A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Qingshi Town, Zhiyuan Academy.

During morning reading, Chen Shuyan's classmates frequently glanced at his face, which was covered in bruises, and began to whisper among themselves.

Feeling the gazes of his classmates, he couldn't concentrate on reading a single word. Every now and then, he would raise his hand to touch his still throbbing cheek, his eyes brimming with resentment.

Chen Tianfang! Wang Jinzhu!

These two people actually beat him in front of the whole village. He couldn't swallow this insult no matter what.

"Brother Shuyan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhang Jingwen, a classmate sitting next to me, asked with concern.

Zhang Jingwen was the son of the owner of the rice shop in town. His family was well-off, and he was usually closest to Chen Shuyan.

Chen Shuyan snapped out of his daze, quickly forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and shook his head: "It's nothing, thank you for your concern, Brother Jingwen, it's just... sigh!"

He let out a long sigh, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Zhang Jingwen leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Brother Shuyan, we are classmates and good friends, so please feel free to speak your mind if you have any difficulties. Look at the injuries on your face, they were there when you came the day before yesterday, all bruised and purple, but you wouldn't say anything when I asked. Today, they seem even worse?"

Chen Shuyan lowered his head, covering his face with his sleeve, his voice choked with emotion: "It is a misfortune for my family, not something to be told to outsiders."

The more he said this, the more curious Zhang Jingwen became. Scholars, after all, often have a touch of self-righteous chivalry.

"Brother Shuyan, you're being too polite! We share the same ideals, so your business is my business. Who on earth is so bold as to lay a hand on a scholar like you? This is utterly lawless and an insult to scholarship!" Zhang Jingwen said indignantly.

This was exactly the effect Chen Shuyan wanted. He raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, looking as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"Brother Jingwen, to be honest... the person who hit me was my uncle's eldest brother."

"What?" Zhang Jingwen was shocked. "Your older brother? Why did he hit you? And so hard?"

Chen Shuyan gave a wry smile and began the story he had prepared long ago: "Alas, my elder brother doesn't like to study, while I am eager to learn. I was lucky enough to pass the preliminary examination and gained some favor from the teacher. As a result, my grandparents and parents valued me more and helped me with my daily needs."

As he said this, he let out another long sigh, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Perhaps that's why my elder brother and sister-in-law are unhappy. They think that I'm spending the family's money on my studies and that I'm a burden to the family. A few days ago, my newlywed sister-in-law even said in front of the whole family that I'm just studying dead books and that I'm useless and only waste rice."

"This is outrageous!" Zhang Jingwen slammed his hand on the table, attracting the attention of several classmates around him.

He quickly lowered his voice and said angrily, "That's utterly womanly! 'A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent.' What does a country bumpkin like her know about the great principles of sagehood? Your elder brother is also foolish, actually listening to his wife's words and committing such a heinous act against his own brother!"

Several classmates nearby overheard the gist of it and gathered around.

"Brother Shuyan, were the injuries on your face really inflicted by your elder brother?"

"My God, how can there be such an unreasonable person in this world!"

"I heard that your elder brother married a butcher's daughter. It's true what they say, you become like those you associate with. He's become savage by being around such a shrew."

Listening to the discussions of the crowd, Chen Shuyan felt smug inside, but his face showed even more bitterness.

"Gentlemen, please keep your voices down." He cupped his hands in a gesture of appeasement, "Family scandals should not be aired in public. Please do not bring this up again. My elder brother was just confused for a moment. I only hope that I can pass the imperial examinations in the future and bring honor to our family. At that time, they may understand my good intentions today."

Chen Shuyan's magnanimous words only aroused the sympathy and anger of his classmates.

"Brother Shuyan, you're just too soft-hearted!" Zhang Jingwen said angrily. "Your tolerance will only embolden them! No, we can't just sit idly by!"

"Yes! We have to get justice for you!" another classmate chimed in.

