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

Seeing his mother and daughter-in-law looking unwell, Chen Yang slammed his chopsticks on the table. He stood up abruptly, grabbed Chen Xiufen by the collar, and lifted her up.

"What did you put in the food?!" Chen Yang gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

Chen Xiufen let him grab her, a strange smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Her chapped lips moved up and down: "Rat poison, the whole packet went in. It's a pity Shuyan didn't come back. My beloved son couldn't come to be with me."

"Crazy woman!" Chen Yang slapped Chen Xiufen across the face and slammed her to the ground.

Upon hearing the words "rat poison," Liu Yiyi's face contorted in terror. Ignoring the excruciating pain in her throat, she frantically tried to pry two fingers down her throat.

"Ugh—" Liu Yiyi vomited a mouthful of sour water mixed with chunks of unchewed meat. She lay on the ground, dry heaving and trying to vomit, even bringing up bile.

Overwhelmed by pain, Old Mrs. Chen scrambled towards the door, repeatedly shouting, "Help... Murder! My second son's wife is murdering someone..."

The piercing screams pierced through the courtyard wall.

Chen Shi and Chen Yuxiang were working in the courtyard of the old house. Hearing the noise, Chen Shi threw down his sickle and rushed towards the second house's courtyard. Chen Yuxiang followed closely behind.

As soon as Chen Shi entered the courtyard, he saw Old Mrs. Chen rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth. In the main room, Liu Yiyi had vomited all over the floor, and Chen Yang was slumped on a bench, clutching his stomach, his face ashen.

"Something's happened!" Chen Shi shouted. "Yu Xiang, I'll stay here and watch over Mother. Go and fetch a doctor!"

Chen Yuxiang was so frightened that her legs went weak, and she stumbled out of the yard. Chen Shi stayed by Old Mrs. Chen's side, watching his mother convulse in pain, her eyes bloodshot, her fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Before long, Doctor Liu rushed into the courtyard carrying his medicine chest. He glanced at the vomit on the ground, then looked under Old Lady Chen's eyes, his expression changing drastically: "Poisoned! Quick, get some excrement! Force-feed her to induce vomiting!"

Several villagers who rushed over after hearing the news held their noses and brought two buckets of excrement. Doctor Liu directed his men to forcibly pry open the mouths of the villagers and pour the excrement into their mouths, ladle by ladle.

The courtyard reeked of a nauseating stench.

Because Liu Yiyi vomited early and was young and healthy, although she felt extremely uncomfortable after drinking the fecal water, her life was saved. But suddenly she clutched her stomach, let out a scream, and a stream of blood gushed out from below, staining her skirt red.

Doctor Liu took her pulse, shook his head and sighed, "The pregnancy has ended. It will probably be difficult for her to conceive again."

Liu Yiyi's eyes rolled back, and she fainted from the pain.

Old Mrs. Chen was elderly and had just eaten the most, so the poison took effect very quickly. After the fecal water was poured in, she only convulsed a few times, her eyes rolled back, her legs kicked violently, and she became completely still.

Doctor Liu checked his breathing, stood up, and said in a heavy voice, "He's beyond saving. Prepare for the worst."

The midday sun was blinding. Village chief Chen Defu pushed through the crowd and walked in. He glanced at the corpse on the ground, his expression solemn, and immediately said to the young man behind him, "Go, immediately report to the county government."

Half an hour later, Chen Shuyan, dressed in a neat blue long gown and holding a folding fan, slowly walked back to the village.

He had just finished a lively discussion with some classmates at the town's study and was in a good mood. As for his mother's divorce, he had come to terms with it; as long as he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, no one would dare bring it up again.

As Chen Shuyan stepped outside his courtyard gate, he froze. The courtyard was surrounded by villagers. Village head Chen Defu stood in the center of the courtyard, his face ashen.

"Make way, what are you all doing crowding around my house?" Chen Shuyan frowned and pushed through the crowd to go inside.

The next moment, the impatience on his face froze. In the center of the courtyard, a tattered straw mat covered a corpse, revealing a pair of feet clad in embroidered shoes. Beside it, Liu Yiyi lay unconscious on the door panel, her lower body covered in blood. Inside the main room, his parents lay half-dead on the ground, reeking of decay.

"What...what happened?" Chen Shuyan's folding fan fell to the ground, his voice trembling.

Chen Defu looked at him, his tone heavy: "Shuyan, your mother put rat poison in the braised pork. Your grandmother was poisoned to death, and your wife lost her baby."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuyan swayed violently, staggered back two steps, and leaned against the courtyard wall.

"Poisoning...murder..." Chen Shuyan muttered to himself, his eyes glazed over.

He's now the son of a murderer? Who would vouch for the son of a murderer?

"Mother..." Chen Shuyan suddenly let out a desperate roar, rushed into the main room, grabbed Chen Xiufen's hair, and shouted, "Why did you poison me! You ruined me! You ruined my life!"

Chen Shuyan's desperate roar seemed to bring everyone in the courtyard back to their senses.

The villagers' whispers abruptly ceased, and everyone stared wide-eyed at the seemingly insane scholar.

He was the only scholar in Chenjia Village and the hope of the entire village. He always walked with his head held high and never glanced at anyone.

But now, his once neat and tidy blue shirt was stained with dust, his hair was disheveled, and he was pulling at his own mother's hair, looking even uglier than the shrewish women fighting in the village.

"You ruined me! You ruined my life!"

Chen Shuyan's hands were still trembling. He felt dizzy and the whole world was collapsing before his eyes.

The son of a murderer!

These five words were like a mountain, crashing down and crushing all his future prospects and dreams to pieces.

He's finished.

My life is over!

Chen Xiufen's scalp ached terribly as he grabbed her hair, but looking at her son's contorted and pained face, she felt a surge of vengeful pleasure.

She was breathing heavily, and a hoarse laugh came from her throat, like a broken bellows being pulled.

"Destroyed...good...no one should live..."

She spoke haltingly, her eyes fixed on Chen Shuyan, her gaze devoid of any maternal love, only filled with a mad urge to perish together.

On what grounds?

Why do you all want to get rid of me?

For the sake of your reputation, your father bailed me out of prison, only to turn around and give me a letter of divorce.

For the sake of your future, you wouldn't even say a word of pleading, and just watched me get kicked out of the house.

Now, I've dragged everyone down with me, and ruined your most cherished future. Are you happy? Are you satisfied?

Looking into his mother's resentful eyes, Chen Shuyan felt a chill run down his spine. He released his grip, staggered backward, and collapsed to the ground with a thud. His eyes were vacant, and he kept muttering, "It's over...it's all over..."

Just then, a commotion arose outside the courtyard.

"The officials are here! The officials are here! Make way!"

The crowd receded automatically to both sides, like a tide that had been split open.