Stealing My Part

However, Zhao Ruxi had taken the Agility Pill produced by the system, making her not only agile but also incredibly sharp-eyed. To others, the woman rushed over extremely fast, and the slap came unexpectedly straight at her face, but to Zhao Ruxi, her movements appeared extremely slow.

As the hand reached out to her, she calmly and deftly shifted her body to the side, even managing to trip the woman with her foot. The woman missed her target and fell straight to the ground with a "thud," her heavy body slamming into the ground and causing it to tremble slightly.

Everyone paused for a moment, and the chaotic scene quieted down for a brief instant.

Zhao Ruxi's tearful cry rang out, "Third Aunt, why are you hitting me? What did I do wrong that you want to hit me? Waaah..."

The woman's movements were too fast, and Zhao Ruxi's movements were even faster. Everyone was in such a rush that they didn't see clearly. Now that they saw Zhao Ruxi covering her face and crying, everyone assumed she had been slapped by the woman.

Qingfeng immediately stepped forward anxiously. "Miss, are you alright?"

Lady Luo had just started working as the young lady's bodyguard and had just received instructions from the young lady. She was furious and anxious because she hadn't been able to protect the young lady at the crucial moment. She kicked the woman, who was trying to get up, back to the ground.

Stepping on the woman's back, Lady Luo angrily shouted at Lady Su, "Why did you hit my daughter for no reason? Don't think that just because your husband became an official after the family division, you can do whatever you want. Under the emperor's nose, you're abusing your power and committing violence. Do you have no respect for the law?"

Lady Luo had heard her husband, Ma Sheng, recount Zhao Ruxi's heroic deeds many times. The trick of falsely accusing someone was something Ma Sheng learned from Zhao Ruxi and then passed on to Lady Luo.

Lady Luo immediately put his knowledge into practice.

Lady Su has always liked to feign weakness; she chose to come here and cause a scene in order to gain everyone's sympathy.

She had witnessed Zhao Ruxi confronting Lady Wei head-on and knew that Zhao Ruxi was a strong-willed person. She also felt that Zhao Ruxi was too young to be provoked. Before anyone could react, she would beat Zhao Ruxi up and then cry, which would naturally win everyone's sympathy and ruin Zhao Ruxi's reputation. That way, she would have achieved her goal.

When she gets home, she'll shut herself in and won't let anyone in, not even if Lady Zhu comes looking for trouble. The eldest son's family will have no choice but to accept their fate this time.

But she didn't expect things to go completely against plan. The strong-willed Zhao Ruxi didn't stand up for herself and instead started crying softly.

Lady Su was completely stunned—wasn't this her scene? How did Zhao Ruxi steal her job?

Seeing that Lady Su was stunned at the crucial moment, the old woman next to her hurriedly gave Lady Su a push.

Only then did Lady Su realize what was happening, and she quickly burst into tears, sobbing, "What do you mean, 'became an official'? You, you troublemaker, ruined my master's official position!"

She rubbed her eyes hard with a handkerchief, making them red, and looked at the crowd, saying, "Everyone, be the judge! My husband was a perfectly good official in the Office of the Grand Steward, but my dear niece had to provoke the heir of the Earl of Zhongqin's Residence, which resulted in my husband being beaten up. He was brought back yesterday, barely clinging to life. If it weren't for his good fortune, we would be an orphan and a widow, sob sob..."

As Lady Su sobbed, her Lihua, looking utterly pitiful.

But everyone was looking at her strangely.

If Lady Su were ten years younger, or if she had been the first to cry, she might have gained some sympathy from the crowd.

But Zhao Ruxi was only fourteen years old, younger and prettier than her, and she cried even more pitifully. More importantly, she had been beaten and was crying in front of Lady Su. She had the looks, the advantage, and the acting skills, so everyone's favor immediately tilted in her favor.

This poor little girl, she was clearly beaten and then smeared... tsk tsk tsk, what a pitiful sight.

Someone couldn't help but say, "This woman is shameless. She hit someone and then tried to play the victim, trying to ruin the girl's reputation. Anyone who has a relative like this is truly cursed."

"Exactly. Didn't you see her storming over with a bunch of maids and servants, slapping the girl across the face, and then several of them pounced on her? Then she turned around and started crying. Is this woman perhaps a former actress?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Su almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

But Zhao Ruxi still wouldn't let her go.

She wiped away her tears, sniffled, seemingly trying her best to control her emotions, and looked at Lady Su with a sorrowful expression, saying, "Third Aunt, I really can't understand what you're saying. I'm just going to school, I'm either at the academy or at home every day, when have I ever offended anyone? And others are one thing, but you, as an elder, are throwing mud at my niece, deliberately blocking me in the street, ruining my reputation, what is your reason? I believe I have never disrespected you, Third Aunt, what grudge do you hold against me that you would ruin my reputation like this?"

As she spoke, she burst into tears again.

The look of disgust on Lady Su's faces grew even stronger.

A woman's reputation is of utmost importance. For an elder to deliberately go to the street to ruin his niece's reputation, whatever the reason, is too despicable and insidious.

Zhao Ruxi's performance wasn't over yet.

She covered her face with one hand, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and stubbornly tried to hold back her tears. "Besides, Third Uncle is an official in the Office of the Grand Steward. Everyone knows what kind of place the Office of the Grand Steward is. What ability do I, a powerless woman, have to make Third Uncle get beaten up, or lose his position? Anyone with a brain knows that what you're saying, Aunt, is unreliable. Even if you want to cause me trouble, please come up with a more plausible reason."

"Yes, the Office of the Grand Steward is the Crown Prince's residence. Not to mention this young girl, even the empresses in the palace couldn't easily punish or dismiss an official from the Court of Office of the Grand Steward. This woman's reasoning is too far-fetched, isn't it?" someone in the crowd chimed in.

"Exactly. Ignorant women are truly terrifying. Even if you want to cause trouble, you should at least do your research before spouting nonsense, shouldn't you?"

Lady Su raised her eyebrows, about to speak, but Zhao Ruxi didn't give her the chance. Feigning agitation, she cried out first, "No matter what misunderstanding you have, Third Aunt, go to the mansion to find Grandmother or my mother, and you can clear things up. Why are you blocking my way here and leading a group of people to beat me? Waaah..."

"Heh, what else could it be? It's just bullying others because of her power. She thinks that the Third Master has become arrogant since he became an official, so she wants to bully the people of our eldest branch. She's also worried about displeasing the Old Madam and being scolded for being unfilial, so she wants to pick on the young lady, this soft persimmon, and humiliate her." Lady Luo sneered as she played the straight man.

"Who dares to bully my daughter?" a voice came from behind Lady Su.

Zhao Ruxi raised her tearful eyes and cried out in surprise, "Mother!" She hurriedly took two steps towards Lady Zhu.

However, it was Lady Zhu received a report from a servant and arrived just in time.