Liu Ge was lying on the ground, so Xiao Changxing didn't see his face.
When he got up, he saw that Liu Ge's face was swollen in patches. Although there were no blood streaks like on He Hua's face, because he had been covering his face with his hands, the blood from his nose was smeared all over his face, making him look particularly frightening.
His body was filthy and covered in mud, making him look disheveled and pitiful.
Xiao Changxing said uncertainly, "Scholar Liu, you've broken your head. Shouldn't you see a doctor first?"
Xiao Yunying said calmly, "He doesn't need it. His head isn't broken; it's just a nosebleed."
She was very careful with her blows; although it looked like she was hitting his head hard, she actually hit his shoulders and arms instead.
Liu Ge's mother sat on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, "Village chief, did you see that? That little bitch Xiao Yunying beat my son up like this!"
"Please stop making a fuss."
Xiao Changxing frowned. This was a difficult situation. They were close relatives, but he was also the village chief of Xiaqu Village. If things went wrong, he would be caught in the middle.
"Yun Ying, did you hit Liu Xiucai?"
Liu Ge's mother quickly answered, "It was she who hit him, and so many people saw it."
"Don't speak yet, I didn't ask you anything."
Xiao Yunying said, "I hit him."
Xiao Changxing frowned even more: "Why did you hit him?"
"That's a good question, let him answer it himself."
All eyes turned to Liu Ge, especially Xiao Yunying, whose gaze fell on him like a cold, sharp blade, leaving his mind blank and unable to come up with a suitable reason for a moment.
"It's because...I..."
Why can't you say it?
Liu Ge felt a pang of regret; he shouldn't have provoked Xiao Yunying.
Ever since he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he has been respected in the village for many years.
Even if he hasn't been able to climb any higher, at least outwardly, no one dares to say anything about him, and everyone has to respectfully address him as "Scholar Master."
His reputation cannot be ruined today.
Liu Ge steadied himself and bowed to the village chief, saying, "Village chief, this is what happened. At noon, I was passing through the fields when I happened to meet Miss Xiao, who was returning home after washing her clothes. She said I was blocking her way, so she had her eldest son hit me on the head with a wooden board."
As she spoke, she pointed to a lump with fine lines on her forehead: "They beat me so badly I fell into the field. Many people saw it."
Xiao Changxing knew about this. His daughter-in-law told him about it after she finished washing the clothes, worried that they would cause trouble, so she told him so he could prepare himself.
Luo Chen was furious at Liu Ge's accusations: "You're lying! I only hit you because you hit me first. You even touched me yesterday..."
"Big brother!"
Luo Yang called out to Luo Chen from the side, and Luo Chen realized that he had almost said something that would damage the reputation of the stepmother.
Luo Yang pondered how to deal with Liu Ge. On the surface, it seemed that the stepmother was indeed in the wrong.
Last night, my older brother told him about meeting Liu Ge. Could we use this incident to justify my stepmother's beating without tarnishing her reputation?
Xiao Yunying didn't make any move, just crossed her arms and quietly watched Liu Ge act.
I felt completely unmoved, and even felt a little like laughing.
Liu Ge shouted that he was wronged: "I just saw that Miss Xiao was very angry and her words to me were too nasty, so I wanted to apologize, but you beat me into the field."
Secretly, she was delighted. She knew they wouldn't dare to talk about what happened yesterday, and what difference would it make if they did? All she had to do was say it wasn't intentional, and in the end, it would be her reputation that was ruined.
The people around gathered together and discussed it:
“That’s right. I was washing clothes by the river at noon when I saw Liu Ge wandering around in the field to the east. He met Xiao Yunying, and before we could exchange more than a few words, her eldest son beat Liu Ge into the field.”
Did you hear what they were saying?
"I didn't hear it, it's too far away."
Liu Ge portrayed the image of a victim vividly: "Many people saw what happened at noon today, and some bad rumors have spread in the village. I thought I would come to explain to Miss Xiao and apologize properly, since it was because of me that these words that are detrimental to her reputation were spread."
Miss Xiao was in a hurry to fetch water and didn't want to listen to me talk too much. I saw that she was a woman carrying a bucket of water and it was very hard for her, so I wanted to help her. I don't know why Miss Xiao suddenly poured the water on me. I could only go back and change my clothes.
After returning home and thinking it over, I realized I needed to explain things clearly, so I came back again.
This happened not long ago, and most of the people around saw it.
The villagers didn't know exactly what had happened between the two. On the surface, it seemed that Xiao Yunying was being unreasonable, and for a time everyone's opinions sided with Liu Ge.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
