By this point, Gu Yanzong's children and several members of the Gu clan had already surrounded her tightly, their eyes gleaming with ill will, clearly not planning to let this swindler who had made them lose all face off easily.
"Seize this shameless bitch!"
"Don't let her run away! Send her to the authorities to be punished!"
Feng Xianxian was so terrified that her soul nearly left her body. Her grand dream of wealth and status had completely shattered, leaving her with nothing but the raw instinct to survive.
She scrambled and crawled over to Zhang Dapeng's feet, clinging to his leg, snot and tears streaming down her face as she begged desperately, "Constable Zhang! Save me! Take me away! Hurry and bring me back to the exile convoy! I'm willing to accept my punishment! Please, I beg you!"
Right now, she would rather go back to the exile team and endure the lash than fall into the hands of this group of Gu family members who looked as if they were about to tear her to pieces.
Zhang Dapeng looked down at the woman who had been arrogant and high and mighty just a moment ago, now reduced to a mess like trampled mud. He then glanced at the glowering Gu clansmen, rolled his eyes, and instead of taking her away immediately, he squatted down slowly, a lewd, greedy grin spreading across his face as he lowered his voice.
"Take you away? Sure I can... But Feng Xianxian, I came all this way to catch you, I can't be expected to make the trip for nothing, can I?"
Feng Xianxian froze. This was blatant extortion, taking advantage of her peril to rob her!
But she had not a single copper to her name now, where was she supposed to get money?
She looked at Zhang Dapeng's disgusting face, and saw Feng Wencai standing beside him wearing a similar expression. Her heart turned completely icy cold.
After weighing her options over and over, she gritted her teeth, steeled her resolve, pushed past her shame, and spoke in an extremely faint voice, "I have no money. But if the constable is willing to save me, I... I am willing to use my body to repay you..."
This was the only "asset" she had left to offer.
A lewd, lustful glint flashed in Zhang Dapeng's eyes. He pinched her chin, "You know what's good for you! Remember what you just said! If you dare to play tricks on me, I have more than enough ways to torment you along the road, making sure you can't live or die in peace!"
Feng Xianxian shuddered all over, and quickly promised, "I wouldn't dare! Xianxian wouldn't dare!"
Once their sordid deal was struck, Zhang Dapeng finally stood up. He exchanged a glance with his fellow officer, and the two of them drew the sabers at their waists at the same time, the steel blades reflecting a cold, frigid glint in the candlelight.
"Everyone, stand back! The authorities are here to take a criminal. Anyone who dares to obstruct will be charged as an accomplice!" Zhang Dapeng shouted sharply. The status of being official constables and the gleaming drawn sabers carried tremendous deterrent force.
Though the Gu family were seething with resentment, they were only a merchant clan after all, and did not dare to truly oppose the government constables. They could only watch sullenly as Zhang Dapeng and Feng Wencai dragged Feng Xianxian, her hair disheveled and her face ashen, like a dead dog out of the ravaged wedding hall, before they vanished into the deep dark night.
All that was left for the crowd of guests was endless gossip and the mess of Gu Yanzong, who was still unconscious. Feng Xianxian's brief dream of becoming a wealthy master's wife had been completely dashed in the most humiliating, miserable way possible.
The sun sank below the western horizon.
Back at the camp.
Feng Xianxian was dragged back by Zhang Dapeng and Feng Wencai just like a dead dog. The moment she appeared, the entire camp fell silent for a split second.
The glaring red wedding dress she was wearing had long been torn to rags, caked with dirt and grass scraps. Her hair was a tangled mess, and the delicate makeup on her face had smudged into a mess from tears and sweat. She wandered around in a daze, looking both absurd and pitiably wretched.
But none of the others felt any sympathy for her. The long pent-up anger erupted like a volcano.
"Feng Xianxian! You shameless bitch! You put on that tattered wedding dress to marry some other random man, and you still have the face to come back?"
"How dare you frame our sister-in-law! Why don't you just drop dead!"
Insults and spurns rained down on Feng Xianxian like hailstones.
Zhan Qingrou, her eyes red with rage, charged forward like a feral little beast that had been provoked, her small fists swinging as she beat at Feng Xianxian through her sobs, "You bad woman! Give my sister-in-law back! Give her back to me, wuwu..."
Feng Xianxian let her pummel her like a puppet, her gaze hollow, as if she could no longer feel any pain at all.
"Qingrou! Stop that!" Zhan Jinmo stepped forward, pulled Zhan Qingrou away, and stood in front of Feng Xianxian to shield her.
This action of his shocked everyone, and stoked their fury even more.
