Su Xiuer was drugged by her mother-in-law. When she regained consciousness, a strange man was undressing her.
"This little lady's chest... tsk tsk, it's a shame the owner said I can look but not touch."
Rough hands impatiently tore at her sash, and the black mud under his fingernails smeared her snow-white inner garment.
Su Xiuer's eyes darkened. She bent her knees and kicked upwards, crushing the man's ribs with a crisp "crack" sound, accompanied by a scream. She kicked the man to the ground.
Footsteps could be heard from outside the room.
"Mother, are you sure the medicine you gave her was potent enough? That shrew has been strong as an ox since she was little, and she's been a butcher for years. Ordinary men aren't her match."
"What are you afraid of? If the medicine doesn't work, it's fine. As long as someone like Yang Daji gets his hands on her, she won't be able to explain herself even with ten mouths. Then, won't she be at our mercy?"
"Alright, time's almost up. Don't let Yang Daji actually give your Eldest Brother a cuckold. Kick the door down first."
The conversation outside the door stopped, and Su Xiuer understood the situation.
She worked as a butcher to support her husband while he studied and to provide for her impoverished mother-in-law.
For a full three years, her husband finally became the Top Scholar. However, he secretly brought his mother's family to the Capital City without her knowledge.
She brought her child and came to find him. Her husband personally met her at the city gate, saying it was all a misunderstanding.
The person who brought her a letter from home had an accident halfway.
In the evening, her mother-in-law prepared a reunion dinner and personally poured her a cup of wine, thanking her for her hard work over the years.
She only took a small sip before she fainted.
She felt the cold butcher knife under the pillow, its blood grooves pressing against her palm.
So it was indeed her mother-in-law and brother-in-law who hired thugs to stage this scene, all to control her.
Su Xiuer got up, dragged the unconscious Yang Daji to her feet, and before Wei Tian could kick the door down, she struck first. She kicked the door open and threw the butcher knife in her hand.
The butcher knife grazed Wei Tian's scalp and deeply embedded itself into the vermilion pillar behind him.
Wei Tian and Mother Wei, Madam Zhao, were both so frightened that their faces turned pale. They instinctively cowered on the ground, covering their heads with their hands.
Su Xiuer dragged Yang Daji in front of Wei Tian and Madam Zhao, slammed him down, and with a flash of cold light, she expressionlessly drew back the butcher knife and held it to Madam Zhao's neck.
"Tell me, why did you drug me? Why did you want to control me? Did Wei Mingze, after becoming the Top Scholar, truly change his heart!"
Before they even set off, people in the village had been gossiping.
They said Wei Mingze, after becoming the Top Scholar, hadn't even sent a letter back, so he must have changed his heart.
She always believed in seeing to believe.
Moreover, Wei Mingze had never stopped sending letters home since he left, and he had always been gentle and considerate to her when they were home. That's why she brought their child to the Capital City to verify.
At that time, she thought, if Wei Mingze dared to change his heart, she would make him see blood.
"Where is Wei Mingze? Where is he?"
Su Xiuer pushed the butcher knife an inch forward, giving Madam Zhao a cold smile.
This smile made Madam Zhao tremble all over.
Su Xiuer was known for her fierce and arrogant nature throughout the ten-mile radius of Taolin Village.
Relying on her innate divine strength, even before she became a butcher, she had beaten up men who gossiped about her widowed mother so badly that they almost became infertile.
After becoming a butcher, she slaughtered pigs daily and sold them at the market, her ferocity only increasing.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have resorted to this poor strategy of drugging Su Xiuer's wine.
Madam Zhao gritted her teeth. In truth, she couldn't be blamed entirely.
Who asked Su Xiuer to be just a butcher woman reeking of blood, who also brought along an indiscreet widowed mother, and a bastard child who was supposedly adopted but might have been illegitimate.
If their family hadn't been so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat, she wouldn't have sacrificed her eldest son to marry into the family.
Her eldest son had shown signs of being a Top Scholar since childhood; only a young lady from a scholarly family would be a suitable match.
