Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 351 - 349

Chapter 351: 349

Upon seeing his sister’s matted hair and dirty body, Shen Chengzu initially felt pity for her. However, after hearing her words, any sense of compassion he felt vanished into thin air. His usual clumsiness left him unsure of what to say.

But Mrs. Lu was different. As soon as she heard Shen Yuzhu’s words, she spat, "Aren’t you also a burden, the biggest burden in the Shen family! Even if you died, my daughter could live for another hundred years!"

The mere thought of a newborn child being cursed to death upon her first outing from home was enough to give anyone bad luck!

To chase away this bad luck, Mrs. Lu loudly spat several times.

The emperor had already confiscated the family’s property, why didn’t he just execute them too? Why is it always the good people who die young, while the evil ones live on! In her frustration, Mrs. Lu couldn’t help but think these thoughts.

"Mrs. Lu, you wench, dare to curse me to die! I’ll fight you!" Enraged by her words, Shen Yuzhu threw her candied hawthorn at Mrs. Lu’s face.

Despite trying to shield Xiao Yue’er the moment she noticed, Mrs. Lu was too close. Xiao Yue’er’s soft cheek was pricked by one of the bamboo sticks from the candied hawthorns, immediately followed by a small bead of blood.

The tiny infant’s pain receptors were a bit slow to react. After a short pause, she probably realized that she was attacked, and then she burst into loud crying.

"Shen Yuzhu! How could you hit your sister-in-law and your niece!" Shen Chengzu was taken aback. His sister had become so unruly, resorting to violence at a moment’s disagreement. She used to just be verbally ruthless, but never had he seen her hit anyone before.

Witnessing the scene, Xi’er in Shen Chengzu’s arms was so scared that she started crying loudly: "Daddy, scared, fierce, very fierce! Bad person! Xi’er is scared!"

"Don’t be scared, Xi’er. Daddy is holding you, you’re safe. Daddy will protect you, Xi’er. I won’t let the bad people bully you.", Shen Chengzu hurriedly comforted his eldest daughter in his arms.

Mrs. Lu’s eyes welled up with tears when she saw the droplet of blood on her little girl’s face. She picked up the candied hawthorns that had fallen to the ground and flung it at Shen Yuzhu.

"You’re the damn money loser! Who are you calling a bad person! Fourth Brother, you’re siding with an outsider instead of your own sister...ugh..."

Shen Yuzhu was hit in the mouth with a tangle of candied hawthorns. The sand-studded hawthorns fell onto the ground, and her mouth was instantly filled with dirt and grit.

"Yuck, yuck, yuck..." She quickly spat out the grit, "Mrs. Lu, I’ll fight you to the death!"

Shen Chengzu quickly held back Shen Yuzhu, preventing her from assaulting Mrs. Lu.

At this point, Mrs. Tan, who had been enjoying the dispute from the sidelines, intervened. "What a disgrace! This man’s trying to assault my sister-in-law! I’ll beat you to death! I’ll kill you!"

As she cursed, Mrs. Tan started hitting Shen Chengzu with her bundled belongings.

Still cradling Xi’er in his arms, Shen Chengzu quickly released Shen Yuzhu’s hand to block the bundle flying towards him from Mrs. Tan.

Mrs. Lu was taken aback, wondering where on earth this crazy woman sprang up from!

As soon as Shen Chengzu let go of her, Shen Yuzhu lunged at Mrs. Lu.

Still holding Xiao Yue’er in her arms, Mrs. Lu no longer paid attention to Shen Chengzu. She immediately started to run.

Mrs. Lu saw a patrol of bailiffs in the distance. While running, she cried out for help: "Help! Officers, two crazy women are chasing and beating us! Help!"

"The officers are here!"

"The officers are here!"

...

The bystanders, who had been enjoying the spectacle, quickly made way.

Shen Yuzhu also spotted the patroller and immediately scampered off like a rat spotting a cat.

Hearing that the officer had arrived, Mrs. Tan quickly snatched the purse from Shen Chengzu’s waist and made a run for it.

Shen Chengzu finally breathed a sigh of relief - this was the first time he had been grabbed and beaten.

Xi’er, curled up in Shen Chengzu’s embrace, was sobbing uncontrollably. Shen Chengzu hurriedly tried to comfort her.

Mrs. Lu pointed in the direction Shen Yuzhu and Mrs. Tan had escaped towards and shouted, "Officer, they ran that way!"

It was only after the officer gave chase that Mrs. Lu was able to breathe easily. The whole experience felt like fighting a battle, and it was incredibly nerve-wracking.

Shen Chengzu went to Mrs. Lu’s side, both of them simultaneously said, "Is Xi’er (Yue’er) alright?"

Both little girls were crying incessantly.

"They must have been frightened!" Both of them echoed in agreement.

"We must quickly get some ointment for Yue’er’s face from brother, or else it will leave a scar and be a disaster."

Shen Chengzu knew that if a girl’s face was scarred, it would be difficult for her to marry into a good family, so he nodded in assent.

With their previous leisureliness lost, both ran towards the Marquis Shengping’s mansion.

Among the crowd of onlookers, there was an old woman who had witnessed the earlier altercation at the entrance of Marquis Shengping’s mansion. She had not been present at the start of this new drama but had seen Shen Yuzhu chase Mrs. Lu while Mrs. Tan viciously attacked Shen Chengzu. The arrival of the officer had scared them away.

She clutched her chest, "There are a lot of crazy people around these days. I must warn my old man to be careful!"

...

After Shen Chengzu and Mrs. Lu reached the Marquis Shengping’s mansion, Mrs. Liu saw their disheveled hair and haggard looks. Noticed the little wound on Yue’er’s face, she asked what had happened and instructed Zijing to fetch some ointment for Yue’er’s face.

"Poor little Yue’er has been injured on her first outing. Her parents have been too careless!" Mrs. Liu cooed as she took Yue’er from Mrs. Lu’s arms.

Mrs. Lu had been looking forward to venting her frustrations. After hearing this, she angrily recounted her encounter with Shen Yuzhu and Shen Yuzhu’s outrageous behavior.

"We finally stepped out for a stroll after my confinement period, and who would have thought we would have such bad luck! My husband’s purse was even snatched by his sister-in-law. Shen Yuzhu has really met her match this time. She was once a respected official’s wife, who would have thought she could sink so low as to beat people in the street and snatch purses!"

Mrs. Liu shook her head after hearing this, "I’ve come to realize that nothing good comes from dealing with the main family and second branch! It’s okay for the purse to be taken as long as everyone is safe!"

"It’s still a loss! There were more than five taels of broken silver in that purse!" The thought of being scorned and robbed made Mrs. Lu feel despondent. Those people must be so happy spending her money, this thought made her feel even more depressed!

"Not acceptable! From now on, the money carried by the child’s father should not exceed ten coins a day. We can’t let the villains profit!" Mrs. Lu declared fiercely.

After Mrs. Tan snatched the purse, they rented a carriage and headed straight to Shengping County.

This was the decision made after careful consideration by Mr. Tan! His ancestral house was gone. They were relatives of Shen Chengguang’s family, and he had been dismissed from his duties and had his property confiscated because he had helped Shen Jingwen. Who else could they rely on if not Shen Chengguang!

Shen Jingwen had only been the County Magistrate for a little over a month, and wealthy merchants and gentry had showered him with plenty of silver and estates. Tasting the sweetness of power and planning to marry a rich young lady, his dreams abruptly ended. Everything was lost!

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