Then, Xia Lan saw Mother Xia holding a handkerchief, wiping away tears, and continued, "All this isnāt important. After all, I took a son from her, her resentment towards me is understandable."
"Moreover, ever since Chengzuās incident, life has not been easy for the main branch of the Xia family."
Mother Xia sighed sadly, feeling sympathy for the hardships the Xia family were enduring.
"Thatās why, I donāt want to argue with my elder sister-in-law... Therefore, when Chengzong visits me, I never tell him about these things."
"This time..." Suddenly, Mother Xiaās gaze became slightly unfocused, she shook her head and sobbed, "This time, I donāt know why, but my elder sister-in-law suddenly lashed out at me."
"She had never hit me before, not even once..."
Despite the tone Mother Xia used, it seemed she was not upset about being regularly mistreated by her elder aunt, rather it was just this instance of physical assault that truly affected her.
Oh, thatās not right. Xia Lan felt that her Second Aunt, this woman, truly lacked a heart.
To Mother Xia, if the other party didnāt physically attack, mere words were insignificantāit was hard to tell whether Mother Xia was resilient or cold-blooded.
Even though Xia Lan needed to exploit this woman, her Second Aunt, in her heart, she had utterly no respect for Mother Xia.
Of course, Xia Lan kept these thoughts tightly concealed in the presence of her Second Aunt.
"Elder aunt..." Xia Lan put on a face full of feigned concern and said to Mother Xia, "Maybe the elder auntās emotions had built up over time and just burst out."
"After all, the most promising of her three sons was adopted into your branch of the family."
"The other two, one is still somewhat academic but without clear prospects. The other is currently in jail."
"That naturally leaves the elder aunt quite dissatisfied with you!"
Xia Lanās analysis successfully made Mother Xia nod and sigh, "Yes, among the three children my sister-in-law had, only our Chengzu turned out well."
At this moment, Mother Xia stopped crying and wiped the remaining tears on her face with her handkerchief, "But thatās also because our branch has good feng shui. Your Second Uncle was successful back in the day, and now Chengzu has joined our branch and heās doing well too."
Hearing this, Xia Lan chuckled inwardly: See, with her Second Auntās mindset and thoughts, if I were the elder aunt, Iād have acted long ago!
However, Xia Lan could probably guess why the elder aunt hadnāt taken action beforeāit must be for the sake of keeping up appearances.
Their main branch currently in He Mountain Village had a reputation that wasnāt very goodābeing family of a convict, in this era, what else could their reputation be?
Moreover, because of the instructions left by Chuyi, the village kept a close eye on the main branch of the Xia family.
Thus, the elder aunt only dared to subtly harass and quietly bully Mother Xia in everyday conversation.
And since Mother Xia was so "Holy Mother," and took great care of the Xia Family, she naturally wouldnāt spread these issues outside.
But if physical altercations did occur, even if Mother Xia wanted to hide them, she couldnātāthe injuries were visible on her face.
So, why exactly did the elder aunt suddenly lash out?
Xia Lanās eyes sparkled slightly, proudly thinking to herself: This was naturally because she had found a chance to verbally provoke and agitate the elder aunt, leading to the Big Scoundrelās violent reaction.
Of course, with Zhao Minglangās family along with Xia Chengzu all away in the Capital City, not being in Ling County was also one of the reasons why the elder aunt felt emboldened to act.