Madam Du knew none of this. Her expression froze for a moment, then she burst into sharp laughter. After laughing for quite a while, she finally stopped and said, “You say my Du family can’t reach high enough? Wu Meixue, did you hit your head and forget what your status is? In this Shuangqiao Village, who doesn’t know that your Wu family is poor and has nothing, lacking everything? And you—you’re nothing but a wild girl who doesn’t even know who her real parents are. With such family background and origins, you actually have the nerve to say others can’t reach high enough for you? This is truly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” As she spoke, she extended her index finger with its long, sharp nail and poked at Yunyi’s forehead, saying, “Before you say anything, first find a mirror and look at what you really are… Ah! What are you doing? Let go of me!”
Just as she was speaking, Yunyi suddenly grabbed the finger she was using to poke her forehead. No one knew where Yunyi got such strength—Madam Du tried to pull back several times but couldn’t withdraw her hand. Instead, Yunyi gripped her fingernail with one hand, causing a sharp pain.
Yunyi stared at Madam Du expressionlessly. She had already tried her best to endure, but this Madam Du refused to stop, even becoming more excessive, her mouth full of unbearable filthy language.
From Wu Laosan’s earlier words, this Madam Du had already insulted Meixue like this more than once. She truly couldn’t imagine how Meixue had endured it all these years, how the Wu father and daughter had survived these fifteen years.
“Crack!” With a barely audible sound, Madam Du’s powdered and rouged long face contorted into a mass, her body hunching over. At the same time, the finger that had been gripped by Yunyi finally pulled free, but now the long nail she had carefully maintained was broken off at the root.
Yunyi released her grip, and a fingernail painted with crimson lacquer fell to the ground. She had actually snapped Madam Du’s fingernail clean off. The ten fingers are connected to the heart—no wonder Madam Du was in such pain.
The steward supported Madam Du while sternly rebuking, “You wild girl, have you eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard? How dare you injure my mistress! Do you believe I’ll drag you to the magistrate and charge you with assault!”
Over there, Wu Laosan was already frightened pale, not knowing what to do. He had always been meek and submissive before the domineering and shrewish Madam Du, not daring to say a word of rebuttal, let alone something like this. If the Du family pursued this matter, they would certainly suffer. How could Meixue be so impulsive? But… sigh, he couldn’t blame her. What had been a good marriage arrangement was ruined by Madam Du, which was already painful enough. Now being insulted by Madam Du in every way, naturally she couldn’t bear it. When all was said and done, it was his fault for being useless as a father. Well, if anything happened, he would take responsibility for Meixue.
Thinking this, he steadied himself and said with an apologetic smile, “Meixue didn’t mean it. I’ll have her apologize to you right away. Please, Madam Du, show magnanimity and forgive her this once.”
Before Wu Laosan could speak to Yunyi, Madam Du, having recovered from the pain, was already glaring at them fiercely, saying through gritted teeth, “She injured me like this, and you want me to forgive her? Wu Laosan, you’re quite the schemer!” Then she said to the steward, “Go, drag her to the magistrate. Charge her with assault and have the county magistrate severely punish her!”
“No! No!” Wu Laosan had never seen such a scene and said urgently, “Meixue doesn’t understand yet. Please, Madam Du, don’t hold it against her. She… she injured you, we’ll compensate.” As he spoke, he searched through all his pockets, wanting to find money, but unfortunately all the money Meixue had given him was at home. He only had two coins on him, which made him break out in cold sweat as he stammered, “At home… there’s money at home. I… I’ll go get it!”
Madam Du touched the bare tip of her right index finger, her face cold as she said, “No need. Just send her to the magistrate!” Among her ten fingers, this fingernail had grown the most beautifully. Usually when doing anything, she was extremely careful, afraid of damaging her nail, yet it was broken off by a wild girl she despised most. How could she not be furious?
Wu Laosan was about to plead again when Yunyi pulled him back, saying, “Father, I haven’t committed any crime. Even if I go to the magistrate, I don’t need to be afraid. Don’t worry.”
“How can it be alright? Going to the magistrate, who knows what will happen.” For someone like Wu Laosan who lived at the bottom of society, there was an instinctive fear of government offices.
Yunyi comforted him with a few words, then said to Madam Du, “You say I injured someone. Where’s the evidence?”
Madam Du held out her finger with a disgusted expression, “Isn’t the evidence right here? I tell you, don’t think you can deny it.”
Yunyi smiled slightly, “The crime of assault refers to using hands, feet, or tools to harm someone’s body, causing injury or disability. But you…” She pointed at Madam Du, “From head to toe, you’re completely unharmed, without even a trace of injury. How is this assault?”
Madam Du was struck speechless by her question. After a long while, she squeezed out a sentence through her teeth, “You broke my fingernail. The steward and I both saw it with our own eyes.”
The steward chimed in, “That’s right, we all saw it. Don’t think you can deny it!”
“I didn’t know that in the laws of the Great Sui Dynasty, accidentally breaking a mere fingernail also constitutes assault.” Yunyi touched her slightly red forehead, “Then when you poked my forehead with your nail, were you trying to murder me?” Without waiting for Madam Du to speak, she continued, “If you insist on making a fuss at the magistrate’s office, I’ll accompany you. But I’m afraid when the magistrate learns the cause and effect, he’ll charge you with disturbing the court and making false accusations. Then the one receiving the beating will be you.”
“How dare you threaten me?!” Madam Du’s face alternated between blue and white. She had never known that “Meixue” was such a sharp-tongued person.
Yunyi bowed slightly, “What status does Meixue have? How would I dare threaten Madam Du? I’m merely stating facts. Also, there’s one more thing I must remind Madam Du—if I don’t return to the Governor’s mansion before dark, the steward there will send people to look for me. When they learn that it was Madam Du who deliberately caused trouble and prevented me from returning…” She looked at Madam Du with a half-smile, “What do you think will happen?”
Madam Du’s heart trembled with fear, but she said defiantly, “Do you think bringing up the Governor’s mansion will scare me? Don’t forget, you’re merely a servant girl. The Governor’s mansion has plenty of those—even if you died, no one would care.”
Yunyi smiled sweetly, “Madam Du is quite right. I am indeed just a servant girl. But unfortunately, this servant girl has some acquaintance with both the First Young Master and the Second Young Master. If something happened to me, I believe they wouldn’t ignore it.” These words were naturally meant to intimidate Madam Du—she understood well the human tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong.