Sun Mingzhu turned her head, now looking utterly miserable.

She said to the wives of several officials:

“My daughter has been taught to be well-mannered and reasonable since she was a child. She doesn’t even know how to defend herself when she is bullied. Such a kind child, yet she was bullied like this in the street.”

Several wives of officials offered Sun Mingzhu a few words of sympathy and comforted her, then reached out and poked the little dumpling's head.

"You little rascal, you're so naughty."

"I wonder whose wild girl she is, she has no manners at all."

The little girl was surrounded by people, each one bombarding her with their comments. She clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, repeating to herself:

"It wasn't me, it wasn't me."

Mu Yanxiu was already stunned by the fierce-looking adults and shrank behind the little dumpling. She felt it was too terrifying. She had never seen such terrifying people in her life.

A plump lady adorned with jewels snorted coldly upon hearing the little dumpling's mutterings.

“Listen to her, she still doesn’t think she did anything wrong.”

"Someone, bring me a rope, tie this girl up and report her to the authorities."

"And that girl behind her, she seems to be in cahoots with her, she doesn't look like a good person either, so tie her up too."

The plump lady was the wife of the Vice Minister of Revenue, and was considered the head of this group of noble ladies and their wives. She usually put on a very high and mighty air, and now she was putting on an even more superior demeanor.

He ordered his servants to tie up Xiao Tuanzi and Mu Yanxiu.

Mu Yanxiu was so frightened that her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, crying.

The little girl quickly spread her arms to protect Mu Yanxiu, her arms trembling uncontrollably, but she said:

"No one is allowed to touch my little niece."

The fat lady's men came over with hemp rope and reached out to tie up the little dumpling.

"Who dares!"

Suddenly, a stern roar exploded in the winter market.

Everyone was startled by the sound.

A streak of silver light flashed past, and the black iron fan slashed the hand of the person holding the hemp rope, leaving it a bloody mess.

The black iron fan flew around once and returned to its owner's hand.

A group of people emerged from the crowd, exuding a chilling aura of authority and menace.

When the little dumpling saw Mu Jinyi, her little mouth immediately pursed, and the tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally flowed down.

"Second brother." With a very aggrieved cry, the little dumpling threw herself into Mu Jinyi's arms.

Mu Jinyi held the little dumpling in his arms and gently patted her back.

"Don't cry, don't cry, your second brother is here."

Mu Jinyi was heartbroken.

There were too many people just now, and I got separated from the two little ones.

Unexpectedly, the two of them suffered injustice in such a short time.

Mu Yanxiu, who was lying paralyzed on the ground, crawled towards Mu Jinxuan as if she had seen a savior, crying and gasping for breath:

"Third Uncle, we were almost tied up."

Mu Jinxuan, who usually disliked Mu Yanxiu getting involved with such things, picked her up with heartache.

"Who tried to tie up my child just now?" Mu Jinnian glared at Sun Mingzhu and the fat lady, his sword already drawn and in his hand.

The plump lady felt a little scared when she saw the sword gleaming coldly.

She didn't recognize the sword-wielding boy, but felt that the other two men looked vaguely familiar, though she couldn't quite place them.

It seems like I've seen it somewhere in the distance before.

Sun Mingzhu's face darkened completely; she hadn't expected the Mu family to suddenly appear.

However, Sun Mingzhu quickly calmed down. In any case, she had already confirmed Xiao Tuanzi's crime in front of everyone. Even if the Mu family protected her, her reputation in the capital would be ruined.

Everyone would just think that Mu's little darling is spoiled and arrogant, a scheming and bad girl.

The plump lady originally wanted to punish the two young maids directly, but to be on the safe side, she had to find out who these people were first.

The plump lady said haughtily, "I am the wife of the Vice Minister of Revenue. May I ask which family you belong to?"

Mu Jinnian raised an eyebrow. So it was the family of the Vice Minister of Revenue. No wonder they dared to tie someone up in the street.

