Shocking! In this matriarchal society, every man wants to marry me!

Xie Muning was saved. He felt the force that had been restraining him disappear. He opened his eyes and saw Shi Shu rushing over with a nervous expression, and Zhong Tian slowly walking over with a bow and arrow.

Zhongtian glanced at him with concern, and only after finding that he was alright did he turn his gaze to Wang Yuan on the ground.

It feels so good to be saved!

He pulled his clothes tighter around himself, covering himself completely, stood up from the ground, and walked step by step to Wang Yuan, looking at her.

Wang Yuan was still breathing, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She lay on the ground, her breathing labored, yet her lips were strangely upturned. She could no longer speak, but her eyes still held a defiant glint.

Xie Muning forcefully pulled the arrow out of her head, blood gushing out. Xie Muning looked at the sharp arrowhead, then plunged the arrow fiercely into her neck!

Wang Yuan struggled for a while before finally dying.

Xie Muning laughed, a laugh that sent chills down one's spine. "Look, even the fiercest woman's neck is soft. Look, blood is gushing out, no different from anyone else's. Look, how satisfying!"

Blood stained Xie Muning's face and his eyelashes.

He is not a submissive person; he will personally avenge his grievances!

Only when he saw Wang Yuan completely die did he smile happily, like a flower in full bloom.

Zhong Tian watched quietly until Xie Muning's expression calmed down. Then she walked to Xie Muning's side, stood in front of him with a silk handkerchief in her hand, and said softly, "You have blood on your face, wipe it off!"

Xie Muning took the handkerchief, the blood on his face staining the snow-white handkerchief bright red, and then he put the handkerchief into his bosom.

A person slowly emerged from the crowd. It was Wang Yuan's sister. Her face was pale. She had noticed that something was wrong with Wang Yuan and had gone to call Zhong Tian to save Xia Muning. She was also the one who watched Wang Yuan die in the crowd without saying a word or trying to stop it.

Her sister deserves to pay the price for the mistakes she made.

Amidst the hostile gazes of the crowd, she slowly spoke: "Wang Yuan has been executed. My lords, please allow me to take my sister back. I spoiled her too much since she was little, raising a demon. She committed this heinous crime; it was my fault! I will bury her in my father's grave, so that she may kneel and atone for her sins every day." Her tone was filled with remorse.

She looked earnestly at Nakata.

Zhongtian looked at Xia Muning.

Xia Muning hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Wang Yuan was taken away.

At the vast city gate, everyone surrounded them, with Shiqin's corpse in the middle. People dared not approach, all shocked by the methods of the master and servant. Only Zhongtian stood firmly behind them.

Xia Muning looked at Zhong Tian, ​​and the emotions in her eyes were unreadable to everyone.

He pointed to Shiqin, who was already dead on the ground, and said, "Everything he said is false. If anyone doesn't believe me, I will explain it to you myself."

Everyone took a step back in unison. They were all afraid he would use a knife or dagger to explain.

Xia Muning was very satisfied with the result. He smiled and pointed at Zhong Tian: "The bite mark on my neck was from Zhong Niangzi. I told her not to use force, but she wouldn't listen."

His tone was somewhat mischievous.

what……

Zhong Tian could barely hold onto his bow and arrow, staring at Xia Muning in shock. Hadn't she just saved him? Not only was he ungrateful, but why was he repaying kindness with enmity?

The crowd's suspicious gazes lingered on Zhong Tian. No wonder, no wonder he was so eager, it turns out he was there to save the damsel in distress!

Nakata denied it three times: It wasn't me, I didn't do it.

Xia Muning was quite pleased to see Zhong Tian's predicament; this was the first time people had associated his name with Zhong Tian's.

"Father, Mother, it's unlucky to go out today, let's go home first..."

Xia Muning looked at her parents, whose faces were slightly pale.

“…Okay.” The two nodded with difficulty.

Wang Yuan died; she was taken away by her sister.

Shi Shu also asked Xia Muning to take Shi Qin's body back to his hometown for burial, and Xia Muning agreed.

Wang Yuan and Shi Shu died swiftly and decisively, but what they left Xia Muning with was a city full of gossip.

People are speculating: Was Xia Muning caught by the robbers that night? Who left the hickey on his neck? He swore it was Zhong Tian, ​​but what is Zhong Tian's relationship with him?

People can't explain these things clearly, but they clearly saw Xia Muning being molested by Wang Yuan in public, and that cannot be denied!

House seemingly endless rain!

