The Meng home was surrounded three layers deep, with not a drop of water able to trickle through. When the crowd saw Jin Shanyao come out carrying the children, they began to mutter among themselves.
"Ah, what a sin. How many days has it been since Madam Meng passed? Her bones aren't even cold yet! Isn't it only right that the first branch should step forward and take charge?"
Matchmaker Gao chuckled, her voice sharp with spite. "Take charge? That won't be easy... Madam Meng's sister came out of who knows where. She barely says a word, but her methods are ruthless.
"Look at those two children. She's got them so bewitched they don't even acknowledge their own uncles anymore. What kind of behavior is that?"
Someone chimed in, "The children? Hmph, Meng Third's two brats are as good as ruined.
"Their roots have grown crooked~~ With their own parents gone, instead of relying on their uncles to hold up the family, they joined forces with an outsider to do their own kin to death. What cold, heartless natures! No amount of raising will make them grateful!"
"Taking a thief for their mother, defying the bonds of human decency. We farming folk can forget anything, but we must never forget our roots!
"Can someone who won't even acknowledge their ancestral graves still be called human? Just you wait. Heaven itself will strike down such disloyal, unfilial wretches! From now on, the village children had better stay away from them, or they'll be led astray!"
Everyone talked over one another, their voices growing louder. The abuse and accusations were like knives stabbing into Meng Anzhi's and Meng Anci's hearts. The two little children didn't know what they had done.
"They were the ones who wanted to sell my sister."
The sudden childish voice silenced the clamor for a moment, only for even harsher accusations to follow.
"Child, what are you shouting so loudly for? Your eldest uncle was only doing what was best for you.
"In a year of famine, how hard is it to find somewhere you can get a meal? Instead of being grateful, you poisoned them and tried to kill them. You really have the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog."
"Enough." Jin Shanyao's voice rose sharply. She had sold them pork only moments ago, and their flattering words were still ringing in her ears, yet the moment she turned around, they were pointing fingers at her. Humans truly had no conscience.
She said coldly, "The authorities have ruled that Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi will be in my care from now on. All the third branch's fields and property have been transferred into Meng Anci's name. From now on, they have nothing more to do with the Meng family's first or second branch.
"And the child trader is right there in the back courtyard. Anyone whose children have nowhere to get a meal, hurry and send them over. Don't waste time here."
Everyone was shocked. They hadn't expected the authorities to award custody of the two children to an outsider. If the villagers followed their example in the future, how were they supposed to deal with it?
Jin Shanyao ignored their reactions and turned her gaze back to Meng Hongde. "Now, let's talk about your wife and children being poisoned."
Meng Hongde instinctively backed away. Even Meng Hongyi was pulled far off by Wang Guihua, who covered his mouth to stop him from speaking.
"A misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. My wife and children being poisoned had nothing to do with you."
Jin Shanyao nodded in satisfaction at his words, then looked at the crowd. "Did you hear that? The Meng family's poisoning had nothing to do with my children. If I hear one more word slandering them, I'll smash the speaker's mouth."
The crowd had been slapped in the face and didn't dare say a word.
Jin Shanyao was about to leave with the children in her arms when Meng Anzhi whispered, "Auntie, our meat is still in the Meng family's kitchen."
The Meng family... Meng Hongde seethed. What an ungrateful wretch, refusing to acknowledge her ancestors. Did she really think she could break free of the Meng family completely just by going with Jin Shanyao? She could dream on.
But he didn't dare say it, and only kept it bottled up inside. Seeing Jin Shanyao's expression change, he hurried to explain, "What meat? I don't know anything about it."
Jin Shanyao didn't waste words on him. Carrying the children, she went straight into the kitchen and sure enough, saw a pig's hind leg on a shelf. Steam rose from a pot bubbling away. She put the children down and was just about to lift the lid when both of them grabbed hold of her.
The two little tots' eyes were full of terror, and they were so frightened they were nearly in tears. If Auntie found out they had poisoned the food, would she stop liking them? Would she abandon them?
