A Good Country Wife-Chapter 627 - 621_1

Even the victim himself didn’t hold a grudge and spoke up for Biaozi, so Lin Yue naturally had no reason to cling to the matter. She also breathed a sigh of relief, and with Xu Xiaosan’s intervention, no matter how she dealt with the situation, it would be easier to convince others. Nevertheless, given the extent of the commotion, it was unacceptable to not deal with it at all.

Not just Biaozi, but also those who had caused trouble earlier, Lin Yue took note of them all. There were a few among the villagers and the refugees, especially the Zhao Wufu family. Lin Yue certainly recognized them from the horrible deeds they had committed before, none of them were decent people, and now, during such times, they had stirred up trouble again.

"Madam, why don’t we just let this matter go? Xiaosan himself has said he doesn’t want to hold it against anyone. Besides, we all understand that previously we wronged the folks in the village. Although we did those conscience-shocking things because we were driven by desperation to survive, what’s done is done, and we cannot deny it! Since Xiaosan is fine, please spare Biaozi this time. After all, Biaozi is a victim too, and he has a whole family to support."

Zhang Guo was quick-witted and good at reading people’s expressions. He had a clear understanding of the current situation and had a good guess of Lin Yue’s thoughts. His persuasion, even more effective than the village chief’s entreaties, came from someone who was openly on the side of the refugees, so it carried more weight.

"Alright, since that’s what everyone says, and Xiaosan is willing to let it go, and Biaozi has extenuating circumstances, I’ll drop the matter too. Otherwise, everyone might think I’m heartless. Let’s keep Biaozi here this time. However, even if Xiaosan can overlook what Biaozi did, the wrongdoings you all committed don’t end there. Today’s commotion has caused a terrible impact, and if we don’t deliver some form of punishment, everyone might follow suit in the future, and we won’t be able to manage them. A family has its rules, so I will impose appropriate punishments on those who instigated the trouble today, based on the severity of their actions. I hope such incidents don’t happen a second time, or else there will be only one outcome: expulsion!"

Liu Aniu, seeing that Lin Yue was almost done speaking, asked in front of everyone, "Has everyone memorized Madam’s orders?"

"We have," everyone responded in unison, with a sense of solidarity. After this incident, most of the villagers had changed their views on the refugees, feeling sympathy and understanding for their previous actions, and the resentment had diminished.

To prevent any further disputes, Lin Yue stayed behind to ensure the matter was settled properly, making sure there would be no more upheavals before she returned to the courtyard.

As soon as she got back, Dalang ran over happily, "Mother, are you alright? Is everything resolved?"

After Lin Yue left, Dalang couldn’t go out and couldn’t rest easy, so he had been waiting in Lin Yue’s courtyard. Seeing her return, he hurriedly asked, examining her to ensure she was unharmed before feeling relieved, "I’m glad you’re okay, Mother. You didn’t let me accompany you, so I was terribly worried."

"Don’t worry. You still don’t know your mother’s abilities. As soon as I went there, I resolved the issue. Dalang, don’t worry."

After the disturbance, both the villagers and the refugees became much more settled in the following period, with fewer disputes and quarrels. Everyone worked diligently at the construction site. It seemed that Zhao Family Village had regained its former peace and tranquility. However, rumors spread of several incidents caused by refugees in the surrounding areas.

The rumors said that nearly all the nearby villages had been plundered, with only a few fortunate enough to escape. Especially several wealthy families and landlords suffered looting. The marauding refugees were particularly vicious, not only robbing people’s properties and food but also killing, arson, and other criminal acts, bringing disaster to many. The ringleader was the very Jian San who had caused trouble at the Zhao Erhu family’s doorstep.

On that day, Jian San had been unable to cause any trouble because of Lin Yue’s cunning tactics and was forced to leave dejectedly with his close accomplices. Along the way, they looted and killed, continuously gathering more refugees. This small band of people quickly swelled in numbers, bringing misfortune to countless families. His horrendous deeds were so numerous that many people cursed his name, wishing they could tear him limb from limb.

Some time passed, and the severe flooding in Jiangnan had been addressed. The government issued a decree that refugees could return to their hometowns to rebuild their homes. ƒreewebɳovel.com

While some of Lin Yue’s refugees began to return to their hometowns, most preferred to stay, considering the difficulties of their lives even before the disaster. Now that they had lost everything to the flood, with some even losing their houses, returning home would mean having no place to live. It was better to stay with the Zhao Family, where they had food, shelter, and wages.

As the flooding disaster in the hardest-hit areas was resolved and relief food was distributed to other less affected areas, due to the state treasury’s insolvency, not only did the Emperor use his personal funds to subsidize it, but he also mobilized civil and military officials to raise funds. The food relief was finally ready to be sent to the affected areas. However, an unexpected and outrageous event occurred when the relief food reached its destinations, which soon spread among the people and officials, and eventually, even the Emperor heard about it, getting furiously angry. This incident was related to Xin’an City.

Xin’an City and many of its towns had been affected, so relief food was allocated there as well. However, when the Grain Transport Officer and his convoy reached the gates of Xin’an City, they found the city gates firmly closed and could not enter, let alone deliver the food to the Magistrate. There wasn’t even a single guard on the city walls to communicate with.

The Grain Transport Officer had no choice but to wait outside the city walls, but after two or three days, the gates still remained closed, and no one appeared. He couldn’t possibly break through the gates, yet he had no other solutions. After waiting another two days with no change, the Transport Officer, running out of patience, turned around and took the food back to the city, ignoring the potential consequences of his actions.

It was Ceng Lu’s misfortune, for others might not have acted this way. Apart from anything else, they would have feared offending the Empress of the Aristocratic Family. The reason why the Transport Officer acted this way was twofold: he came from an Aristocratic Family and thus had some arrogance, knowing he had a strong backing in case of trouble, and he bore a grudge against Ceng Lu from an old altercation over a mistress in a brothel that ended with him having to swallow his anger and apologize to Ceng Lu. Given that he was not the principal heir of his family, they wouldn’t sacrifice much for him; thus, he held a grudge against Ceng Lu and looked for an opportunity for revenge.

This time, as the Transport Officer was delivering the food, he did not expect Ceng Lu to do something so absurd. No matter how negligent Ceng Lu had been in his duties normally, he knew the gravity of the situation and did not dare delay the transportation of food. He had traveled non-stop for over ten days to reach Xin’an City, only to encounter such a predicament.