Releasing a serious criminal is an extremely serious matter. Although the villagers may seem to have no problem with it, it is said that Ma has taken a thousand taels of silver from someone. If her fate is not revealed, what will happen if someone tries to bribe the villagers in the future?

“Village Chief,” Liu Erleng stepped forward and said loudly, “We know what you mean. Don’t worry, I, Liu Erleng, swear that no matter how much money anyone gives me, I will never betray anyone in our village!”

"And me!" Li Dachui stepped forward and said, "Our family would never sell out the villagers for any reason!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you two, that's enough! You're acting like someone's going to betray the people of our village, isn't that right, everyone?" someone immediately shouted, clearly unhappy.

The others chimed in, and the scene nearly spiraled out of control.

Seeing this scene, Village Chief Li felt very gratified.

It was worth risking offending Lu Yancai for the rest of his life by making the handling of the Ma family public.

He personally went to the county government office to find out Ma's fate; neither Lu Yanzheng nor Jiang Qinyu said a word.

"Village chief, we all know about this. What's the other thing you mentioned?" After a while, someone suddenly asked loudly.

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Li immediately perked up, and his smile visibly widened. "Don't rush, he's about to tell you, isn't he?"

All eyes turned to him again.

Village Chief Li cleared his throat and said, "Listen up, everyone! I got the latest news from A-Zheng: he has no intention of leaving again this time!"

Although Lu Yanzheng had said before that he would not go out for the time being, Village Chief Li was still extremely excited when he heard Lu Yanzheng say that he would treat Dingshui Village as a place like Kyoto and that he would stay in the village no matter whether he conquered the world or not.

He couldn't wait to share his excitement with the villagers.

"Uh, Uncle Village Chief, if Brother Zheng isn't leaving, he's not leaving. He said that last time too. Why are you so agitated?" a young man asked, puzzled.

Meng Tianze happened to be standing next to this person and, upon hearing this, gave him a sharp rap on the head. "Silly boy, what your brother Zheng means is that our place might become like Kyoto in the future!"

Upon hearing this, most of the villagers were stunned.

What? Their village is going to become Kyoto?

Wait a minute, Lu Yanzheng is now the King of the Northwest, and he is plotting to fight the imperial court to the end. If he succeeds in the future, won't he become the emperor?

Wherever the emperor is, isn't that the capital?

"Oh my! I knew Ah Zheng was the right kid! Look at him, he's turned our village into a Kyoto!"

"Hey, don't get too excited yet. Even if our remote and impoverished place became the capital, wouldn't nobody come?"

"You women are so short-sighted. With Ah Zheng and his wife around, would these things be a problem?"

"..."

The scene was bustling again, with no one caring that Lu Yanzheng was going against the imperial court and that they were being treated as rebels. They feared that no one would come if they succeeded in the future.

Village Chief Li stared speechlessly at these people, unable to bear it any longer, and shouted, "Quiet down, everyone!"

The people below fell silent again.

Village Chief Li chuckled and said, "When you went to the county and town recently, didn't you discover anything?"

Liu Erleng, who frequently traveled to the city, thought about it carefully upon hearing this and his eyes immediately lit up. "That's right! These days I keep seeing quite a few wealthy and powerful people buying houses and settling down in the city!"

"That's right! Because Ah Zheng is here, many high-ranking officials and nobles from the four northwestern prefectures are now flocking to our Yongshan County!" Village Chief Li's face beamed with joy.

Li Dachui was puzzled, "What does this have to do with us?"

“Uncle Big Hammer,” Jiang Dacheng slapped Li Dachui on the shoulder, “When rich people come here, we can make money!”

Their village is different now than before. Most people can make a living from the market, and they hire people from nearby villages to do the farm work.

“That’s right!” someone immediately chimed in. “Now that we have a market, many things in the village are already easy to sell. In the future, we’ll have even more ways to make money.”

And most importantly, all the land and houses in Yongshan County will be very valuable in the future!

No, to be precise, the land in their village should be the most valuable!

However, when Village Chief Li said the next thing, everyone fell silent.

“Listen to me, everyone,” Village Chief Li continued, raising his hand to press down, “Since A-Zheng has made this decision, I’m thinking we should take the initiative. Our village committee, representing the entire village, should talk to him and offer him our land so we can choose another piece of land to build a new village…”

Although the Lu family's mansion is not small now, it will definitely not be enough if Lu Yanzheng really becomes the emperor in the future.

Almost everything they have now comes from Lu Yanzheng and his wife, so now that they need it, they should naturally take the initiative.

Upon hearing this, Meng Tianze, Liu Erleng, Li Dachui, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, and the crowd below the stage fell silent.

They would certainly not refuse to support Lu Yanzheng, but asking them to voluntarily give up their homestead... wouldn't that be a bit too much?

Just then, Jiang Qinyu's voice rang out from behind the crowd.

“Uncle Village Chief, thank you for your suggestion, but neither Zheng Ge nor I would agree to everyone doing this.” Jiang Qinyu stepped forward slowly.

People in front of her made way for her, and Jiang Qinyu quickly reached the stage.

She smiled gently at the small-statured people and said, "Don't worry, everyone. Although Brother Zheng has decided to stay in the village, we have other ways. You don't need to give up your houses."

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