Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 121 Bite back

After hearing his daughter's crying, Mr. Tan felt like he was struck by lightning. He couldn't figure out what went wrong and how such a big mess could have happened.

As Tan Anfu had threatened Shen Tuzhuo, they had originally prepared hot soup and porridge for distribution to the canal workers. If Shen Tuzhuo had accepted the marriage, the soup and porridge would have been delivered to the canal excavation site, sparing him any trouble. However, if Shen Tuzhuo had resisted, forcing them to detain and knock him unconscious, and still refused to acknowledge the marriage, they would have made him look disgraceful when the soup and porridge were distributed, using the threat of public gossip as a threat.

But now everything is in vain.

Shen Tu Zhuo hadn't stayed at the old house at all, and no one knew where he was. Mr. Tan naturally lost his charitable spirit and simply had the old house sealed off and closed to the public for the time being.

Soon, Mrs. Tan and Tan Anfeng also came over.

The two of them didn't know what had happened yet. They just received a message from the servants last night saying that the master asked them to rush to the old house early tomorrow morning to discuss important matters, so they came here in a daze.

After Tan Anfu hatched her plan, she worried her mother would worry and hesitate to stop her, and she also worried her brother, who might be too careless and accidentally spill the beans while drinking and gambling, so she kept them a secret, telling only her grandfather. Mr. Tan, realizing his fake daughter, now a widow, was out of his control, decided to gamble on Shen Tu Zhuo, hoping to hook up with the future official. Although he initially thought her audacious and reckless, he carefully weighed the pros and cons and ultimately decided to take the risk.

Who would have thought it would come to this.

Mrs. Tan and Tan Anfeng were disgusted by the old house's dilapidated state. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they began complaining that the servants were too few and unresponsive, not knowing how to greet the master. This was a mistake. With the exception of the old woman who opened the door for them, all the servants in the house were now sitting before Master Tan, trying to understand in detail what had happened the previous night.

The servants were also confused. How could they know what the master was planning? They were just following orders. They led the way when they should and locked the door when they should. What's more, the master had specifically instructed that Madam Fu liked quietness and slept lightly, so there was no need to leave anyone guarding outside that room and not to disturb her rashly. They just needed to lock the gate to the courtyard to prevent people from entering and leaving at will.

Mr. Tan shouted angrily, "There's no one outside the house! Didn't I tell you to guard the courtyard? Didn't I also tell you to keep an eye on the movements inside the house and report anything unusual to me? Why hasn't anyone come to report to me?"

Old Yang, who was guarding the courtyard gate, mumbled, "I, I didn't hear anything... Master, was there a burglary? Did Lady Fu have any valuable jewelry stolen?"

Mr. Tan gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, you guys didn't even know there was a thief in the house. You were all fast asleep, right?"

He was so angry that his chest felt heavy, so he spoke softly. Old Yang didn't hear clearly, so he tilted his ear and asked, "Ah? Master, what did you say? An ear of corn was stolen from our house?"

Mr. Tan: “…” Well, this is a gatekeeper who is hard of hearing. It would be strange if he could hear anything!

"Aunt, what are you interrogating?" Tan Anfeng interrupted with interest. "Did the house get robbed? My sister had an ear of corn stolen? What kind of ear of corn is so valuable?"

"Shut up! Go sit over there!" Mr. Tan ignored him.

"How much is a single ear of corn worth? Just steal it. Why get so angry?" Mrs. Tan felt sorry for her son being scolded for no reason and advised, "Changfeng was just concerned about you. How can you say that his concern is wrong?"

At this point, it was pointless to pursue these old servants, and even more so, he couldn't make the truth public. Mr. Tan could only swallow his anger, send the servants away, and talk to his wife and children behind closed doors. After hearing the whole story, and how her daughter's innocence had been slandered by an inexplicable canal chief, Mrs. Tan couldn't believe it. She grabbed Mr. Tan's clothes and cried, "How could this happen? Are you crazy? How could you let Anfu do such a stupid thing? As a father, you didn't stop her and protect her, but you actually helped the evil! How can she get married in the future?"

Mr. Tan felt guilty, but he was unwilling to admit that it was his fault. He defended himself by saying, "My dear, she was determined to do it. She was the one who poisoned and lit the incense herself! If you want to ask, just ask your precious daughter where she got these filthy things. They are useless against others, so she blames herself!"

Tan Anfeng was also greatly shocked. He never expected that his sister would do such a thing. How much does she want to marry Shen Tu Zhuo? Does she really not care about her dignity at all?
The old house was in turmoil, and Tan Anfu was still wailing. Mrs. Tan could only try her best to comfort her while urging her husband to think of a solution and not to make things worse, otherwise it would ruin her daughter's life.

Seeing that Aung was in a state of panic, the usually slow-witted Tan Anfeng came up with an idea: "This incident started with Shen Tu Zhuo, so why don't we go find him and ask for an explanation?"
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The Tan family actually went to Lude County Government Office to look for Shentu Zhuo.

However, unlike their original plan of going to the house to force the marriage, this time they lowered their posture a little and visited him as Tan Huaike's relatives, asking him to find a way out for his widowed sister.

Despite this, Madam Tan remained as unreasonable as ever, accusing them: "No matter what, our Tan family is related to your Shentu family. How could you have the heart to leave An Fu there alone, and even tie her hands? If she had any chance to escape, how could she have let a canal chief tarnish her innocence!"

Shen Tu Zhuo was amused by them. "You guys are really good at biting back. How did it become my fault? If I hadn't tied her up, she would have kept pestering me and even tried to force me to drink and knock me out. I was just trying to protect myself. Why is her innocence clear, but mine isn't?"

Tan Anfeng sneered, "You're a grown man, why are you so concerned about your innocence? At most, you can marry my sister and become the son-in-law of our Tan family. Do you think you're at a disadvantage?"

Shen Tuzhuo thought, I want to be the son-in-law of the Tan family, but I don't want to marry this one, okay? And strictly speaking, Tan Huaike is not their daughter. It's really bad to be married to these stupid and bad cheap relatives.

Mr. Tan said, "Master Zhuo, many people saw you drunk yesterday and were sent to the Tan family's old house. If this matter about An Fu really gets out, you won't be able to explain it yourself."

"Why can't you explain it clearly?" Shen Tu Zhuo had already thought of a plan when they explained their purpose. "Last night, I just went to your house to drink a bowl of sobering soup. I came out before midnight. Afterwards, I went to explore the direction of the underground spring. Two canal soldiers saw it with their own eyes. How could I have the time to mess around with your lady Fu?"

"What if I insist that Anfu was bullied before midnight?"

"Then we'll have to settle this in court." Shentu Zhuo was not afraid at all. "Or we can let the county magistrate conduct a thorough investigation. It would be best if we could also call that Miao Canal Chief to see what's going on."

Of course that's not possible.

Seeing she couldn't win the argument, Madam Tan risked her life and said, "If you hadn't abandoned her, An Fu would never have suffered such a great humiliation! That Miao Quchang is also one of your men. Anyway, you must give An Fu an explanation!"

Shen Tu Zhuo scoffed, "You framed me and you want me to clean up your mess?"

Next chapter: I will let him marry her in a formal ceremony.