After Transmigrating, I Was Assigned Three Wives—Refusing Was a Crime! - Chapter 9:

Chapter 9: No One Can Bully My Wife

After driving off Sun Magan, Lu Qing continued deeper into the mountain forest.

By the time the sun set behind the hills, Lu Qing finally returned to Manglong Village—only to find thick smoke rising from the village.

“What’s that?” he muttered.

Just then, a group of children ran up from the village entrance. “Scholar Lu, your house is on fire!”

“What?” Lu Qing froze for a second before sprinting toward his home.

By the time he arrived, the entire house had already burned beyond recognition. Aunt Zhang was leading a few villagers in cleaning up the aftermath, while Han Qiuniang, Zheng Yulan, and Cheng Su’e were covered in ash and dirt. Clearly, they had fought the fire with everything they had.

In Manglong Village, let alone using water to put out fires—people didn’t even have enough to drink. So when a house caught fire, all one could do was either watch helplessly or try desperately to save whatever valuables they could to reduce the loss.

“Cousin…” Zheng Yulan looked at Han Qiuniang with tears in her eyes. “Life was just starting to look better… Why won’t it let us be happy?”

Cheng Su’e also had tears in her eyes, deeply aggrieved. If it was going to end like this, then why give them hope in the first place?

“I told you all long ago that Han Qiuniang was bad luck. Lu Qing just wouldn’t listen. Now look, the house is burned to the ground. Truly pitiful.”

While others were busy comforting the three women, a jarring voice suddenly rang out. Sun Magan stepped forward from the crowd, grinning maliciously, his face full of schadenfreude.

“I think Han Qiuniang and the others should just leave Manglong Village. Today it’s their house that caught fire—who’s to say it won’t be ours next? We’re all just humble villagers. If a fire wipes everything out, how are we supposed to survive?”

Sun Magan used the incident to stir up the crowd.

“He has a point.”
“Yeah, we can’t let someone cursed stay in Manglong Village.”

Several villagers, swayed by his words, began nodding in agreement.

“You’re talking nonsense! My cousin isn’t cursed! My husband said she brings good fortune!” Zheng Yulan stood up for Han Qiuniang.

“Your cousin brings good fortune? Lu Qing is just a clueless bookworm—what does he know? Isn’t she the one who jinxed her fiancé to death?” Sun Magan sneered back.

Everyone in the nearby villages knew that Han Qiuniang had brought misfortune to the man who proposed to her. People called her cursed.

“You—” Cheng Su’e wanted to argue but was stopped by Han Qiuniang.

“Yulan, Su’e.” Han Qiuniang turned to the two beside her. “From now on, live well with your husband. He’s a good man—he’ll treat you both right.”

Her voice was filled with sorrow and despair.

Zheng Yulan and Cheng Su’e were stunned. “Cousin, what are you saying?” Cheng Su’e asked, sensing something was wrong.

“I’m a cursed woman. Staying here will only bring disaster to our husband and you both.” Han Qiuniang’s voice trembled with guilt. She believed she was the reason behind all of this.

The villagers also looked toward her, many convinced that this fire had indeed been caused by her ill fate.

“I know what kind of person I am. I’ll leave Manglong Village. But Yulan and Su’e are not like me.” Han Qiuniang swept her gaze across the crowd. No matter what, she had made up her mind to leave.

“Who’s to say your sisters won’t bring disaster to our village too? If you leave, they go with you. Manglong Village doesn’t welcome any of you,” Sun Magan said, seeing Han Qiuniang try to leave Zheng Yulan behind. He wouldn’t allow it. He was determined to make Lu Qing pay for what happened earlier.

“You—”

“Sun Magan, to hell with you!” a furious shout rang out behind him. Before he could react, a foot slammed into his rear, sending him flying face-first into the dirt.

“Who the hell hit me?!”

“Your grandpa, me!” Lu Qing shouted, rushing forward and landing a few more solid kicks.

“Lu Qing!”
“Lu Qing!”

Seeing him lash out, Wu He and Wu Hai hurriedly stepped in to stop him.

“You dare hit me, Lu Qing?!”

“So what if I do? You damn well deserve it. My house caught fire—what the hell does that have to do with you? And you dare insult my wife? If I don’t break your leg today, this isn’t over!” Lu Qing was truly enraged.

Sun Magan had clearly been trying to turn the whole village against them.

“Husband, please, let it go!” Han Qiuniang rushed to pull him back.

The surrounding villagers fell silent. None had expected the usually quiet Lu Qing to explode like this, and with such force. Was this really a scholar?

“It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. You are my wife, and no one can hurt you.” Lu Qing gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind Han Qiuniang’s ear, his eyes full of tenderness.

Everyone looked at Lu Qing, then back at Sun Magan. Sun Magan was infamous in Manglong Village—no one dared cross him. Yet today, he had been beaten up by Lu Qing without even being able to fight back.

“You dare hit me?!” Sun Magan shouted, rising to his feet, glaring.

“Not satisfied?” Lu Qing turned around and grabbed a hoe from the side, looking ready to go all out.

There’s a saying: the soft fear the tough, the tough fear the crazy, and the crazy fear the ones who don’t care about their lives.

Sun Magan was used to bullying the weak. He thought everyone feared him. But when he saw Lu Qing really about to go mad, he panicked and stumbled back several steps.

“You… you… Lu Qing, you just wait!” he shouted before running away like a scared rabbit.

“Husband?” Han Qiuniang looked at Lu Qing, guilt written all over her face. “It’s all gone—the food, the clothes, even the wheelbarrow… everything burned with the house.”

She still blamed herself, thinking she had brought disaster upon him.

“It’s fine. Let it burn. That house wasn’t livable anyway. We’ll just build a new, bigger one,” Lu Qing said with a smile, trying to comfort her.

“But…” Han Qiuniang bit her lip. So many things had been lost inside.

“No buts. Nothing is more important than the three of you. As long as you’re all safe, that’s the best outcome. As long as we’re alive, we can rebuild everything,” Lu Qing said calmly, comforting Han Qiuniang, Zheng Yulan, and Cheng Su’e.

“Everyone who came to help today—I truly thank you. And those who came just to watch—I don’t blame you. You can watch, but you cannot bully my wives. Now go on, all of you!” Lu Qing dismissed the crowd, then turned to the three women. “Do any of you know how the fire started?”

The three of them shook their heads.

“We were going to dig wild greens with Aunt Zhang. We’d barely left the village when the house caught fire. I remember clearly—I put out the kitchen fire before leaving,” Zheng Yulan explained.

“I understand.” Lu Qing walked over to the ruins, stepping among the debris.

He seemed to be searching for something, glancing around carefully.

“Husband, what are you looking for?” Han Qiuniang asked, joining him. She glanced around too but saw nothing unusual.

“Nothing,” Lu Qing replied, clapping the dust off his hands as he stood up.

“Husband, where will we sleep tonight?” Cheng Su’e asked nervously. With the house gone, would they have to sleep outside?

“It’s fine. Someone will give up their house for us,” Lu Qing said with ease.

Give up their house? Han Qiuniang, Zheng Yulan, and Cheng Su’e looked at him in confusion. If someone gave up their house, where would they live?