Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 333 - 331

Chapter 333: 331

The woman’s son quickly bowed, "Marquis Shengping, young master of Rui’an county, I apologize for my mother’s rudeness earlier. I hope Marquis Shengping, the young master of Rui’an county, would not be upset like an ordinary, clueless woman."

Xiao’er looked at him with playful sarcasm. Him accusing his mother of being an ignorant woman, just like them if they stooped to her level! This man is pretty slick with his words!

However, despite his semblance of pleading for his mother, is it right for him to expose his mother—who wholeheartedly protects him—as an ignorant woman?

The scholars of this dynasty take filial piety very seriously. Parents are to be respected regardless of their flaws. Publicly calling his own mother an ignorant woman would undoubtedly earn him disrespect from others.

Indeed, many in the crowd cast scornful glances at him after hearing his words.

Although they said nothing, they made a mental note to avoid deep interaction with this man in the future if they ever encountered him in their official careers. They also needed to watch out for him.

The woman’s son turned to his still dazed mother and said, "Mother, your rudeness just now was unacceptable. Hurry and apologize to the Marquis and the county lord."

At this moment, the woman was wondering: Did she offend Marquis Shengping and the young master of Rui’an county? Would it affect her son’s career? Would he fail his examinations and not become a high-ranking official because of this?

At the thought of this, the woman was terrified!

Actually, she didn’t mean to ridicule them intentionally. Someone offered her five taels of silver to deliberately taunt and provoke them.

That person claimed that they were just ordinary people from a slightly better off family, with no relatives in government, and reliant on themselves. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have dared to even speak!

How stupid of her! They may not have family in government, but they themselves were high-ranking officials!

She wailed... Now, she was practically being killed by the five taels of silver! If her husband found out that she damaged their son’s future for five taels of silver, he would surely kill her. Despite being known as the Invincible Master of West Street, she dared not breathe a word in front of her husband.

With these thoughts, she hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly. As she raised her head, she slapped herself twice, crying out, "Marquis Shengping, young master of Rui’an county, it’s all my fault! I was blinded and didn’t realize that you are such distinguished nobles! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to act in such a way! Someone paid me silver to taunt you. I was wrong and I promise I won’t do it again! Please don’t blame my son! If you must blame someone, blame me; it’s not my son’s fault!"

Not knowing that they were such distinguished nobles, otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to act in this way? Clearly, she was a coward who intimidated the weak and feared the strong.

"Mother, how could you do this? I could have been ruined by you. How could you accept such ill-gotten wealth?" The woman’s son was boiling with anger upon hearing this!

Just for five taels of silver, she made him offend these nobles. How could his mother be so penny-pinching?!?

Everyone present shook their heads as they heard this. Is this man really a scholar? Has he swallowed all his books? Can’t he see his mother’s forehead has swollen from the kowtowing and there are two red palm prints on her face! Yet he’s still blaming her!

What he should be doing now is taking responsibility and apologizing on his own accord!

"You said someone paid you silver to mock my father and brother? Where’s that person? Do you have any evidence? If you can prove that someone intentionally paid you to do this, then we can overlook this incident." Xiao’er looked around after saying this, that person should have been at the scene just now.

Who is the person behind all this? Xiao’er furrowed his brows.

Upon hearing this, the woman’s face filled with relief: they wouldn’t hold it against her, they wouldn’t hold it against her.

"He was right over..." The woman pointed towards a specific area in the crowd, "Eh, he was just here! I just saw him standing there when the bailiff came over, where could he have gone?"

The woman stood up and looked around, but the man was not there.

Upon realizing she could not find the man, and fearing the repercussions of being found guilty and ruining her son’s future, the woman couldn’t help but cry, "Marquis, young master of Rui’an county, you must believe me! There really was someone who made me do it!"

She then took out the five taels of silver from her bosom and handed it to Xiao’er, "Here are the five taels of silver that he gave me, I haven’t spent it yet."

With those five taels of silver, she had planned to buy her son some quality food to treat him. Fortunately, she hadn’t spent it yet.

"Where was the man standing just now?" Xiao’er took the silver to have a look. It was ordinary silver, with no particular markings, then returned it to her.

"Doesn’t the Mistress of Rui’an County want this silver?" The woman received it with teary eyes, asking timidly.

"Why should I want it? You haven’t even said the position of the person you are talking about." This woman’s thinking is indeed different from ordinary people.

"He was standing just behind the man in red clothes, with a long beard." The woman was secretly delighted to be able to retrieve the five taels of silver.

The man in dark green clothes heard what the woman said and pointed at the man in red standing in front of him: "The man behind him? As soon as the officer arrived just now, he left."

Xiao’er nodded after hearing these words.

"What clothes was that man wearing? Any distinguishing features?" The old officer hurriedly asked after hearing this.

He dared to bribe this woman to mock the Imperial Court official, he really has the courage of a bear and a leopard!

"He was wearing a gray gown, had a little white hair on his head, one nose, two eyes, two ears..."

The onlookers couldn’t help laughing when they heard this. Some people immediately said: "Who doesn’t have one nose, two eyes, and two ears? Can you describe some distinguishing features? Like if he has a mole or a scar on his face!"

"Seems like he doesn’t have any of that," The man scratched his head sheepishly. Then he seemed to remember something and quickly said: "Jug ears! He has a pair of jug ears! He walked in that direction!"

With that, he pointed towards a direction.

Jug ears are not a particularly unusual feature, they are quite common!

"I’ll go after him!" The young naive bailiff, in his eagerness to achieve merit in front of the Marquis, hurriedly chased after.

The man saw the bailiff coming and ran off; he definitely couldn’t be caught now. The old constable shook his head.

"Marquis Shengping, Mistress of Rui’an County, if we catch that man, we will surely hand him over to the Fu Yin for impartial justice." The old constable could only say that.

Shen Chengyao nodded.

"So, do Marquis Shengping and the Mistress of Rui’an County not blame us?" The woman asked cautiously.

"Where do you live?" Xiao’er asked.

Why is she asking where she lives? She only made a few snide remarks, is she going to confiscate her property for that?

She quickly knelt down again: "Mistress of Rui’an County, I realize my mistake, please don’t confiscate my property! I bow to you!"

Yang Liu hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, whether she was pretending to be foolish or actually was, all she did was get used. She didn’t deserve to have her property confiscated! If she kowtowed again, her daughter’s reputation would be ruined!

"I just have a few things to ask you, it’s easier if I know where to find you!" Xiao’er looked at her swollen face, similar to a pig’s face, and then at her son standing beside her. What a pitiful sight!

"Dad, brother, let’s go home!"

"Alright," The two men replied in unison.

"Marquis Shengping, Mistress of Rui’an County, my mother is foolish, she was deceived by a bad person and inadvertently insulted a noble. We will definitely come to apologize in person one day and make it up to you."

This seems to be an attempt at currying favor.

Upon hearing these words, everyone thought: How shameless!