Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 20 - 0: Shameless

Gu Jinli seized the moment and, pointing at the indenture, said: "Since it is unclear whose fingerprints are on this indenture, it cannot be valid."

Upon hearing Gu Jinli's words, Elder Ding glared fiercely at Qian Guangzong and angrily retorted to Gu Jinli: "What is this greenhorn doing meddling in adults' affairs? What does this have to do with you? Scram back to where you came from. The indenture is clear and unambiguous. Gu Dashan sold his family of six to the Qi Mansion on the twenty-sixth of August, in exchange for fifty kilograms of grain and twenty taels of silver, without any possibility of regret. If there are regrets, they must pay back three times the grain and silver obtained."

Elder Ding, with his chubby hand pointing towards the indenture, said: "Written clearly with black on white, you want to deny the debt when it's time to take the people away, but there's no way!"

"A family of six?" Gu Jinli laughed, stepped forward, and took the indenture from the village chief's hand: "The written text here mentions a family of five, so where does this family of six come from?"

This indenture is riddled with holes; to think they could sell her entire family with such worthless junk, must they be daydreaming?

Elder Ding was not flustered, pointing towards the kneeling Gu Jincheng: "He is too young; our Qi Mansion doesn't want him. But the Qi Mansion is a house of good deeds and cannot bear to see your family torn apart. That's why we mentioned a family of six, which means we allow you to bring this little child to the Qi Mansion."

His face bore an expression of expecting gratitude, not nitpicking over the five or six.

Gu Jinli would truly like to thank his ancestors.

She clutched the indenture tightly and pointed at Third Uncle Gu: "The Third Uncle's family just happens to be a family of five, and the fingerprints here look very much like his. Surely it must be his family that was sold. If the Qi Mansion wants someone, take away my three uncles' family of five."

Elder Ding was taken aback; this wretched girl has even turned to bite back.

Third Uncle Gu had never been especially brave; the event was something Granny Gu had beseeched him to do, and she had even promised him five taels of silver upon the successful conclusion.

A modest sum of silver, but never before had he felt so valued by Granny Gu, readily agreeing in his excitement. Who could have expected Gu Xiaoyu to be so troublesome, turning a simple matter into such a big scene?

Granny Gu could no longer sit still and, grabbing her cane, lashed out towards Gu Jinli, "It was your father who sold you. Why implicate your Third Uncle? I'll beat you to death, you vicious, cheap girl."

Gu Jinli dodged the pursuing Granny Gu, intentionally rushing to the side of Ms. Zhang and grabbing the spectating Gu Rong with a harsh tug, pushing her towards Elder Ding: "Uncle Fatty, she doesn't look too bad either, you take their family away."

"Ah." Gu Rong screamed, trying to stop herself, but Gu Jinli's push was too forceful, and she tumbled into Elder Ding's arms, sending shivers of disgust through her.

Gu Rong hadn't even stabilized herself before forcefully twisting and falling to the ground. In pain and disgust, she pointed at Gu Jinli and cried out: "Wuu wuu wuu, Gu Xiaoyu, you wretch, you're ruining me, I'll beat you to death."

Gu Jinli coldly watched her, feeling satisfied within, aware that anyone who dared harm Gu Jinxiu must pay the price.

Ms. Zhang, seeing Gu Rong pushed into Elder Ding's arms, went pale with fright and raised her hand to slap Gu Jinli, but Gu Jinli dodged and, before she could chase after Gu Jinli again, the village chief roared: "All of you, stop where you are, have you no decency left?"

"Lao Liu, how do you manage your household? What a mess this family has turned into," Village Chief Gu gasped in anger, his chest ached. Before the famine, Lao Liu's household was somewhat decorous because the second son was a scholar and dared not be too shameless; but since the start of the famine, it seemed they had entirely abandoned their dignity, making a series of increasingly shameless scenes.

Ms. Zhang, frightened by Village Chief Gu's scolding, recoiled and stopped chasing after Gu Jinli, turning to help Gu Rong up instead.

Seeing Granny Gu ready to speak, Gu Jinli preempted Village Chief Gu: "Village Chief Grandpa, as it is clear, the Qi Mansion wanted to buy my Third Uncle's family; they just wrote the name incorrectly. Please do justice and have Elder Ding take my Third Uncle's family away."

