Chapter 16 Turning the Tide

“Yes! It was Sister Qiuxi who killed the wolf, and my elder brother helped carry it down. Erlang was also with us, we can testify.”

“After we carried the wolf down the mountain, we left it in that patch of grass. It must have been Wang Laoer and Wang Fugui who saw it and stole it, wanting to take credit for Qiuxi’s achievement.”

As soon as Qin Ruo finished speaking, Zhou Erzhu stepped forward to provide evidence.

He was not afraid of the Wang family father and son. The wolf was clearly killed by Qiuxi, and the Wang family was simply shameless.

“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Honor! Please don’t believe the words of these scoundrels. They must have been greedy and colluded to bully my father and son. If you don’t believe me, ask the people present, the headman of Changhe Village is my elder brother, he can testify.”

“Your Honor, please take a closer look. The wolf fell into a trap on the mountain and was already seriously injured. My father and son worked hard to finally kill it, there are still wounds from the sharp tools in the trap on the wolf’s belly.”

Wang Laoer finished speaking, afraid that Yu Zhengyang wouldn’t believe him, he immediately added another sentence.

The villagers watching the scene heard Wang Laoer mention the headman, and they all fell silent and quietly took a few steps back.

It’s better to avoid trouble, if they angered the headman, wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?

“You’re full of shit! Wang Laoer, don’t use the headman to intimidate people. What kind of person is my girl, I know best! She never lies! There’s only one hunter in Changhe Village, my Qin family, you father and son would have peed your pants if you saw a wolf, I spit! You shameless things.”

Qin Laotai, who arrived later, had listened for a while and figured out what was going on, she couldn’t hold back anymore, she squeezed through the crowd and rushed forward, her hands on her hips, she started scolding the Wang family father and son.

In her younger days, Qin Laotai was a formidable character, her tongue was the most powerful in Changhe Village, and even now, in her old age, she was no less formidable.

No matter how Qin Laotai treated Qin Qiuxi in private, she was very protective of her family in public.

Actually, she was also half-believing Qin Ruo’s words.

But compared to the Wang family father and son, she was more willing to believe that it was her granddaughter who had hunted the wolf.

More importantly, it was two taels of silver, she couldn’t let the Wang family father and son get it for free.

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Wang Laoer and Wang Fugui were red in the face from being scolded, seeing the silver that was about to be theirs fly away, they were naturally unwilling to give up.

“Brother, brother, come out. Come and judge for us.”

Wang Laoer saw Wang Lizheng hiding in the crowd, as if he had found his backbone, he shouted at Wang Lizheng.

Wang Lizheng wanted to kill Wang Laoer at this moment, he knew very well what kind of people his brother and nephew were.

He wasn’t sure who killed the wolf, but he wouldn’t believe it if he died that it was Wang Laoer and Wang Fugui who killed it.

But Wang Laoer was his own brother, he could only resign himself to cleaning up the mess.

“Your Honor, these two are my younger brother and nephew. They are both honest people in Changhe Village, I don’t think they would dare to lie. Wolves are cunning by nature, even several adults can’t handle them, let alone a little girl from the Qin family…”

Wang Lizheng walked forward and bowed to Yu Zhengyang, choosing his words carefully, he didn’t say anything definitive.

But between the lines, he was implying that Qin Ruo was lying.

Wang Lizheng’s idea was to fool these officials first.

As for… the aftermath, he had already stepped in, the Qin family wouldn’t dare to do anything.

“Qin family girl, I know your family is poor. So, today I’ll make the decision. After the Wang family receives the reward, they will give your family one hundred wen, as a form of assistance, how about that?”

Wang Lizheng cleared his throat, looking righteous.

“Ha! Assistance? Not really. What’s this? Headman Wang, are you going to overturn right and wrong and use your power to suppress others today? Are you so sure that the wolf was killed by Wang Laoer and his son?” Qin Ruo sneered, her words full of meaning.

If they wanted to covet her things, they had to see if they had the ability.

“I’m just making a judgment based on my past experience. As for who the wolf belongs to, we need to ask the officials to investigate and make a decision.”

Wang Lizheng didn’t directly answer Qin Ruo’s question, afraid that he would be unable to step down if he spoke too confidently.

He simply kicked the ball back to Yu Zhengyang.

He was also secretly annoyed by Qin Ruo’s lack of tact.

He had already promised her one hundred wen, but this girl was still clinging to it, was she not taking him, the headman, seriously?

Wang Lizheng secretly made a note of the Qin family in his heart.

Yu Zhengyang didn’t speak, but he had already made a judgment in his heart, this headman was clearly biased.

But he still wanted to see what this little girl had to say, he felt that this girl surnamed Qin had something up her sleeve.

“Little girl, do you have anything else to say?” Yu Zhengyang motioned for Qin Ruo to continue.

“I’ve said what I need to say, but I have one more question for the Wang family.”

Qin Ruo was not at all flustered, she held the two wolf teeth in her sleeve, her expression calm and composed.

“Go ahead, ask.”

Yu Zhengyang didn’t give the Wang family father and son a chance to speak, he directly agreed to Qin Ruo’s request.

Wang Laoer saw that Wang Lizheng was speaking up for him, he was no longer in a hurry, he had tampered with the wolf, he was confident that the officials wouldn’t be able to tell.

“Ask quickly, don’t waste everyone’s time.” Wang Laoer patted his chest, looking innocent.

“You said that you father and son killed the wolf, and then you had Wang Fugui notify the officials. You’ve been guarding here and haven’t left, no one else has touched it, right?”

Qin Ruo didn’t waste any words, she went straight to the point.

Wang Fugui wanted to speak, but Wang Laoer stopped him.

His son was reckless and not very smart, he was afraid that he would reveal the truth if he spoke.

“That’s right, my son and I found the wolf in the trap, and we killed it together.”

“After killing the wolf, I immediately had Fugui go to the county office to notify people, and I stayed here the whole time.”

Wang Laoer thought he was airtight, the officials arrived and the wolf was still in the trap, this was a fact that everyone could see.

He had already cleaned up the bloodstains where Qin Ruo had hidden the wolf.

He was sure that Qin Ruo wouldn’t have a chance to turn the tables.

But Wang Laoer didn’t know that he had already fallen into Qin Ruo’s trap.

“Oh, really? Then take a look at this.” Qin Ruo sneered, she stretched out her hand and slowly opened her palm.

Two wolf teeth, clearly visible to everyone.

“This beast tried to bite my neck, I had to fight it to the death.”

“I’m a little petty, I hold a grudge. I thought the two wolf teeth were quite unsightly, so I knocked them off as a souvenir. Officials, why don’t you check if the wolf’s mouth is missing two teeth.”

Qin Ruo stroked the two wolf teeth in her hand, her words were light and breezy, but the people present felt a chill down their spines.

This Qin family girl, she usually doesn’t say much, but she’s quite ruthless.

Yu Zhengyang didn’t wait for the other officials to move, he strode over and lifted the wolf’s mouth, sure enough, two sharp teeth were missing.

The missing teeth were clearly two bloody pits.