Just then, a flying stone came from outside the door and hit Chu Qiuyue squarely on the forehead, causing blood to spray out instantly and slide down her face.
She clutched her forehead and screamed in agony, "Ah—!!!"
"Yueyue! Yueyue! Are you alright!" Chu Yuning quickly helped his younger sister up. He looked towards the door and saw a dark purple figure.
The man carrying the long sword had a cold and stern face, with his eyes lowered. He walked into the courtyard without saying a word and finally stopped behind Shen Yuan.
Chu Yuning gritted her teeth: "Why did you hit my sister? Did she do something to you?"
Xiao Ling threw the long sword to the ground, leaned on the hilt in a lazy manner, looked at Chu Yuning, and then slowly shook his head.
I didn't provoke him.
But from a great distance, before he even climbed the mountain, he heard her noisy voice. Her voice was sharp and shrill, and it sounded grating to his ears. He felt annoyed and wanted to hit her!
"Why are you here? You shouldn't have come in!" Shen Yuan was a little angry when she saw Xiao Ling suddenly appear.
She only told him to go back and deliver medicine and messages, but not to come back. How could he have taken it upon himself to enter this plague-ridden Chu family village?
If you get infected with the disease, that's no small matter!
Seeing that Shen Yuan had a stern face, Xiao Ling took her hand and wrote a few words in her palm.
Grandma was worried, so she sent me over.
Even if Grandma was worried, she wouldn't let Xiao Ling be in danger!
Shen Yuan could believe other things, but she didn't believe this one at all.
But Xiao Ling has already entered Chu Family Village, so there's no point in her arguing about these things now.
Shen Yuan's concern and worry for Xiao Ling were clearly written on her face, making it hard for Chu Yuning to ignore. His gaze fell on the hand that Xiao Ling was holding Shen Yuan's hand, and his eyes gradually froze.
Shen Yuan actually held hands with another man right in front of him. Doesn't she know what propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame are?
This is in the ancestral hall of the Chu family, where the memorial tablets of the Chu family's ancestors are all located. Shen Yuan's behavior with Xiao Ling is so intimate; it's an insult to their ancestors' eyes!
And why does a mute person dress up so extravagantly every day? Always wearing purple or green, going to such lengths to seduce Shen Yuanhua, aren't you ashamed!
"Brother, it hurts so much, you have to stand up for me!" Chu Qiuyue's eyes were red, and she was obviously not faking it; the wound on her forehead really hurt.
Chu Yuning shielded Chu Qiuyue behind her, looked up at Xiao Ling, and said with a firm tone, "You beat my sister like this, you have to give her back..."
At this point, Chu Yuning noticed that Xiao Ling gripped the hilt of his knife, and the words he was about to say were left unsaid.
"You absolutely have to apologize to my sister!"
Apologize?
Chu Qiuyue was stunned. What was the use of apologizing? Anyone could say "I'm sorry."
What she wanted was for Shen Yuan to be battered and bruised!
Upon hearing Chu Yuning's words, Xiao Ling merely glanced at her indifferently, then pointed a finger at his own mouth.
The meaning is obvious: Are you blind?
Can't you tell I'm mute?
How can you expect a mute person to apologize?
Chu Yuning was furious.
Shen Yuan shielded Xiao Ling behind her, saying, "Your sister offended me first. Xiao Ling is my friend. He taught your sister a lesson for me; it's a righteous act of friendship. What's wrong with that? If anyone should apologize, it should be you two apologizing first!"
After Shen Yuan finished speaking, she led Xiao Ling to the courtyard gate, not giving Chu Yuning a chance to continue speaking.
"Brother!" Chu Qiuyue nudged Chu Yuning, feeling extremely aggrieved.
Chu Yuning was also annoyed. "I told you not to provoke her, but you can't control your mouth and always go and provoke her!"
After being scolded, Chu Qiuyue could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face.
Shen Yuan hadn't slept with the people in the ancestral hall for the past few days; she had been sleeping alone by the door. But she had still had some close contact with these people, so she pulled Xiao Ling outside the ancestral hall.
“I know you want to help me. You will stay in that little wooden house at the entrance of the village for the next few days. That used to be my house. You can stay there and help me look after Aunt Tian and the villagers in the clan chief’s house.”
Xiao Ling nodded.
Just as Shen Yuan was about to see Xiao Ling out, a guard suddenly ran into the village and arrived at the entrance of the ancestral hall.
Shen Yuan was somewhat surprised, because these guards avoided the villagers of Chu Family Village like the plague and would not take the initiative to enter the village.
Could it be that Magistrate Sun has changed his mind again?
Just then, he heard the guard ask, "Are you called Shen Yuan?"
Shen Yuan nodded.
"The prefect wants you to go to the village entrance to report!"
"Prefect? Prefect Jiang?" Shen Yuan looked bewildered. Why had Prefect Jiang suddenly come to Chu Family Village?
Without thinking twice, Shen Yuan followed the guard to the village entrance.
Ten meters from the old locust tree at the village entrance, in the middle of the road, stood a grand and imposing horse-drawn carriage.
Shen Yuan recognized it as Magistrate Jiang's carriage. Before leaving the village, she stopped ten paces away from the village entrance fence and knelt down in the direction the carriage was.
"This humble woman, Shen Yuan, greets Your Excellency the Prefect!"
Shen Yuan knelt on the ground, her head bowed low.
She heard the jingling of the beads on the carriage curtain as it was lifted, and knew that Prefect Jiang had stepped down from the carriage.
"Shen, do you know your crime?" Prefect Jiang's authoritative voice rang out above Shen Yuan's head.
Shen Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Prefect Jiang knew that he had used the jade token he had given him to bully Magistrate Sun and to put pressure on Magistrate Sun by using Prefect Jiang's official position. That's why he came to question him.
Shen Yuan lowered her head and said respectfully, "I know my crime! But the situation was urgent at the time, and only by taking out the jade token given to me by the prefect could I stop Chu Family Village from being burned down."
"When the Prefect bestowed this jade token upon me, he promised that I could use it to ask him to fulfill a wish of mine. My wish now is to save the villagers of Chu Family Village. Please forgive me, Prefect!"
"Since you performed an act of saving lives, how should I punish you?"
Looking at Shen Yuan huddled up in a ball, Prefect Jiang snorted, "Look how nervous you are! In your eyes, am I the kind of official who can't distinguish right from wrong and would actually punish you for this?"
Shen Yuan was surprised.
Wasn't Prefect Jiang here to punish someone? Then what is he doing coming all this way?
Just as he was wondering, he heard Prefect Jiang instructing his attendants.
"Take the things I brought to Miss Shen."
As soon as he finished speaking, several people carried boxes to Shen Yuan and stopped outside the fence.
It was a box of medicinal herbs and some urgently needed items.
These supplies are undoubtedly a timely help.
Shen Yuan quickly kowtowed to express her gratitude: "Thank you, Your Excellency! On behalf of the villagers of Chu Family Village, I thank Your Excellency for your great kindness!"
Prefect Jiang said, “Daughter Shen, I have heard that you have made a pledge before Magistrate Sun. Chu Family Village and Jian’an City are only a day’s journey apart, very close by. If you can truly suppress the epidemic in Chu Family Village and prevent it from spreading into the city, you will certainly have made a great contribution, and I will reward you handsomely! But if you cannot control the epidemic in Chu Family Village and allow it to spread, then I will absolutely not forgive you!”
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