Chapter 44: Who I Am is None of Your Concern

Jiang Lihua instructed Jiang Feixiang to go to the town and deliver a message.

Before long, Jiang Feixiang returned accompanied by Old Man Bai.

Jiang Lihua stepped forward to greet them, asking, "Master, why are you here?"

"Where is the injured person? Take me to him," Old Man Bai said with a stern expression.

As Jiang Lihua led him into the house, she inwardly cursed Long Tianyu for his lack of trust in her, regretting that she hadn't charged him thirty thousand taels of silver in the first place.

Watching her puffing out her cheeks in anger, Long Tianyu found her rather adorable.

Though this little girl usually acted far beyond her years, she looked somewhat normal now, resembling a typical ten-year-old child.

Upon examining the wound, Old Man Bai's face registered utter disbelief. He promptly shooed Jiang Lihua out of the room.

"Is there something wrong with the wound?" Long Tianyu asked.

"Your Highness, who treated this wound? Even this old man must confess his inadequacy compared to such medical skill!"

"Your Highness's wound was exceptionally large. Had it not been for this person, Your Highness would likely have died from excessive blood loss."

"They stitched the wound on Your Highness's back as if they were mending a piece of clothing. Currently, there is no bleeding, nor is there any sign of pus. In a matter of days, Your Highness will be fully recovered."

Old Man Bai's high praise secretly startled Long Tianyu.

Old Man Bai was the most skilled imperial physician in the Imperial Medical Academy and never doled out compliments lightly.

Yet, wasn't Jiang Lihua his newly accepted apprentice? Why was he unaware that she possessed medical abilities?

Without revealing much, Long Tianyu merely stated that he had fainted on the road while fleeing from pursuers and had no idea who had treated him.

Old Man Bai could not stop sighing; what a rare talent that person was!

Summoning Jiang Lihua back inside, Old Man Bai instructed her to take good care of Long Tianyu over the next few days, detailing which foods were permissible and which should be avoided.

Jiang Lihua memorized every single instruction.

After consulting him regarding a few questions she had encountered in the *Classic of Materia Medica*, Jiang Lihua watched as Old Man Bai took his leave.

Long Tianyu chose not to mention what Old Man Bai had said to him, wishing to avoid arousing the girl's guardedness.

At noon, after waking from a nap, Ni Wenyu came over to converse with Long Tianyu.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lihua had retreated to the neighboring room to study medical texts.

Suddenly, the voice of Mrs. Sun rang out from outside the courtyard.

"Jiang Lihua, Ni Wenyu, get out here!"

What was the matter now? These people truly never ran out of trouble to stir up day after day.

Jiang Lihua and Ni Wenyu walked out together.

Upon stepping outside, they found themselves surrounded by a crowd that included the village chief, Mrs. Sun, Yang Wenbin, Mrs. Zhou, and several villagers carrying torches.

They had clearly come prepared, though the purpose of their visit remained a mystery.

Jiang Lihua cast a glance at the village chief.

The chief returned her gaze with a gloomy expression, eager to see who could possibly protect her this time!

Ni Wenyu stepped forward and asked, "Village Chief, what is the meaning of bringing so many people to block my doorway?"

The village chief remained silent.

Mrs. Sun shrieked, "Jinx, don't try to fool us with any millennium-old ginseng!"

"Jiang Lihua clearly died that day. How can a dead person be brought back to life? The Jiang Lihua standing here now must be possessed by an evil spirit from the back mountains."

Having finished her proclamation, Mrs. Sun looked at Jiang Lihua with a smug expression.

The previous day, the village chief had suddenly visited her household to discuss the matter of Jiang Lihua.

The more they discussed it, the more convinced they became that Jiang Lihua was no longer the same person. To ensure her downfall, they had even bribed Mrs. Zhou.

Mrs. Sun exchanged a meaningful glance with Mrs. Zhou.

Mrs. Zhou immediately chimed in, "That's right, she is not Lihua. My daughter would never fail to recognize me."

Jiang Lihua felt a surge of incandescent rage toward Mrs. Zhou's behavior; the woman was truly a persistent troublemaker.

