Cai Damei was a woman who clearly distinguished gratitude from grudges. She was grateful to Xie Lanhua, but she would not let Li Nan off.
"What do you want?"
"I don't want anything else, I only want Li Nan back. Whatever he owes you, I'll repay with my life." As Xie Lanhua finished speaking, she felt the force blocking her disappear.
Thud.
Xie Lanhua fell heavily to the ground, her whole body aching from the impact, but she didn't cry out. She scrambled to her feet and continued kowtowing with all her might.
"It's my fault. I beg you, let Li Nan go, it's all my fault..." Her kowtows grew heavier and heavier, her forehead soon bleeding, staining a patch of ground red.
Ye Yunniang clenched her fists, struggling to suppress the nausea rising in her throat at the sight of blood.
"I will not pursue Li Nan," Cai Damei spoke.
"Thank you, thank you..." Xie Lanhua kept repeating her gratitude.
"Damei, thank you." Li Wenkuo, standing nearby, also expressed his thanks.
"Village Chief, there are two reasons I'm letting Li Nan go. First, to repay Xie Lanhua for helping Yunniang. Second, to repay the kindness you once showed our family of three. From now on, we go our separate ways." Having said this, Cai Damei let the carriage curtain fall.
The carriage began moving again.
"Wait! Since you've let Li Nan go, you must let my man go too!" Cai Hua rushed out and blocked the carriage's path.
"Get lost." Facing Cai Hua, Cai Damei showed no courtesy at all.
"Cai Damei, you must release my man. Otherwise, I'll expose everything you've done." Cai Hua threatened, uttering three words: "Little North Mountain."
"Go ahead and tell." Contrary to Cai Hua's expectations, Cai Damei didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"Aren't you afraid?" Cai Hua frowned, looking at Cai Damei.
"What do I have to be afraid of?" Cai Damei retorted with a laugh, completely unfazed by Cai Hua's words.
"Cai Damei, I'm not joking. That day, I clearly saw you with..." Cai Hua deliberately paused here, waiting for Cai Damei to yield.
"You saw me being intimate with another man, hahaha..." Cai Damei laughed and finished the sentence Cai Hua left unsaid. "Cai Hua, my man died two years ago. I'm a widow now. Isn't it normal for me to have a man?"
"Scandalous! Shameful! Menfolk, don't let them leave, seize them! Today, the Li family will tie up this wanton woman and throw her in a pig cage! Speak, who is the adulterer?"
The wizened old man standing behind the villagers of Li Family Village couldn't sit still upon hearing this. Without needing support from the younger generation, he rushed out, pointing at Cai Damei and cursing.
Despite the wizened old man's words, the Li Family villagers behind him did not move.
In response, Cai Damei simply rolled her eyes.
"I know who the adulterer is!" Tong Mo, who loved stirring up trouble, spoke up.
"Who is it?"
"My maternal uncle, the Prefect of Jiangcheng."
"Let's go, let's capture the adulterer!" The wizened old man finished speaking, then realized something was wrong and looked at Tong Mo. "You said who?"
"The magistrate of Jiangcheng. His official rank is two grades higher than your county magistrate, you know." Tong Mo said, holding up two fingers.
"P-p-p-prefect!" The wizened old man's tone was full of disbelief. His gaze turned to Cai Damei. How was this possible?
Was the official lord blind?
To take a fancy to a middle-aged widow whose husband was dead, who had a daughter-in-law and a grandson.
What kind of taste was that?
What skills did Cai Damei even have?
"You're lying!" Cai Hua screamed in terror, refusing to believe it.
"You're so smart, you guessed right. Unfortunately, no reward!" Tong Mo's teasing tone made not only the Li Family villagers but also Cai Damei and Ye Yunniang in the carriage want to hit him.
"Tong Mo, let's go." Cai Damei urged, not wanting to say another word.
"You're not allowed to leave!" Cai Hua blocked the way again. "Unless you run me over, don't even think about taking one step out of Li Family Village today."
