Chương 37: Framing

Giant Willow Village. The Zhao Residence.

"There might still be a way to negotiate this." Hearing his father's words, Lord Hu was wild with joy and hurriedly asked:"Dad, tell me! What do we do now?!"

"Immediately send people to summon the entire village! Also, bring the Li family widow and orphans over! Remember, try to be as gentle as possible. Then, we do this... and this..."

"Dad, will this plan work?" Listening to his father lay out the scheme, Lord Hu's face looked conflicted.

"It's the only way right now. We can only hope Song Que is afraid of breaking the vase while trying to hit the rat. It's the only chance our Zhao family has at survival." Old Zhao sighed dryly. Zhao Hu gritted his teeth, willing to risk it all:"Dad, I'll listen to you! Worst comes to worst, I'll fight him to the death! I'll go gather the people now!" Seeing his son actually display a shred of backbone, Old Zhao felt somewhat comforted:"Go quickly, before that kid gets back to the village!

I also need to instruct your concubines to quickly pack up our valuables and prepare for the worst." In the next moment, the entire Zhao residence was thrown into chaos. Shouts, curses, and the sound of crashing objects echoed continuously. At the same time, the resounding boom of the village drum echoed throughout Giant Willow Village. This was the emergency alarm drum, which hadn't been struck in years. At first, the villagers thought they had misheard, but then their expressions changed drastically.

Supporting the elderly and carrying the young, they hastily gathered at the village entrance.... Song Que drove the cart, trailing the captured livestock behind him, ambling at a moderate pace along the mountain road. It wasn't until Giant Willow Village came into view in the distance that he stopped. Gazing at the mountain village nestled in the landscape, he let out a heavy sigh, his eyes gradually hardening with resolve.

With the Mountain Sparrow soaring high in the sky, he had already seen the situation unfolding in the village. Right now, a dense crowd had gathered at the village entrance. Practically the entire village was present. Naturally, the Zhao father and son were there, surrounded by a group of robust hunters brandishing weapons. Aunt Li, her two children, and Husky stood nervously behind them, subtly held hostage by Zhao Hu. Only Mengmeng, that sly fox, was nowhere to be seen.

It had probably sensed trouble and slipped away. Song Que was left utterly speechless by its uncanny ability to seek fortune and avoid disaster. So the Zhao father and son didn't run away. That saves me the trouble of hunting them down. Fortunately, Aunt Li and the children didn't seem to be in immediate danger. Perhaps Zhao Hu didn't dare physically harm them yet, only standing close behind them to subtly threaten Song Que. It seems the Zhao family has laid out a grand formation waiting for my return.

Their guts are commendable. I wonder what kind of demonic moth they'll try to release this time. Taking in the entire situation with a single glance, Song Que sneered coldly. He turned to look at the tightly bound Comrade Pockmark Guo in the back, who was still unconscious.

"In this society, if you aren't ruthless, you won't survive. Sorry about this." Song Que muttered to himself. In just one day, his hands had been stained with the blood of several lives. Perhaps, from this point on, he could never return to who he used to be. But thinking of his loved ones, he had to harden his heart. Song Que didn't regret what he had done; his eyes were gradually filled with unyielding resolve and the fire of ambition.... A moment later.

His face purple as if suffocating, Pockmark Guo struggled to open his eyes, greedily gasping for air. After assessing his surroundings and testing his limbs, he hopped off the cart and grinned:"That almost suffocated me to death!" Quietly observing from the side, Song Que remained indifferent. Ignoring him completely, he continued driving the cart toward the village. He left Pockmark Guo standing there, waving his arms and striking poses.

A moment later, Guo tilted his head toward the village, grinned, and muttered some incomprehensible words. But if a modern person were there, it wouldn't be hard to understand what he said: Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"It's my showtime!" …… The bumpy mountain road. Song Que's cart slowly rolled forward. Just ahead was the old willow tree at the village entrance. Seeing the crowd gathered at the gates, their eyes fixed intently upon him, Song Que smiled:"What's everyone gathered here for? Having a New Year's feast out here?"

"Big Brother!"...

"Brother A'niu!"...

"A'niu!" Seeing him, Aunt Li and the children instantly felt they had their pillar of support back. They shouted and tried to run over, but were quickly blocked by Zhao Hu. The commotion almost prompted Lord Husky to step forward for an 'intimate conversation' with them, but fortunately, Song Que signaled it to stay back.

"Zhao Hu, what is the meaning of this? Do you want to die?" Seeing Song Que remaining as steady as Mount Tai, even the Zhao father and son had to secretly admire his composure. Exchanging a subtle glance with his son, Lord Hu understood the assignment and shouted loudly:"Song Que! You still have the nerve to return to the village?!" Grandee nodded slightly, smiling as he watched his performance.

"Song Que, you colluded with outsiders to commit robbery outside the town, and you still dare deny your crimes?!"

"Fellow villagers, you don't know this, but today, Guo Shan and I accidentally discovered this secret and suffered his vicious attack! Brother Guo was brutally murdered! By sheer luck and the speed of my horse, I barely managed to escape back to the village to warn you all!" Hearing this, the crowd instantly erupted into an uproar. Zhao Hu's words might not have been entirely trustworthy, but it was a fact that he had galloped madly back to the village earlier today.

