Transmigrated into the role of the matriarch, I ensured my family had enough to eat and wear during

After knocking the peach blossoms away with a bamboo stick, Shen took only two steps before remembering the fetus in her womb. She quickly stopped and dared not chase after them any further.

She stood there, cursing a few times in the direction Peach Blossom had run away, but ultimately, considering the child in her womb, she could only let Peach Blossom run out of the courtyard and did not pursue the matter any further.

On the other side, Tang Susu had just entered her yard and was about to get some wood ash water to disinfect the chicken coop and duck shed when she heard a noise at the gate, as if someone had arrived.

Yang Xiaobao, the son, was the first to see the person. His body trembled violently, and he instinctively grabbed Tang Susu's arm tightly, calling out in a trembling voice, "Mom, Great-Grandma is here! It's Great-Grandma!"

Tang Susu gently patted Yang Xiaobao's shoulder and softly comforted him, telling him not to be afraid. Then she slowly turned around and saw Old Lady Tang standing in front of the courtyard gate.

Unlike last time when she only brought Tang Xiaomi, this time Old Lady Tang was accompanied by a tall, burly man in his thirties or forties who looked quite fierce.

It was morning, and none of the men in the family were home: Tang Lifu had gone to work in the fields, Yang Gousheng and Tang Liqiang were carrying a load of cold noodles to deliver them, and only Tang Susu, Miao Yulan and Yang Xiaobao were in the backyard.

Upon seeing this, Tang Susu's face darkened, her attitude turned cold, and she had no intention of opening the door at all.

Seeing this, Old Lady Tang stepped forward and pounded on the courtyard gate with all her might, making the door bang loudly. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Tang Susu, open the door for me! Open the door now!"

Tang Susu stood in the courtyard and replied indifferently, "If you have something to say, just say it outside the courtyard. After you're done, hurry back. I don't welcome you, and I won't let you in."

Old Mrs. Tang was taken aback, then her face turned ashen with anger. She pulled the burly man behind her to the front and stated her purpose bluntly: "Let me tell you, Tang Susu, I've already arranged this marriage for you!"

"I've accepted the betrothal gifts, and the wedding procedures have all been completed. You must go home with him today to hold the wedding ceremony!"

Tang Susu was so angry she felt a chill run down her spine, and immediately retorted sarcastically, "Who do you think you are? You dare to interfere in my affairs?"

"My parents-in-law are still alive, and I have my son with me. It's not your place, an outsider, to tell me what to do!"

As she spoke, she deliberately pointed her finger to the sky and raised her voice, "Dog-Sheng's father is watching from heaven. You dare to touch me, just try!" in order to intimidate Old Lady Tang.

Old Mrs. Tang shivered involuntarily at Tang Susu's words, her eyes darting away for a moment, but soon her anger surged up again.

She pondered to herself that since Tang Susu's father had been legally betrothed to Old Man Tang, she was Tang Susu's rightful grandmother and had the right to decide her marriage.

Then, she nudged the burly man beside her and said impatiently, "What are you standing there for? Just carry her away, take her home, and consummate the marriage right away!"

This burly man hadn't been with a woman for over ten years, not because he couldn't afford to get married, but because he was ugly, his face covered in acne, and he looked quite frightening.

His wife had been dead for over ten years, and he was raising seven or eight children alone. No woman from the surrounding villages was willing to be his second wife.

He was delighted with just one glance at Tang Susu—Tang Susu had fair skin and a pretty face. Marrying her would not only make him look good, but she could also help him take care of the children.

So, in a gruff voice, he tried to entice Tang Susu with bribes: "I have fifty acres of land and six taels of silver in savings. As long as you follow me, the land and the silver are all yours to manage, and you'll be in charge!"

Yang Xiaobao's face flushed red with anger. He broke free from Tang Susu's grasp and retorted loudly to the burly man, "Don't waste your breath! My mother wouldn't even look at your land and money!"

"My mother will never remarry, so give up on that idea!"

Enraged by Yang Xiaobao's words, Old Lady Tang roared, "You bastard! You scum!"

