Chapter 2

In a daze, Xue Miaoyun felt something heavy pressing down on her body—and worse, it was groping her.

She snapped awake in an instant and instinctively flung her arm out.

There was a sudden weightlessness, followed by a loud crash as the thing was thrown against the wall, and then silence.

Ugh, her head throbbed painfully.

After a moment, Xue Miaoyun’s mind cleared a little. She examined the sudden influx of unfamiliar memories, and her mood instantly soured.

What a load of nonsense!

“Open the door, Xue Miaoyun, open up!”

“A man entered the house… must be her lover…”

“Caught in the act… shameless woman… cancel the engagement…”

Before Xue Miaoyun could do anything, there was already a violent pounding at the door.

Her face darkened.

She quickly threw on an outer garment and walked over to the man who had been sent flying and then fallen silent after hitting the wall. With a flick of her hand, the man vanished.

Fastening her buttons one by one, she headed toward the door.

“Who is it? Don’t you sleep at night?”

The moment she opened the door, a hand came flying toward her face. Xue Miaoyun swiftly dodged, and the hand landed squarely on the wooden door with a loud smack.

“Ah!” came a pained cry.

“Auntie, what are you doing, coming to my house in the middle of the night to hit me? I know Brother Dazhuang has made something of himself in the army, and your family wants to back out of the engagement. But this marriage was arranged by my late mother. If you want to cancel it, then Brother Dazhuang should come speak to me himself. It was bad enough that you pressured me during the day—now you come again at night. Will you only stop once you’ve driven me to death? Wuwuwu…” Xue Miaoyun gave the woman no chance to speak, immediately raising her voice and shouting all of this out loud.

“Gasp—so the Song family wants to break off the engagement…”

“I was wondering why there was such a commotion…”

“Miaoyun’s such a good girl—so filial to the old couple all these years. She did all the chores at home…”

“Didn’t you hear her? Dazhuang probably found some official’s daughter in the army… it’s always like this in the dramas, like that Chen Shimei guy…”

“If Dazhuang got into the army, it was because of Miaoyun’s mother pulling strings. Tsk tsk, the Song family is being shady…”

“Didn’t see it before… but their character really is questionable.”

“Rubbish! You’re the one with no decency! Sneaking around with a man in the middle of the night—I saw him enter your yard when I got up to relieve myself!” Li Dacui, hearing the murmurs around her, flew into a rage and began screaming at Xue Miaoyun, spitting venom with every word.

“Wuwuwu… Auntie, I used to think you just looked down on the poor and wanted to break off the engagement so Dazhuang could marry a rich girl. But now I see—you’re trying to wipe me out completely! You don’t just want to end the engagement; you want to drive me to suicide so you can take over my home, isn’t that right? Wuwuwu…”

Li Dacui’s face twitched with guilt and shock. She had been hit right where it hurt.

It was dark, so the crowd couldn’t see clearly—but Xue Miaoyun saw everything. A deep hatred welled up in her heart.

Bang!

A loud bang startled everyone gathered at the door.

They saw Xue Miaoyun forcefully fling both doors open. She grabbed Li Dacui and half-dragged, half-lifted her into the house.

“Auntie, weren’t you here to catch an affair in the act? Come on then, let’s go to the bedroom and take a good look. You woke up all these people in the middle of the night—aren’t you going to give them a proper explanation?”

“Let me go, let me go!” Li Dacui struggled furiously, but no matter how much she resisted, she couldn’t break free from Xue Miaoyun’s grip.

Xue Miaoyun dragged her from room to room, checking every single space in the house. Not even a corner was spared.

“Auntie Li, should we check the latrine too?” Xue Miaoyun shoved the woman’s head toward the edge of the cesspit. “Maybe someone’s hiding in there?”

“Aaah! Let me go! Let go of me!”

“And the stove—don’t forget to check that,” Xue Miaoyun said, stuffing Li Dacui halfway into the kitchen hearth.

“And the haystack too…”

“Help! Help!”

Xue Miaoyun and Li Dacui led the way, with the crowd of onlookers trailing behind. They watched in shock as Xue Miaoyun manhandled Li Dacui like a chick—shoving her here, pressing her there. Those who had come to watch the drama didn’t dare make a sound anymore.

Who knew Xue Miaoyun was this strong—and this crazy? It was honestly terrifying.

After inspecting every inch of the house, Xue Miaoyun dragged Li Dacui out into the yard.

She let go.

Li Dacui collapsed to the ground, but Xue Miaoyun didn’t spare her a glance. She smiled—a chilling, eerie smile—and looked down at her.

“Auntie Li, are you satisfied with the results of tonight’s ‘investigation’? If not, we can always do it again.”

“N-No…”

“Not satisfied?” Xue Miaoyun reached out to grab her again. “Then let’s do another round.”

“No, no! I’m satisfied—very satisfied!”

“Heh.” Xue Miaoyun hauled her up once more. “Auntie Li, I know your family wants to climb the social ladder. I may be just an orphan, but I’m also the daughter of a martyr. I’ve got pride. A forced relationship won’t end well, and I have no interest in being a daughter-in-law to a woman like you. We can break off the engagement. Tomorrow morning, at the village head’s house—we’ll settle it fair and square.”

“Y-You’re really willing to cancel the engagement?” Li Dacui, still shaken, stared at her. Though she had a reputation in the village for being a shrew, the near-death experience of having her face shoved near the cesspit had left her rattled.

But upon hearing that Xue Miaoyun agreed to break off the engagement, her spirits immediately lifted.

“Of course I want to cancel it. If I don’t, I probably won’t even get a good night’s sleep anymore. I don’t want to end up dead without knowing how it happened. Your Song family is a pit of snakes and wolves—I wouldn’t dare marry into it.”

“You’re lying! I saw someone go into your house…” Li Dacui still tried to argue.

Xue Miaoyun grabbed Li Dacui once more and ran her through the same ordeal as before.

“Auntie Li, did you get a good look this time? Is there an adulterer in my house or not? Do you want to check again?” As she spoke, she looked ready to repeat the entire process.

“No, no! I-I made a mistake,” Li Dacui quickly shook her head. She absolutely did not want to go through that again.

Finally, the pent-up frustration in Xue Miaoyun’s heart began to ease. As expected, when dealing with a shrew, the only way to win was to be even more ruthless.

Violence couldn’t solve everything—but it was more than enough to handle someone like Li Dacui, who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

“Auntie Li, I want to know—was this whole engagement-canceling mess your idea or Brother Dazhuang’s? If it’s yours, then I won’t agree to break it off. But if it’s his, I won’t cling to him either. After all, marriage is between the two of us. So tomorrow, I want to see proof. Otherwise, I’ll go straight to the army and ask Dazhuang myself whether it’s you trying to break us up.”

She leaned in and whispered those words into Li Dacui’s ear, then tossed her aside without hesitation.

The farce had finally come to an end, and the villagers who had gathered for the spectacle began to disperse.

Only then did Xue Miaoyun return to her bedroom, finally able to sit down and sort through the chaotic mess of memories now flooding her mind.