Watching her retreating figure, Li Chen shook his head with a faint smile. He picked up the woodcutting blade and headed to the nearby hillside to chop firewood.
He did not just gather ordinary firewood. He cut down quite a bit of sour jujube wood and white birch, and also brought back several willow sticks as thick as a wrist. It was only after half an hour that he finally returned.
He had just stepped inside, wiped off his sweat, and taken a sip of water when he heard hurried, uneven footsteps outside.
Turning his head, he saw Yu Qingwan running in from outside the courtyard, a large bamboo basket slung over her arm. She was wiping her tears and sobbing softly.
“What happened?” Li Chen frowned and went out to meet her.
“Ah… n-nothing.”
As soon as Yu Qingwan saw him, she quickly wiped her eyes and nervously clutched the hem of her jacket.
“Let me see.”
Li Chen sensed something was wrong. He walked over and firmly moved her hand aside.
He saw that the once perfectly good jacket now had a large tear slashed across it.
“My lord, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I accidentally tore the new clothes. I’m sorry. You can beat me…”
Yu Qingwan was terrified. She squatted down at once, hugging her head. With trembling hands, she picked up the rattan switch from the corner of the wall and shakily handed it to Li Chen.
Li Chen took the switch but merely planted it on the ground, frowning at her. “Who tore it?”
Yu Qingwan was still childlike at heart. She had only wanted to wear the new clothes to show others, just to feel a little proud.
She cherished those clothes so much she would barely dare touch them. How could she have torn them herself?
Someone must have been jealous and deliberately cut them.
Once he understood this, anger surged within Li Chen.
Yu Qingwan knelt there without speaking, only shaking her head through her tears.
“Tell me. Who did it?” Li Chen helped her up and demanded again.
“It… it was Zhou Jiao, the daughter of Old Zhou from the south end of the village. She touched my new clothes and said they were pretty. Then she pretended it wasn’t on purpose and used her knife for digging wild vegetables to cut them. Wuwu…”
Seeing Li Chen angry, Yu Qingwan did not dare hide the truth. She looked at the torn corner of her clothes with heartache and cried even harder.
“I’ll go find her.”
Li Chen picked up the rattan switch and strode out.
“My lord, please don’t… It’s just a matter between girls…” Yu Qingwan said anxiously, afraid he would cause trouble.
“You are my wife. Whoever dares to bully you is bullying me.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Li Chen’s voice was cold as he stepped out of the courtyard.
At that moment, a group of women who had gone digging wild vegetables were returning, passing right by the courtyard gate.
Holding the rattan switch, Li Chen walked straight out and immediately spotted Zhou Jiao in the crowd.
Zhou Jiao was about the same age as Yu Qingwan but had a sturdy, thick waist.
She was already in the wrong. Seeing Li Chen approach with an imposing air, she panicked and tried to run.
Li Chen’s long strides closed the distance in just a few steps, and he blocked her path.
“W-what do you want?” Zhou Jiao asked, clutching her vegetable knife with trembling hands.
“My Qingwan’s clothes. You cut them?” Li Chen asked coldly.
“My Qingwan…” Yu Qingwan, standing behind him, froze when she heard that.
“I… I didn’t mean to…” Zhou Jiao said stubbornly.
At that moment, a tall, well-built young woman carrying a bamboo basket stepped forward and spoke up righteously. It was Xu Xiu’er, the village head’s daughter. “Zhou Jiao, you were wrong. You were jealous because her new clothes were pretty, so you used your knife to cut them. You should apologize.”
Several other girls gathered around, all speaking at once.
“Zhou Jiao, that was really wrong. The clothes look expensive. Qingwan liked them so much and said her lord bought them for her in Pingyang County City, and you deliberately cut them.”
“Exactly. You should apologize and sew them up for her.”
“Hurry and apologize. Look how hard Qingwan is crying. She really loved those clothes.”
“I… I didn’t do it on purpose. And I already apologized. What more do you want? He, Li Chen, is a grown man. Charging at me like this and questioning a girl. Does he have any shame?”
Zhou Jiao had a stubborn, unruly streak. She lifted her chin and refused to apologize.
Smack.
Li Chen did not indulge her at all. The rattan switch lashed across her leg.
“Apologize.”
Li Chen barked.
“Ow! That hurts!”
Zhou Jiao clutched her leg and jumped around like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “You dare hit me? How bold of you! Come look, everyone! Look! A grown man beating a woman!” New chapters come out on g.com first.
Despite her young age, Zhou Jiao was fierce and loud, shrieking nonstop.
“Whether man or woman, if you do wrong, you get punished. Today I’ll teach you a lesson.”
Ignoring her screaming and insults, Li Chen swung the rattan switch with full force. Smack, smack, smack. After three or four hard lashes, Zhou Jiao collapsed onto the ground, covering her wounds and sobbing.
“Whoever dares bully my Qingwan again will end up like this.”
Li Chen snorted and glanced around. The surrounding women lowered their heads.
Xu Xiu’er stared at him blankly. A strange mix of envy and bitterness rose in her heart. Since childhood, Li Chen had always followed her around. Now he did not even spare her a glance, yet he had beaten Zhou Jiao for Yu Qingwan?
And the new clothes he bought for Yu Qingwan were so beautiful.
At that moment, a woman rushed over from the side. It was Wang Caifeng, the middle-aged woman who had mocked Li Chen together with Ma Lian a few days earlier.
“You little brat! You dare hit my Jiao’er? I’ll fight you!”
Wang Caifeng had been walking at the back, chatting. Hearing the commotion, she rushed over and saw her daughter lying on the ground. Furious, she lunged at Li Chen.
Li Chen suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharpening instantly.
The moment their eyes met, Wang Caifeng felt a bone-chilling cold spread through her entire body. She found herself completely unable to move, as though frozen in place.
After two breaths, she could finally move again, but Li Chen had already taken Yu Qingwan back into the courtyard.
She gritted her teeth and muttered threats under her breath but ultimately did not dare chase after him.
That boy’s eyes were terrifying.
She could only help her daughter up as Zhou Jiao threw herself into her arms and wailed.
Seeing the bloody welts on her daughter’s waist and legs, Wang Caifeng ground her teeth in fury. “Good daughter, when your father comes back from hunting in the mountains, we’ll go find that little beast and demand an explanation!”
Back at home, Li Chen acted as if nothing had happened and sat down to catch his breath. His brief test with Wang Caifeng confirmed once again that when he locked eyes with someone and exerted his presence, that person would freeze for a moment, as though truly stiffened by cold.
Yu Qingwan, who had been heartbroken, now felt much better. A kind of indescribable sweetness and happiness lingered in her heart.
She paced around the room several times before suddenly remembering something. She hurried over with a bowl of water. “My lord, drink some water.”
After Li Chen drank, she ran outside to fetch the broken palm-leaf fan and began fanning him. “My lord, I’ll fan you.”
After a while, she even set down the fan and half-knelt before him. “My lord, I’ll massage your legs.”
“All right, all right. My legs don’t hurt. Come, I’ll teach you how to refine fine salt.”
Li Chen stood up helplessly.