With that, she burst into a wail.
“Father, please, come take your daughter away!”
Li Miaomiao wept with such heartbreaking intensity that the villagers began to whisper, casting scathing glares at Lin Dalang.
Seeing the crowd turning against them, Bai Lian scrambled onto the ground, rolling around in a display of pure, unadulterated shrewishness.
“Oh, woe is me! You shrew, you hit my son and now you’re here playing the victim? Is there no justice left in this world?”
As Li Miaomiao wiped away her tears, she caught a glimpse of Bai Lian’s chaotic performance and bit her inner lip.
If it’s rolling on the ground you want, I can play that game.
To accomplish great things, the most important trait is having a face thicker than the city walls. In the next heartbeat, she plopped herself onto the ground, pounding the earth as she sobbed.
“Father! Come and take me away! Not only did the Lin family humiliate me on my wedding day, but now they’ve come to my own doorstep to bully me. How am I supposed to go on living like this?”
Xiao Xian, seeing her small fists slamming against the hard ground and knowing how much she hated pain, bent down to grab her wrists. His gentle eyes were filled with a profound sense of sorrow.
“My lady, this is all because your husband is incompetent. If I were stronger, I would crawl all the way to the magistrate’s office just to secure justice for you.”
Crawl to the magistrate’s office for justice?
Li Miaomiao was so stunned by his words that she let out a tearful hiccup. She stared into his eyes, which brimmed with such tender, seemingly genuine heartache that she froze.
He’s an even better actor than I am!
Seeing Xiao Xian threaten to involve the authorities—a move that would jeopardize the Lin family’s standing in the village—Li Xiaorou decided she needed to exert more control over the situation. She knelt halfway on the ground and grabbed Li Miaomiao’s shoulders, forcing her to face her.
With a look of pained grievance, as if it were Li Miaomiao who had stolen her husband, she whispered, “Sister, we are family. Even though I have married Brother Lin, you will always be my sister. If you must hate someone, hate me, but please don’t blame Brother Lin.”
She leaned in, lowering her voice. “If you really can’t let this go, I… I will give up my position as the first wife to you.”
Li Xiaorou’s hypocritical act might have fooled the three dimwits of the Lin family, but as Li Miaomiao stared at her, she felt nothing but a cold, inward sneer.
First wife? Who on earth would want that?
Li Xiaorou, so you like to play the fragile victim, do you? Then let me give you a performance to remember.
She shoved Li Xiaorou’s hands away.
Li Xiaorou immediately seized the opportunity to collapse onto the ground. From every angle, it looked exactly as if Li Miaomiao had pushed her.
Seeing his new bride on the ground, Lin Dalang quickly pulled Li Xiaorou and Bai Lian away, then immediately turned his venomous gaze toward Li Miaomiao.
“You poisonous woman! Xiaorou has been generous enough not to hold a grudge against you, yet here you are, still looking for trouble? What is it you want?”
“Trouble? That’s exactly what I should be asking you.”
Supported by Xiao Xian, she stood up, wiped her tears, and turned to face the women of the village. She let out a long, bitter laugh.
“I would like to ask the aunts and grandmothers of this village: If your daughter had her engagement stolen by her own step-sister, and then was harassed at her own home by that same unfaithful man—only for them to turn around and pretend they are the ones acting with grace and righteousness—would any of you be willing to accept that kind of life?”
Within seconds, one of the aunts spoke up sharply.
“I certainly wouldn’t! Abandoning my daughter on her wedding day? If it were me, I’d be lucky if I didn’t burn their house to the ground. If they dared to show their faces at my door looking for trouble, I’d make sure those two shameless wretches never saw another sunrise, or else my husband and I haven’t lived this life for nothing!”
The aunt who spoke had three sons and one precious daughter, whom she doted upon. The women with daughters of their own found the scenario easy to identify with.
Soon, the other women began to chime in.
“That’s right! Even if I had many daughters, each one was born of my own flesh and blood. Why should she be bullied by an unfaithful cur?”
Living here on the border, the people were known for their open, rugged, and fierce temperament.
“Step-daughters are nothing but ungrateful wolves; one look at her and you can tell she’s full of nothing but malice.”
As the other aunt said this, she shot a side-glance at Li Xiaorou. There was no need to name names; everyone knew exactly who she was talking about.
