The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 9

Mu Mother brought up the matter of Mu Kongqing passing the exams again, leaving the other three people present—except for Old Man Mu—completely speechless.

As a seasoned matchmaker, how could Sister Wang not know exactly what kind of character the eldest Mu son possessed? Furthermore, in the dozens of villages across these hundreds of miles, a “Top Scholar” hadn’t appeared in years; even a “Juren” (Recommended Man) was as rare as a phoenix horn or a unicorn hide. What made the Mu family think they could pass, let alone have the audacity to claim they’d produce a Top Scholar?

Sister Wang thought this in her heart but wouldn’t dare say it aloud. Instead, she said with a fawning expression, “If the Eldest can become the Top Scholar, that is the blessing of your Mu family. But that is a matter for the future—”

Chu Yu, however, interrupted coldly, “If your Mu family becomes wealthy and successful in the future, Dingxiang is with me, so she won’t be touching your ‘blessings.’ Similarly, if anything happens to my Chu family, it won’t involve you.”

The implication was clear: a clean break.

Although it was inevitable they might be pestered by these “flies” in the future, the words that needed to be said had to be put out front. Hearing this, the faces of the Mu couple turned incredibly ugly. Old Man Mu remained silent, his silence signaling his stubborn insistence on the twenty-five taels of silver to the bitter end.

Sister Wang rolled up her sleeves and stood up from her chair, preparing to launch a new round of verbal sparring.

Beside her, Chu Yu had lost her patience. She said frostily, “What! I give you face and you don’t take it? Think of me, Chu Yu, who joined the army for over ten years, using my life to trade for the lifelong peace of citizens like you in the rear. And here you are, selling your daughter to me? Utterly outrageous!”

Her voice was so loud it made everyone’s ears ring. As she finished speaking, Chu Yu drew a sharp curved blade from her person and, with a reverse strike, slammed it into a nearby table. Under the force of her powerful thrust, the table swayed precariously before finally succumbing to the burden; with a loud crack, it shattered into four pieces, scattering across the floor.

The Mu couple had never seen such a scene. They had heard rumors that Chu Yu had killed people on the battlefield, but it was only hearsay until now. Seeing the murderous glint in her eyes and the aura of violence surrounding her, the sheer pressure was enough to make their legs turn to jelly.

Mu Mother couldn’t help but tremble, her voice shaking as she said, “But… but you are a woman. If Sanya marries you, our Mu family will be a laughingstock. It might even implicate the Eldest when he takes the imperial exams…”

Her voice grew weaker and weaker toward the end, fearing that Chu Yu might send another blade flying to slit her throat.

“Presumptuous! I am a soldier of the Great Zhou who defended home and country, a member of the Divine Martial Army under Lord Wu’an. How dare you despise a soldier who bled and fought on the front lines and call me a shame? You should be punished for the crime of great disrespect!” Chu Yu’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. “Which line of the Great Zhou law says two women cannot marry? Do you want me to call Constable Yuan back? She’s been at the yamen a long time; let her educate you on the matter. How about that!”

Chu Yu’s ferocious appearance scared the blood right out of the Mu couple’s faces. Sister Wang, watching the two of them cower, felt a secret surge of satisfaction.

Old Man Mu said tremblingly, “Then twenty taels… it can’t be any less…”

Hearing him relent, Chu Yu let out a cold sneer. Truly, they were dogs that bullied the weak but feared the strong. She pulled twenty taels of silver from her bosom and slammed the bag onto a nearby cabinet with a loud thwack. She turned to Sister Wang and said, “Sister Wang, please go and fetch the Village Head for me.”

Sister Wang knew the deal was done as soon as she heard this. She turned and left to find the Village Head.

Mu Mother eyed the bulging bag on the cabinet, thinking of the twenty taels inside, and swallowed hard. Even Old Man Mu couldn’t help but steal several glances at the cabinet. However, Chu Yu’s sharp gaze remained fixed on them, never letting go. Standing there like a Rakshasa, she inspired bone-deep fear.

The Village Head happened to be at home. He changed his clothes and hurriedly followed Sister Wang out. Along the way, he listened to her non-stop chatter and understood the general situation.

Being from the same village, the Village Head had naturally observed the Mu couple’s attitude toward their three daughters over the years and had many grievances. Previously, when the couple was overly harsh to the third Mu girl, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from speaking up a few times, but it was always like talking to a wall; it had no effect whatsoever.

When Sister Wang told him the couple intended to betroth Sanya to Widower Zhang, the Village Head could only call it “absurd.” Later, hearing that Widower Zhang had been taken away by the yamen, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of great relief.

But hearing that these two had the audacity to demand twenty-five taels for Sanya, he was also shocked. Combined with the fact that Chu Yu was a woman, he didn’t know for a moment whether this was a good or a bad thing.

Having taken Chu Yu’s silver, Sister Wang was naturally on her side. “I don’t think this Chu Yu is a bad sort. Even though she’s a woman, she’s sold pork in the county for so many years and her reputation isn’t bad. Seeing the way she protects Sanya, perhaps Sanya’s fortune has finally arrived.”

Chu Yu’s roots were in Furong Village, so the Village Head knew of her. When he went to the county, he had even visited her shop to buy meat. She did things properly and by the book; aside from the gossip about her “mirror-rubbing” preference (lesbianism), one couldn’t find much fault with her.

The Village Head’s role today was merely to act as a witness. Since the parents agreed to the marriage and the girl’s own will was even stronger, he had nothing to advise against. Moreover, if Mu Sanya could use this to escape the Mu family, it was considered a good thing.

