Chapter 6: Make Use Of Waste
With the dull thud of a heavy object crashing to the ground, a woman’s scream rang out in the courtyard, followed by chaos and turmoil, shouting for people and calling for the doctor.
Urgent footsteps approached from afar. Village Chief Lin returned with his two sons, and the village’s barefoot doctor Yuan Langzhong came along.
Yuan Langzhong took one look at Chen San’s condition and said the man was done for, urging them to quickly prepare for his funeral.
“Brother Yuan, San is the Chen Family’s sole heir. If anything happens to him, the old Chen Family will be finished. Please have mercy and give him some medicine to save him!” Chen Guifang lunged forward, grabbing Yuan Langzhong’s arm to stop him from leaving.
Yuan Langzhong sighed. “Many of his bones are broken, and his internal organs are injured too. He’s only hanging on by a breath. Even if we barely save him, he’ll be crippled for life, bedridden and needing to be waited on.”
Chen Guifang couldn’t bear the blow upon hearing this. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed backward, fainting dead away.
“What a troublemaker!” Village Chief’s wife Liu Shi quickly called Lin Family’s Second to carry her back to the room to lie down. She also told Lin Family’s Eldest to go to Willow Tree Village to notify the Chen Family to come, lest Chen San really die and the Chen Family blame them.
After much pleading, Village Chief Lin convinced Yuan Langzhong to agree to treat Chen San’s wounds, though he couldn’t guarantee if he would live.
Village Chief Lin thanked him repeatedly. While Yuan Langzhong was setting Chen San’s bones, he raised his hand and beckoned Liu Shi to talk in the courtyard.
Liu Shi’s eyes kept darting toward the room. “Boss, why don’t we carry him out first? Treating his wounds outside would be the same. What if he dies in our house? That would be such bad luck!”
“Shut up!” Village Chief Lin glared at her. “That girl Er Ya said Chen San suddenly flew in from outside the courtyard. Is that true?”
“It’s true! He nearly smashed my head.” Liu Shi was still shaken. “Boss, do you think his enemies came looking for him? Could they target our family next? Beating him like this is clearly intending to kill him.”
“No outsiders entered the village today. Who in our village would dare provoke him?” Village Chief Lin’s face darkened. “Didn’t you chase out to see who threw him in?”
Liu Shi shook her head. At that moment, she was panicked and terrified, only thinking of not letting him die, with no attention to spare for anything else.
“Idiot!” Village Chief Lin angrily cursed.
Liu Shi felt wronged but didn’t dare retort.
Considering Yuan Langzhong was still there, Village Chief Lin held back his anger and didn’t continue scolding. Instead, he lowered his voice and leaned closer. “Tell me, did Chen San say where he was going when he left?”
“Lin Family’s Second’s wife said he went to find Luo Si and Liu Er.” As Liu Shi spoke, her voice paused. She looked up at her husband. “Boss, he saw that hairpin. Could he have gone to find…”
“Shut up!” Village Chief Lin gave her a warning glare, glanced at the room, and saw Yuan Langzhong wasn’t paying attention. He lowered his voice. “Keep those words rotting in your belly! When the Chen Family comes, you stay quiet and keep your mouth tightly shut!”
Shang Wan, hiding in the tree, looked down at the two whispering in the courtyard, her eyes darkening.
Chen San coming to the door was indeed no coincidence.
But why?
“You and Lin Family’s Second watch the house.” Village Chief Lin bent down to pat the mud off his trouser legs and said to Liu Shi, “I’ll go to the Luo Family and Liu Family to check.”
Liu Shi hurriedly asked, “Boss, things are chaotic at home right now. What are you going to those two families for?”
“Never mind.” Village Chief Lin clasped his hands behind his back and strode out.
The branches outside the courtyard swayed lightly, and the person standing on them had already left.
After slapping Liu Er awake from his daze, under Liu Er and Luo Si’s terrified gazes, Shang Wan pried open their mouths and tossed a thing into each.
