Chapter 43 Furious and Flustered, Blurted Out Nonsense

Chunniang suddenly covered her lips and chuckled, as if she had heard something extremely amusing.

"What are you laughing at!" Shen Changdong was somewhat irritated by shame. What was there to laugh about?

"I am laughing at your baseless accusations," Chunniang said, glaring at him coldly. "It was clearly you who were driven by lust and came to my house intending to violate me. You never expected my husband to return so quickly, and in your blind panic, you jumped down from the loft, breaking a leg on the spot.

At that exact moment, those two men were lying in wait beneath my loft. They harbored a deep-seated hatred against you for killing your father and humiliating your mother, and they had been lingering near your doorstep for months just waiting for this very opportunity. Naturally, they subjected you to every conceivable torture and humiliation. You brought this upon yourself, and you deserved it!

Yet now, you actually try to shift all the blame onto a young girl. Is that not utterly ridiculous?"

"What did you say! Who are those two men! You know them, don't you?!" Shen Changdong wanted nothing more in his dreams than to catch those two men and hack them into a thousand pieces; even that would not be enough to vent his fury.

The rest of his life had been ruined by those two. His leg was fine—with time to heal, he would be able to walk again. But matters of manhood were lost to him forever. The mere thought of it filled him with agonizing despair. That was the greatest pleasure in the world, and it concerned a man's dignity.

He would rather remain crippled for the rest of his life than be castrated and reduced to an absolute, useless cripple.

"Of course I know them, and you should recognize them too. Do you still remember Old Man Shi from the village? How did he die?!" Chunniang demanded, her willow-leaf brows raised in fierce anger.

Shen Changdong received a violent jolt. Only then did he realize why the two men who had attacked him in that dilapidated temple looked so familiar. They bore a striking resemblance to Old Man Shi—they were Old Man Shi's two sons! No matter how much he pleaded and exhausted every persuasive word, those two refused to relent and were determined to inflict such cruelty upon him.

"Third Aunt, is this sufficient to prove that this matter has nothing to do with me?" Yunjiao looked at Qian Fangji, her eyes filled with innocence.

"Good child," Qian Fangji patted her forehead. "This matter never had anything to do with you in the first place. Even if no one stood up to prove it, we would never allow you to be wrongfully accused."

She had long since been certain that Yunjiao was innocent. What did a ten-year-old child know? How could she possess such deep cunning to orchestrate a scheme with interlocking links like this?

"Ba Yunjiao, stop pretending to be innocent!" Seeing Yunjiao seize the opportunity to distance herself, Shen Changdong refused to let it go. "Even if those two men were avenging their parents, they were brought by you! Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence in this world that you happened to call a cook to lead me out, only for all these troubles to ensue? You are the mastermind behind all this, and you can never deny your involvement!"

Shen Changdong had already made up his mind. No matter what, he would pin this matter on Yunjiao today, ruin her reputation, and see how she could face society in the future!

Even without evidence, he was certain Yunjiao was inextricably linked to this. She wanted to wash her hands clean of it? Not a chance!

Chunniang's words had struck home, but Shen Changdong refused to yield.

"You were driven by lust yourself, yet you try to pin it on our Yunjiao. Shen Changdong, do you take the Qian family for nobody?" Qian Fangji's anger flared. This nephew-in-law of hers simply lacked sense, yet even now he still had the audacity to make wild, baseless accusations!

"I can see right through you, but pinning this on Yunjiao is useless. Will pinning it on her make things any better for you?" Qian Fangyixiang also spoke up.

"Our Yunjiao has been sensible and filial since childhood. She would never do the things you claim. She came to tend to grandmother, only to have you fling such filth upon her. How can your conscience bear it..."

Yunjiao was more than happy to have her aunts stand up for her. She obediently hid behind them, peered out at Shen Changdong, and flashed him a toothy grin.

To Shen Changdong, this gesture was nothing short of blatant provocation. He grew completely exasperated and began to blurt out whatever came to his mind: "Fine, fine, fine! You all take her side, don't you?! After all, you are family, connected by blood!

Ba Yunjiao, let me tell you this: do you think you can sit back and relax just because you've reduced me to this state? Even if that old hag dies and you return to the Ba household in the future, you won't have an easy life either!

Why do you think I dared to act so impatiently against you? It was because your..."

At this point, Shen Changdong abruptly stopped. He glared at Yunjiao and sneered repeatedly.

Yunjiao frowned. She had previously suspected that someone within the household must have tipped Shen Changdong off; otherwise, arrogant as he was, he likely wouldn't have dared to act so brazenly against her. Hearing his words now, there truly was a hidden backstory.

"My what? Why has my brother-in-law stopped talking?" she feigned puzzlement, trying to fish for more information.

"I don't need to say it. When the time comes, you'll know the taste of it," Shen Changdong smiled malevolently. "I may not be able to do anything to you today, but one day, someone will seek justice for me."

"Brother-in-law makes a valid point," Yunjiao nodded thoughtfully. "Just as my grandmother was initially powerless against brother-in-law, yet someone eventually sought justice for her.

Since this matter has nothing to do with me, I will go back to tending to grandmother. Aunts, cousin, Yunjiao will take her leave first."

With that, she curtsied and departed gracefully with Jianjia, leaving behind a flurry of angry bickering.

"And they still claim this has nothing to do with her! She just gave herself away, didn't she?!" Shen Changdong nearly leaped out of bed. "I knew it! She ruined me just to avenge that old hag..."

Following that was the aunts arguing heatedly on Yunjiao's behalf.

"Pwah, what a despicable wretch," Jianjia muttered angrily as she spat fiercely toward the courtyard gate.

"A mere clown performing on a stage, pay him no mind," Yunjiao smiled lightly. "He is already a grasshopper after the frost; he won't be jumping around for much longer. From now on, it won't be his place to speak in the Qian household.

The weather is fine today, and the wintersweet should be blooming. Let's go take a look."

Several wintersweet trees were planted in the Qian family garden, and they were currently blossoming proudly against the cold.

The two soon reached the garden, and Yunjiao made a bee-line for the wintersweet.

"Son-in-law Shen is indeed no longer a threat," Jianjia followed closely behind, saying with lingering worry, "It's just a pity that he only said half of what he meant today. Judging by his tone, the maidservant feared someone in the household is plotting against our young miss?"

"Are there really so few people in the house who want to deal with your young miss?" Yunjiao raised a hand to pull down a branch of wintersweet, leaned in, and sniffed it, narrowing her eyes slightly. *Mmm... so refreshing.*

Seeing Shen Changdong in such a wretched state today had truly gladdened her heart; even the fragrance of the flowers seemed richer than usual.

"Is the young miss not afraid at all?" Jianjia hurried a few steps to catch up. "Or has the young miss already guessed who might be behind this?"

Yunjiao paused, looking ahead as she murmured, "People in the house, you say? Aside from my sisters, there are the mistresses and concubines. One must always be on guard against them all."

"But stumbling about like a headless fly like this simply won't do," Jianjia grew even more anxious. "After all, the adversary is lurking in the shadows. There is no such thing as being on guard against thieves a thousand days..."

"If we must trace who colluded with Shen Changdong, I reckon the First Mistress is the most likely culprit," Yunjiao said casually, inspecting a flower bud.

"Why?" Jianjia asked in confusion.