Chapter 2: To think such a menace would appear in my own home

Shi Qingluo held up one of the small black balls in her hand.

She deliberately put on a crazed expression, "Since you all want me dead, then you can accompany me."

Shi Laosan sneered, "You're holding some black thing and want us to die with you? Have you lost your mind?"

The others were also very disdainful, thinking that this wretched girl was clutching at straws in her desperation.

Shi Qingluo sneered, "Then let me show you."

She pulled a fire starter from her bosom, lit the short fuse of the small black ball, and tossed it into an empty, unoccupied corner of the courtyard.

The original owner had to burn wood for cooking every day, so she always carried a fire starter with her.

She had wanted to throw it at these horrible people, but if she maimed or killed them, she would have to go to jail, which wasn't worth it.

"Boom!" With a loud sound, the small black ball exploded.

It snapped a tree growing in the empty corner of the courtyard in two, and a hole was blasted into the ground.

Everyone present was struck with terror.

Seeing the power of this small black ball, the Shi family members couldn't help but think of the old Taoist priest who had supposedly ascended to immortality.

Two months ago, several similar loud bangs had suddenly erupted halfway up the mountain, followed by flames shooting into the sky; the main hall of the Taoist temple and the priest himself had vanished.

Everyone said it was a miraculous sign of the old priest ascending to immortality, and the Shi family had believed it too.

But now, they weren't so sure.

Shi Qingluo toyed with the remaining small black balls in her hand, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the Shi family.

"How about it? Do you want to taste the power of these fireballs?"

"These were left behind by my master, specifically for me to save my life. If you don't believe it, you can experience it for yourselves."

She snorted coldly, "If I go to the Wu family to be buried with their son today, then you all can go and be buried with the young master of the Wu family as well. With so many of us, it’ll be lively in the underworld."

This was indeed crude gunpowder refined by the old Taoist. The old man’s original intention was to refine pills, but who knew he would end up creating explosives instead.

After that, he became obsessed with researching explosives and ended up blowing himself up.

After the old Taoist died, the original owner brought the books, two chests, and these few small black balls from the unexploded side room back home.

Shi Qingluo came from the modern era, and as soon as she saw these things in her memories, she knew they were crude bombs, which was why she had run to get them.

As long as these horrible people in the Shi family didn't want to die, they wouldn't dare send her to be buried alive again.

The Shi family: "..." No, they didn't want to experience it at all, and they certainly didn't want to go to the underworld to keep anyone company.

Old Man Shi, who had been silent the whole time, asked, "What exactly do you want?"

Shi Qingluo said, "You will voluntarily call off the marriage with the Wu family. As for who I marry in the future, I will choose for myself."

"Otherwise, if I don't have a good life, we can all die together."

"Fourth Uncle is a future scholar with a bright future, perhaps even a provincial graduate; you wouldn't want to die young, would you?"

Shi Laosi: "..." He certainly didn't.

This wretched girl had grabbed them by their lifeblood.

The power of these small black balls was simply too great; one slip and someone would be blown to bits. Looking at the crazed look on the girl's face, they didn't dare to gamble.

Niu Shi and the others felt the pain of losing that hundred taels of silver, but compared to death, their lives were more important.

So, Old Man Shi gave Old Lady Shi a look.

Old Lady Shi had no choice but to smile apologetically at the old nanny again, "Look at this? There's nothing we can do."

They had to call off the marriage; otherwise, the wretched girl would drag them all to the grave with her.

Shi Qingluo looked at the old nanny with a sinister gaze, bouncing the small black ball in her hand, "It doesn't matter if the Wu family wants to marry me. Since you all care so much about Young Master Wu, we can actually all go down together to keep him company."

She curled her lips and asked, "I believe you all would also like to go to the underworld to continue serving Young Master Wu, right?"

The old nanny and the maids and servants behind her: "..." No, they didn't want to at all.

The old nanny could see it now: as long as this wretched girl had these deadly things in her hands, they couldn't take her away. After all, no one wanted to die.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a human.

