Chapter 357 War of words
The New Year is approaching, which is the time when the village is busiest and most crowded.

Chief Tao was sitting in the courtyard of the Tao family with many old people and adults, smoking a pipe in worry.

Father Tao looked at him anxiously and couldn't help but urge him, "Chief, when Sanlang took the child away, he signed a document and promised to send the child back to my home after he finished his studies. Now he wants to take the child away again. What's going on?"

Tao Ji was sitting on a stool opposite Chief Tao. Hearing what was said, he crossed his legs and lifted up his robe to cover his legs without a care. He said nothing, but looked at the opposite side with a very asking-for-a-punch look.

Chief Tao was a little nervous, but he still asked as usual: "Tao Ji, the original document is still there, what do you say?"

Tao Ji said: "I regret it."

Everyone: "..."

Tao Ji said coldly: "First, I didn't expect him to be so talented in Taoist medicine; second, I didn't expect the Tao family to abandon him like a worn-out shoe."

Tao Ji snorted coldly, "I raised this child with great care. He is good at literature, martial arts, and medicine. He was filial to his teachers and was friendly to his fellow brothers and sisters in the mountains. How come after coming down the mountain, he was treated like a beggar by your Tao family?"

Tao's father quickly defended himself, "Sanlang, my family is like this, but I didn't mean to wrong him. He is my son, how could I treat him badly? But my family makes a living by farming, and the livelihood of the whole family depends on me. I can't compare to the good life that Sanqing Temple gave him, but as the saying goes, a son will not despise his mother's ugliness, and a dog will not despise his family's poverty..."

"Hmph, cousin, you don't have to pretend in front of me. My Yanbai has never despised our family for being poor. What's more, he has hands and feet, and he has medical skills, so he can support himself." Tao Ji said coldly: "I saw how you treated Yanbai, and Yanbai knew it, and the whole village, young and old, was watching."

"Did I not let him go home? Or did he not want to go home? I asked him to come back home from the mountain so that you and your son could get along well. But you said nice things to him and then turned around and made him live in the cowshed. You took all the money he made from seeing patients outside these days, right?"

Tao's father cried out, "How could I take his money? He doesn't make any money when he goes out to see patients. Ask the villagers, he only gets a few eggs and a few bowls of rice from his patients, but never any money."

"So there are eggs and rice. How come my healthy child has become so thin after only two months down the mountain?" Tao Ji slapped his thigh angrily. "That child refused to say anything bad about you, but I asked before I came here. Your family even avoided him when cooking and eating, for fear that he would eat one more bowl of your rice. What's the matter? Can't he earn a living outside? Do you still want to starve him to death?"

Tao Ji did not wait for his father to explain and continued, "I know that if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. I don't want him to ruin the marriage, so take him away. Your family can live in harmony. Just consider it as a good deed for me."

When Mother Tao heard this, she covered her face with a handkerchief and cried twice. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she turned around and slapped Father Tao, "I am a young girl who married into your family. I have to give birth to children, take care of the housework, and work in the fields. Which of these have I missed?"

"Your son was already in poor health, just like his biological mother. He couldn't eat or drink, but he blamed me for not giving him food and drink because he was taken to Mount Sanqing to be a Taoist priest. How many people have stabbed me in the back, and now you're saying that if there is a stepmother, there must be a stepfather. Tell me, didn't I say something about your son in front of you?"

"Wow, wow, wow, I have been given this reputation for nothing. It has ruined the reputation of my family. I am too ashamed to see anyone. I am too ashamed to live anymore—"

She wiped her tears and said to Tao Ji, "Don't be in a hurry, Third Uncle. Aren't you just afraid that my son will rob Yanbai's property? I'm telling you, I'm going to get killed in a while, taking my son with me. From now on, everything in this house will belong to Yanbai and his father."

Tao Ji glanced at her and sneered, "Okay, if you and your son die, I will perform a ritual to save your souls on the spot. I will definitely not let you become wandering ghosts, and I will even pray for wealth and prosperity in your next life."

When Mother Tao heard this, she turned around and slapped Father Tao in the face, wailing, "You are a dead man! Your wife and son have been bullied like this, and you dare not even fart!"

Father Tao lowered his head and said nothing.

Chief Tao smoked his pipe faster and faster, while Tao Ji was still sitting there calmly, "Sister-in-law is a person who keeps her word, unlike me, a stinky Taoist priest who doesn't keep his promise. How do you want to die?
"Don't worry, Yanbai is not like me. He is a gentle and filial child. After you and your son die, he will bury you in the ancestral tomb and burn incense for you every year. He will not treat my sister-in-law's grave like you do. Yanbai goes home every year to see the grass on the grave, which is half a person tall. If he doesn't come back one year, he won't even be able to find the grave the next year."

Tao's mother was suffocated to death and could only strangle Tao's father.

Father Tao frowned, lowered his head and pulled his hand away, but said nothing.

Tao Ji began to attack indiscriminately, "I'm used to it. After all, I've seen the fickleness of the world since I was a child, and I know that this is the nature of our Tao family."

