Carefree Farmwife: Training the Husband, Raising the Bun - Chapter 151

“But if someone is deliberately trying to ruin her reputation, purposely splashing filth on her because they think a widow is easy to bully and manipulate, then they couldn’t be more wrong!” Madam Li thumped her chest and continued, “Shen Cuihua still has the Li family standing behind her. Even if she is widowed, she is still my Li family’s daughter-in-law.”

Madam Li was so worked up that Ying Su saw her hands trembling. Afraid her anger might harm her health, Ying Su stepped forward and supported her arm.

Seeing Madam Li defend her so fiercely, Ying Su couldn’t deny she was moved. This was exactly why she was willing to help support the Li couple. If someone treated her with even a little kindness, she would return it threefold.

“This handkerchief isn’t mine at all. If you can simply find a handkerchief with my name stitched on it and use that to insult my innocence, then by that logic, wouldn’t any woman in this village with the word Hua in her name be guilty of an affair with him?” Ying Su’s dark eyes swept coldly over the crowd and landed on Wang Lanhua. Her lips curved into a smile. “I remember your name has Hua in it. So does Li Guihua’s, and Zhang Taohua’s… With so many women, why is it only assumed that this handkerchief belongs to me, Shen Cuihua?”

The women she named all looked sour. Wang Lanhua nearly jumped with rage. Bitter toward Ying Su, she hid in the crowd and retorted, “He’s accusing you, not us! Besides, we all have husbands, how could we be sneaking around with other men?”

But that last line earned her sharp glares from the other women. To openly say such shameless things out loud made them all angry.

Still, they stood on the same side and accused Ying Su, “Who’s like you, a wanton widow? Sharing a name with you is bad luck for eight lifetimes! We’d never do such filthy things.”

“Exactly! Only a suspicious widow like you would stoop to such disgraceful acts.”

“The man came to your door himself, and you still won’t admit what you did! I say Heaven should strike down shameless sluts like you with thunder!”

Ying Su’s black eyes grew even colder. Was it simply because she was a widow that these filthy charges were forced on her? Did that mean she had no right to live, that she had to endure such humiliation without reason? If it had been the original Cuihua, she would surely have been driven to her death by such relentless curses.

Madam Li, hearing these venomous words, her face darkened like water. She looked coldly at those women whose names had been mentioned and said, “We’re all neighbors here. What are you trying to do? You’re driving Cuihua to her death! A man from another village, who knows what venomous schemes he harbors, comes here to falsely accuse Cuihua, and not only do none of you stand up to speak for her, but you pile on instead. Are you really so determined to crush a widow and her child?”

Her words made the crowd uneasy. The truth was, no one knew if the man’s story was real or false. But it was the villagers who were fanning the flames, all too eager to see the little widow destroyed. Did Shen Cuihua truly commit some heinous crime? Of course not. The deeper reason was nothing but envy.

They envied her for living in such a fine tiled house. They envied her for having so much silver at hand. They envied her for helping the Li family open a shop in town. They envied her for living well while they gained nothing, forced to watch from the sidelines.

Because of Madam Li’s words, the villagers who had been denouncing Shen Cuihua suddenly fell silent. But then, from within the crowd, came a voice, not loud, but dripping with malice.

“Flies don’t bite eggs without cracks! If she really did nothing filthy, why would someone target her? Our village has always been upright. If this widow corrupts our ways, who knows how many scandals will follow? No wonder the monk said our village has produced a star of misfortune. It must be this widow! First, she killed her husband, then she blocked our village’s prosperity, and now she’s here to destroy us all!”

The crowd exploded into a buzz, all turning to look at the speaker.

Ying Su narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, also looking toward the person.

One had to admit, the malice behind those words was terrifying. Her supposed adultery hadn’t even been proven, and already another label, “calamity star, bringer of disaster”, was being pinned on her. Wasn’t this pushing her straight into the fire pit, deliberately forcing her onto a road of no return?

Ying Su knew all too well how superstitious these villagers were. She remembered, when she first crossed into this world, how she’d subdued Li Ergou, and how Li Erlang’s half-baked talk of gods and ghosts had terrified the villagers. If charges of adultery and misfortune were both forced upon her, she might truly lose her life here today at their hands.

The crowd parted, and Zhang Duomei stepped out. Her eyes glinted with malice as she stared at Ying Su, the corners of her lips curled in smug satisfaction, this was the joy of revenge.

When the village head saw it was Zhang Duomei, his face turned odd. He cleared his throat before asking, “Duomei, what did you mean by that just now? What’s this about a calamity star?”

So it was her! A flash of cold sharpness passed through Ying Su’s phoenix eyes. Some people truly found their lives too peaceful and wanted to stir up trouble. Were the past lessons too light? Or had her restraint lately made them think she was weak and easy to bully? Did everyone want to trample her now?

All eyes turned to Zhang Duomei, waiting for her explanation. After all, if there really was a calamity star in the village, it was no small matter. To block prosperity and bring misfortune to the whole village, such a person could not be tolerated. She would have to be found and dealt with.

Putting on an air of mystery, Zhang Duomei said, “Uncle, here’s how it happened. A few days ago, a wandering monk passed through our village. He said he was thirsty, so I gave him a bowl of water. In return for that kindness, he offered to give us some advice.”

Everyone’s attention was immediately captured by her story. Feng Dayou’s expression soured. With this woman suddenly declaring the little widow a calamity star, if the marriage went through, wouldn’t he be bringing misfortune into his own house?

Among the crowd, Li Zhi and his wife also looked uneasy.

Zhang Duomei went on, “That monk walked a circle around our village. Then he specifically asked who lived by the Dongjun River on the east side. When I told him it was a widow, his expression changed. He calculated with his fingers, and his face grew even darker. I pressed him to explain what he saw, and he told me…”