"Come on, let's go to your house right now and have a word with your older brother! Let him know that scholars aren't easy to bully!"

In an instant, the crowd was agitated, and several hot-blooded young students stood up, ready to rush to Chenjia Village to stand up for Chen Shuyan.

Chen Shuyan sneered inwardly, but his face showed great alarm, and he quickly stood up to stop them.

"No, no, everyone!" He spread his arms, blocking the way for the crowd, and said urgently, "Absolutely not! This is my family matter, how can I trouble you all? Besides, my elder brother has a violent temper. If you go and a conflict breaks out, and you all get hurt, wouldn't I, Chen Shuyan, become a sinner?"

The more he tried to stop him, the more Zhang Jingwen and the others felt that he was kind-hearted and considerate of others even when he was wronged.

"Brother Shuyan, step aside!" Zhang Jingwen said. "We'll only reason with him, not fight. Your concession only makes us scholars look down on!"

"Yes, with so many of us, would he, a mere hunter, dare to make a move?"

"Exactly! Let's go and teach him a lesson, let him know what brotherly love and respect truly mean!"

Chen Shuyan was secretly delighted to see their indignant expressions, but he dared not actually let them go. If they learned the truth from the villagers, they would only despise him.

He just wanted to salvage his image and stop being looked at differently.

"Everyone, I appreciate your kind intentions. However, my grandparents are elderly and cannot withstand a shock. This matter... well, let's discuss it further." He continued to decline.

Seeing that Chen Shuyan didn't seem to want to pursue the matter, Zhang Jingwen didn't press the issue further. "Shuyan, if your older brother and sister-in-law bully you again, remember to tell us, and we'll go and demand justice for you."

In the following days, Chen Shuyan felt that everyone's attitude towards him had improved a lot. Not only were some people invited to meals, but even his teacher was more amiable towards him and even gave him medicine in private.

What pleased Chen Shuyan even more was that gossip about his brother and sister-in-law spread quietly inside and outside the academy, as if it had grown legs.

What started as a small-scale discussion gradually took a turn for the worse. At some point, the story began to spread like wildfire: "A brute hunter married a shrewish woman, and out of jealousy for his younger brother's education, they ganged up on him and severely injured him." The versions became increasingly bizarre, the details more and more specific, as if witnessed firsthand.

"I've heard that Chen Tianfang is a bully who relies on his strength!"

"Not only that! His wife, Wang Jinzhu, is even more formidable. Born into a butcher's family, she's wilder than any man. I heard that back in her family home, she could take down a pig with one hand!"

"Tsk tsk, no wonder she went to such lengths to harm her uncle who was studying. She's probably resentful of his success, isn't she?"

"This is an insult to scholarship! An insult to scholarship!"

These words would occasionally drift into Chen Shuyan's ears. Whenever this happened, he would lower his head, feigning sadness, but inwardly he was immensely pleased. Yes, that's exactly it.

He even began to enjoy this feeling of being sympathized with and cared for. The indignant support from his classmates and the gentle comfort from his teacher made him feel elated, as if he had really become one of the protagonists in a play who was wronged and would eventually be vindicated.

After school that day, Zhang Jingwen dragged him to a teahouse. While drinking tea, he said excitedly, "Brother Shuyan, guess what? When I got home yesterday, my father told me that the shopkeepers in town have been talking about your brother and sister-in-law's 'heroic feat'! Even the matchmaker's wife at Shopkeeper Liu's house said that she wouldn't dare to easily arrange marriages for hunters or butchers anymore. With family tradition like that, who would dare to arrange a marriage?"

Chen Shuyan was secretly delighted, but he maintained a composed demeanor, shaking his head with a wry smile: "Alas, it's ultimately a family scandal. I didn't want it to affect my sister-in-law's reputation."

"You're just too kind!" Zhang Jingwen patted him on the shoulder. "These rude barbarians need to be taught a lesson! Don't worry, with us here, we won't let you suffer any more injustice. We'll protect your reputation!"