The news of Niu Dan's return to the village spread throughout the entire village with lightning speed.
Lin Shikang soon found out as well, and was shocked to learn that Niu Dan had actually returned!
Lin Shikang's mind cleared up considerably. How could Niu Dan, a mere child, have escaped Gan Ning so easily? The Yuan family was all-powerful back then, yet they couldn't find him. And now he's actually back!
Gan Ning is so far away from here, how did he manage to come back safely?
Lin Shikang had a bad feeling and quickly realized that this was a conspiracy against him!
"Lin Shikang, get out here!"
The Fang family stormed in aggressively.
Confused, Madam Fan looked at them aggressively and said with displeasure, "It's the New Year, what are you trying to do, acting so fiercely?"
The Fang family rushed forward and started punching and kicking Lin Shikang without thinking twice.
"What are you doing?" Meng Ruyan and Fan Shi screamed repeatedly, but their family was small and no match for the large and powerful Lin family.
"What are you doing during the New Year?" Lin Gouya, Lin Sanjin, and others rushed over upon hearing the commotion. "Quickly pull them apart."
"You have to stand up for us!" Fang Shi sat on the ground, disheveled, slapping her thigh and wailing, "That heartless Lin Daya killed my son, Donkey Egg! Waaaaah..."
"What?" The Lin clan members were taken aback.
"My son didn't fall into the water accidentally, it was murder. Lin Daya pushed my son into the water and drowned him. Waaah, my poor son, my poor donkey egg..."
"Could there be a mistake?" The Lin clan members clearly didn't believe it.
“I saw it with my own eyes!” Niu Dan stepped forward.
“Niu Dan, you’re really back.”
"It's good that you're back. Your parents and grandma were crying their eyes out."
"Niu Dan, did you really see it?"
...
Faced with everyone's questions, Niu Dan said angrily, "Lin Daya did not have a good time in Gan Ning. She was often bullied. That time, she didn't know what had happened, so Lin Shikang decided to send her back to her hometown."
My brother and I wanted to come back, and Lin Shikang agreed. We had all our things packed, but the night before we were supposed to return, Lin Daya pushed my brother into the pond and drowned him. Lin Daya did it on purpose; she pushed my brother in. She's a murderer!
"Da Ya is so vicious!"
"I really couldn't tell."
"At such a young age, she actually killed someone! Luckily, she was exiled. If she had come back to her hometown, we wouldn't have dared to let her into the village."
"No wonder Donkey Egg died and Cow Egg went missing. Lin Shikang kept the news a secret. It seems that Lin Shikang was covering up the crime for his daughter."
...
The clansmen were abuzz with discussion.
Madam Fan retorted angrily, "You're talking nonsense! Da Ya isn't that kind of person! You ungrateful wretch, haven't we, the Lin family, treated you well? Hasn't your Uncle Shi Kang treated you well? Why are you trying to frame Da Ya like this?"
Lin Shikang knew he couldn't admit to this, so he said, "Niu Dan, you can't just make things up; you need evidence."
'Evidence? I wasn't the only one who witnessed Lin Daya's vicious attack that night.'
Lin Shikang's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.
Immediately afterwards, Niu Dan's gaze fell on Lin Mingfu: "Uncle Mingfu, you saw it that night too. You told me not to make a sound, and you also told me not to go back to my hometown with Lin Daya. You said you would find a way to send me back after things calmed down."
"Mingfu, is what Niu Dan said true?"
"Mingfu, did you really see it?"
Lin Mingfu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes, I saw it. We were too far away to save him, and I can't swim either. Besides, I was afraid that Niu Dan and I would become the next Donkey Egg."
At that time, Lin Shikang had the support of the Yuan family and Princess Xilan behind him, so he seemed to have a promising future. Lin Mingfu dared not let anyone know that he had seen this scene, for fear of being silenced.
He didn't trust Lin Shikang. Lin Shikang could abandon even someone as worthless as Yang Cui, and he could tolerate He Yuyan's treatment of his daughter. He was really scared, so he kept hiding.
"Impossible! You're talking nonsense!" Madam Fan shouted angrily. "Have you been bribed to frame us? Don't listen to his lies, everyone! He's definitely slandering us!"
“I’m not lying. I originally planned to send Niu Dan away quietly, but I didn’t expect him to run away on his own. I thought he had been killed, but thankfully he’s back now.”
These things have been bottled up inside me for too long. Last time in Kyoto, I wanted to tell Brother Youliang and Brother Gouya, but Lin Daya was a princess's adopted daughter then, and I was afraid that if I told her, we would all die in Kyoto.
Why did Da Ya harm the donkey's testicles?
"Yes, they're just kids, what deep-seated hatred could there be?"
Lin Mingfu: "Because Daya was afraid that Donkey Egg would reveal her secret."
"Secret? What secret?"
"Mingfu!" Lin Shikang had never asked anyone for anything before, and for the first time, he looked at Lin Mingfu with pleading eyes, begging him not to say anything.
Enraged, Fang pinched and hit Lin Shikang again, shouting, "Mingfu, tell me! I want to know why my son died!"
"Back then, Lin Shikang married Yuan, the daughter of a local bully. Yuan had a daughter named He Yuyan, who always got along with Daya. Later, He Yuyan had someone rape Daya. Donkey Egg had no idea what they did to Daya. He just felt that we Lins shouldn't be bullied by outsiders, so he immediately ran back to get help. But when the people who went there found that Daya had been..."
I guess Da Ya was angry that Donkey Egg had called for help and witnessed her being... and she was also worried that Donkey Egg would reveal his secret, so she decided to go all the way...
"My God, that's so cruel."
"Luckily, Da Ya was exiled. Tsk tsk, how ruthless..."
...
Hearing these words, Lin Shikang closed his eyes in despair.
“I was lucky to be saved. Otherwise, I would have been arrested long ago. The Yuan family is all-powerful in Gansu and Ningxia. If it weren’t for the help of a benefactor, I would never have been able to come back,” Niu Dan said.
“The person who saved you was Cen Xiao,” Lin Shikang said, looking at Niu Dan.
“Cen Xiao? Isn’t that Yang Cui’s husband?”
"They rescued Niu Dan?"
"They hate people with the surname Lin to death, why would they be so nice to us?"
...
The people of the tribe did not believe it.
Niu Dan shouted, "The person who saved me was indeed General Cen's man. We were completely wrong to help Lin Shikang deal with Lord De'an before!"
Lin Shikang, after passing the imperial examination, abandoned his wife and daughters. He's an ungrateful wretch, a disgrace to the Lin family! It's laughable that we were once proud of him. Such an ungrateful person doesn't deserve our protection or following! We have let down Lord De'an, and we have let down Er Ya and San Ya.”
Niu Dan was young and had never been to school, so he didn't understand many things and didn't think about many questions.
After being rescued by Cen Xiao's men, he was sent to the military camp for study and training. Under the guidance of his teacher, he began to reflect and think deeply.
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