The King of Qin of Linyue led his generals and soldiers to quell the rebellion in the northwest for more than three years.
The villagers in the border area enjoyed three years of peaceful life, barely managing to make ends meet.
In Tianjia Village, surrounded by mountains on all sides, a family with a daughter is filled with worries.
"Three Nobles, Three Nobles?"
"Open your eyes and look at your mother, San Gui?"
The woman's floral cotton-padded jacket and trousers were covered with patches of different colored fabric. She was crouching at the main entrance of the room, holding a little girl covered in mud. She looked at the dying little girl, San Gui, with a worried expression and felt terrible.
Just now, Zhang's daughter, who had been missing for three days, was brought back by a hunter. She had a large cut on her forehead, covered with scabs, and her face was as pale as wax. Zhang held her daughter in her arms and cried out in heartache.
The woman's eyes were brimming with tears, she was about to cry out in despair. Her daughter was only eight years old, and now she was gone just like that. How would she live her life after this?
She glanced helplessly at her husband standing silently beside her, noticing that his face was also full of resentment, his fists clenched tightly on the sides of his trouser legs.
The house was filled with the whole family. The two elders sat on either side of a square table, and the remaining person was a scholar-looking man.
As for the rest, it seems that without the two elders' permission, they can only stand.
The atmosphere inside was extremely cold, and their eyes were full of schadenfreude, giving off a sense of relief.
The old man, with his pipe dangling from his head, puffed out clouds of smoke, the smell of tobacco filling the air, making people feel dizzy, weak, and uncomfortable.
"Just throw it out. It's obviously not going to survive. Keeping it at home will only bring bad luck. The sooner you throw it out, the better. It's a money-losing thing anyway. It's better if it dies, then I won't have a single grain of food left."
Old Mrs. Tian, with her gaunt, shriveled face, was extremely ugly and vicious whenever she opened her mouth.
Little did she know that saying this might hurt her fourth son's feelings. The "money-losing child" she was referring to was his own flesh and blood.
Upon hearing this, the brothers who were standing on the other side of their mother were filled with rage. San Gui was still alive, and they were already clamoring to bury her. What a bunch of heartless people! All the blood and sweat their father had shed for this family!
Hearing these words was painful, and Zhang immediately picked up her daughter and got up, feeling so suffocated that she had to vent.
"It's easy for you to say that, Mother. If your daughter were like this, would you still be able to say such things?"
“Everyone loves their own daughter. As long as San Gui is still alive, I, as her mother, will protect her to the end. Let’s see who dares to abandon her.”
After Zhang finished speaking, she took two steps closer to the room while holding her daughter, which frightened her sisters-in-law so much that they jumped up and down and avoided her like she was warding off evil spirits.
So Zhang simply sat on the long bench that had been given up, and her daughter placed her on her lap and patted her back, coaxing her like she did when she was a child.
Old Lady Yun, with a sour face and a pair of bluish eyes, glared fiercely at Zhang. This shameless woman who had been throwing herself at her dared to talk back to her today. It seemed she hadn't been taught a lesson enough. Yun was about to get up and rage when she met a pair of dim eyes in the mist, and she shrank back and extinguished her anger.
Aside from the old man, she was the only one left. She could tell who was the king and who was the queen. She would let Zhang off the hook for now, and tomorrow she would go to the village entrance and have a good talk with Granny Jiang and the others.
Hmph, without the protection of this wicked woman, I believe the village will soon tear Zhang's spine apart under her guidance. Bah, what's so precious about a worthless woman?
Apart from their parents, everyone else agreed with Yun's suggestion. After all, such a wicked woman was feared by everyone, and their early death would be a relief for them.
Her aunt, Wang, was quite plump, and her face would bulge out when she laughed. She was about to smooth things over and persuade Zhang to let it go, so as not to offend the two elders for the sake of a girl, lest she suffer in the future.
But she was intercepted by a soft voice.
"Mom, I'll catch some pheasant for you to eat, to... to help you recover..."
Zhang was nearby and heard it most clearly. When she saw that her daughter was moving and could speak, she was overjoyed. But in an instant, she clearly felt a softness in her arms, as if a heavy stone had hit her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.
She looked down and saw her daughter lying limp and lifeless in her arms. She couldn't accept it for a while, her shoulders trembling as she wept silently, bearing the pain of losing her daughter.
