Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Lu Laoer
After discussing, several families decided to buy the empty land in front of and behind their respective courtyards.
As for those three courtyards, Third Grandpa said, "My family will buy one."
Their couple was living with Dashan’s family without buying a courtyard, so they needed to buy one. When Fuyan’s family was found, they would have a place to settle.
Gu Jinli’s family took the remaining two courtyards.
Gu Jinli wanted to expand the soy sauce and tofu business, needing a courtyard for a workshop, while the remaining courtyard was prepared for Aunt Daya’s family when she was found.
Clerk Gao efficiently completed the procedures family by family. In thirty minutes, he finished the house and land deeds for several families.
Now, Gu Jinli’s family had three earthen old house courtyards, each covering two acres. Completing the transactions for these three courtyards cost twelve taels of silver.
Her family bought all the vacant land in front of and behind the three courtyards, totaling twenty acres, at the cost of forty taels of silver.
There were also six acres of wasteland being reclaimed, costing six taels. After adding everything up, her family spent a total of fifty-eight taels of silver.
This was quite a sum of money, something their family couldn’t have afforded in the past. But over the past month or so, their tofu business brought in an average of three taels a day, and now, with over a hundred taels of silver saved, they could afford to buy the house and land.
Gu Jinli and Gu Dashan took out the cloth bags they carried, took out two packs of broken silver, and handed them to Clerk Gao.
Clerk Gao counted the silver, confirmed it was correct, and handed the house and land deeds to Gu Dashan.
Gu Dashan took the house and land deeds, ecstatic, now considered a landowner.
After his excitement waned, Gu Dashan quickly secured the deeds close to his body, frequently patting the inner pocket on his chest, worried they might disappear.
Clerk Gao then proceeded swiftly, completing the deeds for the other families. Just after finishing, a commotion was heard gradually approaching. Noticing the noise, Clerk Gao waved at them, saying, "Follow me."
The families hurriedly followed Clerk Gao to a small corner gate behind the Civil Affairs Office. Clerk Gao took out a set of keys and opened the gate: "Go through here, and this small passage leads to the north back gate of the county government. It’s where government officials enter and exit. Someone from the Jiang family is waiting for you there."
"Thank you, sir." Third Grandpa and the others bowed to Clerk Gao. They quickly entered the corner gate, leaving the courtyard of the Civil Affairs Office, following the small passage to the north back gate of the county government, where Scholar Shang was already waiting for them. Beside him stood two unfamiliar servants and a burly middle-aged man with a black coat, a wolfskin belt, and a bearded face.
This man was Scholar Shang’s brother-in-law, Jiang Qi.
Jiang Qi scanned their group for a moment, his gaze fixing on Qin San Lang, and asked, "Is this the young man from the Qin family?"
Scholar Shang nodded, "Indeed."
"Ha ha, look at that build, that stance. He’s surely a practitioner." Due to the Lu Dezhu matter, Jiang Qi liked Qin San Lang very much.
Qin San Lang grinned shyly at the remark.
Scholar Shang said, "This is my brother-in-law, the eldest of the family."
The families hurriedly greeted Jiang Qi.
Third Grandpa asked Scholar Shang, "We heard a commotion while in the Civil Affairs Office, as if a group was heading there, but was stopped by another group. Is everything alright?"
He feared that County Captain Jiang’s people and County Magistrate Zou’s people might clash.
Jiang Qi waved his hand, saying, "Don’t worry, nothing will happen. This is the county government after all. Even though the Zou family is influential here, County Magistrate Zou’s men dare not go too far, or they would have a hard time explaining when Lord County Magistrate and my father return."
Jiang Qi added, "Lu Dezhu has been watched by Old Yang’s men. After dark, Old Yang’s men will escort him into the bailiff through the back door. His affairs won’t implicate your families."
After hearing this, Third Grandpa and the others felt relieved. That was good. As farmers, they only wanted to live peacefully, not getting entangled in legal matters.
After finishing his words, Jiang Qi turned to Qin San Lang, "You handled Lu Dezhu’s matter very well."
He then asked, "What do you normally do at home? Have you thought about working at the county government?"
Qin San Lang shook his head, "Thank you for your kindness, Uncle Jiang. Our family has just settled down and there’s still plenty of work to do. Grandfather is old, and for the next couple of years, I plan to stay home and help, not considering leaving yet."
Jiang Qi said, "That’s filial of you. But you don’t have to decide now. Go home and discuss it with your grandfather. He might agree to you taking up a position here at the county government."
Government officials had great authority and high status, something even farm families dreamt about. Jiang Qi thought that even if he had to push, Qin San Lang’s grandfather would still send him to the county government.
Qin San Lang smiled, "I’ll ask my grandfather when I get home. However, if it doesn’t work out, I hope Uncle Jiang won’t hold it against me."
Jiang Qi was more pleased to hear this. Qin San Lang was not just simple-minded; he could speak well and knew how to handle matters.
Scholar Shang looked toward the alley’s exit, "Brother-in-law, we’ll head back first. County Magistrate Zou’s men are still angry. It’s not wise for them to see us."
"Alright, you go ahead." Jiang Qi instructed the two servants beside him, "Hu Zi, Ah Liu, escort the master home. If anyone dares to trouble him, you know what to do."
"Don’t worry, sir. We won’t let those bastards bully our master," assured Hu Zi and Ah Liu, both strong men nearing thirty, who had served as soldiers and had some skills to protect people.
Jiang Qi nodded, and Hu Zi and Ah Liu led Scholar Shang and the group out of the alley, boarded two mule carts, and headed to the city gate.
One cart belonged to Scholar Shang’s family, the other to the Jiang family. Old Luo wasn’t there, so Hu Zi and Ah Liu drove. In no time, they reached the city gate.
Upon arriving at the gate, Hu Zi saw two Lu family servants waiting there specifically and sneered at them before snapping the reins and rushing out of the gate.
After running for over a quarter of an hour, they caught sight of Old Luo and Ah Jiu, picked them up, and headed toward Qingfu Town.
...
At the Lu Family, Widow Qiu was massaging Lu Laosan’s back, "Third Master, rest assured, those Qin, Gu, and Luotian families will never expect us to pull such a clever trick. Once Lu Dezhu returns with their house and land deeds, we’ll have him lead people to evict them from their houses. The sun is setting, and they’ll surely have to sleep outside tonight."
Widow Qiu smiled wickedly, "There are quite a few girls of age in those families. We’ll have Zhang Niu lead people to their sleeping spot to cause a ruckus. Those girls’ reputations will be ruined, and by then, you’ll have avenged yourself completely."
"Serves them right, daring to oppose me. They deserve such punishment!" Lu Laosan hummed a tune as he savored candied dates, eagerly awaiting Lu Dezhu’s return.
But instead of Lu Dezhu, his second brother showed up.
Lu Laoer returned to Da Feng Village in the middle of the night. Upon seeing Lu Laosan in the study, he immediately slapped him twice squarely.
Slap! Slap!
Lu Laosan’s cheeks swelled from the blows, waking up in shock, and angrily asked upon seeing Lu Laoer, "Second brother, what’s gotten into you?"
Lu Laoer snapped, "What’s gotten into me? If it weren’t for your stupid idea, would any of this have happened? The plan failed! Lu Dezhu’s gone missing, and our family is going to suffer a great loss again!"
