The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"It's Zhang Er."

Zhang Er hissed in pain, but still didn't forget to defend himself, "You're talking nonsense. It was clearly you. You said you would take care of what happened next and that I didn't need to, which is why I left."

"I thought that since you were in charge, you would definitely give Ling Xiucai food, so I didn't care. If I had known you were so heartless, I definitely wouldn't have ignored Ling Xiucai."

Ling Zheng was in pain all over. He was afraid of Du Mingxian, but not at all afraid of Zhang Er. "I told you to leave, so you left? I said I would give you food, so you didn't care? You pushed everything onto me."

Du Mingxian finally understood that Zhang Er had been beaten into submission, so Ling Zheng was trying to shift the blame onto Zhang Er.

Du Mingxian didn't intend to ask any more questions. She simply grabbed Ling Zheng and left. Ling Zheng's body was covered in cuts and scrapes, and now, as she was pulled, bloodstains were left behind.

The Zhang family was terrified; none of them dared to speak, fearing that Du Mingxian would come after them.

Du Mingxian mounted her horse and rode home. Ling Zheng cried out in pain, but managed to say a few words this time, "Even if I'm wrong, you should take me to the authorities instead of dragging me like this. This is wrong of you."

Du Mingxian ignored him completely and went into the village. Soon, people noticed that Du Mingxian was dragging someone back, and her behavior was very violent.

Ling Zheng hadn't fainted yet; his screams continued to ring out.

Someone familiar with the situation remarked in confusion, "This voice sounds so much like Ling Zheng's."

"No way, he didn't go out to sell goods, why would he be in the village? You must have misheard."

"It sounds like Ling Zheng to me too."

The group looked at the person Du Mingxian had dragged back, but none of them dared to step forward, as they all disbelieved it was Ling Zheng.

One of the bolder ones stepped forward and asked, "Si Lang's wife, who is this person?"

"Ling Zheng, the one who tied Si Lang up in the cave on the mountain."

Everyone gasped. Those who were on good terms with Ling Zhengjia immediately took off running to report the news to Ling Zhengjia.

Du Mingxian simply took the person home and tied him to the tree where Zhang Er had been tied before. She held a horsewhip in her hand and swung it repeatedly without holding back.

The whipping at this moment was much more painful than being dragged. After being whipped a few times, Ling Zheng fainted from the pain.

Before Ling went over, he seemed to see his parents coming over, and he murmured softly, "Father, Mother, save me."

Even after Ling Zheng fainted, Du Mingxian did not stop, and all the anger she had suppressed for days burst out at this moment.

When Ling Zhengniang saw her son tied to the tree, she cried out in despair, "My son!"

Ling Zhengniang disregarded everything else and rushed forward to protect Ling Zheng.

Upon seeing this, Du Mingxian stopped hitting him, but her face remained frighteningly cold.

Ling Zheng's father's face was also extremely pale. "Fourth Brother's wife, you should call Ling Zheng your cousin. How can you beat your own people like this? This matter is not over until your family gives an explanation today."

"It's alright, no need to finish. If you have any complaints, just go to the government office later. I'm going to file a complaint too."

Ling Zheng's father's expression changed drastically. "What do you mean by this? You hit someone, and you want to take this to the authorities?"

“Of course, I’m going to take this to the authorities.” Du Mingxian said seriously as she stood at the door and called out, “Wang Fu.”

Soon Wang Fu ran out of the courtyard, "Miss."

“Ride a horse to the county government to report the case. Tie up Scholar Ling in the cave. The person who maliciously caused the death has been found. Have the government send someone to take him away first.”

"Yes." Wang Fu took the reins from Du Mingxian, mounted his horse, and rode away.

At this moment, the onlookers and Ling Zheng's family all understood what Du Mingxian meant.

Ling Zheng's father could hardly believe it. "You... what do you mean? My Ling Zheng did the thing of kidnapping Si Lang to the mountain?"

"Of course, if you don't believe me, I'll splash him with a basin of water to wake him up, and you'll know for sure." Just as Du Mingxian was about to enter the courtyard, she saw Ling Fang and Ling Yuan step forward to untie Ling Zheng.

She lashed out with her whip, a skillful flick that was enough to intimidate the two men without harming them.

"No one can put him down without my permission."

Ling Fang was somewhat indignant. "We're all from the same village, and we're even relatives. You can say whatever you want, but why did you have to kidnap him? Look at how you dragged Ling Zheng; he's barely human. Can't we just let him go?"

"No, compared to how he harmed the scholar, what is this little injury?" Du Mingxian said coldly. "Don't talk to me about kinship."

"If you're saying you don't care about your relatives, then it's your family that doesn't care. Everyone in the village knows what kind of person Ling Xiucai is. So, let me ask you, when Ling Zheng tied someone up, put him in a cave, and left him there for days without food or water, why didn't you consider that he was still your relative?"

"Now that it involves myself, let's talk about relatives. Stop bringing this up. I, Du Mingxian, don't acknowledge it."

Ling Fang knew how formidable Du Mingxian was, but considering that he was still a member of the Ling family and a cousin, he decided to let it go and see what Du Mingxian could do to him. At least he could release the person first.

When Ling Fang made his move, Du Mingxian truly showed no mercy this time. She threw her dagger, which pierced through Ling Fang's back and hand, causing him to cry out in pain, "Ah!"

"Don't take my words lightly. I went to great lengths to find him, so whatever I say goes. He won't be released until the officials arrive."

When Ling Zhengniang saw that her eldest son had been hurt by Du Mingxian, she was heartbroken. She immediately sat down on the ground and started slapping her thighs, "My God, I can't live like this! Both of my sons have been hurt by this bitch."

Ling Zheng's father's face turned ashen. He didn't bother arguing with Du Mingxian and went straight into the courtyard to find Old Man Ling. Some things were easier for the brothers to discuss.

Du Mingxian ignored Ling Zheng's mother, but glanced at the people present again, and instructed her nephews who were watching the heat, "Dabao, you guys keep an eye on things, and tell me whoever untied Ling Zheng's ropes."

"Okay, Fourth Aunt."

Du Mingxian went in to fetch water. She scooped the water from the water tank and added two large handfuls of salt to it, stirring until it dissolved.

When she carried the water out, Ling Zheng was indeed unmoved. She took the basin and splashed it on Ling Zheng's face. Because it contained salt, she was afraid he would faint again, so she didn't splash it all and left some for later use.

"Ah..." Ling Zheng's painful cry echoed throughout Dahe Village, and the village was immediately filled with the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking, making quite a scene.

The other onlookers, upon hearing Ling Zheng's shout, were also shaken. They firmly believed one thing: never mess with Ling Silang.

If you offend Ling Silang, his wife will kill you.