Chapter 17 Now, she has one chance left…

“Outrageous! Fifth Lady, do you know this is an esteemed guest from the capital? How dare you be so disrespectful!” Hu Sanniang was shocked and hurriedly scolded in a low voice, “Even if you’ve received money from the Fu family, you should still consider your own life.”

“I don’t quite understand what Hu Sanniang is saying.” Wang Fifth Lady pointed indifferently at Li Ruantang, who stood quietly. “Her? She looks sickly, at most her clothes are worth something. Besides, this person isn’t wearing any jade ornaments, how can she be called an esteemed guest?”

“You…” She sneered coldly. “Don’t be fooled by this person. When she quietly slips away, leaving behind so much debt, even if you farm for three years, you might not be able to pay it off.”

“You!” Hu Sanniang felt a lump in her throat and was about to argue. Li Ruantang shook her head at her, reached out to take the document, looked at it, her fingers moved slightly, and then handed it back to Hu Sanniang.

“Since Lady Wang is so certain, and this document was written by me, then please, Lady Wang, read it aloud for everyone to hear.”

“Lady Li?” Hu Sanniang frowned, about to advise her, but her eyes fell on the document in her hand, and she paused.

She glanced at Wang Fifth Lady, who was still smug, and said deliberately, “You’re not from our Hu Village, so you probably don’t know that Wang Fifth has a sharp tongue but can’t read. Asking her to read, isn’t that asking too much?”

“Hu San, who are you looking down on?” Wang Fifth Lady’s brows rose in anger. “I may not understand poetry and classics, but reading a document is no challenge. Moreover—”

She smiled smugly and suddenly snatched the document from Hu Sanniang’s hand. “This is my hard-earned money.”

Wang Fifth Lady held up the document in a pretentious manner and read it aloud word by word. At the end, she didn’t forget to snort, “Lady Li, I’ve read it. Can you take off your clothes now?”

“No rush.” Li Ruantang waved her hand slightly and asked Hu Sanniang, “Are there any scholars or officials in the village?”

Hu Sanniang nodded and nodded to the villagers who had gathered around, asking her to call Cao Rui, the only female scholar in the village.

Wang Fifth Lady was eager to make a big scene out of this and had no intention of stopping it.

Hu Village wasn’t large, and it didn’t take long for Cao Rui to squeeze through the crowd. She came in a hurry, still holding a book in her hand.

“Lady Li, greetings.”

On the way, Cao Rui had roughly heard about the situation. Now, seeing Li Ruantang, her gold-threaded brocade clothes were certainly not something an ordinary wealthy family could afford. She immediately had an idea.

Cao Rui first bowed with cupped hands, instantly intimidating Wang Fifth. Then she spoke very humbly.

Wang Fifth’s heart suddenly began to pound. It’s worth noting that Cao Rui, who prided herself on having been to the capital and taken the entrance exam for Qingshan Academy, was usually extremely arrogant.

Even the late village head had to show her some respect.

Now she was so respectful to Li Ruantang, it was truly suspicious. But Fu Lanxian had sworn to heaven that Li Ruantang was just from a family with a little money.

Wang Fifth couldn’t make up her mind and stood there stammering, losing her earlier bluster.

“Miss Cao, greetings.” Li Ruantang raised her hand slightly, smiled faintly, “I’ve always heard that Miss Cao is diligent. I’m afraid I’ll have to take up a bit of your time today.”

“Lady Li, please feel free to speak.”

“Then I’ll trouble Miss Cao to take a look at this document.”

As soon as Li Ruantang finished speaking, Wang Fifth Lady immediately clutched the paper in her hand tightly. She glared at the people in front of her, “Lady Li, I warn you, don’t try any tricks.”

Cao Rui frowned upon hearing this. She took the document handed over by Li Ruantang with both hands, while Wang also passed a piece of paper over.

“Lady Wang, what’s this?”

“The document, of course.” Wang Fifth Lady couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She thought Cao Rui had become stupid from studying too much, forgetting what was just said so quickly. If it wasn’t for her youngest daughter currently studying with Cao Rui, she really wouldn’t bother to waste more words.

“This Lady Li won’t let you look? You should take a good look, let her give up early. Paying debts is only right and proper. It’s only because I’m kind-hearted that I’ve been negotiating with her for so long.”

“Lady Wang, what you’re holding is not a document.” Cao Rui’s face turned cold. “This is just a list, listing some daily necessities.”

“Impossible!” Wang Fifth Lady panicked, pointing at the three characters at the bottom, “It clearly says Li Ruantang here!”

“The first character is indeed Li.” Cao Rui picked up a small twig from the ground and wrote the three characters Li Ruantang in the dirt. “Look for yourself, are the last two characters the same?”

The villagers who were watching also crowded around. They looked at the paper clutched in Wang Fifth Lady’s hand, then at the writing on the ground, and all shook their heads. “They are indeed different.”

“No wonder Lady Li said she didn’t know Wang Fifth earlier.”

“That’s right. In my opinion, this Wang Fifth has always been an idle person. She must have picked up this paper somewhere, saw the character Li, and got some crooked ideas, trying to take advantage of the situation.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, she didn’t think that she barely knows a few characters, while Lady Li is an esteemed guest from the capital. How could she not know how to read and write?”

The people of Hu Village were usually loud, and now they were whispering in twos and threes, but the few people standing at the courtyard gate could hear clearly.

