Chapter 293 Cutting off the Courtyard Door of the Old Mansion
Bai Yihong and Bai Zehao both responded and immediately followed Lin Ping’er. They heard Bai Ruozhu’s words, and gently tried to persuade her on the side, but they didn’t dare to outright prevent her from going.
Bai Ruozhu, thinking about the state her mother was in at the moment, wanted to slay Bai Yibo a thousand times over. Unfortunately, Bai Yibo had already been arrested, so she didn’t worry that her mother would kill anyone. She hoped just letting out her frustration on the old mansion would prevent her from falling ill due to the pent-up anger.
She hurriedly went back to her yard, asked Xiaosi to take care of the house, and tried to give Dengdeng to Fang Guizhi. However, seeing that Fang Guizhi was too unfocused to care for a child, she had to take Dengdeng to the east courtyard and hand him over to Yu Hongxiu instead.
When she left the Xie Residence, she had barely run a few steps when she encountered Fusa, who had a worried face. Seeing Bai Ruozhu, she smiled.
"Ruozhu, how come you guys haven’t opened the stall yet? I’m worried, so I came to see you," Fusa asked.
"Sister-in-law, there’s been an incident at my house. My mother is sick from worry now. I need to catch up with her. If you go to my yard, Guizhi will tell you," Bai Ruozhu didn’t have much time, so she said a few words quickly and ran off.
She then chased towards the entrance of the town. She wasn’t worried about not catching up. Her mother was carrying a kitchen knife and would not easily get on the donkey cart.
Indeed, when she reached the town’s entrance, she could see her mother’s figure from a distance. Her mother hadn’t even taken a cart, she was going on foot back to Mountain Village.
Her heart was aching from worry, so she hurriedly followed. Seeing her come, Bai Yihong breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had found his backbone.
"Ruozhu, is your mother really okay doing this? Won’t she get tired from walking so much? Or should we knock her out? Maybe she will be calmer by the time she wakes up?" Bai Yihong lowered his voice and whispered to Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu shook her head hastily, "Father, we can’t do that. Mother’s situation right now is not normal. If we do not let this anger out, it will be just bottled up inside, and when she wakes up, she might become ill, even more severely." She thought for a moment, and her voice dropped even lower, "She might even lose her sanity."
There was a madman in Mountain Village, and Bai Yihong had seen him since he was a child. Back then, the village children were all afraid of this madman since he would beat up anyone who got near him, even bite them if he got the chance. Bai Yihong shivered at the thought, and his voice shuddered as he said, "Ruozhu, you must find a way to save your mother."
"Little sister, we don’t understand medicine, so we have to rely on you for this," Bai Zehao also said to Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Mother had a sleepless night and got a sudden shock, which is why she had a hysteria attack. We shouldn’t stop her from letting out her anger, she’ll feel better once she vents."
The two nodded and dared not have any other thoughts.
Lin Ping’er was glaring angrily at this moment, puffing herself up as she strode forward, not caring or paying attention to anyone. There were already people on the road going into town, but when they saw Lin Ping’er holding a knife, they were frightened and stepped to the side to avoid her.
The journey from Mountain Village to the town was not too far, and since Lin Ping’er was going so fast, she soon entered Mountain Village. At this moment, the villagers were bustling about and discussing the news of Bai Yibo’s arrest. Suddenly, they saw Lin Ping’er, with her red eyes and knife in hand, rush into the village.
From afar, Zhou Deshun saw Bai Yihong and shouted, "Your eldest brother has been arrested. I was planning to go into town and tell you to avoid getting you guys involved."
Bai Yihong’s eyes reddened, "We’ve already been implicated. My son Zehao has been taken away."
"What?" Zhou Deshun exclaimed. Only then did he notice Lin Ping’er acting strangely, and he quickly asked, "What’s going on with your sister-in-law?"
"Anger invaded her heart. Ruozhu said we shouldn’t stop her from venting, or else..." Bai Yihong didn’t elaborate on what consequence was to follow, fearing it was bad luck to even voice the idea.
Zhou Deshun probably guessed what he meant, sighed, and said, "Letting out her anger might be a good thing. Who would have thought we’d be stuck in this situation? It’s a real disaster."
Lin Ping’er didn’t hear or see anyone nearby. Her eyes were red as she went straight towards the Bai family’s old mansion. People on the road saw her and wanted to greet her, but her appearance scared them off. They avoided her and didn’t dare to speak.
Soon, she arrived at the entrance of the old mansion and started hacking at the courtyard gate.
"Bai Yibo, you damned good-for-nothing, you’ve put my son in jeopardy due to your own transgressions. I’ll slice you to pieces!" Like a crazed beast, Lin Ping’er roared while furiously chopping at the door with her kitchen knife. Thankfully, the old mansion’s courtyard gate was thick and strong, so it didn’t break apart easily.
Out of curiosity, some braver villagers came to watch the commotion. Some tried to persuade Lin Ping’er not to harm her health with her anger, but she simply didn’t hear them.
"Bai Yibo bought the exam questions to cheat, who knows if Bai Zepei also saw the questions? She talks about being implicated now, but why didn’t she think of this possibility earlier?" An irritating voice echoed through the crowd, Bai Ruozhu glared over. The one speaking was Zhu Pozi.
This wicked old hag repaid kindness with bitterness. Even after Bai Ruozhu saved her grandson, she continued to cause trouble for her. Now she was saying such heartless things, trying to undermine her second brother’s image in the village?
Bai Ruozhu was burning with anger. She glared at Zhu Pozi and scolded, "Zhu Pozi, I saved your grandson, but you’ve continuously tried to harm me. The last time, when Zheng Giugiu made a false accusation against me, it was you who instigated it. Do you actually have any conscience left?!"
After Bai Ruozhu finished speaking, she wanted to rush over and hit Zhu Pozi. But her mother moved faster than she did. Raising her kitchen knife, she dashed over, seeming to want to chop Zhu Pozi.
Zhu Pozi screamed and ran off, heading all the way back home without a backward glance.
Last time, the village chief had already gone to reprimand Zhu Pozi. Every villager knew about this incident, and now, seeing Zhu Pozi act in this way, they also joined in scolding her, saying she was blinded by selfishness.
Lin Ping’er turned her attention back to the old mansion’s gate and started chopping again, resuming her tirade.
"The damned Bai Yibo cheated on his own, and ended up implicating my son for his sin. Ever since he was young my son has been studying hard. What was all his hard work these past years for? While other children were out playing, he had never taken the time to play around. All his spare moments were spent studying and helping in the field. When the damned Bai Yibo was enjoying himself in the courtyard while we served him, my son never stopped working hard. Why should he be implicated because of Bai Yibo?"
Lin Ping’er broke into tears. Her lament was so forlorn that not only Bai Ruozhu and the others couldn’t hold their tears, but even some of the onlookers discreetly wiped their eyes.
Everyone knew how Bai Zepei had been in the village these past years. Since he was a child, he was not like other children who had time to play. Every day was spent on studying, helping in the field, and cutting pig grass. Meanwhile, his uncle lived in luxury. He had good food and drinks, and even had time to wander around. Who didn’t know that the Bai family’s second room was virtually serving the main room like slaves?
Bai Zehao had no friends his age in the village, because he had no time to make friends. But the people in the village always said he was polite, that he was good at studying and willing to work in the fields. He was not like his uncle who was arrogant and incompetent.
Fortunately, Bai Zehao passed the student examination afterward. The Bai’s second room had asked for mediation from the village chief and the elders, and only with great difficulty had they separated from the main family. But, you could separate a household, but not one’s blood. And criminal responsibility was shared amongst the relatives.