The village chief stroked his beard, thinking, "This Jiang family is quite capable."
He glanced enviously at the dumbfounded Old Wu and thought to himself, "This old guy has such a capable wife. Her retirement standards will probably surpass his!"
Grandpa Wu looked around at the villagers and thought to himself, "Third daughter-in-law, you've been making empty promises!"
With so many people, if we actually caught the thief, how much pork belly would we have to use!
For a moment, I didn't know whether I hoped these people would catch the thief or not.
At this time, Youyin also invited two uncles, Axe and Hoe. The two were obviously quite skilled. They walked around the blood-stained courtyard wall a few times and then used their fingers to indicate the size of the footprints.
They nodded to each other, whispered a few words to the village chief, and then split up. One of them led a team to follow the trail of blood, while the other led another team to split into two groups: one group went to the village entrance to wait, and the other group went to the village's barefoot doctor's house.
Jiang Yue felt much more at ease. With so many people around, the little thief wouldn't be able to escape!
The people sitting at the door right now are my father-in-law, the village chief, and the elders of the clan; we can't neglect them.
She asked Qingshan to bring over an eight-immortal table, and Qingsong to boil water and make tea. She herself went to the kitchen to busy herself, steaming a basket of red date honey cakes to entertain the guests.
Despite all the busy work, the elders didn't feel tired. Before the villagers returned, they chatted and laughed to pass the time.
"Gotcha!"
"Thief caught!"
Amidst a commotion, a group of villagers, led by a man with a hoe and an axe, returned with two people tied up.
Whether out of excitement or anger, the village chief and Old Man Wu stood up simultaneously, stepped forward, and began to examine the object closely...
"Wu Mazi!"
"Wu Dagui!"
"Girl Osmanthus!"
"It's you three!"
"Tsk tsk, like father, like son!"
"That's right, we just went to Doctor Li's house and bumped into Guihua's mother, whose head was swollen like a pig's head, begging Doctor Li to prescribe medicine. And guess what happened?"
"What do you mean, 'what'?"
"When Guihua's mother refused to pay, she threw a tantrum and took off her top, trying to extort money from the man. But then Doctor Li's wife saw this and beat Guihua's mother with the sole of her shoe!"
"Hahaha, look, Guihua's face is covered in shoe prints!"
"That doesn't make sense either, why did you tie her up?"
"Oh dear, look closely, she has blood on her!"
"Huh, it really is!"
........
The villagers spoke without any attempt to conceal their thoughts, and it's believed that Zhang's father-in-law and husband heard it all.
Wu Mazi and Wu Dagui were much quieter. If it weren't for the blood seeping from their thighs and arms, anyone would have thought they were completely innocent!
"Now that things have come to this, Wu Mazi, Wu Dagui, and Zhang Shi, what else do you have to say!"
The village chief lamented, "Father and son committing the crime, husband and wife as accomplices—if this were sent to the county government in town, they would be going to jail!"
"Village chief, village chief, please forgive us this time! We were just temporarily blinded by evil spirits!"
Wu Mazi, having swallowed his pride, tried to beg the village chief, but the chief completely ignored him. Even after he kowtowed until his head bled, he still received no kind look...
"You senile old fool! You're demanding the victims, the Chiang family, what does it have to do with me!"
The village chief was extremely disappointed and didn't want to look at Wu Mazi. If it weren't for his grandson, he would have taken off his shoes and slapped Wu Dagui across the face!
Upon hearing this, Wu Dagui's eyes flashed with resentment, but his words were pitiful as he pleaded:
"Sister Jiang, please forgive us! We're first-time offenders, and we haven't caused any loss to your family. Please forgive us!"
He thought to himself, it's all that woman's fault for being so easily startled, causing him and his father to lose their footing and get scratched. Otherwise, it would have been that widow Jiang who would have been left helpless and unable to call for help!
"No loss? The fright our whole family suffered, the villagers came to help catch the thief, and each family received a pound of pork belly. Isn't that a loss?"
Jiang Yue sneered. She realized that this Wu Dagui was a man of principle, capable of both yielding and standing firm!
It seems that the rumors circulating in the village are all about how bad Zhang is. But in reality, if no one condoned her actions, could Zhang have caused such trouble?
"Are you crazy? You've got too much money to burn! So many people, so much meat, do they even deserve it? I'm telling you, you're just trying to extort money from my family!"
Before Wu Dagui and his son could even speak, Zhang couldn't sit still any longer.
Jiang Yue wasn't angry at these words, but every single one of the villagers who had worked hard through the night was furious!
They don't deserve it?
Zhang has really gone too far!
"In my opinion, Guihua's mother doesn't know what wrong they've done. Guards, lock all three of them in the ancestral hall, and take them to the yamen at dawn for the magistrate to decide their fate!"
Even if it's an attempted theft, at this point you'll still be punished with a beating and go to jail!
If someone goes to jail, their family's reputation will be ruined!
Zhang has two children, so she can forget about finding good families to marry them off!
Wu Dama and his son exchanged a glance, and both made a decision. They knelt down and kowtowed to Jiang, apologizing and admitting their mistakes.
"Sanlang's family, I'm sorry, I'm willing to accept your punishment, please don't send us to jail, we can't even be two Wus together!"
“Mrs. Jiang, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have listened to my wife. Actually, my father and I climbed over the wall tonight not to steal anything from your house, but just to scare you and vent my anger for my wife. Please forgive us, we promise we will never do it again!”
"Master, you—"
Zhang wanted to retort, but was met with a fierce glare from the head of the household, rendering her speechless...
Jiang didn't believe what Wu Mazi and his son said, but she thought that if such a disgraceful thing happened in the village and it got out, it would indeed be bad for the village's reputation.
After thinking for a long time, she said with a smile:
"We're all from the same village, and I don't want to tarnish the reputation of the entire Wu Family Village because of you!"
These words surprised the village elders, clan leaders, and other villagers.
Jiang's words were all aimed at protecting the reputation of Wu Family Village!
"But, if you do something wrong, you have to be punished."
"Qingshan, go to your third brother's study and bring out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Ask the village chief and the clan elders to draw up a written agreement as witnesses."
Jiang Yue had a backup plan: she wrote down the evidence of Wu Mazi's family's crimes, their confessions, and their signatures. If anything happened to her family in the future, they would be the first suspects!
Secondly, if they still want to plot against her family, then they should be handed over to the authorities for investigation!
Finally, she was compensated with six taels of silver, firstly to calm her nerves, and secondly because she had promised each family in the village who came to help to give her a pound of meat. Naturally, she would not be responsible for this loss!
Wu Mazi and his son pressed their fingerprints without hesitation, while Zhang hesitated, but under Wu Dagui's gaze, she had no choice but to press her fingerprint as well...
The village chief ordered his men to untie them, but at the same time sent someone to their house to collect money.
As for the other villagers, seeing that the matter was over, they dispersed...
"I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Grandpa Wu sighed, knowing that his third son's wife was concerned about the village's reputation, and didn't make a fuss about it.
"It's alright, Dad. We won't lose out anyway."
Jiang Yue smiled, and seeing that it was almost dawn, she gestured to Qingsong to help her grandfather home to rest, so that he wouldn't have to go back to the old house and cause any more trouble.
The clan elders were all helped home, and only the village chief remained, waiting to collect the money before leaving...
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