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

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the county government office.

The gavel slammed down, and the magistrate glared angrily at Chen Yang and Chen Xiufen kneeling below.

"Who are you, and why are you poisoning people?"

Chen Yang trembled with fear and kowtowed desperately, pleading, "Your Honor, please investigate! I'm innocent! It was that poisonous woman! She's the one who poisoned me! I also ate the poisoned meat, and my stomach is still aching terribly. I'm a victim too!"

The magistrate turned his attention to Chen Xiufen.

Chen Xiufen lay on the ground, her face pale from abdominal pain, but her eyes were unusually calm.

"Sir, there's no need for further interrogation. I killed the man, and I poisoned him," she readily admitted.

"Why did you poison him?" the magistrate pressed.

Chen Xiufen forced a bitter smile, saying, "Why? Because they all deserve to die! For his son's future, they're going to divorce me! They won't let me live, so I won't let them have it easy either!"

Her voice grew increasingly agitated, and by the end, it was almost a scream.

"I bore children for this family, worked like a slave, and in the end, they treated me like a burden, throwing me away without a second thought! I hate them! I hate all of them!"

The magistrate frowned as he listened to her resentful words.

He slammed his gavel: "You audacious and wicked woman, with a vicious heart, you plotted to murder your mother-in-law! Your crimes are heinous! Guards, give her twenty strokes of the cane first, then throw her into the death row to await further judgment!"

"yes!"

The bailiffs stepped forward and dragged Chen Xiufen away. Soon, the dull thud of the cane and Chen Xiufen's suppressed cries of pain could be heard outside the hall.

The magistrate immediately instructed his clerk: "File the coroner's autopsy report along with the case file at once. The criminal, Chen, is irrefutably guilty and has confessed without hesitation. According to the law, she should be sentenced to beheading in the autumn. Draft the necessary documents and submit them to the prefectural government for review. After the case is closed, notify her family to retrieve her body for burial."

"Yes, sir."

The news reached Chenjia Village the following afternoon.

The messenger was village chief Chen Defu. He looked at the old man sitting in the courtyard, who seemed to have lost all his energy overnight, and sighed.

"Brother, the official document from the county government has arrived. It says... the family can go and collect the body."

Old Chen's hand holding the pipe trembled, and hot ash fell onto the back of his hand, but he didn't notice.

Wang Jinzhu came out of the house, holding a cloth bag in her hand, and handed it to Wang Tianfang: "The oxcart is waiting at the village entrance. Tianfang, you go with your father-in-law and bring the person back. I've also made arrangements at the coffin shop; we'll take him directly there for the encoffining."

"Me?" Chen Shi was taken aback.

"Yes, you go." Wang Jinzhu looked at him. "You're the eldest son, so it's only right that you handle this. Bring the person back and take them directly to the old house. Set up the mourning hall there."

Old Chen nodded: "Jinzhu is right. Let's do as she says."

Without further hesitation, Chen Shi climbed onto the oxcart.

Wang Tianfang cracked his whip, and the oxcart turned around and headed back towards the county town.

Watching the oxcart drive away, Wang Jinzhu turned to Old Man Chen and said, "Grandpa, you should go back inside and rest. I'm going to find the village chief to discuss digging a grave and making funeral arrangements. After all, when someone dies, they deserve a proper burial."

"Jinzhu..." Old Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say a word of thanks, but felt awkward and couldn't say it.

"Sir, just say what you have to say." Wang Jinzhu noticed his embarrassment.

"Thanks to you so much for the family." After holding it in for a long time, Old Chen finally managed to say these words.

"Sir, you're being too polite," Wang Jinzhu said calmly. "Now that I've married Tianfang, you're all my family. I'm doing this not for anyone else, but for Tianfang, for Tianwei and Tianrun, and for you. I don't want our family to be talked about behind our backs."

An oxcart carrying a thin-skinned coffin creaked and groaned its way into the village.

Chen Shi and Wang Tianfang followed the oxcart silently, one in front and one behind. The villagers watched from a distance, pointing and whispering.

The poisoning of the mother-in-law was unprecedented in Chenjia Village and even in the surrounding area.

The coffin was taken directly to the Chen family's old house. The mourning hall was set up in the main room where Old Mrs. Chen used to live, and everything was kept simple. Wang Jinzhu had arranged everything in advance: two white candles, a brazier, and not even a Taoist priest was invited to perform the rituals.

Old Chen, dressed in old coarse cloth, sat on the threshold of the main room, holding his extinguished pipe in his hand, like a dried-up stone statue. He watched the coffin being carried in, his cloudy eyes remaining motionless.

After decades of marriage, things ended like this.

Wang Jinzhu brought some food from the new house and distributed it to the relatives who were helping out. Then she went to Old Man Chen's side and whispered, "Grandpa, I know you're not feeling well. But death is a serious matter, and she should be buried with dignity. The funeral is tomorrow morning, so... you should make the preparations."

"Dignity?" Old Chen's chapped lips twitched, letting out a hoarse, self-deprecating laugh. "She loved dignity more than anything in her life, and in the end, she became the laughingstock of the whole county. She and that unfilial son's family have completely disgraced the Chen family."

Wang Jinzhu didn't reply. Some scars can only be healed on their own.

She turned and went into the mourning hall, where Wang Tianfang was adding paper money to the brazier. The firelight reflected on his face, making his expression inscrutable.

"Tianfang." Wang Jinzhu walked over and gently hugged his waist from behind. "Don't overthink it. This has nothing to do with us."

Wang Tianfang took her hand in return; his palm was dry and warm. "I know," he paused, his voice low, "I just feel it's not worth it. For that family, Mother suffered half her life, Father was a silent sullen man for half his life, and even you, after marrying into the family..."

"It's all in the past," Wang Jinzhu interrupted him. "From now on, our lives will only get better and better."

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the funeral procession prepared to depart.

Only the eldest son's family attended the funeral, along with village chief Chen Defu and a few relatives who were somewhat related.

Just as the coffin was about to be carried out of the courtyard, a staggering figure suddenly appeared at the door.

It is Chen Shuyan.

He changed into a faded blue long gown, his hair was tied up with an old strip of cloth, his face was sallow, and his eyes were sunken. He no longer had any of the demeanor of a scholar.

"Stop!" he shouted hoarsely, rushing to the coffin and blocking its path.

Wang Tianfang frowned and said in a deep voice, "Chen Shuyan, what do you want to do? Respect for the dead is paramount; don't block the way!"

Chen Shuyan ignored him, his gaze fixed on the coffin, his eyes instantly reddening, two streams of tears rolling down his cheeks. "Grandma! Your unfilial grandson has come to see you off on your final journey!"

He cried uncontrollably, as if he were heartbroken.

Wang Jinzhu stood aside, watching coldly.

Ha, crocodile tears, worthless. Why didn't you think of that sooner?