Chapter 244 Nineteen

Li San Niang could tell that Shi Jiu was preoccupied. Since they were on the road, Li San Niang didn't say much, and the group silently made their way back to the Li family.

While everyone was having dinner together, Li Ersao asked, "Third Sister, how is that Xiangniang you mentioned yesterday doing?"

Li San Niang's heart skipped a beat, and she didn't know what to say.

"Second sister-in-law, I'll tell you about Xiangniang after we finish eating."

Li Ersao was taken aback, not expecting Li Sanniang to answer like that, but she still nodded and replied, "Okay."

Li San Niang instinctively did not want the children to know that Xiang Niang had killed Zhou Lang and his mother, as well as that she and Zhou Lang's infant child.

So, after sending the four little ones away and coaxing Lu Zhu'er and Xiao Wulang to sleep, Li San Niang, holding a cup filled with boiling water in her hand, looked at the ground and told the Li family what she had heard about Xiang Niang that day.

Ah! So that's how it is!

Li Ersao covered her mouth in shock, letting out such a surprised exclamation.

Sister-in-law Li remained silent, but Mother Li spoke up: "In this world, even in times of peace and prosperity, there will always be those who live in nightmares."

Alas, may she be reborn into a better life in her next life, and not have to suffer such torment in this world again.

When Li San Niang heard the phrase "May you be reborn into a better family in your next life" again, she felt very awkward and uncomfortable.

If a person can't live this life well and is always thinking about the next life, what will they do with this life?

“Mother, I want to establish the alliance ahead of schedule. Let’s not wait for the alcohol issue. Didn’t that midwife Sun want to join our alliance last time to learn how to use episiotomy to help women give birth?”

Now that I've established this alliance, if there are any more women like Xiangniang in the future, I hope we can stand up for them and prevent tragedies like Xiangniang's from happening again.

Li's mother naturally supported Li San Niang's decision, and nodded in agreement.

"Then let's choose a day, how about tomorrow? Your sister-in-law and I will go to the Jingzhao Prefecture to report and pay the taxes."

Li San Niang stood up and bowed to Li's mother, Li's eldest sister-in-law, and Li's second sister-in-law one by one.

"From now on, this alliance will be entrusted to Mother, Eldest Sister-in-law, and Second Sister-in-law!"

After exchanging a few more words, everyone dispersed.

Li San Niang carried the sleeping Lu Zhu'er and Qiu Xiang into her courtyard, but Shi Jiu followed.

Li San Niang didn't ask why, but it was obvious that Nineteen had something he wanted to say to her alone.

After settling Lu Zhu'er in, Li San Niang, Qiu Xiang, and Shi Jiu sat at the round table. Under the dim light, Li San Niang heard Shi Jiu's deep voice in her ear.

"Third Sister, last night I didn't listen to you. I changed into my night clothes in the middle of the night, climbed on the rooftops, and used the secret passage of the Bad Guys to go to the back street where Xiangniang is, as you said."

When I climbed over the courtyard wall and entered the inner area, I immediately sensed something was wrong.

First, it's a bit too quiet;

Secondly, it smells of human blood.

At first, I thought some villain had committed a crime here. When I carefully went in to check, the first thing I saw was... Xiangniang lying flat on the small bed, and the child wrapped in a blanket next to her.

When I got closer, I saw that Xiangniang's clothes were covered in blood, while the child next to her was clean.

I sensed something was wrong, and when I got close enough, I checked their breathing and found that Xiangniang and the baby were already dead.

I touched the baby's body, and it was already cold.

Then, I first saw Zhou Lang lying dead on the ground in the corner of the room, his body covered in knife wounds.

Later, I found the old woman, already dead, with a knife stuck in her back, on the woodpile in the kitchen.

Even though Nineteen spoke in a calm tone, Li San Niang could still detect a trace of unease and pain in her voice.

Nineteen lowered his head, staring unfocusedly at the teacup on the table.

"Third Sister, I've been on quite a few missions, so I can guess how this happened."

It was Xiangniang who first knocked Zhou Lang unconscious with a heavy object, then slashed him wildly with a knife. Seeing that he was no longer alive, she dragged him to the corner of the wall.

Then, taking advantage of the old woman's momentary lapse in attention, he stabbed her in the back with a knife.

Finally, she went back inside and smothered the baby... then slit its throat with shards of a broken bowl.

As Li San Niang listened to Shi Jiu's story, her heart ached.

How desperate and helpless Xiangniang must have felt to kill Zhou Lang and his wife with all her might, then cruelly smother her own child to death, and finally commit suicide in such a ruthless and resolute manner.

But Li San Niang was also furious inside!

If Xiangniang had been more ruthless earlier, she could have killed Zhou Lang and his wife, then escaped with the child, or sent the child to an orphanage, and then faced the law herself.

Why take an infant with you to your death?

Nineteen continued, “So I cleaned up the traces of my visit and went home.”

Since I really didn't know how to tell Third Sister, I didn't say anything.

Li San Niang didn't dwell on the fact that Shi Jiu ignored her advice and insisted on going to see Xiang Niang at night.

Instead, she looked up and asked softly, "Are you feeling very upset?"

This question really hit the nail on the head.

Nineteen, who was always cheerful and lively like a young man in front of others, could no longer hold back when he saw the concerned look in Li San Niang's eyes. Tears streamed down his face, and he closed his eyes, saying in a choked voice, "You noticed, San Niangzi."

Next, Li San Niang listened to the story of Nineteen.

Nineteen, when he was young, naturally had a father and a mother. According to Nineteen, his family was doing quite well at first, but ever since his father became addicted to gambling in the city, he quickly squandered all the family's money.

Nineteen's mother cursed him for his father stealing the family's last savings to gamble, which greatly displeased Nineteen's father.

Then, the frail mother was brutally beaten by her father.

Nineteen, who was not yet ten years old at the time, wanted to step forward to protect his mother, but what could a child who was not yet ten years old do?

At that time, how could a nineteen-year-old be a match for an adult male?

Nineteen was kicked into a corner by his father, and he was in so much pain that he hunched over. His mother was being beaten, but she still had to worry about her child.

"Young man, don't come any closer, don't come any closer."

Mother is alright, she's alright.

How could it really be nothing?

Nineteen's mother's face was swollen from the beating, her head was bleeding, and her body was covered in injuries.

And so, year after year, whenever the nineteen-year-old mother earned any money, her father would take it all and gamble it away.

Then it was a repetitive cycle of cursing, being beaten, and getting bloodied.

The elders in Zhongjian Village did try to intervene. According to Shijiu, there was a period of time when his father knelt down and repented in anguish.

But how can you believe what a gambler says?

Before long, the old ways will reappear.

Finally, at the age of nineteen or thirteen, after drinking and losing money, Father knocked Mother to the ground with a pickaxe, then ignored her and went straight to bed.

Little Nineteen squatted on the ground, watching her mother's head bleed profusely, the blood flowing uncontrollably. Nineteen cried out urgently, "Mother, Mother, what's wrong with you?"

Mother, answer me, Mother!

Mother, please don't abandon your son!

Nineteen's mother did not respond. Even after Nineteen lost his shoes and went to the village entrance to call an elder, he could not save his mother who had collapsed to the ground.

The villagers helped Nineteen dispose of her mother's body, and that day Nineteen became a motherless child.

Nineteen was small and often went hungry. He was weak and had little strength, but he wanted to avenge his mother.

He wanted to kill his father, the beast who had killed his mother.