Chapter 34 Mud-slinging

When Zhu Shi returned to Changhe Village, her head and face covered in tears and snot, looking completely disheveled, many people saw her along the way.

Zhu Shi had always been domineering in the village. When had the villagers ever seen her in such a state?

It was quite a sight today. Had something happened?

Everyone’s curiosity was piqued. Seeing Zhu Shi running towards Wang Lizheng’s house, they followed behind.

Wang Laoer’s family had often bullied ordinary villagers, taking advantage of Wang Lizheng’s position.

Although Wang Lizheng had never openly interfered, he always played the role of a peacemaker.

The villagers weren’t fools. If Wang Lizheng hadn’t been behind them, how could Wang Laoer’s family have dared to act like this?

Besides enduring it and avoiding them, the villagers had no way to deal with the Wang family.

As for Zhu Shi and her son, they were like dogs to the Wang family.

Wherever Wang Laoer pointed, the mother and son would go.

Like the eldest daughter of the Li family, when Wang Lizheng came out to play the peacemaker, she was dead and gone.

Now, seeing Zhu Shi crying and running towards the Wang family, most of the villagers followed with a sense of anticipation, eager to watch the drama unfold.

As they walked, the crowd grew larger.

Zhu Shi didn’t care about anything else. In the past, if anyone dared to make a scene around her, she would have given them a piece of her mind.

When she reached the Wang family’s house, she cried and pounded on the two courtyard doors.

“Wang Jiaojiao, Wang Jiaojiao, come out…”

“Who is it? You’re scaring the spirits away so early in the morning!”

The Wang family had just finished breakfast and were all at home.

Hearing the commotion outside, Wang Pozi was the first to come out of the house, her face full of anger.

After opening the door, she saw Zhu Shi and the crowd behind her, and she was startled.

“You bunch of good-for-nothings, what are you all crowding around my house for? Are you trying to rebel?”

“And you, Zhu Shi! What are you howling at my house so early in the morning? If you want to cry, go back to your own house and cry…”

Wang Pozi didn’t give Zhu Shi a chance to speak. She put her hands on her hips and scolded her fiercely.

Wang Lizheng, inside the house, heard his mother’s unrestrained words and his forehead twitched.

Rebel?

How could they talk about rebellion?

Did she think she was the emperor? Did the Wang family have enough heads to be chopped off?

He suppressed his anger, rushed out in two strides, pushed Wang Pozi into the courtyard, and said with a smile, “Fellow villagers, what is this…”

The onlookers quietly took a step back, none of them speaking.

Zhu Shi finally had her chance. She rushed forward and cried.

“Lizheng, my Bao Gen is missing. I came to find Wang Jiaojiao…”

“Zhu Shi, don’t worry. Come inside first and tell me what happened…”

Wang Lizheng wanted to get Zhu Shi inside first. Whatever happened, they could close the door and everything would be fine.

Zhu Shi said that Bao Gen was missing and immediately named Wang Jiaojiao. This matter was most likely related to his niece.

However, someone was not cooperating.

He had only just started speaking when he was interrupted by someone else rushing out of the house.

“You damn old hag, don’t talk nonsense. Your son is missing, why are you looking for my Jiaojiao? Could it be that my Jiaojiao is hiding your son?”

Wang Laoer’s wife had heard a bit of the conversation inside. Smelling that her daughter was involved, she screamed and rushed out, grabbing Zhu Shi and giving her a beating.

“Laoer’s wife, beat this old bitch to death! She’s trying to ruin Jiaojiao’s reputation. Does she think she’s got a lot of face?”

Wang Pozi, afraid that things weren’t chaotic enough, pushed Wang Lizheng aside and grabbed Zhu Shi’s hair, slapping her hard twice.

Zhu Shi didn’t just sit there and take it. The three of them instantly became entangled.

“Stop it!”

Wang Lizheng looked at the chaotic scene before him, his head buzzing. He scowled and roared, “Stop it!”

The onlookers, seeing Wang Lizheng get angry, hesitantly stepped forward and pulled Zhu Shi and the others apart.

In reality, they couldn’t hide their schadenfreude.

They wished that Zhu Shi and Wang Pozi, mother and daughter-in-law, would fight even harder.

Hearing Wang Lizheng’s order, Wang Pozi and her daughter-in-law were reluctant, but they took the opportunity to twist Zhu Shi’s arm hard before retreating.

Zhu Shi, stunned by the beating, thought of her son possibly meeting with misfortune and couldn’t care less about anything else.

She sat down on the ground, slapped her thighs, and cried out to the onlookers, “How can you say it has nothing to do with your Wang Jiaojiao? A few days ago, your Wang Jiaojiao specifically called my Bao Gen out, I don’t know what they talked about. After that day, my Bao Gen never came back…”

Zhu Shi knew how to hook people in. Seeing the excited expressions on everyone’s faces, she paused before continuing, “A few days ago, Wang Jiaojiao specifically came to me and gave me twenty copper coins, asking me to deliberately cause trouble for Qin Quixi, to insist that Qin Quixi and Bao Gen went into the mountains together, and that it was unclear what happened. Wang Jiaojiao said that as long as I did it, my Bao Gen would get a wife for free.”

“If she doesn’t have a guilty conscience, why would she deliberately distract me? What else could it be? I don’t care! My Bao Gen is missing, it must be related to her!”

Zhu Shi was unusually clear-headed at this moment. She refused to go inside.

She knew Wang Lizheng’s methods too well.

She wanted to bring this matter to light in front of everyone.

Zhu Shi’s cry for help caused an uproar among the people present.

No wonder Zhu Shi had deliberately gone to trouble the Qin family girl that day. It turned out there was such a hidden story.

Wang Lizheng turned to look at his mother and Wang Laoer’s wife, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Seeing their guilty and evasive gazes, he knew they were definitely hiding something from him.

“You old hag, watch your mouth! When did you do such a thing? You say your son went into the mountains with the Qin family, so go find the Qin family, why are you looking for me?”

Wang Jiaojiao came out of the house quickly, her words laced with threat.

She had heard Zhu Shi’s words inside and couldn’t sit still.

She hadn’t expected Zhu Shi to be so stupid, daring to publicly reveal the fact that she had instigated her to ruin Qin Quixi’s reputation.

Zhao Dala had taken the money but didn’t do the job, and Zhu Shi dared to come to her door to demand her son back.

Wang Jiaojiao had been holding back a lot of anger for a while now, and she had nowhere to vent it.

She tried her best to distance herself from the matter, but she didn’t forget to shift the blame to the Qin family.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it. You’ve done this more than once. You little bitch just want to use my Bao Gen to deal with Qin Quixi!”

“I ask you! What did you make my Bao Gen do? Did you really see my Bao Gen go into the mountains?”

“If anything happens to my Bao Gen, I’ll become a ghost and won’t let you go.”

Seeing Wang Jiaojiao finally come out, Zhu Shi, red-eyed and like a madman, rushed forward and grabbed Wang Jiaojiao’s wrist, her eyes terrifyingly fixed on Wang Lizheng and the others.

“Crazy! Let go, let go!”

“Go find the Qin family, don’t look for me! I don’t know anything.”

Wang Jiaojiao, her wrist hurting, slapped Zhu Shi’s hand hard and cursed at her frantically.