Chapter 52: Vile shrew, vile shrew, vile shrew!

Fearing that delays would lead to complications, the old woman immediately took her daughter-in-law and grandson and hurried over to Zhao Zheng's house.

Seeing this posture, Yang Zhaodi and Zhang Xiaoe stood on high alert.

"Grandmother, Fourth Aunt..."

The old woman coldly glanced at the two women. "Where is the third one?"

"Mother, is something the matter?" Zhao Zheng emerged from the house, looking at the old woman and Qian Xiulan, roughly guessing their intentions.

"I heard you managed to get some bees, sold them for a tael of silver, and even gave half of it to Madman Ma's family. Is that true?" the old woman asked coldly.

Zhao Zheng nodded. "That is correct, it is true!"

"You wasteful wretch! Your own family is barely able to scrape together enough food to survive, yet you go sticking your nose into other people's business?" The old woman said with a look of intense disappointment. "The two women at home can't even keep a tight grip on your money; you simply aren't someone who can be trusted with funds."

She extended her right hand. "Hand it over!"

"Hand over what?" Zhao Zheng asked, feigning ignorance.

"The silver. I'll keep it safe for you," the old woman said with a stern face. This time, she didn't bother mentioning the excuse of treating Zhao Wei's illness; she had already emptied out every last coin in her own pocket, so she was determined to get this money into her own hands.

Zhao Zheng replied, "I have already paid the money for these five years. If you want your maintenance money, come back on this exact day five years from now."

"Third Brother, Mother is only doing this for your own good," Qian Xiulan said with a sarcastic, insinuating tone. "Otherwise, you'll just go out carousing with those fox-friends and dog-companions again..."

"Even if I do go out carousing with good-for-nothing scoundrels, it's still not your turn to sit here and fart out of your mouth!" Zhao Zheng pointed right at Qian Xiulan's nose and cursed, "You're a mere daughter-in-law, yet you dare meddle in your husband's elder brother's affairs? You unruly, ill-mannered creature, do you believe I won't slap you on behalf of the fourth one!"

Qian Xiulan was so angry her lungs felt ready to burst. "You dare!"

Zhao Sanbao also stepped forward to shield his mother. "Second Uncle, just try laying a hand on my mother!"

Zhao Zheng strode forward in two or three steps and landed a fierce slap across Zhao Sanbao's face. "You unmannered brat, how dare you speak to your elders like that?"

Slap!

With just a single strike, Zhao Sanbao was left completely dazed.

The burning, stinging pain sent Zhao Sanbao howling.

The old woman was stunned as well.

Qian Xiulan shrieked curses, "Zhao Number Three, you dare hit my son! I'll fight you to the..."

"Slap!"

Zhao Zheng swung back and forth with both hands. "Stinking shrew, stinking shrew, stinking shrew..."

Qian Xiulan was struck dizzy and reeling, left with absolutely no room to fight back.

Zhao Sanbao let out an "ao" and charged forward.

Quick-eyed and fast-handed, Zhao Zheng delivered a swift kick that sent him tumbling straight to the ground.

These past few days, Zhao Zheng had been eating well and living richly, allowing his nutrition to recover and his strength to return. Beating up a half-grown boy and a vile shrew—wasn't that as easy as turning over his hand?

Bullying the weak with his strength?

His adopted son had died in battle, and this shrew was inextricably linked to that tragedy. This was barely the beginning; today was merely collecting a sliver of interest.

"Ah, my belly!" Zhao Sanbao whimpered, kneeling on the ground while clutching his stomach as beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down his forehead. "Grandma, my belly hurts..."

Zhao Zheng loosened his grip, and Qian Xiulan collapsed onto the ground, thrashing about incessantly. "Murder! Zhao Number Three is committing murder!"

Neighbors from all around came pouring out, and upon seeing the scene in the courtyard, they were utterly dumbfounded.

The old woman panicked as well. "Third one, what on earth are you doing!"

"What am I doing?"

With reddened eyes, Zhao Zheng shouted, "Mother, is it that you simply cannot bear to see me living a good life? We are all your sons, yet you must be so bitterly partial, is that it? Fine! Since the fourth daughter-in-law says I'm a murderer, then I'll play the part and murder someone for her to see!"

He rushed into the room, grabbed a broken firewood chopper, and charged back out. "Day in and day out, you come running to my house to stir up trouble! Whenever there is anything remotely decent in my home, you all swarm over like vultures to snatch it away, leaving not a single path of survival for my family!"

