The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 141: The County Magistrate Has Arrived
"Alright, let’s do it." Xu Yong gritted his teeth, accepting Tong Huaqiong’s conditions.
At this moment, no matter how much Yan Pozi objected, it was ineffective, because the village head was restraining Yan Pozi; he didn’t want to report to the authorities.
"Do you want your son to be exiled after reporting to the authorities?"
Xu Yong’s angry roar silenced Yan Pozi.
What Xu Yong didn’t say was that he also feared Gu Jingzhe would retaliate if he succeeded.
The Xu Family had to carry away Xu Si, but Tong Huaqiong’s three sons, Gu Taohua, and Liu Yueer restrained him, only allowing him to be taken away after the Xu Family produced silver.
Looking at the situation, Xu Kun, as the clan leader, began organizing the Xu Family to gather silver.
Xu Zaohua gritted her teeth and took out a hundred taels from home, handing it to the clan leader in front of Tong Huaqiong and others, partly to silence Xu Si, fearing he’d speak of her inciting him to harass Lu Zhaozhao, and also to show Gu Jingzhe her capabilities.
Xu Yong, Xu Kun, and other members of the Xu Family managed to scrape together fifty taels.
Mr. Xu, who drove the ox cart, refused to contribute, angrily lashing his whip and yelling that Yan Pozi and Xu Si should both be reported and exiled, cursing Xu Yong and Xu Kun, claiming they corrupted the Xu Family’s nephews, and if things weren’t settled, he’d take on the role of clan leader.
The remaining thirty taels were compensated by having Yan Pozi’s three surviving sons give one pig, one cow, four sheep, and one acre of wheat from their threshing ground to Tong Huaqiong.
Though Xu Da and others were unwilling, they complied.
Xu Da’s wife cursed Xu Si thoroughly.
With an unchanged expression, Tong Huaqiong received a hundred and fifty taels of silver, then had Gu Dahuan and Gu Dashu drive Yan Pozi’s pigs, cows, and sheep back to their pen, while Gu Taohua was instructed to shovel the newly threshed wheat from Yan Pozi’s threshing ground.
Qin Qingyou, Liu Shan, and others quickly helped transport Yan Pozi’s acre of wheat from the threshing ground to the Gu Family’s side.
Yan Pozi was so angry she fell backwards.
Then Gu Jingzhe personally penned an IOU for Yan Pozi, with Xu Yong, Xu Kun, Liu Tiechui, and Liu Tielian as witnesses. Tong Huaqiong stamped it as the creditor, while Yan Pozi, with her hand forcibly dragged, stamped it as the debtor.
Yan Pozi wiped ink from her hand, lamenting her home’s silver, pigs, cows, sheep, wheat, and also grieving over Xu Si, lying injured on the ground.
She howled, lunging at Tong Huaqiong, only to be pulled away by the crowd.
Tong Huaqiong dusted off her backside, pocketing the silver and the IOU, ready to return home. Just then, a child shouted, "The County Magistrate is coming! The County Magistrate is coming to the village!"
Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe exchanged glances, realizing the kid was particularly cunning for timing it just right—compensating the silver before the County Magistrate arrived.
Xu Yong and Xu Kun’s expressions changed; they were unsure who reported to the authorities.
Tong Huaqiong quickly reacted, sitting down on the ground, pounding the earth and cursing, "Which bastard reported to the authorities, trying to shame me in town and county? Will I still be able to do business? I’ve lost all face to live..."
Since becoming the local magistrate of Pingchuan County, County Magistrate Liu annually visited the fields during summer and autumn harvests for inspections.
Gu Jingzhe had surely known in advance that County Magistrate Liu was in the neighboring village, thus sending Liu Tong to invite him.
Tong Huaqiong had suspected it since Liu Tong quietly left.
The confrontation today with Yan Pozi was bound to make her a thorn in Xu Yong and Xu Kun’s side.
If things went poorly, they might use the village head’s authority for revenge.
Of course, Tong Huaqiong hoped for County Magistrate Liu’s arrival, as she not only wanted Xu Si gone but also wanted to dethrone Xu Yong as village head and fiercely crush the Xu Family’s arrogance.
She and a bunch of "bad bamboo" still lived in the village, with her farmland there; only this way could she and the "bad bamboo" firmly establish themselves in Qinghe Bay.
