Chapter 95: Hoist by One’s Own Petard

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Hoist by One’s Own Petard

Others might not know her character, but how could the Bai family not?

Knowing full well she wasn’t that kind of person, they still chose to wound her with such vicious slander. How could she not be heartbroken?

Bai Zhi stood up in the ox cart, a humorless smile on her face as she looked at Liu by the river. She called out, "Liu Guihua, just because you’re a wanton woman, do you think every woman in the world is the same? That sordid little affair of yours with Yang Sigeng... should I spell it out for all the villagers?"

The color drained from Liu’s face. Pointing at Bai Zhi, she shrieked, "What nonsense are you spouting, you wretched girl? Yang Sigeng and I are perfectly innocent! What affair could there possibly be? If you have the guts, then say it clearly."

The ox cart drew further away, but Bai Zhi’s clear voice still carried to the women washing clothes by the river: "Look at that. I haven’t even said anything, and you’re already looking so ferocious. If I really did say it, who knows what you’d do to me. I’m so scared... I’d better not say anything after all."

Bai Zhi snorted coldly and turned to sit back down.

Zhao Lan frowned, looking intently at Bai Zhi. "Was what you just said true? Is there really something going on between Liu Guihua and that Yang Sigeng?"

Bai Zhi shrugged. "I have no idea if there’s anything between her and Yang Sigeng. I just wanted to give her a taste of what it’s like to be falsely accused for no reason."

This was simply an eye for an eye.

’She was allowed to slander others, but no one could do the same to her?’

’Hah—she had a husband, a son, and a mother-in-law. We’d see who stood to lose more.’

Down by the river, Liu wanted to cry but couldn’t shed a tear. Her scheme had backfired; she’d set out to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice she’d brought for bait.

She had only meant to vex Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan, but she never expected to be the one who got burned.

She turned to the other women by the river. "Don’t you listen to her nonsense! There’s absolutely no truth to it. I’ve only met that Yang Sigeng twice in my life. Once when I was helping arrange Bai Zhi’s marriage, and the other when he came to the Bai Family to break off the engagement. We’ve barely spoken a few words to each other. How could there be any of that messy business she’s talking about? It’s all lies!"

Most of the women just smiled and said nothing. They didn’t say if they believed her or not, simply continuing to scrub their clothes as if they hadn’t heard Liu at all.

Mrs. Yingzi stood up with her basket of washed clothes, her gaze landing coolly on Liu’s face. She offered a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Da Bao’s mother, as the saying goes, there’s no smoke without fire. And flies don’t swarm an egg that isn’t cracked."

"You... what’s that supposed to mean?" Liu asked, growing frantic.

Mrs. Yingzi sneered, turning away with her wooden basin. "It doesn’t mean anything. Just a random thought. You carry on. I’m done." With another sneer, she turned and walked quickly out of Liu Guihua’s sight.

The other women who had been washing clothes all finished their work. In twos and threes, they all left, until no one was left to hear her explanation.

She had been married into Huangtuo Village for years. How could she not know how things worked here? A rumor like the one just started would spread through the entire village in no time.

In the process of being passed around, a baseless rumor like this would be embellished and exaggerated until it sounded as real as if people had seen it with their own eyes...

’What was she going to do? If this got back to her mother-in-law and Dazhu, she would never hear the end of it.’

’That wretched girl... How dare she set me up like this? Just you wait. I’ll get you for this.’

The ox cart brought Bai Zhi and her companions to the market in Qingyuan Town. This market was very similar to a modern farmers’ market, only everyone laid their vegetables out on the ground or on small, self-provided tables. It wasn’t clean, tidy, or uniformly planned like a modern market.