"I don’t want to live anymore, what’s the point of living?" Mrs. Feng, beaten by the Old Madam, was in so much pain that she couldn’t bear it. In a moment of fury, she plopped down to the ground and burst into tears. "Durning the New Year celebration, this old woman beats me nearly to death. What a pitiful daughter-in-law I am. I bore children for the Xu family, if not for merit, then for hard work. I... Out of your three daughters-in-law, you only beat me. Why should I even live?" Mrs. Li stood by the Old Madam’s side, watching Mrs. Feng’s performance with cold eyes. Anning helped Xu Minruo up, and seeing the slap marks on her face, her eyes filled with even more intensity. She took Xu Minruo outside and called over Zhou Yu’er, asking her to accompany Xu Minruo back to her room to change clothes and apply some anti-swelling ointment. Check latest chapters at Novᴇl_Fire(.)net After Zhou Yu’er led Xu Minruo away, Anning approached Mrs. Feng in a few steps, her face cold as she raised her hand and delivered several slaps across Mrs. Feng’s face, left and right. Mrs. Li watched from the side with a slight smirk on her lips, taking pleasure in Mrs. Feng’s misfortune. Mrs. Feng, covering her face, looked at Anning and then at the Old Madam. "Mom, you just watch her hitting me? By what right does she hit me?" The Old Madam spat out disdainfully, "By what right? She’s your sister-in-law, and if she hits you, it’s because you deserve it." Anning spoke coldly, "Minruo was raised by me. You stand on my ground and bully the person I protect; you are disregarding me. Shouldn’t I discipline you? She may be your daughter, but she is already Miss. You call her a little whore, a little bitch, what do you mean by that? Others guard their daughters’ reputations as if they were precious, but you, you eagerly tarnish her name. Mrs. Feng, if you disdain her and don’t want this daughter, I’ll take her." The Old Madam pointed at Mrs. Feng and cursed loudly, "There’s no mother like you. When your sister-in-law wasn’t married, even if she did something wrong, I patiently taught her. Even if I really had to beat her, it was a couple of strikes behind closed doors, never on the face, nor in front of others. You, on the other hand, take your frustrations out on the children whenever you feel like it. You’re something else. Your sister-in-law and I both hit you; what can you do about it? If you have any grievances, then get out of here immediately and return to the Feng Family." Mrs. Feng didn’t dare to return to the Feng Family; she just covered her face and sobbed. Anning was genuinely infuriated by Mrs. Feng’s antics. She went back to the main room and called Xu Zhiyong over. "Second brother, today, as your older sister-in-law, I hit your wife. If you feel aggrieved, if you think I shouldn’t have hit her, then hit me back. I promise I won’t say a word. From now on, I won’t interfere in any of your family matters." How could Xu Zhiyong dare to hit Anning? If he really hit her, his own father and mother would probably kill him. Previously, when Xu Zhiyong’s leg was broken, his own daughter wouldn’t even spare money for his treatment, but Anning had provided a significant amount of Silver for his medicine and medical expenses, and only then did his leg heal. Just for this act of kindness, he could never harbor any grievances against Anning. "A sister-in-law is like a mother. It’s only right for you to discipline your sister-in-law," Xu Zhiyong murmured. He glanced at the still sobbing Mrs. Feng and felt deeply frustrated, "Enough, what are you crying for? The sister-in-law just slapped you a couple of times, and you can’t take it. When you beat Min Ruo to near death, could she take it?" Mrs. Feng defended herself. Xu Zhiyong said, "The slaps you got from your sister-in-law are no different from those from a mother." Mrs. Feng cried even louder. Old Madam had a headache, "Enough, if you want to cry, go cry somewhere else. My temple is too small to accommodate such a big Buddha like you." Mrs. Feng couldn’t stay any longer and ran off, covering her face. Xu Zhiyong didn’t bother with her and returned to the main room with the Old Madam and the others. The family patriarch had also learned of the incident with Xu Minruo getting beaten and was quite angry at the moment. Old Madam sat down and then said to Xu Zhiyong, "Your wife has always been preventing us from contacting with