Yu Fang let out a loud shriek, and Xie Wei hastily called out: "Third sister, what's wrong?" and was about to walk over.

  Xie Wan was suddenly pulled by someone who grabbed her sleeve and hastily whispered in her ear: "Sister, don't call out, it's me!"

  It's Ren Yu!

  Xie Wan's eyes widened as she stared at the disheveled person standing in front of her - it was actually Ren Huan?!

  "What are you doing here?!"

  She was dumbfounded.

  Ren Youlan looked at Xie Wei, who had already walked over from the opposite side, and begged: "Sister, don't make a fuss! I, I just came to find Erniang to get back my things! You refused to return them to me, unexpectedly being heard by Sister Wei, you help me cover it up, I will remember your great kindness!"

  Xie Wan suddenly understood that he was after the jade pendant. But the Ren family wasn't poor, so why was he so fixated on a piece of jade?

  Although Ren Jia had betrayed her in the past, she didn't need to take revenge on him now. If Xie Wei saw him like this and misunderstood, it wouldn't be a small matter.

  She pointed to the door of the maids' room and said: "Go in and take a break."

  As if he had received a great amnesty, he quickly flashed into the inner chamber.

  Xie Wei came over surrounded by everyone and saw Xie Wan standing under the melon shed, so she quickly stepped forward and asked: "What did you run into?"

  Xie Wan pointed at the ground: "The ground is slippery, I just slipped a little while ago." And then said: "I also heard Big Sister calling out just now, what happened?"

  Xie Wei's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded, saying: "Nothing, just saw a stray cat running across the beam. You should go back to your room quickly and check if you're hurt anywhere, don't rush out like that next time."

  "I'm fine, thank you big sister."

  Xie Wei handed over two sentences of Yu Xueyu Fang, looked at her returning to the house, and then also returned.

  Xie Wan let Yu Xue send Ren Yun away, but Ren Yun ran over, his face flushed with excitement, and said to Xie Wan: "Thank you, sister, for helping me out of this predicament."

  Since they ran into each other so coincidentally, it was only natural to show some surprise. Xie Wan asked curiously: "Second sister, why are you holding onto his things?"

  Ren Shuai's face turned even more purple, and he stammered: "She... she's just a playful person."

  If it was just for fun, why would he risk sneaking in at midnight to chase him back? Xie Wan smiled and let Wu Xing send him out.

  The next day, it snowed again in the early morning. Xie Wan took Yu Xueyu and Wu Xing Luo Ju out of the village amidst the quietness.

  Wutou Village is just five miles away from Huangshi Town, and it takes only a short while for mule carts to arrive.

  Mei Sao was waiting for her in the shop that Luo Sheng had already signed. Xie Wan had no impression of this person, but when she saw her smile and a row of white teeth were exposed, her two eyes narrowed like Maitreya Buddha, and she also added two points of goodwill.

  Huangshi Town is a small town with a total length of no more than two miles, and most locals are farmers or tenants. There are not many aristocratic families like the Xie family, so their consumption capacity is not very high. However, some people have been dealing with landlords and wealthy households for years, so they can recognize good clothes to some extent. If the fabrics from Lizi Alley were sold here at a small profit, it should be easy to get people to accept them.

  Xie Wan chatted with Mei Sao for a few sentences, then glanced at several village women who had been selected from below. They were all clever and resourceful, but seemed to lack solidity. People like this might be good at talking, but it was hard to say whether they could last long.

  She said: "I can't make decisions on this matter either, I just came to Wutou Village with my brother and asked me to take a look. I think even if they are selected, it's unlikely that all of them will be kept behind. It would be better for sister-in-law to have someone write down their names, addresses, and family situations, and I'll bring them back for my brother to review. If any of them are chosen, he will definitely let Manager Luo send a message."

  "Ah, young lady, you're so small yet your words are so well-organized and logical, truly worthy of being the treasured daughter of the second madam. There's a stationery shop right across from us, I'll have someone go write it up for me."

  Xie Wan said, "No need, I have someone here who can write." She asked Yu Fang to call Luo Ju over and pointed to the side counter. "Write down each of their situations clearly and take it back with you."

  The shop had been operated before, so the counter and pen were already available. Luo Ju Mo ground the ink and picked up the pen to write.

  It's easy to write, but these women are talking one after another, without any logic, and it took some effort to sort them out. Fortunately, Luo Ju's temperament is quite gentle, and he didn't appear flustered due to their illogical talk. And Xie Zhuang also saw a few points in their competing statements.

  Xie Wan gave two hundred copper coins to Mei Sao and then boarded the carriage back to Wu Tou Village.

  Just as they were about to cross the arched bridge at Zhenkou, the mule cart suddenly stopped. Someone in front of the cart was shouting: "Where's Yuxue? Let her come out! I know she's inside!"

  Xie Wan was shocked and didn't know how someone could still recognize her as a member of the second branch of the Xie family despite her disguise.

  Yu Xue lifted the curtain of the carriage and took a look, her face turned pale as she withdrew back into the carriage, "It's Li Ershun!"

  It was Li Ershun who originally wanted to force Yu Xue to be his wife!

  What did he want by blocking her car?

  Xie Wan's face sank, and her eyebrows suddenly turned cold. She lifted the curtain to look out and saw Li Ershun carrying a wine gourd, sitting crookedly on the bridge with his mouth and eyes askew, causing trouble for Wu Xing and Luo Ju in front of the carriage. Since being released from the mansion by Xie Wan, Li Ershun had been working as an apprentice at the town's blacksmith shop. It seemed that he must have recognized Wu Xing just now, which was why he chased after the carriage to cause trouble here.

