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墨書 Inktalez
Thinking of Ming Yi and Ming Peng going to dig for Lotus Root, Xia Muxin felt a tightness in her chest at the sight of so many people gathered there. Without hesitation, she jumped down from the carriage and ran towards them.
"Everyone, let's settle this fairly! This pond belongs to the public. Xia Muxin's people came here to dig without our consent. If we want to dig too, what's wrong with that? Look at their faces, they’re as black as coal. If they weren't feeling guilty, why are they standing there frozen? Now that we've entered the water, they’re trying to leave."
Xia Muxin pushed through the crowd and looked in the direction of the voice. There stood the Wu Family, their trousers rolled up to their thighs and sleeves pushed up to their elbows, standing in the pond where the mud was deep enough to reach their thighs. The Zhou brothers were also present, all of them in the water. Zhou Guilian and Zhou Xiaolian were holding wooden buckets, seemingly waiting to collect something.
Some villagers had also joined in, wading through the mud. From her perspective, there were at least a dozen people in that pond.
Meanwhile, Ming Yi and Ming Peng stood leisurely on the shore. Having been in the pond, their clothes were covered in mud, yet beneath their feet lay several Lotus Roots as thick as a small arm.
On the shore were the village chief and other villagers, along with members of the Wang family.
Wang Shoucai had kept a low profile for a while after that incident but was out again today. Besides Liu Mazi and others, there were some new faces around him—still tall and imposing, exuding an intimidating presence.
The villagers kept a distance of about ten meters from them.
Perhaps emboldened by the presence of the Royal Family, the Zhou Family grew bolder as well, glaring at Ming Yi and the others with disdain.
This Zhou family truly was one that wouldn’t shed tears until they saw a coffin; they didn’t know how to read people's expressions or learn from their mistakes. Sooner or later, they would find themselves in trouble without even realizing how it happened.
"Aunt," Black Bull called out, "didn't you come down too? Besides, no one claimed this pond as theirs. Since it's public property, we might as well all come down and see what we can find. I’ve been here for a while and haven’t even seen a pebble; I’m not sticking around."
He had just had a big baby boy with his wife. Although life wasn’t as tight as before, with two elderly parents to care for and a newborn needing constant attention, expenses were everywhere. Seeing Ming Yi and his companion enter the pond made him think about whether he could catch some fish to make soup.
He had heard that women needed to drink plenty of soup during confinement to ensure they could nurse their babies.
Just as he stepped into the pond, the Wang family arrived in full force with a large group of people. With the Royal Family present, the Zhou Family naturally wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity either; they brought along their entire family with tools in hand.
Except for a few children, everyone who could wade into the water had done so.
Yao spoke more harshly, throwing out insults like "Muxin the scoundrel" and "Muxin the loose woman," making him want to punch someone.
The commotion soon attracted the village chief and other villagers.
"Oh, Black Bull, what benefits has that Xia Muxin brought you? Your wife is pregnant and you have no outlet for your frustrations, so you went after her? If it weren't for the village chief not saying anything, why would you take the lead in defending her?"
Yao had long seen Wang's group of thugs, and she had been holding in her anger for a while. Who did Black Bull think he was, daring to confront her? Once on land, she planned to teach him a lesson.
"I heard that the Xia family's daughter has been bringing one strange man after another home. Is she planning to open a Red Pavilion in the countryside? Not only is she ruining her family's reputation, but even you married men are falling at her feet. Don't you have any sense of shame?"
Wang Shoucai was feeling quite pleased with himself today; the thugs behind him were brought by Qiu Shui's niece, and they were skilled enough to take down someone like Liu Mazi ten to one.
Today, he intended to reclaim everything he had suffered before.
Black Bull still feared Wang Shoucai. With a face full of anger, he stepped ashore and walked toward the villagers, casting a cold glance at Yao and her group.
The other villagers who had come to watch also climbed ashore. They thought Wang Shoucai had learned his lesson and would behave himself, but it seemed he was still the same old dog who couldn't change his ways; given any opportunity, he would still take advantage of them.
"You all step aside; I want to see what’s in this pond that makes Xia Muxin so desperate as to use her looks to lure them down."
Ming Peng could no longer hold back; his fists were clenched tightly, bloodshot eyes filled with rage as his bloodthirsty instincts stirred within him.
Just as he was about to take action, someone grabbed his arm.
Turning around, he saw Xia Muxin crouching low and winking at him.
Shen Muhan was fixated on their interaction.
