Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 279 - 278: Darling—

Very soon, very soon indeed!

The rice shop was left with just a single tattered straw mat.

The tables, chairs, benches, wooden barrels, rice jars, grain chest, all the items from the shed had vanished without a trace.

The only remaining straw mat was left untouched because it was too torn and shabby for anyone to take.

What was left, even the wooden stakes supporting the shed were carried away by the refugees. After all, something free should not be wasted, they could be chopped for firewood to make porridge.

The shop clerk, pinned under Qin Yao’s foot, let out a whimper of despair, only then remembering to question why Qin Yao and her group had smashed up their rice shop.

"Madam, we have no past grievances or recent enmities with you, why did you smash up my rice shop?!"

Missing some teeth, as he spoke, he spat out a lot of bloody foam, which was quite nauseating to see.

Qin Yao disdainfully kicked him in front of Liu Fei and Liu Qi, signaling them to tie him up. It was then, under the desperate gaze of the other party, that she coldly sneered:

"You stole my wheat, smashed my carriage, and even beat my people, and you have the nerve to ask me why?"

"Now you remember to ask, were you too busy eating crap to remember before you acted? Moving without understanding the situation, what pigheadedness!" Qin Yao cursed angrily.

The villagers around her chimed in: "What pigheadedness, not even checking whose people they were moving against!"

The clerk was on the brink of tears, finally understanding, it was about the matter with that master and servant pair from the morning.

He glanced at the fierce faces surrounding him, noticing Ah Wang in the crowd. The clerk shook his head vigorously, recognizing the face, becoming more certain of the situation.

But he was still unconvinced, questioning Qin Yao: "May I dare to ask the lady’s name?"

Mr. Wu is one of the most powerful figures in Kaiyang County, and this was the first time he had encountered a woman who dared to disgrace him like this.

Qin Yao looked at him with disdain, "You are not worthy of knowing my name!"

Qin Yao gave Liu Fei a glance, Liu Fei understood, and along with Liu Qi, kicked the tied-up clerk out the door.

The clerk couldn’t maintain his balance, fell straight onto the ground, his face hitting hard, letting out a howl like a pig being slaughtered.

Qin Yao stepped forward, Shunzi immediately placed a wooden stake behind her, and Qin Yao sat down in front of the clerk, lifting his chin with the tip of her foot, "Go tell whatever Mr. Six or Seven of yours to return my wheat and carriage in their entirety, and give one hundred taels of silver as compensation for medical expenses, and this matter between us will be over."

"I will only wait here for two quarters of an hour, if you are late... haha~" She smirked disdainfully, didn’t bother to explain what would happen if they delayed, just lifted her foot and nodded towards him, "Go."

Kaiyang County had three villains: the first villain was the pawnshop Jin Chan Chu, the second villain was the brothel Beauty Pan, and the third was the gambling house Wang Mawu.

On the way here, Ah Wang had informed Qin Yao that this temporary rice shop outside the city belonged to Wang Mawu.

This Wang Mawu committed all sorts of evil deeds and had an appalling reputation.

But because he had backing, the citizens didn’t dare report him, the officials didn’t dare arrest him, and he kept his tyrannical rule over the town.

Such a person should have been thrown into jail long ago.

Others may not dare to arrest him, but Qin Yao dared!

This achievement of arresting such a notorious criminal may not even be accepted by the Lord County Magistrate, who knows.

Perhaps, maybe, he might want it? 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

If the Lord County Magistrate offered her some benefits, she wouldn’t mind helping to deal with the remaining two villains either.

The clerk saw Qin Yao’s prepared stance, realizing the gravity of the situation.

Ignoring the pain, he got up from the ground and ran as fast as he could towards the Wang Family Manor.

Qin Yao watched as he ran off, signaling to the tense people around her to relax a little and not stand so stiffly.

Meanwhile, they deployed plans for the various contingencies they might face next.

"If they come back with more people, no one is allowed to act rashly, avoid confrontation if possible, if it comes to blows, you should run and not worry about me."

"If they do return the items, then this matter is settled, and we take our leave with the goods."

The worst case would be if they neither returned the items nor showed themselves, leaving them hanging.

However, this possibility was unlikely. For a bully like Wang Mawu, if he were to hide after having his rice shop smashed and his men beaten, he wouldn’t be able to continue in the underworld!

So, the first scenario seemed most likely.

"By the way, Liu Qi, you ride my horse to the city gate to find your Uncle Zhou Zheng, and tell him there’s a brawl happening here."

Liu Qi nodded, trusting Qin Yao implicitly, no need to ask why, just follow her guidance.

Immediately, he took Old Huang from Ah Wang’s hands, not very skilled at driving a horse, but set off toward the city.

While waiting, no one noticed the shadowy figure wrapped in a burlap sack creeping closer.

"Who’s there!"

Qin Yao suddenly turned around, eyes sharp as torches, scanning intensely, fingers ready to attack, if the intruder was a tad bit slower, their neck would be gushing blood by now.

"It’s me! Madam, it’s me!" Liu Ji hastily shouted, falling to the ground, the burlap sack on his head slipped off, revealing a face bruised and swollen.

The eyes on that face were swollen like walnuts, now filled with tears of grievance, "Waaaa, Madam, you must avenge me!"

Liu Ji pushed aside the pointed long nail, excitedly threw himself towards Qin Yao.

When he stood, the torn burlap sack couldn’t conceal his long pale legs, causing exclamations from Liu Bai and others.

Qin Yao quickly reacted, grabbing the outer garment from Liu Fei and tossing it to Liu Ji, "Put on some clothes!"

Liu Bai also snapped out of his shock, hurriedly helping Liu Fei to pull the half-naked Liu Ji away, each of them sharing an article of clothing to barely cover him.

Ah Wang followed them, tidying up the appearance of his own family’s pitiful master.

But the blue and purple bruises all over his body were too conspicuous, emphasizing his tragic and sorry state.

Even Liu Fei, who normally didn’t get along with Liu Ji, felt surging anger upon seeing him like this. The young temperament flared up as he grabbed the thug whose leg Qin Yao had broken earlier, asking Liu Ji:

"Third Brother, who beat you?"

As long as he pointed them out, he would immediately exact revenge!

Liu Ji didn’t want to deal with him, dressed himself up, and pushed away Ah Wang who was holding him, standing in front of Qin Yao, "Madam—"

Qin Yao twitched her mouth slightly, reluctantly reaching out to gently pat his head to comfort him, "Don’t worry, this time you won’t get beaten."

Liu Ji was instantly satisfied, his bruised eyes looking at Ah Wang, signaling him to come and support his handsome, suave, and elegant master!

Ah Wang marveled at the tenacity of human survival, quickly ran to support his own master from behind.

"By the way, where were you hiding just now? How come we didn’t see you on our way here?" Qin Yao asked in puzzlement.

Liu Ji inhaled sharply through his teeth, and replied: "They say it’s darkest under the lamp, I was hiding in that refugee shed next to us, ah... damn, it hurts like hell!"

Qin Yao thought to herself, you sure know how to hide, and while reminding him, "No swearing."

Liu Ji nodded obediently, now looking at Qin Yao, feeling immensely touched and affectionate—this was his pillar of strength!

As everyone focused on Liu Ji, the victim, suddenly a hurried sound of footsteps came from afar.

The expressions of Qin Yao’s group all tensed up at once.