Chapter 20: If a Son Fails to Learn, the Fault Lies with the Father—It Is You I Shall Strike!

"Oh!"

Da Gou nodded, looking simple and honest, and reached out to help Li Qingyun up. He added, "That's enough, Third Uncle. Grandpa and Grandma aren't dead yet; it’s inappropriate for you to wail like this!"

Li Qingyun: "..."

What a blockhead. How on earth did the second brother raise his children? Every single one of them is as dim-witted as a pig.

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Li Baozhen had long since grown tired of kneeling. Seeing her father stand up, she followed suit. No sooner had she risen than she heard Da Gou being disrespectful to her father, and she immediately flared up. Stepping forward, she slapped Da Gou across the face!

"Smack!"

The people in the courtyard went quiet for a moment. Li Qingyun didn't mind. If his daughter was disciplining Da Gou, Da Gou should just take it.

Cheng Xiuyun was also accustomed to this and didn't forget to instruct, "Take these things inside for your grandparents! And get our room ready, too; your Third Uncle and I are staying the night. This is meat we bought for your grandparents. Once dinner is cooked, we’ll all eat together!"

In no time, Cheng Xiuyun had assigned a series of tasks to Da Gou and the others. Da Gou remained silent. Er Niu and San Niu looked at the meat in their sister's hand, lost in thought. Si Niu and Wu Niu looked up and glared at their Third Uncle; perhaps having lived a few better days, the little ones had grown much bolder.

"Third Uncle, are we your servants? Why do you make us do everything?"

"If Third Uncle and Third Aunt want to stay the night, you can tidy up the room yourselves."

"You little brat, who taught you to speak like that?" Li Qingyun, seeing Si Niu talk back, was instantly filled with rage. "Disrespecting your elders! Kneel down immediately and apologize to your Third Aunt!"

As Li Qingyun spoke, the airs he had picked up from the academy were on full display. Si Niu shrank his small frame but didn't move. His father had said that one only kneels to heaven, earth, and one's parents. The Third Aunt was not his mother, so he would not kneel! Besides, he hadn't done anything wrong. Why should he apologize!

Baoshu was about the same age as Si Niu. Seeing him resist and refuse to apologize to her mother, she became displeased. She darted out from behind Cheng Xiuyun, ready to follow her sister's lead and teach this mud-legged boy a lesson!

"Thud!"

Er Niu, unable to bear it any longer, shoved her away. Baoshu landed hard on her bottom, dazed for a long time, as if she couldn't comprehend how she had ended up on the ground.

"Sister!"

Baozhen cried out. Cheng Xiuyun and the others finally reacted and rushed over to pull Baoshu up.

"Waaah, waaah!"

Feeling cared for, Baoshu wailed, "Daddy, these low-born trash hit Ashu! Daddy, kill them all!"

As soon as the child's words left her lips, the entire courtyard was shocked. The onlookers were also stunned. They looked at the third branch of the Li family with mixed expressions of disbelief and suspicion.

"Is that something a young girl should be saying? Isn't that too vicious?"

"Indeed, she's not even ten yet, and all she talks about is killing. Does she think she’s more powerful than the magistrate?"

"Sigh, the third branch is rotten to the core. He's supposed to be a scholar; how did he raise his children?"

"It's true. They're all Li family members, but Baozhen and Baoshu are worlds apart from Daya and Er Ya!"

"Bang!"

Li Qingyun was incensed, these whispers drilling incessantly into his ears! Looking at the people gossiping outside, he was furious and stepped forward to slam the gate shut. Then, with a dark face, he returned to the jujube tree and scolded Baoshu: "Who taught you to speak like that! Apologize to your Second Uncle immediately!"

Having said that, he turned to Li Feng and bowed respectfully: "Second Brother, it is my fault for failing to teach my daughter properly. Please, Second Brother, forgive me!"

Li Feng didn't speak. He stepped forward, raised his hand, and slapped him across the face. Still unsatisfied, he landed a few more. The speed was so fast that by the time Li Qingyun reacted, Li Feng had finished.

"You..."

"If a child is not taught, it is the father's fault!" Li Feng spoke first. "I am your second brother, and they are my children. Even if they are wrong, it should be I who disciplines them! What are those two little things that they should dare lay a hand on my sons?"

Li Feng’s presence was overwhelming, completely eclipsing Li Qingyun. Li Qingyun stood stunned, staring at this mud-legged second brother. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but why did his second brother feel more imposing now than the magistrate he had once seen? During the county examination, he had seen the magistrate from afar, but he had been too busy kowtowing and only caught a glimpse of his back. Even so, it was an existence he felt he could never reach. But now, he actually... No, it must be his imagination!

"Second Brother, what are you doing!" Madam Li, seeing her precious darling being struck, struggled to rise to discipline Li Feng.

"Mother!" Li Feng glanced over and walked quickly toward her, but just as he was about to crouch down, for some reason, the reclining chair Madam Li was sitting on collapsed! Madam Li fell flat on her back, adding injury to injury!

"Mother!" Li Feng shouted in a panicked tone and immediately ordered Da Gou to carry her into the house. At the same time, he turned and angrily rebuked Li Qingyun: "Third Brother, what are your intentions?"

"Mother has been injured for over ten days. You didn't come back to see her, and that's fine, but the moment you return, you cause Mother further harm. What are you trying to do? Are you intentionally trying to stop Mother from recovering?"

Li Qingyun: "???"

When had he ever put any thought into his own home? Now, hearing Li Feng say this, his mind couldn't even process the turn of events.

Old Man Li, seeing this, quickly tried to mediate: "Second Brother, what nonsense are you spouting? It was clearly your mother who fell by accident; what does it have to do with the third brother!"

Li Qingyun had originally wanted to counter-attack, but his father was quicker than him. By the time he opened his mouth, his father had already said everything that should and shouldn't have been said!

It’s over! Li Qingyun was dumbfounded! The people outside hadn't left yet! It was clearly the second brother who had approached their mother, causing her to fall—what did that have to do with him! But as things stood, he had no other way. He hitched up his robes and knelt down again: "Father, it is your son who is unfilial!"

"You two have been injured for so long, and I didn't even know. If Second Brother..."

"Er Niu, go tidy up the south room. Your Third Uncle and Third Aunt are staying the night; they will sleep in the south room tonight!" Li Feng interrupted.

Li Qingyun swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Cheng Xiuyun knew how to grasp the point. She pinpointed it accurately. The south room? Wasn't that where the second branch lived? Why were they being put there?

Baoshu burst into tears: "Waaah, waaah, Daddy, Mommy, Baoshu doesn't want to sleep in the chicken coop! Let's go home, Daddy, let's go home!"

Baozhen also looked disgusted. Let them sleep in the south room? Impossible!

Li Qingyun's throat felt as if it had been gripped, his voice changing: "Father, what is Second Brother saying? How can I go and sleep in the south room?"

"Father, I am about to take the prefectural examination. I have already passed the county exam. This time, I have been instructed by a famous teacher; I will definitely pass as a scholar! Father, the south room is damp. If I sleep there, what will happen to the prefectural and provincial exams?"

Old Man Li immediately spoke up, "Second Brother, clear out the room. You should go back to living in the south room!"

"Father, have you forgotten that I am still injured?" Li Feng looked at Li Qingyun and then at Old Man Li: "These days, even when I was sick, I took my sons up the mountain, working myself to the bone to find food. Do you not know who it was for?"