Chapter 91

Immediately, two constables stepped forward and carried Cao Shi away.

Cao Shi was scared out of her wits and struggled desperately. "No, I'm not his accomplice, you got it wrong, let me go! Someone, help! Mother, save me!"

Wang Bujiu found her noisy, walked over, and chopped down with his palm, and Cao Shi rolled her eyes and fainted.

The world was finally quiet.

The villagers were startled, fearing they would also be identified as Mei Niang's accomplices, and retreated in a hurry.

Cao Shi's mother-in-law, Yan Pozi, couldn't retreat.

"Are you trying to kill innocent people?" Yan Pozi's face was gloomy; these constables were clearly acting on the instructions of that ungrateful wolf Jiang Li, so they were deliberately making things difficult for the First Branch. "Mei Niang has only been in our house for a few days; how would we know about the things she committed before?"

Wang Bujiu snorted coldly: "I don't care about that; it was this woman herself who shouted that the criminal was from your house, so of course I have to take her away together. If you're not convinced, feel free to go to the government office and sue."

After saying this, the group threw Mei Ruxi and Cao Shi into the carriage and ran away.

Yan Pozi was so angry that her hands and feet were cold.

It wasn't that she felt sorry for Cao Shi, but that Jiang Li, this bastard, didn't even put her, his grandmother, in his eyes just to take personal revenge!

Jiang Li happened to walk out of the courtyard, preparing to set off for the government office.

Du Ruo followed him out to see him off.

"Dalang, are you just going to let them take your aunt away like this?" Yan Pozi asked with a cold face.

Cao Shi was taken away? The couple looked at each other and soon understood what had happened.

Wang Bujiu knew about the First Branch bullying their Second Branch, and he had long been unable to stand them; he probably wanted to take advantage of this Mei Ruxi matter to teach them a lesson.

Since that was the case, they naturally couldn't hold him back.

Jiang Li smiled, his attitude respectful but perfunctory. "Grandmother, rest assured, this is just a normal case-handling procedure; after the County Magistrate clarifies that it has nothing to do with Aunt, he will naturally let her return."

"That's right, Grandmother." Du Ruo also smiled. "My husband has always been impartial in enforcing the law and never practices favoritism. Besides, this case concerns the imperial court and is of great importance; even if my husband wanted to plead for Aunt, it wouldn't be easy for him to speak up."

Yan Pozi's venomous gaze swept across the two faces in turn.

What a 'impartial in enforcing the law', what a 'not easy to speak up'; in the end, wasn't it just standing by and not wanting to help?

She truly regretted it; she should have drowned that eyesore beast Jiang Mo Nian in a manure pit back then, which would have saved her from giving birth to this little beast to harm their Jiang family!

Du Ruo saw Yan Pozi's resentment and hurriedly pushed Jiang Li. "Alright, husband, it's getting late; hurry back to the government office; Brother Wang and the others are still waiting for you in front."

Jiang Li nodded, bowed to the crowd watching, and stepped onto the carriage.

The sound of the horse's hooves soon disappeared from sight.

Only then did Du Ruo turn to Yan Pozi, saying with a face full of worry: "Grandmother, I don't know if Aunt will be able to come back after this. I heard Mei Niang is going to be sent to the capital to be beheaded; the things Mei Niang committed are truly too big. If the people above feel that beheading Mei Niang alone isn't enough and want to engage in 'guilt by association'..."

Guilt by association? Yan Pozi was startled.

Mei Niang's deed of sale was still in her hands, which meant the Jiang Family First Branch was Mei Niang's master; if they were to be associated, wouldn't her whole family be unable to escape?

Thinking of this, Yan Pozi couldn't stand still and hurriedly rushed home with a pale face.

Just as she stepped into the courtyard, Jiang Lian'er greeted her excitedly. "How was it, Grandmother? Was the eldest cousin really taken away?"

Yan Pozi's grievance and fear suddenly had a vent.

*Slap*, she shattered the excitement on her granddaughter's face and cursed through gritted teeth: "You ignorant thing, what are you happy about? Your eldest cousin wasn't taken away; it was your mother, that stupid woman, who was taken away!"

Jiang Lian'er was stunned.

What did it have to do with her that her mother was taken away? Why take it out on her?

"Wuwuwu, Grandmother, you hit me... I don't want to live anymore!" She covered her face, rushed into the room, and cried on the bed, not even asking why her mother was taken away.

Yan Pozi's body swayed, and she almost fell.

She leaned against a pillar to steady herself, then walked into the main room, dug out Mei Niang's deed of sale from inside the pillow, and, hardening her heart, tore it into pieces in three or two strokes.

Looking at the deed of sale in her hand that had become waste paper, Yan Pozi couldn't help but feel sorrow.

Thirty-nine taels, just like that, gone...

It was all the Du woman's fault; if she hadn't made the Second Branch's life better, she wouldn't have racked her brains to send Mei Niang over. If Mei Niang had still been in the First Branch, how could she have been identified by that rabbit Jiang Li?

In the final analysis, it was all the fault of that little bitch, the Du woman!

Just as she was getting heart-blocked, a sound of slapping the bed suddenly came from the room next door, meaning he had defecated in his pants again.

Originally, it was Cao Shi who was serving him, but now that Cao Shi had been taken to the government office and Jiang Zongbao couldn't be counted on, only Yan Pozi, Jiang Lian'er, and Qin Shi, the pregnant woman about to give birth, were left in the house.

Jiang Lian'er was an unmarried girl, and Qin Shi was Jiang Dabo's daughter-in-law; neither of them could get close to serve him.

Only Yan Pozi, his old mother, could.

Yan Pozi had no choice but to wipe away her tears, get up to tidy up for her son, and then throw the dirty clothes and bedsheets into a basin, waiting for Jiang Lian'er to wash them.

After doing all this, Yan Pozi seemed to have aged more than ten years all at once.

She leaned on a stick and went to the Bone Pavilion in a daze, stopping in front of a grave; the tombstone was engraved with the name Jiang Changhe.

"Old man, open your eyes and look!"

Yan Pozi cried at the grave, tears streaming down her face. "The ungrateful wolf you traded my daughter for back then—now his son and daughter-in-law have harmed our Jiang family into what state! You're fine, you kicked your legs and left, but do you know how I've survived all these years..."

On Du Ruo's side, seeing Jiang Li and those constables leave, the villagers' courage grew back, and they gathered around to ask for news.

Someone was a 'Monday morning quarterback'. "I said it had nothing to do with Jiang Li, right? You all listen to the wind and believe it, your ears are too soft."

"Oh, it's all that stinking woman Zhu Shi, full of nonsense, fooling us all."

"Jiang Li's wife, is that Mei Niang really a man? A man who is so beautiful, does he still let us women live..."

Du Ruo dealt with them with a smile.

However, she didn't tell anyone about Mei Ruxi being a hermaphrodite; it was clear this secret was very important to Mei Ruxi. She had almost gone crazy just because she alone knew, so if the whole world knew, who knew what that madman would do.

Therefore, the fewer people who knew, the better.

Another thing, Du Ruo wasn't the type of person who liked to chew on people's tongues behind their backs.

Seeing the fun dissipate, the villagers went back one by one; there were still chores waiting in the fields.

Yao Yulan stayed behind to help clean up the mess in the courtyard, mocking as she cleaned: "You say your good grandmother is really something, sending a flower-thief over so eagerly. Now it's good, right? Not only did she get nothing, but she also sent her own daughter-in-law to prison. What do you call this? It should be called 'harming others ends up harming oneself', evil people have their own heaven to collect them!"

"Who says it isn't?" Du Ruo burst into laughter. "Anyway, we do things uprightly and live cleanly; God will definitely favor us a little more."

Yao Yulan lifted the stool that had fallen to the ground, scanned the surroundings, and seeing that the children weren't around, she leaned in, raising her eyebrows ambiguously.

"Hey, sister-in-law, you say, since that Mei Niang is a man, and a flower-thief, who is picking whom between him and Jiang Zongbao?"

Du Ruo was embarrassed: "... I don't know."

According to her guess, there shouldn't have been a specific relationship between Jiang Zongbao and Mei Ruxi; with Mei Ruxi's temperament, she probably wouldn't look at Jiang Zongbao.

But thinking about it, not necessarily; Mei Ruxi could even get her hands on someone as ugly and fat as her, so what was Jiang Zongbao?

Ah, pfft, why compare herself to that skinny old pervert Jiang Zongbao? It was too degrading.

Cleaning together was very efficient, and in less than half an hour, the courtyard was restored to its original neat and clean state.

Since she wasn't needed anymore, Yao Yulan went back.

Just as she was about to enter her own courtyard next door, from afar, she saw two familiar figures walking toward the Clear Water Pond at the east end of the village.

Lin Shenzi and Lin Qingshuang?

Didn't expect them to come to watch the fun too; well, that Lin Qingshuang had never given up on Jiang Li, so hearing that the Jiang Family Second Branch was in trouble, she would definitely run over to take a look.

Truly a cheap skin; a good girl, insisting on pouncing on a man who already had a wife, truly shameless.

Yao Yulan curled her lip and went into the house.

Over there, the Lin mother and daughter were also walking home.

"Shuang'er, now you can rest assured, Jiang Li is fine, very good." Lin Shenzi comforted her.