“What did you feed us?” Luo Si clutched his throat and coughed hard, trying to spit it out.
“Nothing much.” Shang Wan smiled. “Just a little poison that will rot their guts and make blood pour from all seven orifices, causing unbearable agony.”
The two: !!!
Xiao Huan quickly covered little friend Yuan Yuan’s ears.
Little friend Yuan Yuan completely ignored what her mother was saying and didn’t notice the scary words. Her little short arms struggled to tug the grass rope tying the wild duck, wanting to pluck its feathers.
“Don’t worry. Taking the antidote regularly won’t kill you.” Shang Wan looked at Luo Si and Liu Er, holding up two fingers. “Now, I give you two choices. First, I throw you into the mountains to feed the wolves, guaranteeing no whole corpses. Second, I let you go home and give you antidote every month on schedule.”
“Which do you choose?”
“Second!” Luo Si and Liu Er said in unison. Who would want to die if they could live?
“Good, you know when to yield.” Shang Wan approached them. “Before letting you go, you have to help me first…”
She lowered her voice and said a few words, then gave them a cold sidelong glance. “If you mess it up, no need to wait for the poison to act. I’ll still throw you to the back mountain to feed the wolves.”
Liu Er and Luo Si hurriedly made guarantees. Afraid Shang Wan would go back on her word, they even swore venomous oaths to the heavens.
Shang Wan untied the hemp rope for them.
As soon as their hands and feet were free, Liu Er immediately started tearing clothes—not just his own but also Luo Si’s. Xiao Huan flung a kitchen knife over in fright, which nearly grazed Liu Er’s scalp before Shang Wan caught it.
Liu Er looked at the kitchen knife’s gleaming blade with lingering fear, then quickly rolled on the ground a few times, smeared mud on his face, and even wiped some of Luo Si’s blood on his own clothes.
Once the two looked sufficiently disheveled, Liu Er hoisted up Luo Si with his broken leg and ran outside. After some distance, he bellowed for help at the top of his lungs.
Xiao Huan anxiously lifted her foot to chase, but Shang Wan held her back.
She was baffled. “Young Madam, weren’t we supposed to send them to the officials? You’re just letting them go like this?”
“For now.” Shang Wan said, “Don’t worry, they can’t escape. First, make use of waste. Once everything is clear, we can send them to the officials then.”
Xiao Huan trusted Shang Wan the most now. She scratched her head and asked, “How do we make use of waste?”
“You’ll know soon.”
Two hours later, the Chen Family’s old couple rushed to Elm Tree Village, wailing and directly quarreling with the Lin Family. Nearly the whole village ran over to watch the excitement.
Xiao Huan killed fish while craning her neck toward the village chief’s house. Of course, she couldn’t see anything, only hearing some movement.
“Young Madam, we’re so far away, yet we can still hear the arguing.”
“More than arguing—they’re fighting.” Shang Wan overheard it and found it noisy, so she paid no more attention. She grabbed little friend Yuan Yuan’s little meat hand and kissed it twice, making the little one bend her big eyes and softly call “Mom” in a cute voice.
The nearby plucked-bald wild duck resentfully quacked “ga ga.”
The commotion at the village chief’s house lasted nearly half an hour before quieting. Liu Er and Luo Si claimed the three went into the mountains to hunt wild chickens and encountered a black bear. Chen San was injured by the black bear.
Since the three had always been thick as thieves, plus Luo Si’s two legs were broken, and Liu Er’s hands and face were bloody, looking similarly badly injured, the villagers all believed their story.
The Chen Family’s old couple temporarily stayed at the Lin Family, waiting for Chen San to stabilize before taking him back.
In the evening, Shi Tou returned stepping on the last ray of sunset glow, dejectedly bringing back bad news.
In three days, Lu Chengjing would be escorted to the capital city for trial and execution.
