The two officers were filled with vengeful thoughts. When they got back, they would definitely tie up Yu Jingde and his companions, bring them to Yu Li, and make them kneel to apologize—only then would their fury be appeased.
Officer Zhu, equally terrified, hurriedly stammered, “Th-this… elder sister, it’s all a misunderstanding! Please be magnanimous and let us go this time. We promise never to trouble you again…”
If you can’t win, then beg for mercy—it’s not shameful.
Although Officer Zhu often bullied commoners, he wasn’t entirely blind to reality. He knew not all common folk were afraid of them. The county town had its fair share of idle ruffians and hooligans who roamed the streets and alleys. When conflicts arose and things got heated, even officers like him had to be wary of them.
At this moment, Yu Li appeared to him as one of those ruffians or hooligans. He quickly switched to begging for mercy.
What else could he do? Continue getting beaten?
Yu Li held the tree branch she had used to strike them, waving it lightly in the air, producing a sharp whistling sound. The noise made the three men’s hearts pound with fear, and the pain from their injuries seemed to intensify.
“A misunderstanding?” she said slowly. “Today might be a misunderstanding. But in the future, it might not be.”
If it hadn’t been her but an ordinary village woman faced with officers barging in, no matter what the issue was, she and her family would have likely suffered.
This was something Yu Li despised most.
She didn’t fear the authorities, nor did she worry about the consequences of beating them. But she was acutely aware of the rigid social hierarchy in this world. For ordinary people, especially women, life wasn’t just difficult—it was miserable.
Although she had no intention of challenging the entire social system, that didn’t mean she could tolerate such things when she encountered them.
Her ambiguous words made the three officers’ hearts sink. They realized just how much she detested such behavior.
A strong sense of crisis gripped them, forcing them to make an immediate decision.
The three swore vehemently, pledging that they would never do such things again. They vowed to live honestly and stop bullying the common people.
Yu Li listened quietly, showing no reaction.
Only when the three men were drenched in cold sweat, trembling in fear, did she finally speak: “Oh? But I don’t believe your promises.”
Hearing this, Officers Ge and Peng nearly fell into despair.
They vividly remembered her earlier threats. Given her ruthless nature, she might very well castrate all the male members of their families, ensuring the Ge and Peng lineages would end with them.
For a man, this was the most terrifying punishment imaginable.
Officer Zhu, although not having received such threats himself, was already terrified after the brutal beating he had just endured. He now fully understood how frightening this woman was. His body trembled uncontrollably, his limbs weak as he stared at her in horror.
The twilight finally faded, and a bright full moon rose in the eastern sky.
With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the moonlight grew brighter each night, illuminating the surroundings enough to see in the dark.
Yu Li stood under the tree, her body concealed by its shadows. If she hadn’t spoken, it would have been easy to overlook her presence.
The three men couldn’t make out her expression, and her silhouette hidden in the shadows only heightened their fear.
Yu Li said, “I don’t believe you. But from now on, I’ll be watching you.”
Watching them?
The three froze for a moment as a chill shot through their hearts. They couldn’t help but shiver, terror spreading through their minds, rendering them speechless.
“Alright, you can go now,” Yu Li finally said.
The three men didn’t move, cautiously eyeing her as if trying to confirm whether she was truly letting them go.
They had already been beaten into submission, and her lingering threats sent chills down their spines.
Yu Li saw they hadn’t moved and added, “And regarding this incident, do you know what to do?”
Since Yu Jingde and the others were so eager for her to kneel and apologize, then let them be the ones to kneel.
The three men caught on quickly. Hearing her words, they immediately said, “Don’t worry, we understand. We’ll make sure they come to kneel and apologize to you!”
This matter involved Chen Zhongxun and the two Yu Jingde brothers.
As for Chen Zhongxun being Zhu Shou’s cousin from his maternal uncle’s family, the three of them didn’t care at all anymore. After suffering such a miserable fate, what room was there for familial loyalty? All that mattered now was calming her down.
Officer Zhu was full of resentment, feeling that he’d been set up by those people.
If he had known she was this terrifying, he wouldn’t have cared about their grudges and would’ve stayed as far away as possible.
Yu Li was finally satisfied and generously allowed them to stand.
The three men helped each other up, grimacing as they did. Every part of their bodies ached.
Especially Officer Zhu, who had been kicked so hard that he was flung to the ground, feeling as though his bones had been dislocated. His shoulder was out of joint, and one of his arms hung limply by his side.
They had never endured such suffering in their entire lives. The pain was almost unbearable. Officers Ge and Peng couldn’t believe that the beating they’d received from Yu Li last time wasn’t even the worst—this time was far worse.
It was probably because they had gone straight to her house and even tried to intimidate her, prompting her to strike harder.
Yu Li turned and headed back home.
The three men watched as she entered the Fu family home and shut the courtyard gate. Only after waiting for a long time to confirm she wouldn’t come back out did they cautiously leave.
They endured the pain as they walked. Since it was late at night and no boats were available to take them back, they had no choice but to walk all the way to the county town.
Once they left Qingshi Village, they finally stopped, gasping for air.
All three were drenched in sweat, and as the sweat trickled over their swollen, bruised wounds, the pain was excruciating. It felt like being sliced by a dull knife or having salt poured onto raw flesh.
The three of them plopped down into the roadside grass to rest.
Earlier, they had been too tense and didn’t dare show any pain in front of Yu Li. Now that they were out of Qingshi Village and sure she wouldn’t appear, they finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
Officer Peng, his body aching all over, grumbled in anger and resentment, “Zhu Shou, don’t ever drag us into something like this again. We absolutely won’t do it.”
