Li Daniu quickly dropped what was in his hand and rushed to Yuniang's side. He pulled Yuniang into his arms to protect her.
Seeing Li Daniu return, Yuniang finally relaxed her tense nerves.
She buried her head in Li Daniu's chest, her body trembling. It was hard to tell if she was crying.
Seeing Yuniang in such a state, an unnamed anger welled up in Li Daniu's heart.
He shouted at Ruan Jiu and the others, "What are you doing in my house! Get out!"
After saying that, he didn't forget to gently stroke Yuniang's back.
"We just came to ask for a glass of water and told Yuniang a story by the way."
"What story?" Li Daniu asked suspiciously.
"Don't say it anymore!" Yuniang covered her ears with both hands and shouted.
Seeing Yuniang's strong reaction, even though Li Daniu was curious, he didn't plan to ask further.
"Daniel, let them go! Let them go quickly!" Yuniang grabbed Li Daniu's hand, excited and in floods of tears.
"Okay, okay." Li Daniu replied repeatedly.
Then he turned his head and stared at Ruan Jiu and the others menacingly, with a cold and murderous glint in his eyes.
"Get out of here quickly!"
Chuntao was so frightened that she shivered.
Even Xie Yanchuan couldn't help taking half a step back.
But Ruan Jiu smiled calmly, "Brother Li looks really capable of killing people like this."
"If... if you don't leave, I... I'll really take action!"
"Alright then. Please kill all three of us."
As soon as Ruan Jiu said this, Xie Yanchuan and Chuntao immediately panicked.
If Li Daniu was really a murderer, provoked by Ruan Jiu like this, he might really kill them.
At this moment, Xie Yanchuan was already calculating in his mind how much chance he had of winning if they really fought.
Looking at Li Daniu's strong muscles and then at his own thin arms and legs,
his face instantly twisted into a knot.
"Anyway, you've killed someone before." Ruan Jiu continued.
Xie Yanchuan's face instantly turned even worse. What on earth was this young lady trying to do! Wasn't she afraid that Li Daniu would kill them to cover up his crime?
Hearing this, Li Daniu felt uneasy and guessed their purpose for coming today.
"Tell me. What do you want?" Since that was the case, Li Daniu asked straightforwardly.
"It's very simple. You go and persuade the villagers to deliver the mulberry leaves in full. We'll act as if we don't know anything about Hu San's matter." After all, she didn't come here today to seek justice for Hu San.
How Hu San died had nothing to do with her.
"Hahaha, what a joke. Everyone for miles around knows how Hu San died. Don't you want to follow the example of Lord Xie Si and put the hat of murder on my head!"
"Really?" Ruan Jiu took out a folded piece of paper from her bosom. "Then I have no choice but to hand over the confessions of the witnesses from that year to the government for a thorough investigation."
Xie Yanchuan took a closer look. The paper did look like it had been around for some years.
But where did she get this?
"Give it to me!" Li Daniu tried to grab it.
Ruan Jiu took several steps back and hid the paper again.
"Then Brother Li will have to spend some time in prison."
Yuniang grabbed Li Daniu's arm fearfully. "Daniel, just agree to what this young lady says."
She had heard from others before that the son of Aunt Wu was arrested and thrown into prison. When he came out, one of his fingers was missing.
Li Daniu looked hesitant. But someone had told him that as long as he handled the matter properly, he wouldn't have to worry about Yuniang's medicine money in the future.
He also knew how cruel the methods in prison were, but he was even more afraid that the things from that year would be discovered.
He took Yuniang's hand and whispered gently, "Yuniang, don't be afraid. Remember what I told you."
Yuniang had been with him for many years. How could she not know what he was planning at this moment?
So she shook her head repeatedly. "No, don't."
Big tears rolled down from her eyes.
Li Daniu nodded at her and gently wiped the tears from her face.
Then he turned around resolutely and said to Ruan Jiu, "Don't think you can threaten me like this! I'll go to the government to surrender right away."
He needed silver! He needed a lot of silver!
So he had to complete the task that the person had assigned him!
"No!" Yuniang grabbed Li Daniu tightly, afraid that he would really go and surrender the next second.
Her heart - rending cries moved everyone present.
Seeing Li Daniu's determined look, Yuniang let go of him.
She turned around and ran up to Ruan Jiu. Then she suddenly knelt on the ground.
She grabbed Ruan Jiu's skirt tightly and cried, "I killed Hu San! Don't arrest Daniel!"
Then she turned to Li Daniu and forced a smile. "Daniel, you've helped me too much! I can't let you go and surrender for me!"
For eight whole years, she couldn't remember how many nights she had been awakened by nightmares.
Now that she had told the truth, it was like a big stone had fallen from her heart.
Ruan Jiu didn't expect that it was Yuniang who had killed Hu San!
At first, she had only suspected that there was something fishy about Hu San's death. Through continuous probing, her suspicion had been confirmed.
But killing Hu San was not something a woman could do alone, so she had suspected Li Daniu.
At this moment, Yuniang was already in floods of tears. Ruan Jiu helped her up and let her sit on a stool.
"I'm guilty! I killed Hu San! That's why I lost my child. This is my retribution!" Yuniang shouted hoarsely and kept beating her chest.
A feeling of shame welled up in Ruan Jiu's heart. She didn't expect things to turn out like this.
Hearing Yuniang tell the truth, Li Daniu's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.
Then he immediately stepped forward and pleaded with Ruan Jiu, "If you want to report this to the government, just arrest me! Yuniang is in poor health and can't stand those punishments!"
The big and burly Li Daniu no longer had his previous arrogance. His tone was full of humility.
Ruan Jiu didn't say a word. Her expression was complicated.
"Eight years ago, Hu San was drunk and tried to rape me. I fought back desperately and accidentally killed him. Later, I wanted to jump into the river to commit suicide, but unexpectedly, I met Daniel.
Daniel is a very kind person. He pitied my experience. After I pleaded with him again and again, he agreed to help me hide it. This has nothing to do with him!"
"No, it's not like that!" Li Daniu quickly said. "I've always liked Yuniang. It was also me who proposed to throw Hu San into the pond that day! Yuniang just accidentally made a mistake!"
Li Daniu hugged Yuniang in his arms.
"Daniel, I've been a burden to you all these years! I can't let you go to prison for me anymore!" Yuniang cried.
Ruan Jiu watched the two hugging tightly and felt very uncomfortable.
She knew Yuniang had suffered, but she didn't expect her to have suffered so much!
Being raped by her adoptive father, how helpless Yuniang must have been at that time!
Originally, she just wanted to blackmail Li Daniu with this matter, but she didn't expect it to turn out like this.
She stood still on the spot.
After a moment, she took out the piece of paper from her bosom and put it on the table.
"Don't worry. We'll never tell anyone about this. Thank you for the water. We've troubled you today."
After saying that, she was about to leave.
After walking a few steps, she turned back and bowed slightly.
"Yuniang, I'm sorry."
She looked extremely ashamed.
After Ruan Jiu and the others left, Li Daniu picked up the piece of paper on the table.
He opened it with trembling hands and saw a thick stack of silver notes inside.
And there was not a single word on the paper.