The General's Delicious Wife Chapter 021: Murder in the woods
Madam Sheng has fallen sick.
Ever since that day from the verbal fight with Xia Yue Chu, she begins to have nightmares. In those dreams, the cries and shouts of Xue Zhuang who is dragged off that year are resounding from all directions.
She has no where to run and no where to hide. The echoes, as if, have grown with a pair of legs, chasing into her ears on its own.
Hence within two days, her face turns to a shade of unhealthy green and she is unable to get out of her bed.
When Xue Liang Ping invites the doctor over, he says it is due to over worrying, she has a heart issue that is causing her depression.
How exactly did she get sick, Madam Sheng is clearer than anyone else. That year, after Xue Zhuang has been taken away, she is also unsettled over a year's period.
But her four kids at that time are so young, she is so busy everyday and eventually that unrest has been thrown to the back of her mind.
When Xia Yue Chu uncovers this old story again, especially mentioning the retribution, once again, she is reminded of her guilt.
Because Madam Sheng is not around looking for trouble, Xia Yue Chu and Madam Sun have had an easier time over the next few days.
Especially for Xia Yue Chu. After saying all that, her heart is alleviated. Her mood gets better increasingly and the awkward scene with Xue Zhuang that day has been thrown to the back of her mind. She does not think that it is anything significant.
Especially when she hears Xue Liang Ping saying that he needs to make a trip to the town before the Tomb's Sweeping Day, she gets even happier. After checking that all the chores around the house have been done, she carries the bamboo basket on her back and goes up the mountain, preparing to dig more stalks of vegetables and bring them to the town for sale.
Her steps are quick and light, totally oblivious that there is somebody stalking her from afar, it is Zheng Chun Ni who has a dispute with her that day at the Cui house.
Zheng Chun Ni follows behind Xia Yue Chu secretly through the entire journey, seeing that she is heading to the sunny side of the mountain and starting to dig vegetable shoots, she then returns with a dark expression.
The weather is turning warmer day by day, the vegetable shoots that are growing in the mountain are being exposed to the wind.
When she is here digging few days ago, they are only two thumbs long, now some has grown as long as scallions. Thin blades of a vibrant green just swaying along with the wind, it has a soothing effect to the onlooker.
Xia Yue Chu tidies them as she picks them, getting rid of the wilted leaves and only leaving a little soil with the roots intact to keep them fresh. Neatly arranging them into bundles as she places them into her bamboo basket.
As she is busying, she hears a set of heavy footsteps coming from behind her.
.
Xia Yue Chu turns around and there is a guy who she has never seen before, taking large strides towards her.
She is alarmed and stops the work on her hands, gripping on the shovel handle tightly.
The man sees her noticing him, asking in a familiar tone. "You are Da Zhuang's wife right?"
"It's me." Xia Yue Chu is secretly relieved to hear this, this manner of addressing herself would mean that this is somebody that the Xue family knows from the village.
The man comes closer a few more steps saying, "How is Da Zhuang's health?"
"There is a good turn but still needs to continue eating the medicine."
The distance between the two people gets closer and the man has a sudden change of face from the kindness shown earlier, now wickedly spitting. "So you think there is a man is backing you up, you can start bullying others?"
As he says this, a punch comes flying at Xia Yue Chu.
Xia Yue Chu jumps in a fright. Thankfully, she is constantly on her guard, forcefully lowering herself by sitting on the ground, she manages to dodge that aggressive fist in a miserable state.
Seeing that his punch has missed, the man lifts his leg to kick.
Xia Yue Chu rolls to a side on the ground and fights back with the shovel in her hand, whacking his leg and hitting directly onto the bone on his knee.
The guy receives the pain with a twisted expression. Even more agitated than before, he pulls out a firewood chopper from his waist.
"We have no past grievance and no recent grudge, even if you want to chop me up, can you please at least let me be a ghost who understand this?"
Xia Yue Chu runs through all the people she knows in her mind a few times and she totally cannot remember who she has offended that is worthy for them to devise such a brutal attack.
"Then what grievance and grudge do you have against Chun Ni Er, that you would embarrass her in front of so many people and then chase her out of the Cui house."
"Chun Ni Er?"
When the man mentions the Cui family, then Xia Yue Chu is able to recall who is this Chun Ni Er.
"Chun Ni Er went home crying for two days and with you, it is as if nothing has happened!" The man noticing how blank Xia Yue Chu looks, gets even more irritated. "Since your man's body is not good and cannot be in charged of you, I will discipline you on his behalf!"
After saying so, he swings his firewood chopper straight down at Xia Yue Chu.
Xia Yue Chu is backed onto a large tree and in this moment, there is no where else to avoid this strike.
She closes her eyes and shields with her arms in instinct, feeling a pain on her arm.
However, the chopper has not strike down completely. It is as if being blocked by something.