"If you ruin this marriage, I'll skin you alive! I won't let you off the hook!"

She secretly pondered that she had gone to great lengths to arrange this marriage, asking someone to act as a go-between. The man had given a total of three and a half taels of silver as a betrothal gift—in those days, even a pig only cost half a tael of silver as a betrothal gift. How could she be willing to be rejected by Tang Susu with so much money, how could she be willing to waste it all?

At the same time, Old Mrs. Tang also realized that Tang Susu was no longer the cowardly, timid, easily controlled, and manipulated woman she used to be.

She suppressed her anger and tried to persuade Tang Susu in a gentle tone, pretending to feel sorry for her: "Susu, I'm doing this all for your own good!"

"You are a weak woman, raising two younger brothers and two sons. It must be so difficult for you. I feel sorry for you, so I helped you find such a good man with money and land."

"After you marry into the family, you'll have plenty to eat and wear, you won't have to work hard anymore, you won't have to serve your in-laws, and you'll be in charge of everything at home. This is a dream come true for most people!"

Tang Susu's lips curled into a mocking smile, her eyes cold as she retorted, "Oh? So you think I'm not doing well in Yangqu Village, that I can't be in charge, and that I can't make decisions?"

Then, in a stern tone, she warned, "This is my last piece of advice: take him and leave now. Don't linger at my gate!"

"Otherwise, I'll have you all thrown out. Then, it won't just be me, Tang Susu, who loses face, but your entire Tang family! I'm thick-skinned and fearless, but can your Tang family afford to lose face like that?"

Tang Susu's tough attitude infuriated Old Mrs. Tang, who trembled all over, gritted her teeth, and turned pale and then red.

Seeing that neither gentle persuasion nor forceful tactics worked and Tang Susu remained unmoved, she subtly winked at the burly man beside her, signaling him to stop waiting. She then forced her way into the courtyard and carried Tang Susu away.

The burly man understood immediately. He rubbed his hands together, took a big step, and was about to reach out to push open the courtyard gate and force his way in.

Just then, a gentle and refined voice suddenly rang out in the quiet courtyard: "Grandma, what brings you to my eldest sister's place?"

It was Tang Chengyu's voice that instantly broke the stalemate.

Just as Old Mrs. Tang was about to yell at the burly man and urge him to hurry up and do it, she heard the voice, looked up abruptly, and saw that it was her beloved grandson Tang Chengyu speaking. Her wrinkled eyes widened suddenly, her face full of disbelief.

Not long ago, Tang Chengyu insisted on going to teach outside. These past few days, she has been thinking that once the locust control work in the village is over, she will go to the street to inquire which school Tang Chengyu is teaching at, so that she can send her some things.

Yesterday, when she met the matchmaker and was told about this marriage, she immediately agreed without hesitation. She planned to go find Tang Chengyu after receiving the three and a half taels of betrothal money. Unexpectedly, Tang Chengyu was actually at the home of that "bastard" Tang Susu.

Old Mrs. Tang stared blankly at Tang Chengyu, her voice trembling as she asked, "Chengyu? Is it really you? You...you weren't teaching at the school on the street?"

Her gaze was fixed on Tang Chengyu, and the more she looked, the more alarmed she became—in the past, Tang Chengyu always wore a clean white and blue robe, and his every move exuded the refined demeanor of a cultured person, with an outstanding temperament.

At this moment, he was wearing a coarse cloth robe covered in patches, and on his feet were a pair of rough and worn-out straw sandals, with his big toe sticking out from the seams of the shoes, making him look extremely shabby.

Looking at Tang Chengyu's tattered clothes, Old Lady Tang felt heartbroken. She stomped her foot and burst into tears like a flood.

She cried as she pointed at Tang Susu, cursing, "Tang Susu! You heartless, wicked thing! You slut!"

"How could you be so heartless to your own brother! My precious grandson, he's a student just starting out, how could he be dressed in such tattered clothes and suffer like this!"

She cried and blamed herself, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault for being so incompetent. I couldn't protect my grandson, and you've suffered so much. I'm so sorry..."