"He is ungrateful, treacherous, and disloyal. Fortunately, Yan Bai is not like my cousin or my family members, but like my sister-in-law. He was personally raised by my senior brother in Mount Sanqing, which is why he developed such a good character. So, my second sister-in-law, don't worry. I said he would sweep the graves for you and your son, and he will definitely do so."

Tao's mother fell on her back, holding her chest, and was caught by Tao's father.

He helped the man lie on the ground and burst into tears, "Mother, mother——"

He raised his head to look at Tao Ji, "Sanlang, are you really going to force your sister-in-law to death? Juanniang is your sister-in-law, and so is she!"

Tao Ji: "I haven't eaten her food."

Father Tao was angry: "What about me? I am your brother. Juanniang became your sister-in-law because she married me."

Tao Ji: "I haven't eaten your meal either."

Tao's father choked.

The chief of the Tao clan saw that if he didn't stop him, Tao Ji would probably attack again. Everyone present blushed, and many looked at Tao Ji with unfriendly eyes. But now is different from the past. Tao Ji is already a famous Taoist doctor with good medical skills and a good reputation. Except for his bad mouth, no one can hear bad things about him outside.

If we really break off relations with him completely, how could he be afraid since he is a alone man and a monk?
Chief Tao could not accept that the jade bottle was damaged in the process of catching a mouse.

Before Tao Ji could speak again, he asked, "Where is Yan Bai? Why doesn't he come back? Does he really want to become a Taoist priest and not come back to marry and have children?"

Tao Ji: "I didn't let him come back. My parents were heartbroken. I've seen through the fickleness of the world. If I don't become a monk, will I still be rolling around in the secular world? Don't you mind how dirty it is?"

Father Tao opened his mouth to refute, but Chief Tao raised his hand to interrupt him, "Shut up!"

Mr. Tao choked.

Chief Tao said: "It will rain, and the child will pursue his career. This cannot be stopped."

Father Tao looked dejected.

Chief Tao said to Tao Ji: "You can take him away, but you broke the agreement we made that year. You can't take him away empty-handed. Yan Bai is someone's son."

Tao Ji: "He didn't raise him. I raised the child."

Chief Tao: "...Are you going to be unreasonable and rob me?"

Tao Ji snorted coldly: "I only talk to reasonable people, I just rob..."

Xuan Miao reached out and held his hand, and Tao Ji swallowed the rest of his words.

Xuanmiao took out a piece of silver from his purse and placed it on the table, saying, "Tao Yanbai is practicing Taoism in the mountains. I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Tao Village to fulfill his filial duties. This is Tao Yanbai's tribute to his family."

Father Tao raised his neck to take a look at the money. Mother Tao, who was leaning in his arms, also quietly opened her eyes and poked him secretly.

Father Tao immediately said: "Is this given every year, or..."

Tao Ji took the money in one swipe, put it in his arms and said, "You still want it every year? You wish for it."

"The child was born to my sister-in-law and I raised him. Don't you know how hard it is for a traveling Taoist doctor to make money? The money he earns from walking around the streets may not even be enough for his own living expenses. You actually want to ask him for one ingot of silver a year. Do you want to force him to death?"

Tao Ji turned around and scolded the Tao clan leader, "As expected, he is from my Tao family. He inherited 100% of this shameless and greedy face!"

"Shut up!" Chief Tao couldn't help but yell at Tao Ji, then turned around and scolded Tao's father, "If he gives it to you, just take it. If he doesn't, just pretend you don't have this son. Anyway, he has been living outside for ten years. You don't have a son, so why do you have to take this filial piety money?"

In the end, Tao Ji handed over the silver ingot in his sleeve. Although no one said it out loud, everyone knew that the relationship between Tao Yanbai and his father ended here and it would probably never come back.

Tao's father held the money in his hand, and when he saw Tao Ji get up to leave, he felt like he was about to lose his son.

Thinking of Tao Yanbai, he felt a little disappointed for a moment, and hurriedly stopped Tao Ji who was about to leave, and whispered: "Sanlang, ask Yanbai to come back and sit when he is free, and I will make him something delicious then."

He said, "You asked him not to hate me. I have no choice. The wife at home loves her own son and keeps quarreling with me. But in my heart, he is my eldest son and I..."

Tao Ji pretended to be disgusted and interrupted him, "Don't ask me to spread this, I find it disgusting."

Mr. Tao choked and regretted talking to Tao Ji.

Tao Ji refused to let him go and continued, "Second sister-in-law is hateful, but you are even more hateful. Yan Bai is his stepson, but he is your biological son."

"You turned a blind eye to his injustice, not only condoning it, but also encouraging the whole family and the whole village to treat him badly." Tao Ji said: "You hated him for disrupting the peace of your life, and you were greedy for his ability to make money, so you let your second sister-in-law bully him."

"You hide behind the scenes, and besides gaining a reputation of being henpecked, all the bad reputation is borne by the second sister-in-law. This character of wanting to be a whore and a saint at the same time is inherited from my Tao family. Clan leader, you have someone to take over your throne."

Chief Tao's face turned red with anger, "You, you..."

The other tribesmen also glared at Tao Ji, and two young and energetic ones picked up hoes directly.

(End of this chapter)