Hong DaGe stood aside, watching his younger brother and the other Hong family members lying on the ground in an instant. He didn't know whether to be grateful that he didn't go up and get beaten or to blush for staying out of the matter…
It was quite awkward.
But apart from embarrassing himself, it seemed like he didn't have any other use by going up there. The man in front of him was like an unstoppable killing star, his iron spear whirling with a fierce wind, producing a heavy thud when it struck flesh, making people's teeth ache.
In fact, besides Hong DaGe, the Hong family members on the ground felt pain all over their bodies!
"DaGe…" Hong SiGe sat up, nursing his sore buttocks, and called out to his older brother in a pitiful voice. Then he saw his youngest foolish brother quickly get up and dive into their older brother's arms. "Wow, DaGe, he's so fierce! He hit SiGe! He even hit Hong Bao…"
As he continued speaking, he glanced up and saw Cheng Duo looking at him. He became frightened and dared not say anything further, trembling as he hid his chubby face behind Hong DaGe.
"This…," Hong DaGe spoke up.
"I am Cheng Duo." Cheng Duo gestured with his chin towards Hong Bao and his gaze turned slightly cold. "It seems your younger brother is mentally disabled. And you still allowed him to marry?! What were you thinking?!"
Cheng Duo was a modern person and fundamentally disagreed with the practice of marrying off the mentally disabled in ancient times, especially when it was his Yong Ge who almost married this foolish man!
Upon hearing Cheng Duo's tone, which seemed to imply that they had deceived in the marriage, Hong DaGe immediately explained, "Before the betrothal between our two families, we had met each other. Li Changfeng voluntarily chose to marry my younger brother; we did not force him!"
(T/N: Li Changfeng is the full name of Feng Ge.)
"That's right, you arranged the marriage with Feng Ge, and the person sitting in the carriage is Yong Ge. Yong Ge is the fiancé arranged for me by our family," Sha Yang couldn't help but interject.
Cheng Duo gave him a cold glance. "Shut up. Yong Ge will not marry you! Whoever promised you the marriage, you go find them. Yong Ge's father is still alive, and Li Mancang, a separated uncle, has no authority to meddle in his marriage!"
"Well, what's it to do with you then?" Sha Yang mustered up the courage, wanting to approach Yong Ge who was weakly leaning against the back of the carriage, but he was afraid of the large iron spear in Cheng Duo's hand.
That thing hurts too much when it hits someone. He had a premonition that if he dared to get close, Cheng Duo would definitely beat him without any discussion!
"Yong Ge's father had already promised Yong Ge to me before he left. Do you think it's none of my business?" Cheng Duo made a startling statement, then ignored the others and walked straight towards Yong Ge.
Taking advantage of the moment when he turned around, Cheng Duo took a water pouch out of the space, pretending to take it out of his garment. "Here, Yong Ge, have some water. You've been drugged, and drinking water will help you recover your strength."
Upon hearing this, Yong Ge quickly opened his mouth for Cheng Duo to feed him water. Cheng Duo tilted the water pouch slightly to prevent him from choking, but even so, the weakened Yong Ge still choked, "Cough, cough, cough–"
"Slow down." Cheng Duo patted his back and wiped away the water stains on his cheek.
"Um…" Yong Ge was extremely embarrassed. Cheng Duo actually admitted their relationship in front of so many people and even fed him water. It was hard for him not to blush!
However, Cheng Duo didn't mind at all, and Yong Ge pretended to be calm, lowering his gaze and drinking from the water pouch.
The natural intimacy between the two of them couldn't exist without spending a long time together.
The people from the Sha family were dumbfounded! Although they still doubted Cheng Duo's words, it was obvious that Yong Ge was completely defenseless towards him. Could it be that he really wanted to be with Cheng Duo?
That's what Sha Yang thought, and he couldn't help but ask unwillingly.
Cheng Duo said, "I want to marry Yong Ge, naturally I won't let him suffer. And now, your concern shouldn't be about me and Yong Ge, right? Yong Ge is the victim, and he never agreed to marry any of you."
Sha Yang's heart sank halfway. "But… but Uncle Li Mancang agreed…"
"If Li Mancang agreed, you go find him. By the way, you've already married Feng Ge from their family, right?" Cheng Duo coldly looked at Sha Yang, then turned to the Hong family members on the other side. He said to Hong DaGe, "It seems you know that Yong Ge is not Feng Ge."
Cheng Duo spoke in an affirmative tone because before they fought, it was clear that Hong DaGe wanted to say something, but Hong SiGe and the others didn't give him a chance.