Mrs. Sun then loudly recounted past anecdotes of Jiang Lihua's behavior to the assembled crowd.

Living in the same village, everyone was familiar with what the former Jiang Lihua had been like and had privately discussed her sudden transformation.

However, none of them had ever considered the possibility of demonic possession.

Now, hearing Mrs. Sun's claims, it actually seemed quite plausible. How else could a person change so drastically from one day to the next?

Since she had been driven to her death and thrown into the back mountains by the Yang family, if she had indeed returned, it must be as a malicious evil spirit—which explained why she had become so formidable.

The villagers grew increasingly chilled the more they thought about it, their gazes turning toward Jiang Lihua with mounting terror.

Noticing that the crowd's emotions had been sufficiently whipped up, the village chief finally spoke.

"For the safety of the entire village, we must capture this evil spirit and burn her to death."

"Burn her to death! Burn her to death! Burn her to death!"

"Burn her to death! Burn her to death! Burn her to death!"

...

The villagers brandished their torches and chanted incessantly.

Surveying these ugly, malicious faces, Ni Wenyu felt a profound sense of disillusionment toward the village where he had grown up.

Jiang Lihua had never held much emotional attachment to the village to begin with, and now her disappointment was absolute.

Ever since arriving here, she had constantly helped the villagers, even establishing a processing workshop simply to provide them with a means of earning a living.

Yet these very people now suspected her of demonic possession.

As she scanned the crowd, only Carpenter Wang and Auntie Wang looked back at her with worried expressions.

Carpenter Wang usually kept his head down and focused on his work, lacking any skill with words. Urged on by his wife now, he stammered awkwardly, "Village Chief, c-could there be some sort of misunderstanding here?"

Mrs. Sun laughed derisively at him. "A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there possibly be? Carpenter Wang, I'd say you've been bought off by this evil spirit, haven't you?"

Carpenter Wang's face flushed a deep red. "No, I haven't. Lihua has never harmed anyone in the village; on the contrary, she's brought us all a good life."

"How hasn't she harmed anyone? That incident in the fields with my Wenbin and Huang Yingrong—she was the one who engineered it!"

The crowd was taken aback, having forgotten about this particular episode.

The scandalous affair between Yang Wenbin and Huang Yingrong in the fields was still fresh in everyone's memory, bringing a sense of shame just to recall it.

Ni Wenyu was similarly astonished. He had been unaware that Lihua was behind that incident, though he firmly believed she must have had a valid reason; Lihua would never harm anyone without cause.

Mrs. Sun pressed on, "All her kindness toward you was just a trick—first earning our trust so she could deceive us later."

Carpenter Wang floundered for words, unable to formulate a reply, whereupon Auntie Wang interjected, "Deceive us out of what? We're just a poor mountain village; what is there here worth stealing?"

Auntie Wang's question silenced Mrs. Sun, who stood speechless.

Jiang Lihua spoke up clearly, "That's right, I was the one who arranged that."

The village chief glared at her with fury. "Jiang Lihua, you finally admit it! You ruined my Yingrong's entire life, and I will never let you go."

Jiang Lihua countered, "And do you all know why I did that?"

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Why else? Because you're an evil spirit!"

"Heh," Jiang Lihua let out a cold, mocking laugh. "If I were truly an evil spirit, given how you're all behaving right now, you'd already be dead."

Her words startled the crowd, causing them to take a collective step backward in fright.

Jiang Lihua continued, "It was because Huang Yingrong and Yang Wenbin took advantage of the fact that I was home alone to pay a passing beggar to ruin my innocence."

"Had the proprietor of the Wanfu Pavilion not happened to come by to discuss business and rescued me in time, I would not have escaped alive."

"Therefore, I figured that since those two were so fond of that sort of activity, I would simply give them a taste of their own medicine and pair them up."

Upon hearing this, the villagers realized that the behavior of Huang Yingrong and Yang Wenbin had indeed been despicable.

So that was why Gu Qingran and Lihua had been at his courtyard that day! Ni Wenyu felt a pang of bitter self-reproach for failing to protect her properly.

