A family with three widows, after severing ties with relatives, she became wealthy and married into

Madam Chu stood outside the steamed bun shop with her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at Tian Xiang.

Tian Xiang's face flushed red, almost to the roots of her ears.

She instinctively wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin.

Madam Chu never believed those previous excuses.

More and more people gathered around to watch.

Tian Xiang felt as if she had been thrown into a steamer; her face was burning, she had difficulty breathing, and she wished she could disappear into the ground.

Madam Chu grew even more determined, her voice shrill, "Tian Xiang! You jinx!"

"It's you! It's you who opened a shop here, making it difficult for our Chu Xing Restaurant to do business!"

"You can't just say things like that!" Finally, someone couldn't help but speak up for Tian Xiang. It was an old woman. "She's just running a steamed bun shop, doing legitimate business. What business is it of yours, Chu family?"

Hearing this, Madam Chu's anger did not subside; instead, her voice rose even higher, "They are jinxes; having them next to our restaurant brings bad luck!"

"And another thing, they're selling steamed buns here, and all the customers are coming to eat steamed buns, so where will our restaurant get any business?"

"Tian Xiang, I think you're doing this on purpose!"

An old man shook his head. "Your family runs a restaurant, while theirs runs a steamed bun shop. They sell completely different things."

"Blaming others for bad business doesn't make any sense."

"That's right, the reason your Chu Xing Restaurant isn't doing well is because you used moldy bean curd sheets!"

"That's right, the county magistrate personally came to seal the restaurant, so how can you blame the steamed bun shop?"

As the murmurs among the crowd grew louder, Madam Chu realized she was losing ground, but she still protested defiantly, "Their whole family are widows, cursed husbands, jinxes! If you speak up for them, be careful of bad luck!"

The crowd quieted down slightly.

Madam Chu looked up angrily, "Hmph, my son was killed by that jinx, Tian Xiang!!"

Just then, several yamen runners suddenly pushed through the crowd and walked in.

"Master Chu, Madam Chu, the magistrate invites you to come with us." They looked solemn and seemed to be under a lot of pressure.

Master Chu asked, "Sir, what's the matter? We just came back from the county office."

The bailiff glanced at him. "What is it... we'll talk about it at the county office."

The crowd speculated, "What happened? Did they commit a crime?"

"Isn't the young master of Chu Xing Restaurant still in prison?"

Madam Chu glared at Tian Xiang with hatred, then turned back and said, "Sir, is this about my Wang'er? What's the situation? Just tell me."

The constable looked around at the people around him. "Madam Chu, do you really want me to speak plainly?"

Madam Chu waved her hand, "Go ahead."

The constable said, "Madam Chu, we have caught Sister Hua, who transmitted the disease to Chu Xing. Sister Hua has confessed that she took money from Chu Wang and deliberately transmitted the disease to Chu Xing."

...

Everyone present fell silent.

Madam Chu, who had just been asserting that Tian Xiang had killed Chu Xing, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Her face stiffened. "Sir, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"Xing'er and Wang'er are twins from the same mother, both of whom are my own children."

"They are brothers!"

The bailiff put on a stern face. "Madam Chu, if you don't believe me, go to the county government office. That Sister Hua is still in prison."

The onlookers all cast looks of anticipation, eager for a good show...

Madam Chu took a few deep breaths, then flicked her sleeves and stormed off...

Tian Xiang stood still...

Lu Tao hugged her, "Xiang'er, my Xiang'er..."

Tian Xiang hugged her, forcing a bitter smile, "Mother..."

Liu San Niang gently patted Tian Xiang's shoulder, and today's incident finally cleared Tian Xiang's name.

She's not a jinx! She's not cursed to bring misfortune to her husbands!

"Never mind them, girl, let's buy steamed buns." The onlookers gathered around.

Tian Xiang sighed and said gently, "Everyone line up, there's enough for everyone."

*

Tian Tian took time to prepare for delivering goods to Manager Chen.

She first went to the horse shop to inquire about the price of horses.

The horse stall in Baishi County is very small, about the same size as Tian Tian's steamed bun shop.

There were only three or five horses in the shop...

Tian Tian covered her nose, enduring the damp, foul smell, and looked at the horses one by one...

She can't tell which horse is good and which is bad, but she can understand what horses say.

"Those brothers in the backyard probably won't live much longer." A horse seemed to be either saddened by the plight of its backyard brothers or gloating.

The other horse nodded, "Yes, it's really about to die."

"You must stay away from them, lest you catch their disease."

"You don't need to worry about that. Do you think the manager of the horse trading company is stupid?"

"Is he not stupid? Then how come those guys in the backyard got sick?"

“They weren’t sick to begin with; they were clearly infected by the sick horse from before.”

"That sick horse should have been killed long ago, but he couldn't bear to because it used to be a warhorse. He thought he could sell it for a good price, but what happened?"

"A sick horse infected all four of its brothers in the backyard. Now, one has died and the whole litter has died."

"Luckily we've always lived in the front, otherwise we wouldn't have escaped either!"

Tian Xiang's eyes darted around, and the beads of her mental calculations spun even faster.

Sick horse...

It should be very cheap, right?!

Thinking this, Tian Xiang walked towards the backyard.

"Miss!" Before she even reached the backyard gate, she was stopped by a waiter.

"Young lady, do you want to buy a horse?" the shopkeeper asked.

Tian Tian nodded, "Mmm."

The shop assistant pointed to several horses in the front yard, "All the horses in our shop are here."

Tian Tian waved her hand, "I don't like any of these horses."

She peeked into the backyard. "Aren't there still some in the backyard? I'll go take a look."

Just as the waiter was about to stop him, he suddenly remembered something and stepped aside.

Tian Tian went into the backyard and, sure enough, saw several horses.

The horses were all lying in the stable, their mouths open, breathing rapidly and exhaling frequently, with yellowish-green mucus dripping from their nostrils.

Soon after, he started coughing for a long time.

If you look closely, you'll find that their skin is very dry and lacks elasticity; it's already dehydrated.

This indicates that the horses' condition is very serious.

If left untreated, it could lead to respiratory failure, sepsis, heart failure, and other complications...

Then comes death.

"Miss, these horses are quite nice, but..." The waiter's eyes darted around restlessly.

"I've been helping out with carrying goods lately, it's been exhausting!"

Tian Tian squatted down and touched the nearest horse. The horse had a high body temperature and was already feverish.

"Girl, you have a good eye. The horse you touched is a horse from the battlefield."

The stable boy was blatantly lying, "Look at it, its fur is shiny and smooth, its muscles are firm, its body is well-proportioned, its eyes are bright, its limbs are strong, and its temperament is gentle..."