Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside Chapter 1719: The Troublemaking Man

"I—I wasn’t acting! You’re the one acting, you vicious shrew!" Ji Zhenniang flew into a rage out of shame, and in order to save face, she said very solemnly, "Do not look upon improper things. Those rough men baring their chests shows they’ve got no upbringing. But we’re official ladies, we mustn’t look at such coarse folk!"

Gu Jinli slanted a look at her and said, "But you were just looking."

Ji Zhenniang was furious to death, pointed at her and sputtered, "You, you, you!"

She tried for half a day and still couldn’t think of a retort, and very nearly burst into tears from anger.

Ms. Gao Lei said, "Enough, it’s just a few men beating drums bare-chested, what’s all the shouting for?"

She went on, "The Northwest is different from the south. The folk here are fierce. Not to mention married women—even unmarried girls can go out alone, set up a stall and do business. As long as you’re not wrapped up in some man’s arms doing shameless things, your reputation won’t be ruined."

The Northwest is in constant war; widows remarrying is a common thing.

And there are families where everyone else has been killed. For a girl to survive, she has to come out and do some work to fill her belly. Over time, the customs loosened up, and people stopped being as harsh on women as they are in the south.

"Really? Then in the future can we just go out on the streets whenever we want, and not have to wear veiled hats?" Ji Zhenniang’s eyes lit up. Back when she was in the south, the rules were strict; every time she went out to have fun, her mother or elder brother had to accompany her.

But her mother was a stepmother and not close to her, so usually she wouldn’t take her. Her brother was a man and generally didn’t play with girls, so when she was a girl, she hardly ever got to go out and have fun.

Even so, she still managed to run into her husband.

She was on a painted boat, her husband was in the water, and just like that he fell for her at first sight... Ah, truly a match written by Heaven!

Gu Jinli looked at Ji Zhenniang, who was practically radiating the aura of being in love, and was a bit speechless... How many years have you been married to Xie Cheng, and you only now start falling in love—isn’t that a bit late?

But she sobered and said, "The Northwest is very chaotic. Even if the customs are open, you still can’t go out casually. You look pretty, but you don’t know how to fight, and the Protector by your side can’t fight either. If Evil Men seize you, you could cry yourself to death and no one would come save you; you’d just suffer till you die!"

After that, she exaggeratedly told several stories of respectable married women being harmed by Evil Men—sold off to brothels, to Da Rong, dragged into mountain strongholds, or sold off to some mountain hollow to be wife to an old bachelor.

Ji Zhenniang was scared into tears on the spot, her body trembling as she said, "I—I definitely won’t go out. If I do go out I’ll make sure you come with me!"

Gu Jinli snorted, "Don’t look at me, I’m not here to babysit. You’d better bear with it. Wait till your Xie the Company Commander comes back and then have him take you to the streets."

Ms. Gao Lei also said, "Ms. Xie Ji, calm yourself. San Lang’s Wife is very busy, she doesn’t have time to accompany you around town."

She went on, "And you—now that you don’t need to make medicine, spend more time learning how to manage household affairs, and squeeze out some time to learn a few moves from Gui Zhi and the others, so you can protect yourself when something happens. The Rong people may have fled, but the Northwest is still in chaos—you mustn’t let your guard down!"

Ms. Gao Lei wasn’t worried about Gu Jinli, since she had real skills. It was Ji Zhenniang who cost her a lot of worry; she’d have to keep a close eye and teach her.

Just as she was lecturing, the drum-and-music from the street outside suddenly quieted. Gu Jinli thought Squad Leader Lou had finally managed to shout everyone to a stop. But once the music ceased, a shrill roar suddenly rang out.

"Retribution, this is retribution! The Northwest originally belonged to Da Rong. Great Chu seized Da Rong’s land, so God sent down disaster and that’s why the poisonous insect disease appeared. Now that the Rong people have been driven out, God is enraged. In just a few days He’ll let poisonous insects run rampant in the Northwest again, and sweep across all of Great Chu! Great Chu is finished! We must bring the Rong people back, or everyone will die!"

