Extortion at the Roadblock

Qin Sanniang, now with someone to rely on, became even more imposing. Standing in front of the carriage, she said, "Just because you have some dirty money, you look down on others, cursing and telling people to scram! Let me ask you, is this village yours? Are you from this village? Huh!? You're nothing! So why should I scram? I’m not moving today; I’m lying right here. Come on, try to push me away, crush me if you can!"

Qin Sanniang grabbed a few women from the village and had them lie down in front of the carriage, stubbornly blocking the way and refusing to get up!

Lv Luo had never seen such a scene before and was almost scared to tears by this group of shrews.

But the princess in the carriage was about to lose control. If she made an inappropriate sound now, wouldn’t the whole village hear it!

The humiliation was simply unimaginable!

Lv Luo panicked and, without thinking, decided to settle it with money. She pulled out several silver ingots worth five taels each and threw them to Qin Sanniang’s group, saying, "You just want money, right? Here, take it! Move aside quickly!"

Qin Sanniang’s group saw the money come too easily and grew even greedier. They thought, this family is so generous, they must be very rich. Such a fat sheep finally caught—must bite hard and not let them go so easily.

Most of the villagers watching thought Qin Sanniang and her group had gone too far. Sister Zhu said, "You’d better move aside quickly. You’re acting like bandits; it’s embarrassing to watch!"

But Qin Sanniang, having tasted sweetness, refused to listen to Sister Zhu’s advice. Spitting, she said, "Sister Zhu, how am I a bandit? They insulted me, I’m just standing up for myself! Besides, the silver was given willingly, not robbed. How does that make me a bandit?"

One of Qin Sanniang’s people chimed in, "Exactly, they gave the silver willingly. It’s our compensation money! We deserve to keep it!"

Sister Zhu was actually envious of the silver, but despite her greed, she couldn’t bring herself to lie on the road and block a carriage like Qin Sanniang. So she spat and said, "Take the money and move quickly. Why block the way? Greedy, aren’t you afraid of choking?"

That was the reasoning, but when faced with huge benefits, people often get blinded by greed.

Qin Sanniang wasn’t about to miss this chance to get rich. She looked around, then grabbed Zhang Zhaocai from the crowd and shoved him in front of the carriage wheel, saying, "You think a few lousy silver taels can buy me off? You insulted me, and I’m not happy about it. This little money isn’t enough to cheer me up!"

The carriage driver, seeing Zhang Zhaocai pressed against the wheel, dared not move, fearing he might crush the child to death.

Qin Sanniang, seeing her tactic worked, was extremely pleased. She stretched out her hand and said, "Five taels to try and get rid of me? That’s too cheap! Also, Lv Luo, you insulted me. You owe me an apology until I’m satisfied!"

Lv Luo’s face had already turned green. At this point, she would agree to anything as long as they moved aside quickly.

So Lv Luo jumped down from the carriage, emptied her purse of all the silver, and gave it to Qin Sanniang with a forced smile, saying, "Sanniang, I was too rash just now and offended you. I apologize. Please move aside quickly; my lady has urgent matters and cannot be delayed."

Qin Sanniang weighed the purse—it was heavy. It looked like several dozen taels!

Only then did Qin Sanniang pull Zhang Zhaocai away from the carriage wheel and helped the women lying on the ground to get up. She said to Princess Mingyu on the carriage, "Since you apologized sincerely, I won’t make a fuss this time. You may go!"

Lv Luo breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got back on the carriage. But just as she lifted the carriage curtain, she saw Princess Mingyu’s face pale purple. Lv Luo’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively covered her nose...