He glared fiercely at Yang Wenbin, resolving to make both Yang Wenbin and Huang Yingrong pay dearly for this in the future.

The village chief argued, "She was rescued and came out unharmed, yet she still sought to harm others. An evil spirit is an evil spirit—utterly devoid of compassion! Everyone, together now, burn her to death!"

Reflecting on this, the villagers agreed. Wasn't Jiang Lihua completely fine in the end? Yet she had gone out of her way to ruin the lives of Huang Yingrong and Yang Wenbin.

Jiang Lihua was simply too vicious, destroying the futures of two people in a single stroke.

It seemed certain that she must be an evil spirit after all.

Under the leadership of the village chief, the crowd seized Jiang Lihua and Ni Wenyu and bound them securely.

Looking at Ni Wenyu, the village chief announced to the villagers, "He has consistently aided this evil spirit, which means he must have been in league with her from the very beginning. Let's burn him to death as well."

A sinister smile played across his lips.

If he couldn't have her granddaughter, he would destroy them together so his granddaughter would be free of any lingering obsessions.

Ni Wenyu shouted angrily, "Village Chief, to take human life so arbitrarily—do you have any regard for the laws of the realm? I am a scholar with attained literary rank!"

"We are not committing murder; we are eradicating an evil spirit. Both of you have been possessed by demons," the village chief replied with a righteous air.

The villagers piled bundles of firewood around the bound figures of Ni Wenyu and Jiang Lihua, preparing to set the pyre ablaze.

Unable to break free, Ni Wenyu gazed despairingly at Jiang Lihua. "Lihua, it's all my fault. I should have taken you away from Lihua Village long ago."

Yang Wenbin watched the bound pair with an expression of unadulterated triumph.

Both of these individuals had caused him to lose face completely.

One had forced him into a scandalous liaison in the wilderness, while the other had usurped his standing in the village.

At last, justice was being served, and they were about to perish.

Mrs. Zhou felt no trace of sympathy. They had a prior agreement: if she corroborated the claims, she would receive one hundred taels of silver once the deed was done.

As the matter drew to a close and her reward was within arm's reach, her face beamed with delight.

Jiang Lihua remained unresisting. She refused to believe they were going to die here today.

Was there not still someone inside the house?

Clad in luxurious garments and possessed of extraordinary bearing, Long Tianyu was clearly a person of elite status.

If her guess was correct, he must have already investigated their backgrounds before choosing to seek refuge in their humble abode during his time of peril.

Considering that Ni Wenyu was his junior martial brother and that she had saved his life, surely he would intervene to save them!

Just as the villagers prepared to apply the torches, a voice rang out.

"Stop."

A voice, cold and detached, drifted out from Ni Wenyu's courtyard. Though understated, it carried the biting chill of a winter gale, freezing the listeners to the bone and demanding obedience.

A faint smile touched the corners of Jiang Lihua's lips.

The village chief and Yang Wenbin had not anticipated that anyone else remained in Ni Wenyu's courtyard.

Furthermore, this person appeared to be no ordinary individual.

Darkness clouded Yang Wenbin's eyes with frustration; why did all the fortunate breaks always fall to these two wretches?

As the crowd turned to look toward the courtyard, a figure emerged.

The man appeared injured, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead after only a few steps. Despite his pale complexion, however, his natural majesty remained undiminished.

He swept his long, narrow phoenix eyes across the assembly with a pair of piercing, cold glares, a flash of murderous intent lurking within his gaze.

Frozen in place, not a soul dared to move, terrified that the slightest twitch would bring down executioner's justice upon them.

Even Mrs. Sun, perpetually prone to making scenes and throwing tantrums, fell utterly silent, too cowed to utter a sound.

Slowly and deliberately, Long Tianyu pulled a chair over and seated himself, calm and immovable as a mountain.

As the most prominent figure in the village, the village chief stiffened his spine, stepped forward, and demanded, "Who are you?"

His voice trembled slightly, betraying a lack of genuine conviction.

Casting a sharp, blistering glare toward him, Long Tianyu curved his lips into a mocking sneer. "Who am I? You... are hardly qualified to know!"