Chu Yuning couldn't stand the thought of her own uncle having an affair with her mother, so she turned around and rushed into the ancestral hall, dragging the village head to Zhao Shi.
If he could just burn his own uncle to death, the villagers wouldn't say he was bullying a weak woman!
"Yu Ning, your second father was wrong, your second father really knows he was wrong..." the village head pleaded. Ever since that night, half of his body had been numb, and he couldn't muster any strength. He could only be dragged along by Chu Yu Ning like a dying animal.
Upon seeing this, the Chu family patriarch quickly stepped forward to stop it, "Yu Ning, you can't do this! He's your own uncle, your father's own brother! He's your elder, how can you force him to die? This is utter disrespect!"
"He insulted my mother! He committed such a terrible crime, and only death can atone for it! My father was a man of integrity who sacrificed himself for the country, but his beloved wife was insulted by this villain. If he doesn't die, how can my father's soul rest in peace?" Chu Yuning said bitterly.
"Yu Ning! Calm down!" The Chu family patriarch held Chu Yu Ning tightly. One was his most outstanding grand-nephew, and the other was his nephew who was the village head. Both of them were of Chu family blood. How could he let his family bloodlines kill each other?
One Zhao is dead, but the Chu family shouldn't be torn apart because of this!
Just as Chu Yuning and the Chu family patriarch were arguing, two flints flew over from nowhere, with sparks flying off the stones. The sparks landed on the dry straw and instantly burst into flames.
The flames almost scorched Chu Yuning. He hurriedly took a step back and subconsciously loosened his grip on the village head, who, still bound, lost his balance and fell onto the pile of firewood.
"Aaaaaah—!"
The screams were heart-wrenching.
The village head rolled off the pile of firewood, his clothes on fire, and he was like a fireball. His screams were terrifying.
He tried to extinguish the fire on his body, rolling around on the ground incessantly, leaving a trail of ashes wherever he went.
The people who had gathered at the entrance of the ancestral hall to watch the commotion were also frightened and scattered.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Shen Yuan picked up the flint that had fallen to the ground. Luckily, she had flint on her. Seeing that things were not progressing, she had no choice but to push it. When no one was paying attention, she secretly struck the flint in her hand and threw it into the straw.
When she pulled Granny Liu out of the ancestral hall, the flames had already shot into the air, and black smoke shrouded the red light, like an lingering ghost.
Zhao's wailing sent chills down one's spine.
Chu Yuning stood numbly by the fire, seemingly still not realizing what had happened. He stared at the firelight, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.
A moment later, he suddenly shouted "Mother!" and rushed into the sea of fire.
That was his own mother. How could he burn his own mother to death?
He was just putting on a show for the villagers; he didn't really want to burn his mother alive! Really!
He regretted it!
After Shen Yuan and Granny Liu returned home, they could still see the firelight and smoke floating above the Chu family ancestral hall halfway up the mountain from a distance in the courtyard.
Now that autumn has arrived, the weather is dry and the fire is burning. In addition, the wood used for burning at the stake is all flammable straw and branches, so the fire cannot be put out immediately!
Zhao and the village head wanted her dead, so how could she let them live?
"Yuanyuan, give it to me!" After leading Shen Yuan into the inner room, Granny Liu suddenly reached out her hand to her.
Shen Yuan was taken aback. "What?"
Granny Liu said, "These are things you just picked up."
She had just seen Shen Yuan secretly take out a flint and immediately shielded her behind her to prevent her from being seen. But that didn't mean she knew nothing.
Shen Yuan took out the two small pebbles and handed them to Granny Liu.
Granny Liu put away the flint and pulled Shen Yuan to sit down. "Yuan Yuan, I wandered into this village fifteen years ago and have lived here for fifteen years. But I know this is not our home. Since your marriage with that Chu boy has been called off, we have no connection with this village anymore. Why don't we move to another place to live?"
Shen Yuan knew that Granny Liu was afraid that what she had done today would be discovered, and she was also worried about her reputation.
Although none of this bothered her, she knew that Granny Liu meant well, so Shen Yuan didn't refuse. She smiled and said, "Yesterday I visited several shops in the city. Now that I have some money, I'd like to rent a shop to do some medicinal herb business. Granny, why don't we settle down in Jian'an City?"
“Alright!” Granny Liu nodded.
Perhaps in Jian'an City, we can find Shen Yuan's biological parents soon.
Fifteen years ago, she fell off a cliff and injured her brain. When she woke up, she couldn't remember many things, only that she was a midwife and could deliver babies.
There was a child lying with her at the bottom of the cliff. The baby's swaddling clothes were embroidered with the words "Chen Yuan". She was worried that the baby would be taken away by wild animals in the mountains, so she took Chen Yuan back with her.
At the time, she thought it was a baby girl lost by a wealthy family in the neighborhood, and she even went around asking around, but no one wanted the baby girl, so she had to raise her herself.
This care lasted for fifteen years.
What exactly happened fifteen years ago? Why were she and this little girl at the bottom of the cliff? She had always wanted to know!
That evening, news of the ancestral hall spread to every corner of the village.
Shen Yuan heard from her neighbor, Sister-in-law Zhu, that just as Zhao was about to be burned to death, someone from the Zhao family suddenly arrived. The person who arrived was Chu Yuning's aunt. She brought many servants who put out the fire and rescued Zhao from the fire.
However, when she was rescued, Zhao was already breathing more gas than she was breathing, so it was estimated that she wouldn't live much longer.
As for the village head, he was burned all over his body, with not a single patch of unscathed skin. It was unknown how much money it would cost to heal him.
Upon hearing the name Aunt Zhao, Shen Yuan frowned slightly. This Aunt Zhao was no slouch!
At the age of sixteen, she was carried into the Wang family in a sedan chair. She rose from the lowest-ranking concubine to the position of mistress, and was favored by the Wang family for more than ten years. He even entrusted her with the power to manage the household.
However, Chu Yuning never thought highly of her and didn't want to have anything to do with her.
Inside the ancestral hall, Chunhua and Qiuyue threw themselves on Zhao's body, weeping uncontrollably, "Mother! Mother! Don't die, don't die! We can't live without Mother!"
Zhao's throat was ruined by the smoke, and she couldn't utter a single word; she could only sob and cry.
Looking at Zhao Shi's miserable appearance, Aunt Zhao showed little concern or sadness for her sister. She turned to Chu Yuning and said, "I know you look down on me and think I am a concubine who is not worthy of respect. But you have not walked the path of life as well as I have, and your mind needs to be tempered."
"Do you know that if word gets out that you killed your mother and burned your uncle today, in the future, will there be more people praising you for upholding justice and sacrificing your own family, or more people criticizing you for being cold-blooded, ruthless, disrespectful to your elders, and lacking filial piety? Even if you pass the imperial examination with your talent, today's events are enough to ruin your path to success!"
Aunt Zhao walked up to Chu Yuning and leaned slightly forward. "There's a way to resolve this kind of thing quietly and cleanly. Why are you so stupid as to make it known to everyone? Have all these years of schooling made you stupid?"
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