Hong DaGe felt awkward and said, "Yes, when the Li family came to visit, I accompanied Hong Bao to meet their son, and it's not the person in the carriage…"
At that time, he immediately noticed something was wrong, but Yong Ge was just too handsome. He was momentarily surprised, and with the crowd cheering, he didn't have the chance to say anything.
Of course, whether it was truly no chance or he wanted to let the mistake slide, only he knew.
Just as Hong DaGe finished speaking, Hong Bao tugged at his clothes from behind. "I want this person in the carriage to be my husband. This one looks good!"
Cheng Duo's face darkened at the words. Hong DaGe realized that something was amiss and quickly furrowed his brow to intervene, "Nonsense! The fiancé arranged by the betrothal letter is the one it is, it can't be changed at will!"
Sha Yang's spirits lifted, "That's right! The fiancé specified in the betrothal letter cannot be changed. Yong Ge and I exchanged betrothal letters!"
He looked at Yong Ge with hope in his eyes. By now, Yong Ge had regained some strength and could at least speak. He mercilessly told Sha Yang, "As Cheng Ge has already said, my marriage to him was approved by my father. What others have promised has nothing to do with me. And Li Mancang and Wu Guihua drugged me and forced me to marry, I hate them."
Speaking in front of so many people, Yong Ge's face flushed slightly after he finished speaking. He lowered his gaze and blinked his eyes.
Fortunately, Cheng Duo didn't let him feel embarrassed for too long. He quickly lifted Yong Ge up and carried him on his back. He wanted to leave, and the others didn't dare to stop him, so they could only watch Cheng Duo take Yong Ge away.
The Sha family and their relatives looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Seeing the pitiful state of the Hong family members on the ground, they didn't dare to stop them either!
Sha Yang's father's face turned dark. "Let's go back and discuss this!"
After witnessing the real Yong Ge who had been drugged and then seeing Feng Ge's poor attempt to cover it up, he had no more doubts. They had all been deceived!
He would go back and settle accounts with Li Mancang and Wu Guihua!
With two sides of this farce gone in an instant, Hong DaGe also didn't dare to delay. He sent the lightly injured people home to inform their parents, while leading the others to chase after them.
Hong SiGe hobbled beside Hong DaGe and said with a bitter face, "Big brother, why didn't you say it earlier…"
If his elder brother had spoken up earlier and admitted the mistake, how could they have gone around calling him a "cheating husband," and they wouldn't have been beaten by that dark-faced man.
Hong DaGe's mouth twitched. "I did want to say it, but you all acted too quickly!"
Hong SiGe and the others: "…"
In fact, if it weren't for Cheng Duo being so formidable, they could have simply taken the wrong person back home. After all, in ancient times, there were cases where someone fell for a girl from another family on the roadside and forcibly took her home. In the end, it depended on whose family had more labor force and whose fists were stronger, which determined who had the upper hand.
But they never expected to encounter someone like Cheng Duo, who didn't play by the rules. Their group of more than twenty people couldn't win against him alone. Even if they felt wronged and wanted to reason, it would only be embarrassing to say it out loud!
However, as a result, the Hong family members also grew to hate the main culprits, Li Mancang and his family. If their son didn't want to marry, then don't marry. This marriage was something they brought upon themselves, and they hadn't forced anyone!
Cheng Duo carried Yong Ge on his back and quickly returned to Yang'er Village. Coincidentally, Li San Ye had instructed Shanzi to wait for them at the village entrance. Seeing Cheng Duo not bringing Yong Ge back home but heading to the Sha family instead, Li San Ye was aware of the situation.
By this time, Sha Yang's mother had already led the Sha family members to confront Li Mancang and Wu Guihua. Both sides were in a sorry state and lacked the energy to continue. They could only stand in the courtyard and engage in a verbal battle.
Wu Guihua kept repeating the same sentence, "My Feng Ge has already gone through the betrothal ceremony with Sha Yang, entered the bridal chamber, and lifted the veil. He is Sha Yang's husband!"
"I spit on that! We don't want your shameless Feng Ge!" Sha Yang's mother cursed, but when she saw Cheng Duo entering with Yong Ge on his back, she was dumbfounded.
How could it be a hunter who brought Yong Ge back, where was Sha Yang? Where was the head of the family? Could they just stand there and watch!
An even more shocking scene unfolded before everyone's eyes. Cheng Duo placed Yong Ge on the small chair that Yu Ge had vacated and fetched a basin of cold water. He moistened a handkerchief and used it to wipe Yong Ge's face and hands.
During the process, Yu Ge wanted to take over, but he was refused.
Although Yong Ge's ears were red, he didn't shy away. It was evident that their relationship was deep.
