Free Web NovelChapter 409: Chapter 159: Retribution for Evil (Part 2)
When the county magistrate asked her why those men had done it, Chen Wanyue answered without hesitation, "They tried to take advantage of me, but I fought them off. They held a grudge and deliberately tried to push me to my death."
"You’re spewing vicious lies!"
"With that dead-looking face of yours? You could be lying there stark naked and I wouldn’t even spare you a glance."
"A woman whose body has been seen by everyone wouldn’t even get any customers if she tried to sell herself."
Their words were cruel and vicious, assailing Chen Wanyue until she felt flayed alive.
’She wished she had a knife to hack these people into a thousand pieces. But even if she could kill them, could she kill everyone in Qingshui County?’
The thought that everyone would gossip about her and mock her behind her back drove Chen Wanyue mad.
She staggered up from the ground, pulled the hairpin from her hair, and lunged, trying to stab the ruffians in the eyes.
"You’re lying! It’s all lies! The Buddha will come for you!"
"And if the Buddha doesn’t, I will."
"AHH, AHH, HELP!"
"Magistrate, look! The way she’s talking right now—it’s exactly the same as when she was talking about the murder before!"
Chen Wanyue ran around the hall like a madwoman. "I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t kill anyone!"
"They deserved it! They tried to kill me first!"
"It was self-defense! I’m innocent!"
The constables of the court finally managed to restrain Chen Wanyue. Having narrowly escaped, the ruffians put their hands on their hips and started cursing her again.
"That old hag was no good, but you and your lover are no saints either."
"You incited your lover from the Shi family to kill his own mother! A woman like you should go to hell."
"How can a woman as cruel and venomous as you exist in this world? Your very existence is the greatest blasphemy against the law."
With that, the whole truth was laid bare. The common folk listening in the hall, hearing how things had truly transpired, began throwing rotten vegetables and stinky eggs at her.
"A woman’s heart is the most venomous."
"I knew she was no good. See? She really is a terrible person."
"She incited that man from the Shi family to kill his own mother. She’s so ruthless."
But some people spoke up for Chen Wanyue. "The old couple from the Shi family were also at fault. They nearly drove the girl insane."
"Those two old bastards actually held down their daughter-in-law and instructed their son on how to consummate the marriage. Any other woman would have gone mad and slaughtered their whole family long ago."
"Even hateful people have their pitiful side. She shouldn’t have made such a move..."
In the crowd, Li’an hung his head, too ashamed to face anyone.
Mrs. Li, meanwhile, was quietly backing away, her hand spread open to hide her cheeks, not wanting anyone to see her face.
But someone had already spotted her and had no intention of letting her leave so quietly.
Suddenly, Fan Meijuan appeared behind her, laughing like a madwoman. "Are you happy now that you’ve raised a murderer for a daughter? Hahaha! With a mother-daughter pair like you, the third branch of the Chen family will be infamous for ten thousand years! The mother is an open prostitute, and the daughter is even worse—an actual murderer!"
Fan Meijuan was the widow who’d had an affair with Chen Lin.
The widow had been left with no other options and had become a secret prostitute, along with her daughter.
She loathed Mrs. Li with a passion, watching her every move at all times.
She was the one who had spread the rumors about Mrs. Li taking lovers and being intimate with them.
Her goal was to ruin Mrs. Li’s reputation and destroy her family.
’In truth, she hardly needed to do anything. That family was rotten to the core. Even without her fanning the flames, they would have sunk into the mire step by step on their own.’
’Poor her daughter, her young, young daughter.’
Out of spite, her daughter had given Chen Wanyue a hard shove from behind. Chen Wanyue didn’t die, but for the attempted murder, her daughter had been sentenced to thirty strokes of the cane and exile a thousand li away.
’She’s just a young girl who hasn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet. With no one to protect her, it’s impossible for her to safely reach the place of her exile. She’ll probably die on the road.’
At this thought, Fan Meijuan’s anguish intensified.
She grabbed Mrs. Li by the hair and began slapping her across the face, one strike after another.
"You and your daughter are both scourges! You should both just die!"
Mrs. Li was stunned by the blows, but she quickly recovered and immediately raised her own hand to slap back.
"So my daughter and I are scourges? And you and your daughter are saints, is that it? You hang a sheep’s head to sell dog meat—everyone knows what kind of trash you two are! At least I have a conscience and don’t go seducing married men. But you two? You don’t care how dirty or foul it is. As long as there’s Silver, you’d even serve a man together..."
The two women fought and cursed, one vulgarity after another spewing from their mouths. All sorts of body parts were named, and eighteen generations of each other’s ancestors were thoroughly greeted.
