Rebirth of a Farming Wife

“Cousin, wuu wuu, I didn’t do it on purpose, I was coerced by them. They forced me into this, please forgive me this time, after all, cousin-in-law was not really harmed.” Jiang Chunlan cried pitifully as she begged Han Yu, hoping to soften his heart and let her off, but clearly she overestimated her own importance and underestimated Su Wenyue’s place in Han Yu’s heart.

Prior to this, Han Yu had no evidence, so he couldn’t do anything to Jiang Chunlan. Otherwise, his birth mother would surely have intervened. Now that he had caught Jiang Chunlan red-handed, there was no way he would let her go, especially when Jiang Chunlan was still so lacking in tact, weeping and making excuses to evade responsibility, pestering him awkwardly. Her last sentence especially enraged Han Yu.

What do you mean ‘nothing happened’! Recalling that heart-wrenching scene, Han Yu was still shaken to his core. Without warning, he kicked Jiang Chunlan in the chest with some considerable force, almost making her vomit blood. It was only for the sake of Mrs. Yang that Han Yu didn’t use his full strength. He had no intention of letting Jiang Chunlan off. If Mrs. Yang had seen Jiang Chunlan spit blood, she would surely have begged for mercy. Merely kicking her was too light a punishment for Jiang Chunlan.

Despite this, Jiang Chunlan still let out a pained shriek, her voice tinged with abject misery. Firstly, because Han Yu’s kick truly hurt, and secondly, she couldn’t believe that the cousin she had adored and admired could be so merciless and heartless. Even though Jiang Chunlan was well aware of Han Yu’s aloof nature, she still found it hard to accept such a brutal reality. In her heart, she believed she was different from others, especially after seeing how Han Yu usually treated Su Wenyue, which had once led Jiang Chunlan to entertaining delusions.

The members of the Han Family, having heard the commotion outside, came out and saw Jiang Chunlan sitting on the ground with a face full of grievance and disbelief, while tears still streaked her cheeks, looking utterly pitiable.

The young man tied up by the side was none other than Zhang Qing from the neighboring village, someone whom the Han family members largely recognized. Although Zhang Qing was a youth from the neighboring village, he often mingled with a few of the ne’er-do-wells from Xinhe Village. He had done his fair share of misdeeds and had a bad reputation in the village. Especially after this incident, Han Yu hadn’t deliberately hidden the identity of the bandits, and the Han family members were aware that he had been searching for this person these days. Now that Zhang Qing had appeared at the Han residence in this manner, with Jiang Chunlan looking as she did, it was difficult not to make assumptions.

Mrs. Liu had long known about Jiang Chunlan’s involvement with those young men and was the first to notice the signs. Consequently, upon seeing this scene, she immediately came to a conclusion. Being wary of her mother-in-law, she did not dare to act, but she still couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “Shameless adulteress!”

“Fourth child, what’s going on here?” Old Man Han frowned, his gaze sweeping disdainfully over Jiang Chunlan, though he forced himself to ask because of his elderly wife’s sake.

“Yes, Fourth child, why have you tied up Chunlan? Did she do something to anger you?” Mrs. Yang also inquired anxiously, not that she was particularly fond of Jiang Chunlan but simply because Chunlan was her own niece by blood, and her sister had specifically entrusted her care to Mrs. Yang before she left.

“Ask her what kind of good deeds she has done! This whole affair with Lady Yue arose because of her. When has the Han Family treated her unfairly, and Lady Yue has never wronged her. Yet she is so ungrateful—so vicious at such a young age. To get at Lady Yue, she even cast aside her decency. If Lady Yue were not chaste and virtuous, she might have been utterly ruined by her. She truly is malicious!”

Han Yu was not one for many words; all this explanation was meant to let his family see just how despicable and unforgivable Jiang Chunlan was. It was to leave Mrs. Yang with no grounds to protect Jiang Chunlan as he was determined to make Jiang Chunlan pay for her actions.

“What does that mean?” Mrs. Yang, although disappointed in Jiang Chunlan, did not believe her niece could be that terrible. Even if Jiang Chunlan had some behaviors that were quite inappropriate, Mrs. Yang believed those were just her personality flaws combined with an obsession over her son, which is why she targeted Su Wenyue everywhere. Mrs. Yang had been somewhat overly lenient with Jiang Chunlan. The implication of Han Yu’s words was that the ambush by the bandits had been Jiang Chunlan’s doing, something she subconsciously didn’t want to believe, thinking it impossible.

Mrs. Liu became anxious at Mrs. Yang’s reaction and couldn’t wait to speak out, “Mother, how can you still not understand? Isn’t Fourth child’s meaning clear enough? Jiang Chunlan, that shameless woman, disgraced herself by colluding with outsiders to harm Fourth child’s wife. She’s just too vicious! If Fourth child’s wife hadn’t been capable, her reputation would have been destroyed by now, not to mention who knows what else would have happened to her! A woman like that deserves to be drowned in a pig cage…”

Mrs. Liu caught herself as she noticed her mother-in-law’s increasingly displeased expression, realizing she had spoken too harshly and fell silent, remembering that Jiang Chunlan was, after all, her mother-in-law’s own niece.

“Fourth child, is what Eldest Daughter-in-law has said true?” Mrs. Yang still clung to a sliver of hope. She had always thought highly of Chunlan as a good girl, although her personality had become a bit obsessive because of Fourth child’s issues. But how had she turned out like this?

“Mother, do you know how I caught Zhang Qing? It was all thanks to your darling niece who so eagerly ran to the mountains to bring food to him, which led me to find out. Do I need to say anything else?” Han Yu said, his face etched with a cold sneer, looking at Jiang Chunlan as if she were some vile thing.

“Chunlan, how could you be so foolish? You’re a young unmarried woman; how could you have such unclear relations with those men, ruining your good reputation?! And then there’s Lady Yue, she is your sister-in-law after all. How could you do something like this?!” Mrs. Yang was both angry and worried; seeing her son’s attitude made it clear he didn’t plan to let her niece off easy. But if something happened to her niece, how would she explain it to her sister?

While her niece’s actions had also angered her, since her daughter-in-law had been lucky and not seriously harmed, Mrs. Yang’s thoughts differed.

Su Wenyue, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by Xiao Xi. Xiao Xi originally did not wish to do so, but the visitor was her mistress’s mother-in-law. Although Mrs. Yang said she would wait for Su Wenyue to wake up, Xiao Xi was not foolish enough not to know any better. How could she possibly let Mrs. Yang wait outside for her daughter-in-law to wake up? Even if Mrs. Yang didn’t mind, Xiao Xi couldn’t bear to let her mistress carry the reputation of being arrogant.

“Miss, wake up quickly!”

“What’s wrong? Why wake me up when I’m sleeping so well?” Su Wenyue was still a bit confused upon waking and looked questioningly at Xiao Xi. She then heard her mother-in-law’s slightly urgent voice.

“Lady Yue, Mother didn’t want to disturb your sleep as it was all Chunlan’s fault to begin with, and I have no face to plead for her. But Fourth child wants to send Chunlan to the government. This—how can this be good? Chunlan is a young girl; if she really is taken to the government, her life will be ruined.”