Chapter 319 A Headbutt Proves Innocence
Chen Yu-rou lives alone in a small thatched hut without a kitchen or bathroom.
She dared not sleep too soundly at night, and every time she went to sleep, she would close the doors and windows, tie the windows with rattan, and move the furniture in the room behind the door.
In the middle of the night, I heard the sound of a knife cutting vines, until the window was pushed open and a dark figure entered the room.
She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, clutching the scissors tightly in her hand. The other person slowly approached, reached out and touched her chest, and pressed his upper body down on her.
She acted swiftly, stabbing him in the abdomen with a pair of scissors.
The other party reacted extremely quickly, having already noticed, and dodged to the side, inserting the scissors into the side of his abdomen.
"Hiss~ you bitch!" The other person raised his hand and slapped her across the face, then grabbed the scissors with his other hand, pulled them out, and turned them to stab Chen Yuru.
Chen Yuru gripped the scissors tightly with both hands, raised her knee and slammed it between his legs, knocking him off the bed. She lunged towards the door, screaming, "Help! There's a pervert! Catch the pervert!"
As she shouted, she yanked aside the furniture blocking the door. By the faint moonlight filtering in, she saw a dark figure behind her. She picked up a long bench and smashed it at the figure. "Bang!"
The opponent was hit by her sword, causing the longsword in his hand to veer off course and pierce into the wooden door beside him.
Chen Yuru opened the door and rushed out, but heard no sound from outside. It seemed that they hadn't heard her cries for help, even though each house was very close to the others, only half a meter apart.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him: "Ah! Help! Thief! Thief!"
On their first day there, the group had their valuables stolen, and they hated the thieves to the core. Upon hearing that there were thieves, they hurriedly put on their robes, grabbed their weapons, and ran towards the direction of the sound.
"Where are the thieves? Thieves, prepare to die!"
"Damn thief, if I catch you today, I'll tear you to pieces..."
Finally, a fire broke out in one of the houses, and Chen Yuru ran towards it as fast as she could.
"Help! Thief! Thief!"
She ran through the village, shouting louder and louder, waking everyone up. Many households lit candles.
The man wanted to chase after her and kill her.
She shouted louder and louder, and had already run far away, so she had no choice but to give up, slip into the darkness, and quickly disappeared.
A group of people came out carrying kerosene lamps or torches but saw no thief. They confronted Chen Yuru, demanding, "Didn't you say there was a thief? Where is the thief? Where is the thief?"
“I don’t know where he is now. He chased me for a while when I ran out. I was sleeping soundly in my room when suddenly someone sneaked into my room, climbed onto my bed, and I stabbed him with scissors before running away.”
Madam Li scoffed, "Get into your bed? You must be a widow who's gone crazy wanting a man."
“There really was someone. The blood on my hand is from when I stabbed him.” Chen Yuru held up her blood-stained right hand to show everyone.
Everyone thought it was just a romantic affair between a man and a woman, but Chen Yuru woke them up because of it.
“You were just a lowly courtesan. I think you seduced men into your room, and without paying them, you stabbed one of them. Afraid of being exposed, you then falsely accused him of trying to kill you.”
Madam Li angrily exclaimed, "That shameless woman! She deceived us and took advantage of us!"
"No, that's not how it is. I didn't seduce him. I don't know him. I didn't even see who he was!" Chen Yuru tried her best to explain, but no one believed her.
The others turned and left.
Some people also accused her, insulted her, and spat at her.
“I didn’t seduce any men. He tried to kill me. If you don’t believe me, come with me to my house and you’ll see that the rattan on my window has been cut and there are signs of a struggle.”
"Pah! Do you think we'd be fooled a second time?"
"A despicable person like you should be drowned in a pig cage!"
...
Because Chen Yurou had worked in a brothel and become a concubine, she was looked down upon by other women.
Those men who had designs on her found her beauty vulgar, and every smile and frown seemed to be seducing them.
She was taken from the brothel to the Marquis's mansion as a concubine, and later she seduced the escort. After the escort left, she couldn't stand the loneliness and seduced other men.
"Damn it, waking us up in the middle of the night."
"If it were me, I wouldn't be able to face anyone, I would have killed myself long ago."
Chen Yuru explained, but no one listened. She looked at the big tree beside her and said, "Fine! I'll just kill myself today, not because I'm ashamed to face anyone, but because I swear on my life that I didn't seduce any men!"
Having said that, he gathered his strength and charged forward.
After she finished speaking, the people around her curled their lips into a sneer. Did she think she could prove her innocence with her life?
ridiculous!
Would murderers be exonerated if they all committed suicide by running over?
No, they will be forever condemned to shame.
Upon seeing this, Yun Zhaoxue exclaimed, "Wait!"
Xiao Xuance flicked a pebble that hit her knee.
She tripped and fell, still some distance from the tree, lunging forward and hitting her head on the tree, but the impact wasn't serious.
The crowd, not having witnessed her fatal accident, looked displeased. Who was meddling in this?
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Chen Yuru looked at Yun Zhaoxue.
