Can't a girl be a traitor like Cao Cao?

Chapter 261: They were actually after me?

"Puff puff--"

Under the continuous thrusts of the bandits' steel knives, the blankets on the bed were instantly riddled with holes.

However, after several stabs, someone immediately felt something was wrong.

Make everyone stop.

Then, the leader opened the blanket to take a look.

But they found that there was no one there at all; they were all cotton pillows!

The bandits immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Just then, a soft "Eh" came from outside the door.

Then a woman said with a puzzled tone, "Is it actually me you want to kill?"

The men were terrified and quickly grabbed their steel knives and came out of the house.

Then they saw two women standing in the darkness of the night.

It was none other than Chi Junlin and Wenren Tianxia.

The two men stood in the courtyard, dressed neatly, as if they had anticipated the arrival of assassins.

The bandits tensed up instantly, because they already knew that the two men were highly skilled in martial arts.

Even leaders like You Qianglong died at the hands of these two, so how could these few bandits be a match for them?

However, what puzzled the bandits was why the two men were standing outside at this moment.

Did they know in advance that there would be a night raid?

Then, before the bandits could react, they heard footsteps coming from not far away.

Then they saw Hui's servants, led by Hui Sanmei and others, rushing towards them with torches in their hands.

Before long, the courtyard was completely surrounded.

Sensing the danger, the bandits immediately contorted their faces with ferocity, preparing to fight Hui and his men to the death.

Upon seeing this, Wenren Tianxia smiled and asked Chi Junlin, "Shall I come?"

Chi Junlin nodded, "Leave a few alive for questioning."

Wenren Tianxia nodded and slowly drew the long sword from his waist.

He walked toward the group of bandits who were fighting like cornered beasts.

-

A short while later, in the brightly lit main hall of the Hui Clan Ancestral Hall...

Several bandits whose tendons had been severed were already pinned to the ground by the Hui family members.

What was found on them were large quantities of kerosene, fumes, and other insidious and harmful substances.

Besides the bandits, there was another person kneeling on the ground, trembling, under the watchful eyes of the Hui family.

It was none other than Lai Yuanwei, who had tried to escape when things went wrong, but was caught by several servants and brought here with him.

At this moment, Master Hui pointed at Lai Yuanwei's head and cursed, "You traitor! How have we, the Hui family, ever wronged you!"

You have gambling debts outside, and Third Sister went to great lengths to help you cover them up and pay them off!

All these years you've been loafing around in this house, doing nothing, and we've never said a word. We've just treated you like a son-in-law!

But what have you done, you beast!

They actually colluded with river bandits to try and harm my Hui family!

You heartless, ungrateful beast, you truly deserve to die! You deserve to die!

Lai Yuanwei saw that the Hui family members were all glaring at him angrily inside the brightly lit ancestral hall.

He broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself that he was completely finished.

Regardless of whether Lai Yuanwei was a son-in-law living with his wife's family, the mere fact that he colluded with bandits meant that, according to clan rules, he should be hanged on the spot, no matter where he was...

The thought that he would surely die without a burial place, and not even leave behind a complete corpse...

Lai Yuanwei felt waves of fear.

Before long, sweat was pouring down, soaking the stone bricks beneath them.

At this moment, Hui Sanmei also looked at Lai Yuanwei with a disgusted and angry expression.

Although Lai Yuanwei had previously been portrayed as a lazy, good-for-nothing gambler, he was at least a decent human being.

But who would have thought that this guy would actually do such a beastly thing as colluding with thieves and harming the clan!

When Chi Junlin told her about this before, she couldn't believe it!

She never imagined that her husband was a thousand times more vicious than she had ever thought!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but hug her daughter tightly and thank Chi Junlin, saying, "Thank you so much, Miss, for informing us of this matter. If it weren't for your reminder, my Hui family would have faced a great calamity tonight..."

As she spoke, Hui Sanmei felt a sense of fear when she thought of the massacre of her entire clan, the flames soaring into the sky, and the corpses strewn across the fields.

I couldn't help but burst into tears.

Seeing this, Hui Zhilan quickly came to her side to comfort her.

Chi Junlin smiled and replied to her, "After all, I am now a guest of the Hui family, and the water bandits came for me from the beginning. Helping you is naturally helping myself."

Upon hearing Chi Junlin's humble words, the Hui clan members immediately cast grateful glances at her.

Because tonight, if Chi Junlin hadn't arrived, the Hui clan would indeed have suffered a terrible fate, with the entire family dying tragically.

As for how Chi Junlin actually saw through Lai Yuanwei's malicious intentions—

This was because she was extremely wary of gambling dens and brothels in Xiangshui County from the very beginning.

She had previously learned from Hui Ziheng that the Water Gang's business was not only about smuggling salt and other goods in the waters around Dongting Lake.

Most of the gambling dens, brothels, and other underworld businesses in the area also originated from the Water Gang.

Now that Xiangshui County is about to begin suppressing bandits, they are very likely to allow the local vagrants and ruffians to cause trouble in secret.

Therefore, Chi Junlin informed Hui Ziheng in advance, instructing him to send people to secretly keep watch in these places.

Soon after, it was discovered that a gambling den on Coolie Street had a lot of members of the Water Gang coming and going, and it seemed that the owner of the place had been having a lot of dealings with the Water Gang recently.

