After Transmigration, I Picked Up A Husband and Daughter
Chapter 167: Grievance

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Grievance

Every step seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, yet her eyes revealed an indomitable determination that couldn’t be underestimated...

Her eyes appeared to brim with endless sorrow, tears falling like pearls off a broken string, reddening and swelling the skin around her eye sockets. Each tear carried an indescribable pain and despair.

With each step, it felt as though she was traversing through a forest of endless thorns, burdened with immense weight, suffering unbearable pain.

The road beneath her feet was no longer a path home, but an endless painful pilgrimage, each step mercilessly crushing her will.

What made it even colder was that amid her helplessness and disheveled state, a pair of greedy eyes silently locked onto her.

Two beggars, haggard and in tattered clothing, followed closely behind like hungry wolves in the shadows, licking their lips greedily, their eyes glinting with ill intent.

Finally, in a dim corner, they confirmed she was defenseless and, like hunters seizing their moment, they pounced from behind. Rought hands clamped around her arms like iron pincers, dragging her into a pitch-black alley, a breeding ground for sin, an abyss untouched by light.

The scream that rose in Fang Qin’s throat was immediately choked by a filthy hand that carried a nauseating stench, a smell as if arising from the depths of hell, suffocating.

Her eyes widened with fear, but all she could see was chaos, and the despair rising in her heart, like wildfire, could not be contained.

Her mouth was tightly gagged with a moldy rag, its disgusting taste nearly suffocating her. Each attempt to breathe was a challenge to her endurance limit.

Her hands were firmly restrained as if trapped by copper walls and iron barriers. Her legs, overburdened by the sudden attack, dangled weakly, manipulated at will.

A cold breeze blew by, taking away the last bit of warmth and with it her last shred of dignity.

Her clothes ripped open under the brutal force, emitting heartbreaking sounds. Faced with two hideous figures, Fang Qin’s resistive flame gradually extinguished in despair, leaving endless sadness and humiliation.

When night fell, a piercing cry for help shattered the street’s tranquility. A woman with torn clothes and a haggard face staggered out of the alley, crying for assistance.

The passersby who looked at her didn’t need words; her ravaged face told everything.

Some couldn’t bear it and called the police on her behalf.

However, when the constables arrived in haste, what met their eyes was none other than Fang Qin, who had been flogged at the Yamen in the morning. Surprised, and even more perplexed.

Facing their questions, Fang Qin stubbornly shook her head, refusing to reveal a hint of the truth about her assault, unwilling to pursue it.

In the end, under the arrangement of the constables, a rickety carriage carried her off to a haven known as Willow Village.

Inside the jolting carriage, Fang Qin’s tears silently flowed, each one congealing with resentment and defiance.

She planted a seed of vengeance in her heart, and her hatred for Su Yu grew wildly like weeds, believing it was her fault that she had fallen into this endless darkness.

A vow echoed in her chest; she would make the evildoer pay, an eye for an eye!

Meanwhile, Jiang Xunzhong, the man who should have been her staunch support, was working obliviously in the fields.

The news of Fang Qin’s ordeal and the rumors of Su Yu being favored in the county government spread like wildfire through Willow Village, each session of post-meal gossip striking heavily upon his heart.

When he returned home, exhausted, and conveyed these messages to his wife, Lady Zhao, her face was full of shock and bewilderment.

"Fang Qin, our daughter-in-law, has suffered such wrongs? Not only is the perpetrator at large, but the County Magistrate Master personally sent her back?"

A string of questions struck Jiang Xunzhong like heavy hammers, mercilessly pounding at his heart and making it unbearable for him.

Jiang Xunzhong’s complexion was somber, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

His falling out with Jiang Ziling had already made him the laughingstock of the village.

Now, this succession of calamities had plunged his family into an unprecedented predicament.

"What on earth is happening? Why has it turned out this way?"

Lady Zhao muttered to herself, her mind fraught with doubts but unable to find any answers.

The way things were unfolding contradicted their initial expectations, as if fate was silently mocking their naivety and helplessness.

The courtyard gate banged heavily and urgently in the wind, accompanied by a confusion of footsteps. Fang Qin, covered in injuries, lay weakly on a simple stretcher, carefully brought in by several villagers with anxious expressions.

Her clothes were torn, and wisps of hair clung chaotically to her dust-covered face. The mottled bruises on her exposed skin were shocking, too distressing for anyone to bear witnessing.

Passersby from the neighborhood cast surprised and sympathetic glances, whispering to one another. The murmurs rose and fell, but no one approached to ask, as if the scene were so heavy that they involuntarily kept their distance.

Hearing the commotion, Lady Zhao hurried over, her brows deeply furrowed. Looking at her daughter’s pitiful state, she felt an indescribable surge of sorrow and anger.

"Didn’t they say she was only subject to minor corporal punishment? How could her clothes be torn like this?"

Her voice was interwoven with anxiety and dissatisfaction, trembling slightly.

Fang Qin seemed to have exhausted all her strength and just lay there with her eyes tightly shut, her lips quivering, wordlessly, with only her faint breath echoing in the air as if whispering endless suffering.

Lady Zhao turned and glared furiously, grabbing the sleeves of the two young men who had driven the cart, her eyes blazing with rage.

"Did you take advantage of her injury and think of doing something indecent to her? Huh?"

Both young men hastily waved their hands in denial, their faces the picture of innocence, as if greatly wronged.

"Ma’am, you can’t just talk nonsense like that. We did our job by the rules, took the money, and promised to bring her back unharmed. We didn’t do a thing out of line!"

"Yeah, right. Even if we were bold, we wouldn’t dare have such thoughts."

The other chimed in hurriedly, with a pained smile. Shaking off Lady Zhao’s hand, he made a move to leave, clearly eager to escape these sudden accusations.

However, Lady Zhao was not ready to let it go and was about to argue further when one of them suddenly raised his voice in a tough tone, exuding undeniable authority.

"Old Lady, we are helping the government out here. If you keep this up, we may have to take you to the government office as well!"

This threat was like cold water poured over her head, instantly extinguishing Lady Zhao’s fury. She stood there, stunned, as she watched the two men stride away, their figures gradually disappearing at the end of the alley.

Jiang Xunzhong stood silently to one side, his gaze fixed on the barely breathing Fang Qin on the ground, his brow furrowed deeply with worry.

"First get her inside. We can talk about the rest later."

Lady Zhao tried to get the truth from Fang Qin, but Fang Qin was vague, falsely claiming that she had impulsively clashed with the constables because she was dissatisfied that they had let Su Yu off.