She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

"Lanxiang, I was wrong. Please forgive me this time and don't tell the village head!"

When Sun Ergou heard that Lanxiang and her daughter were going to hand him over to the village head for punishment, he was so frightened that he immediately begged for mercy.

Shen Man knew what he was afraid of.

In this era, although the village head was just a village official, he wielded considerable power. He not only managed the village's household registration and taxes but also had the authority to buy and sell the village's public forests and farmland.

If someone in the village commits a serious offense, and the villagers don't want to report it to the authorities, they can simply expel that person from the village. Therefore, the village head is a very important figure to the villagers, and none of them dare to offend him easily.

Now, Sun Ergou is actually trying to sneak into Shen Man's house to do evil. If the village head finds out, he will definitely not let him off easily, which makes him very scared.

As for the others, they were not from Xiaoyao Village, so they naturally had to be reported to the authorities.

Lanxiang had been harassed by Sun Ergou several times and was already extremely annoyed with him, so of course she didn't want to let him off so easily.

She felt that people like Sun Ergou deserved to be taught a lesson. She said coldly, "Sun Ergou, you colluded with people from other villages to harm the villagers. Your crime is unforgivable. The village head should decide on the punishment."

"Mother, stop wasting time talking to them. Let's hurry and find the village head while they can't leave now!" As soon as Shen Man finished speaking, the mother and daughter left the courtyard.

Shen Man's yard, though called a yard, was really just a simple fence made of some branches, which did not provide any protection at all. Otherwise, Sun Ergou and the others would not have been able to get in so easily.

Sun Ergou and the other three tried to escape while Shen Man and her daughter were away, but unfortunately, their eyes were burning badly from lime, making it impossible for them to open them. They could only use their hands to explore their surroundings.

However, because they are blind and cannot accurately judge direction and distance, they can only move blindly, and as a result, they accidentally bump into walls or other objects, causing them to fall to the ground.

They endured the pain while trying to find a way out, their hearts filled with fear and despair.

"Sun Ergou, didn't you say these two, mother and daughter, were easy to deal with? If I had known that little girl was so powerful, I wouldn't have come with you!"

"Exactly, I was having a great time in town. I must have been out of my mind to believe you and come here to suffer like this..."

"Shut up, all of you!" Sun Ergou shouted angrily. "What's the use of saying all this now? The most important thing is to find a way to escape!"

However, their argument did not achieve any practical results, but instead made them more panicked.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door.

Sun Ergou and the others were startled, realizing that Shen Man and her daughter had returned with the village head, and they were too frightened to move.

Sure enough, the village head, accompanied by his three sons, arrived at Shen Man's courtyard.

When he saw the four people lying on the ground, he turned ashen with rage and trembled all over.

He pointed at Sun Ergou on the ground and cursed, "You traitorous bastard, you dare to bring some shady characters to the village to steal things! You're tired of living!"

The village head became increasingly angry as he spoke, and raised the wooden stick in his hand, giving Sun Ergou a thorough beating.

Sun Ergou screamed in pain, but dared not fight back. The village head's three sons also stepped forward and punched and kicked Sun Ergou, leaving him with a bruised and swollen face.

As Sun Ergou was being beaten, he begged for mercy, claiming that he had been coerced by those people and was not the mastermind. But the village head wouldn't listen to his explanation, thinking he was just making excuses. He continued to beat Sun Ergou until he was covered in bruises.

Finally, the village head ordered his sons to drag Sun Ergou and the others out and tie them to the big camphor tree at the village entrance with ropes.

They plan to send these people to the authorities tomorrow so that they can receive the punishment they deserve.

Meanwhile, Sun Ergou pleaded desperately from the tree, hoping for forgiveness. However, the village head was determined to make him pay the price and would not listen to any of his explanations.

With the village head in charge, Shen Man and Lan Xiang went back to their house.

But remembering what had just happened, they couldn't fall asleep anymore.

