TSWPF -Chapter 185 Poison Oath

Li Qingling looked at Li Laifu forcing himself to stay calm and gave a light laugh. “Why would I come looking for you? Don’t tell me you don’t already know.” She didn’t believe for a second that he hadn’t heard what she said earlier from inside the house.

Judging by his expression, though, Li Laifu’s mental fortitude was quite strong.

“What am I supposed to know? Huh?” Li Laifu played dumb as he looked at Li Qingling. Before she produced any evidence, there was no way he would admit to poisoning anything.

Li Qingling stared at him sharply for a long while before speaking again. “Why did you poison my fish pond?” With that single act, he had poisoned the entire pond of fish, causing her to lose more than a thousand taels of silver outright.

She had planned to use those fish to make canned fish. Now that plan was completely ruined.

Fortunately, she hadn’t yet accepted any orders for the canned fish. If she had taken orders and then failed to deliver, it wouldn’t just be compensation she’d have to pay—her reputation would be destroyed as well.

At that point, the loss would truly have been catastrophic.

Behind his back, Li Laifu clenched his fists tightly again. Wearing an innocent expression, he said, “Li Qingling, are you joking? Why would I poison your pond? I’m not so idle that I’d do something like that.” Could it be that Li Qingling really had evidence?

Impossible. He had gone to the pond in the middle of the night—no one had seen him.

He was sure she was trying to trick him into exposing himself.

He had to stay calm. He absolutely couldn’t reveal any cracks.

“As for why someone poisoned my pond,” Li Qingling said coolly, “that’s something you should be asking yourself.” Just because he put on an innocent face didn’t mean she would believe he wasn’t the culprit.

“I didn’t do it, so what’s the point of asking me?” Li Laifu retorted. “If you have so much free time, why don’t you hurry up and find the real culprit? What’s the use of clinging to me here?”

Li Laifu was indeed very composed. It was clear that questioning him like this would never make him admit it. In that case, she’d bring in the constables.

Once they went straight to the yamen, she didn’t believe he could still hold out.

She stopped paying attention to Li Laifu and turned directly to Liu Zhimou, telling him to summon the constables to arrest someone.

Liu Zhimou understood her meaning. He nodded solemnly and said he would go take care of it immediately.

Seeing this, Li Laifu hurriedly spoke up, “I didn’t poison anything! On what grounds do you have the constables arrest me?”
If he were arrested and thrown into jail, would he even have a chance to come out?

No. This absolutely couldn’t happen.

“There’s no need for you to say anything to me now,” Li Qingling said coldly. “Go to the yamen and explain yourself to the county magistrate. Whether you poisoned the pond or not will soon be clear.”

Hearing this, Li Laifu truly felt like he had lifted a stone only to smash his own foot.

People all harbored a natural fear of the yamen—he was no exception. If he really went there and was interrogated by the magistrate, how could he not slip up?

For the sake of his own life, it would be better to find a chance to run away.

As long as he escaped from here, no one would be able to pursue what he’d done.

“I’m not going to the yamen. Even if you beat me to death, I won’t go!” Li Laifu quietly retreated two steps, moved closer to Madam Liu, and tugged at her hand, signaling for her help.

Perhaps because she was used to this kind of thing, the moment Madam Liu felt him tug her, she understood.

She jumped out from beside Old Li, planted one hand on her hip, and pointed at Li Qingling with the other, launching into a stream of abuse. “If you want to go to the yamen, then you go yourself! Don’t drag my son along. He hasn’t done anything wrong—why should he go?” The yamen wasn’t some place you could enter casually. Once you stepped in there, even if you were innocent, people would still point fingers at your back. “Li Qingling, I’m telling you—if you keep spouting nonsense here, I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

There was no way she would watch her precious son be framed by this wretched girl.

Li Qingling ignored Madam Liu and kept her gaze fixed on Li Laifu. “What? Are you scared? So scared that you don’t dare go to the yamen to confront me?” She had seen his little move of pulling Madam Liu very clearly just now.

Did he think that letting Madam Liu make a scene would make her let him off? Impossible.

This time, Li Laifu had been bold enough to poison her entire pond of fish. Who knew if next time he wouldn’t do something even more vicious?

This time, no matter what, she had to teach him a harsh lesson—one he would never forget.

Li Laifu straightened his chest and shouted back, “Li Qingling, ask everyone here—who would willingly go to the yamen? Anyone who goes there for no reason is a fool. I’m not a fool. Why would I go with you?” Trying to force him to go? Not a chance.

Li Qingling swept her gaze over the villagers. From their expressions, she could tell that ordinary people really did harbor fear toward the yamen and didn’t want to go anywhere near it.

Li Laifu was clever—he wanted to drag the villagers into it.

