Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 116 Regret

"Yes, send them to the official mine, and don’t let them come back, to avoid causing us more trouble."

"A few years ago, the girl from the wine-selling Yao Family was ruined by them, and had to marry far away. These beggars not only extort and swindle money, they also bring harm to decent girls. You, the government officials, must sentence them severely, don’t let them out again."

The townspeople of Qingfu Town had long harbored resentments against this group of beggars, previously fearing their pestering house visits. Now seeing them caught, they were excited and agitated, all pointing at the beggars and cursing loudly.

In the midst of the chaos, someone in the crowd, sneakingly shrinking his body, began to back away—it was Zhaofu from the Tao Family’s Grain Store.

Gu Jinli had suspected that someone from the Tao Family’s Grain Store was hiding in the crowd and had been watching the people around him closely. As soon as he saw Zhaofu, he immediately sprang forward and with a flying kick, knocked Zhaofu down.

"Ah—" Zhaofu fell to the ground, lying there with a busted lip, one of his teeth knocked out.

Qin San Lang, hearing the commotion, immediately came running over, grabbed Zhaofu’s foot and twisted it—a crack sound was heard as he twisted his ankle, injuring him so he couldn’t escape. He then turned his head and shouted to Old Kong, "Uncle Kong, Zhaofu is here."

Upon hearing this, Old Kong hurriedly sent Kangzi to tie Zhaofu up.

Zhaofu, not expecting to be caught so quickly, began to shout injustices: "I’ve been wronged, our Tao Family’s Grain Store is..." before he could finish, his mouth was stuffed by Kangzi with a wad of rags, "Save it for the county government."

Just after Zhaofu was tied up, two men burst out from the crowd.

"I’ll beat you animals to death!" A middle-aged man with a thick wooden stick in hand, followed by a younger man also wielding a stick, both of them fiercely beat the group of beggars led by Liu Sanzi.

Thump, thump, thump!

They beat the beggars who howled in pain, continuously begging for mercy: "Stop hitting, stop hitting, Uncle Yao, no more!"

"Ptui, who is your uncle, you animals?" It was the father and son from the Yao Family, as they beat and cursed, "Damned, despicable animals, a bunch of impotent eunuchs, coming to my place to swindle wine is one thing, but to spread rumors and destroy my daughter’s reputation, you’ve ruined her life, I’ll beat you to death."

The Yao Family lived in a small alley on the back street, making a living by selling wine. When Liu Sanzi and his group of beggars wanted to drink wine, they went to the Yao Family to scam it. They didn’t take advantage of the Yao Family’s daughter at the time, but afterward, they spread malicious rumors in the town, tarnishing her reputation.

When three men say there is a tiger, it must be true; gossip kills. Because of this, Miss Yao was jilted and even sought to end her life, only to be saved later on, but her reputation was already ruined by these beggars.

There was no choice; she had to marry someone far away in Lin County. After getting married, she never returned to her parents’ house. The Yao Family hated these beggars to their cores.

But the Yao Family had a household and business while these beggars had neither house nor work, and were extremely troublesome. In order to live peacefully, the Yao Family had to endure and keep silent for two years.

Today, when they heard that Liu Sanzi came to stir trouble at the Gu Family’s tofu stall but failed and got caught, the Yao Family father and son immediately rushed over to beat Liu Sanzi and his crew mercilessly.

Old Kong knew how much the Yao Family father and son hated these beggars, so he didn’t stop them, but let them vent their fury. After they beat Liu Sanzi and his beggars until a few fainted, Old Kong finally intervened, "Alright, that’s enough. Don’t interfere with our duties."

The Yao Family father and son, exhausted from the beating, gasping for air, were still dissatisfied. While they still had the strength, they lifted their wooden sticks and beat Liu Sanzi two more times, then collapsed on the ground, spent from exhaustion.

Old Kong said to Third Grandpa, "Elder Gu, please come with us to Si Li Square and recount the whole sequence of events."

