Before Mu Shuangshuang could think clearly, a woman who walked in like an aunt grabbed Lu Yuanfeng’s sleeve and started cursing loudly in a coarse voice.
"Pay up, you brat. You can’t just touch my behind whenever you want, pay me..."
The woman’s words never left silver, Mu Shuangshuang glanced over and saw his bulging money pouch. Even a fool would know there’s silver inside.
"You say he touched your behind, what’s your evidence?" Mu Shuangshuang pushed the woman’s hand away and coldly smirked at her.
"Hey, where did this little slut come from, daring to meddle in my business, do you want to die? Believe it or not, I’ll rip your mouth apart?" The woman puffed out her chest, instantly creating a tumultuous sight that had the surrounding men drooling, their eyes fixated on those round breasts.
Lu Yuanfeng stepped forward, cautiously shielding Mu Shuangshuang behind him. His body was sturdy and tall enough that he blocked the woman’s view of Mu Shuangshuang completely, not to mention he was still tightly holding Mu Shuangshuang’s hand.
"Watch your mouth. I did not do anything disgraceful. Please don’t ruin my reputation here, and spare Shuangshuang from your vulgar words." Lu Yuanfeng frowned deeply. He could endure personal attacks, but wouldn’t stand for insults against Shuangshuang.
"I’ll curse this stinky girl, what can you do about it? ... Ow, let go, let go..." The woman was halfway through her sentence when Lu Yuanfeng’s free hand had already gripped her arm. Though he hadn’t exerted much force, the woman cried and wailed as if in great pain.
"Oh my, murder, a little brat touching people on the street, murdering on the street... help, help..."
Seeing this scene, the crowd around Lu Yuanfeng pointed fingers more severely, some even calling out his name directly.
"Isn’t this Lu Yuanfeng, the eldest grandson of Old Lu Family from Er Gui Village, doing such rogue things."
"Yes, with a person , which family would dare marry their daughter to him, what a disaster..."
The words grew harsher, prompting Mu Shuangshuang to quickly jump out and shout, pointing at the person who called out Lu Yuanfeng’s name. "You old man, doing nothing good and instead unjustly accusing a good person with this woman. Did you see him touch this lady’s behind? If not, stop talking nonsense or I’ll report you to the government office and have you jailed."
"I didn’t see, but this lady said the Lu Family’s boy touched her behind." The man blushed when called out by Mu Shuangshuang but stubbornly refused to back down.
"She says he did, and I say you owe me a thousand taels of gold, when will you pay me back?" Mu Shuangshuang extended her hand toward the man, indicating she wasn’t about to let it go.
Hearing this, Lu Yuanfeng felt a warm current flowing through his heart. He had joined the army at twelve and had endured hardships for five years, yet never had anyone stood up for him like Shuangshuang, taking a loss alone, regardless of whether it was meant to be his loss.
"Thank you, Shuangshuang!" Lu Yuanfeng whispered his gratitude.
"Silly boy, don’t waste words now. Later, you better not speak up; let me handle this matter."
"Ow, you stinky girl, stop unjustly accusing people!" The man was almost choked by Mu Shuangshuang’s words, realizing only after a long moment that he needed to refute her.
"How am I speaking nonsense? You do owe me a thousand taels, and if you don’t repay, I’ll report you to the government."
"You..." The man, forty years in life, had never met such a cheeky girl, fortunately, someone nearby reminded him.
"She says you borrowed her silver; ask her, where’s the IOU?"
The man then puffed up, "Yeah, you say I borrowed your silver, where’s the IOU?"
Mu Shuangshuang was quite pleased with the man’s answer because she needed just that statement. "You say he touched this woman’s behind, where’s the evidence?"
For a moment, the situation was at a stalemate again. The man racked his brain, finally coming up with a way to counter Mu Shuangshuang. "You say he didn’t touch her, what evidence do you have?"
"Of course, I have evidence, unlike you, owing money and refusing to acknowledge it." Mu Shuangshuang smirked and continued. "Uncle, with you so eager to find evidence for this lady, I really suspect that you are in cahoots with her to con him out of money."
When Mu Shuangshuang mentioned "him," she naturally meant Lu Yuanfeng, but wisely refrained from saying Lu Yuanfeng’s name, knowing it wasn’t flattering to be falsely accused of touching someone’s behind.
"Damn it, this infuriating girl, you... you..."
Perhaps Mu Shuangshuang was truly infuriating because the man was so enraged that he stamped his feet, almost exploding on the spot, unable to utter a complete sentence despite opening his mouth for ages. The crowd had quieted down, and the accusations against Lu Yuanfeng lessened, allowing Mu Shuangshuang to ignore the man.
"Everyone, calm down. Actually, this matter is quite unfair to this silly boy because he didn’t touch this lady’s behind at all. On the contrary, this lady eyed the money in his pocket and is using this disgusting, lowly method to achieve her aim by exploiting everyone’s sympathy. Everyone, don’t be fooled by her."
Mu Shuangshuang emphasized the word "lady" heavily. In ancient times, identities weren’t determined by age but by hairstyle—unmarried women wore ’maiden’ hairstyles, while married women wore ’matron’ hairstyles. Despite the woman being middle-aged, calling her "lady" due to her hairstyle was not incorrect.
"No way, he didn’t touch her?"
"Ah, isn’t this wrongly accusing someone?"
"Oh my, how can there be such a wicked woman?"
Several busybody women in the crowd quickly changed their tune, easily influenced and forgetting their initial stance.
"Nonsense, he clearly touched my behind." The woman placed her hands on her waist, adamant regardless or considering that the stinky girl had evidence?
"I won’t waste words. Everyone take a look at this woman’s behind."
As soon as Mu Shuangshuang’s words fell, all eyes turned to the woman’s behind, finding it clean and devoid of marks.
"There’s nothing!" someone exclaimed.
"Exactly, it’s the absence that’s intriguing. Everyone, look at my hand." As she spoke, Mu Shuangshuang freed herself from Lu Yuanfeng’s grasp, "See this? My hand, what’s different from this woman’s behind?"
"Eh, what’s that shining thing?"
Because Mu Shuangshuang raised her hand, everyone could see that under the sunlight, something was glinting in her palm.
"What’s in my palm is proof that he’s been wronged..."