“I’m willing to go,” Zeng Tietou suddenly said, stepping forward when no one else spoke up. “If I haven’t done a single thing wrong, I wouldn’t be afraid even if I went to the yamen. Only those with guilty consciences fear going there.”

With Zeng Tietou taking the lead, the others who worked under Li Qingling also stepped forward one after another, saying they weren’t afraid to go to the yamen either.

Seeing so many people supporting her, Li Qingling felt genuinely moved.

It was clear that the people under her weren’t ungrateful wretches—they knew how to repay kindness.

Li Laifu rolled his eyes and sneered. “These people all work for you. You’re the one feeding them, of course they’ll side with you.”

As soon as he said that, the other villagers spoke up as well, saying that if they hadn’t done anything wrong, they wouldn’t be afraid of going to the yamen either.

This left Li Laifu so angry that his face flushed red. He hadn’t expected the entire village to stand on Li Qingling’s side. When had her influence become so strong?

“Li Laifu, did you see that?” Li Qingling asked coolly. “They’re not afraid to go to the yamen. What about you?”

Li Laifu swallowed hard, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way out.

Before he could come up with anything, Madam Liu spoke again. “What a joke. Their family members all work for you—of course they’d support you out of fear of retaliation.”

If their families weren’t working for Li Qingling, how could they possibly support her? Not a chance.

“If you’re capable, why don’t you find them jobs too? Then let them support you!”

“You—”

If she had that kind of ability, how could she possibly still be afraid of Li Qingling, that wretched girl?

She would have slapped her long ago and chased her as far away as possible.

“Li Laifu, are you really planning to hide behind your mother and let her stand up for you?” Li Qingling said disdainfully. From the bottom of her heart, she despised him. How could he shamelessly let his mother shield him again and again? Didn’t he feel any shame at all?

“Li Laifu, you’re already middle-aged with children of your own. How can you still hide behind your mother?” someone in the crowd scoffed. “Isn’t that unfilial?”

People loved to follow the crowd. Once those words were spoken, others joined in, criticizing Li Laifu as well.

Listening to wave after wave of accusations, Li Laifu felt both furious and hateful. In his heart, he swore that once he gained power, he would tear Li Qingling into pieces to vent his hatred.

He vowed that every bit of humiliation he suffered today would one day be repaid to Li Qingling in full.

Seeing her son being humiliated like this, Madam Liu’s heart ached terribly. She strode up to Li Qingling and raised her hand to slap her.

Just as her hand was about to fall, Liu Zhimou reached out and blocked it, then forcefully flung her hand aside. “With me here, let me see who dares to lay a hand on her,” he said coldly. Trying to hit someone right in front of him—she really had some nerve.

Madam Liu staggered back two steps before regaining her balance. She glared at Liu Zhimou, eyes bulging. “You… don’t think that just because you’re a xiucai you can hit people however you want. I… I warn you—touch me again and I’ll go to the county magistrate and have him seek justice for me!”

Her ability to twist black into white was getting more and more impressive. With so many eyes watching, she still dared to say such things—her skin was truly thick.

Liu Zhimou squeezed Li Qingling’s hand gently, signaling for her to let him handle it. “If you don’t know how to write a complaint, you can come find me—I’ll help you write it!”

Those words were infuriating enough to turn Madam Liu’s face green and white.

Li Qingling, however, pressed her lips together and smiled. Don’t be fooled by how little Liu Zhimou usually spoke—his eloquence was excellent. If he wanted to anger someone to death, it was only a matter of minutes.

“Scholar Liu, is this how you treat your elders?” Old Li, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up. “If the county magistrate knew about this, he’d probably be very disappointed in you.”

His wife and son were being bullied—he couldn’t stay silent any longer.

“Elder Li, did I say anything excessive?” Liu Zhimou asked with an innocent look, shrugging slightly. He turned to the villagers and asked gently, “Uncles, aunts—do you think my attitude is problematic?”

“No—” The villagers answered in unison.

The smile on Liu Zhimou’s face deepened. He turned back to Old Li and said pleasantly, “Elder Li, did you hear that? Everyone thinks my attitude is fine. That means the problem lies with you.”

Anyone who dared bully his wife had better be prepared to be bullied back. “Elder Li, don’t change the subject. Let your son come with us to the yamen. Whether he poisoned the pond or not will be clear once we’re there.”

Arguing back and forth here would never lead to a result.

Once at the yamen, Li Laifu would have to think twice before lying.

Li Laifu shook his head resolutely. “I said it already—I’m not going to the yamen. I can swear a poisonous oath that I wasn’t the one who poisoned the pond.”

“If you want to swear a poisonous oath, do it at the yamen,” Liu Zhimou cut him off bluntly. “There’s no need to do it here. If you dare swear in front of the county magistrate, then maybe we’ll believe you.”

Trying to escape this poisoning incident by swearing a poisonous oath—Li Laifu had really calculated things well.