Chapter 111: Turn The Tables [seeking All Kinds Of Votes]
Shi Tou laughed, “Uncle, true love is rare. I suppose no one will stop you two lovers from being together. When are you holding the wedding feast? You must invite me to have a drink and send blessings then.”
Lu Chengjing was silent for a moment and decided he couldn’t fall behind.
He said, “Though Lu is not good at drinking, I am willing to substitute water for wine to wish the two of you happiness.”
The crowd: “…”
It’s decided to hold the feast just like that?!
Gao Laotai and Gui Shi were both stunned by this big news and forgot to cry, staring blankly as they watched the show.
Watching Shang Wan and the other three talking one after another, forcefully pinning the black pot on his head, the man was so angry that veins bulged, his eyes nearly shooting fire.
Because he was too angry, for a moment he didn’t know what to say to refute.
Facing the villagers’ doubtful and disdainful gazes, his throat sweetened, and with a “pu” he spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away.
“How did he get so happy that he fainted?” Shi Tou enthusiastically stepped forward to support the man, pinching his philtrum hard, “Uncle, wake up, your happiness is right ahead.”
The man had just been pinched awake when Shi Tou’s words made him faint from anger again.
“Looks like my uncle is too excited and won’t wake up for a while.”
Shi Tou let go, and the man’s head smashed onto the ground with a bang. As if he hadn’t heard, he called out to the villagers.
“Please have two big brothers help me carry my uncle back. Once my uncle wakes up, he still needs to pursue his happiness.”
The two men called by Shi Tou came forward to help carry the person away.
Of course, Shang Wan’s family’s nonsense dutifully reached the ears of the man’s family, immediately causing a huge uproar and attracting many people to watch.
Over at the wooden shed, the villagers still digesting the big news had almost forgotten why they came, their hearts itching to hurry and share this news.
“Mother!” Gui Shi quietly pinched the soft flesh on Gao Laotai’s arm—don’t forget the main business!
Gao Laotai’s turbid old eyes secretly sized up Shang Wan; this woman was even trickier than she thought.
She adjusted her expression and questioned, “Lu Xiucai Scholar, about the matter of hitting someone, what do you have to say?”
“Niangzi, you hit someone?” Lu Chengjing looked at Shang Wan in surprise.
Shang Wan decisively shook her head, “No.”
Gui Shi pointed at her own face, “Everyone saw it; you can’t deny it!”
“Aunt, don’t spout blood libel.” Shang Wan blinked, scanning the crowd, “Who saw it? Step forward and let me see.”
The crowd looked at each other.
They had only heard Gui Shi’s shouts and indeed hadn’t seen Shang Wan strike with their own eyes.
Gui Shi panicked, “If it wasn’t her who hit me, could it be that I hit myself like this?”
“Aunt, you’re talking as if I’m the only living person in the village who can breathe.” Shang Wan’s face gradually cooled, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a grudge with you, aunt, and I’ve always been polite to everyone. If you’re insisting I hit you, please produce evidence. Don’t blame me for turning hostile over baseless slander!”
How could Gui Shi produce evidence?
She could only cast a pleading gaze at her mother-in-law.
Gao Laotai snorted, “My daughter-in-law is honest and kind-hearted; she’s never lied since she was little. The injury on her face couldn’t appear out of thin air. Why, when she says someone hit her, do you insist it’s you, Xiucai Scholar’s wife?”
The villagers felt this made some sense.
Facing everyone’s doubtful gazes, Shang Wan sighed lightly and said to Gui Shi, “Aunt, I kindly covered for you, but you bit the hand that fed you. Now don’t blame me for not keeping my promise.”
“Xiao Huan, roll up your sleeves for everyone to see.”
Xiao Huan obediently rolled up both sleeves and stretched out her arms for everyone to see.
“Hiss—” The crowd drew in a sharp breath.
Only to see her originally fair arms covered in bruises of green and purple; judging by the shape, they looked like welts from a club.
“Aunt, I saw Gao Qi hitting you and kindly stepped forward to stop him, but unexpectedly Gao Qi hit me too.” Xiao Huan’s eyes welled with hot tears as she sobbed, “You cried and begged me not to tell anyone, saying Gao Qi hasn’t married yet and couldn’t have rumors of him liking to beat people.”
“I thought you had it hard, aunt, and since you begged repeatedly, I softened and agreed, pretending it never happened, not even telling my family.”
Crystal tears slid down one by one; Xiao Huan’s crying voice trembled, “Aunt, I helped you after all—how could you repay kindness with enmity?”
This statement was packed with information.
Some villagers were doubtful, others curious.
“Gui Niangzi, the injury on your face—was that also from Gao Qi hitting you?”
“I bet it was. His own mother got hit; no matter what, Gao Qi should stand up for her and seek justice, right? Now there’s not even a shadow of him—probably off napping somewhere after beating her.”
“That scoundrel even dares to hit his own mother! Gui Niangzi, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Everyone chimed in one after another, talking so densely that Gui Shi had no chance to interject.
Seeing the timing was right, Shang Wan reached out to wipe Xiao Huan’s tears and sighed lightly to the crowd:
“My younger sister is a fool—not only soft-hearted, but also straightforward, believing whatever others say. Even after being hit, she didn’t tell me or her brother-in-law; it was only after I noticed something wrong and pressed her that she told me.”
She glanced at the Gao Family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, “Who would’ve thought good intentions would be mistaken for a donkey’s liver and lungs? Some people not only don’t appreciate her kindness but also scheme to ruin her reputation and push her into a fire pit.”
The target of this statement was all too obvious.
“It was clearly this little slut seducing my son!” Gui Shi hurriedly defended, saying to the villagers, “Don’t believe their nonsense. My Gao Qi is the most filial; he even shares bird eggs he gets from trees with me—how could he possibly hit his own mother?”
“If Gao Qi were really filial, why does he idle around at home all day, sponging off his parents?”
Shang Wan looked at Gui Shi with sympathetic eyes, “Aunt, I know exactly what you’re planning—not just to pin the injury from Gao Qi hitting you on me, then use the riverside incident to force my younger sister to marry into your Gao Family.”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Gui Shi looked like she’d seen a ghost—how did this woman know her and her mother-in-law’s plan?
As long as Xiao Huan’s reputation was ruined, whether she liked it or not, she’d end up in her son’s hands. Then all the beatings she’d taken from Shang Wan could be gotten back from Xiao Huan, this daughter-in-law!
“Whether I’m talking nonsense, you know in your heart.” Shang Wan looked at her like a pitiful person stubbornly unrepentant, her gaze sympathetic but her tone gradually cooling.
“Aunt, your schemes are clever, but we’re not soft persimmons to be squeezed. Worst case, we go to the court hall. I’m still furious about today’s matter; I’m suing Gao Qi for molesting a common girl with intent to rape!”
Shi Tou chimed in, “If that charge sticks, it’s at least eighty canings. Tsk tsk, his butt would bloom open. Worse case, it’s execution by strangling—his little life would be done for.”
