Chapter 87 Kill Him

Song Xiaoqing's face froze, and his chest rose and fell slightly.

It was clearly that beast Liu Linzi who was the gambler, so why was she always the one being scolded?

She was really fed up with the villagers' contempt and ridicule. She never wanted to go back and didn't want to see that bastard Liu Linzi again!

She wanted to refute Hu Xinghua, but her throat was dry. Hu Xinghua had a strong personality and was unreasonable, so she couldn't win the argument with her.

Anyway, after today, they are no longer sisters-in-law and there will be no chance for them to see each other again, so let her say whatever she wants.

After convincing herself in her heart, Song Xiaoqing lowered her head and continued to get her meal in silence.

The food given to these hostages was certainly not as good as what they ate themselves. The rice was watery, mixed with some green wild vegetables, and there was no meat at all.

Song Xiaoqing scooped up the soup several times, filtered it out, and tried hard to get more rice to fill Hu Xinghua's stomach.

Seeing that she didn't say anything back, Hu Xinghua thought she had hit a sore spot and became even more proud. She continued to nag, "Sister-in-law, don't think my words are harsh. I'm saying this for your own good. You're someone who would be bullied wherever you go. You're staying in this bandit den. Those women are like wolves and tigers. Won't they bully you to death?"

She saw Song Xiaoqing had served the meal and reached out to take it, but she didn't stop talking, "Listen to my sister-in-law's advice and come with us. Linzi is actually not a bad person, he just feels uneasy without a son, so he stays away from home. Look at me, after giving birth to a son who brings honor to the family, how much better will your brother Dali become? If you are pregnant and give birth to a -"

The sound stopped abruptly.

Song Xiaoqing turned around and covered her face with the bowl of rice.

The boiling hot soup splashed onto her face and dripped down. Hu Xinghua couldn't believe it and was stunned for a long time before she felt a clear and intense pain on her face.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

She let out a sharp scream and hurriedly wiped the porridge off her face.

However, it was too late. Her whole face quickly became red and swollen, and small blisters appeared on her skin, making her look very ugly.

Hu Xinghua's face twitched in pain. She strained to keep her swollen eyelids open and shrieked, "Song Xiaoqing, what are you doing? Are you crazy?"

Song Xiaoqing still didn't want to quarrel with her, and whispered: "Sister Xinghua, don't worry about me, I won't be bullied, and don't try to persuade me. I don't want to have any more children. Abao is my only child."

She took her daughter's hand, picked up the wooden bucket of porridge, turned around and walked out.

Yes, she is not bullied, but she still bullies others!

Hu Xinghua was furious at what she said, "Stop right there! Don't even think about leaving!"

She raised her foot to chase Song Xiaoqing, wanting to return the bullying she had suffered. In her entire life, no woman had dared to treat her like this, so how could she, Song Xiaoqing, dare to do that?

But he forgot that there was a rope tied around his feet, and with a thud, he fell forward to the ground, hitting his face. Several blisters broke, and the pain became even worse.

When the other women in the room saw this, they covered their faces with their hands in sympathy. This was too tragic.

Hu Xinghua was in so much pain that she almost fainted. She was trembling and unable to stand up. She just sat down on the ground and started cursing.

Someone couldn't bear it, "Sister Xinghua, you'd better say less, or you'll get beaten again."

The others also joined in, "That's right, if you want to curse, go ahead and curse when you get out, but don't drag us into this."

Hu Xinghua became even angrier when she saw that they had not helped her just now and were now blaming her, but she also knew that those bandits were not pushovers, so she could only shut up.

But in his heart he was not convinced, and thought bitterly, just wait, Song Xiaoqing, Liu Lanhua, and all you bandits will definitely not have a good end!

————

The next day, the men of Liujia Village prepared the money and, led by Liu Dali, came to the designated location to redeem the person.

Liu Linzi was very excited and impatient.

He hasn't been to the casino for a long time since he lost the only acre of land left in his family. His hands are itching to gamble.