Gousheng, she even wouldn’t let me and your father give Gousheng a proper name. This time, we can’t let her have her way. Gousheng’s name needs to be changed. Also, in the future, you should let her spend less time with Gousheng, to prevent her from leading my Xu family’s grandson astray." Xu Zhiyong nodded, "Mother is right." Anning said a few words and then turned to go to Xu Minruo. Xu Minruo had already changed her clothes and washed her face, and applied ointment, but since she had just been beaten, she had no face to go to the main hall, so she sat in the room chatting with Zhou Yu’er. Seeing Anning coming in, Xu Minruo hugged Anning and started crying, "Great-aunt, how can she do that? She..." Anning comforted Xu Minruo until she stopped crying and then asked, "Tell me exactly what happened." Xu Minruo whispered, "She came to me a few days ago, asking me for the money I had saved up. She said that my cousin from my uncle’s family didn’t have new clothes for the New Year and she wanted to use the money to buy clothes for him. I didn’t want to, and I talked back to her a few times. She held a grudge." Anning slightly narrowed her eyes, "What about Gousheng’s clothes?" Xu Minruo said, "She and dad asked for money, saying it was to make new clothes for everyone in the family, but in reality, there were none. The new clothes she made all went to her father’s family." Mentioning the Feng Family, Xu Minruo was gritting her teeth. "Uncle is basically not working at all, just waiting for her to bring money. Grandmother comes by from time to time to ask for handouts. Every time she comes, she always gives her money or belongings. Now dad has taken control of the finances, she can’t get money, so she gives away the household food to grandmother. In the end, even if there’s no food at home, dad will buy some, she will never go hungry." "That’s enough, I understand." Anning wiped away Xu Minruo’s tears, "If you don’t want to go to the main hall, just stay in the room. I’ll ask Chun Mei to bring some food over for you later." Zhou Yu’er said softly, "I’ll stay with Min Ruo." Anning smiled, "That’s fine, thanks for your trouble." Zhou Yu’er smiled, "It’s no trouble." Anning understood that Zhou Yu’er did not want to go to the main hall. After all, she was not from the Xu family. On such a day of family reunion, it was somewhat awkward for her, an outsider, to be at the Xu home. Though the Xu family members were all very kind to her, she also did not wish to. Furthermore, with the Xu family being so lively, watching it would inevitably remind her of Zhou Xun, making her heart ache. Thus, rather than insisting she go to the main hall, it was better to let her stay here with Xu Minruo. Anning reassured Xu Minruo and went to the kitchen to check on things. She then told Liu Chunmei to prepare some food to bring to Xu Minruo’s room. During the New Year’s celebration, such an incident had broken out in the Xu family. The New Year’s Day reunion meal was eaten hurriedly with everyone having different thoughts, and after that, everyone returned to their own homes. As for Xu Erya, who had been driven out of the Xu home, she actually had a rather decent New Year. Being banished by the Xu family, she had thought that with her spiritual spring water, she had nothing to fear no matter where she went. But once she left Xiao Guan Village and encountered the outside world, Xu Erya realized that it was nothing like she had imagined. The ancient times were not like the present, where your skills were enough to ensure you would not starve wherever you went. Xu Erya was young and a girl, making it extremely dangerous for her to be out alone. Additionally, without a guide or identity proof, she indeed struggled greatly. She suffered many hardships before finally stumbling upon a relatively kind family. After giving the family a bit of silver, she was able to eat her fill for several days. Later, Xu Erya happened upon a young master from a noble family who was hunting with friends. They startled a horse, and the young master fell to the ground, fainting on the spot. Xu Erya took out the spiritual spring water and claimed it to be a spiritual medicine passed down from her ancestors, which she gave to the young master. After the young master regained consciousness and saw that Xu Erya was quite pretty, eloquent, and considering the life-saving favor, he took Xu Erya back to his family’s home.