Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 868: Arresting Granny Gu

Zhu Liu was very anxious, wanting to slip away, but those people must have been watching him too, and since he was already at the public court, the Lord Magistrate would not easily let him leave.

Now he could only hope that Lao Ba would have the skills to get rid of those people. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Elder Gu was very flustered. After the Lord Magistrate finished asking questions, he remained silent. Unable to withstand the fear within his heart, he explained, "Sir, Mrs. Fei’s death has nothing to do with anyone; she died of illness... Her health was never good. Her maternal family was all a bunch of short-lived ghosts; only she was left in the entire family. If she wasn’t going to die..."

"Silence!" Gu Dashan couldn’t stand it any longer. What did Elder Gu mean by this? Who was he mocking? Wasn’t it enough to talk about his mother, and now he had to mention his maternal grandfather’s family?

Elder Gu was stunned, not expecting Gu Dashan to dare to tell him to shut up.

He was angry, and his arrogant demeanor came out again. Pointing at Gu Dashan, he was about to start cursing when Third Grandma spat on his old face: "Pfui, how is Fei’s maternal family a bunch of short-lived ghosts? Aren’t you afraid of retribution for saying such things? The Fei family was a military family; all the men died on the battlefield, and the compensation silver went to feed you, you dog. If you’re not grateful, at least don’t mock the Fei family; are you even human!"

Long’an Prefecture is in the Northwest, where there’s a group of special people—military families—and Mrs. Fei was born into such a family.

Mrs. Fei’s mother didn’t want her daughter to marry into a military family, fearing the pain of separation and death, so she married Mrs. Fei off to the Gu Family Village in Gaoshui County, allowing her to live a safe life without the solitude she experienced.

Third Grandma struck a nerve with Elder Gu. Back then, his family had the silver to build a green brick house, buy land, and buy cattle—all from the compensation silver Mrs. Fei brought.

Elder Gu dared not speak further, fearing Third Grandma might reveal something about him spending money meant to save his wife’s life.

But Third Grandma had long been fed up with him, pointing at Elder Gu and scolding, "Back then, it was your mother who cried and begged to marry Mrs. Fei, and you yourself vowed to treat her well, never neglecting her because her father and brothers died in battle. Yet, you sucked on the Fei family’s blood while mocking them for being short-lived ghosts..."

The onlooking townspeople were shocked upon hearing this; they didn’t see it coming—Elder Gu was just a freeloading weakling.

The storytellers spread the story quickly and vigorously.

The steward who had previously left with the government officials finally returned, carrying a box which he handed to Magistrate Gu, speaking to him in a low voice.

Elder Gu tried to crane his neck to listen, but kneeling in the hall, with Magistrate Gu sitting above on the platform and a considerable distance between them, his hearing not being very keen, he only heard a hissing murmur, unable to discern what Magistrate Gu and his cohorts were saying.

Soon after, Magistrate Gu finished speaking with the steward and asked the steward to show the contents of the box to Elder Gu: "Gu Shengxiang, come and see whether the medicinal ingredients in the box are red blood vine or bloodthorn vine?"

Elder Gu looked at the medicinal ingredients in the box, seeing it as a bean-sized, finger-long, blood-red vine-like herb devoid of small thorns, instantly understanding Magistrate Gu’s intention.

He was to identify the herb, knowing that if he identified wrong, he might be condemned as the one who killed Mrs. Fei.

Yet, this herb was different from what he gave Mrs. Fei back then; he gave her the one with small thorns.

Why did he remember so clearly?

For in the span of two months, he gave Mrs. Fei such a herb at least dozens of times, impossible not to recognize.

But Elder Gu’s inherently suspicious nature made him fearful of being tricked by Magistrate Gu, leaving him undecided about whether to say it was red blood vine or otherwise.

Magistrate Gu smirked, knowing well that Elder Gu was a petty man, reminding him: "This concerns your life and death, better be clear-headed."

With these words, Elder Gu was frightened, blurting out: "No, this herbal ingredient wasn’t the red blood vine I gave Mrs. Fei; the red blood vine has small thorns. I’ve been pricked by it a few times."

Magistrate Gu listened, his expression unchanged, asking again: "Are you sure? Make no mistake."

Elder Gu felt that if Magistrate Gu asked again, he surely was correct, promptly responded: "I am not mistaken; this is not red blood vine; the kind with small thorns is."

Magistrate Gu glanced again at the steward.

The steward took out a bag and from it extracted several medicinal herbs, handing them to Elder Gu: "Take a look, is this the kind you gave Mrs. Fei?"

Elder Gu looked at those herbs, excitedly saying: "Yes, yes, yes, this is what I gave Mrs. Fei—the red blood vine for bodily nourishment, said to cure women’s ailments."

Again emphasizing: "Sir, I did not harm Mrs. Fei, really did not harm her."

Magistrate Gu continued to ignore Elder Gu and instead looked to the right side of the court at the three clerks, asking: "Have you recorded it?"

One clerk nodded: "Reporting to the Magistrate, it’s all recorded."

These three clerks were specifically present to record the words spoken by witnesses, defendants, and plaintiffs at court, which would become testimony.

Magistrate Gu waved his hand: "Have Elder Gu affix his seal."

A clerk immediately stood up, carrying several pieces of paper full of writing in front of Elder Gu: "These are the words you spoke just now, to be used as testimony, imprint your hand seal."

Elder Gu was quite flustered, feeling that affixing his seal meant certain conviction, unwilling to imprint.

Magistrate Gu smirked, pointing at Zhu Liu, saying: "If you don’t trust the court, you can have this one beside you from the Lai Family take a look, see if we’ve added false statements to trick you into sealing."

Finally reminding: "Once on the public court, all spoken words are recorded by clerks as testimony, refusing to seal could result in the crime of misleading the court."

Elder Gu was nearly in tears, why everything on the public court had a crime?

Zhu Liu, however, was greatly alarmed; Magistrate Gu dared to unveil his identity, a clear sign of having no intention of saving face for Lord Lai.

And Elder Gu came to plead with him: "Help me check, does this contain all that I said before; any added absurdities?"

Zhu Liu really wished to tear up this testimony but forced himself to patiently read it through, finally saying: "Yes, these are indeed your words stated in court."

According to this testimony, Elder Gu should be innocent.

Upon hearing this, Elder Gu pressed his hand seal onto the testimony.

However, right after imprinting his hand seal, the Magistrate ordered: "Bring here Elder Gu, and carry the court’s directive to Moxiang Street at Gu Mansion, to arrest the perpetrator Mrs. Gu Pan!"

"What, what’s happening? Sir, why arrest me? I didn’t harm Mrs. Fei; it was her own short-lived fate unable to endure and died!" Elder Gu was completely panicked, crying out his grievances.

Magistrate Gu didn’t waste words with him, directly calling out Doctor Xiao: "Doctor Xiao, explain to him what’s red blood vine, what’s bloodthorn vine?"

Doctor Xiao emerged from behind the court’s screen, pointing to the two types of blood vine still in front of Elder Gu: "This blood-red, thornless vine-like herb is red blood vine, with the effects of promoting blood circulation, nourishing blood, and addressing women’s ailments. The thorned kind is bloodthorn vine, though a medicinal herb, it depletes blood and contains internal heat toxins. If given to someone with women’s ailments, it only worsens the condition, ultimately leading to uterine decay and death."

Finally saying: "What you gave your wife back then was bloodthorn vine, it was precisely this herb that killed her."