Chapter 55: How Could This Be?

Zou Shi nearly choked with rage.

Moments earlier, she had stepped on a large nail. With the coachman’s help, it had finally been pulled out, leaving a wound that was nearly half a finger deep.

“Master, did you see that?” Zou Shi wailed. “I’ve told you before, this girl isn’t the same anymore. Ever since she got married, she’s been brazen and disrespectful.

If you don’t discipline her now, she’ll climb over our heads and defecate on us!”

“Shut up!” Ye Da Cheng snapped, glaring at her.

He had repeatedly warned his coarse wife to mind her words in public, but her vulgarity always shone through.

“Master!” Zou Shi howled. “If you don’t handle her properly today, how will the Ye family retain its dignity?”

Ye Da Cheng was nearly fainting from the stench emanating from his body. Coupled with Zou Shi’s incessant screeching, he could no longer tolerate the situation.

He shouted at the attendant, “Why are you standing there like a useless fool? What’s the point of feeding you?

Go and tie the eldest young lady up! Bring her back to the estate so I can deal with her properly!”

“Yes, sir!”

The attendant unfastened a hemp rope from his waist and strode toward Ye Xin Ran.

Ye Xin Ran raised her hoe defensively, preparing to fight.

“Don’t touch my aunt!”
“Don’t bully my aunt!”
“If you want to harm her, you’ll have to get through me first!”

Three children suddenly emerged from behind the house, shouting in unison.

Ye Xin Ran immediately scolded, “Why are you coming out? Go back inside!”

The attendant threatened, “Get out of the way, brats! My fists have no eyes, and you don’t want to get hurt!”

“What’s the point of talking to them?” Zou Shi screamed. “They’re just wild brats! Break their legs and throw them out!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Ye Xin Ran brandished her hoe.

The attendant saw an opportunity.

Today’s task was a disaster, and this was his last chance to salvage the situation. He dodged the hoe and reached for Ye Xin Ran’s neck.

Ye Xin Ran noticed his move and flipped the hoe, using the handle to block his hand.

The attendant turned swiftly, lunging toward her.

But Ye Xin Ran seized the opening and delivered a swift kick. Her foot struck squarely at the man’s most sensitive spot.

The attendant’s face contorted in agony as veins bulged on his forehead. He clutched his lower body and staggered back several steps, barely able to stand.

The attendant stood near the three children.

Having never suffered such humiliation from a woman before, and realizing Ye Xin Ran wasn’t an easy target, he decided to target the children, hoping to force her into submission.

Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong target.

Noticing Chang Sheng pulling Chang An back while Chang Ping remained motionless, the attendant reached for Chang Ping’s shoulder.

“Drop the hoe, or I won’t go easy on this child!” he shouted at Ye Xin Ran.

Instead of fear, Ye Xin Ran responded with a knowing smile.

Sensing something was wrong, the attendant tried to withdraw his arm, but it was too late. A sharp pain shot through his arm, followed by an immense force. His arm was pulled, spinning him around Chang Ping in rapid circles.

One turn, two turns… ten turns… twenty turns later, Chang Ping released him with a powerful throw. The attendant staggered uncontrollably and crashed into the courtyard wall with a loud “thud”, creating a gaping hole. His eyes rolled back as he collapsed, unconscious.

When the village chief arrived with reinforcements, this chaotic scene greeted him:

Ye Da Cheng and Zou Shi stood drenched in the middle of the courtyard, their heads smeared with an unidentifiable yellow-green substance.

Zou Shi trembled, hopping on one foot due to her injury, while Ye Da Cheng held his nose, looking on the verge of fainting.

Of the two men they had brought along, one was half-embedded in the wall, while the other was stuck with one foot in a pit, unable to pull it out.

Er Zhu, one of the villagers, surveyed the scene and asked the chief in disbelief, “Chief, didn’t you say we were coming to help the Xiao family fend off troublemakers? Looks like they don’t need us at all!”

The chief’s expression shifted.

He had assumed that Ye Xin Ran and the children would be bullied by these aggressive newcomers, but the reality was far from what he’d expected.

“Uh… it seems we’re not needed after all.”

Seeing the villagers gathering outside the courtyard, Ye Da Cheng regained some of his composure.

Pointing at Ye Xin Ran, he shouted, “Ye Xin Ran, you’ve disregarded all familial respect, assaulted your parents, and even tried to kill us! I’ll report you to the county magistrate!”

“Go ahead!” Ye Xin Ran retorted without concern. “I’ll report you as well! In broad daylight, you brought men to trespass on private property and attempted to harm us, an orphaned widow and her children!

If it weren’t for the traps set to defend against thieves, the four of us might not even be alive right now.

You’re the ones acting like bandits, and I’ll demand justice from the magistrate!”

Hearing Ye Xin Ran’s words, the villagers began shouting in agreement:

“She’s right! Who do you think you are, barging into our village and causing trouble? Report them to the authorities!”
“Yeah, report them! Arrest them all!”
“This is no different from what bandits do!”

Hearing the murmurs of the crowd, Zou Shi nervously tugged at Ye Da Cheng’s arm. “Husband, look at the state we’re in. How can we show up in front of the magistrate like this? We’d only be making a laughing stock of ourselves in front of our in-laws.”

Her words snapped Ye Da Cheng out of his rage.

If there was one thing he dreaded most, it was losing face, especially in front of acquaintances.

“So we just let that wretched girl off the hook?”

He still felt the sting of humiliation burning in his chest.

“Absolutely not! What she’s done is disrespectful and unfilial!

Next time, we’ll bring more servants, drag her back, and make her kneel before the Ye family’s ancestors to atone.”

“Let’s go!”

“Hmph!”

Ye Da Cheng and Zou Shi began to leave. The previously unconscious attendant near the wall suddenly stirred and stood up with a groggy shake. He helped the coachman pull his foot out of the pit, and the group hobbled toward the exit, supporting one another.

Just as they were about to leave, Ye Xin Ran’s voice rang out from behind.

“Who said you could leave?”

Ye Da Cheng turned back, fuming. “What? In broad daylight, do you dare to lay hands on us?”

“Who said anything about laying hands on you?”

Ye Xin Ran leaned on the handle of her hoe, pointing toward the damaged wall. “You’ve smashed my wall. Pay up for the repairs!”

“In your dreams!” Zou Shi momentarily forgot the pain in her foot and limped back angrily. “You’ve injured me this badly, and you dare demand money from us?”

Zou Shi was convinced Ye Xin Ran had lost her mind.

“I already told you, you trespassed into private property and caused this yourselves. What does it have to do with me?

If you don’t agree, feel free to report it to the authorities. Let’s see what the magistrate has to say!”

“You…”

Zou Shi trembled with rage.

But she knew they couldn’t go to the authorities.

The magistrate’s wife already looked down on their lowly origins. If she saw them in this state, her disdain would only grow.

This would jeopardize Xin Yao’s marriage prospects with Young Master Qiao.

“Ye Xin Ran, you’ve won this time!”

Gritting her teeth, Zou Shi pulled a jade hairpin from her head and threw it to the ground. “This hairpin should be more than enough to fix your wall!”

“How could that possibly be enough?”

Ye Xin Ran stepped forward, carefully picking up the hairpin with a handkerchief. Holding it close to Zou Shi’s nose, she said with a smile, “Look at this, it’s been soaked in sewage. Who would want it now?”