To put it bluntly, back then, she had been someone too weak to truss a chicken. Naturally, she would have found it difficult to protect her son.
Now, however, things were completely different from before. Though she had only just glimpsed the threshold of martial arts and grasped a trace of its essence, she was no longer as helpless and without support as she had once been. Naturally, this gave her much greater confidence.
"There's some truth to what you've said, but where's the evidence? Without evidence, it's nothing but fabrication and slander."
Once Chen Xiaotao steadied her thoughts, she immediately seized upon this weak point.
Chen Xian was dead. Her husband was dead. There was no longer anyone in the world who could verify her son's true identity—not even a blood test of kinship was possible.
Therefore, even if Meng Zhao and San Gouzi spread their speculation, apart from tarnishing Chen Xiaotao's reputation, there was little else they could accomplish.
Of course, some people needed no evidence. They acted according to their own thoughts. Once they decided something was so, then it was so whether it truly was or not.
Thus, rumors and idle talk could not be said to pose no harm or threat to Chen Xiaotao.
The existence of Meng Zhao and San Gouzi was by no means irrelevant to Chen Xiaotao. On the contrary, they posed an enormous threat.
Thus, Meng Zhao said directly,
"Whether it is true or not, Sister Xiaotao, there's no need for you to defend yourself. But once such claims spread, related rumors will naturally remain in Snow Bamboo Village, Little Cold Village, and even the county town.
"A few rumors may not be able to do anything to you, Sister Xiaotao, but the Martial Dao Secret Manual Chen Xian left behind