The person keeping watch also happened to notice that Lai Yuanwei briefly entered and exited the gambling den several times, and when he left, he looked terrified, as if he had learned something terrible.

When the news reached Chi Junlin, it immediately caught her attention.

Back at the Hui residence, after asking the steward, I learned that Lai Yuanwei had recently been inquiring about the residence's nighttime security.

Chi Junlin immediately realized that Lai Yuanwei was probably an inside agent of the bandits and was about to bring in a wolf into the house to deal with the Hui family.

Adhering to the principle of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," Chi Junlin immediately ordered Hui Sanmei to strengthen defenses in preparation for a nighttime attack by bandits.

Hui Sanmei couldn't believe that the traitor was her husband.

I was only half-convinced about this matter.

It wasn't until later, when she saw Lai Yuanwei actually leave the room at night and go to the North Gate to let the bandits in, that she truly gave up hope.

I also learned what kind of heartless bastard Lai Yuanwei was, the man I had shared a bed with for many years!

At this moment, seeing Hui Sanmei with tears in her eyes, and her father kneeling before the ancestral tablet in the ancestral hall amidst the angry shouts of others.

It's understandable that a ten-year-old daughter would be a little scared.

She hugged her mother tightly and hurriedly looked up, asking, "Mother, what happened? Why is Father kneeling there? Did he do something wrong?"

Hui Sanmei looked at her daughter and said sadly, "Anan, that man is no longer your father. Because he wanted us, mother and daughter, to die, he wanted your uncles and aunts, the entire Hui family, all killed by that thief!"

The little girl was too young to understand, but she was still startled when she heard this.

Then, with an expression of extreme fear, she leaned into Hui Sanmei's arms.

Chapter 262 "Can you help comfort her?"

Seeing his daughter, Lai Yuanwei felt like he had found a lifeline.

He hurriedly knelt down and crawled toward Hui Sanmei, kowtowing repeatedly and saying, "Zhipeng! I know I was wrong! For the sake of our daughter, please forgive me this time, please forgive me this time, okay?"

Please don't kill me! Please tell them not to kill me!

I was forced by them, they forced me, it has nothing to do with me!

Zhipeng! You have to believe me!

Hui Sanmei couldn't bear to see him like that, so she covered her daughter's ears and turned her head away.

She just silently shed tears.

At that moment, Hui Ziheng kicked him, knocking him to the ground.

Then, with anger and disgust, he said, "Colluding with river bandits and claiming you were forced to do it?"

If you were really forced into this, why didn't you come back and explain to your aunt?

If I were to reveal the whole story, I would still consider you just a despicable gambling addict. I would still be able to see you as a decent human being.

But you clearly made a copy of the back door key, and you've already wholeheartedly aligned yourself with the criminals!

If this is considered innocent, then does that mean my Hui clan should be killed by you, you beast?!

As he spoke, he kicked Lai Yuanwei right in the face.

He was kicked until blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and his teeth broke.

Hui Sanmei could no longer bear to watch the scene before her, and her heart was filled with sorrow.

So Hui Zhilan accompanied her sister and niece away from this place of trouble.

Seeing that Lai Yuanwei was still crying and wailing, Hui Ziheng picked him up and slapped him twice.

He then asked Master Hui, "Grandpa, what should we do with this beast? How about I cut out the heart and liver of this scoundrel and see if it's red or black, to offer as a sacrifice to the spirits of our relatives who were killed by the river bandits!"

Upon hearing this, Master Hui hesitated for a moment before asking Chi Junlin, "Miss Lin, what do you think should be done with this person?"

Chi Junlin replied with a smile, "He is a member of the Hui clan, so naturally you should handle him as you see fit."

Master Hui nodded and said solemnly, "Then remove this person from the family genealogy and send him to the prefectural office along with the other bandits for public judgment by the government!"

Upon hearing this, Hui Ziheng, though still somewhat reluctant, nodded and said, "I'll listen to Grandpa!"

Then, together with the other male members of the clan, they tied up Lai Yuanwei and the other bandits and dragged them to the woodshed.

According to Master Hui, it was clear that the use of private punishment should not be employed.

However, judging from the furious expressions of Hui Ziheng and the other men, they clearly wouldn't let them off easily tonight.

-

On the other side, after leaving the ancestral hall, Hui Zhilan accompanied Hui Sanmei back to her room.

Throughout the ordeal, her daughter remained quiet, but clung to Hui Sanmei without letting go, appearing frightened by the events of the day.

After returning to her room and sitting down, Hui Sanmei seemed somewhat dazed, as if she was still a little scared of what had happened that day.

Fortunately, the woman held her small hand tightly, which somewhat brought her back to her senses.

Seeing this, Hui Zhilan looked worried and asked, "Are you alright?"

Hui Sanmei forced a smile and shook her head.

Hui Zhilan was slightly worried when she saw her like this.

Because Hui Sanmei had always been shrewd and capable in public, Hui Zhilan was worried about her mental state after she suddenly suffered such a huge blow.

Hui may still need to rely on her in the subsequent bandit suppression efforts.

Hui Sanmei can't afford to get into any trouble right now.

Just as Hui Zhilan was looking worried, she saw another person walk into the room.

The two looked up and, sure enough, it was Chi Junlin.

Seeing Hui Sanmei's slightly dazed expression, Chi Junlin seemed to have expected it.

So at that moment, he looked at Hui Zhilan with a questioning gaze.