Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11961

"If Mai Li'er is good by nature, she won't turn bad in the future. If she is bad by nature and is just pretending, I believe she will eventually be exposed. When that happens, we can kill her easily, right?"

Her and Luo Fengtang's martial arts skills have broken through to a new level. Even if Mai Li'er is very powerful, it is not something that ordinary martial arts practitioners can achieve if they want to break through to the point of tempering their bodies and prolonging their lives.

“I’ll listen to you. I’ll spare Mai Li’er’s life for now, but we must keep a close eye on her!” Luo Fengtang said.

Yang Ruoqing nodded, "Of course! When I find an opportunity later, I'll test her to see if she's a time traveler. I'll know as soon as I try!"

……

There's no rush to test the waters yet; let's hold off for now.

Right now, Yang Ruoqing and Luo Fengtang both have things to take care of first.

Yang Ruoqing's task was naturally to deal with Mai Lao Er and his wife, Tie Shi. She instructed Yang Huazhong to deliberately keep Mai Lao Er and his wife out of the room for a few days, so they wouldn't be sent to the dark room again. This would prevent them from getting the impression that Yang Ruoqing was very fond of their daughter and had to win her over. She wanted the couple to feel that the Luo family was someone they could take in or not, and that it all depended on their mood.

On the other hand, Tie's maternal family members, father and brothers, also "learned" of their imprisonment and rushed to Changping Village.

The village elder, Wang Hongtao, let the father and his sons into the small dark room and allowed them to visit for a short while.

In a small dark room.

When Tie saw her father, brothers, and other relatives, she was immediately moved to tears. She rushed forward, grabbed their hands, and anxiously inquired about the condition of her three children.

Especially her youngest son, "I haven't seen him all night, did he cry or make a fuss?"

"And what about the two girls? Are they getting anxious too? Father, brother, they are your own grandchildren! You must protect them and not let my two sisters-in-law and sister-in-law bully them!"

Old Man Tie still felt sorry for his only daughter, and could only respond to her words with a wry smile.

Her two older brothers and younger brother were unhappy with these words.

"Girl, what nonsense are you talking about? When has your sister-in-law ever mistreated any of her nephews?"

The second brother rolled his eyes: "Exactly, just talking nonsense! They're locked in the dark room, and they still can't keep their mouths shut!"

"Third sister, that's not a very nice thing to say. If my sisters-in-law and my wife were as difficult to get along with as you say, your family would have been cut off long ago!" Tie's younger brother shook his head, completely unwilling to come over.

However, the Luo family has already come knocking on their door. If they don't come and act as intermediaries, the Luo family will make trouble for the Tie family!

Tie was stunned. She never expected that she would be scolded like this by her two older brothers and one younger brother as soon as she met them and opened her mouth.

The eldest daughter of the Tie family was very unhappy, but she dared not show it, because these were her family members and her support.

"That's not what I meant. I just haven't seen the children for a whole day and night, and I was so worried about them!" Tie Shi hurriedly tried to explain herself away.

She gave Mai Lao Er a meaningful look, but Mai Lao Er, who usually understood and cooperated with her with just a glance, was now sitting lazily on a haystack with his hands in his sleeves.

Although Tie Shi had been so angry with him that she fainted and had to have her philtrum pinched until it bled to save her... Mai Lao Er was not at all guilty at this moment. In front of Tie Shi's family, Mai Lao Er was not afraid at all.

Anyway, he just doesn't want to pay any attention to the Tie family right now.

Although Tie's younger brother didn't want to talk to his sister, this indifference was limited to his father and brothers in the Tie family.

If an outsider, such as this cheap brother-in-law Mai Lao Er, also dares to treat the Tie family badly, then a problem will arise.

At that moment, when Tie's younger brother saw that Mai Lao Er was ignoring Tie's pleas for help and was huddled in the haystack in the corner ignoring his sister, the young man was furious.

"Mai Lao Er, are you deaf or mute? My sister is calling you, why aren't you responding?"

With his shout, Old Man Tie and his two other brothers also realized that something was wrong with the couple.

"What's going on? You two are locked in the same dark room, and you're still fighting amongst yourselves?" Old Man Tie was very puzzled.

When the Luo family went to the Tie family, after explaining their purpose and the cause and effect of what had happened, the Tie family realized that whether it was selling their daughters under the guise of engagement or poisoning their two daughters' food, it was all done by Mai Lao Er and the Tie couple together.

