearly cooked chicken and duck, and even gave each person two big pieces of fatty meat."

"You're just jealous. You want your husband's younger brother to work for the Lu family and eat well. If he doesn't get a job, you gossip about us. Don't you have any conscience?!"

……

At this moment, the villagers who were watching no longer cared about how badly Wu Xialian had been beaten. Instead, they all started asking Old Lady Li if what she said was true, that the Lu family really did treat the workers to chicken and duck, and that each person had two big pieces of fat meat.

Only then did Old Lady Li remember her son's instructions when he came home: not to tell anyone how well the Lu family was doing at their restaurant. The Lu family had just settled in the village and their foundation was weak, so they didn't want anyone to have bad intentions and cause trouble for them.

Old Mrs. Li quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "It was only the first day. The Lu family's daughter-in-law is kind and considerate of those who do manual labor. However, they just fled here, and their family is struggling financially. Meat is so expensive; how can they afford to eat it every day, can they?"

Old Mrs. Li was telling the truth. Although the meals that Ji Yunshuang arranged afterward still had some oil and fat, they were indeed not as plentiful as the first day.

But most of the villagers felt that it was because Old Lady Li was afraid that everyone would compete with her son for work.

Many of the families Gao Lan and Wang Erniu had approached before were now filled with regret. They hadn't agreed at the time because they were worried the Lu family, who were fleeing from disaster, would be struggling financially and wouldn't want to work for free.

I never expected the Lu family to serve such good food.

Many people went to ask Lu Yinheng if he still needed anyone.

Lu Yinheng said that he had enough people now and politely declined everyone's kind offer, but said that if he needed help at home next time, he would definitely ask everyone for assistance.

Since no one was able to find work and it was getting late, many people gradually went home.

Old Mrs. Wang was tired of hitting him, and she felt that she had made a scene without understanding the situation, which made her lose face in front of her son and daughter-in-law.

When Wu Xialian was beaten so badly that she lay limp on the ground like a dead dog, unable to move, she got up and limped home.

Wang Erniu and his wife thanked Lu Yinheng and his wife, and then went home.

Finally, in front of the Fang family's old house, only Wu Xialian remained, lying weakly on the ground.

It was completely dark when her husband finally came running over, kicking her with disgust. "Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Get up now and go back to get me some food and drink!"

Wu Xialian said weakly, "Shunzi's father, I'm in pain all over and can't get up. Please get me a doctor."

"What the hell did you say? You want a doctor too!"

The man kicked her and said angrily, "You gossip everywhere, making me unable to hold my head up in public. Get up right now, or I'll divorce you right now."

Wu Xialian cried, "Who am I doing this for? It's all for you. If it weren't for you, why would I have gone to that Lu family's daughter-in-law to help you find work, and why would I have gone around gossiping about them?"

The man said impatiently, "Stop your whining. You caused this mess yourself, and you're blaming me."

Seeing that Wu Xialian was too unable to get up, he reluctantly carried her back home. However, even though he carried her back, he was unwilling to spend money to call a doctor for her, so he just let her lie at home like that, and would scold her from time to time.