Now that her eldest son had truly become the Top Scholar and was fancied by a young lady from the Minister's Estate.
At a time like this, they absolutely could not let a village woman hinder the Wei family's chance to rise to prominence.
In her opinion, giving Su Xiuer, a butcher woman who had never seen the world, a few taels of silver to send her away was already showing leniency.
However, her eldest son had always been righteous and couldn't make up his mind about how to deal with Su Xiuer.
To cut the Gordian knot, three days ago, she had sent Su Xiuer a letter of divorce behind her eldest son's back.
She didn't expect this shrew to be like a dog, sniffing her way here.
Firstly, she feared this shrew would find out about her eldest son and the young lady from the Minister's Estate and make a scene.
Secondly, her eldest son, remembering their marital bond, truly couldn't bear for Su Xiuer to live a miserable life without support after being divorced.
Thus, they devised this plan as a compromise.
They only wanted to find fault with Su Xiuer, forcing her to voluntarily demote herself to a concubine, making way for the young lady from the Minister's family to become the main wife.
She didn't expect Su Xiuer to be so unappreciative and see through their plan in advance.
"Xiuer, quickly put down the knife in your hand, lest you hurt Mother, or yourself."
Her husband, Wei Mingze, wearing a dark green silk robe, rushed in from outside the courtyard carrying their son, Su Xiaobao. The candlelight cast his anxious expression in flickering light and shadow.
"Stop," Su Xiuer said, pressing Madam Zhao's shoulder with one hand and pointing the butcher knife at Wei Mingze with the other. "First, give me an explanation. Why did you plot against me? Were you aware of this?"
Wei Mingze's eyes flickered slightly. A hint of helplessness crossed his gentle face as he softly persuaded, "Xiuer, Xiaobao is tired. Don't scare him. We can talk about anything when we get back to our room."
Su Xiaobao, held by Wei Mingze, had a tired look on his small face. Seeing her look over, he quickly called out, "Mother."
From Taolin Village to the Capital City, they had been traveling for nearly half a month without a single day of rest.
Her son was only four years old, and he had eagerly traveled to the Capital City to find his father. He must have been truly exhausted.
The candlelight burned in the room.
Su Xiuer slammed the butcher knife onto the table and sat down, quietly watching Wei Mingze, who had followed her in, waiting for his explanation.
Wei Mingze stood with his hands clasped in front of Su Xiuer.
This reminded Su Xiuer of when Wei Mingze went to the Capital to take the imperial examination, and she had given him all her savings.
Wei Mingze, holding the silver, was so moved that his eyes turned red, and he publicly swore an oath.
He said he would only love her in this life and that once he achieved success, he would bring her to the Capital to enjoy a life of comfort.
Whether she enjoyed comfort or not was secondary; at that time, she only wished for Wei Mingze's safety.
How long had it been? Yet, things had changed so much.
"Xiuer, to be honest, Miss Duan Zhenzhu, the eldest daughter of Minister Duan's family, has taken a liking to me as her future husband. Mother devised this plan for my future. She wouldn't have truly harmed you. Please understand Mother's difficult position and don't bother her about it."
Guilt flickered in Wei Mingze's eyes, and his face showed a look of apology.
"So you knew about this?" Su Xiuer sat up straighter, her expression dark and unreadable.
Wei Mingze's eyes showed even more remorse, and his expression became one of cautious probing.
"Mother's intention was for you to temporarily stay in the household as my sworn sister, and once Miss Duan is married in, then your status as a concubine will be announced."
"Mother knows my heart belongs only to you. Once Miss Duan enters the household, I will visit your room frequently. We will have a child that truly belongs to us, and you will have someone to rely on in the future."
To describe demoting a wife to a concubine so elegantly made Su Xiuer feel disgusted.
It was like swallowing a fly whole, unable to spit it out.
She liked to get to the bottom of things and speak plainly.
"So, was this your idea or your mother's idea? I don't want to hear your mother's intentions, I want to hear yours!"
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