Evans Family Infighting
Poor Arthur Evans. He hadn't even had time to enjoy his new scholar status before the authorities notified him that there'd been a mistake with the list—he wasn't on it after all.
Arthur Evans crashed from cloud nine to rock bottom. Furious, he grabbed May Parker by the collar as she was coming home and slapped her hard. "It was you! It must've been you who angered Governor Yale and cost me my title!"
May Parker clutched her face, her eyes venomous. "What’s it got to do with me? You didn’t even earn that scholar title yourself. If you’re so capable, go earn it for real!"
"You wretch! I’ll beat you to death!" Arthur Evans slapped her again, so hard May Parker spat blood and collapsed to the floor.
May Parker held her face, grinning viciously. "Brother, you’re such a loser. All you do is throw tantrums at family and hit women. What else can you do? Oh, right, you’re good at messing around with women—two at a time, and you even bring them home. Aren’t you impressive!"
Arthur Evans’s eyes went bloodshot. He yanked May Parker by the hair and dragged her out of the house, tossing her into the snow. "You think you’re any better? You’re the biggest disgrace in the Evans family! How long has it been since you forgot what happened with those three men? Everyone in Clearwater knows you’re filthier than the brothel girls!"
May Parker, stung by the insult, screamed and lunged at Arthur Evans. The siblings brawled like mortal enemies, rolling on the ground, each desperate to beat the other senseless.
Helen Parker saw her son and daughter fighting like wild animals and rushed over, crying, to pull them apart.
Just then, David Evans returned, his face dark as thunder. He saw a crowd gathered at the door and, storming inside, found his scholarly son and daughter rolling in the mud, looking like two filthy monkeys.
"Enough! Stop this right now! Haven’t you embarrassed yourselves enough?" David Evans shouted, finally making the two siblings stop fighting.
Old Madam Su sat at the doorway, wailing about their family misfortune. Old Master Su slammed the door shut, too exhausted to bother with the household's troubles.
Su Shimao's wife and concubine, Liu Ru—heavily pregnant—looked at Su Shimao with cold, mocking eyes.
Tofu Beauty sat in her room, ignoring her husband's beating. Now that Governor Yale had turned his back on the Su family, she was busy scheming her next move.
Everyone in the Su family nursed their own grudges, making the house feel less like a home. Su Daqi sighed and squatted in the yard. "I’ll go apologize to Governor Yale. He said our whole family should go to Savory House for dinner in three days."
Madam Zhao perked up at the mention of dinner. "Daqi, if Governor Yale is inviting us to eat, does that mean he’s not angry anymore?"
Su Daqi snapped, "He means we’re paying for the meal, hosting the Su Manor folks, and groveling for forgiveness!"
Madam Zhao’s eyes bulged. "Why should we treat the Su Manor people to dinner? Why apologize? We didn’t do anything wrong! If anyone should apologize, it’s that ungrateful Su Li!"
Su Daqi, fed up, slapped his wife. "You and Meixiang have ruined this family! You know nothing! Su Manor is backed by Leonard Li, Heir of Huainan. Don’t forget—the Li family rules this land! Even Governor Yale bows to Leonard Li, but you two were foolish enough to mess with his people. You’re hopeless!"
Meixiang stuck out her neck. "Go if you want, but I’m not going! Dream on if you think I’ll apologize to Su Li!"
Su Daqi lunged forward, grabbed Meixiang’s hair, and slapped her repeatedly. "You shameless woman! I should never have let you come back! If you hadn’t egged Governor Yale on to go after Su Li, we wouldn’t be in this mess, and Shimao wouldn’t have lost his title! Meixiang, you’ll kneel and apologize to Su Li, or I’ll kill you myself!"