’If I were a powerful official, someone to be feared, then even the nobodies around me would be praised and revered. How could I have let my wife’s family be bullied like this? How could I have let my wife suffer so?’

The next day, Zhao Jing and Chen Wanqing went to the county seat together.

They didn’t go straight to the Chen family’s home. Instead, they took yesterday’s order forms and went door-to-door delivering the incense.

The students who had ordered large quantities of incense yesterday had done so on impulse, caught up in the excitement. After returning home and cooling their heads, many of them began to regret their extravagance.

But when they saw the county’s top scholar and his wife personally delivering the incense first thing in the morning, they instantly felt that the incense itself was imbued with the scholar’s brilliant aura.

If they burned this incense while they studied, they would surely get twice the results with half the effort. How could they possibly worry about not passing the next county examination?

After delivering all the Moonlight Fragrance from the ox-cart, it was still quite early. The two of them then went to Qingxiang House, told Xu Su Ying what had happened, and took her to the government office to report the crime.

It was already strange enough for Chen Song to receive a report from his own wife and daughter while on duty. But then he heard the reason for the report—that his own home had been utterly vandalized, and he was being asked to find the culprit.

He couldn’t help but let out a stream of curses, flying into a thunderous rage right then and there.

Chen Song immediately set off with two of his men. Chen Wanqing and Xu Su Ying had to first wait for Jing to deliver a book to the Lord County Magistrate before he and De’an went to meet with Wang Jun.

Fortunately, the Lord County Magistrate was reading a letter from an old friend and had no time to receive Zhao Jing. He simply had someone accept the book and sent Zhao Jing on his way.

"Are you staying in the county seat tonight, or will you head back later?" Chen Wanqing asked as she saw Zhao Jing back to the Chen family home. "You are all kindred spirits, so you’ll probably drink quite a bit. You should just spend the night here. When I come back tomorrow, you can return home with me."

Zhao Jing had his own plans but didn’t want to worry her, so he just said, "Alright."

After seeing Zhao Jing off, they bought a number of other incense ingredients to throw people off the trail. Then, Chen Wanqing and Xu Su Ying got on Dashan’s ox-cart and headed for the Zhao Village.

By the time they arrived home, the case had, surprisingly, already been solved.

"It was Wanyue from the third branch of the family. The footprints in the backyard matched hers. Someone also identified her, saying they saw her loitering by your back wall yesterday afternoon. At first, she flatly denied it, thinking she’d gotten rid of the evidence by throwing the shoes into the river ditch. But the shoes had some filth on them, and a village dog fished them out."

With both a witness and physical evidence, that Chen Wanyue was still as stubborn as a mule, refusing to confess no matter what.

Since she hadn’t been caught in the act, and she was a young woman—not to mention his own niece—Chen Song really didn’t know how to handle the situation.

But while Chen Song was conflicted, Xu Su Ying was not.

Xu Su Ying took a walk through her own house. When she came out, she was so furious her hair was practically standing on end.

She marched straight to the old family house, grabbed the axe she had brought from home, and stormed into the kitchen, where she began to smash everything in sight.

The pot in the old house was beaten out of shape, and the cupboards were smashed to pieces. All the pots, bowls, and ladles inside came CRASHING down, shattering into a thousand pieces.

Still not satisfied, Xu Su Ying headed for the west room.

She broke Chen Wanyue’s bed, shattered her vanity mirror, and then used the sharp blade of the axe to shred all of Chen Wanyue’s clothes and shoes.

Chen Wanyue completely broke down. "Stop! I said, stop! How dare you smash my things? I’ll kill you!"

"Go on, then! Come and kill me! You had the nerve to vandalize my house, so why can’t I smash your things? I’m not just going to shred your clothes; I want to shred your face, too."

Chen Wanyue’s eyes looked ready to split with rage. "You dare! And I’m supposed to call you ’Auntie’? You don’t act like an elder at all! You’re an animal!"

"You’re worse than an animal! You bastard! If you had the guts to smash up my house, then have the guts to admit it!"

"I won’t admit it! I just want to make your lives miserable! Why should I be living in hell while your family gets to have a good life? Why?! I just want to destroy your family!"

Xu Su Ying lowered the axe, the fury vanishing from her face. She jutted her chin toward her husband. "There. She confessed. She said it herself, and all these people can bear witness. Can we take her to the county government for punishment now?"

The onlookers watched Xu Su Ying, whose expression had changed faster than one could flip a page. Then they glanced at the axe she was casually hefting in her hand, as "docile" as a little toy, and couldn’t help but take a step back.

At that moment, memories from years ago, of Xu Su Ying dealing with local thugs in the county seat, resurfaced from the depths of their minds.

Before, they had always assumed that people were just slandering Xu Su Ying. Now, well, they could only say that they had been too young and too naive.

Everyone then looked at Chen Wanyue with pity. ’Everything was fine,’ they thought. ’Why on earth did you have to provoke her?’

’Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?’