"Charge! All of you, attack! Kill this little slut! I'll skin her alive, dismember her, and then chop her into pieces!" the Third Steward roared, his face contorted with fury.
Initially, because of Su Muqing's beauty, the Third Steward had considered sparing her. However, he had just hidden behind his thugs and pulled down his pants to check. He discovered that his manhood had been severed, and the small piece that had fallen into his pant leg was already charred black. Blood had soaked his entire crotch.
He had been turned into a eunuch? He wouldn't be able to have sons anymore! How was he supposed to face his seven beautiful concubines later?
Thus, the Third Steward changed his mind. There were plenty of beautiful women in the world. After he killed this slut and avenged his barren fate, he would find even more beautiful ones!
Meanwhile, the Third Uncle led four guards to block Su Muqing, while Su Minghui, along with the villagers, stood behind Su Muqing with hoes and spades, surrounding her.
Over twenty thugs charged towards them. The Third Uncle drew his saber first and took down one of them. Then, both sides began to fight.
The thugs, with their bulging bellies, were actually all show. The Third Uncle and his men subdued most of them in no time. Although there were many villagers, only Su Minghui and a few of his brothers truly helped repel the attackers; the other villagers mostly focused on dodging.
In contrast, Su Muqing fought so effectively that the attackers were in disarray. She herself didn't know when she had learned these moves. She figured that just as the healing technique had gifted her the Poison Scripture, it had also gifted her martial arts techniques, but she hadn't paid attention.
After subduing the thugs, the Third Uncle brought a large bundle of ropes. He stripped them down to their undergarments, and then, just as they had done to the young girls, he bound their hands and feet together in a chain.
Su Muqing walked towards the Third Steward, her expression blank, her pupils a dull grey. The Third Steward recoiled in terror, but the pain between his legs was so severe that he couldn't run.
"You, what do you want? Do you know who I am? My elder brother is the chief steward of the Piao Xiang Courtyard. If you dare to do anything to me today, my elder brother and his men will never let you go," the Third Steward announced his identity, trying to intimidate the person before him. Unfortunately, it had no effect whatsoever.
Su Muqing stepped forward and grabbed the Third Steward's clothes. Seeing her greyish-white pupils, the Third Steward was terrified and wanted to scream.
She raised her hand and slapped him across the face. With a loud crack, a bright red handprint appeared on the Third Steward's face. Then, she stood up and beat the man soundly, finally kicking him twice. She then grabbed his hand and made him press his thumbprint on a piece of white paper.
After dealing with the Third Steward, Su Muqing turned towards Old Madam Chen. Originally, out of respect for Su Mingyuan, as long as the old woman didn't go too far, she hadn't intended to be too ruthless. Unfortunately, Old Madam Chen was unwilling to stop her trouble, so she couldn't be blamed.
"Don't come near me! You're not that little bastard, you're not. You're a vengeful spirit, a female ghost come to seek revenge. I know you're not her, you're not!" Old Madam Chen shrieked hysterically as Su Muqing approached.
Su Muqing crouched down, smiling at Old Madam Chen, her pupils becoming even more grayish-white. If one looked closely, they could see tiny sparks of electricity flashing across them. "You're finally clever for once. It's a pity it's also for the last time."
"Qingjie, please let Grandma go! It wasn't me who wanted to sell you, it was that little vixen Su Cuiling. She said the Master fancied you. As long as your name was written down and your thumbprint was affixed, even if you refused, the Master wouldn't let you off, and then you wouldn't have a choice. Qingjie, Grandma was also bewitched! I'll never dare again. Think of your father, how good your father was to you! I am his birth mother, you can't harm me, please let me go... I'll never dare harm you again..." Old Madam Chen cried profusely, begging Su Muqing to spare her.
After a moment of hesitation, Su Muqing still raised her hand. Su Minghui grabbed her arm from behind. "Girl, you can't strike her."
Su Muqing's body trembled, and her pupils returned to normal. But she stubbornly looked at Su Minghui. "She wanted to harm me! She repeatedly tried to harm me. Why can't I fight back?"
Su Minghui looked at Su Muqing, who seemed like a stranger. Finally, he sighed and lowered his voice. "With so many people watching, do you want to be branded as a killer of your elder? Have you thought about what will happen to you in the future? And what about Xuan'er, what will you do for him?"
After speaking, Su Minghui pulled Su Muqing to Wang Shi. Then he walked to the front of the Old Su family. "Your Old Su family is simply too much. I didn't want to get involved in your private affairs and gave you many chances. But you still haven't learned your lesson and have seriously affected our village's unity. Immediately unload everything that belongs to your family. This is your family's household registration transfer certificate. From now on, you are no longer residents of Houxi Village."
After speaking, Su Minghui threw the Old Su family's household registration transfer certificate onto Su Mingfu.
Seeing that Su Minghui was serious, Su Mingfu was so frightened that he quickly chased after him, begging. "Minghui, Minghui, you can't do this! Village Head, I beg you, please don't drive us out of the village. We'll never cause trouble again."
Seeing that Su Minghui had stopped, Su Mingfu thought he had softened his heart and quickly assured him. "I promise I won't cause trouble anymore and won't affect the village. Everything that happened before was because of my old mother. She's old and confused, we've decided not to care about her, we'll just leave her here. From now on, no one in my family will cause trouble. And those two bratty girls, and that useless wife. I'll drive them all away. Then no one will cause trouble."
The other villagers, upon hearing Su Mingfu's words, felt that this man was utterly heartless and ungrateful. Although Old Madam Chen had treated Su Mingyuan poorly and mistreated her daughters-in-law, she had been good to her other sons. Now, to avoid being driven out of the village, this man was going to abandon his own mother!
As for his wife, they would have practically worshipped him. What a pity for those two girls. The mother and her two daughters were truly pitiful. To encounter such a husband, such a father! They must have committed terrible sins in their past lives!
Su Minghui had indeed hesitated slightly. They had grown up together, and their friendship spanned decades. He had originally intended to give their family another chance.
But who knew that this person was truly incorrigible! He blamed others for his mistakes and pushed his family out to take the blame when trouble arose. As a grown man, he had no sense of responsibility at all. He was utterly unfilial, unbrotherly, unbenevolent, and unrighteous.
Su Minghui pulled back his sleeve. His expression returned to its previous cold and decisive demeanor. "If you don't move, I'll confiscate it and give it to the families in the village with less grain!"
Su Minggui and Su Mingcai were immediately anxious. "Brother Minghui, Brother Minghui, Village Head, you can't do this! That's our grain, our families are relying on that little bit of grain to survive."
"Yes, Brother Minghui, if you do this, aren't you just forcing our families to die?" the women of the Old Su family also stepped forward to plead, bowing repeatedly to Su Minghui, hoping he would retract his decision.
However, Su Minghui's mind was made up. The Old Su family, starting with Old Madam Chen, was rotten to the core. Apart from Su Mingyuan, who had been driven out of the family, there was almost no one who understood reason; they were all selfish and greedy! Keeping them in the village would only be a disaster. It was better to drive them out sooner rather than later.