Tian Guihua sneered, "I knew it. So the parents already knew their own daughter would be hit by a stone today, and prepared in advance?"
Zhao Di's father's eyes darted around. He pointed at Tian Guihua and rebuked, "You shrew, don't speak nonsense. Which parent would treat their own daughter like this?"
"You always do! Sister Zhao Di often saves food for you, but you never consider her!" Luhua's gaze swept over Zhao Di's parents' faces indignantly, she said angrily.
Qian Chengchuo from Hongliu Village immediately chimed in, "We are all from the same village. We all know how you treat Zhao Di. She lives worse than livestock in your home."
Deng Sanwa said, "I often see you hitting Zhao Di!"
Qian Zhao Di's tears flowed, her slender body trembling slightly.
Seeing her own family becoming increasingly unable to stand their ground, Zhao Di's mother immediately rolled on the ground, "Oh, heavens, look at these black-hearted people! They broke my daughter's leg and now they're slandering us! Is there any justice left in this world? If they don't compensate me with these five hundred taels of silver today, I... I'll jump into this well! I don't want to live anymore!"
"Then jump!" Bai Sheng said with a cold smile, "Jump now and see if we'll stop you. This well is over a hundred meters deep. If you jump in, you'll be smashed to pieces and die completely. Besides, there are plenty of snakes and centipedes down there, which will be happy to fill their bellies."
Zhao Di's mother flinched and unconsciously moved backward, away from the well's edge.
Bai Sheng rolled her eyes dismissively, filled with extreme disgust, "This whole leg-breaking act today was clearly orchestrated by your family. You made Qian Zhao Di smash her own leg with a stone, and then you rushed over to extort money. Heaven clearly sees who is good and who is evil. If you're not afraid of retribution, then come at us!"
Granny Wu also snorted coldly, pulling at the corner of her mouth, "Do you all think we are fools? This little girl's leg must have been injured last night, and today she deliberately smashed it with a stone again. I've been practicing medicine for decades, and I can see through these tricks at a glance."
The children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao were all shocked and regretted speaking up for Qian Zhao Di.
The mistress of the house treated them so well, yet how could she conspire with her parents to frame the mistress?
What ungrateful wretches!
Luhua couldn't believe it. She murmured accusingly, "Sister Zhao Di, I... I've always treated you as a good sister. How could you collude with your parents to cheat our family?"
"Yes, Sister Zhao Di, how could you do this? If I had known you were like this, I wouldn't even bother with you!" Sun Gamei said with a look of disdain.
Qian Zhao Di lowered her head, wiping away her tears, her shoulders heaving.
"You... you're talking nonsense! You're being unreasonable! My Zhao Di's leg was broken at your place! The stone is still here!" Zhao Di's mother was clearly flustered.
Zhao Di's father immediately threatened in a harsh tone, "If you dare to renege, I... I'll go to the authorities immediately! And have you all thrown into jail!"
"Go ahead, report it to the officials right now. Do you want us to invite the officials here?" Bai Sheng raised her voice. "Do you all think the officials are fools? So easily fooled? They'll believe your lies just like that? Deceiving officials is an even graver offense!"
Zhao Di's father's face turned awkward when he realized that threatening to report them to the authorities wouldn't intimidate anyone.
Bai Sheng said sternly, "Listen up! I will tell you clearly now! We can help treat Qian Zhao Di's leg, and that is purely out of kindness!
As for the so-called compensation, it simply does not exist! Don't even dream of a single coin!
If you know what's good for you, quickly take your daughter and get out. Otherwise, even if you don't report us, we will report you! Let's see who the officials believe – you, or the facts!"
Lu Ye looked at them sharply, "Currently, the town yamen and county yamen jails have no surplus grain supplies. Those imprisoned are either sent to the frontier or secretly executed to save on food. Which one do you want?"
Zhao Di's parents showed looks of panic. The people who had followed them immediately lost their imposing demeanor.
Bai Sheng feigned politeness to Feng Pingyuan, "Brother Feng, please trouble yourself to go to the town yamen and report them for extortion."
Feng Pingyuan acknowledged and prepared to leave.
"No! East family mistress, don't!" Qian Zhao Di suddenly cried out in fear.
Everyone turned their gaze towards her.
Qian Zhao Di lowered her head in shame, avoiding everyone's eyes, "East family mistress, East family mistress, I... I will tell you everything."
Zhao Di's mother's face changed drastically, and she immediately cursed sharply, "You slut! You useless wretch! To collude with outsiders to bully your own family! If you dare to blabber, I'll rip your foul mouth apart today and beat you to death here!"
Zhao Di's father immediately turned around, looked around, found a suitable stone, and raised it as if to strike his own daughter.
Bai Sheng sneered, "If you dare to smash her today, the only thing awaiting you is death row!"
The people of Hongshu Po could no longer bear to watch. Were these parents even human? Wolves and tigers would have more compassion than them.
This girl was also... with her parents treating her like this, she was still colluding with them in these despicable schemes. She was truly muddled.
Bai Sheng looked at Qian Zhao Di and smiled coldly, "Whether you speak or not is irrelevant. As for the truth, everyone present knows it clearly. If you have any conscience left, leave immediately with your parents. Don't appear in Hongshu Po again!"
"No... East family mistress, I... I'm sorry to you. I will speak, I will explain everything clearly!" Qian Zhao Di cried, "My parents forced me daily to talk about the well digging. They heard that this well wouldn't produce water, and felt they had suffered a great loss. So they wanted to extort a sum of money from the elder and the young mistress.
They told me to jump into the well and pretend it was an accident, so they could then demand a lot of compensation from the East family.
However, the well is so deep, jumping in would surely mean death. But I... I don't want to die, so I agreed to break my own leg today.
But they were still uneasy, fearing I wouldn't be able to do it today, so they broke my leg last night. Wuwu... this morning, I crawled... crawled over before dawn. Wuwuwu... East family mistress, East family mistress, please forgive me. I... I didn't mean to harm you."
Everyone was stunned.
Xiao Goudan regretted it immensely. If he had known it was like this, he wouldn't have listened to Qian Zhao Di and run back to report to them.
Tian Guihua and others gritted their teeth in anger, "Truly worse than beasts! For these people to be alive is a sign that heaven is blind!"
The group that had followed Qian Zhao Di's parents was caught off guard by Qian Zhao Di's confession. They all looked crestfallen and dared not say another word.
Qian Zhao Di continued to cry and beg, "East family mistress, East family mistress, please forgive me. I will never do this again."