A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

The night was as dark as ink, shrouding Chenjia Village in a deathly silence.

Several dark figures, like ghosts, stealthily crept to the outside of Wang Jinzhu's yard, taking advantage of the cover of the corner of the wall and the shadows of the trees.

The one leading them was Chen Shuyan.

His face no longer resembled that of a scholar; it was distorted beyond recognition in the pale moonlight, and his eyes burned with flames of jealousy and resentment.

"Scholar Chen, is this the place?" A burly leader of the refugees lowered his voice, licked his chapped lips, and looked at the undisguised greed in his eyes. "This wall isn't low. What's that dark thing on top of the wall? It doesn't look easy to get in."

The leader of the refugees was already having second thoughts. This wall was higher than any other in the village, and the top was covered in shards of broken porcelain—clearly for thieves. This family was not to be trifled with.

Chen Shuyan noticed his hesitation, cursed inwardly, but forced an even more sinister smile onto his face, and untied a tattered cotton quilt from his back: "What are you afraid of? I'm prepared! These broken pieces of porcelain on the wall may be sharp, but they can't stop this."

After saying that, he threw the cotton quilt he had brought onto the wall, covering the sharp shards of porcelain.

"High walls and a large courtyard mean there are good things inside!" Chen Shuyan tempted them with profit. "Let me tell you, the lady of this house is Wang Jinzhu. She does business with 'Fuyinghao' in the prefectural city, dealing in those lip balms and perfumes that cost twenty-odd taels of silver a set! She makes at least several hundred taels a month!"

"Several hundred taels?"

The leader of the refugees and the men behind him were breathing heavily. Several hundred taels of silver! Enough for them to live a life of luxury for years to come!

"Not only is there silver, but the granary is definitely overflowing with grain! And..." Chen Shuyan's voice carried a sinister allure, "That Wang Jinzhu may be a bit plump, but she has fair skin and tender flesh, and is even more beautiful than the girls in town. As long as you help me kill her and her man, all the money, grain, and women inside are yours!"

A generous reward will surely attract brave men. This is especially true for a group of desperate criminals.

With the blankets as a cushion, the refugee leader's courage swelled: "Let's do it! Brothers, form a human ladder and climb in!"

The group scaled the wall and entered the courtyard. After landing, they did not rush into action, but instead explored the courtyard by the dim moonlight.

The migrant at the front had only taken a few steps when his foot suddenly gave way, and he stepped on a trap hidden in the grass.

"Snap!"

The metallic sound of the animal trap closing was particularly jarring in the quiet night.

"ah--!!!"

A piercing scream, so shrill it was inhuman, suddenly shattered the peaceful night of Chenjia Village like a thunderclap.

Chen Shuyan and the leader of the refugees, standing at the foot of the wall, had drastic changes in expression.

"Not good!" The leader of the refugees reacted quickly, turning around and rushing towards the workshop door in the backyard, trying to open the back door and slip away.

Chen Shuyan was closest to him, and seeing him about to run away, a wicked thought arose in his mind to shift the blame. He reached out and grabbed the leader of the refugees' arms, trying to pull him back to shield him from the disaster: "Don't leave me behind!"

But he forgot that with his frail physique, he was no match for the brute strength of a desperate thug. The leader of the refugees was agile and swiftly broke free from him, shoving Chen Shuyan towards the courtyard gate: "You block it yourself!"

Chen Shuyan staggered a few steps, and seeing that the leader of the refugees was about to rush to the workshop entrance, he didn't care about anything else and quickly followed behind him.

Just as the leader of the refugees was about to touch the latch, the back door was opened.

"Bang!"

At the same time, the village's gong, used to summon people, rang out urgently, breaking the silence.

A sudden burst of firelight appeared, and Wang Jinzhu stood behind the door, holding a heavy wood-chopping knife. The knife gleamed coldly, reflecting off her icy face. Behind her stood Wang Tianfang, holding a longbow, and Wang Xiaobao and Chen Shi, carrying a cudgel.