She wore simple, plain-colored clothes that seemed to glow in the darkness, the light shining into her lifeless pupils. "Princess..."
“Elder sister, she is shameless and seduces men, ruining the reputation of the Yun family. Only her death can preserve the reputation of the Yun family. Why do you still want to stop her?” Yun Jiaoyue walked in from another direction, supported by two maids on either side.
“I’ve received a letter of divorce; I’m no longer a member of the Yun family.”
Yun Jiaoyue glanced at her, warning her to shut up, and said she didn't bother talking to her.
He then said to Yun Zhaoxue, "I remember that back in the manor, you always looked down on those concubines. When did your relationship with Aunt Chen become so peaceful? Or... did you conspire to do something shameful?"
"What shameful thing have I done? You're the one who's doing something shameful, trying to drive someone to their death."
"I want to drive someone to their death? I just arrived, what does it have to do with me? She used to be our stepmother, shameless, promiscuous, making me lose face. Don't you think she deserves to die?"
“Aunt Chen, if you still have any sense of propriety or shame, then end your own life. I will have someone collect your body and give you a proper burial.”
Hmph! She wouldn't be so kind as to collect her body; she'd throw it off a cliff, smash it to pieces, and feed it to wolves and leopards.
Aunt Chen crawled on her knees to Yun Zhaoxue's side, trying to grab her skirt, but when she saw the blood on her hands, she withdrew her hand and shook her head, saying, "Princess, I did not seduce any men. I have been wronged. That lecherous thief broke into my room and tried to do something to me. I injured his abdomen and hit his head before he escaped. The marks in the room cannot be faked. Please believe me."
No one believed her, as long as the princess believed her, that was enough.
She didn't want to die; if she died, no one would clear her name.
Madam Li immediately pointed at her and cursed, "Still dare to argue! Prostitutes from brothels are all shameless, they never tell the truth. I've seen plenty of sluts like you."
Yun Zhaoxue said, "Does Madam Li know so much about such places because she frequents them? Does she go to see male prostitutes, or does she have a penchant for impersonating a courtesan?"
"And you, without any evidence, based solely on personal inferences and speculations, stand on the moral high ground to accuse the bullying of the weak, and even instigate her to commit suicide when she is most vulnerable and helpless, in order to show your superiority and that you have the power of life and death over others."
"All your only skill is bullying the weak. If you're so capable, go deal with those who bully you. Using the weak as punching bags—what's the difference between this and the behavior of a petty person?"
Xiao Mingshu helped Aunt Chen up and saw the wound on her forehead. She took out the wound medicine she always carried and poured it on her forehead. She also bandaged it with gauze.
Aunt Chen felt scorned and contemptible, and also felt dirty, so she dared not accept the treatment. "Fourth Miss, this servant is too lowly to accept such treatment, it would be a waste of your good medicine..."
“My master said that when practicing medicine, one should have the heart to heal the sick and save lives, regardless of social status. I am just learning medicine, so I can’t just talk about it on paper. I also need to treat patients and save lives. I won’t take your money. If I can’t cure them, you can’t blame me.”
"No, no, Miss, applying the medicine doesn't hurt at all. It's better than many doctors."
It was the first time Xiao Mingshu had been praised for her medical skills by a patient. Her almond-shaped eyes lit up. "Really? That's great! Come a little closer, let me bandage you up."
Seeing Xiao Mingshu's kind act, Lu Wenyuan nodded repeatedly in praise, saying, "The children of the Xiao family are all outstanding individuals. Fourth Miss is intelligent and kind-hearted, and has reached marriageable age this year, yet she is not yet betrothed. Tingzhi is twelve or thirteen this year, and because he needs to concentrate on the imperial examinations, it would be a delay in discussing marriage. Perhaps..."
If Lu Tingzhi is willing, he will go to the Xiao family to speak with them.
“Uncle, my cousin is a man of few desires and only wants to establish himself before starting a family. He doesn’t want to get married. Why don’t you let me meet Miss Fourth? I think Miss Fourth is very pleasing to the eye and a perfect match for me.”
Seeing that his son remained silent, Lu Wenyuan said, "Alright! The most important thing is that the Xiao family agrees. Whether you can get the Fourth Miss to take a liking to you depends on your abilities."
Yun Zhaoxue single-handedly confronted dozens of mouths, exposing their dark psychology.
Enraged and unable to win an argument, they rushed over to attack Yun Zhaoxue.
When Xiao Xuance stood in front of her, they shrank back again.
Yun Jiaoyue was hoping that those people would rush over, knock Yun Zhaoxue down, stomp on her stomach, and knock out her child, so that she would never be able to conceive again and would be divorced and become an abandoned woman.
"You want evidence? Bring the evidence!"
Xiao Xuanwu brought someone over and threw him to the ground.
The blood on the man's side stained the hem of his clothes, and he also had a wound on his head, which matched what Aunt Chen had said.
"Who is this person? He looks familiar." Someone holding a torch leaned closer to identify him, then suddenly shouted:
“I remember now. He went down to the fields with us before. I recognize him. He is King Xuan’s guard.”
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