Wang Fifth Lady’s eyebrows twitched. She was about to speak but was glared at by Cao Rui. “Lady Wang, you’re a parent too. As the saying goes, if the top is not upright, the bottom will be crooked. How could you do such a muddled thing?”

She angrily brushed off Wang Fifth Lady’s arm and picked up Li Ruantang’s document, saying, “This is the document Lady Li wrote for Hu Sanniang. If you don’t believe it, you can call your youngest daughter to come. She has been studying with me for five years, she can recognize and see clearly.”

These words were very harsh. Wang Fifth Lady’s face turned pale for a few moments, still unable to understand where the mistake was. When Fu Lanxian gave her this document, she said with certainty that it was written by an expert who had copied Li Ruantang’s handwriting at great expense, and would never be discovered.

She glanced at the few others who had come with her. They had been standing behind her earlier, but now seeing the situation was not good, they had already slipped back into the crowd.

A bunch of cowards.

Wang Fifth Lady secretly spat a few times. Now the situation was indeed such that she couldn’t let her youngest daughter see. She very unwillingly crumpled the paper in her hand and threw it on the ground fiercely.

“I understand that it wasn’t everyone’s intention to come here today,” Li Ruantang’s cold eyes swept over the few people who had come to make trouble earlier. “Since Miss Cao is here now, why don’t everyone bring their documents together and ask her to take a look, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.”

“This……”

The few people who had shrunk back into the crowd looked at each other and all smiled sheepishly. “It must be a misunderstanding. With spring planting recently, it must be that our husbands at home were too busy and made such a mistake.”

“If it’s a misunderstanding, then it’s good to clear it up.” Li Ruantang smiled faintly.

They made excuses thoroughly, not mentioning the person behind it at all.

Li Ruantang didn’t mind, letting them apologize and leave sheepishly. She only glanced a few times when Wang Fifth Lady was backing away.

“Lady Li, your magnanimity as an esteemed person is truly admirable,” Cao Rui finally smiled now that most of the onlookers had dispersed.

Li Ruantang waved her hand, “After all, they were just instigated by someone. Moreover, if Miss Cao hadn’t arrived in time, that Wang Fifth probably wouldn’t have been left speechless.”

“Yes, we owe thanks to Miss Cao today.” Hu Sanniang nodded in agreement, smiling and making a gesture of invitation. “As it happens, today is my Ning’s birthday. If Miss Cao doesn’t mind, please come in and take a seat.”

“San Niang, you’re too kind. It’s just that I came in a hurry and didn’t prepare any birthday gift.”

Cao Rui was just worrying about having no one to introduce her in the capital. Now that this opportunity had fallen from the sky, she first declined politely a few times before putting the book in her sleeve and following Hu Sanniang into the courtyard.

Just as she crossed the threshold, Cao Rui wanted to find some topics to discuss with Li Ruantang. But when she turned her head, she found that the woman who had been by her side had already disappeared without a trace.

Strange.

Cao Rui’s face showed confusion, but before she could think further, Hu Sanniang was enthusiastically inviting her into the main room.

With an unmarried woman visiting the home, the men naturally had to avoid suspicion.

The commotion outside the courtyard earlier was not small. Although Meng Jun hadn’t heard clearly, he guessed it was some trouble stirred up by the Fu family.

The young man peeked through the door crack a few times but didn’t see Li Ruantang’s figure. His heart immediately became anxious. But Ah Ning was blocking the door firmly, refusing to let him out no matter what.

“Jiujiu, you have to trust Lady Li. She’s not a rash person.” Hu Youning pressed his lips together. “Besides, I promised her that I wouldn’t break my word this time.”

He spoke firmly, his gaze falling on the two flower wreaths placed in one corner, then quickly looking away.

“But my wife-master is still injured.”

In terms of strength, Meng Jun was naturally no match for Hu Youning. He sat irritably on the edge of the kang, feeling his eyelids twitching.

No, he couldn’t just wait here stupidly anymore.

Those beautiful phoenix eyes rolled around, and he picked up the teapot from the table, drinking one cup after another of the cooled tea.

“Ah Ning.”

The young man drank until he was full of water, but the look he gave Hu Youning was extremely innocent. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m too worried about my wife-master, but I suddenly feel very thirsty. Could you please help me boil another pot of tea?”

*

On the way back, Wang Fifth Lady felt more and more angry the more she thought about it. She had never been so humiliated as today.

In the past, she always prided herself on being the mother of a scholar. Now being repeatedly mocked by Cao Rui, she couldn’t say a single word.

She didn’t know how Li Ruantang knew about her family’s relationship with Cao Rui. This setback left her in an awkward position, very frustrated.

However, after all, she was doing this for someone else. She still had to find Fu Lanxian to discuss it further.

She just couldn’t believe that a sickly person could have any real ability.

Thinking of this, Wang Fifth Lady stopped in her tracks and turned to hurry to the Fu family. But after walking a few steps, a small pebble suddenly hit her in the back of her knee. Before Wang Fifth Lady could react, another pebble came flying very accurately.

She let out a low cry of pain and immediately fell down, her face bruised. When she finally came to her senses and looked up, she saw a gold-threaded skirt hem standing in front of her.

Her heart chilled, and she involuntarily looked up along the gold thread. The darkness of the backlight made it impossible to see the face of the person who had come.

But these gold threads, who else could it be but Li Ruantang.

“You, what do you want to do?”

“Tell her a message from me.” Li Ruantang’s voice was cold. “I usually give people three chances to make mistakes.”

“Now, she has one chance left.”