Furthermore, it's hard to believe that the Tie family was unaware of the drugging.

As Tie's maternal family, they were certainly involved in some matters, but they offered suggestions behind the scenes without making it explicit, though they inevitably provided hints and guidance through words.

Putting everything else aside, the medicine that could make someone fall into a deep sleep for several hours was something that Lady Tie brought back from her maiden home...

"It's not just infighting, this bastard hit my sister?" Tie's second brother had the sharpest eyes among them. Even though the small dark room was dimly lit, he still spotted the red bump on Tie's forehead and the bruises around it at a glance.

Immediately, Tie's second brother started yelling. At the same time, he rolled up his sleeves, rushed to the corner of the wall, grabbed Mai Lao Er's clothes, and punched Mai Lao Er in the face.

"Bang!" Old Mai was hit so hard that his head slammed against the wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood. When he opened his eyes again, good heavens, the dark room was lit up.

It wasn't someone who opened the door for him; rather, golden light shone directly before his eyes, and he saw a dazzling array of colors.

"Good heavens, if you've got the guts, kill me! I don't want to be this cheap son-in-law anymore!" Although Mai Lao Er didn't dare to fight back, he knew it would be futile.

At his age, he had to support his family, his son, and the two lazy daughters that Tie had brought with him. He supported his family during the day and also supported Tie in bed at night.

This Tie woman, despite being a mother of three and only just turned 30, is truly like a wolf or a tiger in some ways!

In short, Mai Lao Er had already exhausted himself and knew that he was no match for Tie Lao Er. Besides, even if he fought Tie Lao Er with all his might, there were Tie Lao Han, Tie Lao Da, and Tie Lao San standing by!
How could he possibly take on a father, sons, and four brothers all by himself? He might as well make a plan, but he still needs to keep up his tough talk.

"Just kill me! If you kill me, I'll be free. Raising five kids and a wife, I'm living worse than a dog!"

"Fine, I'll grant your wish." Tie Lao Er raised his iron fist and slammed it into Mai Lao Er's body several more times.

This time he didn't pick and choose faces, but rather threw them randomly, wherever they landed.

Tie came to her senses, cried and ran over, pulled her second brother away, and pushed him aside.

"What are you doing? Why are you hitting my man? What if you kill him?"

The second brother of the Tie family, panting heavily, pointed at Tie Shi: "Well, so you're biting the hand that feeds you?" The younger brother of the Tie family also came over, indignant about his sister's behavior, "Sister, your second brother is standing up for you. You were beaten by this cheap brother-in-law, and you're still siding with him?"

"What do you know? Which couple doesn't fight? You only saw him hitting me, but you didn't see me hitting him?" Tie Shi stretched out her arms, protecting Mai Lao Er behind her like a chick, and argued with her older and younger brothers.

However, Mai Lao Er did not show any surprise or gratitude in his eyes for her actions.

Instead, Mai Lao Er spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground, which also contained half of a broken tooth.

He had seen this woman's tricks many times over the years. At first, he was genuinely moved by them, but later he realized they were all just acting pretentious.

For example, just now, if she really wanted to protect him, she wouldn't have just sat there waiting. She had to wait until her second brother threw several punches and uttered a few curses before she reacted.

Therefore, Mai Lao Er was even less willing to get involved. He was the one who would be beaten anyway, and he would not show any gratitude to Tie Shi for his actions.

I'm disgusted! What a hypocritical woman, what a drama queen!

Without Mai Lao Er's involvement, the Mai siblings had a chaotic argument, but eventually, under the pressure of Tie Lao Han, they stopped and quieted down for the time being.

"I'm here today to talk about serious business, so don't cause me any trouble!" Old Man Tie slammed his pipe against the wall a few times, once again intimidating the small dark room.

The others fell silent, retreating behind Old Man Tie, while others stood at the entrance of the small dark room.

Why?

During the day and night that Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi were imprisoned, although the couple did not defecate, they certainly urinated.

There was no urination service provided in this small, dark room; there was only a small drain leading outside. They strongly suspected that this small, dark room might have been someone's pigsty in Changping Village before.

Because it was right next to the new ancestral hall, it was no longer suitable to use it as a pigsty, for fear of disturbing the ancestors. So it was left vacant and used as a temporary place to detain villagers who had made mistakes.

