The village chief let out a loud shout, and the people behind Wang Juxiang finally stopped clamoring, making way for him.
The village chief, walking to the front, grabbed Fan Zehao and gave him a wink: "Let go, let's sit down and talk. It's freezing out here!"
Fan Zehao gave the village chief face and released his grip, but his expression was very grim.
At the village chief's house.
Wang Juxiang, Fan Zehao, Zhao Jiaqi, and Granny Li sat in the main hall of the village chief's house. Outside stood some villagers and relatives of Liu Erlengzi.
The village chief took a few puffs, smoke emerging from his mouth, before speaking slowly!
"You all live in the same village, what are you doing?"
His intention was to mediate and smooth things over, but neither Wang Juxiang nor Fan Zehao gave him that face.
Wang Juxiang twisted her body: "Village chief, my old man had three ribs broken by him, what do you say we do about this!"
"He attacked me first, he deserved to be beaten!" Fan Zehao did not back down at all.
Seeing that he was still stubborn and not admitting any fault, nor showing any sign of softening, Wang Juxiang was so angry that she cried, tears streaming down her face, looking pitiful.
She sat on the ground and started to cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang herself, slapping her thighs as she wailed: "Oh, I can't live anymore! The man of the house, who does all the hard work, was beaten up. Now we have no money or grain to eat for the New Year. We might as well die!"
Upon hearing this, Fan Zehao's veins throbbed on his forehead. He spat on the ground: "You old hag, if you don't know how to live, go die. Who are you crying and wailing for, who are you trying to show!"
Zhao Jiaqi covered her face upon hearing this, wanting to laugh but unable to, struggling hard to hold it in!
He was clearly driven to anger, even calling her an "old hag." If he went to report this to the officials, it would be a miracle if he won the case!
His words were not to the point. However, if she were to deal with such a shrew, she doubted her own words could match Wang Juxiang's.
Hearing these three words, the village chief's eyelids twitched. This young man looked quite civilized, yet such words came out of his mouth.
"Shut up! If you want to die or live, no one will care. Our village only has a dozen or twenty households. Everyone knows what kind of life each family lives. Don't pretend here!"
Wang Juxiang wiped away the tears on her face with her sleeve. She stopped crying as abruptly as she had started, her tears coming and going freely, which truly astonished Zhao Jiaqi!
She sat back on the stool. The village chief was right, no one would care if she lived or died, but it was just to scare outsiders!
"Village chief, I don't have any other demands. My husband is injured, and my family has lost a pillar of support. My son still needs to be raised, medicine needs to be bought, and there's a need for meat and eggs for nutrition. I don't want any additional compensation, just two hundred taels, and this matter will be settled!"
The village chief, and everyone else in the room, was stunned by her words. Two hundred taels, just like that, she was asking for the moon!
"Are you out of your mind for money? Two hundred taels... have you even seen what that looks like? It could bury you alive!" The village chief couldn't help but speak first.
Zhao Jiaqi also chimed in: "Putting aside whose fault it is, you say your husband is injured, not dead. How has the labor force been lost?"
If a certain function had been lost, rendering him unable to have children, then compensation would be appropriate, perhaps even more.
But to bring this up at every turn was clearly an attempt to extort them, and they weren't even picking a good excuse!
Wang Juxiang slapped the eight-immortal table with her palm, her voice firm: "I don't care, it's two hundred taels. If you compensate me, we'll call it even. If you don't, I'll report it to the authorities, and you'll rot in jail!"
Fan Zehao, who had little patience to begin with, said on the spot: "Go ahead and sue. If you don't, I will!"
With that, he pulled his wife up, said goodbye to the village chief and Granny Li, and went straight home.
They were unaware of what happened next.
On the way home, Zhao Jiaqi asked: "Have you thought about what you'll say at the yamen?"
"I'm not stupid, this won't stump me. But while I'm away for these few days, you need to be careful and not let those people bully you!"
After saying that, he felt he was overthinking. After all, his wife had bodyguards.
The couple returned home, ate a simple meal, and rested.
The next day, Fan Zehao did not go hunting. Instead, he tidied up the yard, filled the water vat, and prepared some extra firewood for his wife.
In the morning, Liu Qinshi and the others arrived, their faces grim, lacking their usual cheerful demeanor.
The village chief sighed: "Just tell them the truth, we can all testify for you. Don't worry about the family, I'm here, no one will bully you!"
Facing their anxious and sad emotions, Fan Zehao showed no signs of it, instead appearing even happier than them.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. But while I'm gone, I'll have to trouble the aunts to take good care of my wife!"
Mainly, he was still worried about his wife being alone while he was away.
After all, he married her, so he had to cherish her, especially since she had forgotten him. If someone were to take advantage of the situation, he wouldn't even know where to find a grave to cry at.
As they were talking, two yamen runners arrived. Before the runners could call out, Fan Zehao stepped forward voluntarily. The yamen were shocked by this. It was the first time they had encountered such a cooperative prisoner.
Although Zhao Jiaqi knew he would be fine, it still felt a bit uncomfortable to see him taken away in front of her.
To distract herself, she actively engaged in conversation with the aunts, doing as she always did, as if unaffected by Fan Zehao's departure, returning to her usual routine.
Granny Li stroked her white hair and softly comforted her: "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, your husband wouldn't be like this!"
"It has nothing to do with you, Granny Li. Please don't feel guilty. My husband is someone who cannot stand these village bullies!" That was all she could say.
Even if she told them now that her husband was a prince, and inspecting local customs was a proper duty, the question was, would they believe her?
Unable to comfort Granny Li, she ended up being comforted by her instead.
Meng Sunshi also came today. From the calm and composed demeanor of the couple, and judging by her own bone reading, these two were definitely not ordinary people.
At noon, before any news came from the authorities, a group of people barged into their yard again. Zhao Jiaqi looked closely and saw it was the same group from yesterday.
Seeing that there was rice and flour in their kitchen, they began to rob them like bandits.
"Sister-in-law, there's still a small piece of meat in this vat, let's move it!"
This time, they not only took the meat but also the large vat. The red jacket that had just been made for her was also found and taken, as was Fan Zehao's cyan jacket.
Now, Zhao Jiaqi was truly furious. She immediately shouted into the air: "Is anyone there!"
Te Shi'er appeared out of thin air and knelt on one knee: "Princess, your subordinate is here!"
"Knock them out, tie them up, and find a secluded place to keep them for now. Do you know what to do!"
The group busy in the yard, working enthusiastically, suddenly saw a man in black appear in the yard in the blink of an eye. They were all so shocked their jaws dropped!
Princess?
Wang Juxiang heard this and found it inexplicably amusing, scoffing: "If she's a princess, then I'm the Empress!"
Zhao Jiaqi really couldn't bear to look at these people's faces. She waved to the people on the ground: "Tell them to put everything back exactly as it was."
With that, Te Shi'er sealed the acupoints that controlled the voices of these people, to prevent them from howling while being beaten later, which was really annoying!