Chapter 101 Xiao Xiuning slanders her again, gets slapped

The medicine for relieving convicts was prepared, and the convicts were told to line up with bowls to receive it, even though it was free and didn't cost any money.

Just a few days ago, the nobles of the capital were still complaining that the medicinal soup contained grass roots and soil.

How can anyone drink this? Even a beggar wouldn't drink this stuff.

Using the excuse of not having bowls and chopsticks, they did not go to line up to get them.

The guards told them to borrow bowls and chopsticks; if they couldn't, they could borrow from the guards themselves, for 10 coins each.

The crowd dared not speak out in anger, but cursed inwardly. So this was a scam to rip them off. Ten cents for a bowl? Why don't they just rob them?

Those who had bowls were forced to queue up, and the servants, not paying attention, ran to a corner and dumped their bowls.

Old Liao recognized the guy who had been shouting the loudest about catching a cold but hadn't come to line up for his herbal medicine. He dragged him out and kicked him to the ground. "Didn't you just yell that you had a cold and couldn't walk? I made you some medicine but you didn't drink it. Are you trying to fool me?"

"No, no, no, Mr. Liao, I'm not trying to fool you. There's a county town about 30 miles ahead. I was planning to go through the county town to buy medicine."

"Didn't you say you were going to die from illness? If you're going to die from illness, how can you walk thirty miles? You're trying to scam me. Give me the medicine right now."

Old Liao snatched a bowl full of medicine from a person in line and poured it into his mouth.

"Ugh, it's so hot, Master Liao, my throat, ahhh..."

The man's family rushed over and pleaded, "Please, Mr. Liao, have mercy! Don't make him drink to death. Please let him drink it himself."

“Whoever said they had a cold, come and line up. Anyone who dares to play dead and not come over, I’ll whip them.”

Instantly, dozens more people joined the queue for herbal medicine.

The entire Xiao family sat in the corner to rest, looking weak.

Yun Zhaoxue was the only one who could move. She took the bowls that everyone else had to get the medicine and used a wooden board as a tray, which could hold just seven or eight bowls.

Yun Zhaoxue said, "Officer, please fill these bowls to the brim."

The escort in charge of administering the herbal medicine glanced at Lao Liao.

There are so many bowls; once she's served them all, there won't be any left for the next person.

"Officer, first come, first served. My whole family is injured and has caught a cold. If we don't take the medicine soon, we definitely won't make it through today."

The people behind her in line happened to be members of the Shen family.

They didn't want the medicinal soup, but Shen Qingyu suddenly developed a fever, and since they didn't have any medicine on hand, they had to come and queue up to get some.

Seeing that the medicine in the pot was almost empty, Shen Yan said anxiously, "Officer, someone in our Shen family has also caught a cold and is waiting to drink the medicine."

“I urged you several times just now, but not a single person in your family came to line up. After everyone else had received theirs, you rushed to take more. Give her a smaller amount, and if there are any left, give them to the person behind her.”

The escort did as instructed, filling Yun Zhaoxue's eight bowls with the medicine, leaving only the dregs of the medicine at the bottom of the pot, along with mud and various leaves.

Shen Yan was disgusted and didn't want it anymore. He wanted to ask Yun Zhaoxue for a bowl, but he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of her. He waited until she walked away with the medicine before chasing after her to ask.

Yun Zhaoxue walked very fast, and he hurried to quicken his pace, which aggravated the whip marks on his back, causing him to grimace in pain.

Despite the pain, he quickly ran forward and raised his hand to block her path. "Yun Zhaoxue, you stop right there."

"What's up?"

"Were you deliberately avoiding me? You knew I was chasing you, yet you ran so fast on purpose."

Yun Zhaoxue: "You stopped me just for this? I'm in a hurry, get lost if you have nothing else to say."

She walked past him and was about to leave.

Shen Yan stopped her again, leaning close to her ear and saying quickly, "Wait! You can't leave yet. I want to tell you that the entire Xiao family is injured. They collapsed before we even hit them. They won't live more than a few days on the road to exile. And there's the young master Xiao, a cripple who can't even stand up. He'll only be a burden to you and won't be able to protect you. As a woman, you won't make it to the place of exile without anyone to protect you."

"If you give me these bowls of herbal medicine, kowtow to my mother and beg for her forgiveness, and we can go back to how things were before, and get rid of the child as we agreed, I might reluctantly take you as... a concubine."

This was a brilliant idea he suddenly came up with to get revenge on the Xiao family: to cuckold Xiao Xuance. For a man, being cuckolded by his wife is worse than being killed.

