Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 828: Just Deserts

Can’t afford to get himself involved.

Lord Lai heard this, finally sobered up.

Magistrate Gu was right. The matter had already stirred up a storm throughout the city, and no matter how he wanted to protect Chengxian, it was no longer possible.

Magistrate Gu observed his expression, knew that Lord Lai understood, and said, "Rest assured, Lord Lai, this office will not let those who harmed Gu Chengxian get away easily."

Having said this, he did not linger and departed.

True to his word, Magistrate Gu, upon ascending the court, immediately ordered the government officials to seize Lady Mei of Chunfeng Pavilion and beat her to death in public.

Lady Mei died just like that, as justice was served. Over the decades, she had harmed many good families’ daughters, not only deceiving and coercing many girls, but also buying many kidnapped girls from traffickers.

These girls eventually all became the girls of Chunfeng Pavilion.

Judge Tang, seeing Magistrate Gu directly beat Lady Mei to death, was very worried and whispered to Magistrate Gu, "Sir, Lady Mei was able to run a brothel in the Prefecture; she must have a backer. Doing this, won’t it anger the people behind her?"

But Magistrate Gu was not afraid: "Those who have shares in the brothel are all secretive and dare not let people know. And since the matter of Chunfeng Pavilion has already aroused the anger of all the scholars and caused such a big commotion, the people backing it dare not come forward, wishing nobody knows they invested in Chunfeng Pavilion."

Magistrate Gu, having become a magistrate, was not someone who understood nothing; he was well aware of these rules, and sure that those behind the scenes would not intervene to save a small Chunfeng Pavilion, dared to have Lady Mei flogged to death.

After Lady Mei’s death, the stewards and thugs of Chunfeng Pavilion were scared to death and confessed all the evildoings Chunfeng Pavilion had been involved in over the years.

The kidnapped prostitutes regained their freedom. Magistrate Gu also gave them the gold and silver found in Chunfeng Pavilion, so they could have money to live elsewhere.

The prostitutes, having received a large sum of silver, were very grateful.

Magistrate Gu didn’t care for their gratitude, merely instructed them to go with the clerks to divide the silver.

As for the stewards and thugs of Chunfeng Pavilion, they were not so lucky and were directly made official slaves, and would soon be sent to work in the mines.

The stewards of Chunfeng Pavilion cried and shouted incessantly, pleading with Magistrate Gu.

Magistrate Gu, bombarded by their cries, frowned and instructed the officials to drag them away.

However, those stewards were very clever; after their cries, they immediately began to seek self-saving, wanting their lovers outside to bring silver to buy them. As long as they were bought, they wouldn’t have to suffer in the mines.

Magistrate Gu didn’t involve himself in these matters; after the people of Chunfeng Pavilion were dragged away, he quickly judged the matter of the scholars and their families who accused Gu Chengxian.

"The imperial exams are the country’s important matter and must not be neglected. This office understands the worries of the scholars, and will, in accordance with the Great Chu Criminal Law, order that Gu Chengxian not be allowed to participate in this exam."

Having said this, with a snap of the gavel, the case was considered closed.

All the scholars, their families, Lord Yu, and the other scholars breathed a sigh of relief. After a whole day of turmoil, this matter was finally settled.

Lord Yu was the first to speak, "I thank the magistrate on behalf of all He’an Prefecture scholars."

Magistrate Gu hurriedly replied, "Lord Yu, you flatter me; this is simply my duty."

He continued, "Now it’s already the afternoon, and you have been working hard all day. The back office has prepared a meal, please stay for dinner before you leave."

Lord Yu readily agreed, and Magistrate Gu took Lord Yu and Scholars Yang and Fang back to the back office, leaving the remaining matters to Judge Tang to handle.

After Magistrate Gu left, onlookers asked Judge Tang, "Sir, does Gu Chengxian really have a venereal disease? The magistrate did not clarify, why not make it clear? It’s nerve-wracking."

Judge Tang’s expression became very unpleasant, really wanting to drag the questioners out and beat them.

However, someone quickly responded, "Are you stupid? The magistrate not allowing him to take the exam clearly means he’s contracted a venereal disease. If he wasn’t sick, why wouldn’t he be allowed to take the exam? He’s the descendant of Lord Lai’s benefactor, favored in the Vice Magistrate’s office."

With one sentence, the gossip turned towards the Vice Magistrate.

Someone asked, "Is it just because he’s a benefactor’s descendant he’s so favored? Doesn’t Lord Lai have a wife and children?"

"Heh, Lord Lai of course has a wife and children, also grandchildren. But Lord Lai is kind-hearted and willing to favor these benefactor’s descendants, what can you do?"

"Pfft, if I were his wife, I’d kick these so-called benefactors’ descendants out of the house. Shameless! I heard an entire family of four generations lives in the Vice Magistrate’s office, living off the Lai Family, even the married-out daughter of the grandmother stays in the house, eating and spending from the Lai Family." A slightly plump middle-aged woman shouted, "You tell me, is there any other family this shameless? Even leeches aren’t as terrible as them. It’s also because Lady Lai is broad-minded; otherwise, she’d have been angered to death long ago."

Those unaware of Old Gu Family’s affairs were shocked: "What? A family of four generations living off the Lai Family, that’s just too unreasonable. What kind of kindness warrants repaying four generations?"

"Who knows, they say it’s a life-saving grace, but I think there’s probably some other favors involved." The plump woman finished, smiling meaningfully, and raised her eyebrows, suggesting they figure it out themselves.

Judge Tang, seeing they were becoming increasingly outrageous, ordered the government officials, "Quickly drive them away, they’ve been gathered at the government gate for half the day, what a sight?"

"Yes." The officials immediately took sticks and drove the crowd inside and outside: "The case is closed, everyone disperse quickly, if you linger here, you’ll be thrown in jail for a few days."

These words were very effective, and upon hearing them, the crowd screamed and scattered like birds and beasts.

Qin San Lang feared the crowd would bump into Gu Jinli and turned his body, forming a circle with his arms to protect Gu Jinli, shielding her with his body from the oncoming crowd.

After most of the crowd dispersed, he took her by the hand and left.

Gu Jinli watched the spectacle today with delight, finally venting years of accumulated anger... Although she had never experienced the days the original lived with the Old Gu Family, she had inherited the original’s memories.

Gu Chengxian was vicious-hearted, hitting Gu Jin’an’s hand several times upon learning he could write, and even smashed a stone on the back of Gu Jin’an’s hand, where scars still remained.

Before escaping famine, Gu Chengxian had heard from somewhere that selling people to become eunuchs could earn a lot of silver, and he even incited Gu Youwen, lobbying him to find a way to sell Gu Jin’an and Brother Cheng to become eunuchs.

Luckily, in the desolate Northwest, they had no contacts, and while they were finding connections, a drought came. Eventually, the entire journey of escaping famine allowed Gu Jin’an and Brother Cheng to avoid disaster.

Seeing her with a smile, Qin San Lang smiled too and asked her, "Hungry? Let’s go eat, and return after."