"Second brother, tell me honestly what exactly happened today!"

Grandpa Su finally couldn't sit still any longer. With the family in such a mess, he couldn't save face.

Uncle Su stood under the eaves, his eyes darting around, revealing an undisguised guilty conscience, and his hands trembling slightly involuntarily.

"I...I don't know what this girl is talking about!"

But he subconsciously started picking at his fingernails, each one harder than the last, as if some ferocious beast was lurking inside.

Now that things have come to this, even a fool could see that Uncle Su had done something wrong. He appeared calm on the surface, but once the evidence was presented, he completely fell silent.

"Father, today's incident was an accident. Qing Tian really didn't do it on purpose!"

Seeing that things were not going well, Madam Ma immediately interrupted, looking guilty, and said, "Fourth Brother is Qingtian's own brother, and Uncle's family lives in town. How could the two brothers not support each other? It's not as serious as Li'er said."

"Whether it was intentional or not, my father is so badly injured, shouldn't he be taken to the hospital?" Su Li glanced at Madam Ma.

The evidence is right in her face, yet Ma still tries to confuse the issue and twist the facts.

As soon as Su Li said this, Madam Ma's words caught in her throat. She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands under her sleeves until they turned white.

A hint of resentment flashed in her eyes, but she quickly returned to her amiable and humble demeanor.

“Li’er, your second aunt knows you’re upset, but you also know the state of our family. The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and the rice jar is almost empty. We don’t know if we can make it through, let alone afford to see a doctor.”

"I apologize to you, Second Aunt. If you're still not satisfied, Second Aunt will kowtow to you right now!"

Ma lifted her skirt and made a gesture as if to kowtow to Su Li.

Su Zhen quickly reached out and grabbed her mother, her brows furrowed, her eyes filled with reluctance and difficulty as she looked at Su Li. She bit her lip:

"Isn't it unnecessary to escalate things to this point? Do you really want to force all the elders in your family to kowtow and admit their sins before you'll be satisfied?"

Su Li could easily see through the thoughts of the mother and daughter. Without hesitation, she knelt down first.

Her knees slammed heavily against the stone slabs, making a dull thud, but Su Li seemed oblivious, her eyes resolute and cold.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt..."

Su Li placed her hands neatly in front of her, slowly bent down, and then her forehead hit the ground with a "thud." Her eyes were slightly red, and tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string.

“My father is my second uncle’s own brother. Whether my second uncle did it intentionally or unintentionally, now that things have come to this, can you really bear to watch your own family member suffer to death?”

"Grandma has always valued you and Second Uncle. Please help persuade her! We'll do anything to repay your kindness in the future!"

He then kowtowed several more times, and for a moment everyone fell silent.

Su Zhen's eyes flickered slightly, and she couldn't help but clench her teeth inwardly.

It seems even a rabbit will bite when cornered.

Su Xiangsheng, who was standing to the side, reacted very quickly. He looked at his sister kneeling on the ground, blinked his big, watery eyes, and looked around the yard before finally settling on Su Zhen, who was standing next to his second aunt.

He raised his hand to rub his eyes, his little mouth twisted into a crook, and with a "whoosh," he pounced on Su Zhen:

"Waaah, my dad's injured! Cousin, please, for the sake of our family, save my dad!"

At first he was just pretending, but the more he talked, the more heartbroken he became, and he actually cried his heart out, his emotions running high.

Su Zhen froze instantly as she looked at the tears, snot, and black handprints smeared on her skirt.

She tried her best to maintain her composure, and casually shook her leg, attempting to get rid of the dirty little bug. Unexpectedly, this unintentional flick sent him flying like an object.

He crashed heavily to the ground!

"Asheng! My son—"

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Hu immediately rushed over to comfort her.

Seeing her youngest son's pale lips and pained expression, tears streamed down her face, and her heart felt like it was being fried in oil.

"If anything happens to you again, your mother won't be able to live either..."

