Returning from Longspear Village, she discovered something was wrong with her undergarment. She assumed it had fallen off somewhere, but she never imagined it was that damned Zhang Laizi. Could it have been during that emergency visit to his house...?
The women exchanged glances upon seeing Widow Ye's expression, all realizing that something was amiss.
Widow Ye suddenly panicked, "Don't look at me, it wasn't me, I didn't! You believe this Yin woman with such a bad reputation, but you don't believe me?"
A woman stepped forward and said, "Widow Ye, please show us this, just as you said, to prove it and clear up the misunderstanding."
Widow Ye's face was extremely pale, and her lips trembled.
"How could it be me? Are you all crazy?"
Yin Lan glanced at her shoes. "I was wondering how the people from Long Spear Village knew so quickly that we had divided the meat, and that they came to steal it at night. Turns out there was a traitor among them."
Widow Ye's heart trembled as she saw Yin Lan pointing at her shoes, and the other women also looked over.
Before she could pull her leg back, Yin Lan had already spoken.
"Her shoes were stained with red mud. As everyone knows, we don't have red mud in our Iron Sword Village. So where can we find red mud?"
A woman answered in a deep voice, "Long Spear Village."
Others added, "Outside Zhang Laizi's house is Hongni."
A burly woman stepped forward and said, "There are no men here. They're all drunk and confused. We're all women. Nobody would come here at this hour. Let us see your undergarments."
Widow Ye's face turned completely pale in an instant.
"I didn't, I didn't, you're slandering me."
After saying that, he turned and ran.
But as she ran, the red mud beneath her feet became even more clearly visible to everyone.
The other women looked quite unwell.
"I knew it! That widow Ye had us come here so early in the morning. Turns out she had some other scheme in mind."
"How dare they slander people like this in broad daylight!"
“You’re a good wife, but this widow Ye is really corrupting the morals of our Iron Sword Village.”
Yin Lan smiled and said, "There's no evidence for this, so we can't just say things like that. It would be bad if we misunderstood someone."
Everyone's expression changed when they saw Yin Lan's face. This widow Ye was slandering people without any evidence, but Chen Yourun's wife was different. Even though widow Ye's accusations were so obvious, she still wanted to provide evidence.
One was someone who might slander him at will, and the other was a reasonable and trustworthy person. Everyone's impression of Yin Lan immediately improved.
Besides, even though there's no evidence, just by looking at Widow Ye's demeanor, it's obvious what really happened.
Widow Ye hurriedly ran out of the field from Yin Lan's thatched cottage, and suddenly saw a familiar figure in the field.
She glanced at the land again, and her eyes immediately turned red with anger.
"Tian Youwei!" she roared.
Tian Youwei, who was weeding inside, was startled. He looked up and saw his mother. He was so frightened that he almost lost his mind.
Widow Ye rushed over and started punching and kicking her son. "You good-for-nothing! I haven't seen you do much work in the house or the fields. I was wondering why I hadn't seen you for days. Turns out you've been used as a laborer! That Yin woman is inhuman! Come on, let's go to the village head and talk to him."
Widow Ye dragged Tian Youwei into the village, and if Tian Youwei dared to say a word, she would beat him.
When they arrived at the small square, the village head was talking to someone. Widow Ye pushed him aside and said, "Uncle Village Head, you be the judge. Is this Chen Yourun's wife even human? My child is only six years old, and she beat and scolded him and dragged him to her wasteland to weed. Look, his hands are covered with calluses, and his face and body are covered with injuries."
Everyone around looked over, and the village head also became serious. "What's going on?"
Widow Ye was still cursing Yin Lan.
Tian Youwei whispered, "Go do some work, and you'll get to eat meat."
Widow Ye's eyes suddenly turned ferocious. "Look, she's making my child do chores."
Tian Youwei added, "No, I went on my own."
Widow Ye: ...
She caught Tian Youwei and gave him a good beating.
Several women nearby heard what Widow Ye and Tian Youwei said and their eyes lit up. "What? You get meat for working? Quickly call your kids and go help Yourun's wife pull weeds!"
Is there really such a good thing in the world?
Instead of secretly enjoying herself, Widow Ye even beat her child; she's gone completely mad.
Widow Ye: ......
"Why didn't you say so sooner!" Widow Ye slapped her child hard.
The other women couldn't stand it anymore. "Widow Ye, the injuries on your child's body and face, you must have inflicted them yourself, right?"
Tian Youwei dodged Widow Ye's slap, saying, "Mother, please don't hit me anymore. I won't go to Aunt Yin's place for food anymore."
What's unclear about this? She hit the child herself and then framed someone else. Although Madam Yin also hits the child, she hasn't done so these past few days. The child looks clean and energetic, while Tian Youwei is still the same as before.
Widow Ye: ...
"This Yin family member is quite nice; they actually gave Tian Youwei something to eat."
"Didn't you hear? He said he'd help pull weeds and give them meat to eat. Quick, take the kids with you, everyone go."
Widow Ye: ....
Her face was very pale. Suddenly, she saw Yin Lan and several women walking over in the distance. Behind them, there were several men carrying the half-conscious Zhang Laizi.
Widow Ye panicked slightly.
Zhang Laizi was thrown to the ground, but others recognized him.
"Isn't this Zhang Laizi from the neighboring Long Spear Village? What happened to him? What's he doing here?"
A woman took out the piece of meat. "This Zhang scoundrel actually came to our Iron Sword Village to steal meat last night. This is what he stole from the Yin family's house."
Everyone was shocked.
The woman continued, "And, this thing was also found in his pocket."
The woman took out the belt.
Some people's eyes fell on Yin Lan, after all, Zhang Laizi had stolen the meat from her house last night, and she was the only woman in the house.
At this moment, Zhang Laizi woke up in a daze.
The woman continued, "Look at Widow Ye's shoes, that red mud is something only found in Long Spear Village."
Widow Ye met the speculative gazes of many people and trembled with fear. "No...it wasn't me. I don't know Zhang Laizi at all. I'm not familiar with him. He went to steal the meat himself. It has nothing to do with me."
When Zhang Laizi woke up and heard this, his eyes widened in fury.
He stretched out his trembling hand, his voice fierce, "You...you heartless woman, that's not what you said when you climbed into my bed. I didn't know anything last night. It was you who came over in the middle of the night, crawled into my blankets, and said that the Yin family had twenty catties of meat and that I should take her personal belongings."
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