Take the blame
Old man Yu was really upset, if Yu Tong has just gotten angry things would not have become complicated. After Yu Tong started earning she has gotten more and more out of hand, she wouldn't hand over her salary nor did she respect him as her grandfather. So, he deliberately made a show outside the house calling Yu Tong unfilial, Yu Tong has never participated in the schemes of the house, so she didn't know what was right and wrong, she always acted impulsively which was why every time he raised his hand on her, she would blow up.
And as soon as Yu Tong raised her voice at him, he just needed to play it out to his advantage, that was how the sympathy of the villagers would turn towards him instead of Yu Tong after all the Empress had laid quite a lot of stress on filial piety whoever didn't follow the rule of the filial piety was doomed to be condemned.