Chapter 801 - 412: The Ruthless Fear the Reckless

Chapter 801: Chapter 412: The Ruthless Fear the Reckless

Sun Jinshan trembled with anger. If Liu’er’s mother had been perfectly fine, his pent-up resentment would naturally have been taken out on her—who told her to have such a foul mouth? But she had been beaten to within an inch of her life. Was he really expected to apologize to others?

"Don’t give me that easy talk," he shot back. "Your wife isn’t the one lying there, so of course it’s easy for you to say. If Tie Zhu’s mother takes a turn for the worse, this won’t just end with a simple fight between us."

Zhang Dashuan was just about to speak when He took a step forward. She rolled up her sleeves and said, "What’s the point of this empty talk? You don’t need to bother waiting for later. Let’s keep fighting right now, until someone dies. If this woman dies, I’ll pay for her life with mine. Our sons and grandsons are all grown anyway, so I’ll have people to send me off when I die."

Hearing this, Zhang Dashuan immediately stepped up and chimed in, "Exactly! If we beat her to death, we’ll pay with our lives. If we all die, the village will be rid of a menace. When the Tomb-Sweeping Festival comes around, we’ll see if there are more people burning paper money at your graves, or at ours."

Juhua and Huai Zi were stunned speechless by these words.

Seeing the murderous looks on Zhang Dashuan and his wife’s faces, Sun Jinshan was left utterly speechless. As the saying went, the tough fear the reckless. Their anger had been fully ignited, and they spoke with absolute resolution. Seeing that Tie Zhu had already carried his mother far away, Sun Jinshan snorted and said, "I’ll settle this with you later. I don’t have the time right now."

With that, he turned and left, though his imposing manner had significantly weakened.

He spat, "PAH!" Turning to Yang Family and Zheng Changhe, who had hurried out upon hearing the commotion, she complained, "What terrible luck! We were in such high spirits this morning, but this woman ruined everything and filled my stomach with anger."

Yang Family had already heard Qingmu explain the matter, understanding that Liu’er’s mother was redirecting her hatred of Zheng Family onto the Zhang family. Suppressing her own frustration, Yang Family urged, "Why be angry? You didn’t lose out today anyway. You gave that woman a good beating, so you should have vented your frustrations. It’s just a pity for that child, Zhao Feng. Who knows if he was badly hurt from the fall. If anything bad happens to him, wouldn’t Third Brother and his wife be unable to live on?"

Zhang Dashuan and Zheng Changhe stood beneath the willow tree, whispering back and forth about something unknown.

Juhua went into the house and brought Cong out. Presenting her to He, Juhua coaxed, "Mother, look how Cong smiles the moment she sees you. Don’t be angry anymore, and definitely drop that idea about paying with your life. Is her life worth exchanging for yours? Let’s go home and eat. You just got into a fight and used up a lot of energy, so you must be hungry. I made ham and Little Cabbage soup."

Hearing this, the rest of them could no longer keep a straight face and burst into laughter.

He took Cong and gave Juhua a fond, chiding eyeroll. "I was only saying that. There’s no way I’d actually pay for her life with mine! Humph. I’m living such a comfortable life. Die with her? I’d have to get kicked in the head by a donkey first."

After exchanging a few more jokes, they went to their respective homes for lunch.

At noon, He indeed drank a large bowl of the ham and Little Cabbage soup. She let out a long breath after finishing it, praising Juhua for cooking the soup so perfectly. Little did she know that it was just because her throat was parched from the angry argument, and the soup arrived at the perfect time to soothe it!

Juhua covered her mouth and smiled. "Mother, Pu Pao made the soup today."

He laughed in surprise. "Pu Pao has become so capable? This child really is clever." Afterward, she praised Pu Pao in person for a while, leaving the little girl extremely delighted.

Having caused a commotion for half the day, everyone felt somewhat mentally exhausted. After lunch, just as the whole family was preparing to rest for a bit, Heipi came in and announced that there were two government officers at the door asking to see Old Mr. Zhang.

Zhang Dashuan was in the middle of drinking water and nearly choked upon hearing this. In his entire life, he had never been addressed as Old Mr. Zhang. Coughing a few times, he looked at Huai Zi in bewilderment. "Go take a look. What’s going on here?"

Huai Zi and Juhua exchanged a knowing smile. "It’s probably the messengers," Huai Zi said. "Father, you should go see them too. They’re calling you ’Old Mr. Zhang’ out of respect for Yangzi."

They subsequently invited the two government officers inside. After a round of pleasantries and formalities, the visitors explained their purpose—they were indeed here to deliver a letter.

Zhang Huai and Zhang Dashuan proceeded to ask them for the specific details.

Juhua noticed that although the two men were respectful, they didn’t seem to care very much. One of the officers offered an apologetic smile. "To answer Old Mr. Zhang and the Eldest Young Master, we are simply following orders to deliver the letter, so we aren’t entirely clear on the details. Wouldn’t it be better for Old Mr. Zhang to just read Scholar Zhang’s letter to understand everything?"

The officer shot a quick glance at Zhang Huai and wondered, "Could it be that Scholar Zhang’s older brother and father are both illiterate?"

Juhua asked intentionally, "Huai Zi, Yangzi sent a letter. He probably explained where he went. Hurry up and read it, then tell Mother and Father. It’s really quite strange. Why did this letter only arrive now? The rumors spread faster than the mail." She then turned to the two officers. "You officers wouldn’t know this, but a merchant came over from Huzhou Prefecture and claimed that Yangzi and his two friends were arrested by government soldiers. For the past two days, Xiatang Market has been spreading this story. My father and mother were so anxious that their hair turned gray, and the villagers have been mocking and belittling our families. We even got into a fight over this just a moment ago. Someone was nearly beaten to death. Scholar Zhao’s younger brother and mother were both injured, and they had to be taken to the market by horse carriage to see a doctor..."

Hearing Juhua’s words, the two officers turned completely pale. They exchanged a glance with each other before suddenly standing up and dropping to their knees with a heavy THUD right in front of Zhang Dashuan. They began kowtowing repeatedly, which gave Zhang Dashuan quite a fright.

Juhua sneered in her mind. These snobbish fools definitely hadn’t taken this assignment seriously and had delayed the journey on the road. If not for their delay, all of this chaotic mess would never have happened.

She shot Huai Zi a meaningful glance. Huai Zi nodded and asked in a gentle tone, "Officers, what is the meaning of this? Get up and speak."

The two officers only focused on kowtowing, repeatedly pleading, "It’s all our fault for bungling this task and making Old Mr. Zhang suffer. Old Mr. Zhang, have mercy and spare us! You absolutely cannot mention this matter to Lord Academic Administrator, or the two of us will lose our lives." After saying this, they continued to kowtow without stopping.

Seeing that the skin on both of their foreheads had been broken from hitting the ground, Zhang Dashuan felt a wave of pity. Assuming they had encountered some difficult trouble, he prepared to tell them to get up and explain.

Thank you for the pink tickets, dear readers! Do you have any more? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)