Chapter 347: Ningning Shows Her Might
Chapter 347: Chapter 347: Ningning Shows Her Might
「The next day.」
Shen Ningning returned to Xiangyun Village from the Xie Mansion.
Just as she entered the village, Sister-in-law Liu’s son, Hu Zi, came running over in a hurry.
"This is bad! Big Sis Ningning, that wretched Dong Aniu is back! He’s trying to drag Aunt Sanhua back to sell her to someone as a concubine!"
Hearing this, Shen Ningning immediately quickened her little steps and ran into the village.
At the eastern end of the village, outside the house where Dong Sanhua was staying, a dense crowd of villagers had already gathered.
Dong Aniu and Dong Ermu stood in the middle of it all, with a few house servants by their side.
Grandma Qin and the old village chief were there. The Black Wolf King stood in the middle, which was the only reason Dong Aniu and his group didn’t dare to step forward.
Dong Aniu pointed at Dong Sanhua, whose eyes were red-rimmed, and said, "Auntie, I didn’t want to believe it at first, but it turns out you really did hide my sister."
Dong Aniu had previously been thrown in jail by Xie Ming’an. He was supposed to be released after half a month.
But Xie Ming’an forgot, and his subordinates didn’t dare to make a decision on their own.
So, it was only when the Ministry of Justice was recently clearing out its cases that they discovered this poor schmuck was still in there.
After Dong Aniu got out, he heard from Dong Ermu that Dong Sanhua was now hiding in Xiangyun Village. He immediately grew furious and came looking for her with a group of men.
Grandma Qin spat in his direction. "You have the nerve to say that?"
"If you hadn’t insisted on selling your own sister to be someone’s concubine, would she be forced to hide like this, too afraid to go home?"
Dong Ermu looked at Dong Sanhua and let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Sister, tell me yourself. With your status, shouldn’t you be thanking your lucky stars that you can become a rich merchant’s concubine?"
"I hear you’re out here tilling the fields and planting sweet potatoes every day. What’s the use of that? Become a concubine, and you’ll at least be living in luxury. Why are you so ungrateful?"
"Your big brothers brought the rich merchant’s servants with us today. As long as you’re willing to go with them, the merchant master said he’s willing to forgive your past mistake of running away."
Uncle Deng stood protectively in front of Dong Sanhua, shouting angrily, "Are you two even her real brothers?! Treating her like this for a few taels of silver!"
Sister-in-law Liu chimed in with a curse, "If you love that rich merchant’s silver so much, why don’t you marry him yourselves?"
The villagers of Xiangyun Village covered their mouths and started to laugh.
Dong Aniu gritted his teeth. On his thin, dark face, his eyes were vicious, as if laced with poison.
"Sanhua, don’t push your luck. What’s the use of hiding behind the villagers?"
"We signed an indenture contract for you with the rich merchant long ago. You’re just a piece of his property now."
"If you don’t want to leave today, then we’ll have the government officials come. If Xiangyun Village loses its peace because of you, let’s see if you can live with the guilt!"
These words were like a dagger, piercing Dong Sanhua’s heart.
The color drained from her fair, delicate face, and her expression turned bleak.
Dong Sanhua was timid by nature, and she felt that Xiangyun Village had already helped her so much. She didn’t dare cause any more trouble for Shen Ningning.
Now, hearing Dong Aniu’s threat, she was completely at a loss.
She couldn’t help but take a step forward.
Just as her resolve was about to crumble, a soft, sweet voice called out—
"Whether or not Xiangyun Village is at peace is not for you to decide!"
Hearing this voice, the villagers’ faces lit up with joy.
In contrast, the two brothers, Dong Aniu and Dong Ermu, frowned.
They exchanged a look, sensing that things were about to go south.
’We made sure Shen Ningning wasn’t in the village today. That’s why we specifically chose this time to come.’
’How is this little terror back again?’
The crowd parted, and Shen Ningning walked in slowly on her little feet.
The Black Wolf King immediately went to her side, nudging the little girl’s hand with its head.
Shen Ningning stood in front of Dong Sanhua and looked at Dong Aniu. "You want to take Aunt Sanhua away?"
Dong Aniu was afraid of her. The moment Shen Ningning appeared, his lips began to tremble.
Just a moment ago, he could speak in complete sentences, but now he was like a mute.
