“What’s wrong with her? Is she okay?” Zhou Shi hurriedly asked.
Yu Yin cried and said, “Little Sister hit her head and bled a lot…”
Hearing this, Zhou Shi was so frightened that she shuddered. Even the two Fu brothers, who had been curiously peeking out, were scared, their eyes wide open.
Without saying a word, Yu Li grabbed Yu Yin and rushed out of the Fu family’s house.
Zhou Shi stood at the doorway, craning her neck to look out. Watching the two sisters sprint toward the Yu family’s home, she couldn’t help but feel deeply worried.
Yu Li ran so fast that Yu Yin couldn’t keep up at all. In no time, Yu Li had almost disappeared from view.
Yu Yin didn’t call out but kept pushing herself to follow, running until she was completely out of breath.
The sight of the two sisters dashing madly through the village caught the attention of many. People stopped and looked up, wondering what had happened.
“What’s going on? Isn’t that Yu Laosan’s daughter, Li Niang?”
“It is Li Niang… Goodness, she’s running so fast.”
“What’s happened?”
The villagers who had just returned from the fields were puzzled. Judging by the direction the sisters were running, they guessed something must have happened at the Yu family’s house.
A well-informed villager said, “I heard Yu Laosan’s youngest daughter hurt her head and bled a lot.”
Everyone was startled and began asking what had happened.
“It’s said that Zhu Niang went out to gather pigweed today and ran into her grandmother at the door when she got back. Nobody knows what they talked about, but it seems her grandmother got angry and gave her a shove. Zhu Niang is such a small and skinny child, so light and frail. That push made her fall, and she happened to hit her head on a rock. Isn’t that awful? Her head split open from the impact.”
“The blood spurted out right away. It was a serious injury. Luckily, Aunt Feng happened to be passing by. She quickly carried Zhu Niang into the house and stopped the bleeding…”
Everyone gasped.
Someone immediately said, “Oh no, hitting the head is life-threatening.”
In the past, there was an elderly person in the village who accidentally hit their head, and they stopped breathing right on the spot.
There was also a case in the neighboring village where someone hit their head, fell into a coma, and never woke up. Even the doctor couldn’t help, and after a few months in a coma, they passed away too.
So, everyone knew that if you hit your head, it wasn’t too bad if there was no blood. But if there was bleeding, it could be fatal.
“How is Zhu Niang now?”
“Not sure. I heard she fainted on the spot.”
“What are they going to do? Zhu Niang is only eight years old, right? She’s still just a child.”
“Exactly. Aunt Feng has already sent her eldest son to the county to fetch a doctor, hoping the doctor can save her.”
After discussing Yu Zhu’s injury for a while, the villagers turned their attention to the Yu family’s grandmother.
“What’s wrong with the old lady of the Yu family? How could she be so cruel?”
“Exactly! Even if she doesn’t like her granddaughter, she shouldn’t harm her, right? The family has just split up, and she’s already targeting her granddaughter. Is she trying to undo the separation?”
“You can’t say it like that. She probably didn’t do it on purpose. Even if Aunt Yu favors boys over girls, she wouldn’t be cruel enough to take her granddaughter’s life, would she?”
“I don’t think it was intentional either. That old lady doesn’t have the guts for something like that.”
—
Yu Li arrived at the Yu family’s residence, bypassed the original courtyard gate, and went to a door on the west side.
This was a small door the second branch had opened after building a wall. Now, the members of the second branch all entered and exited through this door.
Her sharp eyes immediately noticed a blood-stained stone nearby.
The stone wasn’t very large, half-hidden in the grass. Stones like this were common and could be seen everywhere in the roadside grass.
People in the village didn’t bother to clean them up, leaving them scattered around.
Yu Li’s gaze darkened slightly before she stepped through the door.
In the west wing where Yu Jin and her sisters lived, Yu Li could hear crying from inside.
By now, dusk had settled. The rooms on the west side had poor lighting, and as darkness fell, the interior became dim and oppressive.
Squinting, she vaguely made out several figures in the room. She recognized them as Yu Lao’er and his wife, Yu Jin, and Aunt Feng.