After hearing what Liu Dali said yesterday, he hurried to borrow money, but all his relatives and friends had already asked him to lend money, and Liu Dali also cried poor to him, so he couldn't borrow any money at all.

In the end, he could only go to the county to borrow twenty-five taels of money at usury. He actually received twenty taels, and the interest was calculated based on twenty-five taels. These moneylenders were really greedy!

But it doesn't matter. Once he redeems Song Xiaoqing and pawns her to Landlord Xu, he will get one hundred taels of silver. After paying the usury, he will still have seventy taels left.

With this capital, he can go to the casino again and make a comeback. It won't be long before the seventy taels can be multiplied several times to seven hundred taels or seven thousand taels.

By then, he could buy back the land he had sold, build a big house, hire several servants to serve him, and make those people in the village who looked down on him envious!

Liu Dali was fantasizing happily and his mouth was watering.

At this time, there was a noise in the woods opposite the dirt road. The men looked up and saw a group of bandits with knives and sticks coming out with hostages.

Zhu Dafeng, the leader, looked ferocious and said to them fiercely, "Where's the money? Pay up first, and then we'll let you go!"

Liu Dali walked cautiously to the middle of the road and placed the counted money and the ransom list on the ground. "My lord, it's all here."

Zhu Dafeng glanced at his subordinates, who then stepped forward, took the silver and the list, and quickly retreated.

Liu Dali held his breath and watched them count and weigh the silver nervously. This group of bandits should keep their word, right?

However, Zhu Dafeng took the list, glanced at it, and tore it up. "I forgot to tell you, some people volunteered to stay in our Zhufeng Village. From now on, they have nothing to do with you. Sisters, let's retreat!"

Before everyone could react, Zhu Dafeng whistled, and the bandits from Zhufengzhai quickly retreated back into the mountains and disappeared before them.

The woman who was left behind immediately stood up and staggered towards the road.

"Great, we're saved!"

"Finally I can go home!"

Before their tears of joy could even fall, the men's complaints began to emanate.

"You spendthrift woman, you just spent twenty taels of my money in one go! You've ruined all the wealth of my Liu family!"

"I've sold all my land to redeem you. How are we going to make a living? I'll just sell myself tomorrow!"

"Those officers and soldiers won't touch you, right?"

When the women heard their husbands' questions, their happy hearts suddenly sank to the bottom, but they also knew that they were all such rough people, so they could only hold back their tears and soften their tempers to please and explain to them.

Liu Dali looked around the crowd but didn't see Hu Xinghua. He immediately frowned. Could it be that this woman stayed in Zhufengzhai?

Thinking of this possibility, his originally irritable mood instantly turned into ecstasy. Wouldn't that mean he could find another wife?

However, a red and swollen face appeared, "Boss, are you blind? I'm right here and you don't see me?"

Liu Dali was startled and it took him a long time to confirm that the person was Hu Xinghua. Just as he was about to ask her what was going on, his neck was suddenly grabbed.

"Where's my wife?!" Liu Linzi was breathing rapidly, his face flushed red, and he looked very excited.

Hu Xinghua angrily said, "Liu Linzi, what are you doing? Your wife gave me this face, and she's staying in the village!"

"What did you say?" Liu Linzi was stunned, and then his eyes turned red.

He grabbed Liu Dali with both hands and said viciously, "Hurry up and pay me thirty taels of silver!"

Liu Dali was so uncomfortable with the strangulation that he shouted, "What are you doing? The silver was taken by the bandits, what are you going to do to me?"

"If you hadn't asked me to borrow money to redeem someone, would I have been cheated by the bandits? Give me back the money!" Liu Linzi swung his fist and hit Liu Dali on the head.

Seeing that her man was about to be beaten, Hu Xinghua hurriedly tried to pull his arm, but Liu Linzi kicked her to the ground instead. She cursed in pain.

Those men who paid the ransom but did not see the person were angry and had no place to vent. When they heard the noise here, they immediately rushed over, grabbed Liu Dali and shouted at him to return the money.

