Chapter 51: Who Do You Think You Are?

If Huang Yingrong was bent on seeking her own destruction, she had only herself to blame!

Reaching out, she gave a tug to Su Moxue, who looked ready to throw punches. "Moxue, let's head to a private room upstairs."

Hearing Jiang Lihua's words, Su Moxue nodded reluctantly. Had Lihua not warned her beforehand that one must not act rashly away from home, she would have already given this woman a severe beating.

Just as they turned to leave, Huang Yingrong's mocking voice rang out: "Bitch, why aren't you trying to snatch it now? Are you too cowardly to fight me for it? Isn't snatching things away from me your absolute favorite pastime?"

Her voice was so loud that patrons at several neighboring tables heard every word.

Sensing some juicy gossip, everyone turned around to watch them, straining their ears to listen.

"Who do you think is going to win?"

"From the look of it, neither side is simple. One side seems reluctant to stir up trouble and wants to let bygones be bygones, while the other refuses to let them off and is clearly trying to make a scene."

Hearing this, Su Moxue turned to Jiang Lihua and asked, "Lihua, do you know her?"

Jiang Lihua nodded.

"Enemies?" Su Moxue asked knowingly.

Jiang Lihua nodded helplessly.

Instantly intrigued, Su Moxue demanded that Jiang Lihua fill her in on the details.

Pestered relentlessly, Jiang Lihua finally relented and gave her a brief summary of their past history.

Su Moxue nodded. "So that's how it is. You were completely in the right! This woman is simply asking for death. Let me teach her a lesson today."

Seeing Jiang Lihua whispering with the woman beside her and completely ignoring her, Huang Yingrong felt a surge of rage erupt in her chest.

"Jiang Lihua, you bitch! Haven't seen you in all these years, and you've become such a coward? Or is it that a guilty conscience prevents you from speaking to me?"

Jiang Lihua rolled her eyes at Huang Yingrong.

What on earth did she have to feel guilty about?

"It's starting, it's starting! The two sides are about to tear into each other," an excited onlooker whispered.

Speechless.

Were they treating this like a theatrical performance?

Jiang Lihua summoned a waiter and murmured a few words into his ear.

The waiter beamed with delight and announced loudly, " Esteemed guests, everyone! If you want to watch a show, there's a small admission fee. It's not much—just five copper coins per person."

"For five copper coins, you can't buy a single dish, nor can you buy a pot of wine, but you get to watch a grand showdown of catfighting!"

"If you want to watch, pay up quickly. If not, please turn back and enjoy your meals properly."

Su Moxue was utterly awestruck by Jiang Lihua's brilliant maneuver.

When was this, and she was still thinking about making a profit?

The onlookers readily handed five copper coins to the waiter, then openly turned their chairs around to form a circle around Jiang Lihua and her companion.

Jiang Lihua didn't mind.

Su Moxue didn't mind either, treating it all as a game.

Huang Yingrong's expression turned decidedly ugly. Were they treating her like a performing monkey?

She glared fiercely at Jiang Lihua. This bitch really knew how to stir up trouble!

Having paid their money, the onlookers began to urge them on righteously.

"Are you going to start or not? We've been watching for ages. Are you just going to stand there glaring at each other?"

"Exactly, we paid our admission!"

"That's right, hurry it up. I need some entertainment to go with my food."

Hearing these remarks, Huang Yingrong grew even angrier and glared furiously at the crowd.

"Hah, what are you glaring at us for?"

"Yeah, what business of ours is it? Folks, I bet this woman is going to lose. Look at her face—she has the exact physiognomy of a minor villain in a stage play."

Before she had even started arguing with Jiang Lihua, Huang Yingrong was already so furious she was ready to cough up blood.

She suddenly regretted picking a fight with Jiang Lihua at this moment.

"Ahem." Jiang Lihua cleared her throat.

"Huang Yingrong, everything you've suffered is brought upon yourself. I originally didn't want to bicker with you, but since you insist on making trouble, don't blame me for being unpolite."

Huang Yingrong sneered. "Jiang Lihua, you really are shameless. Bicker with me? When have you ever been polite to me?"

"Back then, when you pretended to be Ni Wenyu's cousin, I was the very first person to show you kindness. Yet you always looked down on me! If you hadn't treated me so poorly, would I have done those things to you later on?"

"Heh." Jiang Lihua shook her head. "Huang Yingrong, did you really think I didn't know you had an ulterior motive when you first started cozying up to me?"

She had disliked the way Huang Yingrong looked at her right from the start.

Clearly dripping with jealousy, the girl had still acted all innocent to befriend her, constantly probing her with her words.

And she frequently helped herself to the items in Jiang Lihua's room.

Consequently, Jiang Lihua had never held any affection for Huang Yingrong, choosing merely to keep her distance rather than actively harming her.

Unconvinced, Huang Yingrong snapped, "So what if I approached you with a motive?"

"And just because of that, you caused my grandfather to die! Can your conscience rest easy?"

Had she known Jiang Lihua wouldn't be nice to her, she never would have let her grandfather sell the house to them, and none of the subsequent events would have happened.

It was all Jiang Lihua's fault!

"Gasp." The onlookers drew in a collective breath.

"This is my first time seeing someone shift the blame and act so brazenly shameless."

"Indeed, quite appetizing."

"Continue, continue!"

"You idiots, what do you know?!" Huang Yingrong shrieked, driven mad by the crowd.

Throwing caution to the wind, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "If not for her, I'd still be the magistrate's granddaughter right now, and I would have married the top scholar to become a scholar's wife!"

"Everything was ruined by this bitch."

Looking at the wildly screaming Huang Yingrong, the onlookers shook their heads in unison. "This woman has lost her mind."

