Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Scandal
When Madam Wang saw Tang Ming Xiu bow her head and apologize, she pounced, voice sharp as a cleaver.

“We apologized. We paid compensation. Now let’s talk about how you harmed my daughter—how you left her with internal injuries.”

A villager in the crowd squinted at Tang Ming Xiu. “Is she even hurt?”

“Come to think of it, she does look a bit pale,” someone said.

“I think she’s faking,” another muttered. “She’s trying to shake down Li Tao Hua.”

The courtyard was small. The villagers stood so close they could smell one another’s breath. Their whispers had nowhere to hide, floating straight to Li Tao Hua’s ears—and Tang Da Fu’s.

If the onlookers could see what was really happening, of course the couple could too. They had put up with Madam Wang’s screaming for so long precisely because they’d been waiting for this moment.

Madam Wang slapped a hand to her daughter’s chest and pointed wildly. “Bullshit! My girl can’t even get up, and you say she’s pretending? Yesterday Li Tao Hua set a dog on people—my daughter was scared out of her soul!”

Li Tao Hua folded her arms, calm as stone. “Doctor Shi, sorry to trouble you. Please take her pulse.”

Doctor Shi had eaten the Tang family’s meat buns and drunk their mushroom soup. He’d been wondering how to repay them. Finally, it was his turn.

He stepped forward, took Tang Ming Xiu’s wrist, and pressed two fingers to her pulse. His brows knitted.

“Other hand,” he said.

Tang Ming Xiu held out her right wrist.

For no reason she could name, a cold unease crawled into her chest. When Doctor Shi looked at her—strangely, measuringly—that unease tightened until it hurt.

Madam Wang leaned over him, not giving him room to breathe. “Doctor, say something. Did my daughter suffer internal injuries or not? Or can you not even feel internal injuries in the pulse?”

She didn’t care what he found. In her mind, Tang Ming Xiu had internal injuries. If the Tangs wouldn’t pay, she’d leave her daughter here and make them support her.

Madam Wang was determined to win a round back. Even if she had to force it shamelessly, she wanted to walk away on top—or Li Tao Hua would think she was afraid of her.

Doctor Shi let go of Tang Ming Xiu’s wrist. “Your daughter hasn’t suffered any internal injuries.”

Madam Wang’s mouth twisted. She didn’t want to hear that answer. “Quack. You just can’t tell.”

Doctor Shi’s expression stayed flat. “Your daughter is three months pregnant. If she had internal injuries, she would have miscarried on the spot last night. How could she still be fine now?”

Madam Wang froze.

Then her eyes went wide, as if she’d misheard. “My daughter’s internal injuries… wait—what did you say?”

Her voice shot up into a shriek. “You quack! Even if you can’t feel her injuries, you don’t have to bully us like this. My daughter is a virgin! She’s not married—how could she be pregnant?”

The villagers looked just as shocked.

“Oh my god… three months…”

“Tang Ming Xiu hasn’t been betrothed yet, has she?”

Li Tao Hua watched them, her face holding an almost satisfied certainty—as if she were thinking, Just as I thought.

Last night, Qin Hui Yin had seen Tang Ming Xiu retching. In a whisper meant for Li Tao Hua alone, she said she’d seen Tang Ming Xiu with a man from another village before—up on the mountain. And lately, Tang Ming Xiu had gotten rounder, her figure changing in ways that couldn’t be blamed on good meals.

Tang Ming Xiu’s face went deathly pale. Despair flooded her eyes.

[No. It couldn’t be.]

[He said I wouldn’t get pregnant.]

[Every time, he gave me medicine. He said it would prevent pregnancy. How could I be carrying a child?]

“If you don’t believe me, go find another doctor,” Doctor Shi said. “But she’s three months along. The pulse is obvious. There’s no mistaking it.”

The murmurs sharpened into something ugly.

Tang Da Fu cleared his throat. “Ming Kui’s Mother, the baby in her belly seems fine, so Ming Xiu probably didn’t suffer any internal injuries. Why don’t you take your daughter home and look after her?”

Li Tao Hua dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled brightly, gloating without even trying to hide it. “Exactly. She climbed my wall last night. My wall didn’t get her pregnant, did it? She fell from that height and was still fine, and the little one in her belly is sturdy too. When it’s born, it’ll definitely be a tough little brat. Raise it well!”

“That’s impossible… I don’t believe it…” Madam Wang shook with fury. “You’re all ganging up to trick me. My husband isn’t home, so you’re bullying me and my daughter!”

“Plenty of men in this village are away,” Li Tao Hua said coolly. “We don’t bully other women. Why would we single you two out? Have you no shame? Look at your daughter’s face—she hasn’t even said she doesn’t believe it. Why are you the only one screaming nonstop? I think your daughter believes it just fine.”

Madam Wang whirled on Tang Ming Xiu. “Say it. It’s impossible, right?”

“Mother…” Tang Ming Xiu’s voice shook. “I don’t know…”

If anyone was most terrified right now, it wasn’t Madam Wang. It was Tang Ming Xiu.

An unmarried girl who suddenly turned out to be three months pregnant—how was she supposed to face anyone after this?

It was all her mother’s fault.

If Madam Wang hadn’t gone and provoked Li Tao Hua, it wouldn’t have been exposed in front of so many people. She wouldn’t be mocked by every mouth in the village.

Someone in the crowd piped up, eager to stir the pot. “If you don’t trust the doctor, you should at least trust the aunties and sisters-in-law you’re close to, right? Have them examine her. Then it’ll be clear.”

Madam Zhang’s eyes gleamed. “That’s a good idea,” she said. “Fastest way to prove innocence. I’ve delivered babies for many young wives. I’ll examine her.”

Madam Yang clicked her tongue. “Whether she’s been with a man, you can tell at a glance. But Auntie Tao Hua is right—looking at her, I don’t think there’s even a need.”

Tang Ming Xiu looked like she was about to faint. Her reaction made everything obvious. Only Madam Wang was still stubbornly clinging to denial, as if screaming could erase a swelling belly.

Madam Wang grabbed Tang Ming Xiu by the hair. “You wretched girl. Tell me the truth—who is that man?”

“Hey!” Li Tao Hua snapped. “Don’t hit people in my house. Your place is next door. Go be crazy over there.”

Madam Wang seized Tang Ming Xiu by the arm and dragged her—screaming the whole way—back into the courtyard next door.

Li Tao Hua planted her hands on her hips and shouted toward them. “I wasted a whole night with you just so I could watch your family make fools of yourselves! All day you plot against this person and that person. If you had that kind of energy, you’d be better off spending it on your children, instead of letting a perfectly good daughter get ruined by some stray man!”

“Li Tao Hua, believe it or not, I’ll tear your mouth apart—” Madam Wang’s voice sounded half-mad behind the wall.

“Come on!” Li Tao Hua yelled back. “Weren’t you trying to climb over and steal from my house? You tried to steal and ended up losing more than you gained—that’s you, you stupid woman. Right now, you’d better think about her belly. We still haven’t figured out who that stray man is. If he’s willing to marry her, you can at least get a bride price. If you beat her until she miscarries, sure, you’ll have a death on your hands—but he definitely won’t take responsibility for her anymore!”

The sounds of Madam Wang beating Tang Ming Xiu stopped.

Tang Da Fu stared at Li Tao Hua with worshipful eyes. “My wife is incredible. One sentence and you prevented a tragedy.” He leaned closer, voice syrupy. “You didn’t want Madam Wang to beat Tang Ming Xiu and the baby to death, so you provoked her on purpose, didn’t you? My wife is beautiful and kind.”

Li Tao Hua stared at him.

“…”