A Beating for Nothing

The village chief, wearing a stern face, scolded Xiongzi. Xiongzi came to his senses, hung his head low, and almost knelt down with his whole family before the village chief and Su Li's couple.

"If it weren't for you all, I might have made a huge mistake and already been caught by the authorities. My eighty-year-old mother, my newborn son, and my wife would have no one to rely on." Xiongzi bowed heavily towards Su Li and the village chief.

"Don't be so impulsive in the future," Su Li sighed.

"Yes, Ali, I remember." Xiongzi took a deep breath, stood up from the ground, and prepared to leave with his family.

In the courtyard, Mrs. Tang struggled to get up, supporting her nearly broken waist. Seeing Xiongzi about to leave, she shouted, "Everyone saw it! Xiongzi beat me like this; it can't just end like this! Village chief, you must uphold justice for me. Xiongzi hit me and must pay for my medical bills. I can't work now, so he must also compensate for lost wages!"

The village chief immediately rolled his eyes. "Mrs. Tang, can't you just calm down? Haven't you been beaten enough?"

Mrs. Tang retorted, "Village chief, how can you say that? Everyone saw my face bruised and swollen by Xiongzi. Are you just going to let him off without paying?"

The village chief stomped in anger, "Why don't you talk about why Xiongzi hit you? You ruined the deal with Su Li’s family and even cheated them out of five hundred wen, then denied it. What did he do hitting you? You deserved it!"

Mrs. Tang rubbed her bruised arm, glaring, "Nonsense! Where did I cheat them out of five hundred wen? That’s slander. Do you have proof? Do you have an IOU? If not, shut up and stop throwing dirt on me! Xiongzi injured me and should pay. If he doesn’t, I’ll report him to the magistrate and have the official judge for me!"

Everyone was disgusted by Mrs. Tang’s shameless attitude. Su Li coldly stared at her, "Hmph, you say Xiongzi hit you, but do you have proof?"

Mrs. Tang was at a loss for words for a moment, then said, "So many villagers saw it, how is that not proof? There are many witnesses, and the physical evidence is the injuries on my body!"

Su Li looked Mrs. Tang up and down and said, "Just now your front door was tightly shut. Who saw Xiongzi hit you?"

As Su Li spoke, she glanced around, and the villagers immediately understood. Everyone shook their heads vigorously, "No one saw anything!"

"Exactly, we don’t have x-ray vision. How could we see anything through the door and walls?"

"Right, maybe Mrs. Tang fell herself and is now trying to scam people. This isn’t the first time she’s done this. We still remember when she fell and tried to scam Miss Lingdang!"

The villagers started talking all at once; no one had actually seen Mrs. Tang being hit.

Su Li looked calmly at Mrs. Tang and said, "So, where are your witnesses?"

Mrs. Tang jumped up and down angrily, pointing at the villagers and yelling, "Why are you all so mean, lying with a guilty conscience! The door was closed, but I shouted when Xiongzi hit me, and you all heard it!"

"Didn't hear! Didn't see! Don't know!" the villagers said in unison.

This made Mrs. Tang furious, steam practically coming out of her head. She had been beaten nearly half to death, but it seemed like it was all for nothing!?

Mrs. Tang finally fixed her gaze on Xiao Zetian, thinking he was a fool and easier to deceive. She said to him, "Silly Yuanbao, come here. I'll ask you! You climbed over my wall just now, did you see Xiongzi hitting me!?"

Xiao Zetian blinked, thinking, "Do they really think this general is a fool? Tsk, let's see who's the fool!"

So Xiao Zetian put on that innocent, dumbfounded Yuanbao look and shook his head, "What are you talking about? I didn’t climb any wall, I’ve been right by my lady’s side the whole time."

Su Li immediately caught on and said, "Exactly, my Yuanbao has been with me the whole time. You climbed your wall again, Mrs. Tang? Looks like you’re trying to scam people again!"