Transmigrated as a Peasant Girl with Prophetic Dreams: Using My Space to Become the Richest Person - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: A Ruthless Person

The woman, seeing she couldn’t break free, became even more frantic. “I won’t go to the yamen! I won’t go! You wretched girl, let me go right now!”

Seeing her guilty behavior, the onlookers finally understood what was truly happening.

Yang Xue dragged the woman straight to the county magistrate’s office. At first, the woman refused to admit she was trying to kidnap anyone, insisting that Yang Shuang was her daughter-in-law. However, when questioned about Yang Shuang’s background, she knew absolutely nothing.

The Magistrate threatened her with a caning, and terrified, the woman confessed immediately. She said her four sons were all unmarried and she was desperate; when she saw Yang Shuang alone on the street, she developed a wicked plan.

Even though she confessed, she didn’t escape punishment. She was sentenced to a round of strokes and thrown into the dungeon. Though she was only to be locked up for a few months, it served as a lesson—it was far better than no punishment at all.

The magistrate couldn’t give the woman a truly heavy sentence, but Yang Xue made sure to etch the woman’s face into her memory.

…

Walking out of the yamen, Yang Shuang was still dazed. When she had faced the Magistrate earlier, her body wouldn’t stop shivering. In contrast, Yang Xue had been perfectly calm from start to finish, answering the Magistrate’s questions fluently.

“Xue’er, you are so amazing,” Yang Shuang said. “You weren’t even afraid of the Magistrate. I’m useless—I couldn’t stop shaking the whole time.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? I wasn’t the one doing bad things. The ones who should be afraid are the villains.”

Yang Xue understood that Yang Shuang and the others had grown up in a remote mountain gully with very little exposure to the world, which made them feel helpless in times of trouble. But while she understood, she couldn’t let them stay that way. If she were the only one holding up the family, she’d work herself to death.

She had to guide them so that every member of the family could stand on their own. She couldn’t be their shield every second of the day.

“Sister, if you ever run into a situation like this again where you can’t outfight, out-curse, or out-argue them, just say you want to report them to the officials and let the law decide. Those who have a guilty conscience will naturally be intimidated.”

“In cases like this, explaining is useless because strangers find it hard to tell who is lying. People are naturally inclined to believe the side that acts with the most confidence.”

“See? As soon as I mentioned the authorities, the crowd shifted to my side. It’s the same logic for other situations.”

Yang Shuang stared at her sister in a daze. “Xue’er, you’ve become so formidable.”

Yang Xue grinned. “It’s alright. I just summarized these things based on what I saw in my dreams.”

…

As they left the town, Yang Shuang said, “Xue’er, let’s not tell Mom and Dad what just happened. I don’t want them to worry.”

Yang Xue nodded. “Alright.”

They took the mountain path back again. As they walked, Yang Xue suddenly sensed two “little tails” following them. Her footsteps faltered. Yang Shuang didn’t notice a thing and asked curiously, “What is it? Are you tired?”

Yang Xue shook her head. “No, let’s keep going.” She leaned in. “Sister, someone is following us.”

Hearing this, Yang Shuang instinctively started to turn around, but Yang Xue stopped her. “Don’t look back. Just keep walking.”

Yang Shuang’s body went rigid, but she forced herself to keep moving without looking. “Are they bandits? They must have seen us with the grain and targeted us.”

Yang Xue thought so too. “Probably.” Fearing her sister was scared, she added, “Don’t be afraid. With me here, nothing will happen to us.” Worst case, she thought, she’d pull some hazardous chemicals out of the lab and douse them.

For some reason, Yang Shuang trusted her sister implicitly. Her heart settled. “Xue’er, what should we do?”

“Ignore them for now. Just keep walking.”

As they moved, Yang Xue saw fallen branches on the ground and an idea formed. “Sister, in a bit, we’re going to take sticks and thrash them.”

Yang Shuang was worried. “What if they have knives?”

Yang Xue’s expression turned cold. “Pick up long sticks. Aim directly for their heads and don’t hold back. In this wilderness, if we kill them, it’s just their bad luck.”

Yang Shuang gasped.

“Sister, don’t be soft-hearted,” Yang Xue continued. “When facing villains, you have to remember: it’s either them or us. We don’t want to die, so they have to. Think about Grandpa and Grandma—wasn’t it because you were always too timid to fight back that they bullied us so badly?”

“If you’re really afraid to strike, just imagine they are Grandpa, Grandma, or Eldest Uncle and Aunt.”

Thinking of the years of abuse, Yang Shuang’s resolve hardened. “Fine! We’ll beat them to death!”

Yang Xue nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Get ready to grab the sticks.”

She could feel the footsteps behind them getting closer. “Sister, drop the grain! Grab the sticks!”

The two girls dropped their loads, snatched up thick branches, and spun around to attack. It happened so fast that the two men behind them didn’t even have time to react before the wood slammed into them.

Yang Xue and Yang Shuang thrashed the two grown men mercilessly. They didn’t dare stop, fearing that a single pause would give the men a chance to counter-attack.

“Aaaah! Spare us, young ladies! Mercy!”

Once Yang Xue felt they had hit them enough, she delivered a blow to the first man’s head that knocked him cold, then spun around to knock the second one out as well.

Yang Shuang finally caught her breath, the tension leaving her body. “Xue’er, they’re unconscious. What now?”

Yang Xue kicked the “two dead pigs” on the ground. “Break their legs and leave them here.”

Yang Shuang was shocked. “This… this is…”

Yang Xue’s eyes were like ice. “They followed us all this way; they likely know where we live. If we let them go now, we’re leaving ourselves a disaster for later. Sister, for the safety of our family, we have to do this.”

“Okay,” Yang Shuang said.

Yang Xue was surprised. She thought she’d have to do a lot more convincing to ease her sister’s conscience, but Yang Shuang had agreed quite readily.

Noticing Yang Xue’s surprise, Yang Shuang smiled weakly. “Didn’t you say letting them go would threaten our family? If that’s the case, I’d even kill them if you asked, let alone just break their legs.”

Yang Xue gave her a big thumbs up. “Sister, I underestimated you.”

She hadn’t realized that deep down, Yang Shuang was just like her—a truly ruthless person.