Tong Mo was not one to be threatened by such tactics. With a flick of the horsewhip, he directed the carriage to charge straight at Cai Hua.
Cai Hua clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and forced herself not to retreat. She didn't believe the carriage would actually dare to hit her.
The horse drew closer and closer, so close she could hear its snorts. Cai Hua grew afraid.
"Ah! Don't run me over! I don't want to die—" Cai Hua screamed and threw herself to one side, narrowly avoiding the carriage.
Lying on the ground, Cai Hua watched the carriage pass over the spot where she had just stood, her eyes filled with relief and lingering fear.
"Scaredy-cat." Tong Mo snorted and directed the carriage away.
"Stop them!" The wizened old man shouted, then turned to urge the Li Family villagers to seize them.
No one moved.
Finally, Li Wenkuo stepped forward and persuaded the wizened old man to stop.
The villagers of Li Family Village watched the departing carriage, sensing that they would likely never see Cai Damei and her daughter-in-law again in this lifetime.
After the carriage left, Ye Yunniang's biological father, stepmother, and stepbrother came running.
"Where is Ye Yunniang?"
"Where's my sister?"
"Did she really ride off in a big carriage?"
"Has Cai Damei struck it rich?"
...
Tian Fangmei and the other two fired off a string of questions, their minds already calculating how to get money to buy a bigger house for their family and find a new wife for the son.
The Li Family villagers cast looks of disgust at the three members of the Ye family and left.
"What's with your looks?" Tian Fangmei, dissatisfied, accosted the person nearest to her, wanting to argue.
This person happened to be Cai Hua, who was still shaken.
Cai Hua was angry at Cai Damei and Ye Yunniang for refusing to help in her time of need. Hearing that Tian Fangmei claimed to be from the Ye family, she immediately vented all her pent-up fury on Tian Fangmei.
Cai Hua balled her fists and struck Tian Fangmei.
Tian Fangmei was stunned by the punch. Coming to her senses, she let out a howl and charged at Cai Hua, fighting for her life.
Scratching, pinching, biting, clawing, gnawing... every move was employed.
Seeing their woman/mother being beaten, the Ye father and son moved to help.
Cai Hua might be unpleasant, but she was still a member of Li Family Village.
The Li Family villagers couldn't let their own be bullied by outsiders. They stopped the Ye father and son, though their methods were somewhat rough.
The three members of the Ye family left Li Family Village bruised and battered.
The three cursed Ye Yunniang all the way as they headed toward the town. While crossing a small bridge, their feet suddenly slipped, and they tumbled off the bridge one after another, landing heavily in the small river below.
The river wasn't deep, but the fall was still quite a shock.
Struggling to climb onto the riverbank, they were soaked through. They had no choice but to go home first, change clothes, and then go to town to find Ye Yunniang.
On the way, because the path was slippery, they fell several more times. The Ye father broke his arm, and the son broke his leg.
Tian Fangmei had no time to look for Ye Yunniang; she first had to tend to the injured Ye father and son.
By the time their injuries healed and they went to town, Ye Yunniang had long since left, her whereabouts unknown.
Inside the carriage, Ye Yunniang kept glancing at Cai Damei, who had her eyes closed, resting.
"If you want to ask something, just ask." Cai Damei opened her eyes.
Ye Yunniang smiled awkwardly, unsure how to phrase her question.
"That man is Bao Min," Cai Damei began first. She no longer concealed anything, recounting everything that had happened from the boat to the mountain, though of course, some details were omitted.
"...That's how things are. Don't blame yourself; this has nothing to do with you." After finishing her account, Cai Damei comforted Ye Yunniang.
After hearing the story, Ye Yunniang felt both guilty and regretful. If only she hadn't provoked Jiang Mingzhe.
"Mother, what are you thinking?"
"What I think is not important." From the very beginning, the decision in this matter had never been in Cai Damei's hands.
"Should... no, we... we leave Jiangcheng, go live in a new city." Ye Yunniang suggested leaving Jiangcheng for a life in a city without Bao Min.
"If Uncle has set his sights on Aunt, there's no escape for you."
