Chapter 412: Chapter 408: If There is a Next Life_1
 

Upon hearing those words, Chunniang flew into a rage and slapped her, “You’re the devil. The star of disaster!”

Upon hearing the madwoman’s rant, the master of the house quickly stuffed a piece of cloth into her mouth and, noticing her serious resistance, called his family to tie her up.

Then he apologized to Chunning and Yingbao repeatedly, “Madam, Young Miss, this servant girl is a fool, please don’t take offense.”

Chunniang was angry and exclaimed, “Don’t take offense? She wanted to burn us alive. How can we not take offense?”

The escort also was very angry and glared at the master of the house, “We have paid for our lodging here, isn’t it like you’re trying to get rich by killing us?”

The homeowner hurriedly waved his hands, “Not at all! My family and I are honest peasants, we would never do such a thing. It was all because of the servant’s impulsiveness. I guess she has a grudge against the young lady…”

“Shut up!” Jiang Quan who was angry, as well as fearful, pointed at Chen Wan and demanded, “You tell me, what grudge does my family have against you that you want to harm my cousin over and over?”

“If it wasn’t thanks to my cousin, it would have been a disaster tonight.”

This Chen family is truly evil, completely rotten from top to bottom.

Chen Wan seemed delicate and weak, she was not bad to her brothers and sisters but she was unkind to Yingbao, even wanting to commit arson and murder this time. It was completely baffling.

“We will report this to the officials when daylight comes.” Yingbao addressed her cousin, “Uncle escort. Could you go and locate the village head Lizheng and bring him here?”

Since all evidence is here, it is better to get Lizheng sooner rather than later to avoid complications.

“No!” A dwarf-like young man in his twenties suddenly rushed over, hugging Chen Wan, he said to Yingbao and the others, “There must be some misunderstanding. Wanwan is very kind, she won’t even step on an ant, let alone harm people. Please don’t report this to the officials. I’m willing to give five taels of silver, hoping you will let it go.”

Chunniang was speechless, she pointed to the firewood piled up at the entrance and windows of the house, “Are you blind? What does it mean by having all these firewood piled up at our door?”

The young man suddenly got up and tried desperately to move the firewood.

Jiang Quan and about twenty escorts immediately pushed him aside, “Trying to destroy evidence? No way!”

Yingbao scanned the family, noticing their eyes darting towards the firewood. She calmly pulled out a bronze gong and started hitting it, gesturing to Magnolia and Xinghua.

The two servant girls understood and immediately started shouting, “Fire! Help! Fire!”

The young man and his family froze.

Soon, many people came to knock on their front door, “Uncle Fang! What’s wrong? Is there a fire in your house? Open the door quickly!”

Jiang Quan rushed to open the door.

About twenty or thirty people rushed in, some carrying basins and buckets of water.

Seeing the scene in the courtyard, everyone froze.

“What… What’s going on?” someone asked.

Yingbao replied, “We were staying here, and after paying the rent and provisions, someone stacked firewood in front of our doors and windows in the middle of the night and tried to burn us alive. Come, villagers, tell me, is there any family as foul as this one in the world?”

The middle-aged owner immediately tried to explain, “No… we didn’t know. It’s all about this damn servant, she’s crazy.”

The crowd looked at the woman being protected by the young man, chattering, “If she’s mad, why did you let her out? What were you thinking, Uncle Fang, to keep such a harmful woman?”

“The fire she started does not concern us, our homes are all connected, if they all get burned, who should compensate us?”

“Exactly! Send her to the officials!”

“Right right! Such a disaster can’t stay in Fang’s village! ”

The young man looked around, exclaimed, “No! Wanwan is innocent, how can she be a disaster?”

“He suddenly pointed at Yingbao and the others, “It’s them! They deliberately framed Wanwan, trying to kill her!”

Finally, old man Fang couldn’t bear it and went forward to slap his son, “You scoundrel! I knew she was a curse when you secretly bought her. Her family would not have sold such a beautiful granddaughter if she was alright. Why did they sell her to us?”

If her family was really lacking money, they wouldn’t have sold her to some poor country bumpkin.

It was said that her grandfather was also looking for unmarried and naive men in the market, the implication was clear; he wanted his granddaughter to marry into a good family.

As for why the Chen family used this method to marry off their granddaughter, old man Fang did not know. But he instinctively thought that the girl must have done something wrong, leading her family to sell her to an outsider and hoping she never returns.

The young man was slapped by his father and suddenly burst into tears, kneeling before Chunniang and her people, repeatedly kowtowing, “Wanwan was innocent, please let her go, I can become your servant.”

“What nonsense!” An old woman carrying a crying child came out from the house and pointed at her son, “Do you think she is grateful to you? Have you thought about us? When she set fire to the house, has she considered us for a bit, even your life and the well-being of your child?”

All these houses are connected for offering living quarters to passing travelers. If it really burned down, not to mention the scope of the loss, but they wouldn’t escape it either because there were still people sleeping in the main house. After this woman set fire, she did not even go to wake them up.

A woman as evil as this, yet her son treasured her.

The young man was stunned.

He turned to look at Chen Wan, and asked, “Wanwan, you…”

Chen Wan turned her head, tears streaming down her face.

She now fully remembered everything from her dream, clearly recalling being lavished in luxury and surrounded by servants.

But everything was ruined by Yingbao.

The reason she had fallen to this state, and even fallen into the hands of such a short and ugly man was all Yingbao’s fault.

So she didn’t regret today’s actions, only lamented that she didn’t succeed.

Old man Fang sighed, “Eldest son, send her to the officials, or find a rope and let her end her own life. Think about Little Baobao, in a few years he will go to school, we can’t keep a woman who will bring disaster on our future generations in our home.”

Looking at his wife with a dazed and sorrowful expression, the young man asked, “Wanwan, do you want Baobao and I to die?”

Chen Wan remained silent.

At this point, she no longer wanted to live, why should she lie to herself?

If there is a next life, she would strangle Yingbao herself, stuff her in the oven, and eliminate future troubles.

…

As dawn was breaking on the second day, Yingbao and her mother mounted their carriage.

The caravan slowly left the market and hit the road.

Seeing her daughter silent, Chunniang asked, “Darling, do you think Xiaowu might be in Beijing as well?”

“No, the last time Xiaowu wrote, he said he and Zhang Min had gone to Yizhou, and they’d have to stay there for three years before they could come back.”

The Emperor dispatched Jiang Wu and Zhang Min to garrison in Yizhou. It was probably to train them and promote them upon their return.

Of course, this was just a guess by Yingbao. She shouldn’t tell her mother now.