"Xiaoyao! The ground is cold. Get up, hurry, get up!"
A pair of rough hands grabbed Lu Jingyao's arm and pulled her up from the ground.
Only then did the distraught Lu Jingyao come to her senses and realize that Third Aunt had come to her side.
She hurriedly said, "Third Aunt, I'm fine. I was just thinking about my father."
Third Aunt took out a handkerchief and handed it to Lu Jingyao. "Enough, I heard everything. We're family, so you don't need to hide it from me. Wipe your tears quickly. Don't let outsiders see."
"."
Lu Jingyao froze for a moment, silently wiped away her tears, then asked faintly, "Third Aunt, am I really guilty? Did I harm my father, and then my younger brother too?"
"Alas~"
Third Aunt sighed and said helplessly, "We country folk always help our kin rather than reason. Back when your father broke off the engagement with the Li family, I thought it was unfair, but I still stood on your side. People climb to higher ground—who wouldn't want their own daughter to have a better future?"
"It's just that fortune's wheel turns in circles. Who would have thought Li Ye would suddenly make something of himself? The Li family is clearly on the rise now, and retribution should be coming."
"Retribution? Third Aunt, you think I'm suffering retribution too?"
Lu Jingyao was already numb with shock. Ever since she had gotten into university, all her relatives had flattered her and said she had made something of herself. Third Aunt was the first person to say she would suffer retribution.
Third Aunt lowered her voice. "Actually, this isn't so bad. Though I've spent my whole life in the countryside, I saw all kinds of retribution back in those years when everyone was scheming