Wang Yuan, a failed scholar, went to the Xia residence with a silk handkerchief in her hand, saying that she wanted to marry Xia Muning. This was a personal gift that Xia Muning had given her during their private meeting.

The people of the Xia family were furious and immediately chased Wang Yuan away.

Upon hearing this, Zhongtian felt both guilty and angry. So he secretly ambushed Wang Xiucai on her way to the brothel, put a sack over her head, and punched her hard. Zhongtian was extremely strong, and it took Wang Xiucai a long time to recover from the punch.

"Who...are you? What do you want?"

Zhongtian changed his tone: "Where did this handkerchief come from?"

Wang Xiucai wasn't stupid; she immediately understood why she had been beaten. She couldn't implicate Zhongtian, and Zhongtian's acquisition of the handkerchief was also questionable.

"I stole this!" she declared confidently. "Don't worry, I will definitely clear Young Master Xia's name."

Only then did Nakata leave, relieved.

Practice has proven that the words of intellectuals are deceitful.

Wang Yuan wrote an article citing classical texts, acknowledging that the handkerchief was found, but subtly implying that Xia Muning was unfaithful to his wife by carelessly discarding such a personal item.

When Nakata tried to find her again, the treacherous and cunning woman had already fled to the capital, and for the time being, there was nothing he could do about her.

Xia Muning's reputation has worsened.

Zhongtian felt a pang of guilt. He had stolen the handkerchief from Xia Muning when he wanted Wang Yuan to write the poem about glass, but today it had become another knife to hurt Xia Muning.

Master Li was invited to the Xia residence again. Her face was gloomy, even colder than the frost of winter. Her tone was impolite and affected.

"Your Xia family wants my life! Sending such an impure man to His Majesty, do you want His Majesty to chop off my head? How dare you! Do you want the entire Xia family to be executed?"

Xia's mother listened silently: "Master Li, rest assured, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter."

With Wang Yuan dead, there was no way to verify the truth. Besides, there was no way to prove such things on one's own. Moreover, with such ambiguous matters, the rumors were getting more and more rampant. Xia Muning stayed at home and did not respond to any of the speculations, whether explicit or implicit.

Everyone in the city was talking about how Xia Muning could clear his name and preserve his title as the number one young master.

Some suggested: It's simple, prove your innocence with your death.

If Xia Muning had bitten her tongue and committed suicide on the spot, or if she had been overwhelmed with shame and ended her life with a white silk ribbon, people would not have said anything. Instead, they would have lamented the death of a beautiful woman, praised her for her chastity, and reported it to the court to have a memorial arch erected in her honor.

Or Xia Muning could find a temple, spend his life with a solitary lamp and ancient Buddha, and as time goes by, people will gradually forget him, and out of respect for Buddha, they will forgive his mistakes.

After listening for a while, Zhongtian left feeling rather annoyed. Wasn't Wang Yuan the one in the wrong? What did Xia Muning do wrong? Zhongtian had mixed feelings, feeling that if he listened a few more words, he would be unable to resist criticizing the others.

Xia Muning's virginity mark is still there. She just didn't return home for one night, and that scumbag touched her a couple of times and licked her a few times. Is it really considered a dog bite in this ancient era that she has committed an unforgivable crime? Does that mean she doesn't deserve to live a happy life in the next?

Suicide! Becoming a monk! What kind of despicable person came up with this idea?

But she had no interest in these rumors; her mind was entirely on Xia Jin'an, who remains missing to this day.

He searched everywhere, staying up for days and nights without sleep, but there was still no news. It was as if he had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

Later, someone said that on that night, they seemed to see Ding Yucheng's personal attendant, Liang Yun, loitering around her house, behaving suspiciously.

Ding Yucheng? Liang Yun?

He had no connection with Xia Jin'an. Could Xia Jin'an's disappearance be related to him?

Zhongtian didn't want to let any clues slip by. He went to the Treasure Pavilion to select gifts and visited Ding Yucheng at the Xia family home.

Ding Yucheng was having a headache at that moment.

He stood in the Xia family ancestral hall, Xia Fang was kneeling on a prayer mat, and next to her was Xia Qingshi, whose face was extremely serious.

The reason was that Xia Fang begged her mother to take Song Jinshu as a concubine. It was common for women to take concubines, but this was strongly opposed by her mother.

Her mother, Xia Qingshi, pointed at Xia Fang, her fingers trembling with anger: "My daughter! Can't you choose something better? Ding Yucheng is a second-marriage man, a used-up woman. Fine, you begged and pleaded, and your father and I reluctantly agreed, but why did you have to take Song Jinshu as your concubine?!"