Lin Qingshuang lowered her head and said 'mm', but her face was listless and she couldn't lift her spirits.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother; Lin Shenzi saw what was wrong with her at a glance and sighed. "You, you're seeing Jiang Li treating that Du woman so well, and you're feeling uncomfortable, right?"

"Mother, I know this isn't right, but..."

But she couldn't control it herself; she liked Jiang Li, liked him to the point of going crazy. Just seeing Jiang Li standing beside the Du woman made her heart ache.

Why doesn't that Du woman just die?

Why didn't that flower-thief pick the Du woman?

"There's nothing wrong with it." Lin Shenzi took over the conversation. "Everything is about who comes first; clearly, it was you, Shuang'er, who knew Jiang Li first, but the Du woman killed her way in from halfway and snatched him away. If you want to say it's wrong, it's her who's wrong."

"Mother, do you really think so?" Lin Qingshuang's eyes lit up.

Lin Shenzi reached out to brush the leaves off her daughter's head, her smile full of doting. "When has Mother ever lied to you? Rest assured, whatever you want, no matter how difficult, Mother will help you get it."

Lin Qingshuang, however, shook her head, the light in her eyes dimming bit by bit.

"But just now I saw Brother Jiang's attitude toward his wife, he seems to like her very much. Even without the Du woman, I'm afraid Brother Jiang wouldn't look at me twice..."

"You don't understand that, do you?" Lin Shenzi sneered with disdain. "You really think Jiang Li likes her? It's just acting."

She looked around, then lowered her voice. "Didn't they say the Du woman was pregnant last time, but it turned out to be a false alarm? Mother secretly asked the matchmaker Hua to look, and guess what? That Du woman is still a virgin; she hasn't been touched at all!"

This, how could that be?

Lin Qingshuang didn't quite believe it, but hoped it was true; a trace of joy crawled out from the bottom of her heart and then filled her entire heart.

Could it be that Brother Jiang really doesn't like the Du woman? Otherwise, they've been married for so long, it's impossible he hasn't touched her.

Lin Shenzi continued: "So I'm saying, the affection between them is completely faked; I guess it's because of the Du woman's father, the County Assistant. After all, Jiang Li still has to make a living under Lord Du, so he has to treat his daughter a little better."

Once the Du woman dies, Jiang Li will definitely remarry.

No matter how overbearing Lord Du is, he can't force Jiang Li to remain chaste for his daughter and be a bachelor for a lifetime, right?

"Shuang'er, don't worry; in a few days, Mother will definitely find a way to make your wish come true."

Lin Qingshuang bit her lip and nodded. "Alright, I'll listen to Mother."

The mother and daughter were talking when a youth of eighteen or nineteen suddenly came along the village road ahead and ran past them like the wind.

Lin Shenzi looked at the man's back with confusion. "Who is this young man? How come he looks so unfamiliar?"

Lin Qingshuang quickly withdrew her gaze and shook her head. "Don't know, maybe someone's relative."

Besides Jiang Li, she had no interest in any man.

Zheng Qinghe asked several families before finally finding his cousin-in-law's courtyard.

"A'Man! Open the door, A'Man!"

Du Ruo had just taken down the blood-stained sheets and quilt covers from the bed, soaked them in a basin, and scrubbed them with soap pods. Hearing the movement, she hurriedly pulled the bolt open.

"Third Brother, why are you here?" She happily pulled him into the courtyard.

Zheng Qinghe was sweating profusely, his face pale. "A'Man, something big has happened!"

Du Ruo suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart. "What big thing?"

"Early this morning, the Du Fu sent people to take Little Aunt away." Zheng Qinghe was furious. "They said they were taking Little Aunt to the county to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Taking Zheng Shi to the Du Fu for the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Heh, it's simply ridiculous! Needless to say, it must be Du Mingzhu's trick again; she didn't know what she was planning, but there must be a conspiracy.

Du Ruo dropped the work in her hands, called Tie Dan and Jiang Sheng and the others, gave them instructions in turn, and then tucked the silver into her pocket. "Let's go, we're going to the county!"

The two first went to town, then rented a carriage and headed straight for Wutou Xian.

Over in Wutou Xian, Jiang Li had already taken people to lock Mei Ruxi back in prison, with a dozen constables guarding it together, never giving the criminal the slightest chance to escape.

Worried that Mei Ruxi would try the same trick again, he simply took a black cloth and covered his head, so as not to let anyone else be seduced by his beauty.

Such a big matter naturally had to be reported to the County Magistrate.

Li Jueming, however, was not at the government office.

Only then did Jiang Li remember that today was the sixteenth of August, the day of the Li Mansion's family banquet. Oh well, anyway, Mei Ruxi wouldn't be able to run away for a while, and the County Magistrate's face still had to be given, so he called Wang Bujiu, and the two changed their clothes and went to the Li Mansion.