Lian Shouyi’s forehead was throbbing with blue veins; he furiously cursed Lian Shouren, rehashing all of Lian Shouren’s past mistakes. But that wasn’t enough. When he realized Lady Zhou’s attitude wouldn’t change, he simply redirected his anger towards her.

"Old lady, old lady, hey..." Lian Shouyi bluntly addressed Lady Zhou without calling her mother. "I know what you’re thinking. I know exactly why you hate me so much. What could it be other than because of your eldest daughter?"

"Your eldest daughter showed up here and angered my dad to death. If you weren’t afraid of people talking about this, about how you treated your eldest daughter, would you suppress this matter? You would have made a big scene long ago and stuck the blame on me. And Si Lang, since he’s not here anyway, you dump the blame on him, and he can’t come out to contradict you."

"Everything bad is supposedly done by Si Lang. Why don’t I believe it? I even say it was Lian Lanlan who harmed my son, but can she compensate for my son?"

"Old lady, how is your heart grown that it’s so biased? Always thinking of your daughter, always talking about jewelry—why haven’t I seen any of it? Even if you have such things, you’ve surely given them to your daughter by now! We are not your biological children, so why should we support you? Why do you demand things from Old Three, Old Fourth? Why don’t you go sit on the bed of the Old Luo family?"

"You might want to go, but I’m afraid they won’t let you and would drive you out with sticks!"

Lian Shouyi was beyond caring and cursed even more recklessly. In fact, Lian Shouyi’s temperament bore many similarities to Lady Zhou’s, as both spoke freely when upset, seeking satisfaction without considering consequences or the feelings of listeners.

"You, the lousy thing biting the hand that feeds you, you eat from the Old Lian Family’s table, live in the Old Lian Family’s house, yet your heart leans outwards. So many of us here—honestly talking, you spent a lifetime battling my dad; is it because we are all my dad’s children which you can’t stand? But since your daughter is not my dad’s child, you are most biased towards her..."

Before Lian Shouyi could finish speaking, Lady Zhou let out a howl and rushed at him.

"You heartless bastard! Beast, beast, I’ll fight you..." Lady Zhou stumbled off the kang, not even bothering with her shoes, heading straight for Lian Shouyi, hands outstretched in front, looking fiercely as if she wished to devour Lian Shouyi in one bite or rip him to shreds.

Lian Shouyi spoke fiercely and offensively, yet he dared not actually tangle with Lady Zhou. Seeing her approach, he hurriedly dodged away. Lady Zhou, in her agitation, stood unstable on her bound feet without shoes and fell onto the chair Lian Shouyi had just been sitting on. Nearby, Lian Shouren and others rushed to help, and only after a while of flailing limbs was Lady Zhou carried back onto the kang by everyone together.

Sitting on the kang, Lady Zhou couldn’t get her legs crossed nor sit up straight; she just wailed mournfully, her face soon smeared with snot and tears.

"How did I raise such a brute?! I can’t go on living; give me some rope so I can join my old man..."

In this era, stringent demands were made regarding a woman’s chastity. Now, being spoken to like this by her own son in front of everyone, even if everyone knew Lian Shouyi was talking nonsense, Lady Zhou had lost all face.

Losing face was one thing; on another, given Lady Zhou’s age, being spoken to like this by her own son, if word got out, with everyone gossiping, Lady Zhou truly couldn’t endure.

She could ignore gossip about tormenting daughters-in-law and causing grandsons to die, but matters related to reputation touched directly upon Lady Zhou’s sore spot.

Strong-willed and self-centered, Lady Zhou also had a weak spot. However, if it weren’t for Lian Shouyi’s reckless, outrageous comments, her children and grandchildren would never have touched this weak spot in their lifetime.

"I’ll not rest with him—either I die or he dies..." Lady Zhou kept struggling to get down, determined to fight Lian Shouyi to the death.

Of course, everyone held her back, constantly trying to comfort her.

"Get him away from me; make him leave. Seeing him makes my heart ache."

...

When Lian Shouxin returned home from the old house, it was already afternoon. Since he hadn’t returned, nobody had left. Lian Manman, seeing Lian Shouxin’s face dark as night and full of exhaustion, guessed that Lian Shouxin had had a trying time.

If someone who intended to stay out of it had such a hard time, one could only imagine the outrageous disturbance at the old house.

Everyone asked Lian Shouxin for the result.

"It’s divided, divided according to the old lady’s wishes," Lian Shouxin replied.

"Second Master agreed just like that?" Lady Zhang asked.

"He didn’t want to agree, but the old lady fought desperately." Lian Shouxin intentionally omitted certain facts and simply replied, "She fought desperately. If he didn’t agree, the old lady could truly seek death."

Lian Shouxin spoke simply, but everyone could imagine the tragic scene at that time.

Everyone originally wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Lian Shouxin wasn’t keen to talk, they wisely stayed silent. Knowing that Old Master Lian’s funeral aftermath was settled and their family wouldn’t be affected further, Zhang Qingshan and others left reassured.

Subsequently, the Wu family also took their leave. Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye knew that Lian Shouli had already returned home, so they hurried back as well.

"Did anything happen?" Once everyone had left, Lady Zhang cautiously asked Lian Shouxin.

Considering her understanding of Lian Shouxin, his expression must mean that something significant had transpired.

"I’m vexed to death!" With outsiders gone, Lian Shouxin broke down, "Why am I burdened with such a family..."

... 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Here’s an extra update for you all. In the last few hours of the month, if there are any pink votes left, please support "Rebirth of the Little Landlord" and help it achieve a better ranking on the charts, thanks! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please go to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)