Closely following, Xia Yue Chu hears Qin Zheng's voice.
"My sister-in-law is good and all, no need for you to be in charged!"
Xia Yue Chu opens her eyes quickly and finds Qin Zheng who is already in a fight with that man.
Although that guy is taller and has a bigger built compared to Qin Zheng, at the end of the day, he is but a farmer. He has brute strength which he does not know how to use.
Qin Zheng has experienced actual war and battlefields, crawling out from piles of dead bodies. Within a few strikes, he snatches over the firewood chopper within the man's hand. With a sweeping footwork, the man is tripped over onto the ground. He pins one knee directly on his chest and positions the chopper at his neck.
"You have the guts, you say it again, who is discipling who? This Mister* will finish you off, you better believe it!"
This man is considerably hard-headed, even though he did not say any more provoking nonsense, he did not give in to admit his mistakes.
Qin Zheng turns his head to his sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, are you okay? Who is this person?"
Xia Yue Chu holding onto her arm that is wounded, frowning in response. "He is somebody that Zheng Chun Ni called to teach me a lesson."
"This Mister will not change name where he goes and will not change the family name where he settles**, called Li Da Shan. Just come at me if you have anything, it doesn't have anything to do with Chun Ni Er." The man hears that and toughens his neck while grumbling. "I just cannot bear to watch you bully Chun Ni Er, so I came to teach you a lesson on my own!"
"You are such an unreasonable person, she is the one who is not careful with her own chore, breaking something that belongs to the owner then was chased out, what does it got to do with me?"
Xia Yue Chu's arm hurts really badly, just imagine how dirty that chopper must be, it worries her if she will get an infection from it.
She gets more sullen the more she thinks about it. Unwilling to deal with Li Da Shan anymore, she calls Qin Zheng. "Ah Zheng, you help me to carry my basket, let's go home. Speaking logic with this kind of hooligan is in vain."
Qin Zheng then notices that Xia Yue Chu is injured. He quickly lets go of Li Da Shan and chases him away. Being troubled, "It's my fault for coming late, when we go back, I'll get scolded surely."
"I only have some cuts on my skin, it's nothing big. If it's not for you coming in time, I'm afraid I won't even know how I die." Xia Yue Chu sees that Qin Zheng is downcast, so she jokes about. "Instead to my wound, I feel more pained over my cotton gown. This is my only neat and tidy cotton clothes, not mentioning that now it is dyed with blood, such a big hole has been cut. I wonder if it can even be stitched up."
When Qin Zheng hears that he feels even more miserable, choking to tell her. "Sister-in-law, it's because I'm so useless, I'll go find a job tomorrow!"
"Already such a big lad, is it worth crying over such a small matter." Xia Yue Chu has not expected that Qin Zheng's eyes will swell in redness, so she calms him down immediately. "Don't rush don't rush, sister-in-law has been considering that these few days, until then, I confirm that I will be able to find a way for you to make money."
The more Xia Yue Chu says so, the stuffier Qin Zheng feels in his heart.
But the words that has accumulated in his stomach yet unable to be said, he carries the bamboo basket silently and accompanies Xia Yue Chu down the mountain to go home.
Xue Zhuang sees that Xia Yue Chu comes home with injury, sure enough, he scolds him before finding out what has happened.
Xia Yue Chu argues back on the behalf of Qin Zheng. "Can you be reasonable, if not for Qin Zheng who is passing by coincidentally, I would probably have died up in the mountain. Why are you still scolding him?"
Qin Zheng holds back with a red face explaining. "Sister-in-law, this scolding is not wrong, you don't have to say anymore for me. Told me to go and help you, it's me who dilly dally and went out late…"
.
When Xia Yue Chu hears that, then she comes to understand, it is not that Qin Zheng is passing by coincidentally and saving her, but instead he is sent there by Xue Zhuang.
It is true now that she thinks about it, the snow is in an indecisive state of melting, the mountain tracks are extremely muddy. If he is without a purpose, who would go to such a place in that part of the mountain for a walk.
Xia Yue Chu brightens with a smile towards Xue Zhuang. "It's all thanks to you today."
Xue Zhuang turns to a different direction uneasily, pulls out a box of salve and throws it towards Xia Yue Chu. "Spread it on three times a day!"
When Xia Yue Chu returns to the inner room to put on the salve, Qin Zheng is still being scolded harshly by Xue Zhuang and after awhile, he runs out with dejectedly.
.
Translator Notes:
*This Mister or This Mister here, is usually used when a man addresses himself in front of others as a tough self-identification, to toughen his image. Direct translation of lao zi means the elder one, the old one, also used in referring to one's father.
**Not changing the name wherever one goes and not changing the surname wherever one settles, meaning he will not disguise himself and lie about his name and identification.
Translated by Yellow. Sep 2022.