The village chief's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Old Zhu.

Is this what they call ignorance and fearlessness?

It's not time for the village to pay taxes yet, but Old Zhu has offended the county magistrate. Will the amount of grain their village, Tianshui, has to pay this year be increased?

The village chief is far from the capital and doesn't know what's going on there.

However, the state of things here is entirely determined by the magistrate's word.

Lu Congrong had met the county magistrate before. When she first saw the county magistrate of Lucheng appear at her door, she thought she was seeing things until she saw the village chief's face change.

He quickly tugged at Old Zhu's sleeve: "Grandma, this is the county magistrate."

"What county magistrate, county magistrate?" Old Madam Zhu paused, her arrogant face frozen as she stared at Lu Congrong, trying to see if Lu Congrong would deny it.

However, she was disappointed.

Lu Congrong nodded slowly with a dark expression.

The magistrate of Lucheng is surnamed Hu, and he is a muddle-headed person. He came with Zhao Han today because of the token Zhao Han was carrying. The golden token clearly indicates that he is a person from the capital.

Although he didn't know which official it was, he had to behave well no matter who it was. If he behaved well, he would have hope of being moved in the future; otherwise, he would have to stay in this village forever.

"Yes, it is I, the magistrate. Are we going to separate our families and sever ties here?" Magistrate Hu touched his sleeve and took out a piece of Xuan paper with the official seal of the county government. "I just happened to be passing by and came to witness this. Consider it an act of concern for the lives of the people under my jurisdiction."

Lu Daishu stood up straight. He was a scholar, and only a scholar. Although he was exempt from kneeling when facing real officials, he still couldn't straighten his back.

"Continue, show me how you've made your decision." Magistrate Hu strode towards the village chief, who still held the family division document in his hand.

Seeing that the magistrate was interested, the village chief immediately handed it over. Magistrate Hu stared at the words on it, looking at it again and again.

Good heavens, it costs four hundred taels of silver for a single household to divide their property in the village? No, no, it's not just four hundred taels of silver, but from now on, we'll have to treat this family like royalty every month.

Who wouldn't want two taels of silver without eating or drinking?

"Come, write it on this paper. It's hard for me to read, so you write it carefully." Magistrate Hu handed the Xuan paper with the county government's official seal to Lu Daishu.

Lu Daishu's Adam's apple bobbed.

How should we deal with this situation?

The magistrate just happened to be passing by? Passing by my foot! The man in black leading the horse in the corner is the one who beat him up like this. The magistrate must have been sent by Su Jiaoniang's lover.

Miscalculation!

What was the background of the scholar surnamed Gu?

Lu Daishu tore up the document he had written and looked at the magistrate tentatively, saying, "You've misunderstood, we were just joking..."

Lu Daishu denied his desire to curry favor with Gu Xizhou.

However, Magistrate Hu refused to listen. He had come to be a witness, and if the relationship was severed, how could he continue to be a witness? He narrowed his eyes and stared at Lu Daishu: "You're playing tricks on me! What do you take me for? You have no respect for rank! According to the law..."

Before the magistrate could speak, Lu Defu blocked Lu Daishu's way, bowing respectfully and saying, "Write it, we'll rewrite it now. Please don't take offense, sir; the child is young and doesn't understand."

After saying that, he pulled Lu Daishu towards the study.

When he came out again, he was holding three documents with the same name on them.

The magistrate glanced at it and decided that this time he only wanted four hundred taels to sever ties and pay off the child support and old-age expenses in one lump sum. The rest was not written down.

The magistrate pressed his fingerprint onto the cinnabar.

The gaze fell on the village chief, who immediately walked over and pressed his handprint on the document.

Looking at Su Jiaoniang, Su Jiaoniang and Lu Futu each pressed their handprints. That wasn't enough, Zhao Han, who was leading a horse in the corner, picked up Xiao Ya and pressed his handprint as well.

A family should always be together, shouldn't they?

What if they stop fighting over the Buddha statue and start targeting the little girls instead?

Zhao Han thought his idea was brilliant.

Su Jiaoniang smiled when she saw the little girl's handprint.

The money was exchanged for the documents; one copy was given to each person, and the other copy remained with Magistrate Hu.

Su Jiaoniang took the document and turned to leave.

Little Buddha stared at the silver notes in Lu Daishu's hand. Money spent will always be earned back! He vowed that he would not let his family's shadow be lost.

Lu Wujiu followed Su Jiaoniang's footsteps, showing no lingering attachment to the place he had been standing in.

The Su family members left.

Magistrate Hu looked at Zhao Han, who weighed 180 pounds. If he walked home, he would be exhausted.

Therefore, it's best to go back the way you came.

Zhao Han shrugged and saw the person off.

The remaining elders of the Lu family in the courtyard also left. Today, they were just background figures, there to witness the event, without even an opening remark.

The village chief glanced at Lu Defu, then at Lu Daishu, and sighed softly.

Originally, having another scholar in the village would have been a good thing, as it would have greatly improved the village's reputation.

As it turns out, things don't seem to be getting much better now.

What if the county magistrate comes in the middle of the night and holds a grudge against their village?

Looking back at the Lu family, well, they were verifying the authenticity of the banknotes, completely oblivious to whether the village would be harassed in the future.

The village chief shook his head and left the Lu family's house.

On the other side.

When Su Jiaoniang returned home, she counted the money she had earned over the past few days, and found that she only had a dozen or so taels of silver in her hand.

Seemingly knowing that Su Jiaoniang was worried, Xiaoya opened her little silver treasury and spread it out for Su Jiaoniang to see: "Mother, there's a lot of money, you can use it."

Su Jiaoniang smiled and took out a silver melon seed from Xiaoya's little treasure vault: "Little girl, you're so good. I'll lend you the money first, and I'll pay you back when I have it."

"Great!" Xiao Ya felt very relieved to see Su Jiaoniang take the money.

She's finally become a useful person.

She happily swung her slightly longer pigtails as she walked towards her room.

Lu Futu shook his head like an adult, staring at the silver on his body, all of which he had earned by selling aphrodisiacs.

However, he didn't know how to make the money public.

Will his mother allow him to continue selling?

His Rejuvenation Pill is now quite famous in the county town, and even some young masters from other places find it useful and want to take it back as a local specialty.

As for money, although I don't have four hundred taels, I still have two hundred taels.

Standing outside the door, hesitant, just as he was about to step inside, a black shadow fell down, and he looked up to meet Lu Wujiu's gaze.

She frowned slightly and said, "Don't even think about trying to bribe my mother."

"Is your mother someone who can be bought with money?" Lu Wujiu retorted.

Fu Tu frowned; his mother was not that kind of person.

He just didn't know how to refute Lu Wujiu.

If he says his mother isn't, then he's being petty and making a fuss over nothing. If he says she is, then how could his mother possibly be?

However, the exchange of money is often the key to bringing two people closer together.

Little Buddha does not want this hub to exist.