Right now, the inside is filled with a foul stench; it's no place for a human to stay.

"Daughter, son-in-law, we've come here today not for anything else, but to get you two out of here!" Old Man Tie said bluntly.

He walked up to Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi and said in a low voice, "We went to see the people in your village. We heard that the Luo family originally wanted to send you to the government to serve half a year in prison. Later, because your two daughters pleaded with the General's wife, saying that they wanted to be the General's wife's servants, the General's wife seems to like your two daughters quite a bit."

"So I went to the village to ask them for ideas. They all said that if you could go with the flow and take advantage of the fact that the general's wife has taken a liking to your daughter, you could send your daughter over to them as a gift, and perhaps you could avoid going to jail!"

What do you say?

Before Old Man Tie could finish speaking, Old Man Mai waved his hand and said, "I have no objection. As long as I can get away from this godforsaken place where the sun never shines, I would send my daughter there, or even my son, to be a servant without batting an eye!"

Old Man Tie nodded in satisfaction. Whether it was his daughter or his son, he didn't feel anything.

Those two girls aren't their own granddaughters! Even if they were given to Mai Lao Er's son, their own granddaughter, Old Man Tie wouldn't feel anything.

The word "grandson" in front of "grandson" doesn't mean he's not one's own grandson. Besides, the family has three sons and seven or eight grandsons. Losing one grandson is nothing.
Even though Old Man Tie thought this way, the three brothers of the Tie family naturally felt even more reluctant to give their sister and brother-in-law a slap in the face, wishing that their sister and brother-in-law would quickly agree to the matter so that their Tie family could escape an undeserved disaster.

Because the warning in the words spoken by the people from the Luo family was already quite obvious.

If the Tie family doesn't cooperate and doesn't act as intermediaries to persuade the Mai couple to offer their daughter, then the Tie family will suffer...

As for how to bring disaster upon the Tie family, for the powerful and influential Luo family, there were a hundred ways, weren't there? Therefore, the entire Tie family, more than a dozen members, hovered near the execution line of the Luo family's guillotine...

Everyone else in the small dark room had no objections, but Tie Shi did.

"No way! I don't mind those two brats working like slaves for others, but I do mind the food that Mai family used to feed them!"

"We can't just give it away to the Luo family for nothing. Even if we sell it to a wealthy family in the city to be a slave or something, we should still get at least two taels of silver, right?"

Give it away for free? No way!

"So what do you want to do? Go and bargain with the Luo family? Do you think they'll give you a few taels of gold and silver?" Tie's second brother asked Tie Shi with a sneer, realizing that his sister was not only bad, but also very stupid.

Tie's eyes darted around, and she said, "Tying two brats together would cost at least 10 taels of silver, right? Even with a discount, it can't be less than 8 taels!"

"Also, we're sending them over as a filial offering, not selling them into servitude. We don't have indentures; when they reach a certain age, we'll bring them back to help them find husbands... If they were slaves, the price would be based on the current market rate. Two girls, Mai Li'er has a pretty face, so we'd charge 20 taels of silver for them together..."

"Snapped!"

Before Tie could finish speaking, she slapped her across the face.

"Have you got an abacus in your head yet? You think my daughter is something you can buy and sell? Get the hell out of here!"

That's right, the one who beat up Tie Shi in front of her family was Mai Lao Er.

"You still want money from the Luo family? Twenty taels? I'll give you twenty big purses right now!"

With bloodshot eyes, Mai Lao Er stood up, looking like he was about to devour someone, which frightened the Tie family's second son and the others who were about to come over to stop him by force, causing them to freeze in place.

Tie covered her face, feeling not only a burning pain but also utterly humiliated!

"Fine, you heartless bastard! I've been so good to you, and you dare to hit me for those two good-for-nothing kids left behind by your dead ex-wife? I'll fight you to the death!"

Chaos erupted again in the small dark room...

……

An hour later, Yang Huazhong, along with the second village elder and Wang Hongtao, the village elder from the preparatory village, arrived at the Luo family's house to pay their respects, accompanied by Old Man Tie.

Old Man Tie didn't come empty-handed; he was carrying two chickens with their wings tied to them.

One is a speckled hen, and the other is a chick raised this year.

(End of this chapter)