Although Yu Li said this, the two yamen officers still wore hesitant expressions and made no move.
Thinking of something, Yu Li went over and directly tore off the cloth tying up Officer Ge.
The ripping sound of the cloth splitting startled everyone, making their hearts pound.
In truth, men could also tear fabric into strips, but none could do it as decisively and smoothly as she did—it was as simple as tearing paper, as if it required no effort, as if she could tear it however she pleased.
How much strength must she have?
Earlier, they had already experienced her strength—it hurt like hell when she hit someone.
Once Officer Ge’s hands and feet were free, he quickly tied his belt, afraid his pants would fall down.
He dreaded the idea of his pants falling, exposing things that shouldn’t be exposed, and prompting this terrifying female demon to think about things like castrating pigs… As for his bare upper body, since his clothes had been torn to shreds and couldn’t be worn, he had no choice but to go shirtless for now.
Fortunately, the weather was hot, so going shirtless wasn’t a big deal.
Although Officer Peng felt quite sympathetic toward his colleague, seeing Steward Cui lying on the ground, barely alive, still made his scalp tingle.
He had no idea what to do. Suppressing his fear, he asked, “If he wakes up… what should we do?”
Officer Ge also looked at Yu Li with anticipation, hoping she would offer a solution.
Before Yu Li could respond, Yu Jin, who had been quietly staying on the side to avoid causing trouble for her elder sister, finally couldn’t hold back.
She stepped forward and said, “You can just make sure he never opens his mouth again and doesn’t expose this matter, right?”
Yu Jin thought these two yamen officers might truly be dim-witted. Her sister had already made it so clear that they could handle it however they wanted.
The two yamen officers looked at her simultaneously. Whatever they were thinking, their expressions turned horrified.
These sisters were both ruthless—one of them was even suggesting they kill someone.
If this person died, then yes, he would indeed never speak again, and he wouldn’t be able to expose them.
Yu Jin strangely understood the expressions on their faces and was so furious she wanted to curse.
At this moment, she completely forgot they were yamen officers. Earlier, she had been terrified when she saw her sister hitting them.
Her tone was less than polite: “There are plenty of ways to make someone unable to speak. You can figure it out yourselves. As long as he can’t open his mouth and expose you, isn’t that enough?”
Thinking of something, she asked again, “Does he know how to read?”
The two yamen officers shook their heads.
Since Steward Cui became the dock steward through family connections, they had spent time currying favor with him and knew quite a bit about him. They were well aware that he was an uneducated, useless person.
Before Concubine Cui entered the county magistrate’s residence, the Cui family were ordinary commoners without the money to send children to school.
Later, relying on Concubine Cui’s favor, the Cui family flaunted their connection to the magistrate’s household, extorting money from the common people and amassing great wealth, completely transforming themselves.
With this sudden rise to wealth, the Cui family had no concept of restraint and acted with extreme ostentation.
They also didn’t value educating their children—after all, as the in-laws of the county magistrate, they could live in luxury without learning anything. People would line up to bribe them just to have Concubine Cui say a few good words to the magistrate on their behalf.
“Then that’s fine, isn’t it?” Yu Jin said. “Look at him—he’s injured this badly. Who knows if he’ll even recover? Maybe his mouth is so damaged that he won’t be able to speak properly.”
Hopefully, he would stay bedridden at home from now on and stop causing trouble for others.
Thinking of the dock worker, whose head had been bleeding profusely, made her heart ache.
Seeing that dock worker, it was as if she saw herself—an ordinary commoner without power or influence, just like her.
What made her even angrier was the fact that Steward Cui had the audacity to want to take her sister as a concubine. Every time she thought about this, she felt her sister breaking his legs was completely justified.
The two yamen officers heard this and glanced at Steward Cui lying on the ground.
Steward Cui had already lost consciousness, looking quite pitiful. His face was swollen to the point it had grown a whole size larger, and his legs were broken…
With injuries this severe, they looked like they might be hard to recover from. If the doctor were to say they were untreatable, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had to stay bedridden and was unable to speak properly for the rest of his life.
At this moment, Yu Jin spoke, “You two were accomplices in today’s matter. If people find out you were the ones who called Steward Cui over…”
She looked at them meaningfully.
Yamen officers Ge and Peng shuddered all over, exchanging a glance. A fierce light flickered in their eyes.
If Steward Cui spoke out about what happened today, they would definitely be the ones to suffer for it. He might even frame them as being in cahoots with these two women.
They didn’t want to suffer, nor did they want to lose their positions as yamen officers. The only option was to ensure that Steward Cui stayed bedridden and, preferably, unable to speak.
Yu Jin saw the sinister expressions on their faces and knew they had taken her words to heart.
Her palms were damp, and deep down, she was terrified and feeling weak. She knew she was only bluffing. However, she forced herself to maintain a calm and composed appearance, successfully intimidating the two yamen officers.
Yu Li hadn’t spoken the entire time, letting Yu Jin handle the situation. When she saw Yu Jin’s hand, hidden behind her back, tightly clenched into a fist, she knew that her sister was actually quite scared.