Old Mrs. Tang's loud and shrill cries, combined with the commotion at the courtyard gate, quickly attracted the attention of passersby in a hurry.

Everyone stopped and gathered around to watch the commotion, whispering among themselves and asking each other what had happened.

Someone pointed at Tang Chengyu and asked in confusion, "Isn't that Tang Tongsheng? What's he doing at Tang Susu's house?"

Someone else explained softly, "I heard that Tang Tongsheng came to teach Tang Susu's son, Yang Xiaobao, and he's been staying in Yangqu Village for the past few days."

Passersby whispered among themselves, discussing the matter endlessly.

As Old Mrs. Tang cried, she overheard the passersby's conversation and learned that her beloved grandson was actually teaching in the poor and remote Yangqu Village. This only fueled her anger.

In her eyes, Tang Chengyu was a respectable scholar with a bright future. Even if he went to teach at the most ordinary school on the street, it would be an insult to his status, let alone teaching Yang Xiaobao and his gang of "bastards" in Tang Susu's dilapidated home.

She increasingly felt that Tang Susu had mistreated Tang Chengyu and that Tang Susu had deliberately made her grandson suffer. She was so angry that she trembled all over and her words to Tang Susu became increasingly harsh.

Tang Chengyu stepped forward, gently opened the slightly worn courtyard gate, walked to Old Mrs. Tang's side, reached out to help her up from her slumped position on the ground, and softly comforted her: "Grandma, don't be angry, and don't worry. I'm here with my eldest sister, and everything is fine."

"Go back and tell your parents that I'm doing well at your older sister's house, so they don't need to worry about me or come to pick me up."

Old Mrs. Tang didn't believe it at all, shaking her head repeatedly in rebuttal: "What's so good about it? Look at you, dressed so raggedly, wearing straw sandals on your feet, you must be living a very hard life, probably never even having a full meal!"

Looking at Tang Chengyu's much thinner face, her eyes reddened again. She tightly grasped Tang Chengyu's hand, ready to take him home: "Come on, Chengyu, come home with Grandma. Grandma will cook you delicious food and make you new clothes. I'll never let you suffer like this again!"

Tang Chengyu gently withdrew her hand and said firmly, "Grandma, I'm not going home with you. I'll stay here and live at my eldest sister's house."

Seeing this, Old Lady Tang became extremely anxious. Pointing at him, she scolded, "You're talking nonsense! You're just a student, how can you suffer like this here? Whatever it is, let's go home first, and we'll talk about it slowly at home. Listen to me!"

Tang Chengyu slowly raised his head and said in a heavy voice, "Grandma, what's the use of becoming a student if I can't continue my studies?"

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Tang's face instantly changed, turning deathly pale. She rushed forward, covered Tang Chengyu's mouth, and urgently said, "Don't talk nonsense! Don't say such things!"

Only the Tang family, the village head of Xihe Village, and the Tang clan leader knew that Tang Chengyu had been expelled from Chongwentang. She felt that this was not a glorious thing and was thinking about how to resolve it in the future. She was determined not to let it be spread outside, and even less to let so many passersby know.

Tang Chengyu gently moved Old Lady Tang's hand away and slowly turned his gaze to the villagers of Yangqu Village who had gathered to watch the excitement, scanning them one by one.

He recalled that when he first arrived in Yangqu Village, the villagers looked at him with reverence and worship. Even the gossipy women, reckless hooligans, and idle rogues in the village would consciously avoid him and dare not offend him.

He knew that in this village where most people were illiterate, intellectuals were highly respected and admired. He also knew that the villagers were willing to let their children study with him because they believed he was knowledgeable and would pass the imperial examinations and bring honor to Yangqu Village.

Tang Chengyu understood that he had lost the qualification to take the imperial examination and could no longer be worshipped and respected by the villagers as before.

He made up his mind to no longer hide it and to explain the matter clearly to all the villagers of Yangqu Village, telling them that he had been expelled from Chongwentang and could no longer continue his studies or teach their children as a student.