Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 157 Mountain God Mushroom

Lu Dezhu’s family caused quite a stir, and the people of Da Feng Village gathered outside the courtyard to watch the excitement, but no one dared to enter and ask questions.

This is the government office’s officer, the peasants are scared.

Squad Leader Yang shouted at the crowd, "Is Village Chief He here? Could someone kindly fetch Village Chief He?"

Logically speaking, for such a major event as an officer entering the village to arrest someone, the village chief should be the first to arrive, but Village Chief He did not come, mainly because Lu Dezhu belongs to the Lu Family, and the matters of the Lu Family People are beyond Village Chief He’s control, and he couldn’t be bothered to intervene.

One of the on-looking Lu Family People said, "Lord, Lu Dezhu is from the Lu Family, and the affairs of the Lu Family People have always been managed by Old Master Lu. Why don’t you go to the Lu family and meet with Old Master Lu to discuss this matter properly?"

"Meet?" Squad Leader Yang laughed angrily: "I am the constable leader of the county government office; what is this Lu Zhudan supposed to be? Does the constable leader need to meet him? Really thinks that just because he made a daughter a concubine to a nearly sixty-year-old, he becomes an official master?"

Lu Zhudan is the former name of Old Master Lu, but after the Lu family prospered, they found the name displeasing and changed it to Lu Xiangfu.

However, Squad Leader Yang is County Captain Jiang’s man; how could he give face to the Lu Family? He directly mentioned Old Master Lu’s former name.

Hearing Squad Leader Yang’s words, the Lu Family People knew that he was not giving face to the Lu Family, and everyone quieted down.

Squad Leader Yang sneered again and shouted: "Are there any people from the He Family here? Go fetch Village Chief He; the Lu Dezhu family has committed crimes, and he as the village chief needs to handle it. Any other Tom, Dick, or Harry has no authority here."

The Lu Family People, upon hearing this, felt their faces burning with embarrassment and discomfort.

The He Family People present were quite pleased; hearing this, one hurriedly said, "Lord, please wait, I will fetch him now," and ran off.

Shortly after, Village Chief He, accompanied by He Dacang, hurried over and upon seeing Squad Leader Yang, bowed and asked, "Squad Leader Yang, what has happened?"

Village Chief He frequents the county government office several times a year and has met Squad Leader Yang.

Squad Leader Yang replied, "Lu Dezhu, his three sons, and his wife Ms. Ge have all committed crimes; we are here to arrest them. Their farmland and houses have already been confiscated. Please ensure these things are well taken care of in the village, don’t let other Lu Family People sell them for money."

Hearing this, Village Chief He was not at all surprised; some households in the Lu family relied on the power of County Magistrate Zou and had committed many misdeeds; he just hadn’t expected the county government to come and arrest people.

"Squad Leader Yang, rest assured, I will make sure to keep these things safe for the government office and won’t let anyone sell them," Village Chief He asked again, "Squad Leader Yang, what exactly did the Lu Dezhu family do to cause such a commotion?"

It couldn’t be because of stealing the land deeds and house deeds of several families.

"Lu Dezhu’s family has committed countless crimes, stealing cattle, pigs, poultry, ruining maidens’ reputations; they’ve done all sorts of wicked deeds."

Upon hearing this, the on-looking villagers erupted: "Lu Dezhu even had the audacity to steal cattle and ruin maiden’s reputations!"

"This damn brute, I thought it was just rumors, but it turns out to be true."

While some of the deeds done by Lu Dezhu and some Lu Family People were known as rumors, many people thought they were false, it turns out they were true.

"This is utterly unconscionable!" Village Chief He was shaking with rage, cursing Lu Dezhu and his sons, regretting greatly that in the past, his ancestors from the He family should not have allowed the Lu family to settle in the village. Look, look, what kind of influence has the Lu family brought to this village?

In other villages within ten miles and eight villages, there have been no villagers arrested for crimes in decades, but their Da Feng Village, within less than two months, government officers have come to arrest people twice; if this turmoil continues, the village’s reputation will be completely ruined. In the future, how can the young men of their village still find wives? Where would any girl dare to marry into here?