Seeing that the two yamen officers were getting the hint, Yu Li didn’t do anything further and left with Yu Jin.
—
After turning through several alleys and putting some distance between them and the scene, Yu Li patted her sister’s tense shoulder and asked, “Were you scared?”
Yu Jin’s stiff shoulders relaxed slightly, and she shook her head.
“I—I wasn’t scared,” she said in a small voice. “If you hadn’t fought back, you would’ve been taken away by that Steward Cui, and who knows what would’ve happened. In that case, I’d rather it ended like this…”
Now that everything was already settled, she actually didn’t feel as scared anymore.
What was the use of fear? It was better to carefully think about how to clean up the mess, whether there were any loose ends, and how to deal with things moving forward.
While she thought, she spoke, “Don’t worry, Big Sister. Those two yamen officers definitely won’t dare to speak out. Otherwise, they’ll get dragged down too.”
After all, back at the dock, everyone saw that it was Officer Peng who had called Steward Cui over.
With Steward Cui beaten into this state, they were accomplices.
Yu Jin thought for a moment, then looked up at her sister. Seeing her sister’s fair profile illuminated by the sunlight, she suddenly said, “Big Sister, you’re still too thin. You need to eat more in the future.”
Then she thought about her sister’s appetite and was suddenly at a loss for words.
Her sister already seemed to eat quite a lot.
Yu Li nodded. “I will.”
As for being thin, there was nothing she could do about it. The nutrients from the food she ate were prioritized for her supernatural abilities, leaving little to nourish her body. She couldn’t make herself gain weight no matter how much she ate.
All she could do was keep eating more in the future.
Yu Jin suddenly laughed.
It seemed that no matter how terrifying the situation was, as long as she saw her sister’s calm and composed demeanor, everything felt like it wasn’t a big deal after all.
She smiled and said, “Big Sister, you look so skinny. Even if you have some strength, most people probably wouldn’t believe you could beat Steward Cui like this.”
Her sister was just a slender young woman—who would believe she could injure someone?
If one day Yamen officers Ge and Peng accidentally let something slip, people would likely believe it was their doing unless Steward Cui personally pointed her out.
However, judging by the reactions of those two Yamen officers, it seemed unlikely Steward Cui would be able to speak ever again.
Yu Li responded with a faint “Mm,” indifferent to whether people believed it or not.
She thought to herself, if the magistrate decided to send Yamen officers to arrest her, she could simply take the members of the Fu family and the second branch of the Yu family into the mountains or flee to another place to seek refuge.
Once they settled down, she could sort out their identities and live under new ones elsewhere.
In this world without advanced technological networks, creating a fake identity was easy.
Of course, avoiding exposure was still the best outcome. It would save everyone from having to flee. Everything now depended on how those two Yamen officers handled the situation.
Yu Li turned to her sister and said, “Once this is resolved, you can come to the county town to sell rice balls.”
Yu Jin froze for a moment, then nodded, showing her willingness to follow her sister’s lead.
She didn’t feel her sister was at fault for how things had turned out. Whatever her sister did was always right. If Steward Cui hadn’t dared to have designs on her sister, things wouldn’t have escalated like this.
Thinking of something, Yu Jin suddenly asked, “Big Sister, that, um, that…”
Yu Li looked at her in confusion. “What?”
Yu Jin’s gaze wavered, and she hesitantly muttered, “Are you really learning… uh, castrating pigs?” As soon as she said “castrating pigs,” her face turned beet red.
“I want to learn,” Yu Li replied without a hint of embarrassment. “I heard this kind of work pays well.”
So her sister was thinking about learning how to castrate pigs because it could earn money?
Yu Jin’s face grew even redder, and she whispered, “Big Sister, maybe… maybe we shouldn’t learn this?”
Having grown up in the countryside, Yu Jin was familiar with blunt and rustic language. Naturally, she understood what castrating pigs meant, and precisely because she understood, she couldn’t help feeling a bit shy.
“Why not?” Yu Li asked. “It’s pretty simple work. I was even thinking of tagging along with Brother Zhang next time he’s invited to castrate pigs and learning from him.”
As a butcher, Zhang Fu not only slaughtered pigs but also knew how to castrate them.
He often went to the countryside to buy live pigs and sometimes helped villagers castrate their pigs. Over time, he started taking on castration jobs regularly.
Yu Jin gave an awkward smile. This wasn’t about whether it was simple—it was more about…
Seeing her sister’s puzzled expression, Yu Jin started to feel that maybe she was the one with a dirty mind. Clearly, her sister saw this as a perfectly legitimate way to make a living and was only learning it for the money.
In the end, Yu Jin decided not to say anything further. As long as her sister was happy, that was enough.
Still, she couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Her sister was just too naive—this could make her an easy target for deception.
However, there was one thing Yu Jin needed to clarify: “Big Sister, earlier, when you said you were going to castrate those two Yamen officers…”
“I was bluffing!” Yu Li replied calmly. “Although I really wanted to, castrating a man would mess with his mind, and that could lead to societal problems. Better not.”