"Mother, there are countless people in the village who are eyeing our money. Sun Ergou is just one of them," Shen Man said worriedly.

"What can we do? We can't just spend it all at once, can we?"

Although Lanxiang was worried about her money being stolen, she couldn't bear to spend it all at once.

“Oh, Mother, why don’t we use them to buy some more land? We only have one acre of land now, which is far too little.”

"That's a good idea," Lanxiang nodded. "But buying land requires a lot of money. Do we have enough?"

For a farmer who makes a living by farming, nothing gives him a greater sense of security than owning land.

Shen Man pondered for a moment, "We can ask the village head for help to inquire and see if there are any idle fields in the village, or if any families nearby are willing to sell their fields. We can buy them little by little, starting with three to five acres, and then gradually add more as we earn more money in the future."

“Okay, let’s do it that way.” Lanxiang agreed with Shen Man’s suggestion. “Now everyone in the village knows that we made money selling medicinal herbs. If we don’t spend it, they’ll always be thinking about it. Let’s use it to buy land. Anyway, we’re not afraid of them stealing it.”

The next morning, before dawn, Shen Man had already gotten out of bed.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, just about to go to the outhouse, when she heard a commotion outside the yard. The noise sounded like hundreds of ducks having a meeting, very loud.

Curious, Shen Man put on her coat and hurried to the door. The sight before her astonished her.

The village women gathered under the big tree, forming a small circle, whispering and pointing at Sun Ergou and his companions. Their faces displayed a variety of complex expressions: some were curious, some were surprised, and others were disdainful and contemptuous.

Shen Man approached the crowd, wanting to hear what they were saying.

A middle-aged woman muttered under her breath, "They say widows attract a lot of gossip, especially a wealthy one..."

This statement was like a stone thrown into a lake, resonating with those around. Everyone nodded in agreement and began discussing Lanxiang.

Some say Lanxiang has a seductive appearance and these men must have been seduced by her; others say she has a bad fate that caused her husband's death and now wants to find a new love; still others say she is restless and always showing her face in public, just to seduce men.

These words became increasingly offensive, and some even started fabricating rumors that Lanxiang and Sun Ergou were having an affair, claiming that she had witnessed it herself.

Shen Man stood in the crowd, listening quietly to the discussions. Her face gradually darkened, and a surge of anger welled up inside her.

My mother was so hardworking and kind; she had never done anything against propriety or to wrong anyone. She was just an ordinary woman who wanted to live a good life through her own efforts.

However, out of jealousy and prejudice, these people fabricated rumors about her, pushing her into the eye of the storm and making her the target of public criticism.

She took a deep breath, determined to teach them a lesson today and let that person taste what it's like to be falsely accused.

"Aunt Zhang, did you eat rotten eggs today? Your breath smells so bad!" Shen Man walked up to the group of women and said loudly.

"You little brat, how dare you talk to your elders like that!" Aunt Zhang scolded Shen Man angrily.

"Elder? You dare call yourself an elder!" Shen Man retorted without backing down. "Spreading rumors and slandering my mother, how dare you call yourself an elder!"

"I was just trying to be helpful by reminding you and your daughter not to be deceived by those ill-intentioned men," Aunt Zhang argued forcefully.

"It's none of your business! My mother is innocent, it's none of your business to gossip! But you, I saw you crawling through the haystack with Sun Ergou at the foot of the mountain that day!" Shen Man's voice grew louder, attracting the attention of those around her.

"Man-ya, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Aunt Zhang turned pale with fright after hearing Shen Man's words. She looked around the crowd in terror, as if searching for someone.

"I'm not making this up..."

Aunt Zhang looked flustered. She stepped forward and grabbed Shen Man, trying to stop her from continuing.

Shen Man forcefully broke free from Aunt Zhang's hand and sneered, "I'm not making this up. I saw it clearly that day, what you and Sun Ergou were doing in the haystack."