Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 965: Granny Kong’s Wrath

Ever since the Old Gu Family incident, the reputation of Moxiang Street has also been tarnished, with all sorts of nasty rumors spreading around.

The Fang family, living next door to the Old Gu Family, is having a miserable time. They have two daughters of marriageable age, but no one dares to propose, fearing that the venereal disease might somehow infect their household.

The Fang family’s daughters cry at home every day, nearly resorting to hanging themselves.

Old Lady Fang is so furious that she orders the servants to curse the Old Gu Family three times a day, calling them shameless. They’re even contemplating selling the house and moving, but who would buy it? They can’t sell it at all.

Constable Ma is on the brink of frustration, telling those who inquire, "Stop asking. Lord Magistrate said to hang in there for a few more days. Once the directive from the Imperial Court of Judicial Review arrives, the Old Gu Family will leave here—either executed or exiled. Just wait a bit longer, everyone."

Having said that, Constable Ma went into the house with Doctor Xiao.

Doctor Liu was already in the courtyard, inspecting the government officials, first checking if they had any saliva on them and then instructing the attendant to cut off the officials’ clothes and burn them.

At this moment, the officials were standing naked, covered in some dark medicine, looking quite hideous.

When Doctor Liu saw Doctor Xiao, he sneered coldly, "Some folks rely on their age and good background to act high and mighty. This is a matter of life and death, yet they dare to come leisurely?"

Doctor Xiao gave Doctor Liu a look that said he’s crazy, asked the officials in detail about what had happened, and said, "No worries. While venereal disease is an incurable plague, it’s not easy to contract. Generally, other than through marital relations, you might catch it by touching the infected area or the patient’s garments. Spitting a few times won’t generally spread it, so rest assured."

Liu Shiqi heard Doctor Xiao’s words and, crying, asked, "Is Doctor Xiao telling the truth?"

Before Doctor Xiao could speak, Doctor Liu said, "Of course, it’s true. Venereal disease is a terrible plague, but it’s not as dreadful as outsiders make it out to be, you can relax."

He continued, "Just look at Granny Kong and Elder Lin; they haven’t caught it, so what are you afraid of?"

When Liu Shiqi and the officials heard this, they finally were at ease, but Constable Ma still told them what Magistrate Gu had said.

Liu Shiqi and the others had no objections; after all, this was for their own good. If they were unlucky enough to catch it and didn’t stay put in this house but went home instead, their family would suffer.

"We’ll keep this confidential so you and your family won’t be subjected to outsiders’ pointing fingers," Constable Ma promised again.

After hearing this, everyone felt thoroughly relieved.

Doctor Liu pointed at Constable Ma, saying, "Stand still, I’ll cut off your clothes and apply the medicine. You’ll take a medicinal bath after that."

Doctor Xiao spoke again, fearing Constable Ma might overthink it, "Applying the medicine and soaking in a medicinal bath is just a precaution, not an indication that you’ve contracted the disease. Rest easy."

"I got it, thank you kindly," Constable Ma stood still, allowing Doctor Liu to remove his clothes.

Before long, Constable Ma and the others took their medicinal bath, while Gu Chengxian’s body was burned.

Burning a corpse takes considerable time and causes quite a commotion. Mrs. Gu, seeing the thick smoke from Gu Chengxian’s courtyard, felt something wrong. She wanted to check it out but feared catching the venereal disease, so she asked Ms. Zheng and Gu Dagu to come along and see what was happening.

Little did they know, they would see Gu Chengxian’s body halfway burnt.

"Aaahhh!" The three women were utterly helpless, screaming in terror, and collapsed to the ground, fainting.

After Constable Ma and the others finished their medicinal bath and learned that the women had fainted, they were quite pleased, "Serves them right, those troublesome women are finally unconscious, now we can have a moment of peace."

But Constable Ma and the group underestimated the women’s trouble-making capacity; once they came around, they started crying and shouting, accusing Constable Ma of murdering Gu Chengxian, threatening to file complaints against them.

Constable Ma and his group were nearly sick with frustration, explaining the situation to them and saying, "Gu Chengxian disrupted the Prefecture Examination, which is a severe crime, and today he tried to harm us. Should we stand there without fighting back and just let him harm us?"

The women would not listen, only shouting, "Even if Chengxian is a serious offender, so what? You all think you can just kill him? Let me tell you, as Mrs. Gu, I am the daughter of a Scholar, and our Sister Ya is the equal wife of Old Master Zhan San. By killing Chengxian like this, the Zhan Family won’t let you off easily."

Constable Ma laughed, wondering if he should spill the beans about Ms. Zhang and Gu Chengli’s affair, to show them that the Zhan Family never really acknowledged their kinship.

Mrs. Gu thought Constable Ma was frightened and changed her tone, "If you want to avoid our complaints, fine, let us go. As long as you release us, we’ll forget about Chengxian’s case."

She continued, "Anyway, we’re merely collateral offenders, not the main culprits. Lord Magistrate is satisfied having Liu Shiliu in custody... saving a life is a great deed."

Constable Ma, listening to this, took a moment to understand Mrs. Gu’s intent, almost dying of laughter, "So that’s your scheme, I thought you were really concerned about Gu Chengxian, but in the end, it’s all for yourself."

"Let me tell you, stop dreaming. You cannot be released without charges; if you want to clear your name, you’ll need your husbands’ consent to divorce. Then you can leave."

Mrs. Gu and Ms. Zheng were really troubled by this.

Gu Youwen and Gu Youlu would rather die than agree to divorce them, and since they are only collateral offenders rather than the main culprits, they would need their husbands’ agreement for divorce. Otherwise, they would have to rely on their birth families to step in or pay five taels of silver for a forced divorce.

But their birth families were long gone, and they didn’t have five taels of silver.

And even if they had the silver for a divorce, Magistrate Gu wouldn’t let them have it their way.

This group of demon-like old women was too troublesome; if they didn’t get rid of them altogether, Magistrate Gu feared they would cause misfortune and drag him down too.

This Prefecture has had too many immoral cases; as the main official, he would be laughed at by colleagues, and the Old Gu Family were each more immoral than the others!

Enough is enough, it’s better to just have the Old Gu Family die altogether.

Mrs. Gu and her companions, seeing Constable Ma refusing, began to shout and make a scene again. Ms. Zheng was particularly fierce, finally tearing her clothes and shouting, "Forcing civilian women! Officials forcing reputable civilian women!"

She was trying to falsely accuse Constable Ma and his group.

Constable Ma and the others were stunned, not expecting Ms. Zheng to pull such a trick, treating them like what? Were they some pigs who never saw a woman?

God above, what kind of people are this family? Can they ever spare them?

Constable Ma and his group were nearly driven to despair by the Old Gu Family, but fortunately, Granny Kong was formidable. While Constable Ma and the others were still shocked, she grabbed a stick and knocked Ms. Zheng unconscious, stomping her twice, cursing, "What a filthy creature, having the cheek to spout such slanderous words, not even looking at your own pitiful pointy-faced monkey-like appearance, who would even have their eyes on you?!"

She then turned, glaring at Mrs. Gu, spraying with spit as she cursed, "Shout on, dare you scream once more and see what happens, can’t give it a rest even for a day, are you prisoners or not? You should just wait for your sentence, or are you trying to reach the heavens?!"