And then there's Yun Zhaoxue. Since she's heartless, then don't blame him for being ruthless. Once he's won her over, he'll slowly torment her.

"Kneel and apologize? Take me as your concubine?"

Is he crazy? Did the guards beat him senseless?

Not to mention her, even the original owner of this body in her previous life hated him after being betrayed that night at the Qin family villa. In the end, she lured him into the forest and stabbed him to death.

Shen Yan nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

He had no wives or concubines. He used to have two or three maids, but they were sold as servants when his family was raided and he was exiled. He was virtuous and did not mind that Yun Zhaoxue was a second-marriage woman who was pregnant. Letting her be his concubine was a blessing she could never have asked for.

In his heart, only the exceptionally talented Yun Jiaoyue was worthy of being his wife.

Yun Zhaoxue is selfish. The Xiao family is a burden to her. She must have wanted to leave a long time ago. Now that I've given her a way out, she's sure she'll agree. She must be overjoyed right now.

...

Seeing Yun Zhaoxue leave, Xiao Xiuning went to Yang Shi and the others and said remorsefully, "Mother, does it hurt? I was in the right wing last night and didn't know that you were being beaten by that vicious guard in the main hall."

"I'm sorry, if only I were here, I would definitely beat him to a pulp and make him regret it."

Madam Yang shook her head. "It's not your fault. You couldn't beat Wu Chuang either. If you had been afraid, you would have been beaten too."

Xiao Xiuning, "..."

Yes, yes, yes, she can't beat her, only Yun Zhaoxue can, she's the best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Yun Zhaoxue, who had been stopped by Shen Yan to say something. A hint of excitement flashed in his eyes as he pointed over there and said, "Mother, look over there! Yun Zhaoxue is hooking up with that Shen Yan again. She's rekindling her old flame and betraying Third Brother. We absolutely cannot let someone like that become a member of the Xiao family. Third Brother, you must divorce her immediately."

Xiao Xuance spoke seriously, pausing between each sentence: "She is my wife, and she will be for the rest of my life. I've said it before, if you don't respect her as your third sister-in-law, then never call me third brother again!"

Hearing him say such hurtful things, Xiao Xiuning was blinded by anger and pointed at Yun Zhaoxue, blurting out, "Third Brother, what kind of bewitching potion did that woman give you? The child in her belly might not even be..." yours.

"Slap!" Xiao Xuance raised his hand and slapped her.

Everyone was stunned.

Xiao Xuance had no regrets; he believed that a lesson wouldn't be learned unless one was punished.

He warned, "If you dare to speak so recklessly again, don't blame me for disowning you as my sister."

Xiao Xiuning covered her face, which had been slapped to the side, her eyes red and swollen. She forced back her tears and turned to look at him, still deliberately going against him without any sense of reason, "I'm going to say it, she's carrying Shen Yan's child."

Xiao Xuance raised his hand again.

Xiao Xuanwu rushed forward to block Xiao Xiuning, saying, "Third brother, let's talk this out. The more you hit Fourth sister, the less she will listen. She's very rebellious."

"You are utterly unrepentant. She didn't do anything to you, so why do you hate her so much?"

Tears streamed down Xiao Xiuning's face, her voice trembling with sobs, "She hit me and scolded me, can't I hate her?"

Xiao Xuance said, "Then it must be because you offended her. You often talk about her bad points and say things like she's pregnant with someone else's child. If it were me, I would also hit you. She has no obligation to indulge you."

Madam Yang held her daughter and reached out to wipe away her tears. "Ning'er, there are some things you really shouldn't have said. Xue'er has changed for the better, she's not the same as before. Don't look at her with your old prejudices, you have to look at her with your heart. She said she doesn't object to you coming back, please come back, I beg you, Mother."

Xiao Xiuning said, "Her change for the better is all an act, just to deceive you. She is bad at heart. You can't pretend that the past never happened just because of her temporary pretense."

Xiao Xuance said in a serious tone, "If she did something bad to you in the past, I apologize on her behalf. You can ask for any compensation you want, but I have one condition: you can no longer target her, disrespect her, or say anything as outrageous as saying that the child is not mine."

Others also advised Xiao Xiuning, "Fourth Sister, just listen to Third Brother, get along well with Third Sister-in-law, and stop targeting her. Can you come back and come with us? Don't let Mother worry about you."

"Yes, Ning'er, come back. Stop running around all the time. Let's work together as a family to overcome this difficult time."