Chapter 54: Ruse Of Self-inflicted Injury
Lin Family members were followed by a group of villagers, with everyone showing varied expressions as they marched grandly toward the Lu Family.
“Younger brother’s wife, Lin Dajia said Tie Dan was abducted by you. What’s really going on?” Rong Niangzi spoke up before everyone else, informing Shang Wan of the group’s intentions ahead of time to prevent her from falling into the Lin Family’s trap.
In her view, with Shang Wan’s character, she absolutely could not have done something like abducting Tie Dan.
Shang Wan secretly raised an eyebrow. Why did the Lin Family love coming to her door to get beaten so much?
“Lady Shang, all the wrongs are my fault. Don’t take it out on the child.” Zhou Shi knelt down toward Shang Wan with red and swollen eyes, crawling forward two steps on her knees. “Tie Dan is only six years old. He doesn’t understand anything. If there’s something, come at me. Please return the child to me.”
“My Tie Dan!” Liu Shi also knelt down with a thud toward Shang Wan, tears streaming down her old face. “This old woman begs you to let the child go!”
Yo, this time it was the ruse of self-inflicted injury.
Shang Wan crossed her arms, quietly watching the two perform.
Lu Chengjing and the other two didn’t speak either, not even getting up from the straw mat.
Yuan Yuan nestled in her beautiful daddy’s arms, her big eyes wide round, watching with intense focus.
This left Liu Shi and Zhou Shi completely baffled. What did the silence mean?
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a glance, thinking of Village Chief Lin’s formulated plan, so regardless of Shang Wan and the others’ reactions, they cried even louder, as if their own parents had died.
The villagers watched in confusion. One side was crying pitifully, the other side didn’t even say a word. What was really going on? Did she abduct the child or not?
Someone couldn’t help asking, “Lady Shang, did you really abduct Tie Dan?”
“No.” Shang Wan picked up Yuan Yuan. “I’m a mother too. How could I harm a child?”
Of course, the one who crashed into her hands didn’t count. Besides, Tie Dan didn’t crash into her hands; he crashed into the wolf’s arms.
Shang Wan said this without the slightest guilt.
“You dare to do it but not admit it. My Er Ya saw you abduct Tie Dan with her own eyes.” Lin Jianshan snatched Er Ya from Chen Guifang’s hands, pointing at Shang Wan. “Er Ya, was the person who abducted Tie Dan her?”
Er Ya had a thick layer of gauze wrapped around her head, her thin pointed little face lacking blood color. She quickly glanced at Shang Wan, nodded, and said timidly, “Yes.”
A flash of satisfaction quickly passed through Lin Jianshan’s eyes, then he asked, “Er Ya, did she tell you to inform your grandpa and grandma that they need silver to get Tie Dan back?”
This time Er Ya didn’t even look at Shang Wan, continuing to nod. “Yes.”
Everyone believed children wouldn’t lie. After hearing Er Ya’s testimony, the villagers’ faces all showed shock.
They had been called by the Lin Family, who said Shang Wan harbored resentment toward the Lin Family over the morning incident and deliberately abducted and hid Tie Dan, threatening the Lin Family to send silver to redeem him.
The Lin Family wanted to get the child back from Shang Wan but feared being beaten by her, so they wanted the villagers to come along to ensure justice and retrieve the child.
After the morning incident, most villagers didn’t believe this story, but considering the Lin Family had indeed searched for the child for a long time, and Tie Dan went missing after the morning incident, and everyone had helped search without finding him, they came with curiosity to watch the excitement.
They never expected Tie Dan was really abducted by Shang Wan, exactly as the Lin Family said.
Immediately someone advised, “Xiucai Scholar’s wife, what does a child know? Don’t hold it against him. Hurry and hand him over.”
“Yeah, everyone knows you and the Xiucai Scholar were wronged this morning, but you also beat the village chief, and the Xiucai Scholar’s jade pendant was recovered. That makes it even. Hand over the child and don’t ruin the harmony between the two families.”
“No matter how angry, you can’t rely on your martial arts to rob people. What’s the difference from bandits? Xiucai Scholar’s wife, quickly hand over the child, apologize and make amends, and this matter will be over.”
“Tie Dan is only six years old and can’t handle frights; it could scare his soul away. Hand him over, let Lin Dajia call his soul back, and don’t let anything happen to the child.”
“If this really escalates, Xiucai Scholar’s wife, you’ll be the one at a loss. The Lin Family is considering we’re all from the same village; otherwise, taking it to the court hall, you’d have to go to jail.”
The crowd chattered with advice, making Rong Niangzi frown tightly. Even with Er Ya’s testimony, she still didn’t believe Shang Wan would abduct someone; there must be some misunderstanding.
She looked worriedly at Shang Wan, only to see Shang Wan suddenly yawn. The villagers’ words had no effect on her at all.
For some reason, Rong Niangzi’s worried heart instantly settled. Her younger brother’s wife was truly carefree.
Seeing everyone starting to denounce Shang Wan, Zhou Shi exchanged a glance with Liu Shi and together they cried out while lunging at Shang Wan. “Give back the child!”
Who would have thought they lunged into empty air.
Shang Wan’s figure flickered, and the two crashed into each other with a bang. The tears on their faces finally gained some authenticity, from the pain.
Liu Shi clutched her head, crying “ouch ouch” nonstop, pinned under Zhou Shi and unable to get up for a long time.
Zhou Shi flopped like an upside-down turtle, and because being crushed by Liu Shi hurt, she reflexively pushed Liu Shi away with a shove.
Liu Shi was caught off guard, and after the head crash, she deeply experienced the stinging sensation of her butt hitting a stone.
“Mom!” Lin Jianshui ran forward to help, and Zhou Shi also scrambled up in fright. But as she approached Liu Shi, a big slap came flying at her face.
“You dare push me!” Liu Shi’s butt was smashed to pieces, grimacing in pain, and the slapping hand showed no mercy.
Four finger marks clearly appeared on Zhou Shi’s face, visibly swelling up, with tears uncontrollably falling.
Shang Wan secretly tsked. Look at that, such genuine heartfelt sadness and grievance. If they had this acting skill earlier, she wouldn’t have yawned watching.
The villagers were all stunned. They’d seen mother-in-laws discipline daughters-in-law, but never in front of so many people. How was Lin Dajia supposed to hold her head up in the village after this?
Lin Jianshan hadn’t expected the two not only to fail at feigning an accident against Shang Wan but to start beating each other. He was furious, face ashen, yanked Zhou Shi over, and unleashed a torrent of scolding.
Zhou Shi’s tears flowed even harder instantly. She had done everything according to her husband and father-in-law’s instructions. She hadn’t pushed her mother-in-law on purpose, so why was it all her fault?
An aunt couldn’t stand it and scolded Lin Jianshan. “This isn’t solely your wife’s fault. Haven’t you seen her face is swollen? Hurry and let her go home to apply cool water.”
“Wait until we get the child back, then go together.” Lin Jianshan suppressed his anger, redirecting everyone’s attention back to the child.
The villagers had advised quite a bit earlier and now all looked at Shang Wan, waiting for her to hand over the child.
Shang Wan placed Yuan Yuan into Lu Chengjing’s arms, met his concerned gaze, and mouthed “don’t worry.”
She turned and walked toward Chen Guifang, her gaze falling on Er Ya in her arms.
