“Don’t talk nonsense,” Edward Walker felt extremely embarrassed in front of his younger sister. “How could that be possible?”

“That’s right, just with you…” Mrs. Edward Walker snorted disdainfully. Suddenly, she remembered how he and his mother had been worrying about Henry Walker’s medicine money that morning, and now everything was clear. So Edward Walker stole her dowry to buy medicine for Henry Walker!

This touched her sore spot! She had married into the The Walker Family when things were good, a match of equal status, and her dowry was quite generous. Who would have thought that after her father-in-law got into trouble, the The Walker Family would decline so quickly? She had been holding a grudge ever since, but with such a formidable mother-in-law, she never dared to act out.

It wasn’t until her mother-in-law and husband were willing to lose everything just to prolong Henry Walker’s life that Mrs. Edward Walker finally started making a fuss. She firmly refused to spend money on a living corpse, and her favorite saying was, “Even if you save him, he’ll just be a disaster. It’d be better to let him die cleanly!”

Over time, Henry Walker actually became the embodiment of all her resentment toward the The Walker Family. Whenever Edward Walker brought him up, she would fly into a rage, let alone if he stole her money to buy him medicine! Now Mrs. Edward Walker was furious, baring her teeth and claws as she lunged at Edward Walker, shouting, “Wang Snot, you know what I hate most! I’m done with you!”

Feeling guilty, Edward Walker kept shouting, “I won’t dare again, I won’t dare again!” as he dodged around the courtyard. Mrs. Bennett spent all day holed up in her room, unsteady on her feet. After a while of chasing and dodging, she tripped in her panic and fell hard to the ground, her head hitting a shovel, and blood immediately streamed down her face…

“Oh no, murder!” Mrs. Bennett was in so much pain she was dizzy, and when she touched her forehead, her hand was covered in blood. She started screaming weakly, “Help, help!”

……

Before lunch, the old lady had sold all her shoes and brought back two doses of medicine for Henry Walker. She was quite pleased with herself, because the medicine that cost one hundred wen per dose, she had bargained down to one hundred seventy wen for two. There were probably only a handful of people in Fuyang County who could pluck a feather from that miserly Mr. Lu.

But as soon as she entered the door, she saw bloodstains on the ground, and the old lady immediately flew into a rage, “The moment I’m not home, you all turn the place upside down! Mrs. Edward Walker, come with me to the yamen to settle this!” With her years of experience, she was sure that blockhead Edward Walker had been beaten bloody by Mrs. Bennett…

“Mother…” Before he could finish, Edward Walker lifted the curtain and came out of the room, speaking softly, “It wasn’t me who got hurt, it was Lily…”

“What?” The old lady’s expression instantly relaxed. “The sun must be rising in the west—my son actually acted like a man for once?!”

“No…” Edward Walker was sweating, mumbling, “She fell herself while chasing me.”

“I thought so…” The old lady sighed in disappointment, “A dog can’t stop eating shit.”

After putting down the medicine, she went to the east wing to take a look, and saw Mrs. Bennett’s head wrapped up like a spindle, lying on the bed groaning. Blood was seeping through the gauze, looking quite alarming.

Mrs. Bennett knew she had come in, but relied on her illness to stay in bed. She had already sent word to her family, planning to wait until they arrived before dealing with anything, so as not to suffer the old woman’s scolding for nothing. Back then, she had foolishly tried to challenge her mother-in-law, only to be scolded into a faint. Even now, the memory made her shiver…

Seeing Mrs. Bennett like this, the old lady couldn’t say much. As fierce as she was, she was also shrewd enough to know that she shouldn’t get involved in this kind of matter, and could only wait and see.

After leaving Edward Walker’s room, the old lady started the fire to cook, ate, washed the dishes, then gave Henry Walker another massage. Seeing that the The Bennett Family people still hadn’t arrived, she cursed, “So slow!”

It was late afternoon when Mrs. Bennett’s older brother and younger brother finally arrived. Both were well-dressed and arrogant, bringing several hired hands with them—a whole crowd making a grand entrance… Their family owned a hundred mu of tea fields and had someone working in the county office. Facing a fallen family like the The Walker Family, they naturally felt superior.

Helplessly, the old lady drove out all the idle onlookers, allowing only the The Bennett Family brothers inside.

As soon as they entered, both pinched their noses, as if just standing in this shabby courtyard would taint their noble air.

Seeing their sister lying on the bed, looking half-dead, the two immediately flew into a rage, scolding Edward Walker as if he were a grandson. Only because Mrs. Walker was present did they refrain from using foul language. It wasn’t out of respect for the elderly, but because of her fearsome reputation—if they angered this tigress, who knew who would end up scolded.

But the old lady seemed to have changed her nature, saying nothing at all, letting them scold her son until he was dizzy, her face dark as she pondered something.

Only when they were parched from scolding did the two stop to drink some water… They had brought their own purple clay teapots, filled with their own water, brewing their own tea… Then they asked their sister, “We’ve said all we needed to say. He probably won’t dare again. Is there anything else you want to say?”

“Two things. If you agree, I’ll stay with him. If not, we’ll split up.” Mrs. Bennett was completely stifled under her mother-in-law’s shadow. She hid in her room all day, not daring to meet her mother-in-law’s cold gaze! Mrs. Bennett felt that if this went on, she’d go mad within half a year. Now that she finally had a chance to push back, she was determined to seize the opportunity to change her situation!

“Go ahead,” her brother nodded.