Liu Shi was sitting at the bedside, crying. Yu Jin stood nearby, wiping her tears. Yu Lao’er stood silently at the foot of the bed, his body hunched.
Aunt Feng occasionally checked on Yu Zhu’s condition while uttering futile words of comfort.
The atmosphere in the room was stifling.
When Yu Li walked in, her presence drew everyone’s attention.
Seeing her, Yu Jin burst into tears. While crying, she said, “Elder Sister, Little Sister bled so much, and she still hasn’t woken up…”
She was terrified. What if Little Sister never woke up?
She didn’t even dare check if Little Sister was still breathing, afraid that there would be none. She couldn’t bear that outcome.
Liu Shi’s eyes were swollen from crying. Yu Lao’er’s eyes were red, clearly showing how troubled he felt.
Although they usually seemed like wooden people, unable to protect their daughters from the Yu family’s bullying, or even ensure they were well-fed—leaving them hungry and malnourished—they still cared.
How could they not care about their own children?
Yu Li walked closer and could vaguely make out a person lying on the bed, but she couldn’t clearly see her features.
Her night blindness hadn’t improved yet.
“Jin Niang, light the lamp.”
Yu Jin wiped her tears and lit the oil lamp.
By the dim light of the lamp, Yu Li saw Yu Zhu lying on the bed. Her face was dark and thin, with barely any flesh, similar to many children in the village.
Over the past two months, with good food and care, Yu Zhu had reached a weight typical of village children. Even if she was still slightly thin, it wasn’t detrimental to her health.
But now, that dark and thin little face was ashen, her lips completely devoid of color, as though a deathly aura lingered over her.
Her breathing was so faint that it seemed it could stop at any moment.
Yu Li reached out and touched Yu Zhu’s face. Her skin felt very cold, and the injury was at the back of her head.
Aunt Feng said, “I stopped the bleeding earlier, but she still hasn’t woken up. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve already sent Dalang (eldest son) to the county to bring back a doctor. The doctor should be here in about an hour.”
Then she turned to Yu Li and said, “Li Niang, don’t worry too much. Zhu Niang will be fine! She’s a blessed child, and the heavens wouldn’t take her away.”
Though she said these words, her expression was full of worry as she looked at Yu Zhu.
Aunt Feng had witnessed the moment when Yu Zhu hit her head. The blood had spurted out instantly, and there was so much of it that she had been terrified. Without thinking of anything else, she had immediately torn her own clothes to stop the bleeding.
Yu Li noticed the bloodstains on Aunt Feng’s clothes and said, “Auntie, thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Aunt Feng said with guilt. “If only I had come back earlier.”
If she had returned sooner, she might have been able to stop the old lady from pushing Yu Zhu. Then Yu Zhu wouldn’t have hit her head.
Yu Li said nothing and turned to Yu Jin. “Where’s Grandma?”
Yu Jin bit her lip, her eyes showing resentment. “Grandma came to take a look just now and then left.”
The west wing was so shabby that the old lady usually avoided it. If it hadn’t been for Yu Zhu’s accident, she likely wouldn’t have come at all.
Yu Li looked at Yu Zhu on the bed for a while longer before turning and walking out.
“Big Sister, where are you going?” Yu Jin asked.
Everyone else looked at her too. Even Liu Shi’s crying paused, and Yu Lao’er had a bad feeling in his heart.
Yu Li said, “I’m going to find Grandma and ask her why she pushed Little Sister.”
When Aunt Feng heard this, she sighed inwardly. With Yu Zhu in this condition, it was natural for Yu Li, as the eldest sister, to want to question the old lady. But what could come of it? It wouldn’t change anything.
Yu Lao’er and the others, however, knew that Yu Li intended to confront the old lady.
In the Great Qing Dynasty, filial piety was of utmost importance. Many believed that children were the private property of their parents. Parents beating or scolding their children was seen as proper, and children were expected to endure it without resistance. Even if a parent killed their child, as long as there was a reason—such as sacrificing a child to support an aging parent—it might even be praised as an act of supreme filial piety.
Of course, not everyone could accept this reasoning. But in such an environment, it was generally believed that no matter what parents or elders did to their children, the children should remain filial and never seek accountability.