If it weren't for Xia Muxin urging him to calm down, he would have already sent Wang Shoucai straight to hell.
The villagers' attention remained on the pond and they failed to notice Xia Muxin's arrival. They watched helplessly as Wang Shoucai's men clashed violently with the Zhou family in the water.
Ming Peng saw Xia Muxin blocking the way and dared not act recklessly, though his anger had not yet subsided.
Xia Muxin smiled as she patted his arm, then leaned in to whisper something in Shen Muhan's ear.
Shen Muhan glanced at her suspiciously, but Xia Muxin playfully blinked, as if to say, "Be patient, just wait for the show."
After a short while, Xia Muxin shifted her gaze from the few Lotus Roots and snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, a fierce wind swept toward Wang Shoucai. He had been craning his neck to watch everyone struggling in the mud when the gust hit him unexpectedly. Losing his balance, he fell directly into the muddy pool.
There was still some water in the pool; perhaps Ming Yi and the others had dug a hole to let it drain out, and now it was almost empty.
As Wang Shoucai's hefty body landed, it made a loud splashing sound, sending mud flying everywhere.
Moments later, two hands flailed out from the mud.
"Oh dear, Lord Wang..."
"Master..."
You Shi, who was closest to him, felt the entire pool shake when Wang Shoucai fell and was so startled that she thought there might be an earthquake. But upon seeing the corner of his clothing and the hands struggling to emerge, she gasped loudly. Her shout immediately attracted the attention of the Royal Family, and everyone struggled to pull their feet free as they moved toward him.
Shen Muhan looked helplessly at Xia Muxin, who was laughing uncontrollably. He smiled indulgently; she always had such clever ideas.
"The best part is yet to come," she said.
At that moment, Xia Muxin met his affectionate gaze. A hint of discomfort flashed across her pretty face before she shrugged and spoke.
The villagers were all trying to stifle their laughter, their shoulders shaking as they held back. After all, they could not afford to incur the wrath of the Wang family.
Meanwhile, everyone was working together to pull Wang Shoucai out of the mud. The muck was already deep, and with him weighing at least two hundred eighty pounds, it was no easy task to get him out safely.
Due to the crowding, every now and then someone would step down only to be pushed up by another, causing both to tumble into the mud.
In an instant, all that could be heard were the strained grunts and the squelching sounds of the muck.
Xia Muxin looked at a certain spot, silently counting in her heart: one, two, three.
"Ah... what is that? Ah ah ah, it's biting me!"
"Ah... what is that?"
"Ah..."
Splash...
The crowd finally mustered enough strength to help Wang Shoucai up, but before they could pull him ashore, someone screamed in terror.
Suddenly, slippery bodies began to emerge from the mud.
Everyone was startled and, seeing this, they released Wang Shoucai and scrambled to grab onto the grass and trees on the bank in a desperate attempt to get out.
As they jostled against one another, the creatures continued to swirl beneath them, some even losing their direction and darting about wildly, with a few climbing directly onto their bodies.
In no time, cries filled the air.
"Ah... it's a snake! A snake!"
The villagers on the shore recognized the creatures and pointed while trembling in fear.
Xia Muxin rolled her eyes, reveling in the chaos as she watched the muddy figures, unable to contain her laughter.
Shen Muhan glanced at a handful of unknown plants tossed into the mud nearby; there were several types mixed together, and she could faintly smell a pungent odor.
Her gaze was deep as she looked at the seemingly innocent and harmless Xia Muxin.
After she had stopped Ming Peng from making a move, she had left for a while. There were too many people around, and he hadn’t paid attention. It was only later that he caught sight of her casually tossing some grass in that direction. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but he didn’t expect that the scent of the grass would attract those Water Snakes.
Or perhaps she had known all along that there were Water Snakes in that pool, and quite a few of them at that.
Thinking about this, Shen Muhan's expression darkened. He didn’t care about the person still struggling in the pool, terrified half to death. He grabbed Xia Muxin and directly carried her away.
Xia Muxin felt that she hadn’t had enough fun yet and was bewildered by Shen Muhan carrying her away in public. She refused to leave and struggled, saying, “Uncle, what are you doing? The show isn’t over yet.”
Shen Muhan ignored her struggles and words, swiftly placing her into the carriage before driving off.
However, he wasn’t heading toward Muxin’s home; instead, he changed direction.
Once inside the carriage, Xia Muxin felt tired and stopped being stubborn. She leaned against the carriage and closed her eyes. Before long, she drifted off to sleep.
- End of Chapter -
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