However, she needed to display a stance of hating authorities reporting to separate her household from it.
"Who reported to the authorities?" The one who orchestrated all this, Gu Jingzhe asked with a stern face, "Is this an attempt to ruin our family’s reputation?"
Tong Huaqiong clapped her hands at Xu Yong and shamelessly said, "Even if the County Magistrate came, the silver owed to me can’t be taken back, it’s all stamped and acknowledged in black and white."
Tong Huaqiong held onto the silver tightly, showing great concern it could be reclaimed.
The timing of County Magistrate Liu’s arrival was impeccable.
Tong Huaqiong had already secured Yan Pozi’s silver and wouldn’t return it.
Furthermore, wasn’t County Magistrate Liu’s son her god-grandson? She could brazenly build connections at the county government; now that County Magistrate Liu was at the doorstep, forging ties wouldn’t be excessive.
"Forget who reported to the authorities..." Xu Kun was sweating profusely, and said to Tong Huaqiong, "When County Magistrate Liu asks, Da Shu’s mother, just say it’s all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding..."
He certainly didn’t want his nephew to be stripped of the village head title.
Xu Yong couldn’t care anymore, already stepping out onto the threshing ground to greet.
Liu Tielian carefully checked the people following County Magistrate Liu, noticing his son Liu Tong wasn’t among them, relieved, he pulled Xu Yong saying, "Village head, there’s no need to hurry. County Magistrate Liu has come at this time in previous years to inspect the fields, just steady yourself."
Xu Yong shook off Liu Tielian’s hand.
What nonsense, attaching himself here.
Did he believe today’s events left the Xu Family disadvantaged, and Liu Tielian could take over as village head?
Dream on!
"Man Er, sister Man Er."
A pudgy young boy rolled out of the sedan chair, tumbling across the field rushing toward the threshing ground. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Tong Huaqiong focused intently, wasn’t this her "cheap" god-grandson Liu Yanhong from Huang Yuanwai’s home?
"Man Er, sister Man Er, I secretly followed my father." Liu Yanhong ran to the threshing ground, grabbing Man Er’s hand.
The villagers of Qinghe Bay were perplexed, this chubby boy rolled off the Sedan chair, who else could it be if not the County Magistrate’s son?
But this son of the County Magistrate was actually calling Man Er sister.
The crowd looked at Gu Dahuan with some envy.
"God-grandmother." Liu Yanhong ran to Tong Huaqiong’s side, grinning widely yet suddenly covering his grin asking, "God-grandmother, what’s wrong, why are you all dusty?"
Tong Huaqiong smiled, saying, "Greetings Young Master Liu."
Standing beside Gu Jingzhe, Lu Zhaozhao who had been silent, smiled and quickly grabbed Liu Yanhong saying, "Why didn’t you call me aunt when you saw me?"
Liu Yanhong exclaimed, "Cousin aunt, what are you doing here?"
Lu Zhaozhao was equally surprised, how did Liu Yanhong start calling Tong Huaqiong god-grandmother?
Tong Huaqiong was surprised too, she hadn’t expected Lu Zhaozhao to be related to County Magistrate Liu’s family.
According to their conversation, was Lu Zhaozhao calling County Magistrate Liu cousin?
Tong Huaqiong rummaged through Tong Dajiao’s memories for a long time, discovering Lu Zhaozhao’s relationship with County Magistrate Liu.
It turned out County Magistrate Liu’s mother, Mrs. Han, was the niece of Lu Zhaozhao’s grandmother.
"Tong Dajiao, how did you quietly accept the County Magistrate’s son as a god-grandson?" Someone voiced the Qinghe Bay villagers’ curiosity.
The Xu Family Patriarch, Xu Kun, was just as curious.
At this point, Xu Kun learned from Liu Yanhong’s "cousin aunt" remark that the young lady standing beside Gu Jingzhe was a relative of County Magistrate Liu.
Xu Kun quickly connected the dots, knowing Tong Dajiao likely leveraged this young lady to establish ties with County Magistrate Liu.
He suspected County Magistrate Liu was invited by this young lady to provide backing.
"Tong Dajiao, if the County Magistrate’s little son is your god-grandson, does that make County Magistrate Liu your god-son?"
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