Furthermore, the Song and Li families had risen to wealth far too quickly. Many people had long been suspicious of the source of their money, so they half-believed the accusation.

"I didn't expect him to be that kind of person!"

"I told you! How could he get rich so fast?! Turns out he was running a zero-cost business!" The crowd whispered and pointed. Only the three members of the Li family adamantly refused to believe it, arguing back until their faces turned red. However, surrounded by the overwhelming majority, their voices were too small to sway anyone. This was mostly born out of jealousy and resentment toward the wealthy. Song Que had seen this plenty of times. Not angry in the slightest, he smiled and clapped:"Not a bad story!"

"Song Que, don't try to deny it! Everyone knows what happened today! I advise you to turn yourself in! Since we're from the same village, we won't make things difficult for you. Just leave immediately, and don't bring trouble to our village!" So this is the goal! Knowing I killed members of the Black Tiger Gang, they're advising me to take my people and flee immediately. Not a bad calculation! But how could you forget that the Zhao family's debt hasn't been settled yet?!

The Zhao family were indirect accomplices in Ou Tiande's death, so they absolutely didn't dare publicize the real story for fear of the Black Tiger Gang tracing it back to them. Those underworld thugs wouldn't bother investigating the nuances before seeking revenge! Truly trying to monopolize all the cleverness in the world. Song Que sneered coldly:"Heh, why don't you tell them how you, Zhao Hu, ran into bandits, threw Pockmark Guo to the wolves to save yourself, and ran away?

And because I happened to walk by and saw it, you're now trying to shift the blame to me to escape responsibility?" Wait, that happened? Did I do that? Why don't I remember? Seeing the crowd casting suspicious glances his way, Lord Hu turned purple with rage and roared:"Bullshit! Stop your lying! If you're smart, leave immediately! Otherwise, when the authorities investigate, you won't be able to escape even if you sprout wings!"

"I believe my Big Brother! Everyone in the village knows exactly what kind of person you are, Zhao Hu!" Li Xin loudly defended his Big Brother.

"You little bastard! Are you courting death?!" Unable to tolerate a child disrespecting him, Lord Hu raised his hand, preparing to slap him. Thwack! Zhao Hu suddenly felt a piercing agony in his core. Struck squarely in the stomach by a stone thrown by Song Que, he collapsed to the ground, curling up like a cooked shrimp, unable to speak from the pain.

"Zhao Hu, do you have a death wish?" Only then did Song Que's icy, eerie voice drift over. This single move stunned the crowd. Old Zhao's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly retreated behind the crowd and shouted:"Song Que! Are you trying to silence him through murder?!" People tend to believe what they want to believe. Moreover, the Zhao family had accumulated decades of prestige in the village. With Zhong Kui currently away in town, the village still considered the old Village Chief their leader.

The crowd took a collective step back, glaring warily at Song Que. Who could have expected that Grandee wouldn't play by the rules? Ignoring them completely, he called out:"A'Xin, help your mother and Er'ya onto the cart. We're going home." Hearing this, Li Xin immediately pushed through the crowd, helping his mother and sister onto the cart. Lord Husky, who had long been struggling to suppress its beastly instincts, let out a few low growls, wagged its tail, and trotted to Song Que's side.

Some men tried to block them, but a single icy glare from Song Que left them frozen, not daring to move a muscle. They could only watch as his cart slowly rolled forward. Old Zhao's expression shifted rapidly. What kind of medicine is this kid selling in his gourd? He doesn't even seem to want to deal with us father and son! Could he be planning to wait until nightfall to strike silently?! Thinking of this, cold sweat drenched his back. He resolved to take it to the bitter end!

"Song Que! You murder and rob! If the authorities investigate, the entire village will be implicated! Leave this place immediately, or don't blame us for disregarding our neighborly ties!" The old Village Chief shouted self-righteously. A significant portion of the crowd echoed his sentiment, staring coldly at Song Que.... Zhang Cuihua watched the intense argument in the courtyard with absolute relish.

As a daughter-in-law from outside who had recently married into the village, she viewed people and events without bias. Not knowing the truth, she didn't take sides, simply enjoying the drama as a bystander. If I only had some sunflower seeds right now, it would be perfect! Plus, that Song family kid is incredibly handsome! If my useless scoundrel of a husband looked even half as good, I wouldn't scold and beat him all day long! Right at that moment, someone tugged at her sleeve and asked:"What's going on?

Why is it so lively?"

"It's a huge deal! The Village Chief just announced that the Song family kid colluded with outsiders to commit robbery and even murdered Pockmark Guo from our village! The two sides are arguing about it right now!" Seeing someone asking, Sister Cuihua eagerly recounted the story.

"If you ask me, a kid that handsome doesn't look like a bad person! How could he do such things? On the contrary, that Pockmark Guo..." Turning her head to look at the person asking the question, Sister Cuihua looked as if she had seen a ghost and shrieked at the top of her lungs:"POCKMARK GUO?!" This scream was like a bomb going off. The originally noisy crowd instantly fell dead silent.

Everyone turned with looks of absolute horror to stare at the front of the courtyard, where Pockmark Guo stood, looking around cluelessly.