Li Xiaorou felt the weight of those piercing, judgmental glares, and for the first time, she felt distinctly uncomfortable.
Realizing that Li Miaomiao had intentionally goaded the villagers into attacking her, Li Xiaorou felt a surge of murderous rage.
“Sister, I have already offered to give up my position as the first wife to you! Are you still not satisfied? Do you only want me dead before you’re willing to let this go?”
Hearing the word “dead,” Lin Dalang looked as though he wanted to scoop her up and crush her into his chest for safekeeping.
“Xiaorou, you are too kind,” he murmured, before whipping his head around to glare at Li Miaomiao. “You vicious woman! Your lies are endless. You will get what’s coming to you sooner or later.”
The fury in his eyes seemed capable of setting her ablaze.
Unfortunately for him, Li Miaomiao wasn’t intimidated. She took the basin of fried meatballs from Xiao Xian’s hands, clutching it like a shield, and feigned a wounded expression.
“You say I’m lying? Fine. Let’s head to the magistrate’s office right now and let the County Magistrate settle this once and for all. It’s clear we aren’t going to reach an agreement here.”
Guo Ce was the son of the Magistrate; with that kind of backing, Lin Dalang didn’t feel the least bit threatened by the prospect of court. He stiffened his neck and barked, “Fine! Let’s go right now.”
He didn’t believe for a second that once they were in front of the Magistrate, this poisonous woman wouldn’t be forced to surrender.
Li Miaomiao wasn’t worried either. She had assessed the situation before striking Lin Dalang; it was midday, and Lin Dalang had come to the village outskirts alone.
Except for Xiao Xian… that was the one variable.
He was a man of fickle moods, and for the past few days, he hadn’t exactly been friendly toward her. Today, however, had been an exception. Thinking of this, her gaze flickered toward the man beside her.
In an instant, Xiao Xian caught her drift and met her eyes. His own eyes curved, a smile appearing that didn’t quite reach the depth of his pupils.
“My lady, I am more than willing to accompany you to the magistrate’s office for a visit.”
His display of goodwill gave Li Miaomiao pause. She stared at the man’s handsome eyes, unable to fathom his true intentions. Was he genuinely willing to help her, or was he planning to trip her up later?
As the saying goes, spectators are never afraid of things getting too chaotic. Immediately, someone volunteered:
“I’ll run back and grab my donkey cart. I’ll take you both to Wuhe County for free!”
Just as the man took off, the village chief arrived, tapping his cane sharply against the ground. He marched into the courtyard, and as the crowd fell silent, he announced, “The village chief is here.”
The moment Lin Youcai saw the chief, his eyes darted around, and he immediately stepped forward to lodge his complaint.
“Chief, you’ve come at the perfect time! That shrew Li Miaomiao bullied my son. We were just on our way to the magistrate’s office to report her. You should come with us and be our witness!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the village chief strode up to Lin Dalang and delivered a resounding slap to his face.
Crack!
The sharp sound silenced the entire courtyard.
Lin Dalang clutched his cheek, his face a mask of confusion. “Grandpa Chief, why did you hit me?”
The Lin parents and Li Xiaorou finally snapped out of their shock and scrambled forward to pull Lin Dalang back.
“Chief! Why are you hitting my son? It was Li Miaomiao who hit him!” Bai Lian shrieked, her voice shrill with indignation.
The village chief slammed his cane heavily into the dirt, his eyes sharp and piercing.
“It’s him I meant to hit.”
Li Miaomiao whispered to Xiao Xian, “Stand firm yourself,” then walked over to the village chief, bowing politely. “Grandpa Chief, what brings you here?”
Seeing that she was uninjured, the chief breathed a sigh of relief.
“If I hadn’t come, you’d all be off to the magistrate’s office by now. Are you intentionally trying to make our village a laughingstock for the surrounding towns?”
Wuhe County had a policy: each year, they rated the villages under their jurisdiction, and the top three were awarded significant subsidies. Because the competition was fierce, everyone wanted to be first. Naturally, the unwritten rule was that any problem that could be solved within the village walls should never be taken to the magistrate.
If the County Magistrate deemed a case to be trivial or a waste of official time, it would negatively impact the village’s year-end evaluation—especially with the big event in June, where every village fought tooth and nail to secure the win.