She had brought Chen Shi and Chen Yuxiang to the new house as early as when refugees appeared in the village. As for Wang Xiaobao, she specifically arranged for him to stay here before the village guard team officially began patrolling, so that he and Wang Tianfang could take turns keeping watch at night. As for her parents in Wangjia Village, none of them were weak fighters, so there was no need to worry about them for the time being.

"Where do you think you can run to?" Wang Jinzhu sneered, her gaze passing over the panicked refugees and landing on Chen Shuyan, who was facing the gate with his back to her.

Chen Shuyan was terrified. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw that his path had been blocked by villagers who had rushed over after hearing the commotion.

The refugee whose leg was trapped writhed in agony on the ground. Seeing the situation was dire, the remaining refugees, their eyes red with fury, tried to fight like cornered beasts, brandishing their machetes and lunging at the crowd.

Instead of retreating, Wang Jinzhu advanced. Just as the woodcutter's knife was about to reach her, she sidestepped the blade, and with lightning speed, she raised her right leg and kicked the other man in the chest with perfect accuracy!

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the man, who weighed over 100 pounds, was kicked flying, crashing into the courtyard wall and rolling to the ground. He curled up in a ball, clutching his chest, unable to even groan.

This astonishing scene completely shattered the psychological defenses of the remaining refugees.

"Heroine, spare my life!"

With a series of thuds, the remaining men were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, throwing their weapons far away and kowtowing repeatedly.

Wang Jinzhu ignored these spineless cowards and glanced around, locking her gaze on Chen Shuyan, who was still desperately fiddling with the door latch.

"And you."

She strode over, grabbed Chen Shuyan by the hair, ignored his cries of pain and pleas for mercy, and dragged him from the doorway to the center of the courtyard.

At this moment, Old Man Chen had already come out wearing his clothes.

When Old Man Chen saw Chen Shuyan being dragged to the ground like a dead dog by Wang Jinzhu, and then looked at the vagrant in the courtyard with his legs covered in blood and gore, there was nothing he didn't understand.

This grandson, whom he was once most proud of and the only scholar in the Chen family, had actually let a wolf into the house, intending to kill his entire family!

"You wretched creature!" Old Chen's hand, which was holding a cane, trembled violently, not from fear, but from extreme anger.

When Chen Shuyan saw his grandfather, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. He struggled to crawl over, pleading, "Grandpa! Grandpa! I was wrong! I was confused for a moment! Please forgive me this time!"

Old Chen's chest heaved violently as he looked at his grandson on the ground, his face unrecognizable, his cloudy eyes devoid of any warmth.

He walked heavily, step by step, to Chen Shuyan, slowly raising his still trembling hand, gathering all his strength—

"Snapped!"

A resounding slap landed hard on Chen Shuyan's face.

Chen Shuyan was stunned by the beating, his head was buzzing, and when he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood with a broken tooth stuck in it.

Old Chen pointed at the scoundrels on the ground, his voice hoarse, as if squeezed out from between his teeth: "Go, invite the village chief here! Open the ancestral hall!"

Soon, the village chief arrived in a hurry, carrying a lantern. Seeing the mess in the yard and the witnesses and evidence, the village chief gasped in shock.

"This is outrageous! What's wrong with being a scholar? Does being a scholar give you the right to bring back vagrants to kill and rob?" The village chief was so angry that his beard was trembling. He pointed at the vagrants who were tied up like dumplings and the limp Chen Shuyan, and shouted sternly, "Lock all these heartless bastards in the ancestral hall! Lock them up! Send them to the authorities tomorrow."

He turned to the villagers who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion and shouted, "Everyone stay up tonight! Take turns guarding outside the ancestral hall! Our village was talking about forming a guard team before, and I think tonight is the best warning! If these people get away, our whole village will suffer!"

Having witnessed firsthand the ferocity of the refugees and the wickedness of Chen Shuyan, the villagers dared not slacken their vigilance and responded in unison, "Don't worry, Village Chief! We'll keep a close eye on them!"