Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 949: Buying Land in the Prefecture

When Judge Tang returned to the government office, Elder Lin Laoba had also been arrested.

The Government Officials dragged him out of the brothel. Well, after getting the silver, he started wreaking havoc. These days, he slept in the brothel and didn’t go home, spending almost all of the three hundred taels of silver he received, leaving only one hundred.

Judge Tang sneered. Such an old scoundrel – even if you give him ten thousand taels, he wouldn’t genuinely live an honest life.

Seeing himself being arrested, Elder Lin Laoba kept exclaiming, "No, my lord! I haven’t committed such evil deeds. I’m innocent!"

Pah!

You innocent? If you were innocent, where did the silver for those prostitutes come from? Dug out from a latrine?

"Gu Chengxian has already confessed, and you still dare to mouth off? Come, beat him!" Judge Tang was too lazy to waste words on such an old rogue and immediately ordered a beating for Elder Lin Laoba.

The Government Officials did not hesitate, pinning Elder Lin Laoba down and beating him.

Bang bang bang!

After just a few blows, Elder Lin Laoba couldn’t bear the pain and said, "My lord, I was wrong. I confess, I confess to everything!"

Then he admitted that Gu Chengxian had given him a silver note, instructing him to sabotage the food prepared for the Prefecture Examination by placing notes in Gu Jin’an’s and Gu family examinees’ rations.

He pleaded for mercy: "My lord, it was all Gu Chengxian’s doing. I’m innocent! Please, my lord, consider my old age and let me go."

Judge Tang laughed and coldly ordered the Government Officials, "Continue beating him until he’s received thirty strokes."

"Thirty strokes!" Elder Lin Laoba almost fainted with fear, "Mercy, my lord, mercy! Thirty strokes will kill me!"

But Judge Tang was thoroughly disgusted by Elder Lin Laoba and did not relent, telling him, "Don’t worry. If you die from the beating, the government will handle your burial."

Saying this, he brought the confessions of Elder Lin Laoba and Gu Chengxian to the Ritual Room and informed Magistrate Gu.

Magistrate Gu felt relieved after hearing, "Confessed is good."

This matter couldn’t afford delays. If the Prefecture Examination were hindered, the entire government office would face consequences.

Judge Tang asked, "How about your side, my lord?"

Magistrate Gu answered, "All the buns were broken apart and examined. Besides the stash found in Xu Zhao Ming’s and Gu Jin’an’s buns, sixteen other buns contained notes, all of them uncovered."

However, with all the buns broken apart, during this Prefecture Examination, all examinees would have to eat crumbly bun residues.

Speaking of those notes, Magistrate Gu was furious. They were filled with either the Thousand Character Classic or the Hundred Family Names or the Three Character Classic. The most outstanding ones contained two poems. Really, what was Gu Chengxian thinking? If you’re going to ruin others with planted evidence, at least put some effort into it. With such sparse learning, going so far as to ruin others, it’s truly shameful!

Judge Tang felt reassured and asked, "When will the examination begin, my lord? The Prefecture Examination cannot be delayed."

Three days for three sessions, all scheduled.

Magistrate Gu said, "Estimate it will start in the evening. Now, the Ritual Room isn’t clean. Everything with the miscellaneous soldiers, examinees, and items given to examinees must be rechecked."

This would take time, but it couldn’t be skipped and had to be done.

Judge Tang nodded in agreement, "Your considerations are thorough, my lord. I am impressed. If there’s anything you need me to do, just let me know."

Magistrate Gu nodded in satisfaction and immediately assigned Judge Tang work. The entire government office’s officials, plus a hundred soldiers from the garrison army, worked until the afternoon hour of You, inspecting all items, miscellaneous soldiers, and examinees thoroughly.

Only then did the examination papers begin to be distributed.

Magistrate Gu tightly sealed off the news of the upheaval, but many examinees’ families still sensed something was amiss, remaining outside the Ritual Room and asking the Government Officials, "Lord, what happened in the Ritual Room? It doesn’t seem right."

They looked at the row of soldiers standing outside the Ritual Room, growing more fearful, knowing something significant certainly happened inside, probably related to cheating.

Cheating – a crime that could lead to the whole family being implicated; yet, they hadn’t seen any examinees escorted out, so it might not be cheating?

The Government Officials had long received orders from Magistrate Gu, telling them, "Don’t worry, everyone. Nothing major happened inside the Ritual Room. There were some issues with the kitchen food that might’ve caused diarrhea for examinees, so a new batch was made. That’s what delayed things."

They reassured the gathered examinees’ families, "Everything’s fine, don’t worry! All examinees are doing well!"

Reassured, the crowd began dispersing once lanterns were hung outside the Ritual Room, planning to return when the Dragon Gate opened to fetch their candidates.

Gu Dashan, Gu Dafu, Qi Panzi, Scholar Shang, and Elder Xu didn’t leave until night fell, still muttering, "Hope nothing major happened."

Their children were all inside taking the exam; if a major cheating scandal were indeed uncovered, even if someone succeeded, the official position wouldn’t count.

Elder Xu, being the eldest, tried to comfort them, "Don’t think too much. Something must’ve happened, but I estimate it’s not severe; otherwise, someone would’ve been escorted out."

But he was also terribly afraid inside, having worked hard for generations, just hoping Brother Ming would pass highly and change families, elevating the Xu Family into the scholarly family ranks. If an incident really occurred, their generations of efforts would be in vain.

The Xu Family, Jiang Family, and Dashan’s family went their separate ways after leaving the main street.

Gu Jinli already knew what happened inside the Ritual Room, so when Dashan returned home, she told him.

Dashan listened, terrified, and quickly said, "How could Gu Chengxian be so vicious? He ruined himself and also wants to harm Brother An. Brother An won’t be affected by this, disliked by the Lord Magistrate, right?"

The main examiner of the Prefecture Examination is the State’s chief officer. If Brother An is disliked by Magistrate Gu, he could fail.

Gu Dafu and Qi Panzi were worried too. Their sons were either clan brothers or cousins with Brother An. If Brother An were disliked by the Lord Magistrate, their sons would be implicated.

Gu Jinli looked at their tense faces and smiled, "Don’t worry. My brother offered pigeon leaf tofu and konjac tofu to the government office, which could help the Lord Magistrate gain credit. Even if he’s angry, he’ll only be angry with Gu Chengxian and won’t blame my brother, nor Brother Dexing or Cousin Ming."

All three felt relieved after hearing this.

Mrs. Chen was beside herself with rage, "I’ve long seen that Gu Chengxian – no, Lai Chengxian – was venomous since young. See, he can commit such wicked deeds. If he really succeeded, how many would die? Truly heartless!"

After scolding, she became envious, "The Lai family truly has money. Even with Lai Chengxian like this, they can still produce a silver note of five hundred taels to bribe Elder Lin Laoba. Tsk tsk tsk, that’s five hundred taels, enough to buy a house in the county."

Speaking of buying a house in the Prefecture, Mrs. Chen felt very frustrated, "Why are houses in the Prefecture so hard to buy? I’ve been going to brokers for ten days, and they all say there are no houses for sale. Even if there are, they’re priced at thousands of taels each. It’s maddening. I have money but can’t spend it."