Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 432 - 432 431 No Substitutions_1

Chapter 432: Chapter 431: No Substitutions_1 Chapter 432: Chapter 431: No Substitutions_1 She then derided with contempt, “But I tell you, I got quite a scare just now, worrying about what would become of me if Lady Guo, having received Lady’s favor, were to take the stage again and became the star of Mei Garden. Heh, thankfully the heavens have eyes and took pity on this old woman. Allowing a little wench like you to succeed would really be an injustice!”

Guo Yuehua was furious, wanting nothing more than to struggle free and have another fight with Nanny Zhang, but she was held down firmly by the other two nannies and couldn’t move at all.

Nanny Zhang bellowed, “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and finish with the remaining ten spanks and throw her out! If she’s going to die, she can’t die in Mei Garden and dirty the place for nothing!”

When Chen Yuhua’s parents arrived, Guo Yuehua had already been beaten half to death. Muniang meant that a proper account had to be settled and they could dispose of her as they wished. Murder was met with a life for a life, and for attempted murder, an attempted life for a life was fitting.

But Chen Yuhua’s parents were kind-hearted, seeing the girl beaten to such a state that one more blow could end her breath. They refrained from further punishment and merely scolded and wept over her a few times before stopping.

As for Guo Yuehua’s disposition, Muniang didn’t want to keep her any longer either. She had caused such trouble because of a moment’s soft-heartedness in the past, and Muniang was not about to trust her again.

“Just hand her over to Lai,” Muniang instructed. “Let her be sold to a rich family to work as a maid, but make sure she is not sent to a brothel.” In Muniang’s final instruction, there was a last bit of mercy for Guo Yuehua.

The servant acknowledged the order and hurried off to carry it out. Although Guo Yuehua’s Servant’s Certificate was not at Mei Garden, for a friendless and kinless criminal’s daughter like her, falling back into servitude was all too easy. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have clung to Mei Garden, preferring to do menial labor than leave, knowing how difficult it was for her to fend for herself. Barring a few days’ time, she would likely be targeted and captured to be sold once more.

After all, the public security in ancient times was hardly trustable.

Chen Yuhua finally regained consciousness after two days of fainting. Muniang went to see her specially. When Yuhua saw Muniang, she was half-sitting up in bed taking her medicine and pulled at the corner of her mouth, “Lady, you’ve come.”

“Are you feeling better? Is there anything uncomfortable with your body?” Muniang’s words were tinged with slight regret, although the incident was stirred up by Guo Yuehua, it had happened in Mei Garden, and she naturally felt some unease about it.

“Nothing special, just a severe headache at times. The doctor said it’s normal and that I will recover with some rest,” Chen Yuhua said with a smile.

Muniang sighed, “It is also my oversight. I should not have allowed Guo Yuehua to return in the first place. Then such an incident would not have happened, and you would not have been put in such danger.”

“Lady, there is no need for self-reproach. I have been immensely grateful since the day you gave me this opportunity. The only reason I live is to secure some protection for my family. The moment I fell, I knew I was going to die, but I was strangely at peace knowing that, even in death, you would take care of my family,” she said.

Muniang smiled helplessly; to have such a sensible daughter was indeed a blessing for the Chen Family.

“Don’t talk to me about dying anymore. I was truly frightened at that moment. Thank goodness Yue Guan’er caught you a bit; otherwise, a fall from such a height would definitely have been fatal. What would I have done then? How could I face your parents?” Muniang recalled how frantic she was upon hearing the news, wishing she could have flown there on the spot.

Chen Yuhua lowered her head and laughed, her cheeks flushing with a touch of red, “I owe Yue Guan’er a debt of gratitude for coming to my rescue, I haven’t had the chance to properly thank him yet.”

Muniang was stunned, watching Chen Yuhua’s reaction was both laughable and tearful. Were ancient maidens truly so fond of the damsel-in-distress trope? Could their hearts easily be captured by such a move? Zhong Yulang was a bit too popular for his own good!

However, Muniang decided not to meddle in this affair this time; let her deal with her own romantic entanglements, Muniang had no interest in involving herself!

But then Chen Yuhua suddenly remembered something and said, “Lady, I’ve been seriously injured this time, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to perform for a while. It’s truly unfortunate, and now you will have to find someone else, which I guess will delay things quite a bit.”

But Muniang shook her head, “I have no plans to find a replacement. You originally played Little Dragon Girl very well, and the role has become dear to the audience’s hearts. If we were to change performers mid-way, the audience would feel uncomfortable. Besides, it would take a while to find a suitable replacement, and by then, you might already have recovered. So, we will resume the performances when you are healed.”

“But won’t the customers have to wait for a long time?” Chen Yuhua said with some concern, “I’m afraid the audience’s enthusiasm will wane by then.”

Muniang smiled and said, “A good play is worth the wait, and you needn’t worry; I’ll handle everything.”

The news that Mei Garden’s The Condor Heroes performances were suspended quickly spread. There was indeed some dissatisfaction, as the suspense left the audience feeling uneasy – after all, who felt comfortable with a story left hanging? But everyone understood that Little Dragon Girl’s injury was an unavoidable mishap; it wouldn’t be right to force her on stage!

“Just get someone else to play the role. Why must we wait for her? With the play on hold like this, by the time she recovers, I’ll have forgotten what happened previously!”

“They already said that when the performances resume, they will start with the previous chapters again. So why the rush? Is someone with the ethereal charm of Little Dragon Girl that easy to find? They wouldn’t have done this if they had any other choice, right?”

“True, Little Dragon Girl was indeed played well, and it wouldn’t feel right to change the actress now; but waiting for her to recover will take too long, what a pity.”

As people were still fervently discussing the matter with differing opinions, Mei Garden hung a large embroidered piece at their front gate. While the pattern was not unfamiliar to passersby, being one of the designs previously produced by Yuyang Embroidery House, featuring the master and his three disciples: a monkey, a pig, and two monks, one on horseback and the other carrying a load.

Beside it was a notice: The garden’s new play, “Journey to the West,” will premiere in three days.

The crowd burst into a commotion; it was quite a surprise. Previously, when others looked at this embroidered design, they merely found its depiction of the “characters” curious and peculiar, never expecting an actual story to emerge from it!

What kind of story could these half-man, half-demon creatures possibly have? Their curiosity was instantly piqued.

Meanwhile, up and down Mei Garden, preparations for the new play were already in full swing. It was only to salvage the mishap with The Condor Heroes that Muniang had urgently pushed out this new play. Being novel and unique, it was perfectly suited to capture the audience’s attention. Now that things had come to this, the only solution was to use another play to keep the audience’s interest alive.