Chapter 89: Chapter 89
Chapter 89
However, Mu Tian’s foolishness masked by her arrogance led her to believe that such an incident had happened before.
She thought that the previous time when many villagers and soldiers fell ill, it was due to someone with ill intentions poisoning them. Thus, Mu Tian’s selfishness made her think that even if she didn’t take on the task, another villager else would. Rather than letting others benefit from this, it was better for her to receive the money herself.
After all, wasn’t it true that no one got caught the last time this happened?
This time, if she was careful, no one would catch her either. Just like that, the 2 silver taels would be hers easily.
It was two silver taels. With 2 taels, she could buy plenty of clothes and jewelry. She could dress as nicely as Mu Heng’s wife and buy several beautiful accessories.
Just thinking about it, Mu Tian could only imagine the happiness. She never considered the consequences, such as getting caught. After all, could anyone really earn money so easily? Especially with such a shady job, wasn’t it the most dangerous of all?
But would someone who valued money above all else care? She only wanted to complete the task quickly and happily spending that money. With this in mind, that evening, Mu Tian headed straight to the kitchen of the food supply unit.
Upon reaching the kitchen, she tried her best to hide herself. However, seeing that no one was around, she poured the poison powder into the food until the entire packet was empty. This was done under the watchful eyes of over 20 soldiers, who had been warned by the women from the capital about Mu Tian’s suspicious presence when they were preparing food for distribution last time.
They unintentionally talked about the previous incident with the food, even unintentionally mentioning a woman named "Mu Tian" who had been acting strangely. They said that they had been distributing food and setting up a soup kitchen for many days without any issues until that villager started meddling.
Today, when the soldiers saw Mu Tian walking into the kitchen, they kept an eye on her, allowing her to enter easily without any guards.
Little did they expect this woman to be so foolish. She assumed there were truly no guards in the soldiers’ food supply unit and leapt into the trap, even daring to pour the poison powder right in front of everyone!
"Catch her!! Don’t let her escape!"
The booming voice of the food supply unit head, who had been reprimanded for the previous incident, startled Mu Tian, who hadn’t expected anyone to be there. The coarse woman jerked, so shocked that she dropped the poison powder on the floor. Instead of hiding it in her clothes and trying to come up with an idea to escape this, she let the white powder scattered into the air, becoming great evidence.
It was revealed, Mu Tian was this foolish....
“Y-You. This... No, it’s not me. It’s not me.”
Mu Tian, who was only good at criticizing others, lost her composure completely when caught red-handed. Should she say she didn’t do it? She held a packet of poison in her hand, yet she said she didn’t do that. Could anyone believe her words after this?
"It’s not you! If not you, then which dog did it! Someone, take this to the physician for examination. I will certainly report this suspicious behavior to the general. In the meantime, tie her up and place her with the sick soldiers in the open yard."
The position of food supply head wasn’t easy to attain. Throughout his tenure, he had never been reprimanded. This recent mistake wasn’t even their fault, yet he was blamed.
Today, discovering the one who caused the whole incident, he must send her to face punishment, reclaiming all the achievement of his!
Three or four soldiers rushed in to seize Mu Tian. She struggled for a long while, tears streaming down her face from fear. She initially thought this transgression would be like the last time, right? Last time, who was the one who committed the act? The person was so discreet that they weren’t caught. Shouldn’t she also have gone unnoticed?
But upon further thought, she realized why there were no guards around. It was all part of a plan, a scheme to catch her from the start!
"It’s really not me, please let me go. Someone framed me, someone deliberately set me up!" Mu Tian said as she cried. Her demeanor was so pitiful. But now, no one felt any sympathy for her.
They were soldiers, and when their comrades suffered due to someone else’s evilness, it was unbearable. Not to mention that she was about to do it again, intending for one of them to eat the food from that pot.
It wasn’t just their long-time comrades; even they wouldn’t have escaped. Just the thought of having to lie down, vomiting and defecating in such a disgraceful manner, made them want to skin the culprit’s head and chop it into pieces.
If it weren’t for the fact that she was a villager and caught in this manner, they would have pretended to mistake her for a bandit and cut off her head right there!
"Who would frame you? Frame you by telling you to bring this strange powder to us?" One of the soldiers roared.
His eyes red with rage. One of his close comrades had died, leaving only a lifeless corpse. He was one of the deceased. It was a death that caused people to feel hurt.
