Chapter 470: Defense Map

Two cattle thieves were taken away, Village Chief He hurried to Gu Jinli’s house, asking about the incident in Yushu Village.

Third Grandpa said, "The men have been captured by the Military Office’s soldiers, nothing happened in Yushu Village."

He also told Village Chief He, "Village Chief, we shouldn’t speak too much about Yushu Village’s incident, to avoid ruining Lord County Magistrate’s plans."

Upon hearing this, a gleam appeared in Village Chief He’s aged eyes, as if he understood something, and he quickly responded, "We won’t talk about it, I was just asking. Knowing that Yushu Village is fine, I feel relieved."

Han Liu and Wang Yongfu stayed up all night and did not catch up on sleep. Instead, they came to Gu Jinli’s house to report last night’s events.

Dashan and Gu Jinli listened and said to them, "You two will have to endure hardship for a while longer until the Zou family’s matter is settled, then we can truly rest easy."

Han Liu promised, "Yes, Young Master and Little Young Master, rest assured, we won’t relax our vigilance so soon."

Before coming to Qingfu Town with Doctor Wu, Han Liu had been a guard and was skilled in patrolling, protecting against thieves, and safeguarding masters. Last night, even though the incident was unexpected, thanks to his leadership over several skilled servants like Wang Yongfu, the situation was properly managed without chaos.

After Han Liu and his group reported the situation, they returned to the new workshop to rest.

Da Feng Village buzzed with excitement all morning due to the capture of cattle thieves last night. However, by noon, the news that a gang of major thieves was caught in Yushu Village overshadowed it.

"God Almighty, last night our village only faced two cattle thieves, but nearby Yushu Village was invaded by nearly fifty bandits. It’s said each had a fierce look, were hefty and burly, and even carried knives. The appearance of the Military Office’s people alarmed everyone but scared the folks of Yushu Village half to death!"

"Was anyone hurt? What did they steal?"

He Shiliu’s cousin on his mother’s side is from Yushu Village, who learned much about the incident this morning. Fearful for his cousin’s family, he went to check and, upon hearing the questions, replied, "No one was hurt. Our county soldiers from the Military Office had already been monitoring them and captured those bandits last night."

County Magistrate Xu didn’t disclose that those were river bandits but only mentioned they were a gang of notorious and evil bandits.

After a while, He Shiliu added, "The village chief of Yushu Village was also arrested."

"What? The Yushu Village chief got arrested? For what reason? Isn’t he a coward? Niu Zi ruled Yushu Village ruthlessly, and that village chief didn’t even dare to fart, so what bad could he have possibly done?" A villager quickly asked by the grinding stone where others were resting and repairing farm tools: "Could it be a mistake?"

"The Yushu Village Chief Zhang Sisong is my cousin, and you all know what kind of person he is; he never lies. He personally told me that when the officers from the county came to arrest, they charged Old Village Chief Zhang with covering up the misdeeds of Niu Zi and his gang for years. Moreover, Yushu Village had the most villagers sold off as good citizens in our Qingfu Town. Lord County Magistrate was furious and ordered the government officials to take horse-drawn carriages to arrest Old Village Chief Zhang before dawn."

"Exactly, without Old Village Chief Zhang providing protection, how could Niu Zi and his gang have caused trouble for so many years? I heard..." A villager whispered something to the others present. Upon hearing it, they all cursed loudly.

"These beasts, they truly deserve death. I always wondered why so many girls from Yushu Village were suddenly married off far away; it turns out these beasts were committing atrocities!"

"Old Village Chief Zhang deserves death. As a village chief, he protected and indulged scoundrels; he deserves to be arrested."

Villager He Dagong said, "What protection and indulgence? Old Village Chief Zhang must have been involved too. If he didn’t benefit from it, how could he have sheltered Niu Zi for so many years?"

He Shiliu said: "Big achievement, we can’t talk nonsense about this. Let’s wait for the punishment from Lord County Magistrate. In any case, Village Chief Zhang’s house is ruined."

Indeed, just the next day, another team of government officials arrived at Yushu Village.

As soon as the government officials entered the village, they sealed off Village Chief Zhang’s house and arrested all the male members of his household, citing the reason that Village Chief Zhang had committed a crime and his family members must share the responsibility.

Village Chief Zhang also lost his position as village chief, and the county appointed Village Chief He to temporarily take over as the village chief of Yushu Village.

Village Chief He received official documents from the county and was so excited that he almost fainted, exclaiming, "Our ancestral graves are smoking up!"

That very day, he prepared offerings and went to pay homage at the He family’s ancestral graves to inform the ancestors of this good news.

After the excitement, Village Chief He began to fear and went to seek advice from Third Grandpa: "Brother Gu, I’m an outsider to the village, will the people of Yushu Village accept me managing their affairs? I hope there are no misunderstandings that could end up tainting my reputation."

Then he turned to Gu Jinli in the courtyard: "Little Xiao Yu, you have to think of a way to help your village chief grandpa."

Gu Jinli looked at the bright sun and was stirring the soy sauce in the vat with a long wooden pole. The soy sauce had to be sunned for half a year and stirred every day to turn out well.

She laughed and said: "Village Chief, you don’t need to worry. The troublemakers of Yushu Village have been arrested, and Village Chief Zhang’s home has been sealed. The people of Yushu Village are now frightened, and since you are appointed as the interim village chief by the county with official documents, they wouldn’t dare to do anything to you."

"Isn’t Uncle Shiliu’s maternal cousin’s cousin in Yushu Village? You could ask him for help and let his maternal cousin’s cousin assist you. Having someone from their village dealing with affairs would make them feel more at ease. If they are still uncomfortable and looking for trouble, you can report it to the county government and have the government officials intervene. What is there to be afraid of?"

"Ah, Little Xiao Yu, you really have a way. Alright, I will go find He Shiliu now and have him take the old man to Yushu Village to find people." Village Chief He walked away with his cane, then turned back and said, "Little Xiao Yu, if I need to go to the county to find people for help, I might need to borrow your family’s mule cart."

Village Chief He was very fond of Gu Jinli’s mule cart; he even dreamt about it. In the dream, the mule had a foal, and since Gu Jinli’s family did not care for the foal, they gave it to his family, which made him very happy. Upon waking up, he realized that mules are castrated and cannot have foals.

That very day, He Shiliu took Village Chief He to Yushu Village and found Zhang Sisong.

Zhang Sisong was a decent person, with a sense of righteousness and some prestige in Yushu Village. Also having many cousins, with their help, Village Chief He soon managed to sort out the affairs of Yushu Village.

...

In the county government, Qin San Lang used the antidote as bait, persuading several river bandits to compromise, revealing the location of the Water Bandit Village and the defense setup inside the village.

However, Qin San Lang was wary of people from the Prefecture Government Office; he did not expose himself but shared his plan with Jiang Qi, letting Jiang Qi handle it.

The method was simple: the captured river bandits were poisoned by the drug concocted by Gu Jinli, which upon waking, caused pain like needle pricks, left them weak, coughing up blood, and looking as if they had tuberculosis.

Jiang Qi told the river bandits about the harmful effects of the poison, and after suffering for a few days, those who couldn’t bear it revealed everything about the Water Bandit Village.

Qin San Lang, with his scouting skills, could draw defense maps and, based on the descriptions from the river bandits, drew several maps of the village’s defenses.