Ding Yucheng, a woman who had been married twice and was now a fallen woman, stood by and listened silently without offering any rebuttal.

"He runs a tavern, welcoming and seeing off guests from all over the country. It's bad enough that he has a bad reputation, but the most important thing is that he has cursed his previous wives to death. If you take him as your wife, what if he also curses you to death?"

Xia Qingshi spoke earnestly and patiently: "Fang'er, you must think about the Xia family. Your eldest brother from the eldest branch has died in the palace, Mu Ning's reputation is ruined, and Xia Wen from the third branch is still missing and his fate is unknown. The Xia family is already small. If you are also cursed to death, what will happen to the Xia family?"

Xia Fang knelt on the ground, silent, her silence was her attitude.

Ding Yucheng stood obediently to the side, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

He wondered if Xia Fang had knelt in the ancestral hall like this and silently resisted her mother when she insisted on welcoming him into the family despite everyone's objections.

Just a year? Her reasoned arguments had transformed her into a completely different person. Did the woman's love fade so quickly?

Xia Qingshi was angered by Xia Fang's silent resistance. Looking at Ding Yucheng, who was like a puppet, a strong sense of dissatisfaction welled up in her heart.

Her son-in-law, Ding Yucheng, was too docile, like dough that could be easily molded, docile without a trace of temper.

"Yu Cheng, Fang'er wants to take a concubine. What do you think?"

Xia Fang's gaze fixed on Ding Yucheng, her eyes filled with a pleading look.

Ding Yucheng glanced at Xia Fang, concealing the deep disappointment in his voice. He answered his mother's question in a low voice.

"The way of a husband is not to be jealous, but to actively seek husbands for his wife's family to continue the family line. As long as the wife is happy, that is the best thing. As a husband, Mother, rest assured, I will not prevent my brother Jinshu from entering the family."

He had the air of a virtuous wife who treated her husband like royalty.

Xia Fang glanced gratefully at Ding Yucheng. Xia Qingshi became even angrier, flicking her sleeve: "You two are a match made in heaven, one a womanizer and the other docile and indulgent. Xia Fang, you can kneel here, even if you kneel to death, I will not agree to this."

After saying that, he left angrily.

The empty ancestral hall was now empty except for Ding Yucheng and Xia Fang.

Ding Yucheng picked up the prayer mat and knelt beside Xia Fang, his tone extremely gentle: "My wife, I will kneel with you. Husband and wife are bound by fortune and misfortune together. I cannot watch my wife suffer."

Xia Fang held Ding Yucheng's hand with heartache: "Yucheng, I'm sorry. Don't worry, even if Song Jinshu becomes a disciple, I won't treat you badly. It's damp here, so don't kneel here with me. It's extremely bad for your health. Go back and rest as soon as possible."

Ding Yucheng's tears were welling up in his eyes, about to fall: "It hurts my heart to see you suffer like this. Here's what I'll do: I'll go and prepare some midnight snacks for you. I'll bring them over secretly so that Mother won't find out."

"it is good."

How fortunate she was to have married such a virtuous and understanding husband.

Ding Yucheng walked out of the ancestral hall, wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes, and said to Liang Yun, who was waiting outside, "Go to the kitchen and see if there are any leftover midnight snacks. Send a bowl to my wife, but don't let my mother's servants find out."

Ding Yucheng emphasized the last sentence.

Having been by Ding Yucheng's side for a long time, Liang Yun immediately understood. He looked at Xia Fang kneeling in the ancestral hall with some sympathy, knowing that Miss Xia Fang was destined to kneel there in hunger and cold for the entire night.

"Master, Miss Xia Fang is determined to marry Song Jinshu into the family, so we..."

"Don't even think about it!" Ding Yucheng thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Song Jinshu's second wife's family is still harassing him. Go tell them where Song Jinshu is now. And emphasize that Song Jinshu has climbed up to the Xia family."

Money and silk can sway people's hearts, so things will probably get even more heated!

Is this the gentle, virtuous, and understanding husband in the eyes of the Xia family? Liang Yun felt a chill in his heart.

A guard rushed in and whispered something to Liang Yun. Liang Yun then whispered to Ding Yucheng, "Master, Madam Zhong is here looking for you!"

Ding Yucheng's eyes lit up immediately, and a smile of great interest appeared on his lips: "She's finally coming to see me. I've been waiting for her for so long."