It was all the fault of these people in the Shi family for letting the girl know about the burial arrangement. They were useless trash who couldn't accomplish anything and only made things worse.

Now they had to find a new bride, and she didn't know if there was still time.

"Since Miss Shi is unwilling to marry into the Wu family, I will go back and report this to my master and mistress now."

After saying this to Shi Qingluo, she looked at Old Lady Shi and said, "Send someone with me to the Wu family to call off the engagement."

Old Lady Shi looked at her third son and Niu Shi with a grim expression and said, "You two go."

The two of them could only pull long faces and follow the old nanny to the Wu family to call off the marriage.

The silver that was almost in their hands had just flown away, and they felt like they could eat the wretched girl alive.

After they left, Shi Qingluo used a rope to tie the remaining crude bombs together, wrapping them around her waist, but she kept the fire starter in her hand.

After doing this, she looked at the horrible people of the Shi family and raised an eyebrow, "Whoever wants to die, let me know in advance, and I will definitely grant your wish."

Old Lady Shi couldn't help but curse, "You heartless, wretched girl, how dare you treat your elders like this? Aren't you afraid of going to hell? You..."

Shi Qingluo sneered, "If you aren't afraid of going to hell, then I'm even less afraid."

"It looks like Grandma wants to go down and scout the path first?"

As she finished speaking, she untied one of the small black balls, looking as if she were about to light it and throw it over.

Old Lady Shi, who had been cursing, was so frightened that she looked as if someone had grabbed her by the throat, and she fell silent instantly.

The others were also so angry their chests ached, but they didn't dare to curse.

Shi Qingluo yawned, "I'm going to sleep for a while. Call me when it's time to eat."

"Otherwise!" She tossed the small black ball in her hand and gave a sinister smile to the people in the courtyard, "You know what will happen."

The Shi family: "..." To think such a monster was born into their family.

Shi Qingluo pushed the door open and entered the woodshed, which was where the original owner had lived since returning.

The original owner had used two wooden boards to make a bed, and the mat and quilt were things she had brought back from the Taoist temple herself.

She lay on the bed, considering what to do next.

From her memories, she knew this was a dynasty that didn't exist in history; it had taken a turn during the Tang Dynasty and became the Great Liang Dynasty.

The Great Liang had only been established for two generations of emperors.

It was somewhat like the Tang Dynasty, relatively open, and the requirements for women were not as harsh as in later dynasties.

However, the law stipulated that a woman could only establish a female household and live independently if she had no natal family or if her husband had died.

Therefore, it was impossible for her to separate from the Shi family and establish a female household on her own.

As for running away, that was even more unrealistic.

Because traveling far required a travel permit.

Without that, once she ran away and was caught, she would be an unregistered person, her status equivalent to a slave, and she would be sold as a government slave or exiled.

Especially since the establishment of the new dynasty, there were requirements for the population of each prefecture; fearing population loss, the management of household registration was very strict.

There was also a very坑爹 (pitiful/unfair) law that stipulated that if a man was eighteen and a woman was seventeen and they were still unmarried, the government would intervene and help force a marriage.

If they disagreed or resisted, it was a violation of the law and they would be jailed.

She was nearly sixteen now, and there was only a little over a year left before forced marriage.

After thinking it over, Shi Qingluo realized that there was only one way to solve her current predicament, and that was to get married.

If she let the Shi family choose, it would definitely be jumping from one fire pit into another.

Shi Qingluo never liked to wrong herself.

Rather than letting others control her marriage, it was better for her to find someone suitable herself.

Important Note: This is a fictional Liang Dynasty, not the Tang Dynasty, not the Tang Dynasty, not the Tang Dynasty. It only has a background and level of productivity development similar to the Tang Dynasty, but some private settings will be added. For example, cotton was not yet in use in the Tang Dynasty, but in the Great Liang in my book, cotton and cotton cloth already exist, so please do not compare it to real historical dynasties~ Mwah.

(End of chapter)