Tears fell on her daughter's forehead, the cool touch awakening the lingering soul that was still wandering in a daze.
His eyes darted around under his eyelids, but his grieving parents and indifferent elders didn't notice.
While others grew up eating rice cereal, Tian Sangui was stubborn and didn't like to eat. Whenever her little mouth was touched, she would start crying loudly, causing headaches and annoyance to her family and neighbors.
When she got a little older and learned to walk, things got really interesting. She would fight, catch hens with her bare hands, and even if her short legs made it difficult for her to take a step and she would trip and fall to the ground with a mouthful of mud, she would not give up and would have to catch them. Otherwise, she would not go home.
She caused such a disturbance that the entire village was thrown into turmoil. Every household would shut their doors tightly and refuse to acknowledge her presence.
Children her age, or even two or three years older than her, were terrified of her.
If you can't beat her, she's a scoundrel. If she doesn't have the upper hand, no one will have a good time. She'll come to your house and beat you until you admit defeat, and then she'll throw three more punches before she'll finally leave.
He was a notorious bully and savage in the village.
Aside from her parents, brothers, and younger brothers spoiling her, none of her relatives, including her parents' family, liked her.
Three days ago, he went to catch pheasants to nourish his sick mother, but he got lost and did not return. Three days later, a hunter brought him back, and he just died in Zhang's arms.
Her mind was filled with the memory that the body in question had been a shrew, a willful and capricious man, a true village bully.
No wonder all her relatives wished she were dead.
Alright, since we're here, let's make the best of it and believe that there's a reason for God's arrangement.
Seeing that Zhang was still holding the lifeless Tian Sangui, Yun completely lost her patience. She didn't like Tian Sangui to begin with, and now that he was dead, she felt bad for him and her whole body was resisting and rejecting him.
"Fourth brother's wife, now that the one in your arms is dead, what else do you have to hold onto? Hurry up and let Fourth brother carry it and throw it to the back mountain, so as not to defile the Tian family's ancestral home."
"Yes, sister-in-law, Mother is right. San Gui is already gone, so you should be more open-minded and bury him quickly. It's really creepy to look at him!"
While Wang was trying to persuade Zhang, her eyes were full of disgust. What was the point of keeping such a hated thing alive when it was already dead? Was she just trying to annoy them?
Yun took the lead, and her sisters-in-law echoed her, their words harsh and hurtful, making them utterly repulsive.
Lost in grief, Zhang held her daughter unmoved, while Tian Laosi squatted in front of her, holding her and keeping her company.
Seeing that the two men ignored Yun's words, Yun stopped indulging them and gave her sons and daughters-in-law a look, telling them to snatch Tian Sangui away and throw him away.
Receiving a signal from the Yun family, the group pounced on them like hungry wolves.
Zhang instinctively tightened her arms, holding her daughter firmly in her embrace. Tian Laosi also shielded Zhang in his arms, protecting his wife and daughter tightly.
He wouldn't let go no matter how much they hit him.
Having finally found an opportunity to deal with this hateful brat, we absolutely cannot let her go, even if she's still alive.
Tian Sangui, who was pretending to be asleep, never expected them to be so barbaric; he had truly underestimated these relatives.
Before she could think any further, a sharp, throbbing pain shot through her exposed legs, growing stronger and stronger until she could no longer keep up the act.
Amidst the fierce struggle among the relatives, Tian Sangui awoke, his eyes sharp and his entire body filled with murderous intent.
The scholar who was tearing at her was startled by Tian Sangui's sudden awakening gaze and screamed in terror.
Ah~
"A ghost!"
He retreated repeatedly until he hid in Yun's arms, still curiously observing her. But as soon as their eyes met, he trembled and hid in Yun's arms.
That murderous gaze was etched into his mind, enough to give him three nightmares in a row, and he wouldn't be able to get a good night's sleep for the next few days.
Before the others could react with shock after being yelled at by Tian Laowu, they saw Tian Sangui, who had seemingly come back from the dead, step down from Zhang Shi's arms with a pale face and sinister eyes.
He covered the outside of his calves with his hands, staring at them with eyes like a demon bending down, which frightened them so much that they lost their previous arrogance and quickly scattered, curling up in a corner, not daring to breathe loudly.
Everyone avoided her gaze, not daring to meet her eyes.
Is this wicked woman a human or a ghost?
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