Chapter 5 The Top Scholar Who Murdered His Wife and Daughter (Part 5): The Farmer's Son's Counterattack Against the Emperor...
Liu Jiao'er covered her mouth tightly, crouching behind the bushes with her eyes wide open, watching the scene before her with some fear—
The woman in the pink dress was facing away from her, undressing as she said, "Brother Rui, I'm getting married in half a month, but I'm carrying your child. I'm so scared~"
"Don't worry! I've heard that sickly guy won't have the strength to touch you. I'll just get him a few more drinks, hehe... Darling, as long as you take good care of me, I'll..."
The man's words were somewhat indistinct, and he impatiently loosened his belt, pinning the woman to the ground.
"My darling, be gentle..." the woman said, tilting her head and kissing the man.
Liu Jiao'er had only come to the mountain to gather some firewood, but she never expected to stumble upon the village chief's daughter, Da Niu'er, and Xie Daifu's nephew, Xie Rui, in an affair. Da Niu'er was to marry Xie Daifu's son, Xie Lang, in just half a month!
She was terrified. Her legs went numb from squatting, but she didn't dare to move. Seeing the two of them moving around, she became even more unrestrained. Liu Jiao'er's face turned red as she quietly moved back.
Liu Jiao'er was on edge and didn't notice the dry branches under her feet. She accidentally made a sound, and she immediately shuddered. Without thinking, she quickly crouched down and hurried away from there, heading down the mountain.
"Brother Rui, did you hear that sound?" Da Niu was already afraid of being discovered, so she was on edge. When she heard the sound, she quickly pushed the person on top of her, grabbed the clothes next to her and covered her chest, and asked in a trembling voice.
Xie Rui stopped what he was doing, and the two exchanged a glance. They immediately pricked up their ears and listened carefully to the sounds around them. After all, they couldn't let anyone know about the shameful thing they had done. If the villagers found out and spread the word, they would be finished. So both Da Niu and Xie Rui were extremely nervous.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, there was still no movement. Xie Rui, having lost interest after Da Niu'er's antics, hastily put on his clothes, gave Da Niu'er's fair and plump breasts a hard squeeze, and chuckled softly, "Look how scared you are! Perfect timing, let's go back too, my mother will be calling me for dinner soon." As he spoke, he leaned forward and kissed Da Niu'er.
The young woman gave him a coquettish look, then quickly straightened her clothes. The two cuddled for a while longer before parting ways and heading down the mountain in different directions.
After estimating the time, Song Ce led Zhou Yunhui to the stream and said softly, "Yunhui, did you see the fish here just now? If your brother can catch a few, we can have an extra dish tonight."
Zhou Yunhui shook her head, pointed to the shallows not far away, and muttered, "Brother, the fish in the stream are hard to catch. Sometimes even Dad can't catch any!"
Song Ce chuckled and ruffled Zhou Yunhui's hair, saying, "Let's go! I'll show you what your older brother can do!"
As it turns out, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep.
Catching fish requires real skill. In his previous life, Song Ce had only gone fishing twice with his classmates. He didn't expect that catching fish would be so difficult in practice.
He made use of Zhou Yunhui's small basket, then used a branch to make a simple harpoon shape. He walked a few dozen steps forward, where there was a slightly wider shallow beach with several fairly plump fish swimming in it.
Although the stream looks shallow, it actually reaches up to an adult man's knees. He emptied the contents of his basket onto the bank of the stream and then wedged the basket a short distance downstream from the shallows.
He had tried several times by the stream but failed each time. This time, he learned from his mistakes, carefully approached with the branch, and then suddenly plunged the branch into the water.
Surprisingly, he finally caught a not-too-big fish this time. The fish struggled on the branch, and Song Ce suddenly flung the branch and the fish to the ground some distance away.
Zhou Yunhui, who was standing nearby, came running over excitedly, her palms red from clapping. "Brother is so amazing!" she exclaimed.
That's right!
