Ning Huaizhi quickly pulled out a slingshot from his pocket and fired a mud ball at the horse's right leg. The horse immediately felt the pain and swayed to the left. Ning Huaizhi didn't stop there; he fired another mud ball at the horse's head. The horse immediately fell to the ground, flailed its legs a couple of times, and died.
The boy on the carriage also fell to the ground when the carriage overturned. When he got up, his face was covered in blood, and he kept shouting:
"Who is it? Who on earth dares to harm my horse?"
Jiang Yuwei jumped off the oxcart and hugged Ning Wan, gently comforting her:
"Wan'er, it's alright, Wan'er is not afraid."
At this moment, Ning Zhao also ran over and looked at Ning Wan in Jiang Yuwei's arms with concern, asking:
"Wan'er, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Jiang Yuwei was furious when she saw the boy's face covered in blood. If the horse hadn't died, it would have been her Wan'er who died today. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
He put Ning Wan down directly and handed her hand to Ning Zhao, saying:
"Zhao'er, take your sister to the oxcart to wait for your mother."
Jiang Yuwei walked up to the boy whose face was covered in blood and slapped him hard across the face. She used all her strength in the slap, which made the boy spin around in place.
Just then, an old woman suddenly darted out from the side, shouting loudly:
"Oh my God! Murder! You're trying to kill someone! My poor young master, are you alright? Where did you come from, you country bumpkin? How dare you lay a hand on our Ge family's young master? I'm afraid you're tired of living!"
Jiang Yuwei was so annoyed by the old woman's nagging that she snapped back:
"Shut up, you old hag! You come here yelling without even asking why! The one who tried to kill you was clearly your spoiled brat!"
Young Master Ge took a long time to recover from the slap from Jiang Yuwei. Seeing his wet nurse, Granny Sun, come to greet him, he hurriedly grabbed her hand and cried out:
"Granny Sun, this vile woman dared to hit me! It hurts so much! Quick, find someone to beat her up!"
Jiang Yuwei glared coldly at the two people in front of her and angrily said:
"Are you trying to kill people on horseback in the street, and then commit murder in the street? Is your Ge family really so powerful that you can disregard the law? I think your weakling young master should just spend the rest of his life in jail instead of going to school."
Ning Huaizhi, fearing his wife would be bullied, had already driven the oxcart behind Jiang Yuwei. After hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, he added:
"The first law of our dynasty is that those who ride horses recklessly in the street and injure people, and whose circumstances are serious, can be executed by being torn apart by five horses."
Upon hearing Ning Huaizhi's words, Young Master Ge hurriedly looked over. Seeing the murderous intent in Ning Huaizhi's eyes, he couldn't help but tremble. He immediately stopped howling and grabbed Granny Sun's hand, running towards the Ge residence. He didn't want to be torn apart by five horses, nor did he want to be stared at by that man.
Jiang Yuwei turned back and looked worriedly at Ning Wan, who was still trembling in Ning Zhao's arms. Her heart started to ache again. Wan'er must have been frightened a lot this time. She had to go back and make her something good to calm her down.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Jiang Yuwei didn't want to linger in town any longer, so she quickly got on the oxcart and said to Ning Huaizhi:
"Huaizhi, let's go home quickly. I think Wan'er is quite frightened."
Ning Huaizhi looked at Ning Wan with a worried expression, then turned and drove the oxcart toward Ningjia Village.
After the three arrived home, Jiang Yuwei asked Ning Zhao to play with Ning Wan while she prepared dough to make some crispy sugar pancakes for the children. Ning Wan loved sweets, and after such a fright today, she hoped the food would help her recover.
After kneading the dough, Jiang Yuwei cut it into small pieces, rolled them out into thin pancakes, spread lard on them, wrapped them up, folded them several times, rolled them out again, spread honey on them, wrapped them up, and then fried them in oil until cooked.
After the fragrant pancakes were made, the two children who were playing with the wildcat in the backyard ran to the kitchen because of the aroma. Jiang Yuwei saw that Ning Wan was all smiles now and had lost the frightened look she had when she came back earlier, so she was relieved. She gave each of the two children a crispy sugar pancake and let them go out to eat.
Jiang Yuwei then stir-fried some greens and twice-cooked pork in the wok. Thinking that Ning Zhao should be properly nourished when he came home today, she also made a steamed fish and a braised pork rib.
After finishing all the preparations, they served the food on the stone table and then called the two children back to the front yard to eat.
The family of four sat down and immediately picked up their chopsticks to enjoy the food. Jiang Yuwei looked at the bare yard and thought to herself that she should hurry up and find a suitable tree on the mountain to plant in the yard, otherwise it would be too hot to eat in the yard in the summer.
"Zhao'er, come with me to the mountain to gather firewood tomorrow."
Ning Zhao nodded with a smile as she ate the pastry:
"Okay, Mother, we'll go early tomorrow and gather more firewood. Otherwise, I'm worried about you going up the mountain alone while I'm not home."
Hearing his words, Jiang Yuwei couldn't help but laugh. She picked up a piece of braised pork chop and placed it in Ning Zhao's bowl, asking:
"Have you used up all the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones that your mother bought for you? If you have, you must tell your mother."
Ning Zhao chewed and swallowed the last bite of pastry in her mouth, then glanced at Jiang Yuwei with a complicated expression before lowering her head and saying:
“Mother, I originally intended to study hard in school, so I practiced writing on a few more pages than others every day. But those pens, ink, paper and inkstones were too expensive, especially the paper. I inquired and found that it was really expensive. Later, I didn’t dare to use paper anymore and mostly practiced writing on the ground with a wooden stick.”
Jiang Yuwei frowned upon seeing this and said:
“Ning Zhao, since I have money to send you to school, I also have money to buy you paper. From now on, you don’t need to practice writing on the ground anymore. It’s not the same as writing on paper. Next time I send you to school, I will buy you more paper. You can practice writing however you want. Don’t worry about wasting paper.”
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhao looked up at Jiang Yuwei and hesitated before saying:
"But that paper is really too expensive, and I don't want my family to spend so much money on me."
Jiang Yuwei smiled and patted Ning Zhao's head, saying:
"Alright, Zhao'er, I earn money so that our whole family can live comfortably. You don't need to worry about money. After you've eaten, take your sister to wash up and go to bed. We need to go up the mountain early tomorrow."
Ning Zhao smiled when he heard Jiang Yuwei say this:
"Okay, thank you, Mother!"
Seeing that the two children had left, Jiang Yuwei looked at Ning Huaizhi, who was eating with his head down, and asked:
"Did you kill that horse?"
Ning Huaizhi glanced at Jiang Yuwei, then lowered his head and said sullenly:
"Yes, I'm afraid it might hurt Wan'er."
Seeing that he looked like a child who had done something wrong, Jiang Yuwei laughed and said:
"Well done, Huaizhi, you're amazing. You've always been protecting us silently."
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Ning Huaizhi looked up and stared blankly at her smiling face. Had his wife finally accepted him? As he thought this, Ning Huaizhi's face flushed red to the roots of his neck. Indeed, he wasn't a useless person; he could protect his family.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com