"Clan Chief!" Zhao cried out to the Chu clan chief, "Dahe has been gone for almost ten years. In these ten years, I have raised three children by myself with great difficulty. You have seen how much suffering I have endured! But no matter how hard it was, I never thought of remarrying! How could I have an affair with another man?"
"Xiaoshan and I were both harmed by this wretched girl. Xiaoshan drank the medicine she prescribed, which made him go crazy and kidnap me to bed. Then she barged in and demanded a hundred taels of silver as hush money! After taking our money, she was worried that things would be exposed, so she called you over. She just wanted to drive us to our deaths so that there would be no way to prove anything!"
"Chieftain, you must do me justice!"
Zhao was quick-witted and soon came up with a way to deal with Shen Yuan, claiming that the medicine the village head was given was something Shen Yuan had grabbed and pulled.
Even if she dies, she will never let this little bitch who harmed her live!
Sure enough, after hearing Zhao's words, the villagers looked at each other, their hearts wavering slightly.
The village headman hurriedly shouted, "Chief! Ju... Sister-in-law is right! All the medicine I've been taking lately has been prepared by Yuan'er. The dregs of the medicine I drank tonight are still lying on the back wall. She must have poisoned me. That's why Sister-in-law and I are like this. We are innocent!"
The villagers mostly got their medicine from Shen Yuan's family, so after hearing what the village head and Zhao Shi said, the Chu family patriarch was also a little unsure. Could it be that he really misunderstood his second nephew and eldest nephew's wife?
Seeing the villagers looking at Shen Yuan with suspicion, Granny Liu stepped forward to block everyone's gaze.
“Yuan Yuan is just a child. She has done nothing to harm you. Why would she want to hurt you? How could you throw such accusations at an unmarried young girl? How will she ever get married?”
Granny Liu was furious. "Does that mean adulterers are only lying together because they've been drugged and have no other choice? Why is it that it's the village head and Zhao who are lying together, and not someone else? If they hadn't been in cahoots beforehand, even if someone wanted to drug her, they wouldn't have had the chance!"
Hearing what Granny Liu said, the scales in the hearts of those who had been persuaded by Zhao Shi tipped uncontrollably toward Shen Yuan.
Granny Liu is right! Although the village head lived close to Zhao, there was a wall between the two households. Logically speaking, she should have been asleep in her own room by now. How could Zhao come to the village head's house so late at night and be taken to bed by the village head who was "drugged"?
How could a widow enter a man's door late at night? Doesn't she know the importance of avoiding suspicion?
It's likely that the two have been secretly having an affair for a long time!
"I did indeed accept one hundred taels from Aunt Liu!"
Shen Yuan suddenly spoke, startling Granny Liu, who turned to look at Shen Yuan in confusion.
Shen Yuan stepped out from behind Granny Liu, gave her a reassuring look, and faced everyone with a calm smile: "But that's money my aunt is returning to me. As you all know, I've lent most of the money I earned from digging for medicinal herbs in the mountains over the past ten years to Chu Yuning. Now that our marriage agreement has been called off, my aunt has returned all the money to me, saying that our two families will go our separate ways from now on and have no further connection."
"Over the past ten years, Chu Yuning has lent me a total of one hundred taels of silver. My aunt went to great lengths to raise this amount. Fortunately, Uncle Village Head, as the person in charge of the village, is very considerate of the villagers. When he heard that my aunt was raising money, he took the initiative to raise one hundred taels for her and returned the money to me."
"That's not how it is!"
Zhao tried to interrupt Shen Yuan, but Shen Yuan didn't give her a chance to speak.
"Auntie, you borrowed the money from Uncle Village Head yourself, how could you forget it so quickly? This money was clearly what you were paying back to me, how did it become hush money that I threatened you with? And why are you trying to silence me? Is there something you're afraid everyone will find out?"
Shen Yuan bombarded Zhao with a series of questions, leaving her speechless and unable to find a way to argue her point.
Hearing that the village head had lent Zhao a hundred taels of silver, the villagers looked at Zhao and the village head with even more disgust. They thought the two of them were probably involved in something, and that they were lying in the same bed and still trying to deny it!
"As for whether I drugged them or not, we can find the dregs from the back wall and ask the town doctor to examine them. We can also separate these two inseparable people while we're at it!"
Shen Yuan's last sentence was addressed to the head of the Chu family.
The Chu family patriarch looked embarrassed. He really didn't want such a shameful thing to spread to the town, but seeing the condition of Zhao Juxiang and Chu Xiaoshan, he had no choice but to call a doctor!
The clan chief immediately ordered someone to fetch a doctor.
Chu Family Village is relatively close to the town, and the doctor was brought over in less than half an hour.
After enduring two layers of physical and mental torment, the village head could no longer bear it and vomited a mouthful of white foam, fainting on Zhao's body.
Fortunately, the doctor arrived in time and managed to save the person's life, but the person could no longer function.
As for Zhao, she was in a daze and was dragged out of the inner room wearing only a piece of clothing.
The dregs of medicine found on the back wall were also brought back; it was Shen Yuan who led the Chu family to find them, to prevent them from falsely accusing her of fraud. Shen Yuan handed the retrieved dregs to the doctor for examination.
After examining the medicine, the doctor said, "These are just ordinary aphrodisiacs, and the dosage is not large enough to cause infatuation. It's just that your village head is so deficient in yang energy, yet he doesn't know how to rest and recuperate. This reckless behavior is only harming himself."
Upon hearing the doctor's words, the Chu family patriarch was so ashamed that he could hardly lift his old face.
He paid for the doctor's departure out of his own pocket, and before leaving, he instructed him not to tell anyone about what happened that night.
After the doctor left, Shen Yuan looked at the clan chief: "Grandpa Clan Chief, do I still need to be examined?"
The Chu family patriarch seemed to have aged ten years overnight. He waved his hand weakly, "Yuan girl, it's my fault for not disciplining her properly, which has resulted in such an unworthy descendant in the clan, offending your eyes and ears. It's getting late, you should go back now!"
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