Looking at the chaotic scene in the courtyard, Grandpa Su's eyes revealed a deep sense of helplessness.

"Enough!" he shouted at the crowd, strode over to Madam Hu, and prepared to pick up his grandson. Suddenly, a loud bang, like a thunderclap, exploded, and the gate of the Su family compound was kicked open.

He rushed in like a whirlwind, her eyes eagerly locking onto Su Li in the crowd, her face a mixture of expectation and worry.

"Little sister, how is Father? Am I too late?"

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Su Xiangsheng lying on the ground, and she immediately rushed over anxiously, her voice trembling with tears:

"What happened to Asheng? He was fine just now! Mother, Father's already in trouble, how come Asheng is also..."

As they spoke, the group huddled together and burst into tears.

The Su family made quite a commotion today; people had been peeking around outside the courtyard earlier, and now a large crowd had gathered.

Madam Ma's face darkened slightly, a hint of surprise and anger flashing in her eyes. She subtly reached out and pulled her daughter aside, signaling that they should not act rashly at this moment.

Well, she had indeed noticed that her niece-in-law from the fourth branch of the family, who was always as timid as a mouse, was missing. So, she was waiting for her here.

She actually secretly went to the village head's house to borrow a donkey cart and even invited the village head himself. I underestimated her!

Ma frowned slightly, her gaze involuntarily falling on Su Li's face, who was crying heartbrokenly.

This little girl's ability to change her expression is astonishing. What a cunning girl! She dared to use tricks right under my nose. It must have all been her idea!

Ma clenched her fist, her anger forcibly suppressed by reason.

The villagers are all watching; they absolutely cannot let Qingtian be convicted of murdering his own brother. Right now, all they can do is endure...

"The second son of the Su family is really outrageous. The fourth son of the Su family is the most filial son, so why do they only bully honest people?"

"Is Grandpa Su getting old and his mind is becoming confused? His leg is injured like that, why isn't he being taken to the hospital right away?"

"What a crime!"

The villagers' gazes were like sharp knives, piercing straight into Grandpa Su, forcing his once straight spine to bend.

The dignity accumulated over decades vanished completely in this moment.

How will he ever be able to hold his head up in the village again...?

"Brother Dashan, what's wrong?"

The village headman squeezed through the crowd and frowned as he looked at the chaos in the Su family courtyard. "Why hasn't Qingfeng been taken to the hospital yet? It's been several hours already."

"It's not that we don't want to take him to the hospital, it's just that we have no money left!"

Old Master Su sighed deeply and spoke softly:

“My wife caught a cold a while ago, and it drained our savings. If we hadn’t had no other choice, who would have gone to such lengths… Sigh, Qingfeng is my son too.”

The village head was speechless for a moment, knowing that if he continued talking, he would have to ask his own family for money.

“Grandpa, we need to support my eldest cousin’s schooling in town, and Grandma is getting old. We don’t have the money to treat my father. We don’t blame you, and we certainly don’t blame Uncle. After all, Uncle didn’t mean it…”

Su Li sniffed, staring intently at Old Master Su, her trembling voice carrying unwavering resolve:

"But as family, we must save my father even if it means selling our house and land! We don't want to drag the entire Su family down for our own selfish reasons, so let's separate the family today in front of the village head!"

The words "separate family" were uttered with difficulty by Su Li, as if a thunderbolt had exploded above everyone's heads, and the entire courtyard instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Grandpa Su frowned, his face filled with disbelief.

The villagers looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting the Su family to have come to this.

Su Xiangyang, who had been silent all along, slowly raised his head in the silence.

“Master, Li’er is right. Now that I’m married, I’m an adult. Father used to be the pillar of the family, but now that he’s in trouble, it’s my turn to take on everything!”

Since he is his parents' eldest son, He's husband, and Li'er and Asheng's elder brother, he must stand up.

"Sir, please spare my father's life and let us divide the family property—"

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