Taohua County has not encountered a large-scale bandit case for a long time, especially since the bandits were captured alive by the villagers!
The villagers were unharmed and even brought the thieves to the yamen (government office) with them tied up!
Unprecedented and unseen!
"Sir, although the eighteen bandits were injured, they are not in mortal danger. They have all been taken into custody and are being interrogated by the head constable."
The clerk was also dumbfounded. When he reported, he stared in astonishment at the villagers of Wu Family Village, as well as his old acquaintance Wu Yongfa!
Hey kid, when did your village become so good at defending itself?
These are bandits carrying knives!
The village chief remained calm and insisted that it was a bandit attack. He explained that the villagers were united and, because they owned a pharmaceutical factory, they had trained the patrolling villagers in advance…
After the village chief finished speaking, Qingsong mentioned that he and his mother had taken people to Jinling Prefecture a month ago to discuss cooperation, or perhaps it was revenge from an enemy...
After pondering the matter, Magistrate Liu had some guesses, but in order to appease the people, he did not make a big fuss. Instead, he labeled the group of men in black as bandits and punished them with the same penalties as mountain bandits.
Furthermore, Wujia Village was awarded ten taels of silver as a reward for eliminating the pest for more than a dozen villages in Taohua County!
That old fox, the village chief, pushed his luck and haggled until he got six long knives!
The advisor was so angry that his beard flew off. He quickly grabbed the other longswords and sent his old buddy away.
I had a private stroll and chat with the county magistrate and came to a conclusion—
Wujia Village has a bright future. The pharmaceutical factory is related to the livelihood and future of the surrounding villages in Taohua County. It might even be related to the future career advancement of adults!
After careful consideration, Magistrate Liu realized that what the advisor said made a lot of sense!
If the pharmaceutical factory continues to operate, not only Wujia Village, but also the other villages under his jurisdiction will benefit, and he will surely achieve great things in the future!
Thinking about it this way, he began to understand.
No wonder someone hired an assassin to kill Chiang Kai-shek; it turns out it was a conflict of interest...
"My lord, fortune and honor are found in danger; it is easy to add flowers to brocade, but it is too late to send charcoal in the snow."
The advisor, being quite old, saw things much more clearly.
You are a good official, but being a good official doesn't necessarily guarantee a good reward!
Just look at the fate of Lord Lu, the man's in-law, and you'll understand!
In short, the best way to save one's life is to be promoted and given a higher rank!
My lord, if you don't seize this opportunity for promotion, who knows when you might be...
"That makes sense."
Magistrate Liu wasn't stupid; he naturally understood the clerk's unspoken meaning.
After hesitating, he made up his mind and said:
"Give the order to buy two pigs and send them to Wu Family Village. This is an act of personal compassion for the villagers..."
"Your humble servant obeys!"
The advisor's eye twitched. Sending a pig? Absolutely brilliant!
......
In the latter half of the afternoon, yamen runners suddenly appeared at the entrance of Wu Family Village, and two large, fat pigs appeared in the open space.
"Hmph~"
The two fat pigs were quite grumpy, still grunting and swishing their tails as if to say, "It's so hot!"
"Officers, what's going on here?"
The village chief was invited out to receive the two yamen runners.
"You must be the village head of Wu Family Village. My brother and I are here on the orders of our advisor to deliver two large, fat pigs to you. The county magistrate paid for them himself, saying they were to help the villagers calm their nerves and improve their meals."
The constable was very perceptive; he explained his purpose while also winning the favor of the county magistrate.
"The magistrate is so kind!"
One villager was moved to tears upon hearing this.
He quickly cupped his hands and bowed above his head.
The commotion attracted more and more villagers, and with this person's promotion, the villagers of Wujia Village felt closer to this upright and just official.
The village chief took a puff of his pipe, exhaled the smoke, and felt quite pleased. He smiled and gestured for the villagers to accept the pig, and invited the officials to stay for a pig-slaughtering feast.
"No, no, thank you for your kindness, but there have been a dozen or so bandits in the prison recently. We brothers are worried that the yamen will be short-handed, so we have to go back to guard and hand over our shifts. We won't stay any longer."
"If anything happens to Wu Family Village in the future, they can come to our yamen anytime. The county magistrate values Wu Family Village highly and has instructed us to treat them with special care."
The constables declined several times, then left Wu Family Village with their swords in hand.
"Uncle Village Chief, are we really slaughtering a pig today?"
"Kill one first, and keep the other in the pigsty behind the school until the New Year."
"Okay, I'll go find my wife to boil water, oh no, I mean, I'll gather more villagers to help!"
"Go on, go on, and don't forget to feed the other pig!"
"Yes, sir!"
........
The village chief had no idea what the county magistrate was up to, but since the magistrate was sending pigs, it was obvious he was trying to curry favor. He would have to be incredibly lazy to refuse!
Such a fat pig, let's slaughter one first and let the men who were busy yesterday have a taste!
Due to the high mountains and long roads, news of what happened in Wujia Village would not reach Jinling Prefecture for a while.
The four major families in Jinling Prefecture remained peaceful and harmonious.
Only the beautiful woman inside the Ge family nunnery grew increasingly irritable—
"Bang—"
"Let me out!"
"I'm the Second Madam, who dares to lock me up!"
"If you don't let me out, the Chunyu clan will never give up!"
No matter what happened inside, the old woman sweeping outside remained unmoved!
Clearly, Chunyu's wicked scheme was discovered and reported to the head of the family.
The servants who originally served Chunyu were all sold off by Du Yafa!
The Ge family mansion is now entirely in Ge Haoran's hands.
You wouldn't believe it until you looked it up, and what I found was truly astonishing!
It turned out that, without his knowledge, the Ge family had been in debt for more than a decade, with the money flowing into Chunyu Money Shop and gradually disappearing!
He's been on leave these past few days, claiming illness and needing to recuperate, but in reality, he's been thoroughly investigating the accounts and taking stock of the Ge family's assets...
Furthermore, the Chunyu clan members were poisoned, mute, sold off, or directly assassinated, leaving no trace of them!
Even so, it was too late; the assassins that wicked woman had sent to Peach Blossom County had already been dispatched!
Hopefully, Wu Jiang can escape danger; otherwise, if she's so easily murdered, how can we maintain a long-term cooperative relationship...?
If Jiang Yue knew what this person was thinking, she would only praise him for his cunning, saying that he was indeed a scion raised by a wealthy family!
She didn't think the other party was particularly heartless; after all, they were just business partners, not family friends, and it was simply a matter of mutual benefit.
"Chang Kong, take thirty servants and go to Wu Family Village in Taohua County, Anqing Prefecture to transport medicinal herbs back. This is my personal seal; you can withdraw silver from the bank at will. Remember, be careful!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
In his study, Ge Haoran summoned his trusted confidant, handed over his personal seal to the man, and after explaining everything, continued to handle the affairs of the mansion.
In the shadows, a pair of dark eyes stared eerily at the study, before disappearing after a long while...
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