Chapter 73: This Trick Does Not Work

When Fang Yuan spoke, the entire scene fell silent. After all, how this matter would be handled depended entirely on this new daughter-in-law’s attitude.

If this young daughter-in-law got angry and started causing trouble with the Lu family as well, the Lu family would not come out of it well.

The villagers secretly spat at Li Meng’s family for being shameless, wondering what it had to do with the new daughter-in-law.

Of course, most of them still wanted to see Fang Yuan, the second son’s wife, face off against the eldest son’s wife’s maternal family.

Who did not know Fang family tigress was not easy to provoke? Everyone wanted to see how the tigress would deal with these rolling, shameless troublemakers.

Li Meng’s elder sister-in-law said angrily, “Your family is in the wrong, no matter what you say you are not justified.”

Li Meng’s mother was still rolling on the ground crying, and Li Meng’s sister-in-law kept shouting, their coordination surprisingly well practiced.

Fang Yuan sneered, “Am I Fang Yuan someone who reasons with just anyone?”

A single pole swung out, and if Li Meng’s sister-in-law and her mother had not rolled away quickly, it would have hit them.

Li Meng’s elder brother was so frightened he stepped back several paces. This woman was not to be trifled with. She actually struck without warning.

Fang Yuan said, “Have you not asked around who I am? I, Fang Yuan, do not even care about the money in your pocket, you should be thanking your ancestors for that. Yet you still dare provoke me. You have guts.”

Not seeing Li Meng around, Fang Yuan felt slightly regretful. “What your daughter has done, I have not even come to your house yet. Since you are here today, let us talk it out. How do we settle this?”

From the side, Aunt Sun whispered, “A rogue has met a hard case.”

Lu Chuan pulled Fang Yuan’s leg off the stool she was stepping on. “Stand properly when you talk.”

Fang Yuan glared at him. “So much nonsense.”

Was this really nonsense? Compared to the Li family who came to extort money, he already looked like a bandit, and the villagers were watching.

In the end, Fang Yuan really was the bandit. She called out to Lu Chuan, “Call people over. Tell Lu San and the others to surround them. If the Li family does not explain clearly what their daughter did today, none of them are leaving.”

Lu San suddenly appeared from somewhere. “Sister in law, do not worry. I already sent people to the commune to find officials. Let the commune come and reason with them.”

Fang Yuan said, “What reasoning? With people like this, can you reason with them? Why bother looking for them? First surround them. Sister in law will treat you all to a meal later.”

Lu San could not keep up with her dominance. “Really surround them? Not just scaring them?”

Fang Yuan glared. Was he stupid? “Scare them? In your dreams. Money is coming to our doorstep, and you still want to let them leave?”

Lu San immediately remembered how Fang Yuan had previously squeezed money out of Li Meng’s situation. He slapped his thigh. “Quick, surround them! I will treat everyone to ice pops later.”

The Li family had not even started causing trouble yet and were already panicking. Why were they being surrounded?

Li Meng’s sister-in-law scrambled up. “What are you doing? Why are you not letting us leave? This is illegal!”

She had forgotten they had come here to act shamelessly in the first place and never intended to leave properly.

Fang Yuan said, “Do not think you came here waiting for me. I have been waiting for you too.”

So fierce that Lu Chuan barely had a place to speak anymore, because everything that followed was unreasonable, and he was not good at that.

The matter of Li Meng stealing Fang Yuan’s man had never been hidden. Fang Yuan said it openly in front of the villagers. “You did this, and a verbal apology is not acceptable. Tell me, how do you want to settle it?”

The villagers around erupted in discussion.

“So shameless, so embarrassing. And they still dare come extort money?”

Someone muttered, “They ran into the ancestor of extortion. They got caught at their weak point.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law’s face burned red. “You are talking nonsense!”

Fang Yuan said, “Nonsense? Then is it fake that your daughter broke off her engagement? Fake that you brought people to smash the Lu family? Fake that your daughter went to the township cadres to arrange a match? Or that a properly raised young woman threw herself at someone else for nothing?”

The humiliating words instantly ignited the surrounding women. The gossiping crowd exploded again, each more excited than the fighting parties themselves.

On the other side, Gong Er said to Zhang Xiaole, “Did you hear that? I told you this before and you would not listen. Lu Chuan was tricked by his brother and had no choice but to marry Fang Yuan.”

Zhang Xiaole said darkly, “If you cannot speak, no one will treat you as mute.”

They were here to support Lu Chuan’s reputation and could not let outsiders bully him.

Zhu San suddenly asked, “Is this not the eldest son’s matter? Why is the eldest son not here?”

That was true. Everyone in the village knew Lu Chuan had sacrificed his marriage for this situation. Now that it was made clear again, and the eldest son’s wife’s maternal family had come, yet Lu Feng did not show up, it was truly disgraceful.

Gong Er said bluntly, “He is a coward.”

Li Meng did not want Lu Feng to come, but Lu Feng knew that if he did not come, it would be humiliating and he would not be able to live in the village anymore.

Just as he arrived, he heard this.

Li Meng immediately protested, “Who are you talking about? Who said we did not come?”

She then pulled her sister-in-law. “Brother, sister-in-law, bringing mom here to make trouble will not solve anything. I told you already, I have no money.”

The sister-in-law made it clear, “If you have no money, your family’s younger brother-in-law has money. He is earning big money in the township. He has to take responsibility for this.”

People fear thieves remembering them more than thieves stealing. They had been targeted.

Fang Yuan had already splashed a bucket of filthy water toward them. “Lu Chuan does not deal with this kind of rotten nonsense. But my matter, you must deal with.”

Li Meng was drenched head to toe in dirty slop water. “Who are you splashing? Can you not tell friend from foe?”

Fang Yuan said, “I am splashing you.”

Then she added, “Your family raised a daughter who did such disgraceful things. Talk it out. All of you talk it out. Pay compensation.”

No nonsense at all.

Li Meng’s sister-in-law said, “What compensation? What does this have to do with us? I came here to demand money from you.”

Fang Yuan said, “If nothing happened, why did you come? Since you are here, do you think you can leave easily? Pay for the things you smashed at the Lu family, pay for your daughter stealing my marriage. Do you think what you did can just be erased? You want money from me? Dream on.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law, also a famous rogue, said, “No money. We will not pay. Do not even think about extorting us.”

Fang Yuan said, “This is not extortion, it is compensation. If you have no money, that is fine. You have furniture at home, right? How did you come here? Bicycle, donkey cart, or ox cart?”

Then she looked at Lu San. “No matter what transport it is, go watch it.”

Li Meng’s sister-in-law grabbed Lu San and would not let him go. They could not let this woman target them. “Are you bandits? Is there no law? Those are borrowed carts. You cannot take them.”

Fang Yuan said, “That is fine. When I go to your house to ask for money, I will also borrow money from you. That makes things simple. Next time you come, borrow an ox cart. Then this matter will probably be settled.”