Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 381 - 381 382 Pretending to be Innocent_1

Chapter 381: Chapter 382: Pretending to be Innocent_1 Chapter 381: Chapter 382: Pretending to be Innocent_1 Lord Lu was furious, having never seen such unreasonable and overbearing behavior before. He slapped the shocking hall wood,” Slandering a court-appointed official—you there! Add another twenty hefty blows!”

Qiao Yuanzhen struggled desperately, but his slight frame was naturally no match for the burly government officers. In a brief moment, they had him subdued and dragged him to the front of the government office, where Shi Xing awaited.

The onlookers, finding the scene quite entertaining, were unwilling to disperse, each one eager to see this disrespectful man receive his beating.

“Tsk tsk, with such a small frame, can he really endure it? But how come the big lord who supposedly slept with him hasn’t shown his face at all? Even if he’s been removed from his position, he ought to show up in the courtroom.”

“You don’t know? That big lord is none other than Mrs. Luo from our Chatu Town—an infamous land viper. Just yesterday, he was betrayed by his own subordinates. They divided up his wealth and ran off, leaving nothing behind. Luo Mansion is now just an empty shell without a thing left overnight. As for Mrs. Luo, his whereabouts are unknown, who knows where he’s hiding.”

In a nondescript corner by the wall, a fat man disguised with straw was shivering. After Qiao Muniang and Yu Ze left the previous day, his subordinates had plundered all his wealth. Hearing that Qiao Yuanzhen had been arrested by the government office, he knew he had to hide since he would undoubtedly be next. So, he hurried out, penniless and with serious injuries, not knowing where to run, he could only beg on the streets.

This case, which had caused a stir in all of Chatu Town, had remarkably not implicated Muniang in the slightest. Yu Ze had planned everything perfectly. He didn’t want Muniang to be the subject of gossip, just like now with Mrs. Luo falling from grace and Qiao Yuanzhen being arrested, everyone only saw the surface and not a single person knew who was really guiding the development of the events.

Yu Ze and Muniang were in the crowd, watching Qiao Yuanzhen being publicly tried. Muniang felt especially vindicated, especially when she heard everyone discussing Qiao Yuanzhen’s prostitution and saw the ugly expression on his face, her lips involuntarily curled up into a smile.

“Feeling happy?” Yu Ze asked softly.

Muniang, in a coquettish manner, clung to Yu Ze’s arm, “Happy, my husband.”

Yu Ze’s lips curled into a smile when he saw the officials about to strip Qiao Yuanzhen’s trousers to start the beating, he immediately wrapped his arm around Muniang and led her away, “There’s nothing more to see here, let’s head back.”

Muniang quickly turned her head back, “But I haven’t had my fill yet!”

She was particularly curious to see whether Qiao Yuanzhen’s buttocks, constantly “favored” by Mrs. Luo, were still intact.

Yu Ze turned her head back around, “You want to see, go back and look at mine, as much as you like.”

Muniang’s face turned red, “I don’t want to look!” She quickly looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them, finding it embarrassing.

Fortunately, everyone was focused on Qiao Yuanzhen’s buttocks, and no one was looking at them. Muniang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Ze chuckled, took Muniang by the waist, and helped her into the carriage.

When they returned to Tupo Village, they found it was even busier than Chatu Town. As Muniang’s carriage entered the village, she saw a crowd gathered together in a noisy argument, as if they were quarreling.

From a distance, Muniang could hear Madam Zhao’s shrill voice.

“You shameless gossip, always spreading lies! Our Yuanzhen is a Mr. Scholar—how could he be detained in the government office? And to do such, such indecent things? You’re just jealous that Yuanzhen is now wealthy and has regained his honor, so you slander him. Do you think the Qiao family is easy to bully? Believe me, I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

Yet another woman arguing with Madam Zhao said, “Am I making things up? I saw it with my own eyes in town, the government office was surrounded by people, inside and out, and that man kneeling in the public hall, isn’t that Qiao Yuanzhen? My eyes must be blind if I saw wrong!”

“How could our Yuanzhen possibly do such a thing? I’ll fight you over this!” Madam Zhao howled and charged at the woman, knocking her to the ground.

The woman was no pushover, having lived in the fields for so many years, how could she be outdone by Madam Zhao? She grabbed Madam Zhao’s hair and started scuffling with her on the ground, both covered in mud, people nearby hurried to break up the fight, but they just couldn’t separate the two.

Xiangcai spotted Muniang’s carriage and immediately came over to greet her, “Muniang, have you just come back from town?”

Muniang pulled back the curtain, “Yes, what’s up?”

At Muniang’s words, everyone turned to look at her in unison, including the two grappling on the ground. The woman, upon seeing Muniang, immediately yelled, “Muniang, tell us, isn’t your uncle caught by the government office? The whole Chatu Town is talking about it. Isn’t it true?!”

Well, that was great; now she would have to act as a witness. She originally didn’t want to get involved in the fight, but in a flash, she was dragged into it, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Muniang had no choice but to say, “Yes, the County Chief said there was something fishy about the scholar title he brought back. He said, he said…”

At this point, Muniang still posed with a shy demeanor, unable to go on. After all, Muniang had to maintain the image of a demure and shy young wife. Otherwise, speaking so bluntly would make people think she knew too much.

Yu Ze tugged at the corner of his mouth. Aren’t you the one who knows a lot? Who was it that desperately wanted to see someone’s abused behind in front of the government office?

The crowd quickly egged her on, “What did he say?”

Only then did Muniang say, “He said that he became a little groom for a great lord and, in return, the lord helped him obtain the scholar title by improper means.”

The crowd buzzed with shock; even Muniang saying so made it seem like the woman wasn’t merely spreading false rumors to slander him.

Madam Zhao froze on the spot, having had the upper hand in the fight but suddenly she couldn’t move. When she heard what Muniang said, she felt like her head was about to explode.

The woman took the opportunity to pinch Madam Zhao on the body, then got up and, head held high, mocked, “And you said I was spouting nonsense. Just look at what your son has done! It’s a good thing our village drove him out early, otherwise, the folks from Tupo Village would be too ashamed to hold their heads up when they go out!”

Madam Zhao, as if mad, hurriedly asked, “How is our Yuanzhen now? Where is he?”

Muniang responded indifferently, “Lord Lu sentenced him to seventy lashes and three years in jail; by now he should have been taken away.”

Madam Zhao wailed, “My son, how could you commit such a deed, my son!”

While wailing, she immediately ran off, presumably to go back, hitch up the donkey cart, and head to town.