Squad Leader Yang saw Village Chief He’s face turn deathly pale with anger, but did not console him. Lord County Captain was right; the moral standards in Da Feng Village had degraded. Apart from the Luo Family’s misdeeds, Village Chief He’s inaction was also to blame.

Village Chief He was overly timid, always hoping to endure and avoid bringing disaster upon the He family. However, he never considered that if he did not take action to stop it, with the passing of years, once the village’s morals were corrupted, the He family would also suffer.

"Lu Dezhu confessed that he stole a cow from your family twenty-five years ago. As the victims, your family needs to attend the court session at the county government, where you can obtain compensation," Squad Leader Yang said.

Upon hearing this, Village Chief He was at first unresponsive, until He Dacang exclaimed in shock, "That cow was stolen by Lu Dezhu? This beast who deserves death, Squad Leader Yang, rest assured, my family will definitely be there during the court session."

He Dacang still remembered the incident with that cow.

At that time, his family was doing alright, so they bought that cow, but later it was stolen. His younger brother was beaten so severely he lay in bed for half a month, nearly losing his life.

That cow wasn’t only his family’s; his second uncle’s family also had a share. After the cow disappeared, his family compensated his second uncle’s family with eight taels of silver.

His mother was in poor health, constantly ill and unable to do farm work. During the next year’s busy farming season, out of desperation, they sold two acres of paddy fields and bought another cow, barely managing to survive the grueling farming season.

Because of that cow, their family’s circumstances greatly worsened.

The more He Dacang thought about it, the angrier he got, wishing he could rush to the county government and beat Lu Dezhu.

After dealing with Ms. Ge and her two sons and sending them back to the county government, Squad Leader Yang, accompanied by the Government Officials, left Da Feng Village.

After their departure, the villagers continued discussing the affairs of Lu Dezhu’s family.

The He family people were happy, while the Lu Family People were afraid, especially those who had committed misdeeds in secret; they were terrified, fearing they might be the next ones to be arrested.

The Lu Family, Old Master Lu, Lu Laoer, and Lu Laosan had already learned about Lu Dezhu’s family’s situation and that Lu Dezhu was not missing, but arrested.

Lu Laosan, terribly frightened, quivered as he said to Lu Laoer, "Second brother, we need to send someone to the county urgently to inform our eldest brother to keep an eye on Lu Dezhu. No matter what, we can’t let Lu Dezhu drag our family into this!"

However, Lu Laoer shook his head, "Although Lu Dezhu has helped our family with shady dealings, we have already covered our tracks. County Captain Jiang has no evidence, so he won’t dare to arrest us."

Old Master Lu said, "Your second brother is right; we can’t get involved. They have no evidence to link us. If we can’t resist going to find Lu Dezhu and get caught by County Captain Jiang’s men, that would be handing them evidence on a silver platter."

After consulting, the three men from the Lu family unanimously agreed not to seek out Lu Dezhu. However, they went to warn other Lu Family People in the village, advising them not to expose their family even if they were caught.

The Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families were delighted upon hearing about Lu Dezhu’s family’s situation. Mrs. Chen was especially energized, bringing her freshly ground spices to Gu Jinli’s house. There, she pulled along Mrs. Cui and Ms. Yan, who also came to deliver ground spices, and they mercilessly ridiculed Lu Dezhu’s family.

Upon seeing her talk for a quarter of an hour non-stop, Third Grandma couldn’t help but say, "Da Gui’s wife, what time is it now? Aren’t you going to set up your stall? Aren’t you doing business?"

Yesterday, it was the Luo and Tian families setting up stalls; today, it was Gu Damu’s family and Gu Dagui’s family.

Mrs. Chen, who loved making money, hurriedly pulled Ms. Yan away after hearing this, heading back home to prepare before setting up her stall for breakfast.

Gu Jinli did not join setting up the stall. After helping with the morning chores at home and having breakfast, she took a hoe, a dagger, and a sack, preparing to go up the mountain to search for something called mountain god mushrooms.

Mountain god mushrooms taste delicious but carry a toxin unknown to people of this era, which she especially prepared for Lu Laosan.

The Lu Family had harmed them time and again. With such courting of death, she had to send Lu Laosan a significant gift, lett