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

Hou Cai's wife collapsed onto the ground covered in duck droppings and burst into tears.

As she wept, she cried out, "For all these years since I married into the Yang family, I've worked like an old ox, day and night. Bearing children, managing the household, farming—I've shouldered it all! I've never uttered a single complaint. But Yang Houcai, on the other hand, has been cheating on me with that slut Yang Tangshi on our wedding bed! Heavens, open your eyes and punish this adulterous couple!"

Most of the villagers watching sympathized with the weaker party, and listening to Hou Cai's sister-in-law's lament, they all turned their condemning gazes toward Tang Susu.

Tang Susu remained unusually calm. She stepped forward and retorted clearly, "Isn't it absurd to convict me based solely on a pair of underwear?"

Pointing to the spot under the courtyard wall, she continued, "These underpants appeared under the outer wall of my yard. It's obvious someone deliberately threw them there to frame me. Think about it, who would so meticulously try to frame me like this?"

Houcai's wife suddenly raised her head and roared in rebuttal, "Who else could it be but you? Your husband is dead, so you must be lusting after my husband!"

Tang Susu sneered, her sharp eyes sweeping over the crowd: "I'm not the only one in the village whose husband has died."

Aunt Liu immediately chimed in, her voice booming, "Yes! Widow Lan doesn't have a man either, this might be related to her!"

Squeezed into the crowd, Lan immediately put on a delicate, aggrieved expression and hurriedly explained, "Fellow villagers, please don't wrong me! I spent the whole afternoon in the mountains gathering firewood and digging for vegetables, and I didn't see Brother Houcai at all. I have absolutely nothing to do with this!"

Tang Susu's smile deepened, her gaze fixed on Madam Lan: "Oh? I'm curious, Houcai's wife never mentioned that the affair happened in the afternoon, how do you know the time so clearly?"

Lan's face turned deathly pale instantly; she suddenly realized that she had let something slip.

Feeling the intense, scrutinizing gazes of the crowd, she felt a pang of guilt and stammered, "I...I guessed! I have absolutely no connection with Yang Houcai, we're not even acquainted!"

Aunt Liu chuckled jokingly, "Since we're not close, why are you calling him 'Brother Houcai'? Are you Yang Houcai's sister?"

Upon hearing this, the villagers burst into laughter, further exposing the Lan family's lies.

The village head's wife squeezed in, trying to smooth things over: "Oh dear, it's no big deal. It's common for underwear to get blown away when it's windy; there's no need to make such a fuss."

She stepped forward to help Hou Cai's wife, saying, "Hou Cai's wife, let's go home first."

Hou Cai's wife, however, refused to give up. She struggled to avoid the village head's wife's hand, determined to find the adulterer, her gaze shifting back and forth between Tang Susu and Lan Shi.

Tang Susu's gaze swept across the crowd, and she immediately spotted Yang Houcai hiding in the back.

She calmly instructed Tang Liqiang: "Liqiang, pull Uncle Houcai over here."

Tang Liqiang was only fifteen years old and not very strong, so he couldn't pull the adult Yang Houcai at all.

Several men from the village who had been watching the commotion stepped forward to help, and together they dragged the unwilling Yang Houcai into the courtyard.

Feeling utterly humiliated, Yang Houcai flew into a rage and yelled at his wife, "You ugly woman! What are you doing here spouting nonsense! If you keep this up, I'll divorce you! Come home with me right now!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and tried to pull Houcai's wife away.

Tang Susu spoke up at this moment, her gaze falling on Yang Houcai's neck: "Uncle Houcai, what happened to the scratches on your neck?"

Everyone's eyes turned to look, and sure enough, they saw a clear fingernail scratch.

Tang Susu then turned to Hou Cai's wife: "Hou Cai's wife, spread your hands out so everyone can see."

Houcai's wife, who had intended to continue verbally abusing Tang Susu, instinctively reached out her hand upon hearing this.

Tang Susu pointed to her hands and said to everyone, "Look, everyone, Houcai's wife has been doing heavy work for many years. Her hands are rough and her fingernails are severely worn down. She doesn't have any nails at all."