"Since that's how it is, then none of us shall live! Everyone go and die together!"

Seeing such a manic display from Zhao Zheng, the onlookers felt a mixture of shock and profound understanding.

Over the years, whenever there was anything of value in Zhao Zheng's household, his eldest brother and fourth younger brother would rush over like cats smelling fish, stripping the place bare.

Whatever they couldn't just take, they would swindle away or send the old woman to come and plunder.

Who in the village didn't know that the Zhao family matriarch's heart was biased all the way to her elbow?

And look at this—Zhao Number Three had barely managed to earn a little silver, and before it was even warm in his hands, they came running over demanding the money.

These people treated Zhao Zheng practically as their mortal enemy!

They were utterly beastly.

An elderly senior stepped forward to counsel him, "Zhao the Third, argue if you must, and a couple of slaps is no big deal, but don't bring out a blade! If that thing comes down, your life is finished too!"

"Old Zhao, don't act on impulse!"

Zhao Zheng, however, declared, "Everyone in the village knows what kind of days I've been living through all these years! I, Zhao Zheng, dare not claim to be a saint, but I have never treated my mother or my brothers harshly or unjustly. It's all the fault of this vile shrew Qian Xiulan, stirring things up behind our backs and destroying the affection between mother and sons, between brothers. Today, I'm going to hack her to death!"

Qian Xiulan was scared out of her wits, scrambling and crawling up from the ground.

Yang Zhaodi was terrified as well, hastily rushing forward to embrace her father-in-law. "Father-in-law, put down the knife..."

"Father-in-law, I beg you, don't be rash." Zhang Xiaoe burst into tears of pure terror.

Yet Zhao Zheng forcefully shoved the two women aside, pointing straight at Qian Xiulan. "I have no descendants, so I'll make sure you have none either!" With that, he lunged forward with the blade toward Zhao Sanbao.

Zhao Sanbao let out a ghostly shriek, turned on his heels, and fled using both hands and feet, abandoning even his own mother.

Zhao Zheng narrowed his eyes and locked his gaze onto Qian Xiulan. "You stop right there!"

"Third Brother, don't kill me, don't kill me... I'll never dare cause trouble again!" Trembling violently in absolute terror, Qian Xiulan turned tail and sprinted.

"Don't run!"

With a furious roar, Zhao Zheng gave chase.

But the woman Qian Xiulan was so frightened her soul had nearly left her body, and before she had run very far, she tripped face-first into the dirt in a classic dog-eating-shit tumble.

Zhao Zheng slowed his pace slightly, shouting at the top of his lungs, "After I kill you, I'm going to your maiden family as well, you wretched thing, moving all the good stuff to your parents' house day in and day out..."

Scared out of her wits, Qian Xiulan scrambled up and fled for her life.

Zhao Zheng chased her for several hundred meters before finally stopping. Fortunately, the villagers managed to hold him back; otherwise, he would have kept right on pursuing her.

"Third one, let it go. Don't lower yourself to a woman's level."

"Old Zhao, I know you've suffered deeply, but if you really kill someone, what will happen to Zhaodi and Xiaoe?"

Zhao Zheng stomped his foot heavily into the ground, muttering curses under his breath. "I'll spare her life this once. If she ever dares to come to my house to make trouble again, I'll fight them to the death even if it kills me!"

Yang Zhaodi and Xiaoe were so terrified their legs had turned to jelly. Flanking their father-in-law on either side, they grabbed onto him tightly, terrified he might act rashly again, while teardrops fell continuously from their eyes.

The Zhao family matriarch in the courtyard was frightened out of her wits as well.

The elderly matrons and village aunties began to lecture her. "Auntie, your third son has already been more than good to you. If I had a brother like the third one, I'd smile in my sleep."

"How long ago was it that your two grandsons died? He is still deep in grief, yet you, as his mother, actually brought your daughter-in-law over to shake him down for money? Is that any way to behave?"

The old woman speaking was Old Lady Zhou, who held the highest seniority in the village. Her life had been even more tragic than Zhao Zheng's: in her youth, her husband died in battle; in her middle age, her son died in battle; and in the end, the grandson she had raised single-handedly also died on the battlefield.

Moreover, he had fallen in battle in the exact same batch as Zhao Zheng's son.

Even Village Chief Xu Youde had to respectfully address her as "Elder Sister-in-Law"!