Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 98 - 0 Scholar Shang

The middle-aged man had the surname Shang, known as Scholar Shang.

Scholar Shang glanced over the people in the courtyard for a moment, then approached Gu Jinli accompanied by a servant, and after observing her, he asked, "If a three-year-old child were choking on a piece of candy, about to suffocate, how would you go about saving the child?"

Gu Jinli initially felt that this Scholar looked familiar, but when he asked this question, she suddenly remembered that this was the father of the little girl she had saved on the night of the Lantern Festival.

"It’s quite simple, just hug the child from behind and use the overlapped hands to thrust against her abdomen. By using the pressure in the abdomen, you can force the piece of candy out that’s stuck in her throat."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang’s servant joyfully said, "Master, I told you it was their family, look, it really is."

On the night of the Lantern Festival, their young miss was choking on a candy and nearly died, but a young girl suddenly rushed out to save her.

At the time, they were solely concerned about their own young miss, and by the time they thought to look for the lifesaver, the girl was nowhere to be seen.

They searched for over ten days and only found out where the young girl lived yesterday, so they rushed over in a mule cart first thing this morning.

As soon as Scholar Shang saw Gu Jinli, he felt she resembled the girl who had saved Yuanyuan that night, and upon hearing Gu Jinli’s answer, he bowed immediately with gratitude, "Thank you, young lady, for saving my daughter. If not for your rescue, Yuanyuan might have perished."

Scholar Shang, recalling the peril of that evening, still felt lingering fear.

He had been married to his wife for thirteen years and they only had this one daughter, whom they cherished dearly. They would likely not have any more children in this lifetime, and if something had truly happened to Yuanyuan, both he and his wife would not have been able to go on; they would have followed Yuanyuan in death.

The young girl had saved not only Yuanyuan but their entire family.

Gu Jinli stepped aside to avoid Scholar Shang’s bow, refusing his formalities, "Uncle, there’s no need for thanks, saving a life was just a small effort."

Mrs. Chen, hearing that Gu Jinli had saved the Scholar’s daughter, immediately started crying out to Scholar Shang, "Murder! Murder! These bastards are coming to beat and kill us, Scholar, save us!"

He Dacai and the other thugs hastened to rebuke Mrs. Chen, "What nonsense are you blabbering? When did we ever kill anyone?"

Gu Dagui, with a hoe in hand, stood in front of Mrs. Chen and faced them, "You come to our door to steal the recipe, and when we refuse, you want to use force. How is that not akin to killing?"

Gu Jin’an followed up, saying, "Not only did you, the Lu Family, collude with the County Governor to rob our home of the recipe, but you also use the names of county officials to frame our family with charges, intending to confiscate our property privately. How is what you’re doing any different from murder and extermination?"

The people from the Qin, Gu, and Luo families all spoke at once, enumerating the crimes of the Lu Family and the County Governor.

Young Master Lu San frowned deeply upon hearing this, casting a hostile glance at the families.

A servant of the Lu Family rebuked them, "Silence! Don’t wrong our Third Master. He is here to deliver a message today. The matter of the recipe has nothing to do with our Third Master."

Pointing at He Dacai and the other thugs, the servant continued, "If He Dacai and his men have come to smash up your place, it’s because you have offended them, while our Third Master merely chanced upon the scene. Don’t you dare try to implicate our Third Master."

Several villagers, upon hearing their words, were furious: "Your Lu Family has really no shame, blatantly twisting the truth—He Dacai and his lot were clearly brought here by you."

Gu Jinli sneered coldly: "You sure change your story quickly, but it’s a pity that so many of us, with so many pairs of ears, have heard every word you said earlier with crystal clarity. You want to change your tune now? Too late."

Scholar Shang had already grasped most of the situation, and had heard of the Lu Family’s tyranny, relying on the County Governor’s protection to do evil in the countryside. Seeing the Lu Family bullying his benefactor now, he naturally wouldn’t stand for it.

He stepped forward and said to Lu Laosan: "According to the Great Chu Criminal Law, stealing from the homes of good citizens warrants an investigation regardless of who you are; for a lighter offense, a compensation triple the loss of the people is required, and for more severe cases, confiscation and exile."

The Great Chu dynasty was established only three generations ago, inheriting quite a mess from the former dynasty. To clean up this mess, the first Emperor of Great Chu employed harsh laws—if someone broke them, the punishment could be deadly.

Lu Laosan, upon hearing the Scholar’s words, was very annoyed. But since the other party was after all a scholar, and it was best not to offend if possible, he said: "The Scholar may not be aware, these families are disaster refugees, very cunning. I was only helping to convey a message, and they accused me of trying to steal their tofu recipe. Is their tofu recipe even worth a dime? Worth stealing by the Lu Family? What a joke. You must not be fooled by them."

Scholar Shang felt disgust at Lu Laosan’s words, thankfully Ah Jiu had overheard some of what He Dacai and the others had said, or he might really have been deceived by Lu Laosan.

Bringing thugs to rob a house, then using the names of the county officials when things go south, even inverting right and wrong, is simply the height of shamelessness.

Scholar Shang was indignant, and looking at Gu Jinli and his family, he said: "My young friends, such evil people must not be tolerated. Your family should report this to the authorities."

He added: "Tianfu County does not bear the name Lu, and not all officials are muddle-headed. As long as you file a complaint, they will certainly uphold justice for you."

A wave of joy surged in Gu Jinli’s heart, for the scholar to speak so was surely backed by reliability. He nodded: "The Lu Family is bullying us like this, Lu Laosan even threatened us with the county’s officials, if we do not file a complaint, that would be a disservice to all the officials in the county. We must, so that they will be aware of the Lu Family’s abusive acts under their banner in our countryside."

Gu Jin’an said: "Scholar, we want to file a complaint, this matter cannot be left as it is."

If they let Lu Laosan off this time, he would certainly think they were weak and could be bullied, and would bully their families even more in the future.

Third Grandpa nodded his head and said to Scholar Shang: "Scholar, we want to file a complaint."

Scholar Shang nodded with satisfaction: "Ah Jiu, go and tell Old Luo to request two government officials from the Si Li Square, then go to the county to file the complaint. Be quick, it will be dark soon."

"Yes," Ah Jiu turned to go inform the cart driver Old Luo, but was stopped by He Dacai and his thugs.

He Dacai, with a fierce look, threatened: "No filing complaints, this is an internal affair of our village, it will be settled within the village, there is no need for you to meddle!"

When Lu Laosan heard Scholar Shang say they were going to complain, his face grew even uglier, and he asked Scholar Shang: "May I ask for the Scholar’s distinguished name and where do you reside?" If the person had power and influence, then forget it; but if it’s just a poor scholar from the countryside, don’t blame him for being impolite.

Scholar Shang held Lu Laosan in contempt and didn’t bother to respond to him.

Lu Laosan was both angry and ashamed, feeling a complete loss of face, and simply threatened: "You should know, our Lu Family is the Yue Family of the County Governor. Don’t let your petty Scholar status offend the County Governor on account of a few disaster-stricken villagers."