Chapter 1: Trouble Comes to the Door

In the summer of the tenth year of the Daqing Chang’an era, in the town of Guxian, Zhengyang County, Runing Prefecture, there was a village named Daliushu Village.

In the village, there lived the Song family.

The Song family once had three brothers: Song Daqian, Song Erqian, and Song Sanqian.

The wives of Song Daqian and Song Sanqian had once quarreled fiercely over a chicken, cursing each other in the streets, and this created a longstanding enmity between the two families.

“Are you home, Wang Chunlan?”

It was already past noon when Wang Chunlan and her eldest daughter, Song Zhaodi, had just returned from the fields. They suddenly heard the voice of her sister-in-law, Bian Xiuqin, from the gate. Wang Chunlan furrowed her brows slowly.

Although their two husbands were close brothers, connected by blood as “bones and tendons,” the two families had been estranged ever since the quarrel between their mothers-in-law earlier that year over a chicken. Since then, the two families had avoided each other. They would pretend not to see one another when they met in the village and would never visit each other’s homes.

Why had they come?

Wang Chunlan felt puzzled but responded aloud, “Yes.”

Before Bian Xiuqin even entered the yard, her voice had already pierced through, “What a sight this is! A hen with colored feathers on its tail—it’s still a hen. No matter what, it can never become a rooster. Wang Chunlan, you should call out your little third son and let us see if he’s really a man or not.”

As soon as Bian Xiuqin finished speaking, she entered the yard, her eyes darting around like she was looking for a thief, trying to spot Song Liangzuo.

She also didn’t forget to exchange a look with her sister-in-law and cousin, Bian Xiuli.

Bian Xiuli, catching the glance from her cousin (who was also her sister-in-law), spoke with a sarcastic smile before Wang Chunlan could say anything, “That boy Cheng Jiao even claimed your little third son doesn’t have a… well, let’s say a proper thing down there. Wang Chunlan, this isn’t a small matter.”

The two sisters, relying on the support of their mother-in-law, and knowing that there were only women left in this household since the third uncle was absent, completely disregarded the people in the house.

Wang Chunlan was furious, but her heart was racing like it would jump out of her chest. She had to force herself to scold, “You two sister-in-laws, what kind of nonsense are you talking? Our families may have had some disagreements before, but that doesn’t mean you can come here and slander us!”

“Whether it’s slander or not, you know in your heart. If you don’t want your little third son to be wronged, just let him come out and show us. Where is he? Let him come out,” Bian Xiuqin said, her gaze sweeping the yard, searching for Song Liangzuo.

Wang Chunlan felt her heart leap into her throat, but she had to act as if nothing was wrong, saying, “He’s not at home. I don’t know where he went to play.”

Wang Chunlan’s heart was full of anxiety, but she tried to downplay it.

“Well, if he’s not at home, that’s easy. We’ll just wait here. He can’t possibly not come back, right?” Bian Xiuli said.

Bian Xiuqin rolled her eyes at her cousin and impatiently urged, “Alright, enough of that. This was witnessed by Cheng Jiao himself. You should quickly call Liangzuo out for us to see. If he really is a boy, then those six acres of land you’ve been farming are rightfully yours. If not, then you’ll have to give up those six acres, and even compensate by farming for three more years, with the grain produced going to the villagers.”

Since Liangzuo was born, Wang Chunlan had lived in constant fear for over four years.

Whenever villagers would casually remark, “Your Liangzuo still hasn’t grown as tall as my daughter,” she would be nervous for a long time, only to laugh it off and say, “The child was weak when born, and has been taking a lot of medicine.”

But now, seeing her sister-in-law bring up Cheng Jiao’s words with such conviction, she was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

She knew clearly in her heart that this matter could not be confirmed, nor could it be disproven.

“Cheng Jiao, where exactly did you see this? Did you make a mistake? Liangzuo is your brother. How can you say that he’s different from you?” Wang Chunlan asked with a stiff smile, looking at Song Chengjiao, who was standing next to Bian Xiuqin.