Volume 1 Chapter 37: Scolding on the Street and Muddy Ground

  The brother and sister happily entered the house. Lu Yun helped her sister with some chores, then ran to the study to read books.

  Just as Lu Xuan was busy cooking, a loud shouting sound suddenly came from the outside of the house.

  Lu Yun Zhang Er listened for a while, and faintly heard the sentence "Lu Shi you this cheap goods," couldn't help but stand up nervously, calling out to Lu Xuan: "Sister, it seems like someone is scolding you."

  Lu Xuan had known all along. She calmly reduced the fire in the stove, took another look at the rice in the pot, estimated the time, and then walked out. Lu Yun hurriedly caught up with her, rushing to her sister's side.

  As the siblings approached, the insults grew louder and clearer, "Lu Shi you cheap slut, you shameless person..."

  Outside, they were scolding with gusto, but then heard the creaking sound of Lu's courtyard gate opening. A woman in a kerchief and linen skirt, with clear and beautiful features like a flower, and dark black eyes, stood at the entrance, quietly watching them with a calm face - it was Lu Yue.

  The one scolding was a middle-aged servant woman in her thirties, and behind her were two older maidservants. Lu Xue knew all three of them; they were slaves of the Fourth House of the Ping family and usually listened to Ping Yin's orders.

  How did you come so soon? Lu Xuan stretched out his hand and slowly rubbed his brow.

  Because the shrew's loud voice was enough to open the side doors of the opposite and adjacent houses. Lu Xuan glanced at the corner of her eye, and she could see that the young man was standing at the side door, his lips slightly pursed, but his eyes shining brightly as he looked at her.

  She glanced at the onlookers from the two mansions, and then Lu Yue rubbed her brow again. She didn't notice that since she came out, Yin Cheng had been staring at her without blinking. When he saw her calm demeanor and the gesture of rubbing her brow in annoyance, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips, and his eyes already held a hint of amusement.

  Lu Xuan's calmness was a kind of inexplicable aura, so after she stepped forward, that scolding woman quieted down. However, in the blink of an eye, she jumped up again. Facing Lu Xuan, who had been scolded by her, her voice became even more frantic, "You shameless Lu, you..."

  "Halt!"

  That woman had just started, and Lu Xuan's right hand chopped out at empty air, shouting sternly.

  After the woman's scolding stopped, Lu Yue raised her head, furrowed her brow and said coldly: "Is it because of Pingyin that you came to scold me? She didn't like it and went back home crying and making a fuss? I'm telling you, Pingyin is about to get married, causing trouble at this critical juncture doesn't seem right, does it?" Yet she was speaking in a gentle and persuasive tone.

  The woman's carefully thought-out words were cut off by Lu Yue, and she was momentarily stunned. But she was a master of scolding people in the street, and after only a moment's pause, she began to curse again, pointing at Lu Yue's nose and saying, "You little prostitute, how dare you speak up! Bah! My family's daughter-in-law took pity on you and gave you so much money. So much money, ah, it could feed your siblings for ten or eight years. But you, this shameless slut, do you know what it means to repay kindness? You're so base, so shameless..."

  This woman was good at scolding people on the street, her voice was loud and clear, and the dirty words came out one after another. As soon as she opened her mouth, it was like a flood that couldn't be stopped. In the past, she had used this trick to drive her sister-in-law from her husband's family to death.

  In the midst of the woman's torrential abuse, Lu Yun's face turned bright red with rage, and he almost jumped up. As for Lu Yue, she didn't utter a word; in fact, opening her mouth would have been useless amidst this barrage of insults that wouldn't penetrate anyway.

  She glanced sideways and, as the woman was shouting loudly, Lu Yu retreated elegantly and said in a clear voice: "A Yun, close the door!"

  "Ah? Okay." Lu Yun reacted and quickly went forward with his sister to close the courtyard gate.

  As the door creaked shut, everyone was taken aback. But the woman was even more pleased with herself, she sneered with a mouthful of slightly yellow teeth, thinking to herself: You little fool, you think you can just cover your own ears and no one else will hear my scolding? Today, I'm going to scold you until you're covered in shame and have nowhere to hide.

  "Thinking of this, her voice became even more shrill, and she shouted in a piercing tone, 'You shameless prostitute, you ungrateful prostitute, you greedy prostitute...'"

  When she was scolding with great relish, she suddenly heard a clear and cold female voice from the top of the wall, "Hey!"

  What's this sound?

  The shrew was startled, and so were the others, who all lifted their heads in unison.

  The one who spoke was Lu Xuan, and all she did was sit down on the wall by herself. Then, she bent down and took a basket from her brother's hand.

  Lu Xuan picked up the basket and placed it in front of him, then sat on the wall with his right hand reaching into the basket to grab something. Suddenly, he swung it heavily at the woman!

  "Bang!" A black and dirty mud splattered onto the woman's face, mouth!

  No one expected this scene, that shrew was just about to open her mouth and start again when suddenly, a small half of the mud covered her nose, eyes, and mouth.

  "You, you bastard..."

  "Thud!" Another clod of earth came flying over and landed right on the shrew's hair.

  "You shameless..."

  "Bang!" The lump of mud was a bit off-target and only splattered onto the woman's ear.

  "You, you still don't know shame..."

  "Plop!" This lump of mud was quite lucky, sealing the woman's mouth shut just in time, leaving her to splutter for half a day, spitting out nothing but dirt.

  The world is finally a bit cleaner.

  Lu Xuan calmly took over the piece of cloth handed by her brother and wiped her hands.

  Then, she slightly turned her body to face the three visitors from the Ping family, raised her voice and said with a cold expression on her delicate face: "Why didn't Ping come?" Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed, showing great annoyance. "It was clearly stated at the beginning that as compensation for me giving up Zeng Lang, she would pay me a certain amount of money. How could she have quarreled with Zeng Lang and now want to take back the money? Bah! Go back and tell Ping that there's no such deceitful business in this world!" She thought that the loud voice of the woman scolding on the street had already attracted dozens of people to gather around. Everyone heard that she had received money from Ping. To prevent the rumors from spreading further, it was better to explain the origin of the money.

  Lu Xuan thought so and said so. But as soon as her words came out, the surroundings were quiet for a moment, then suddenly, several stifled laughter sounds came from all directions.

  Yin Cheng's aunt stood on one side, her expression had changed from disdain to astonishment. After listening to Lu Yue's words, she quickly turned her head to look at Yin Cheng and said in a low, shrill voice: "A Cheng, listen, listen! How can there be such a daughter-in-law in this world? She actually sold her own husband to someone else? Heaven, heaven, heaven, has the world changed? Is there really such a reason?!

  Facing his aunt's anger, Yin Chen couldn't help but smile as he gazed at Lu Yue who was sitting on the wall like a rogue, yet appeared elegant and refined due to her calmness and composure. His eyes shone brightly like stars, "I've always known she's different from others."