He didn't answer the fat lady's question, but instead asked, "Why did you tie up my child?"

The plump lady thought that Mu Jinnian was intimidated by her identity, and slowly pulled Jiang Yuanyuan over.

Pointing to the bloodstains on her face, he said, "This girl slashed her face with a hairpin. Do you think she should be tied up?"

The little dumpling shook its head hurriedly.

Mu Jinyi said gently to her, "Your brothers are all here, so don't be afraid. Just bravely tell me what happened."

The little girl's wildly beating heart calmed down a bit, and she loudly addressed the crowd:

“I didn’t do it. Jiang Yuanyuan tried to take the hairpin from me and even tried to slash my face with it.”

“I just pushed her away, and then the hairpin in her hand cut her face.”

Everyone was taken aback, as this explanation was completely contrary to the stall owner's.

Jiang Yuanyuan's eyes darted around, and she immediately started crying pitifully again.

"You're lying, which means you've slashed my face."

"You clearly drew the line yourself, all you do is cry and cry."

With someone backing her up, Mu Yanxiu became arrogant again, and after speaking, she didn't forget to wipe away her tears.

The little dumpling stretched out her hand, which had been scratched by Jiang Yuanyuan.

"You said I scratched your face, but why is my injury on the back of my hand, not my palm?"

The little girl turned her hands over and over to show everyone. Her palms were intact, but the backs of her hands were cut.

The little dumpling then said, "Do you dare to let everyone see your palm?"

Jiang Yuanyuan panicked and quickly put her hands behind her back.

Mu Yanhong walked over in a few steps, grabbed Jiang Yuanyuan's hands, and held them up for everyone to see.

There were obvious marks on Jiang Yuanyuan's right hand from forcefully gripping the hairpin.

Everyone immediately gasped in surprise, realizing that someone was crying foul while pretending to be a thief.

Jiang Yuanyuan blushed and said to Mu Yanhong in a sweet voice:

"Brother Hong, this is a misunderstanding, it wasn't me."

After displaying the evidence, Mu Yanhong immediately released Jiang Yuanyuan and moved away from her with obvious disgust.

Sun Mingzhu's face turned pale. How could she not have thought of the pinch marks on her daughter's hands?!

What was originally a winning strategy has now been completely lost.

Mu Jinnian pressed his sword against the stall owner's neck and demanded sharply, "Were you the one who framed my sister just now?"

The stall owner was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground, pleading, "Sir, please spare me! It was this lady who forced me to say those words."

"This young lady cut her own face."

"Please spare me, sir!"

Mu Jinnian sheathed his sword, kicked the stall owner in the chest, and said coldly, "The authorities will determine your punishment."

Upon hearing that there was trouble at the winter market, Zhen Chang'an, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, immediately led his men to the scene.

When Zhen Chang'an saw the three sons of the Mu family, he quickly clasped his hands in greeting.

"Your humble servant greets Young Master Mu."

"Greetings, Uncle Zhen." The three sons of the Mu family returned the greeting to Zhen Chang'an.

Zhen Chang'an is an upright and resolute man, and Mu Tingzheng admires him to some extent. The two have had several interactions, and Mu Tingzheng has invited him to Mu family banquets and parties.

Both parties knew each other.

Upon hearing the words "Young Master Mu," the arrogance on the plump lady's face vanished completely.

Good heavens! How could she have imagined that these people were from the Mu family!

This is terrible. For the sake of a neglected earldom that is not valued by the court, they have offended the powerful, influential, and wealthy Mu family.

The plump lady really wanted to slap herself twice. If this affected her husband's future, she would become a sinner to the whole family.

The plump lady broke out in a cold sweat, and then received a commanding look from Mu Jinnian.

She shuddered. The young man had just pointed his sword directly at the stall owner, and now it was her turn. She had no idea how he would react.

Moreover, there are also the second and third young masters of the Mu family. Which of them is easy to mess with?

She really blamed herself for not checking the almanac before going out, which caused her this trouble.