However, when it came to drawing up the written agreement, the Mu couple were clearly reluctant. This was nothing more than wanting to take the money while continuing to grind and order the girl around. Seeing the greedy faces of the husband and wife, the Village Head suddenly found Chu Yu much more agreeable.

Once the background was clear, the written agreement was established and thumbprints were pressed. From this day forward, “the bridge belongs to the bridge and the road belongs to the road”—Mu Dingxiang was no longer a member of the Mu family.

Having troubled the Village Head to exert himself, Chu Yu naturally couldn’t let him leave empty-handed. Given the “blood-sucking” nature of the Mu family, she would certainly need to trouble him again in the future. Chu Yu didn’t begrudge this small amount of money and slipped two strings of coins to the Village Head.

Mu Mother, seeing this, cursed Chu Yu in her heart for being willing to give money to an outsider but not more to them.

For just the time it took to smoke a bowl of tobacco, the Village Head had earned two hundred wen. He immediately beamed with joy, feeling that Chu Yu looked better and better the more he saw her.

Once these matters were handled and she had the written agreement, Chu Yu put her arm around Mu Dingxiang’s waist. “I am taking Dingxiang away. Don’t let me see any of your family coming to the end of the village to find her, otherwise, I will come to your door and burn this dilapidated house down.”

Without waiting for a reaction from the people in the room, she picked up her blade from the cabinet and led Mu Dingxiang straight out.

Seeing this, Sister Wang hurried after them. Although she hadn’t needed to exert much effort in the final stage, the deal was concluded, and she still had half her payment to collect. Chu Yu acted as if she had eyes in the back of her head and tossed two strings of copper coins to her. Regardless of Chu Yu’s attitude, Sister Wang caught the coins and said with a laugh, “Butcher Chu, I wish you and Sanya a hundred years of harmony and early birth of sons!”

Realizing that wasn’t quite right, she quickly corrected herself: “Ptooey, ptooey! A hundred years of harmony and growing old together!”

The Village Head also left the Mu house with his hands behind his back and his money. Only the Mu couple remained with faces full of resentment.

Looking at the swaying wooden cabinet, Mu Mother whispered curses against Chu Yu in a pained voice. “That crazy woman, breaking two pieces of furniture in a row. What a jinx! Out of these twenty taels, I’ll have to take out dozens of wen to get a new table made.”

“Old man, did you ask for too much? That Chu Yu looked like she was going to eat someone.”

Old Man Mu glared at her. “What do you know? If she doesn’t give the money, who’s going to support our Eldest in the future?”

Just then, a voice came from the doorway: “Sanya is married, so who’s going to do the work in the fields?”

It turned out Mu Jueming had been up since Widower Zhang was taken away, but when he reached the door, he happened to witness Chu Yu’s fury. He was so scared he didn’t dare enter and couldn’t even manage a fart. Now that everyone was gone, he came out and spoke in a muffled voice.

“Who else could it be but you? Who in our village at your age doesn’t work the fields?” Mu Mother said crossly.

“I don’t care, I’m not doing it. Why should I support Big Brother while he studies in comfort?” Mu Jueming said with a face full of reluctance.

“You’re going to the fields tomorrow. If you don’t go, you don’t eat.” Old Man Mu puffed on his dry tobacco, clutching the twenty taels of silver on the cabinet tightly.

Mu Jueming looked at the golden-colored silver ingots in his father’s arms. Ignoring tomorrow’s troubles for a moment, his eyes darted around and he said with a grin, “Dad, with so much silver—my leg hurts, give me some to buy medicine.”

Old Man Mu glared at him. “This money is reserved for Eldest’s studies. If you want to buy things, earn it yourself. Sanya used to earn extra silver on top of farming; why don’t you learn from her?”

“Eldest, Eldest! All you have in your hearts is Eldest! The whole family works themselves to death just to provide for him alone, and he’s taken the exams so many times without even catching the tail end of a passing grade.” Mu Jueming said with a look of dissatisfaction after failing to get any silver.

Hearing her youngest son say this, Mu Mother’s anger flared. She picked up a piece of the broken wood from the floor and swung it at Mu Jueming. It was one thing for outsiders to say it, but her own family speaking so disparagingly was too much. Eldest was the only hope for the Mu family’s future; she wouldn’t allow anyone to say such things.

Mu Jueming let out yelps of pain as he was beaten, scurrying all over the house.

“Enough!” Old Man Mu looked at the noisy mother and son and said irritably, “Clean up the house quickly. Old woman, go buy two pounds of meat and half a jug of wine later. We’ll have a meal for ourselves.”

When Mu Kongqing came back yesterday, the one pound of meat they bought wasn’t enough. Having obtained these twenty taels, they wouldn’t spend it all at once; at the very least, they should reward their “five organs” (their stomachs) first.

Meanwhile, Chu Yu led Mu Dingxiang out the door. Without stopping for a moment, she directly mounted the horse. With a crack of the whip, the horse galloped off toward the end of Furong Village.

Shrinking into Chu Yu’s embrace, Mu Dingxiang didn’t dare move. The aura of violence surrounding the woman earlier had been somewhat frightening. Fortunately, that fury had been directed at the Mu couple. Amidst the relief in her heart, she also felt a bit of worry: was Chu Yu unhappy?

It didn’t take long to cross the bridge and reach the ruins of the Chu family estate. Chu Yu led Mu Dingxiang off the horse. Seeing the girl’s somewhat evasive look, she asked expressionlessly, “Scared?”

“No,” Mu Dingxiang replied quickly. “I’m not scared. I just… don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Her tentative expression and the uneasy look in her eyes made her look like a pitiful little kitten, huddled in a small, helpless ball.

“Don’t be afraid,” Chu Yu said, her heart softening. “I’m not unhappy.”