Sighing, Jiang Lihua had no idea why Huang Yingrong honestly believed she would have married Ni Wenyu without her presence.

Huang Yingrong had completely lost control of herself.

Grabbing Su Moxue, Jiang Lihua turned to leave.

"Stop right there! You're not going anywhere!" Huang Yingrong lunged at her like a madwoman, only to be sent flying by a kick from Su Moxue.

Huang Yingrong crashed to the floor.

Her maid rushed forward to help her up.

The moment she got to her feet, Huang Yingrong struck the maid across the face. "Useless bitch! You couldn't help me just now, but now you know how to support me?"

Clutching her cheek, the maid knelt on the ground and shivered, not daring to talk back.

"Jiang Lihua, do you know who I am now? You're dead!" With that, she kicked the kneeling maid. "Go fetch my lord master immediately!"

Scrambling to her feet, the young maid hurried out.

Jiang Lihua made no move to stop her. She was rather curious to see what backing Huang Yingrong was relying on now.

Having regained some composure, Huang Yingrong straightened her makeup and hair.

In less than a quarter of an hour, a pot-bellied gentleman of about forty or fifty arrived.

Upon entering the Wanfu Tower, he bellowed, "Who dares bully my dear Rong'er?"

Hearing his voice, Huang Yingrong immediately slithered over and pressed herself against him. "Foster father, it's that woman! She bullied me."

Her cloying, affected tone made the skin of everyone present crawl.

"Isn't that the newly appointed county magistrate?"

"So it is. For this woman to call the magistrate 'foster father' and cling to him like that, she's clearly no good."

Hearing Huang Yingrong's complaint, the magistrate waved a grand hand. "Men, seize them for this official!"

At his command, several bailiffs from the county yamen surrounded Jiang Lihua and Su Moxue.

Su Moxue's temper flared instantly.

How dare a mere petty magistrate attempt to arrest them without sorting out right from wrong.

Just as she was about to make a move, Jiang Lihua pulled her back.

Jiang Lihua knew Su Moxue could easily crush the magistrate with her true identity, but she preferred not to expose her friend, lest it be exploited by malicious individuals.

Recalling Matchmaker Song's words about marriage matchmaking and connecting them to Huang Yingrong's current address for the magistrate, an astonishing answer clicked in her mind.

She spoke up, "May I ask if the magistrate's esteemed foster daughter wishes to betroth herself to the top scholar Ni Wenyu?"

"That's right," the magistrate answered smugly.

So that was it! Jiang Lihua could tell at a glance that the relationship between Huang Yingrong and the magistrate was far from proper.

She had no idea how Huang Yingrong had managed to hoodwink the magistrate.

Pondering this, she cast a meaningful glance at Huang Yingrong.

Huang Yingrong involuntarily shrank back, her eyes darting away as a terrible premonition gripped her heart.

Regretting that she had ever brought up this matter, and terrified that the old fool of a magistrate might be swayed by Jiang Lihua's sweet talk, she clung to the magistrate and fawned, "Foster father, never mind. Let's just go back. Let's let them off this once."

Unwilling to stir up trouble on her account either, the magistrate prepared to take her and leave.

However, Jiang Lihua's voice interrupted: "Magistrate, why is your foster daughter so hell-bent on marrying the top scholar?"

"Of course it's because—" There were benefits to be gained. Catching himself midway, the magistrate swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Jiang Lihua pressed on, "Magistrate, do you know about her past history with Ni Wenyu?"

Naturally, the magistrate knew nothing of the sort. He had simply run into this young woman during an outing.

Seeing her press against him and looking barely seventeen or eighteen, he had gone along with the flow and taken her as his ward.

This time, she had claimed that marrying Ni Wenyu could help advance his official career.

Since he was already growing tired of her anyway, gifting her away wouldn't break his heart. If it actually worked, he would profit; if not, he wouldn't lose anything.

"She was from the same village as Ni Wenyu and had always fancied him, but he despised her. Who would have thought she'd try to use the magistrate's authority to pressure Ni Wenyu now?"

"Ni Wenyu is a direct disciple of the head of the Leshan Academy. Surely the magistrate has heard of him? Would it truly be worth offending him over a mere woman?"

With a bright smile, Jiang Lihua looked at both the magistrate and Huang Yingrong.

Huang Yingrong turned to bolt. While there were mountains of green wood left, one needn't worry about lacking firewood.

Before she could move, the magistrate grabbed her by the collar.

Giving someone away as a favor was one thing; being used as a pawn was quite another.

He had almost been duped by this bitch's sweet words.

Raising his hand, he delivered a sharp slap across her face. "Bitch! How dare you use me?"

Huang Yingrong crumpled to the floor. "Foster father, don't be fooled by her glib tongue! I genuinely wanted to help you."

"Men, drag her back to the yamen! I'm going to teach her a proper lesson."

Terrified by those words, Huang Yingrong scrambled underneath a table.

She knew better than anyone just how sadistic this dead magistrate could be.

Hiding beneath the table, she shrieked hysterically, "Jiang Lihua, I will never let you get away with this!"

Glancing dismissively at her, Jiang Lihua turned and walked away with Su Moxue.

Huang Yingrong continued to scream and thrash wildly from beneath the table.

The onlookers shook their heads. The person who had spoken earlier chimed in, "See? I knew she was bound to lose."

Su Moxue admired Jiang Lihua even more now. With just a few words, she had ignited the magistrate's fury and redirected his wrath entirely onto Huang Yingrong.

Jiang Lihua smiled faintly. It was quite simple, really—nobody enjoyed being used, least of all being manipulated to approach another man!