For instance, in this case, even though the old lady’s actions caused Yu Zhu to hit her head, leading to a potentially fatal injury, at most, people would criticize her. No one would expect her to pay for it with her life.
However, Yu Li was different. She had been bold enough to force the old man to split the family’s assets. Questioning the old lady was a trivial matter in comparison.
Yu Lao’er opened his mouth, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her not to go. In the end, he stayed silent, as he had so often before.
Liu Shi also turned her face away and didn’t call her back.
—
Yu Li walked out of the second branch’s courtyard and entered through the main gate of the Yu family’s residence.
When she entered, the third branch’s couple, Yu Laosan and his wife, were peeking out from their side. When they saw her look over, both of them stiffened.
Wang shi braced herself and asked, “Li… Li Niang, is Zhu Niang alright?”
Although they were afraid of Yu Li, they still cared somewhat about what had happened to Yu Zhu. After all, it was a human life.
No matter how much they had disliked the second branch before, they wouldn’t ignore the life of a younger family member.
Yu Li said, “She hasn’t woken up.”
Her voice was calm, but in the deepening twilight, this calmness carried an eerie undertone that sent shivers down the spines of Yu Laosan and his wife.
When they met her gaze, their scalps tingled, and they found themselves unable to say anything. They could only watch helplessly as she strode toward the main house.
Yu Li reached the main house and kicked the closed door open with one swift motion.
The loud bang of the door flying open startled the third branch’s family so badly that their hearts raced wildly. Even Yu Qin, who was cooking in the kitchen, ran out in shock and stood dumbfounded as she watched Yu Li kick open the door to the main house.
Yu Li stood at the doorway, staring at the two elderly figures inside.
Old Master Yu was sitting by the window, smoking a pipe. The room was filled with the pungent smell of low-quality tobacco.
Old Madam Yu had been pacing around the room but now stood frozen in place, her eyes wide with fright.
When her gaze met Yu Li’s, her lips trembled, and she stammered, “Li… Li Niang…”
Even Old Master Yu stopped smoking, his face tense.
The elderly couple watched Yu Li at the door, their hearts pounding with fear.
Yu Li didn’t enter. She stood in the doorway and asked, “Grandma, why did you push Zhu’er?”
Old Madam Yu nearly fainted.
She was utterly terrified. Although Yu Li hadn’t done anything besides kick open the door, it still gave her the illusion of a hellish warden coming to claim her life.
She was afraid—very afraid.
“I-I…” she stammered, trembling. “I didn’t mean to. She talked back to me, so I just gave her a push. How could I have known she’d fall?”
At this, Old Madam Yu’s expression showed a hint of regret.
Had she known Yu Zhu would hit her head on a rock, she certainly wouldn’t have pushed her.
She had grown used to hitting her granddaughters in the past. Although she had restrained herself over the past two months because of Yu Li, she still felt little fear when dealing with Yu Jin and Yu Zhu. Pushing them when she was angry had become second nature.
Yu Li said, “Little Sister is very obedient. She never talks back to anyone unless someone says something so awful that she can’t stay silent.”
At these words, Old Madam Yu’s face showed an uneasy expression.
That said enough.
Yu Li stared deeply at her but didn’t press for what hurtful words she had said. Instead, she stated coldly, “Grandma, if anything happens to Little Sister, you’ll pay for her life with yours.”
Hearing this, Old Master Yu finally couldn’t hold back and barked sharply, “Yu Li!”
Yu Li was not afraid of him and returned his gaze with a calm intensity.
Old Master Yu’s rising anger quickly dissipated. After composing himself, he said, “What happened is indeed your grandma’s fault, but it wasn’t intentional. Besides, it’s unheard of for an elder to pay for the life of a younger generation. If word of this spreads, the authorities might come to arrest you. Worse, your parents, sisters, and even the Fu family could be implicated. You must think carefully about this.”
He knew Yu Li was reckless, unafraid of anything, and wouldn’t hesitate to do what she wanted.
But even she had to consider her family—her parents, her younger sisters, and her husband’s household.
Old Master Yu could only hope she would think rationally and not truly demand her grandmother’s life.
Yu Li was silent for a moment before saying, “You’re right.”