"Of course!" Liu Yingying nodded slightly in reply.

After seeing Lord Shen off, everyone immediately surrounded her.

Sister Zou and the others were genuinely happy for her.

The village chief and the village head were just so-so with her, but Taoyuan Village produced a Lady of Lihe Township who was bestowed the title by the Emperor.

From then on, their status was unmatched by other villages, and they felt a great sense of pride in sharing in this achievement...

As for the Liu brothers, they were already regretting it to the core!

They had noticed something earlier: Lord Shen treated Liu Yingying differently from others. Otherwise, why would he care so much about the innocence of a mere village woman and even send her documents to prove her innocence?

Considering Liu Yingying's frequent trips to the county town today, it's possible she's having an affair with Lord Shen...

Sigh, if they had known she had such powerful connections, they would never have gone to such extremes!

Otherwise, I could at least benefit from it...

Looking at Liu Yingying surrounded by the crowd, Ma Qiumei felt both fear and jealousy.

She knew about her affair with Su Daqiang, and today she missed the best opportunity to silence him.

Based on Ma Qiumei's understanding of the Liu family now, she would definitely not let her off the hook!

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to her, Ma Qiumei decided to run away to her parents' home to avoid trouble...

Zhang Qiaonv and her daughter were also preparing to flee.

Just as they were about to slip away from the crowd, Lin Cuicui, who was supporting Zhaodi, suddenly shouted, "Oh no! Those who harmed Aunt Liu are getting away!"

Liu Yingying's gaze fell on Ma Qiumei and her daughter Zhang Qiaonv, and she deliberately raised her voice: "Now that I have been granted the title of Lady of Lihe Township, all the villagers are happy for me. What, don't you want to come and congratulate me?"

The three of them paused, turned their heads stiffly, and forced back their jealousy as they looked at Liu Yingying.

Now, she is a Lady of the Township bestowed by the Emperor, her status is above that of a scholar, and she does not need to bow when meeting county-level officials.

Ma Qiumei and others' collusion with evil Taoists to slander Liu Yingying is already a heinous crime!

Now everyone is trying to curry favor with Liu Yingying. If they just leave like this, they probably won't have a place to stand in Taoyuan Village or even the entire Ma'ao Township in the future!

"Congratulations, sister-in-law! From now on, our Zhu family will be counting on your help..."

After a long while, Ma Qiumei managed to force a smile that was more like a grimace, looking at Liu Yingying with a fawning and ingratiating expression.

Zhang Qiaonv and her daughter also said, "Sister-in-law Zhu, congratulations... Well... if there's nothing else, I still have chores to do at home, so I'll head back now..."

The three of them shrank back and tried to slip away, but were stopped by Sister Zou.

"Stop right there!"

Zhu Dongxi cursed Sister Zou inwardly, thinking, "Why does this old woman love to meddle in other people's business?"

If it weren't for these people suddenly showing up and causing trouble, that wretched woman Liu would have been burned to ashes by now!

"Is...is there anything else?"

When the three of them turned around, they all had forced smiles on their faces as they looked at Liu Yingying.

"You slandered Lady Lihe and almost caused her to be burned to death. Do you think you can just let this matter go?" Sister Zou looked at the three women in front of her with disdain.

"It's a misunderstanding...it's all a misunderstanding...sister-in-law, we're still blood relatives!" Ma Qiumei collapsed at Liu Yingying's feet, crying and trying to explain herself.

After all, her husband and Liu Yingying's husband were brothers, so Ma Qiumei felt that Liu Yingying should at least give her a break for the sake of the Buddha.

So that we can meet again when we look up...

Zhang Qiaonv and her mother, however, had no such kinship with Liu Yingying, so they were even more panicked than Ma Qiumei.

Liu Yingying looked expressionlessly at the three women kneeling at her feet, weeping bitterly, her heart unmoved.

These are all crocodile tears!

However, she can't really push them to their deaths right now...

But these women kept causing her trouble, and even tried to kill her!

Even a clay figure has a bit of a temper!

"Village chief, how should we deal with this malicious slander against the village lord, and the collusion with sorcerers to harm him?"

Wang Delu was pondering how to please Liu Yingying in the future when he heard her ask him a question, so he quickly cleared his throat and replied.

"Well... according to the rules, he should be imprisoned!"

No!

Upon hearing the words "prison," Ma Qiumei, Zhang Qiaonv, and the other two panicked.

Zhu Dongxi, in particular, was so frightened that his face turned as pale as paper!

There's a saying in the Great Xia Kingdom: "Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a great one!"

For women, reputation is especially important.

Ma Qiumei and Zhang Qiaonv are already married and have children, so it doesn't matter to them. But Zhu Dongxi is still an unmarried young woman!

If she goes to jail for this, how will she ever find a good husband?

Now she was truly frightened and reached out to grab Liu Yingying's clothes, but Liu Yingying dodged her without making a sound.

Zhu Dongxi cried and begged for forgiveness, "Aunt Liu, I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!"

"Please spare me, considering that Zhao Di and I grew up together and I'm still a child."

Zhang Qiaonv also came to her senses at this moment, realized what was going on, and joined in the plea for mercy.

"Sister-in-law Zhu, Dongxi is still just a child. Please don't hold it against her, okay?"

"No way!" Liu Yingying coldly uttered two words, and then said, "You said it yourself, she's just a child, yet her heart is so vicious. If she's not disciplined, who knows how many people she'll conspire with you to harm in the future!"

Liu Yingying's attitude was very firm. Zhang Qiaonv and her mother went from pleading desperately at the beginning to giving up and starting to curse at her.

"Liu, you shameless woman!"

"You're deliberately retaliating against us..."

There were also many unpleasant things said, which others couldn't bear to listen to.

Zhu Guanbao and Zhu Erqiang initially wanted to plead for them, but they immediately cowered when they met Liu Yingying's extremely intimidating gaze...

Zhu Guanbao was unaware of this incident, but Zhu Erqiang was involved from beginning to end.

Now, they've only arrested these three women, without implicating them... so they dare not voice any further objections...

Finally, village chief Wang Delu called over several strong young men from the village to escort Ma Qiumei and the other two to the county government.

But Liu Yingying stopped her again; "Wait, why do I remember that there were more than just the three of them who colluded with the evil Taoist to harm Lord Honjo?"

Upon hearing this, the Liu brothers, who had been trying to keep a low profile, cursed inwardly.

That bitch, she has absolutely no regard for brotherhood!

"Second sister, we all came from the same mother, you don't have to be so ruthless, do you?"