"The old man can rest easy now." Elder Lin sighed in relief after hearing everything and clasped his hands together, saying, "Weâll head back first and wait for your good news."
Gu Jinâan nodded, then followed Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan to escort Elder Lin. As soon as they reached the gate, they unsurprisingly saw Village Chief He.
Village Chief He hurried over with a cane as he saw them, anxiously asking, "Good Brother An, did your family lend them silver? You mustnât lend it! A group of people has arrived at the village entrance, all elderly from nearby villages, shouting they want to borrow money from your family to pay the tax."
The Gu Family was famous for their wealth in the ten miles and eight villages. Since the Lord Emperorâs decree to heavily tax came down, the villagers turned their thoughts to the Gu Family, hoping to borrow money to weather the storm.
But there were so many villagers in the ten miles and eight villages that even if the Gu Family went bankrupt, it wouldnât be possible to help all the villagers pay the tax.
In truth, if Gu Jinliâs private money were included, it would be possible to pay taxes for the people of Tianfu County. But why should Gu Jinli help them pay?
The wickedness in people is nurtured, and Gu Jinli certainly doesnât want to spend money nurturing their bad intentions.
"All the elderly from each village? Havenât their village chiefs come?" Gu Jinâan asked.
Village Chief He shook his head, "The village chiefs didnât come, only some elders and children."
Elders and children?
Heh, Gu Jinâan chuckled. Theyâre trying to use the bitter meat strategy, but unfortunately, itâs a trick his family wonât fall for: "Village Chief, rest assured, our family hasnât lent money to the Zhou Family or Lin Family."
Elder Lin chimed in, "This old brother, the Gu Family indeed didnât lend us silver, but instead asked us to go back and wait for a few days. They mentioned that a new bank will open in the county after a few days, and everyone can then borrow money to pay the tax."
"Really?" Village Chief He perked up and pointed at Zhou Erlang, whose face was obviously injured, "Good Brother An, was this done by your family?"
Gu Jinâan nodded, "Yes, it was Zezi who hit him, as he was pestering our family for silver."
"Well done!" Village Chief He was immensely pleased, knowing that villagers seeing the wounds on the Zhou familyâs lad would definitely think the Zhou Family turned against the Gu Family, believing the Gu Family hadnât lent them money.
He raised his cane, pointing at Zhou Erlang, "Boy, listen up, although the First Place Gu Family is from the same town as you, do you understand the current situation? Youâre swaggering to their house asking for silver, are you trying to ruin them? What if you attract bandits or villains? It would endanger our whole village!"
Da Feng Village had lived well relying on the Gu Family, so although the tax was heavy, it wasnât the biggest concern for Village Chief He. What he worried about was someone risking danger for silver, threatening their village.
With so many people in the ten miles and eight villages and just a few hundred in their village, if surrounded, they couldnât possibly withstand it.
Village Chief He recalled when he went to the county to escort victims, hearing from government officials fetching people from the prefecture, that the victims were flooding in, surrounding the entire prefecture... Thinking of this worried Village Chief He, fearing villagers might follow suit and surround Da Feng Village.
Gu Jinâan smiled, appreciating Village Chief Heâs progression, hearing him speak so sensibly.
Gu Jinâan: "Village Chief, letâs go, weâll check out the village entrance."
"Ah? Youâre going to the village entrance? Itâs risky seeing them now." Village Chief He was very concerned about Gu Jinâan, this golden egg, being the pride of the entire Heâan Prefecture, fearing heâd be entangled if he went out.
Gu Jinâan said, "Village Chief, thereâs no need to worry. Iâm just going out to reassure them."
Itâs also a chance to spread the news of the new bank... Master Ouyang feared Tianfu County would become chaotic before the bank opened, thus decided to release news of the new bank to first stabilize the folks in Tianfu County, offering them hope, preventing them from taking risks, so that Tianfu County could remain stable.
"Alright then," Village Chief He agreed, and the group, escorting the Zhou family, grandly went to the village entrance.
There was indeed quite a crowd gathered at the entrance, about a hundred people, all elders with children, each dressed in rags. And there were others standing on the roadside in the distance, seemingly young men from various villages observing the situation.
Gu Jinâanâs face darkened as he called out to those elders with children, "Dear villagers, rest assured, a new bank will open in the county after a few days..."
He straightforwardly explained the countyâs plan to open a new bank providing loans to farmers.
"What? First Place Gu, are you serious? Is there really such a bank?" The elderly from nearby villages were incredulous, thinking Gu Jinâan was lying to deceive them.
Gu Jinâan thoroughly explained, seeing their disbelief, he sternly stated, "Five days, within five days youâll know the truth of my words."
He also warned, "I advise everyone to hurry back and peacefully wait for five days, rather than doing anything violating the Criminal Law, otherwise Squad Leader Luo wonât be lenient with you."
Everyone knew Luo Wu was Gu Jinâanâs brother-in-law and feared the government, so hearing this, they dared not stir trouble: "First Place Gu, we believe you, weâll head back now, inform the villagers, weâll all wait for five days... If thereâs no such bank lending money to us after five days, weâll return."
Village Chief He felt indignant hearing this, return, return, they just wanted to force the Gu Family to lend them money!
Gu Jinâan ignored those people and instructed He Datian to clear the roadblocks at the village entrance, releasing the Zhou and Lin families.
However...
On the way back to Niugou Town, Zhou Erlang was unlucky, encountered a robbery, got severely beaten, almost crippled.
After beating him, the bandit leader warned him, "Remember, if your family dares spread anything bad about the Gu Family or Miss Gu, Iâll castrate you and sell you to the Capital as a eunuch!"
The Zhou Family werenât good people and had set sights on the Gu Family sisters. Gu Jinli feared the Zhou Family might use rogue methods, first ruining their sistersâ reputations, then propose marriage once their reputations were tarnished.
Thus, taking the initiative, Gu Jinli had Feng Jin gather people to abduct Zhou Erlang, severely beat him, and issue a warning.
Zhou Erlang terrified, swore viciously he wouldnât say anything to tarnish the Gu sistersâ names. Finally, tied up until nightfall, when Elder Zhou paid ransom with broken silver, Zhou Erlang was carried back.
After this incident, the Zhou Family was submerged in gloom, tried leveraging the Gu Familyâs reputation to borrow money from wealthy households in town, but ended up captured by the Si Li Squareâs government officials, detained overnight.
This detention finally made them behave, promptly returning the gifts they had collected.
...
Qin San Lang was aware of everything concerning Gu Jinli, and upon learning about the incident, he was furious... What kind of scoundrels dare have ideas about his wife, assuming heâs dead?!
Qin San Lang again dispatched Sanâan to discipline Zhou Erlang, beating him until bedridden.
Mrs. Zhou Hu, seeing her son repeatedly beaten, thought he must be entangled by something filthy. She sought a witch for a talisman paper, burned it for Zhou Erlang to eat, which almost resulted in his death.
Mrs. Zhou Hu thus believed Zhou Erlang was indeed entangled by something filthy, a powerful creature beyond ordinary witchesâ ability to handle. She continued to seek talisman water, feeding it to Zhou Erlang, nearly sending him to heaven.