Becoming the Cannon Fodder Wife of Crazy and Powerful Official - Chapter 35

Along the path, Shang Heng approached from a distance.

“Going to the official court? Do you have any evidence to prove that your father was killed by Miss Meng?!” Shang Heng’s voice was firm and resonant.

Xin Yueying curled her lips in satisfaction.

Cai Er’gou, after all, was timid. Seeing the government officials arrive, he stopped shouting and instead crouched on the ground, looking up and weeping loudly.

Meng Ruxin crouched down and took out one tael of silver from her robe, “This is all I have, take it.”

“Who wants your filthy money!” Cai Er’gou slapped Meng Ruxin’s hand away. The silver fell to the ground, and the force of the blow sent Meng Ruxin stumbling backward. She collapsed onto the ground. Cai Er’gou stood up, pointing at her and shouting, “Keep deceiving people here! You’ll get your retribution sooner or later!”

He pushed through the crowd of onlookers and ran off ahead.

From beneath the veil, Meng Ruxin’s sobs could be heard.

A woman from the crowd stepped forward and said, “Miss Meng, don’t cry. Who knows what illness Er’gou’s father originally had?”

“Exactly, exactly,” another woman added. “We can’t just take his word for it.”

Lame Ma closed the window and looked down at Xin Yueying, “Aren’t they still taking her side?!”

“Out of a whole group, only two people spoke,” Xin Yueying said, looking at Lame Ma.

Lame Ma’s eyes shifted, and he nodded, “Even if we didn’t vent our anger, causing her some trouble is still worth it.”

“Why the rush? When it gets dark and Master Guan arrives, we’ll still need to plan carefully.”

Lame Ma grinned cunningly and stroked his beard.

Xin Yueying said, “Stop gloating foolishly and show me that poison of yours.”

At night, Guan Waishan arrived. The three of them schemed at Lame Ma’s house late into the night before finally parting ways outside his door.

Each of them carried a packet of poison, which they used to contaminate three different locations.

Xin Yueying dumped the poison into a household’s pig trough. Guan Waishan sprinkled his into a family’s chicken feed basin and then took an embroidered shoe from his robe, leaving a footprint on the ground. Lame Ma, with gleaming eyes, directly poured his poison into the well.

Lame Ma had been planning this move for a long time.

After sprinkling the poison, he suddenly felt a sense of relief. He lifted his face, filled with intense emotion, and gazed up at the starry sky.

No matter how things would ultimately unfold, Lame Ma felt a sense of release inside.

As he gazed at the brilliant stars, enjoying the gentle breeze brushing against his face, he spread his arms, his shoulders trembling. He grinned, silently emitting a faint, eerie laugh.

“What are you laughing at, you fool! Go sprinkle some by the old locust tree!” Xin Yueying emerged from the grass, quietly reminding this wicked madman.

By the time Xin Yueying returned home, it was already quite late.

The window of the inner room was still lit with a lamp as usual. She pushed the door open and entered. Huo Qi and Xie Asheng were already asleep. Lifting the curtain to enter the room, she found that Shen Qingqi was also asleep.

She tiptoed to his bedside, carefully watching him until she was sure his breathing was steady, then picked up the washbasin to go bathe and freshen up.

As soon as she lifted the curtain and stepped out, Shen Qingqi opened his eyes.

Early the next morning, Xin Yueying rose at dawn and, using buying groceries as an excuse, rode her donkey down the mountain again.

Under the old locust tree in the village, a small crowd had gathered around Meng Ruxin’s consultation table. Xin Yueying, wearing her veil, went unrecognized. She headed straight to Lame Ma’s room.

Lame Ma stroked his beard, looking refreshed and in high spirits.

Xin Yueying asked him why he was so happy. He grinned even more smugly, “Do you know what season it is now?”

“What season?”

Lame Ma, “It’s the transition between spring and summer—a time when people are very prone to fevers and colds.” He moved to the window and pushed it open, seeing that the yard outside was empty. “On your first day here, what was the scene like? And now? It’s the peak season for headaches and fevers, yet no one is lining up.”

“It’s working.” Xin Yueying rubbed her hands together eagerly.

Lame Ma chuckled and stroked his beard. “Girl! I made breakfast. Eat with me! Once we’re full, we’ll have the energy to put on our show later!”

He went to the kitchen and brought back two bowls of corn porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables.

They were halfway through their meal when they heard a loud shout from outside, “Meng Ruxin! Someone has reported you for poisoning! Come with me now!”

It was Guan Waishan’s booming voice.

Xin Yueying and Lame Ma exchanged a glance, then rushed to the window, holding their breath to listen intently.

Meng Ruxin stood up and said firmly, “I did not poison anyone!”

“You didn’t?” Guan Waishan retorted. “This morning, we found poisonous powder by the well. Fortunately, it was discovered early! No one had drawn water yet, or the villagers would have fallen victim to your scheme again!”

The crowd around them fell silent. Someone whispered, “Officer Guan, why would she poison the well? Is the well water poisoned? Which well?”

“The well to the west. It’s been sealed off now. We had a doctor examine it—it’s definitely poison.”

A wave of gasps and murmurs swept through the crowd.

Some still found it hard to believe, “Did Miss Meng really poison it? What would be her purpose?”

Meng Ruxin shook her head. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t poison anything! I don’t know how this happened. Please believe me.”

Guan Waishan, “She poisoned the well to make you all sick, so you’d come to her for treatment. She’s using you to practice her skills! Who knows how long she’s been doing this! The poison was used in small amounts—enough to make people sick but kill livestock. So, has anyone here lost livestock that might have eaten leftover food or drunk well water?” Guan Waishan asked.

An old woman spoke gravely, “So that’s why my chickens died! And there was a shoe print left behind!” Suddenly realizing, she glared at Meng Ruxin. “The print was small and narrow—definitely a woman’s shoe!”

From a distance, a short, plump woman came running, crying as she went, “Oh no, Officer Guan! My piglets are all dead! Twenty or thirty of them! The sow just gave birth! I was planning to sell them for money, and now they’re all dead!”

The more she spoke, the more distraught she became. She ran up to Guan Waishan, plopped down on the ground, and wailed at the top of her lungs, “Oh, which heartless monster did this?! I can’t go on living! What a sin!”

She beat her legs in agitation, rocking back and forth, crying in a rhythmic, dramatic fashion.

The woman whose chickens had died walked over, tugged her shoulder, and pointed viciously at Meng Ruxin.

The pig woman’s wailing stopped abruptly. Not a tear had actually fallen. She stared blankly in Meng Ruxin’s direction.

Meng Ruxin shook her head. “It wasn’t me. Really, it wasn’t me.” She waved her hands repeatedly, denying it over and over, explaining that she knew nothing about it.

But a thousand words of denial were no match for Guan Waishan’s single statement, “It was her.”

The chicken woman jumped up, “You little wretch! And to think we stood up for you yesterday! Is this how you repay us?”

The pig woman also stood up, “Have you no conscience?! We thought you were a good person! You kept bad-mouthing that Xin girl to us, saying she bullied you, and we went to confront her for you. And this is how you treat us?”

The chicken woman, “So she was just using us as her tools!”

Lame Ma and Xin Yueying exchanged another look and rushed out the door.

Lame Ma hobbled over, “So it was you who ruined my goddaughter’s reputation! How could you do something so heartless?! This girl of mine has always been sensible and filial! If you have a problem, come at me! I can handle you! Don’t destroy my girl!”

The chicken woman asked, “Old Ma, why would she want to ruin you?”