As Jiang Liuli's words fell, the villagers exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock and suspicion.
"Now that you mention it," someone muttered while stroking their chin, "Da Ni… really isn't that present-looking."
"The previous chosen ones were all the most beautiful girls in the village, fresh as newly picked peaches," another person chimed in, their voice lowered, "How did River God's taste become so… particular this year?"
"Particular? I doubt River God could even bring himself to look at Da Ni's face!"
"Li Laoguanggun, watch your mouth!" someone scolded. "How can you speak so crudely at a time like this? Aren't you afraid of angering River God?"
Li Laoguanggun chuckled twice, shrinking his neck and falling silent, though the doubt in his eyes mirrored everyone else's.
"Heretic nonsense! She's spouting lies!"
Seeing the growing suspicion among the crowd, Zhang Witch jumped in agitation, her bony finger trembling as she pointed at Jiang Liuli,
"River God's choices are predetermined! How dare you, a mere girl, question them? Hurry and tie her up for the sacrifice before it's too late!"
Liu Lizheng also shouted sternly, sweat dripping down his temples: "What are you all standing around for? Do you want River God to flood our village as punishment?"
"Silence!" Wei Laogen suddenly turned, his tiger-like eyes glaring fiercely at Liu Lizheng and Zhang Witch.
The more urgently these two wanted Jiang Liuli dead, the more suspicious they became.
He turned back and said to Jiang Liuli in a deep voice, "Da Ni, continue. Tell us everything you know."
"Alright!" Jiang Liuli's gaze swept over the villagers who had lost their daughters before settling on Wei Laogen. Her voice was calm yet carried immense weight,
"This year's chosen 'He Bo bride' was originally my best friend—Li Chunhua. The reason it was changed to me is entirely because of what happened that night…"
As she recalled the events, Jiang Liuli recounted to the villagers of Xiaoshitou Village what had occurred that night.
It turned out that Jiang Dani had borne a dark birthmark covering half her face since childhood. Village children would avoid her upon sight, and no one wanted to play with her. Only Li Chunhua, kind-hearted, never minded her appearance. The two became the closest of friends.
That evening, Jiang Dani went to find Li Chunhua to play. Just as she reached the courtyard wall, she spotted Liu Lizheng's son, Liu Fugui, sneaking around and slipping something through the crack of Li Chunhua's door.
After Liu Fugui scurried away hunched over, she picked it up and saw—it was the River God Marriage Certificate that all the girls of Xiaoshitou Village feared.
Terrified, her heart pounding, Jiang Dani rushed into the courtyard with the certificate to find Li Chunhua.
When Li Chunhua saw the marriage certificate, her face turned pale. Clinging to Jiang Dani and trembling, she immediately told her father, Li Dadan, about it that very night.
Li Dadan directly took Li Chunhua to confront Liu Lizheng.
Jiang Dani, being timid, didn't dare go and returned home…
But no one expected that the next morning, the marriage certificate would inexplicably appear at the Jiang family's doorstep, with Li Chunhua's name replaced by Jiang Dani's…
After Jiang Liuli finished her story, everyone in the courtyard gasped in shock, exchanging looks of utter disbelief.
"What? The marriage certificate was placed by the Lizheng's son?"
A villager was so startled his eyes nearly popped out, his smoking pipe clattering to the ground.
"But Zhang Witch and Liu Lizheng swore it was true—that it was delivered by Lord River God himself! They said whichever girl is chosen must obediently go for the sacrifice. It's heaven's will!"
Someone nearby chimed in, their voice trembling: "If what Da Ni says is true… then before…"
They didn't dare finish, but everyone present understood.
If the marriage certificate wasn't sent by the River God at all, but secretly placed by the Liu family, then those several girls who died in the river over the years—weren't they all murdered by Liu Lizheng and Zhang Witch working together?
"Jiang Dani, how dare you slander people like that!"
Liu Lizheng sprang up, pointing at her nose and roaring, "You claim my son placed the marriage certificate—what proof do you have? Spreading baseless accusations to smear good people—I think you've got a death wish!"
He had it all figured out: the Li father and daughter had taken his hundred taels of silver—that was ironclad leverage.
If they dared testify, not only would they have to return the money, but they'd also be branded as "selling out friends for cash" and never be able to hold their heads high in the village again.
Certain that these two wouldn't dare speak up, he naturally felt completely confident.
At his words, several villagers who were still hesitant indeed wavered.
Yes, without evidence, what if Jiang Dani was just making up stories to save her own skin?
Jiang Liuli completely ignored the furious Liu Lizheng, her gaze fixed directly on the courtyard gate as she called out loudly:
"Li Chunhua, how long are you going to keep hiding? Do you really intend to watch me die in your place a second time?"
She'd already spotted that cowering figure outside the courtyard wall.
This girl had some goodness in her bones—that look of pain and guilt when she watched the original owner being pushed into the river was unmistakable.
But this kindness was too faint, too fragile, shattering the moment her own interests were at stake.
Li Chunhua wasn't without sympathy for Jiang Dani—she was just more afraid of dying herself.
When her father Li Dadan took Liu Lizheng's hundred taels, she must have struggled with it, but in the end, she kept silent.
In this world where women are treated like weeds, a powerless girl who dares defy her father or oppose the village chief would end up worse off than being sacrificed.
Jiang Liuli saw it all clearly: Li Chunhua's silence was half greed overpowering conscience, half being cornered by this cruel world with no way out.
But today, she was determined to block that escape route.
As Jiang Liuli finished speaking, everyone looked toward the courtyard gate, where there was no one.
Liu Lizheng, who had been startled at hearing Li Chunhua's name, immediately grew arrogant again when he saw the empty gateway:
"Jiang Dani, what nonsense are you spouting? That Li Chunhua was the original He Bo bride? To save your own skin, you'll really stop at nothing! Do you think just making up a story will make the villagers believe you?"
Jiang Liuli didn't even glance toward Liu Lizheng, keeping her eyes on the deep shadows at the courtyard gate, her voice like ice: "Li Chunhua, do you think turtling up will let you escape?"
"Liu Lizheng and Zhang Witch already have five lives on their hands—what's two more from your family? You're living witnesses who saw them swap the marriage certificates. Do you think they'll let you live to see the new year?"
She took half a step forward, each word striking the ground: "Things have gone too far to turn back now. Either they lose their heads, or your entire Li family gets silenced—you choose!"
The night wind swept her words across the courtyard, silencing even the most clamorous discussions for a moment.
Li Chunhua, hiding outside the door, shuddered violently. She bit her lip until it bled, her knuckles turning white as she dug her nails deep into her palms—those words were like an awl, brutally piercing through her self-deceiving illusions.
In the end, Li Chunhua emerged from the shadows and stood squarely in the center of the main entrance.
Moonlight draped over her like a thin veil, casting her face as pale as paper.
"My god! Li Chunhua was really hiding there!"
An exclamation erupted from the crowd. "Look at her distraught appearance—she must be guilty! Could what Jiang Dani said be true?"
"Exactly!"
Someone nearby spat in disgust. "Quick, let's hear what she has to say! If it's really as Da Ni described, then Liu Lizheng and Zhang Witch are nothing but beasts in human skin!"