Countless thoughts flashed through their minds, and the more they thought, the more afraid they became. Jin Shanyao rubbed their heads and whipped the lid off the pot. When she saw the food inside, she couldn't help laughing...
The two little tots said in trembling voices, "Auntie, Auntie, hit us if you want. We won't ever dare do it again."
Jin Shanyao picked them both up again and called to the cats and dogs outside, "Dahuang, bring the pig leg. We're going home."
At her words, Dahuang darted into the kitchen. With a leap, Dahuang seized the pig leg in her mouth and followed Jin Shanyao out of the Meng family's courtyard, head held high and chest thrust out.
Only after Jin Shanyao had left did Wang Guihua release Meng Hongyi.
Meng Hongyi ran over to help his elder brother up, but Meng Hongde shoved him away. "Get lost, you traitor who eats my food and betrays me! Divorce Wang Guihua right now, or don't call me your brother!"
Wang Guihua panicked. "Husband, you can't divorce me. I bore you two children!"
Meng Hongyi had been running around for three or four days without earning a single coin, and resentment had long been building in his heart.
"Brother, my wife didn't even do anything."
Meng Hongde was so angry his heart and lungs ached. She hadn't done anything? Holding Meng Hongyi back and stopping him from standing up for his brother was the greatest wrong of all. As the saying went, blood brothers fought tigers together, and fathers and sons went into battle side by side.
Wang Guihua clearly didn't regard him as her elder brother-in-law.
He pointed at Wang Guihua and said to his younger brother, "Make her get out of the Meng family. I don't want to see her again."
Wang Guihua burst into tears, and the two children of the Meng family's second branch began crying too. "Father, whenever you're not home, it's Mother who finds us food. She even saved you some pig's blood in the pot. You can't divorce her!"
The two children's crying made Meng Hongyi miserable. "Brother, we've already divided the family. Whether I divorce my wife is none of your business." He took Wang Guihua by the hand and headed back with their two children.
They had grown used to bullying the third branch's widow and orphans, kneading them however they pleased. Their third brother's wife hadn't even dared breathe too loudly, because she had needed the two brothers to back her up in the village.
His elder brother had changed his testimony in court and let the duck they'd already caught fly away, and now he wanted him to divorce his wife... Pah...
Meng Hongde pushed himself upright and shouted, "Second Brother, if you don't divorce her, don't ever call me your elder brother again!"
Meng Hongyi's temper flared too. "Brother, are you determined to tear my wife and children away from me? I've been running around with you, and my two children only ate one bowl of meat, but Sister-in-law declared she wouldn't give me so much as a clod of earth.
"Rather than me divorcing my wife, why don't you divorce yours?"
Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi hadn't dared speak all the way home, carefully watching Jin Shanyao's expression. Once they entered the courtyard, Jin Shanyao put them down.
She then plucked out a hair and hid it in her palm. When she brought it out again, it had become golden powder. She pinched some up and gently sprinkled it on Meng Anci's forehead.
The powder penetrated his skin through the wound and formed a protective film at a speed visible to the naked eye. Meng Anci watched Jin Shanyao anxiously, not daring to make a sound.
After applying the medicine, Jin Shanyao picked up a handkerchief and carefully wiped her palms. "Wild boar stewed with leg-kicking mushrooms. How did you two even come up with that?"
Meng Anci's little face went white in an instant, and the defenses in his heart collapsed completely. He burst into tears. "Auntie, it was them... They wanted to sell Sister, and they wanted to kill you and eat Dahuang."
He sobbed and hiccuped, his little hand gripping Jin Shanyao's finger tightly. "Auntie, please don't abandon me. I'm scared... You're all I have left."
Jin Shanyao felt helpless. She raised a hand to wipe away his tears, pulled both children into her arms, and comforted them gently.
"When someone bullies you, you should fight back. I don't blame you, but did you think about what you would do if they all died? And what would you do if they didn't?"
Meng Anzhi sobbed, "Auntie, we didn't plan to live."
Jin Shanyao's breath caught. Looking at the two children before her, she was at a loss for words. She could say they had done wrong, but the other side really had bullied them too badly.
But if she said they had done right, what would she do if they poisoned someone else in the future?