Auntie Zhuang lunged at Jiang Shuyue, trying to hit her, but she dodged with practiced ease again.
This time, she did not stick out her foot. Auntie Zhuang tripped over a gap between the paving bricks all by herself and fell flat on her face.
"Aaah!"
Li Xinru let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
A string of pained groans followed. Jiang Shuyue pressed her lips together and hid behind Jiang Mother, snickering.
Jiang Shuyue: [Poor Li Xinru. I wonder if she'll be crushed? Ideally, it'll squeeze some of the water out of her brain and clear her head.]
Huahua: [That's impossible, but her wrist really has been dislocated. Old Madam Zhuang is just over a meter and a half tall and weighs a full ninety-one kilograms. Li Xinru only weighs fifty-five. Gravitational acceleration is no joke.]
Pinned beneath her, Li Xinru could barely breathe and shoved hard at Auntie Zhuang.
The old madam shouted too, "What are you all standing around for? Help them up!"
"Quick, quick, help them up! You oblivious fools, can't you see the old madam's sister has fallen?"
"Oh dear, be gentle! Don't hurt her. Put some muscle into it! Haven't you eaten in days?"
Steward Chen was a shrewd man. As he bustled about, he kept signaling to them with his eyes.
He had promoted all these household guards himself, so naturally, they knew whose side to take.
They made a show of struggling to pull her up, but none of their strength went where it needed to.
Every time Auntie Zhuang was about to get up, someone would have a mishap, sending her crashing down again.
Li Xinru suffered repeated blows underneath her and was on the verge of tears.
"A bunch of useless fools! You can't even help someone up.