  Luo Ju and Wu Xing whispered a few words to each other, then jumped off the car and asked Li Ershun: "What are you looking for Yuxue for?"

  "What's going on?" Li Er rubbed his head and stood up, patting the snow off his buttocks, pointing to his chest: "She is my wife!"

  "Nonsense!"

  Yu Xue couldn't help it and scolded through the car curtain, her face burning with shame and anger: "When did I ever agree to be your wife?!"

  Li Ershun saw her, and his eyes suddenly lit up like a lantern, pointing at her and shouting: "You little slut! You think I don't know, you've crawled into Xie Er's bed now, so you won't admit it..."

  Xie Wan stepped down from the carriage, and with a wave of her hand towards Wu Xing, said: "Bring me the whip."

  Li Ershun suddenly saw her get off the carriage, but it wasn't Xie Lang. He was stunned for a moment, but immediately pointed at her and became frantic: "You—"

  Before he could finish speaking, Xie Wan's whip had already struck his face. The whip was as cold and hard as a steel wire in the freezing winter month. Li Ershun let out a pained cry, covering his face which quickly showed bloodstains, and fell to the ground. Xie Wan whipped him again on the spot, and another streak of blood appeared on the other side of his face.

  There weren't many onlookers, but each and every one of them was gasping in shock as if their vital energy had been drained away.

  Xie Wan stroked her whip, "If I hear you barking like a mad dog again, next time I'll really turn you into a mad dog!"

  Li Ershun wailed loudly, and even lost the strength to crawl continuously.

  Xie Wan threw the whip to Wu Xing, turned around and got on the mule cart. Luo Ji hurriedly covered the curtain of the cart and drove it swiftly away from Li Ershun's side.

  All the way, Xie Wan's face was gloomy and she didn't say a word. If she had known earlier that Li Ershun was so shameless, this whip would have landed on him long ago. Xie Cang is the heir of the orthodox main house of the Xie family, and Xie Wan protects his reputation as much as the Xie family protects Xie Rong's reputation. How could she let Li Ershun tarnish his name?

  If I don't beat him today, others will think that Xie Liang really disregarded etiquette and morality during the mourning period for his father.

  But how can we prevent Li Ershun from continuing to spread rumors? A beating is naturally not enough.

  When the mule cart returned to Wutou Village, wisps of smoke were already rising everywhere. The Lis were clearing snow and picking vegetables in their garden, while Pang Sheng was gutting fish. When he saw Wu Xingluo return, Pang Sheng raised his hand and patted his waist, indicating that they should take out the betel nuts from their pockets to eat. It seemed that this warmth was due to the golden hairpin that Xie Zhuang had asked Yu Fang to give to the Pang family.

  The brothers have all gotten up and are gathered under the corridor exercising their limbs.

  Ren Shuang saw Xie Wan getting off the horse carriage and was surprised: "Third sister, where are you going so early?"

  Xie Wan stared at him and saw that there was a circle of dark eye bags under his eyes, obviously he didn't sleep well last night.

  "Went to Yellowstone and took a stroll."

  Ren Yu knew she had been living in Huangshi Town since childhood, but when he looked at her like that, his heart felt uneasy. He cleared his throat and went into the house with a red face.

  Xie Wan raised her eyes and saw a flash of smoke-colored skirt disappearing under the corridor after the hall.

  She returned to the room, only to see Xie Wei sitting on the couch, holding a embroidery pattern book and leaning on the kang, looking at it. Her colorful skirt covered her slender figure, making her look even more elegant. Seeing Xie Wan return, Xie Wei stood up and smiled: "I thought you guys had gone somewhere! Not a single person was seen, luckily I just heard Zhou Mama say that you guys were back."

  "I went to Huangshi Town." Xie Wan repeated the conversation she had with Ren Yu earlier, then took off her hood and climbed onto the kang, leaning against the railing and sighing: "From childhood to adulthood, I've never really left Huangshi Town, it's a bit nostalgic. I just ate two meat buns from Old Zhang's street stall in the town, exactly the same taste as before."

  Xie Wei smiled and rubbed her hair, pulling her up: "Don't think about it! Third Brother and the others said after breakfast we'll go to Dongshan to find rabbits. Let's go eat breakfast first, then play with them!"

  In her previous life, Xie Wei seemed to have married a low-ranking official. Since Xie Rong's entry into the imperial court was fifteen or sixteen years after Xie Wei got married, when Xie Wei spoke of her family ties, Xie Rong had not yet added any special status to her identity. According to the situation at that time, daughters from the Xie family would only end up marrying into wealthy families or low-ranking officials.

  However, Xie Wei was very capable. When Xie Rong was still serving as the Minister of Revenue, she had already helped her husband rise from a low-ranking eighth-grade official to a high-ranking fifth-grade official and was highly respected by her husband's family. Even later in the mansion of the Grand Councilor, she was also a dignified and respectable lady.

  Such a woman, naturally with a deep understanding of the city, and now she is already ten years old, Xie Wan appreciates her frank and generous performance in front of herself, but also has a silent exploration of her impeccable response behind her back.

  For example, the person who was just listening to them talking under the wall of the hall was obviously her, why did she pretend not to have heard?