Village Chief Gu remained silent.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Some inhabitants of Gu Family Village pointed at Third Uncle Gu and said, "It seems the ones being sold are indeed Third Son Gu's family."

Third Grandma seized the opportunity to add, "Exactly, Ms. Pan has always disliked Old San, so selling off his family is quite normal. Although Dashan is not her biological son, Dashan's family can work hard. If Dashan's family is sold off, who will slave away for the Old Gu Family? Ms. Pan, would you be willing to have your precious second son do the labor?"

When Gu Rong heard Third Grandma's words, and then thought about what Qian Li'er had told her, that Elder Ding favored pretty and tender young girls, and that Gu Jinxiu was not sold to Qi Mansion but sent to be Elder Ding's concubine... If, if the ones being sold were her family, since her family had only one girl, did that mean she would have to become a concubine to Elder Ding?

Gu Rong looked at Elder Ding's old, ugly, and fat appearance, shivered with fear, her mind went blank, and she cried out in panic, "It's not my family being sold, it's Gu Xiaoyu's family!"

Gu Jinli said, "But your father's fingerprint is on it, and it's written as a family of five, so it's your family that's being sold."

That statement contained a trap, but Gu Rong didn't catch it; overwhelmed with fear, she blurted out, "The fingerprint was pressed by Granny at my father's hand, pretending to be my uncle's fingerprint to sell off your family... Writing, writing it as a family of five, that is, that is to send Sister Xiu to Elder Ding as a concubine, hence one person was omitted on purpose."

Gu Rong's words caused an uproar among the villagers of Gu Family Village.

"Sixth Aunt Gu is too ruthless, thinking up such a vicious plan to sell off Brother Dashan's family."

Village Chief Gu trembled with anger and pointed at Elder Gu, "Lao Liu, I cannot keep such a wicked woman in the Gu Family. If you do not deal with it, I will, as the Clan Leader, open the clan hall to divorce this poisonous woman on your behalf."

Not only did she scheme to sell off the Dashan family, but she also planned to send Jinxiu as a concubine to a house slave; this was utter degradation.

Elder Gu's face went dark, always concerned with his reputation, now utterly humiliated, but he refused to admit he was wrong. Hearing Village Chief Gu's accusation, he stiffened his neck and said, "This is my family's own business, it has nothing to do with the village."

Granny Gu heard Elder Gu's words, immediately spat in Village Chief Gu's direction, "Pah! You dare to talk about opening the clan hall to divorce me, does Gu Family Village have a clan hall? The head of my household has spoken, this is our personal affair, it has nothing to do with the village."

Granny Gu, seeing Gu Rong frightened into spilling the truth and completely disgracing her own family, decided to go all out, "Elder Ding, let your men come out, tie up Gu Dashan's family and take them to Qi Mansion. Whoever dares to stop them, your Qi Mansion can report them to the government office."

Granny Gu glared at the villagers of Gu Family Village, her face twisted with ferocity, "The head of Qi Mansion is an official in the Capital. If you're not afraid of facing a lawsuit, continue to help Gu Dashan."

She sneered, "Don't say this old woman didn't warn you. When you reach the eastern Yangji Prefecture, you'll have to re-register your households at the government office. If you offend Qi Mansion, with just a name card sent by the Qi Family officials to Yangji Prefecture, you can forget about getting new household registrations and will only be able to be drifters!"

With this move, Granny Gu ruthlessly seized the villagers' lifelines.

Hearing Granny Gu's words, the villagers dared not help Gu Dashan's family anymore... Without new household registrations, they would be drifters in Yangji Prefecture, and in the Great Chu Dynasty, drifters could be bought and sold at will.

Granny Gu watched as the villagers backed off, her old face brimming with arrogance.

Elder Ding, who had a preference for Gu Jinxiu and wanted to take away Gu Dashan's family, saw Granny Gu drive back the villagers with her cursing and shouted towards the depths of the forest, "Zhu Da, come and take the people!"

"Coming, Elder Ding." From the depths of the forest, Zhu Da, leading about a dozen of Qi Mansion's servants, charged over, with Qian Chengcai following behind them.

Not long after Village Chief Gu and his group arrived, Granny Gu sensed that things were going awry and sent Qian Chengcai to Qi Mansion's camp to find people. He was looking for the servants under Elder Ding's command, who were hiding in the forest waiting.