Zhang Tiansheng covered his chest and coughed, blood slowly dripping from the corner of his mouth. He called out "Mom" weakly. Aunt Wang's face turned pale instantly, and a voice more mournful than mourning lingered in everyone's ears.

"Tian Sheng! You can't let me, an old woman, die before me! Just hold on, I will seek justice for you even if I die today!"

Aunt Wang, looking even more wronged than Dou E, goaded everyone, "I've been in Sanwan Village for over thirty years since I married Zhang Dazhu. Sanwan Village is my home! All of you neighbors are my family. Everyone saw that Widow Xu's cousin twisted Tian Sheng's arm the other day and broke his ribs today. It's all because of this outsider. We should drive him away!"

"Yes! Get out! Sanwan Village doesn't welcome ungrateful people!"

"Get out of Sanwan Village!"

......

At this moment, the villagers of Sanwan Village were surprisingly united. Zhang Tiansheng grew up in Sanwan Village. No matter how bad he was, beating and scolding him was considered a lesson. But being beaten and scolded by people from other villages was considered bullying!

What’s even more outrageous is that the villagers in the front row actually waved torches in front of Jun Haoyue, trying to drive him away.

Xu Xingchen couldn't bear it any longer. Were these people really made of carbon-based organisms? Couldn't they have evolved from amoebas?

"I'll see who dares to chase him away!" She shouted, standing in front of Jun Haoyue with her head held high and protecting him behind her.

"You blind, ignorant people! You only heard Aunt Wang accusing my cousin of beating Zhang Tiansheng. Why didn't you ask why my cousin beat Zhang Tiansheng?"

The villagers were shocked to see that Widow Xu, who had always been timid and cowardly, had suddenly become so fierce.

There were still some people who were reasonable. Someone in the crowd asked weakly, "Then why was Zhang Tiansheng beaten?"

Aunt Wang glared and immediately yelled back, "What else could it be? Widow Xu's cousin is crazy! Tian Sheng fights with people every day, and I've never seen him break his ribs!"

Xu Xingchen said sarcastically with a cold face, "You also know that your son is always making trouble and fighting outside. He blocked me on my way back to the village and tried to do something bad to me. My cousin taught him a lesson to save me!"

Villagers flocked to see Aunt Wang and her son Zhang Tiansheng. Aunt Wang's face turned the color of liver, and she stiffened her neck, refusing to believe it. "You're talking nonsense! My son looks down on you because you're a widow who brings bad luck to her husband! You, you're crazy! Your cousin is crazy! You two are indeed family!"

"What's the matter, Aunt Wang, are you angry because of shame? I have evidence." Xu Xingchen pulled off the linen scarf around his neck, revealing the fingerprints from Zhang Tiansheng's pinching. He continued, "It was Zhang Tiansheng who pinched my neck!"

"You're talking nonsense! I don't know which wild man pinched you, you framed my son!"

Jun Haoyue saw the purple pinch marks on Xu Xingchen's neck in the light of the villagers' fire, and his eyes darkened. Xu Xingchen was wearing a scarf at the time, so he didn't see any fingerprints on her neck.

Xu Xingchen turned his back to him and glanced at the villagers. He unexpectedly found Zhang Xiaochun hiding in a place where the torches could not find her. He immediately pointed at her and said, "Zhang Xiaochun can testify! She came back with me."

She changed her tone to one of deep sorrow and grief, "Luckily, I sacrificed myself to save Xiaochun's life, otherwise Xiaochun would have suffered the same fate as me."

Everyone turned their attention to the 'witness' Zhang Xiaochun.

Zhang Xiaochun was already feeling guilty, and someone pushed her out of the crowd. She stood between the villagers and Xu Xingchen with a sad face.

She looked at Xu Xingchen timidly, shrank her neck, and replied stumblingly: "I, I didn't see it..." Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's buzz.

Xu Xingchen reached up to his ear and asked loudly, "What did you say? Oh, you said you betrayed me and ran away?"

The villagers looked at Zhang Xiaochun with contempt, "What nonsense are you talking about! I said I didn't see Zhang Tiansheng and the three strong men doing anything bad to you!" Zhang Xiaochun repeated angrily.

"Ha! I only said that Zhang Tiansheng had bad intentions towards me, but I didn't say there were three strong men!" Xu Xingchen immediately caught the loophole in her words.

Zhang Xiaochun realized that she had let the cat out of the bag and looked around in panic, trying to figure out how to cover it up. But she saw Jun Haoyue staring deeply at Xu Xingchen. She felt mixed emotions because this was the ideal husband she had been thinking about.

She couldn't let Jun Haoyue be driven away by Aunt Wang. She looked at the person in her heart. Wasn't Xu Xingchen her only enemy?

After making up her mind, she once again used the unclear relationship between Xu Xingchen and Jun Haoyue as a gimmick. After all, women have always been put in the pig cage since ancient times.

"Sister Xu and your cousin are way too affectionate. A man and a woman were alone in the wilderness in the middle of the night. I didn't see Zhang Tiansheng doing anything wrong, but I saw you and Jun Haoyue cuddling! Sister Xu deserves to be thrown into a pig cage for her misconduct."

The situation took a 180-degree turn. Rather than hearing about Zhang Tiansheng being beaten, everyone was more interested in hearing gossip about the shocking and incestuous incident.

"Zhang Xiaochun! It was clearly just the two of us from the time we went to the village until we came back. Not only are you blind, but you're also crazy!" Xu Xingchen scolded her, and she was almost mad to death.

Zhang Xiaochun was resolute and said, "Anyway, I only saw this, I didn't see anything else."

The three parties each held their own opinion, and there were no witnesses to prove it. The scene fell into chaos, with many opinions being said, and each one becoming increasingly unpleasant.

"Hey, the wound on Widow Xu's neck looks really real."

"Maybe her cousin pinched her?"

"Pa——" The speaker was slapped on the forehead.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Be careful her cousin will beat you up."

"Zhang Xiaochun lied—"

Amidst the discussion, a dissenting voice emerged.

The villagers automatically locked onto the speaker and formed a circle. The speaker walked out of the crowd like the moon surrounded by stars.

Xu Xingchen was surprised to see that the person who walked out was Zhou Xiaoniang. She learned from the original owner's memory that this distant relative was timid and a typical fence-sitter.

Such a young lady like Zhou actually stood up and spoke for her?

Zhou Xiaoniang said to the crowd with a trembling voice: "Zhang Xiaochun slandered others, and Zhang Tiansheng deserved it."

Aunt Wang scolded her, "Who said you deserved it, you bitch!"

Zhang Xiaochun cursed, "How did I slander you? Widow Xu and my cousin have problems, and everyone can see it!"

Zhou Xiaoniang ignored them and continued, "This morning, I heard Zhang Xiaochun and Zhang Tiansheng knocking on my neighbor's door. I'm sure you all know who my neighbor is."

"—The son of the Qian family, a village idler. He's fat and strong, a drunkard and a fighter, always a troublemaker. I heard Zhang Xiaochun and Zhang Tiansheng trying to convince him to go to the market today to surround Xu Xingchen."

Zhang Xiaochun's face turned pale instantly, so pale that even the high altitude red couldn't cover it.

Her lips moved a few times, but she refused to admit it and insisted that Xu Xingchen and Jun Haoyue were immoral.

At this time, the village chief finally rushed back from the town. He saw the torches lit at the village entrance from afar and was moved at first. The villagers were waiting for him at the village entrance.