As Song Ce thought this, a proud smile unconsciously appeared on his face. He walked to the basket and prepared to pick it up, but unexpectedly found a fish inside.
What a pleasant surprise!
Song Ce was just thinking that if he couldn't catch any fish, he could at least catch some small shrimp in the basket. He never expected that after startling the fish in the shallows, an unlucky fish would accidentally fall into the basket and become the fish inside.
After placing the two fish in the basket and adding the things they had gathered from the mountain, Song Ce had just slung the basket over his shoulder when he saw a pink figure hurrying down the mountain, getting closer and closer to them...
The newcomer was none other than the village chief's eldest daughter. Having just committed such a disgraceful act, she was quite guilty, and even her steps were somewhat unsteady. She was startled to suddenly see someone by the stream; upon closer inspection, she realized it was Scholar Song and his sister.
The original owner of this body was born refined and handsome. Although he was only wearing a simple gray long gown, it could not hide his scholarly air. He was completely different from the farm men in the village, so Da Niu noticed him at a glance.
She tidied her slightly disheveled hair, revealed a surprised smile, and said sweetly, "Brother Song!"
Song Ce was startled by the sweet address. He pulled Zhou Yunhui to stand still and waited for Da Niu'er to come forward. He then gave her a gentle smile and said, "So it's Miss Qian. Did you go up the mountain to pick things by yourself?" He then looked at the bamboo basket that Da Niu'er was carrying on her arm.
Da Niu'er was aroused again upon hearing this nickname.
Her father's surname was Qian, and when people saw her, they would call her the village chief's daughter, or Da Niu'er, or Miss Qian... This was the first time she had heard anyone call her that.
The young woman nodded, her face slightly flushed. After all, she always had to come up with a pretext for going up the mountain to avoid arousing suspicion.
Upon hearing this, Song Ce smiled slightly: "I see. Miss Qian is only two years younger than me, yet she is so capable. Compared to her, I feel ashamed."
This was the first time Da Niu'er had heard Song Ce say so much to her. She felt a little proud, a little shy, and a little regretful... How wonderful it would be if such a handsome and gentle scholar could become her man!
He was able to pass the imperial examination at a young age and become a scholar. If he could pass the provincial examination and become an official, wouldn't she be an official's wife?
Thinking this, Da Niu'er's face turned even redder. Although she knew it was all just wishful thinking, she was content to have spoken a few more words with such a handsome man.
“Sister Liu is very capable, brother. Didn’t we just see Sister Liu coming down the mountain? She must have gone up the mountain early this morning to gather things!” It was Zhou Yunhui’s clear and childlike voice.
Da Niu was taken aback when she heard this, only to see the man opposite her smile slightly: "Yes! When Yun Hui grows up, she will definitely be a capable and beautiful girl."
Da Niu'er's mind went blank. She thought she was hallucinating, but she wasn't! Her affair with Xie Rui on the mountain had been discovered!
The only person who could be called Sister Liu by Zhou's younger sister was Liu Jiao'er, the daughter of Liu Lao Er in the village!
Seeing that Da Niu'er's face was pale, her head was slightly lowered, and her body was trembling slightly, Song Ce knew that his goal had been achieved. He then said to Da Niu'er, "Miss Qian, it's just noon. My sister and I will go home for lunch first. You should also go home early!"
Da Niu nodded stiffly, and Song Ce smiled slightly, taking Zhou Yunhui's hand and walking back.
In her previous life, after Liu Jiao'er stumbled upon a shameful affair, she went down the mountain and happened to see Zhou Yunhui digging for wild vegetables alone. Liu Jiao'er pretended to be calm and told her that there were sweet wild fruits not far ahead. Zhou Yunhui was, after all, just a little girl of a few years old. Hearing this, she happily picked up her small basket and went in the direction Liu Jiao'er pointed, only to unexpectedly witness the two of them being intimate.
Xie Rui was a cunning man. Seeing that Zhou Yunhui seemed to be stunned, he strode forward and tried to pull her over to scare her. Zhou Yunhui took a step back, lost her footing, and hit the back of her head hard on a protruding rock.
