Lin Suhe recognized the voice outside.
It was her second aunt.
She looked at Jiang Wangchuan in panic.
“Brother Jiang…”
Seeing that she looked ready to cry, Jiang Wangchuan guessed who was outside.
“Is that your second aunt?”
Lin Suhe nodded.
“Brother Jiang, please… don’t let her take me away.”
Her soft voice trembled with tears, making his heart soften completely.
The woman outside kept shouting.
By now, some villagers had probably climbed up the mountain to watch the excitement.
“Come on. We can’t hide forever.”
“Let’s go meet her.”
When Lin Suhe heard him say “we,” she knew he wasn’t going to abandon her.
She followed behind him.
When they reached the gate, the old wooden door was almost falling apart from Zhao Qiuju’s pounding.
Jiang Wangchuan pulled the gate open.
“What are you yelling for?”
“It’s early in the morning!”
“Are you trying to wake the dead?”
When Zhao Qiuju saw the tall, strong Jiang Wangchuan standing in the doorway, she instinctively took a step back.
“Jiang! Where is our Suhe?”
“Where did you hide her?”
She shouted while stretching her neck to look into the yard.
Lin Suhe slowly peeked out from behind Jiang Wangchuan’s broad back.
“Second Aunt…”
The moment Zhao Qiuju saw her, she slapped her thigh and stamped her foot.
“My goodness!”
“So you really are here!”
“You shameless little hussy!”
“A young unmarried girl actually ran into another man’s house!”
“When Wang Mazi told me about it, I didn’t believe him!”
“Today I’ll teach you a lesson for your dead parents!”
As she spoke, Zhao Qiuju rolled up her sleeves and rushed toward Lin Suhe.
Jiang Wangchuan stepped forward with one long stride and pulled Lin Suhe farther behind him.
His body completely blocked her.
“What are you doing?”
“If you want to talk, then talk.”
“Don’t lay a hand on her.”
Zhao Qiuju shouted back,
“Jiang! Suhe is our family’s girl!”
“How can you hide her in your house?”
“Are you kidnapping a young woman in broad daylight?”
Then she turned toward the villagers who had gathered nearby.
“Oh, everyone, please judge fairly!”
“This Jiang fellow has stolen our Lin family’s daughter!”
“Suhe is still young and was tricked by him!”
“How will she ever get married now?”
The villagers pointed at Jiang Wangchuan and whispered among themselves.
Most of them simply looked excited to watch the drama.
Jiang Wangchuan became angry and was about to argue.
But Lin Suhe stepped out from behind him.
“Second Aunt, stop shouting.”
“I came here because I wanted to.”
“I want to marry Brother Jiang.”
“It was all my own choice.”
She raised her voice so everyone could hear.
The villagers looked even more surprised.
Everyone in the village knew that Lin Da treasured his beautiful daughter.
Now that he had died, his precious daughter was eagerly trying to marry a poor hunter.
It was truly unexpected.
“Marry him?”
Zhao Qiuju shouted.
“Who said you could marry?”
“Did your second uncle and I agree?”
“Come home with me!”
“Your second uncle has already gone to find a matchmaker.”
“Today we’ll arrange a good marriage for you.”
But Lin Suhe knew very well…
Her second uncle hadn’t gone to find a matchmaker.
He had gone to find a slave trader.
“I’m not going back!”
“I want to stay with Brother Jiang!”
“We… we already…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence.
Her face turned bright red.
Jiang Wangchuan’s eyes widened.
What is this little girl saying?
I didn’t do anything to her last night.
The villagers all gasped.
They looked at the pretty little Lin Suhe, then at the tall and powerful Jiang Wangchuan.
Their expressions became even more excited.
Zhao Qiuju had never expected Lin Suhe to say something like that.
She had promised the slave trader that Lin Suhe was still a virgin.
Rich men in the city preferred young, untouched girls.
That would bring a much higher price.
Now the silver she was about to receive seemed ready to disappear.
Furious, Zhao Qiuju jumped to her feet.
“You shameless little slut!”
“What nonsense are you saying?”
“You’re still an unmarried girl!”
“What do you know about what happens between a man and a woman?”
“Come home right now!”
“Stop embarrassing yourself!”
She reached out to grab Lin Suhe.
But before she could, a strong arm wrapped around the girl.
Jiang Wangchuan lifted Lin Suhe around the waist and carried her like a child, letting her sit on one of his arms.
“What do you think you’re doing to my wife?”
Lin Suhe wrapped her slender arms around his neck.
She shrank closer to him, looking exactly like a young wife seeking her husband’s protection.
“Jiang Wangchuan, you rascal!”
Zhao Qiuju shouted.
“Have you given a betrothal gift?”
“Have you held a wedding?”
“How did my girl suddenly become your wife?”
Jiang Wangchuan had already decided to help Lin Suhe.
“Your girl?”
“My wife’s parents are dead.”
“Who do you think you are?”
Zhao Qiuju put both hands on her wide hips.
“I… I’m her second aunt!”
“She has no parents anymore.”
“So her uncle and aunt should take care of her.”
“Of course she has to listen to us!”
Jiang Wangchuan looked at her with complete contempt.
“Take care of her?”
“When my father-in-law was badly injured, where were you?”
“When they had no money for a doctor, where were you?”
“When he needed money for his funeral, where were you?”
“Now that he’s dead, suddenly you want to take care of his daughter?”
“You really know how to take advantage of someone else’s tragedy.”
Zhao Qiuju had never imagined that the usually quiet Jiang Wangchuan could argue so well.
“You… you…”
“As long as she is a Lin, she belongs to the Lin family!”
Jiang Wangchuan snorted.
“She’s Lin.”
“You’re a Zhao.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Tell your husband to come talk to me.”
“And bring along that ‘matchmaker’ he hired.”
“Let’s all see whether it’s really a matchmaker…”
“…or a slave trader who buys and sells people.”
Zhao Qiuju’s lips trembled.
She couldn’t say a word.
She had no idea how Jiang Wangchuan had learned about the slave trader.
She had planned to secretly sell Lin Suhe.
Now everything has been exposed.
If the villagers found out they had tried to sell their own niece, their family would never be able to hold their heads up again.
Seeing that Zhao Qiuju had fallen silent, Jiang Wangchuan turned to the villagers while still carrying Lin Suhe.
“Everyone, please judge this fairly.”
“Zhao Qiuju and her husband wanted to sell their own niece to a slave trader.”
“They’re worse than animals.”
The villagers had already been enjoying the drama.
Hearing this new information, they immediately began criticizing Zhao Qiuju.
“That’s too much.”
“No matter what, Suhe is your own niece.”
“How could you sell her to a slave trader?”
Faced with everyone’s accusations, Zhao Qiuju’s face turned dark red.
Jiang Wangchuan didn’t give her a chance to defend herself.
He continued,
“My wife didn’t want to be sold.”
“So she came to me for help.”
“I saved her father.”
“I lent her money.”
“Everyone here already knows that.”
“To repay my kindness, she offered to marry me.”
“I accepted.”
“From today on, I will treat her well.”
“I ask everyone here to witness it.”