"Zhan Jinmo! Have you lost your mind? Feng Xianxian is in this state and you're still defending her?"
"She wore a wedding dress and performed the marriage rites with that man from the Gu family! She's hung such a huge green hat on your head, and you still treat her like some precious treasure?"
"What a spineless wretch! You've shamed our entire Zhan family!"
The accusations from the clansmen were like sharp blades, stabbing Zhan Jinmo until his face turned pale and then flushed dark, but he still held his ground, shouting loudly at the crowd, "Even if she has done a thousand wrongs, none of you have the right to lay a hand on her!"
Zhan Yunpeng and the others roared back, "But she harmed our sister-in-law!"
Zhan Haochen also stepped forward and declared, "Feng Xianxian schemed to frame our sister-in-law. The evidence is irrefutable. According to our clan rules, she should be given a beating with the bamboo whip and expelled from the clan!"
Zhan Jinmo retorted, "Haochen, I have already divorced her. She is no longer a wife of the Zhan family! The clan rules no longer apply to her!"
Several highly respected elders of the clan, their faces dark with anger, said, "So you are dead set on protecting her!"
"No, what he said is correct," Zhan Jianping spoke up, his face stern. "Now that Feng Xianxian has been divorced, she is no longer one of our Zhan people."
A flicker of hope flashed across Zhan Jinmo's face at those words.
But then Zhan Jianping's tone shifted sharply, his voice turning harsh. "However! Even though she is no longer part of our Zhan clan, she is still a member of the exile convoy! The person she tried to harm, Cheng Yao, is the principal daughter-in-law of our main Zhan branch! She attempted to murder a member of our Zhan clan. According to the rules of the road, even beating her to death would not be too harsh a punishment!"
The moment those words left his mouth, many of the enraged young clansmen immediately balled their fists, their eyes glowering viciously at Feng Xianxian, ready to surge forward.
"I'll see who dares!" Zhang Dapeng and Feng Wencai stepped forward at once, drawing their sabers halfway out of their sheaths as they snapped, "Feng Xianxian is a convicted exile! Even if she has committed a crime, it is for the government's laws and us constables to deal with her! Any of you who inflict private punishment on her are showing contempt for royal law, defying the authorities! Are you trying to stage a rebellion?"
The constables' show of authority temporarily quelled the restless crowd. Though the Zhan family were filled with indignation, they did not dare to truly oppose the government.
"Then tell us, what punishment do you plan to give her!" someone shouted unwillingly.
Zhang Dapeng huffed coldly. He had already come up with his explanation long ago, and he announced loudly, "According to the rules, for attempting to frame a fellow exile and failing, the punishment is to withhold all water and rations for half a month, to serve as a warning to all others!"
"Half a month? That's far too light!"
"We all have our own rations right now. If you don't give her water or food, she still won't starve! This punishment is completely meaningless! How can that ease the anger in our hearts!"
"No! The punishment has to be heavier!"
The crowd erupted into noise again, utterly dissatisfied with this flimsy, trivial sentence.
Just as the situation was on the verge of spiraling out of control, Constable Wang, who had been watching coldly all this time, finally stepped forward.
He rubbed his throbbing temples, and said in a deep, solemn voice, "Stop all this shouting! I will decide this matter myself!"
His gaze swept over Feng Xianxian, whose face was as pale as ash, then fell on the Zhan clansmen, their faces dark with rage. After a moment of thought, he said, "Feng Xianxian tried to frame Cheng Yao and failed. The punishment of withholding water and rations for half a month is reasonable and in line with the rules."
"But seeing how furious everyone is, let's add one more rule. She will be responsible for all the laundry, cooking, cart-pushing, and every other dirty and tiring chore for the eldest branch of the Zhan family. She will work like a servant, toiling like a beast of burden, until Cheng Yao returns, and we will decide her fate further then. What do you all think?"
Constable Wang's ruling was considered a proper concession to the eldest branch of the Zhan family.
Having Feng Xianxian wait on the eldest branch carried a clear tone of humiliation and punishment, so Zhan Haochen did not object any further.
However, Zhan Haoting, who had been leaning silently against a spot not far away, slowly opened his eyes at this very moment.
His voice was not loud, but it carried a cold, distant edge:
"There is no need."
Every pair of eyes in the room instantly locked onto him.
Zhan Haoting said indifferently, "The eldest branch of my Zhan family cannot afford to employ someone like her. Just the sight of her would sully our eyes and disrupt our peace."
These words were like the sharpest shard of ice, piercing straight through Feng Xianxian's already tattered, broken heart!
