Luo Taohua shouted, "That fortune teller who told my cousin Peiru's fortune is a fraud. He cheated people out of money in Zhangwan under the guise of fortune telling and even abducted their young girls. This is a scandal that has spread far and wide. How dare you still bring up the words of a fortune teller?"
"That's right. My cousin Peiru was punished by heaven for her evil deeds and went blind. What does that have to do with my third brother's wife?"
Zhou Qiongniang was originally a bit reserved, and she often didn't dare to speak her mind, keeping most of her thoughts to herself.
But having received so many favors from Jiang Tangtang these days, she was anxious to see Jiang Tangtang being framed, and she also shouted something like Luo Taohua.
Once the first part was shouted out, the rest followed smoothly: "As for Song Jun's unfortunate passing, we also feel deeply sorry, but it's not my third sister-in-law's fault! Back then, we were all separated by a great distance. If my third sister-in-law had that ability, she wouldn't be pitifully fleeing with everyone else now."
“This is utter nonsense, Aunt. If you continue to slander my third sister-in-law like this, I will risk being labeled unfilial to sever all ties with you. From now on, none of us Lu brothers will have a single penny to do with you.” Lu Shiwang and Lu Shichang said in unison.
"You two brothers don't need to be unfilial. Today I will make the decision to sever ties with your aunt."
Old Man Lu, holding his pipe, walked into the crowd with a long face. He looked at Lu Cuilan and said in a deep voice, "Cuilan, from now on you have nothing to do with our Lu family. The two families should no longer have any dealings."
Hearing what Old Man Lu said, Lu Cuilan became even more possessed, shouting at everyone, "Look, everyone! Is my brother possessed? Has the Jiang family used some kind of evil magic to bewitch him?"
Seeing that people were looking at her without saying a word, Lu Cuilan became anxious and shouted, "What's wrong with you all? Are you going to let that Jiang family member drain your luck, let her get better and better while we all get worse and worse?"
"Enough!" Village Chief Song roared, scolding, "Go act crazy somewhere else, not here. Everyone has been traveling all day and is tired and needs to rest. We don't have time to watch you go crazy."
"Village Chief Song, please, please help me!" In Fang Peiru's eyes, this was her only hope, and she was unwilling to give up so easily. She knelt down on the ground, crying.
"Are you all keeping quiet now because you also want the Jiang family to drain your luck and turn you into someone like me?"
Several women who were already quite superstitious and had long been persuaded by Wang Qiuju stood up after hearing what Fang Peiru and Lu Cuilan said.
“Village Chief Song, why don’t you have Jiang testify to prove that she didn’t steal our luck? Otherwise, we’re all really worried.”
"Exactly! Some things are better believed than not!"
...
Jiang Tangtang treated these people as brainless supporting characters arranged by the author, showing no anger whatsoever. She even leisurely ate the large banyan fruit, looking like she was watching a show.
Village Chief Song was furious. Pointing at the group with a pained expression, he said, "Do you even have brains? Have you all lost your conscience? Lu Sanlang just promised to help you fetch water from the cave tomorrow. Aren't you afraid of upsetting him by making such a scene?"
The group that had been making a scene just moments before suddenly choked up when they thought about asking Lu Shiyan to help them fetch water again tomorrow.
Wang Juhua said leisurely, "Who knows if he has some kind of conspiracy? Maybe he just wants to use the fact that he helped us fetch water to perform a ritual to steal everyone's good luck!"
"Alright, to dispel everyone's doubts, I hereby announce that my husband will not be fetching water for everyone tomorrow."
Jiang Tangtang swallowed the fruit in her mouth and said with a smile, "Now everyone should be relieved!"
"Sanlang's wife, those women from the Fang family are out of their minds. They're always dragging people into fights and talking nonsense. This has nothing to do with us. You can't just not help us!"
"That's right! This has nothing to do with us; it's all those Fang family wives stirring things up."
"I say, why can't these women from the Fang family ever settle down on the road to escape famine? Instead of thinking about how to get through this difficult time, they're always causing trouble. They're like the rotten apples in the village."
"That's right. Along the way, they've either been arguing about splitting up the family or gossiping behind our backs. Village Chief Song, get rid of these rotten apples and don't drag us down with them!"
"Yes, yes, we won't travel with these rotten apples."
...
At first, it was just a few villagers who made the suggestion, but later a large group of villagers stood up and shouted louder and louder, all demanding that Village Chief Song drive away these ungrateful people who were causing trouble all day long.
Jiang Tangtang originally wanted to take this opportunity to separate from these villagers.
Unexpectedly, Village Chief Song was decisive and immediately said, "Alright, Fang family, and those families who made a scene today, if you don't trust the Lu family, we'll all go our separate ways tomorrow."
Village Chief Song's words immediately made the villagers, who had initially thought they were in the right, panic.
These days, unless there's absolutely no other way to make a living, most people won't easily leave the place where their ancestors have lived for generations.
Now that we're fleeing, it's a matter of life and death, and we don't know what lies ahead or where we'll end up.
Traveling together as a group of people from the same village offers an extra chance of survival. Moreover, traveling in groups makes people feel bolder.
Now that they heard that Village Chief Song had told them to travel alone, the villagers who had been instigated by Wang Juhua to come and make a fuss immediately regretted it.
Some people immediately spoke well of Village Chief Song, while others blamed Wang Juhua and argued with her. Lu Cuilan, on the other hand, went mad, insisting that Village Chief Song was biased and favored Jiang Tangtang.
The originally quiet night was turned into a bustling scene, even more lively than a vegetable market, because of this noise.
Suddenly, a series of ghostly wails echoed through the night sky. The people cried and shouted, "It's terrible! It's terrible! Yihe County has fallen! The Western Rong are attacking! Everyone, run!"
The people who had been arguing so fiercely just moments before were suddenly stunned into silence.
Some people knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, muttering, "God! Does this mean people have to live?"
"What are we going to do! The drought hasn't even ended yet, and now there's war. Heaven really isn't giving us any way out!"
...
Amidst the wailing and screams, Jiang Tangtang was slightly taken aback.
She remembered the plot of the book; the Western Rong didn't attack so quickly!
She hurriedly called out to the system: "What's going on? This isn't the plot in the book!"
The system replied: "Host, calm down. It's possible that your and the male lead's simultaneous transmigration caused the collapse of the original world's plotline, thus altering the original story's direction and bringing forward the Western Rong's attack on the Great Zhou."
Jiang Tangtang was speechless. Calm down, my foot! She had originally planned to rely on her transmigration into the book and know that the later plot was a cheat code, so she could live a more dignified life!
Now she's being told that the plot has fallen apart and the plot she already knew can't be used.
What book is she wearing?
Did you wear something that was pointless?
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