She then turned to Madam Lan, her tone firm: "Madam Lan, a woman without a husband, has long fingernails. The scratches on Uncle Houcai's neck were clearly made by a woman's fingernails. Neither Houcai's wife nor I have fingernails; only Madam Lan at the scene had long fingernails, making her the prime suspect!"

All eyes were once again focused on the Lan family.

Lan hurriedly tucked her hands into her sleeves, her expression flustered, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal for a long time.

Yang Houcai also seemed particularly guilty, unconsciously raising his hand to cover the back of his neck, a gesture that further confirmed Tang Susu's guess.

Just then, Zheng Dahu squeezed in from outside the courtyard and shouted, "I can testify! A few days ago, I saw Yang Houcai and Widow Lan go into the woods behind the mountain together!"

Zheng Dahu is only eleven years old. The words of a young boy are quite credible, and he probably couldn't have made up such a scandalous story.

His testimony definitively confirmed the affair between Yang Houcai and Lan Shi.

Upon learning the truth, Houcai's wife let out a shrill scream and then pounced on Lan Shi like a madwoman.

Lan Shi rarely did heavy work and was weak and powerless. Hou Cai's wife pushed her to the ground.

Houcai's wife plopped down on Lan Shi's lap and began slapping her face repeatedly with both hands, the crisp sound echoing in the courtyard.

Lan Shi was so badly beaten that his head was spinning, his vision went black, and he was dizzy all over. He didn't even have the strength to fight back.

During the fight, a silver hairpin slipped out of Lan's pocket and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

When Houcai's wife saw the silver hairpin, her eyes instantly turned red.

This silver hairpin was a token of love given to her by Yang Houcai when she first married into the family.

She had been missing for more than half a year, and she searched high and low but couldn't find it. Unexpectedly, Yang Houcai gave it to the Lan family!

The appearance of the silver hairpin completely broke Houcai's wife.

She instantly lost all strength and slumped blankly onto Lan Shi's body, her long-held belief completely collapsing.

She suddenly realized that even if she crippled the Lan family, Yang Houcai's heart would never be won back.

The two could never return to the tenderness and affection they had when they first got married. She even began to suspect that Yang Houcai might be having affairs with other women.

Hou Cai's wife lay on the ground, silently shedding tears. Her desperate appearance was even more heartbreaking than her previous madness.

Lan was terrified, fearing that Houcai's wife would really tear her face apart.

Despite the pain in her cheek and the fear in her heart, she scrambled to her feet and fled desperately out of the village without looking back.

Yang Houcai was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode, but because there were too many onlookers, he didn't dare to retaliate. He could only hang his head and slink away behind them.

Several kind-hearted women gathered around and gently comforted Houcai's wife.

"Girl, don't be sad. Men are all unreliable. Just take it easy."

"The Lan family will definitely not dare to provoke Yang Houcai again in the future. Don't make too much of a scene. Give men some space. Life still goes on."

"Yes, we have a long life ahead of us. Let's not dwell on this. We still have to live our lives."

Although Tang Susu did not agree with these ideas of "advising reconciliation rather than separation", she also understood the principle of "better to destroy ten temples than to break up one marriage" and was unwilling to do something thankless.

She turned and went into the kitchen, brought out a basin of clean water, and handed it to Houcai's wife: "Wash your face first, then go home."

Hou Cai's wife was exhausted, covered in sweat, mud, and chicken and duck droppings.

Looking at the basin of water that Tang Susu handed her, she said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have slandered you without knowing the facts."

She took the basin of water, quietly washed her face, casually smoothed her messy hair, then pushed through the crowd and silently walked home.

The villagers were still discussing it.

Some people said, "Yang Houcai, though not as lazy as Zheng the Scoundrel, is no better. He actually brought his mistress to his own marital bed for an affair—it's outrageous!"

This incident also served as a warning to the women in the village. After returning home, they all ordered their husbands not to take a single step closer to Widow Lan.