"Cheng Duo, what are you…" Li San Ye, as the village head, stepped forward and asked the question on everyone's mind.
So Cheng Duo explained the previous arranged marriage again, and because Li San Ye knew some inside information, he also explained, "Actually, the marriage arranged by my parents for me has been invalidated. My friend with the surname Wei came by and informed me about it."
Li San Ye remained calm. Of course, he knew what Li Wang had said before leaving. If Yong Ge had been promised to Cheng Duo, how could he have not mentioned it at all!
Li San Ye's cloudy old eyes looked at Yong Ge, who nervously met his gaze, pleading.
He knew what to do now. He clenched his fist and cleared his throat, "Since that's the case, are you willing to marry Yong Ge with proper customs?"
"Of course!"
"San Ye…" Sha Yang's mother couldn't believe it, but since the head of the family and her son hadn't returned, she didn't know if she should fight for it, so she hesitated.
While cursing Cheng Duo in his mind for lying without batting an eye, Li San Ye also had to cover up for them, "Ahem, didn't you hear? Yong Ge's father personally arranged his marriage, and when Li Wang left, he specially came to ask me to take care of it. I am also aware of this matter… The engagement with Li Mancang cannot count."
Just as Sha Yang entered the house and heard Li San Ye say these words, his face turned ashen. He had suspected that Cheng Duo was lying, but now that Li San Ye confirmed it, and Yong Ge didn't want to marry him either, what else could he argue about…
Sha Yang walked into the house with a wooden expression, "Then I won't acknowledge that Li Changfeng, a stand-in. They deceived us!"
"Sha Yang, I didn't… I really don't know what happened!" Feng Ge was truly panicked this time. He hastily grabbed his mother's sleeve and tugged hard.
Wu Guihua chimed in, "It was obviously Yong Ge's greed for the Hong family's wealth that led him to steal my Feng Ge's engagement!'
Shanzi couldn't help but interject, "You're talking nonsense! Yong Ge has such a good marriage arrangement with Cheng Ge, why would he still want to marry into the Hong family? And when I went into the bridal chamber to find Yong Ge, he even pushed my hand away. He was perfectly fine at that time!"
"I didn't! Don't falsely accuse me—"
"Whether you did or not, we'll find out by having a doctor check your pulse." Cheng Duo interrupted. He didn't actually know if the ancient doctors could detect the presence of drugs, but he had to say it to intimidate them. Moreover, "Whoever bought the drugs can be found out by taking Li Mancang and Yong Ge to the pharmacy in twenty li slope and asking around. We're bound to find out!"
Cheng Duo squinted his eyes and stared at Wu Guihua and the others. "If we go to twenty li slope, this matter won't be easily resolved. Deceiving a marriage and substituting a bride, drugging and snatching someone else's fiancé. At the very least, it could lead to exile or doing labor to repair the city walls…"
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea. "San Ye, I think there's no need to ask anymore. Let's go to twenty li slope directly tomorrow. The person in charge there will surely discern right from wrong…"
Even if they couldn't, he could spend some money to make them more enlightened!
"This…" Li San Ye didn't nod this time. They didn't want to involve the authorities in village matters unless someone died. Moreover, it was easy to go in but difficult to come out. He didn't want to drag the whole village's reputation into it.
Li San Ye looked hesitant, but Li Changfeng misunderstood. After hearing the words "pharmacy" and Cheng Duo's description of the outcome, he was already terrified. He desperately clung to his mother, "Mother, please say something!'
His grip on Wu Guihua's clothes was almost tearing them apart. Understanding Li Changfeng's intention, she looked at him incredulously. Li Changfeng lowered his eyes in guilt, but his grip on Wu Guihua's clothes remained, making his intention clear…
"Mother, please help me. I will repay you in the future! And my brother, when I have a stable footing, I will support him too…" Li Changfeng was anxious, tugging at Wu Guihua's clothes and urging her.
Wu Guihua thought of her husband and eldest son, and she saw one with a dejected look, his face full of despair, and the other crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, bloodstains from being beaten still visible on Li Changsheng's face…
At the other end of the entrance, the Hong family had caught up and entered led by Hong DaGe.
Wu Guihua's spirit seemed to vanish in an instant. Trembling, she opened her mouth, "I… I won't go to twenty li slope! I admit it, I bought the drugs, and it was my idea. My husband and Changsheng didn't know anything about it. I just didn't like Yong Ge and wanted to marry him off to a fool!"
Cheng Duo was speechless. "What a joke! Wu Shi, do you think by admitting this, the ungrateful wolf will be grateful to you? Besides, who drugged and took Yong Ge away, and who put him on the donkey cart? Did you think everyone was blind?"