"Only if you, like me, worship the Witch God can you avoid being harmed by poisonous insects!"

"I know you don’t believe it, so I’ll prove it to you!" After he shouted, the man quickly took out a bag, tore open the mouth of the bag, and poured something over himself.

"Ah, poisonous insects, he’s dumping poisonous insects all over himself!"

Those who were close enough to see what they were shouted in horror when they recognized the things as poisonous insects.

But the man just laughed loudly and said, "You don’t need to be afraid. Because I worship the Witch God and do not oppose Da Rong, God protects me. These poisonous insects won’t harm me. Look, they’re all crawling away, none of them are crawling onto me!"

After hearing this, everyone stared hard, and sure enough they saw those poisonous insects quickly crawling off his body.

"Oh God, could what he said be true? Has Da Rong really been blessed by God, and we only suffered disaster because we opposed Da Rong?"

To hell with your disaster!

Same old trick of spreading demon talk and confusion—Gu Jinli was furious. She banged on the carriage window and told You Xi, who was guarding outside, "He’s definitely a Rong bandit spy. Gag him and seize him!"

"Yes." You Xi immediately led people charging over, ordering the others to kill the poisonous insects while he twisted the man’s arms behind his back.

The man seemed to have anticipated this moment. Before his mouth was gagged, he shouted, "The Northwest used to belong to Da Rong. Great Chu invaded the Northwest and was punished by the Witch God and God with the poisonous insect disease. If you don’t want to die, welcome the Rong soldiers, worship the Witch God, and break with Great Chu..."

You Xi hastily stuffed his mouth with coarse burlap and tried to drag him away, but some fools in the crowd refused to accept this and said, "Stop, who are you? You can’t take him away, he’s a true immortal, the poisonous insects don’t harm him!"

"Leave him, he can help us drive away the poisonous insects!"

"We already have Insect Attractant and can lure the poisonous insects out—yet you still listen to this demon people’s demon talk, what are you trying to do?!" Ms. Gao Lei was practically shaking with anger. Supported by Gu Jinli, she climbed down from the carriage and walked straight toward the center of the crowd, pointing at that man and saying, "He’s clearly a Rong bandit spy. He’s saying all this just to disturb the hearts of the Great Chu people—can’t you see that?!"

Quite a few people here had seen Ms. Gao Lei before and knew she was from the Lei Family’s Trading Team, so her words carried weight.

But...

"Old Madam Gao, those poisonous insects really didn’t harm him... Maybe what he said is true. The Northwest probably used to belong to Da Rong. Our ancestors took someone else’s land and beat the Da Rong people, so Great Chu suffered retribution and was punished with poisonous insects..."

Bang!

Before he could finish, Gu Jinli kicked him to the ground and cursed, "Don’t act stupid here! A few lines of demon talk from a spy and you’re already handing over the land of your ancestors—have you ever seen such an unfilial ingrate?"

She added, "You think just because poisonous insects don’t harm him he’s a real immortal? Fine, I’ll bestow these Divine Skills on you right now."

She shouted to Erqing, "Bring me a bucket of poisonous insects and splash it on him!"

When the man heard that, his face went pale with fright. He scrambled up to run, but You Xi brought him down with a single move.

"Madam, the poisonous insects are here," Erqing said.

Gu Jinli took out a small sachet and handed it to Sanqing at her side. "Open it and put it on him."

"Yes." Sanqing took the sachet and did as told.

"All of you look closely and see whether, after the poisonous insects are splashed onto him, they crawl outward!" Erqing shouted loudly so that everyone around could hear, then lifted the small wooden bucket and dumped the poisonous insects all over the man.

Good grief, an entire bucket of poisonous insects covered the man.

He was so terrified that his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away on the spot.

But the poisonous insects did not harm him. On the contrary, as if afraid of being harmed by him, as soon as they landed on his body they immediately started crawling off his flesh.

"Oh God, this brother is an immortal too, the poisonous insects don’t harm him!"