I tossed and turned all night.

Most of the villagers, holding torches, excitedly gathered outside the Su family's courtyard to watch the spectacle.

The boy's urine was spilled.

Doctor Liu, who was sleeping soundly, was forcibly torn from his bed and dragged to the Su family's house.

Despite trying every possible method, Zhou and Su Qingyi remained lying on the ground, writhing with their eyes and mouths crooked, occasionally letting out mournful howls.

If it weren't for the hemp rope binding it tightly, who knows how much more trouble it would have caused, and where would its usual respectable appearance have gone?

"Oh dear, what should we do, old man? You have to come up with a plan! Everything was fine at dinner last night, how come this happened as soon as we fell asleep? Who did we offend?!"

Grandma Su was so anxious that she kept slapping her thigh, and her hair turned mostly white from worry.

But how much better off could Old Master Su be?

His gaze passed over the wall and fell upon the villagers, who were piled up three layers deep inside him. His brows furrowed into deep furrows.

"Tell the second son to hurry and go to the next village to invite Grandma Xuan over—"

Old Master Su's eyes were heavy, and his heart was filled with torment.

Confucius said, "I do not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits." The Su family was originally a family of farmers and scholars, and should not have gotten involved in such matters. But things have come to this point, and talking about face is meaningless now. He has already lost all face...

In a secluded corner, where no one paid any attention, Widow Li, her face deathly pale, clutched her stomach and frantically pounded on the latrine door.

"Oh dear! Doggy, are you ready yet? Mommy's belly is pounding again, come out quickly when you're done!"

Inside the outhouse, Li Gou'er, leaning against the door, was covered in sweat. He had just stood up shakily when his stomach suddenly rumbled loudly.

"No, no! Mom, it's starting again. Go find somewhere else to handle this! Ouch—"

Widow Li let out a wail and quickly ran out of the house.

Damn it, what did I eat this morning to get such a terrible stomach upset?

After running to the outhouse again and again, she was so exhausted that she could barely stand up, let alone go to the village entrance to chat with the old women.

Within two days, the rumors about Su Li in the village completely disappeared, and the discussion turned to the matter of Su's uncle and his wife being "possessed by evil spirits".

"How did you get into this mess?"

"I think the Su family hasn't had a moment of peace since those two came back!"

"First, Su Lao Si broke his leg, then Old Master Su fell seriously ill, and now Su Lao Da and his wife are possessed by evil spirits. Will Su Lao Er's family be next to suffer misfortune...?"

Zhou was thoroughly humiliated. She never believed in ghosts or gods, and there must be someone deliberately trying to harm her behind this.

After thinking it over, Su Li, that brat, is the most suspicious!

But she couldn't figure out what method the girl had used, so she could only hold back for the time being.

Grandpa Su had seen all the troubles that had been happening in the family lately, and it chilled him to the bone.

He understood that whether it was the eldest son's family or the second son's family, they were all just waiting to pay taxes and sell their grain so they could divide the money. The fourth son and his wife had always been filial and sensible, but their children were all cunning and scheming.

He couldn't just stand by and watch his family fall apart...

Meanwhile, Su Li emerged from the public opinion crisis and began preparing to start her food cart business again.

However, through this experience, she deeply realized the importance of reading.

If Xiangming hadn't passed the imperial examination at such a young age, why would Grandpa have been so biased towards his eldest uncle's family?

It can be said that the entire Su family is Uncle's money bag. As long as Xiang Mingtang is mentioned, Grandpa will definitely scrape together the money, even if it means selling everything he owns.

Even after such a scandal, the old man still couldn't bring himself to scold his eldest brother.

But what about our own situation?

Although my parents and older brother are all filial and hardworking, in my grandfather's heart, they are not as good as my uncles.

All of this was because Grandpa valued Xiangming's talent for studying and hoped that one day he could change the fate of the entire Su family with his own efforts.

This is what touched Grandpa the most.

Su Li's gaze slowly fell on her younger brother, who was playing nearby.

Asheng is six years old this year, which is the perfect time to send him to school for his early education.

In the early years when the Su family was well-off, all the children in the family were sent to school to learn to read and write. Even though she was a woman and could not participate in the imperial examinations in the future, she was not like most of the girls in the village who were illiterate.

Su Li admired her grandfather for this.

However, the family's situation deteriorated, and now, even if they wanted to send Asheng to school, not to mention whether his grandfather would agree, the tuition fee was a major problem.

She had to work hard to save money, not only to give her parents a better life, but also to send Ah Sheng to school!

Of course, we can't let the peach blossoms fall.

Su Li arrived at the gate of Tao Hua's house and, seeing that Tao Hua's father was not home, confidently handed a packet of medicine to Tao Hua.

“Peach Blossom, you know that once your father drinks, he becomes a completely different person, and he will beat and scold you. This packet of medicine is not harmful to the body, but as long as he drinks the wine mixed with this medicine, he will break out in rashes.”

"If you secretly add the medicine to his drink, so that he has this reaction every time he drinks, over time, he may gradually stop drinking because he is afraid of the rash. In that case, he will no longer treat you like that."

Su Li sighed, her eyes full of apology.

Ultimately, it was his own fault that he dragged Peach Blossom into this mess.

"However, I'm just telling you the method; whether you do it or not is entirely up to you. I plan to try setting up a stall at the docks in the next few days, and I'll come back to find you then..."

Watching Su Li's departing figure, Tao Hua clutched the packet of medicine tightly, her eyes filled with struggle.

Her father did often hit her, but he was still her biological father. He gave birth to her and raised her. If she really did that, wouldn't she be violating filial piety? Was that really acceptable...?

Su Li had just finalized the business direction of her food stall and was full of ambition, ready to make a big splash.

But fate had other plans, and a group of bandits suddenly broke into Wuyang Town.

"The bandits are coming! So many bandits! They're killing everyone they see!" The blood-covered man shouted as he staggered down the street.

Someone recognized him as a traveling merchant who frequented both the north and south, and hurriedly took him to a clinic.

I learned from him that before he could unload his goods, he was stopped outside Wuyang Town by a group of bandits. More than a dozen of his men were killed, and he was stabbed several times before he managed to escape.

The news spread like wildfire, and in an instant, the entire town was shrouded in a cloud of fear.

"What are we going to do? Our Wuyang Town has never suffered such a disaster before!"

"Have you heard? The bandits have all reached outside the town!"

"Who knows when they might suddenly barge in?"

"Report to the authorities! Report to the authorities right now!"

Before anyone could reach the yamen, the bandits rushed into the town like wolves. Riding tall horses and wielding long knives and sharp blades, they set fire to houses wherever they went.

Many civilians who did not have time to get home were hacked to death in the streets, and some were even kidnapped, their fate unknown.

In an instant, cries, screams, and the sound of collapsing houses filled the entire town, making it seem like a living hell.

People kept their doors tightly shut, trembling inside, afraid to even breathe, lest they be discovered by the bandits.

That afternoon, the news spread to several nearby villages.

Upon hearing that the bandits had come to the town and were indiscriminately killing innocent people, Old Mrs. Su collapsed to the ground, her eyes glazed over, and it took her a long time to recover.

She grabbed Old Master Su's sleeve, tears streaming down her face.

"What are we going to do, old man! The second son's family went to the market in town before dawn. I was wondering why they hadn't come back yet. Turns out they ran into this!"

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