He then said to Dasheng, "You and Hai Zi go to the Tao Family’s Grain Store and tie up Manager Tao and bring him to Si Li Square."

"Alright, Brother Kong," Dasheng and Hai Zi responded, taking ropes with them to the grain store.

Old Kong and Kangzi then escorted Zhaofu and Liu Sanzi’s group of beggars, along with Third Grandpa, to Si Li Square.

...

Manager Tao was at his grain shop, awaiting news that Gu Family’s tofu stall had been destroyed. He saw many people running toward the stall, saying as they ran, "Something’s happened at Gu Family’s tofu stall, hurry and have a look."

"Really?"

"Of course it’s true, if you’re too late, you’ll miss the excitement."

Upon hearing this, Manager Tao was even more smug, "Hmph, fleeing refugees daring to oppose me, I’ll make sure your stall can’t open!"

As he was relishing the moment, the complexion of Zhaogui, who was on the lookout at the shop entrance, changed. He rushed inside the shop and said to Manager Tao, "Boss, I saw two government officials heading our way, could it be that our plan has failed?"

"Failed my ass!" Manager Tao scolded Zhaogui. "The Si Li Square officials wouldn’t bother with such trifles."

If that were the case, Liu Sanzi and his beggars would not have been able to cause trouble for so long.

Manager Tao was not afraid, thinking at most that the officials were on a routine patrol.

Before long, Dasheng and Hai Zi, dressed in official attire and armed with swords, arrived at the Tao Family’s Grain Store. Upon seeing Manager Tao, they didn’t bother with pleasantries and seized him. "Manager Tao, you bribed beggars to cause trouble at Gu Family’s tofu stall, and now Gu Family has reported it. Come with us to Si Li Square."

Manager Tao, who had initially welcomed them with a smile, was about to greet Dasheng and Hai Zi, but before he could, his hands were twisted behind his back and tied up with a rope.

Manager Tao was stupefied for a moment before finally realizing what was happening and yelled, "It’s a misunderstanding, Elder Sheng, Elder Hai, you both know what kind of person I am. The Gu Family buys soybeans from our shop every day, they’re our big clients, why would I harm them?!"

Dasheng sneered, "I heard that yesterday when Gu Family came to buy soybeans, you raised the price to five copper coins per jin? Tsk tsk, Manager Tao, you raised the price quite ruthlessly. Was it because Manager Zeng invited you to drink until you were confused when you raised the price? But while you were only thinking of currying favor with County Magistrate Zou, didn’t you consider the relationship between the Gu Family and County Captain Jiang?"

"Don’t even bother protesting your innocence; those beggars have already confessed, and Zhaofu has been arrested. If you don’t want to go to jail, then prepare to lose some money."

Dasheng made it clear: they had always been aware of his and Manager Zeng’s little schemes and were keeping an eye on them. And County Captain Jiang had the Gu Family’s back—Manager Tao had not managed to curry favor with County Magistrate Zou and ended up offending County Captain Jiang.

"Ah!" Manager Tao was full of regret. Before being escorted away by Dasheng and the others, he said to the stunned Zhaogui, "Quick, go find my wife and tell her to go back to her family for help."

His wife’s maiden name was Yu, and while her immediate family wasn’t very influential, the main branch of the Yu Family in the county was a major landlord in Tianfu County with countless fertile fields. It was by relying on the support of the main branch of the Yu Family that Manager Tao was able to open his grain shop in Qingfu Town.

Now that he had offended County Captain Jiang, and County Magistrate Zou was not yet won over and certainly would not lift a finger to help him, he could only ask for the main branch of the Yu Family’s assistance. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Right away, boss," panicked Zhaogui said. After Dasheng and Hai Zi took Manager Tao away, he immediately closed the shop and went to Manager Tao’s house to inform Mrs. Tao of her husband’s arrest.