They used to talk about how if they ever been killed by an enemy, they wanted others to tell their descendants how capable they were. But what would they say after this?
"Kids, your father died because he ate poisoned food. Yes, poison from the very villagers your father was helping." How would that sound? How would the children feel? Where would their pride come from?
Initially, he had been furious when his comrade fell ill and died, but he had no one to direct his anger towards.
No one could tell them what was wrong with their friends, and they couldn’t find the cause. Who would have thought that the culprit wouldn’t stop? The first attempt wasn’t succeeded; she intended to do it again. Was her goal to see all the soldiers like them dead!
“I said the truth. A man hired me to put this powder in the soldiers’ food. Here, I still have the payment.”
“Oh, so you just took it, didn’t you? Knowing full well it could injure or kill us, you didn’t care. You accepted just 2 silver taels, didn’t you?!” The shout out of anger made Mu Tian tremble.
“Yes! I’m just a poor common villager. 2 taels may seem little to you, but it’s a lot to me. A lot!”
Mu Tian saw the other snatch the 2 taels from her hand and toss them aside without care. This made her blurt out her selfishness. She yelled back, arguing. She did not realize what kind of situation she was in, desperately trying to retrieve the money.
“So, you’re saying that because you’re poor, you accepted 2 taels to kill the soldiers who came to help you deal with bandits?!”
“T-That’s, that’s...” She wanted to argue but knew that continuing might get her slapped.
Seeing the murderous looks in their eyes, Mu Tian could only fall silent, tears streaming down her face. She looked around for any way to escape the death.
The soldiers tied her hands and feet and dragged her to the pile of vomit from the soldiers, which still reeked. The treatment area now housed just over 200 sick soldiers, while the recovered or unaffected had moved their tents away.
They couldn’t bear to stay in such an environment. Just entering the area made Mu Tian, unaccustomed to such a horrid sight, vomit as well.
She was shoved into the pile of soldiers’ excrement and vomit. Already filthy from her lack of hygiene, she was now covered in a putrid mess. Mu Tian never imagined she would end up like this.
“Screech! Let me out. You’re all cruel. I didn’t do it. I told you I didn’t do it!”
“Someone, please help me. I really didn’t do it. I swear with my life! This is the first time I took money. I’ve never done this before. It was someone else, someone else took the job.”
“Please have mercy on me. I repent. I don’t want to be punished like this.” Mu Tian’s cries and curses continued.
The more she screamed, the more the stench filled her nose and mouth. Eventually, she vomited from the nausea, only to regain her strength and start crying and cursing again. This cycle repeated several times.
In the distance, the women watched the result of their plan. After a few hours, the power of the 2 taels had led things to this point. Their plan was successful. Seeing that the soldiers were too enraged to listen to Mu Tian, they felt even more at ease.
Satisfied with their successful plan, many of the women thought about taking a break, until they saw the Young General return, injured!
Liu Sun was the first to rush towards the Young General’s group. The soldiers who came with him were also severely wounded. They tried their best to reach the tents. Luckily, several soldiers were on guard duty. When they saw the Young General who was their leader injured, many rushed to help.
The women were slightly slower than Liu Sun, but it wasn’t inappropriate. Liu Sun was known as the Young General’s lover, so it wasn’t surprising she was the first to reach him. The soldiers even made way for her to easily pass.
The Young General was unconscious. The guards helped carry him, with Liu Sun by his side. Shouts for a physician echoed everywhere, making this afternoon another day of chaos.
While the Young General’s side was in turmoil, Yueqian and Mu Heng arrived at the village. They didn’t pay attention to the increasing number of guards. Even those resting had to stand watch to prevent bandits from attacking while the general was severely injured.
However, they could ignore the increasing number of soldiers, but couldn’t ignore the increasing number of villagers. They didn’t even get to reach the village leader’s house, a man’s voice called out.
“A’Heng, you’re here. The Mu family is in trouble. Your grandfather and grandmother are going to your home to look for you. Go home quickly,” said the large man. Mu Heng frowned, looking at A’Rui, the skilled hunter, with surprise.
“Is there trouble again? What about my younger siblings?...” Mu Heng’s concern wasn’t for the Mu family members themselves.
They were no longer considered his family. He had cut ties with them last time. In fact, ever since he moved out, there should have been no connection. However, he still felt like he owed them a favor of taking care of his parents. But recently, after fighting with his uncles who had stolen Qian’er’s steamed buns money, Mu Heng had no more goodwill left for the Mu family.