Fists rained down on Liu Dali's head. He hugged his head and curled up into a ball, crying out in pain.

Someone came over to try to stop the fight, "This is the clan leader's son, don't you want to live anymore?"

"What's wrong with the clan leader? I'm beating up the clan leader's son!" As he said this, he started punching and kicking those who were trying to stop the fight.

"Why are you hitting my man?" The women watching from the side felt so distressed that they joined the fight, some pulling his hair, some biting his arms.

The scene suddenly became a mess. Everyone was extremely angry. Those who had lost their money wanted to vent their anger on others, those who had been beaten wanted to fight back, and anyone who passed by would be kicked.

The bandits who had retreated to the top of the hill looked back and saw the chaotic scene with their eyes wide open.

"Why are they fighting among themselves?"

"Without money, I've lost my mind and gone crazy."

Everyone immediately burst into cheerful laughter. The bandits weighed the silver bags in their hands and waved their hands, "Let's go back and improve the food for the sisters!"

They walked forward without looking back, their steps brisk.

The wind in the forest blew, and the leaves rustled, as if they were also happy for them.

In the days that followed, the new and old members of Zhu Fengzhai received training from the Jinwu Guards together. Zhu Dafeng also learned to handle a musket and became fascinated by this powerful weapon.

Until this day, she received the news from Zhao Mingyue, and immediately selected a hundred people and set off for Yuzhou City.

—————

On the eve of the oath-taking ceremony, Zhao Mingyue gave the revised manifesto to Zhao Zhuo for the last time to review.

Zhao Zhuo was delighted to see that the manifesto was filled with condemnation and harsh criticism of Empress Dowager Chi. He laughed loudly and said, "Excellent! Every word is brilliant! You will read this draft tomorrow."

Zhao Mingyue kept smiling. "Thanks to my uncle for his guidance. I just don't know where tomorrow's oath-taking ceremony will be held."

Zhao Zhuo immediately became alert, but pretended not to care. "Don't worry about it. Someone will pick you up when the time comes."

"Yes, there is just one thing I don't know whether I should tell you." Zhao Mingyue lowered her head, her tone hesitant.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Zhuo was startled when he saw her hesitant look.

Tomorrow is the oath-taking ceremony, and Zhao Mingyue cannot cause any trouble for him.

Zhao Mingyue swallowed, her voice trembling slightly, "It was Xie Qinjian. He pulled me aside yesterday and asked me to marry him. I felt it was inappropriate at the time, but I was also concerned that he was someone my uncle valued, so I didn't refuse. Instead, I asked him if he had told my uncle about this first. But he said -"

Zhao Zhuo's face darkened. "What did he say?"

He had long seen that Xie Qinjian was deliberately trying to get close to Zhao Mingyue and curry favor with her, but thinking of his many contributions and the upcoming oath-taking ceremony, he forced himself not to get angry.

But now, hearing Zhao Mingyue accusing him with his own ears, the fire in his heart was instantly ignited.

Xie Qinjian is so smart, doesn’t he know what Zhao Mingyue’s identity represents?

How dare he flirt with her in private and even act like he was proposing to her!

Zhao Mingyue felt a little relieved when she saw Zhao Zhuo's expression. She continued, "He said, 'Uncle, you are extremely stupid. Everything that happened today is all his fault. Sooner or later, he will replace you.'"

Zhao Zhuo was furious and slammed his palm on the table, "This rebellious beast! Come, bring Xie Qinjian here quickly, I want to kill him!"

Zhao Mingyue lowered her head and suppressed the smile on her lips. She just wanted to provoke Zhao Zhuo and make him kill Xie Qinjian.

With the death of the superior, the Bingmasi will certainly be in chaos for a while, and the defense of Yuzhou City will also be relaxed.

But at this moment, the air in the room suddenly became sticky and heavy, and a huge sense of danger surged in my heart.

"Okay, Zhao Mingyue, so this is what you called cooperation. Do you know what will happen if you deceive me?" A voice filled with suppressed anger sounded behind her.