When they saw that Zhou Yunhui had blood on her hands, Da Niu'er and Xie Rui panicked. Da Niu'er squatted down to check, but Zhou Yunhui rolled her eyes.
Da Niu'er screamed in fright and fell down next to her. Xie Rui grabbed Da Niu'er, said a few harsh words to Zhou Yunhui to bolster his courage, and then, trembling, tore off some branches and leaves and threw them at her. After doing this, the two hurriedly rushed down the mountain, leaving a four or five-year-old girl there, not caring whether she lived or died...
Thinking of this, Song Ce's eyes turned cold, and he slowly patted Zhou Yunhui's head again.
Qian Danu and Xie Rui are utterly heartless, how could they be so cruel to a child? He'll get what's coming to them sooner or later!
As for Liu Jiao'er, now that Zhou Yunhui is no longer there to protect her, her fate is no longer his concern. Since she intended to harm him, she shouldn't blame him for retaliating in kind.
The brother and sister carried their things home. They were both a little hungry after the long journey. Song Ce went to the kitchen and laid out the food that Fang had left for them: three cornbread buns, a plate of steamed purple melon, a plate of pickled vegetables, and two bowls of porridge.
After finishing their meal, Zhou Yunhui took the initiative to clear the dishes. Song Ce wasn't idle either; since he was going back to the county after the Dragon Boat Festival the next day, he went back to his room to put away the things he had brought back.
...
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Song Ce could faintly smell the fragrance of bamboo leaves emanating from the rice dumplings.
Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he got up, dressed, and tidied himself before leaving the room. Inside the main room, Madam Fang had already washed and boiled the bamboo leaves, and soaked the glutinous rice in advance.
The leaves used for wrapping zongzi were from some kind of plant, much wider than the ones he usually saw in his previous life. When Fang saw him come out, she said while wrapping zongzi, "Ce'er, why are you up so early? The county school is on holiday now, so you should take this opportunity to rest. Even if you only relax for a couple of days, it won't hurt. Look, I've only just started wrapping zongzi, so we probably won't be able to eat them until noon! Yesterday you caught two fish, which saved the family some money. I marinated the fish last night, and we'll stew them together at noon."
Song Ce smiled slightly: "Mother, I'm used to getting up early at the county school, so I'm not used to being idle at home these past two days."
Upon hearing this, Madam Fang laughed and said, "Look at your temperament, you can't even stay still. Let those people who say my son is enjoying himself at the county school see what hardship there is in studying."
Song Ce stood aside and smiled. Just then, a rumbling sound came from his stomach. Fang couldn't help but chuckle: "My son, are you hungry? Sit down for a while, and I'll go check if the porridge on the stove is ready."
Song Ce nodded. Seeing that Fang had left, he squatted down and began to wrap zongzi in the same way as Fang. Unfortunately, wrapping zongzi was a skill, and he failed to wrap one after two or three attempts. He couldn't help but feel a little discouraged and threw the glutinous rice and zongzi leaves into the wooden basin.
The food eaten on the Dragon Boat Festival in rural areas is slightly more substantial than usual. For breakfast, each person is given an extra salted duck egg, and that's it.
After the family finished breakfast, Fang took out five-colored threads and tied them on everyone's wrists, saying with a smile, "Let's learn from the city people. It looks novel, and it'll bring us good luck."
Zhou the carpenter seemed a little embarrassed, and his voice was a bit louder than usual: "What would it look like if people saw me wearing this, a rough old man like me!"
Fang raised an eyebrow: "What? Everyone in the family has put it on, but you're not wearing it? If you dare to secretly take it off, no one will be there to brew that yellow wine for you in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou the carpenter wilted and said in a low voice, "They always use this wine to make fun of me, but I never said I wouldn't wear it..."
Zhou Yunhui chuckled secretly to herself, as if she were used to this scene, and even Song Ce couldn't help but smile slightly.
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