If Zhu Shou hadn’t gotten them involved, they wouldn’t have suffered like this.
It hurt like hell!
Officer Ge felt the same way. He’d been beaten so badly that he was terrified.
He was also afraid that one day Yu Li would castrate all the men in his family like pigs. His only son still needed to marry and have children, and his father was so old—he couldn’t let him endure such humiliation in his twilight years.
Of course, as a man himself, he also didn’t want to lose his manhood. He still wanted to live like a normal man.
Officer Zhu was even more miserable. “How could I dare? If I had known…” He trailed off before asking the other two, “How do you know her?”
He hadn’t expected such a terrifying person to be hiding in Qingshi Village.
If he had known, he would never have come here.
Recalling Officers Ge and Peng’s earlier reactions, Officer Zhu couldn’t help but wonder if the two of them had been beaten by her before.
Because they knelt so swiftly and even pulled him down to kneel with them.
A man kneels to heaven, kneels to earth, kneels to his parents—how could he kneel to a young girl?
This was what Officer Zhu had always believed. When he saw the two officers kneel so readily, he was utterly shocked. The next moment, they had pulled him down to kneel as well.
This left quite an impact on Officer Zhu.
When Officers Ge and Peng heard his remark, their expressions froze.
Although the three of them were now sharing in their misery, they hadn’t planned on telling him the truth. Revealing it might lead to the incident of Steward Cui being injured, and the fewer people who knew about it, the less risk of exposure there would be.
Otherwise, all their effort to silence Officer Cui would have been for nothing.
Officer Ge explained vaguely, “We accidentally offended her in the past and got beaten, so…”
His words were ambiguous, allowing room for interpretation. Officer Zhu thought he understood. It was probably that they had seen the Yu family girl’s beauty and done something inappropriate, provoking her wrath.
It wasn’t a glorious matter—no wonder the two were reluctant to talk about it.
After this round of beatings, Officers Ge and Peng both decided they would never again bully commoners or intimidate people.
If anyone dared to suggest they scare a young girl again, they would beat that person to death themselves!
They finally resolved to turn over a new leaf and live honest, upright lives from now on.
—
After dealing with the three uninvited guests outside, Yu Li returned to the courtyard. Just as she was about to resume her body training, she saw Zhou Shi approaching.
“Li Niang.”
Standing under the eaves, Zhou Shi craned her neck to look for her. Seeing her return, she quickly asked about what had just happened.
Yu Li replied, “It’s nothing serious. Some people from the county came looking for me. I talked with them for a bit, and then they left.”
Zhou Shi eyed her suspiciously. “Really nothing happened?”
“Nothing!”
After confirming multiple times that there was indeed no problem, Zhou Shi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her lips moved slightly, and she softly said, “Li Niang, if you ever encounter bad people in the future, make sure to protect yourself first.”
Yu Li nodded. “Of course.”
Although she didn’t understand why Zhou Shi said this, Yu Li had always been obedient.
She assured her, “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m very strong. If there are bad people, I’ll definitely protect you!”
Her mother-in-law could cook delicious food and do embroidery. Yu Li was truly fond of her and wouldn’t allow bad people to harm her. The same went for the siblings, and Fu Wenxiao. Since they were her mother-in-law’s family, she would naturally protect them too.
Zhou Shi pressed her lips together in a smile, her previously heavy heart lightened.
She laughed, “No, no, just take care of yourself, and that’s enough.”
These days, watching Yu Li practice body techniques in the courtyard every day, Zhou Shi couldn’t understand it but could tell that her daughter-in-law was no ordinary person. This gave her peace of mind.
After chatting for a while and noticing that it was getting late, with an early trip to the county town planned for tomorrow, Yu Li decided to skip training. She grabbed her clothes, washed up, and went to her room to rest.
Fu Wenxiao was waiting for her inside. When he saw that she had washed her hair, he picked up a towel to gently dry it for her.
As he dried her hair, he asked, “Li Niang, what happened earlier?”
Yu Li recounted the events to him. She had avoided telling her gentle mother-in-law, fearing she might frighten her, but she had no such concerns with Fu Wenxiao.
Although he looked frail, his temperament was anything but weak, and he had a surprisingly strong ability to adapt.
Judging from how well he accepted her unusual behavior, it was evident he had a solid capacity for handling surprises. Even the time she had subconsciously choked him awake in the middle of the night, he had remained calm and quietly lay there, showing just how resilient he was mentally.
There was no need to worry about scaring him.
After listening to her story, Fu Wenxiao’s expression remained calm.
However, when he spoke, the icy tone in his voice betrayed his anger.
“What do you plan to do about it?” he asked.
Yu Li blinked and replied matter-of-factly, “Since they’re so eager for me to kneel and apologize, I’ll make them kneel and apologize instead.”
Fu Wenxiao: “.…”
Yu Li added, “After Mid-Autumn Festival, I’ll go find them.”
Reciprocity was a basic courtesy. If someone dared to bring trouble to her doorstep, she certainly wouldn’t let it slide. She had to make them understand her strength so they wouldn’t keep scheming behind her back.
She never feared retaliation. If they had the ability to fight back, they were welcome to try; if not, they’d better stay quiet. It was as simple as that.
Fu Wenxiao fell silent for a moment, then let out a low chuckle.
When she looked up at him, he continued drying her hair, his voice warm as he said, “Good. Let’s do that.”
He was furious that someone had tried to bully her.
But if she were to turn the tables and bully them instead—wasn’t that exactly what they deserved?
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