Dong Ermu inwardly cursed him for being so useless.
Then, he dared to challenge Shen Ningning. "Commandery Princess, you must have heard everything just now."
"Dong Sanhua signed the indenture contract. Her thumbprint is on it, so she can’t deny it."
But Dong Sanhua said through her tears, "You tricked me! You took advantage of the fact that I can’t read. You told me it was a loan to build a tomb for our parents, so I put my fingerprint on it."
Dong Ermu didn’t care about any of that.
He said in a harsh tone, "So what? Part of that silver was indeed used for our parents’ funeral."
"And I haven’t even blamed you for being unfilial!" At this, Dong Ermu turned to Shen Ningning. "Commandery Princess, you can meddle in everything under the sun, but surely you can’t interfere with a normal business transaction, can you?"
Shen Ningning was so angry her little hands clenched into fists.
’A perfectly fine woman is being sold off as a concubine.’
’And her own brother, Dong Ermu, actually calls it a transaction.’
’How utterly depraved!’
Shen Ningning said coldly, "Then I’m afraid you’ve made this trip for nothing."
"Just yesterday, Uncle Emperor issued a decree to hire Aunt Sanhua as a female historian, responsible for teaching specialists how to cultivate sweet potato vines. Who do you think you are, to disregard the Emperor’s command?"
Dong Aniu and Dong Ermu were both stunned.
Dong Ermu blurted out instinctively, "How is that possible? Her? Dong Sanhua? What does she know?"
Shen Ningning flicked her little hand, her aura sharp. "Open your filthy eyes and take a good look."
"Inside and outside the courtyard where she lives, it’s all full of things for growing sweet potato vines. I was the one who recommended Aunt Sanhua to Uncle Emperor, and now she has his complete trust."
"Bring me that indenture contract. I’ll go ask Uncle Emperor and see how he wants to deal with you!"
Dong Aniu was instantly terrified.
He quickly grabbed Dong Ermu’s sleeve. "Let’s go, let’s go! I told you we can’t afford to provoke her!"
The group of servants from the rich merchant were also trembling with fear.
The merchant had told them to come along and seize the concubine.
But who would have thought they’d get dragged into a dispute like this.
The servants made an excuse and quickly ran off.
But Dong Ermu was still unwilling to give up.
He was forcibly dragged away by Dong Aniu.
Shen Ningning raised her voice. "If I see you again, I’ll break your legs and make you crawl back home!"
Terrified, Dong Aniu stumbled, taking Dong Ermu down with him into the snow.
The two brothers slipped and slid, their faces pressed against the ice, tumbling all the way to the village entrance.
The villagers burst into hearty laughter.
"Serves them right!"
Shen Ningning turned to Dong Sanhua and said in her sweet voice, "Aunt Sanhua, you don’t have to be afraid in Xiangyun Village."
"With me here, let’s see who dares to cause trouble again."
Uncle Deng quickly added, "That’s right, and me too! If they dare to come back, I’ll grab a club and beat their legs!"
Dong Sanhua’s eyes glistened with tears as she nodded repeatedly in thanks.
Meanwhile, after Dong Aniu and Dong Ermu returned to the rich merchant’s estate and explained the situation, the merchant, a man over sixty, heard that the Emperor was involved and flew into a rage. He kicked out, landing a harsh blow on Dong Ermu’s stomach.
"You two good-for-nothings, are you trying to ruin me? Hurry up and pay back the silver you owe me, and we’ll call it even. Otherwise, I’ll make you face consequences you can’t handle!"
After leaving the rich merchant’s house, Dong Ermu was in too much pain to stand up straight.
Dong Aniu, lacking any ideas of his own, said, "Second Brother, what should we do? Why don’t we just skip town tonight?"
They had already spent the silver, so there was no way they could pay it back.
But Dong Ermu, having been repeatedly humiliated today, was already gritting his teeth in fury.
A deep hatred filled his eyes. "Don’t worry. I have another way. I’ll get that Shen Ningning!"
「In mid-November.」
Xie Ming’an returned.
Shen Ningning hurried to the palace.
Xie Ming’an was in the middle of reporting the situation in Nanzhou to the Emperor and Mo Lingwei.
"Your Majesty, I indeed made an unexpected discovery on this trip to Nanzhou."