Chapter 24: Chapter 024 The Token of Love You Gave
Upon hearing this, Li Zheng nodded in approval, "Alright, let's follow Ji Xinhe's suggestion. We cannot let the shameless go unpunished in our village, but we also cannot falsely accuse anybody."
Upon receiving the order, Jin Bao hurried to go question Li Lang's family again, but Ji Xinhe held back Ji Dong, "Big brother, you should go too. More people, more witnesses."
Not that Ji Xinhe doesn't trust Jin Bao, but under this circumstance, she wouldn't readily trust anyone. Who knows how many people Lady Ding has bribed?
Ji Dong nodded and said, "Alright." Then he went with Jin Bao.
Upon hearing that Ji Xinhe asked for proof, Wang Er Ya was a bit panicked. Didn't Ji Xinhe wear the same clothes all night? Why is she suddenly asking this now?
Looking back at Ji Xinhe's conspicuous yellow skirt, she felt unfamiliar. When she had anxiously gone looking for Ji Xinhe at the riverbank to "rescue Xiao Bei", she hadn't paid attention to what Ji Xinhe was wearing. Village girls typically wore plain clothes. Ji Xinhe was known to be poor and her clothes were simple, easily overlooked. In that hurry, Wang Er Ya had completely forgotten.
In the beginning, when Ji Xinhe asked her what she was wearing, she was too eager to accuse Ji Xinhe and pointed at her yellow skirt without thinking. She felt it was an irrelevant issue, but now seeing Ji Xinhe asking the same question to Zhu Rou San, she panicked, feeling like she had been duped.
When Jin Bao and Ji Dong came rushing back, out of breath, Jin Bao urgently shouted out, "Zhu Rou San said Ji Xinhe was wearing a grey homespun skirt that seemed to have faded from washing."
Ji Xinhe's lips curved up in a faint smile. Of course, Zhu Rou San would remember; they even flirted with each other.
Wang Er Ya blanched instantly upon hearing this.
Ji Dong roared, "What a joke! Wang Er Ya claims she saw my sister having a secret rendezvous with Zhu Rou San, but she insists my sister was wearing a yellow skirt, while Zhu rou San has just said Xinhe was wearing a grey homespun skirt. You two are clearly not talking about the same person! I think you are purposely framing her!"
"No, no, that's not it, I remembered wrong. It was a grey skirt. I just...I couldn't remember earlier..." Wang Er Ya stared at Ji Xinhe's clean yellow skirt, her heart filled with hatred.
But upon meeting Xinhe's calm gaze, a sense of fear welled up within her.
With a cold chuckle, Ji Dong said, "Right, whatever you say becomes the truth. Just now, you were so certain Xinhe was wearing a yellow skirt that was visibly striking in the darkness. And now you're saying you saw it wrong and that it was a grey skirt instead; so my sister should just suffer because of your fabrication?"
No one noticed, but Wang Er Ya was painfully aware that something was wrong from the beginning. She thought that a slight misstep would not affect much, but only now did she realize this "insignificant" misstep had already given Ji Xinhe the upper hand.
Feeling suddenly chilled, Wang Er Ya started to regret. Ji Xinhe was not as easy to manipulate as she had thought.
But it was too late for regrets. Xinhe's eyes turned red as she turned to Li Zheng with tears, "I was simply sleeping peacefully at home, yet some people want to frame me for no reason. Based on the testimony of these two, they wanted to tarnish my reputation with their baseless accusations. But they couldn't even get their stories straight. Li Zheng, you must seek justice for me! I am innocent. How am I supposed to face anyone in the future?"
"Right! My sister, a pure and innocent girl, could never do such a thing. It's very clear that Zhu Rou San and Wang Er Ya conspired to frame my sister. If we don't clear my sister's name today, how she is supposed to marry off in the future?" Ji Dong said forcefully.
The crowd was in uproar upon hearing this. Country folks are mostly simple-minded and don't have such complicated thoughts. Initially, they thought it was just a simple affair, but now they realized it was a case of false accusations. The way people looked at Wang Er Ya began to change.
"How could our village have such malicious people who could do something like this?"
"Indeed, I wonder how the Wang Family raised such a daughter."
"Zhu Rou San must have bribed Wang Er Ya, to make her lie to ruin Xinhe's good name. If not for Xinhe's cleverness in identifying the discrepancy in their testimonies, she would have been wrongfully accused."
The villagers all chattered, their words adding to Wang Er Ya's humiliation. She wanted to bury her head into the ground.
Li Zheng's face turned red from frustration. He had not expected the situation to escalate to this extent. He was about to scold Wang Er Ya when...
Suddenly, there is a booming roar, "Bullshit! It was Ji Xinhe who had a secret rendezvous with me! You little shameless girl, you dare to deny it now?!"
The villagers were stunned. Looking over, they saw a few men carrying a stretcher with a shivering Zhu Rou San on it, wrapped in blankets, his face pale from the cold. He looked ghastly, resembling a specter from hell, with a terrifying look on his face, making everyone shudder.
From the moment Ji Xinhe had kicked him into the river, he had been filled with hatred for her, so much so it consumed him. He was determined to drag her down with him at any cost today, force her to marry him and then... torture her!
Thinking of that, Zhu Rou San glared at Ji Xinhe with even more heinousness.
A cold wind blew over, making Zhu Rou San cough so hard, he felt like his lungs were coming out. After his robust outburst, he had a severe coughing fit.
Li Zheng frowned, "He just fell into the water and woke up from the cold. Who brought him here?"
Li Lang helplessly said, "He insisted on coming."
If he didn't come, how was he going to make her pay?
Zhu Rou San coughed for a while before regaining his composure. He glared at Ji Xinhe and gritted his teeth, "You shameless girl, you seduced me and now you're denying it. If it wasn't you tonight, who was it? A ghost? Don't think you can escape this!"
The villagers found him repulsive and were frightened by his infamy. However, Ji Xinhe met his gaze calmly. Her clear eyes held a touch of coldness, not at all intimidated by Zhu Rou San.
With a sarcastic laugh, Ji Xinhe said, "You think you can just make anyone believe you with just a few big words? You're giving yourself too much credit!"
Zhu Rou San gave a cold snort and pulled out a golden hairpin from his pocket. Holding it high in his hand, he declared, "This is the token of love you gave me with your own hands. You forgot about this!?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone