Chapter 896: Refusal
To everyone’s surprise, Li Chuncao pursed her lips, looked at the crowd for a long moment, and finally said, “The family’s silver isn’t with me. I can’t even afford a cheap coffin.”
The crowd fell speechless.
“You seemed to have a lot of dowry when you married into the family, didn’t you? How can you not have a single piece of silver?” an older woman asked hesitantly. Seeing the Shi family daughter-in-law’s emaciated appearance, it was obvious she had been mistreated, but they hadn’t expected her to lose even her dowry.
“From the moment I married into the family, my mother-in-law said I was too young and naive. She offered to keep it safe for me, and I haven’t seen it since.” Li Chuncao made no effort to cover up the truth, laying bare the Shi family’s ugly nature.
She had lived in Shi Family Village for so many years; it was impossible for the villagers not to know how she was treated. Why were they playing dumb now?
“Then go look through your mother-in-law’s belongings. The house is only so big; you can surely scrape together enough silver to bury her. Otherwise, if you leave her out like this, you won’t be able to live here either,” Village Chief Shi reminded her. If they didn’t hurry and lay Gu Yuanfeng to rest, it would be her daughter-in-law who truly suffered.
The crowd looked at Li Chuncao with strange expressions. This young woman was certainly bold; with her mother-in-law lying dead inside, she still had the nerve to sit here and eat alone.
If the villagers hadn’t reported it and prompted this visit, would Gu Yuanfeng have just been left lying there forever?
Slowly, a few people quietly took a few steps back, feeling a chill run down their spines.
They had assumed that since they took the initiative to come and help, Li Chuncao would naturally ask them for assistance. To their surprise, the young woman said with a look of indifference, “Thank you all, but I don’t call the shots in this household. It’s better to wait until my father-in-law and husband return to discuss this.”
Village Chief Shi was somewhat shocked. “Do you actually think they’ll be back? The county government has already locked them in prison. It will probably be days before the magistrate judges the case.
“Aren’t you just acting out? Don’t drag the whole village down with you.
“This isn’t up to you today. Hurry inside and pack her things. We’ll put together a simple funeral and lay your mother-in-law to rest as soon as possible.”
If things really went as this young woman said and the body was left to rot, would anyone even dare to live in the village? This was pure nonsense; not a single person in this family was easy to deal with.
Li Chuncao stood motionless, blocking everyone’s path. A few older women, unable to stand it anymore, tried to push her aside, only to be met with a glare full of sheer hatred.
“She really doesn’t know what’s good for her.” The main hall already felt rather eerie, and now, startled by her hateful stare, everyone began to back down.
“I’m staying out of this. My house is on the other side of the village anyway; even if there’s a stench later, it won’t reach me.” Someone backed out first, turning to leave while reminding the village chief, “Call us when you’ve reached an agreement. This place is creepy, and I don’t want to be cursed by anything unholy.”
Hearing this, the others took a few more steps back. If they weren’t all from the same village and clan, absolutely no one would want to bother with this mess.
Village Chief Shi looked at Li Chuncao, deeply disappointed in her stubbornness. “Look at the mess you’re making! Once you’ve offended everyone, are you going to carry your mother-in-law up the mountain and bury her yourself?”
Li Chuncao stuck to her script. “I don’t call the shots in this household. It’s better to wait until my father-in-law and husband return.”
Village Chief Shi was speechless.
Ultimately, everyone had to admit defeat and leave. They simply couldn’t reason with Li Chuncao, and they couldn’t exactly storm in and tie her up.
Now, all they could do was place their hopes on the Shi family father and sons currently sitting in the county prison. They hoped the men would quickly settle their legal troubles and return to handle the funeral arrangements.
Gaoling Village.
Gu Yuanjin and the others had been waiting for news from the county government. Just past noon, Hu Dong returned with an update.
The three Shi men were temporarily detained in the prison. None of them were willing to confess to the murder of Gu Yuanfeng.
They all claimed that Gu Yuanfeng had refused to let them fetch a doctor. Since their hands were tied, they could only let her have her way.
This answer obviously failed to satisfy the Gu family brothers. Based on their understanding of Gu Yuanfeng, a woman who had been thoroughly spoiled since childhood, there was no way she would have endured such agony without putting up a fight.
“They didn’t use torture?” Gu Yuanshui asked through gritted teeth.
Hu Dong shook his head. County Magistrate Gao’s behavior was quite interesting this time. In the past, his standard procedure for handling a case was to immediately order a severe beating with heavy wooden boards. This time, his leniency was incredibly abnormal.
He certainly had no intention of covering up for County Magistrate Gao. When he contrasted the magistrate’s usual methods with his approach to this case, everyone immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Should we send a gift over?” Gu Yuanmu suggested quietly.
Gu Yuanjin was also hesitating, wondering if they had lacked proper etiquette.
Only Jin Qianqian and Hu Dong knew the truth. County Magistrate Gao had been planted in Fu County by an opposing political faction. It was already a blessing that he wasn’t actively trying to sabotage them; how could he possibly go out of his way to solve a problem for the Gu family?
Jin Qianqian had anticipated this scenario, but she hadn’t expected the other party to be so bold. He was stalling, waiting for news from Shangjing.
Hu Dong gave Jin Qianqian a slight nod. The informants keeping watch there had already reported that the county government had dispatched someone to Shangjing.
“There is no rush on this matter. We’ll have plenty of time to slowly deal with the Shi family men later,” Jin Qianqian said, looking at the crowd. “The people I sent out found out that Yuanfeng still hasn’t been buried, and the Shi family has no intention of arranging a funeral. We should first decide whether we are going to intervene in this or not.”
Jin Qianqian tossed the dilemma back to the Gu family brothers. Theoretically, since they had already severed ties with Gu Yuanfeng, it would be inappropriate to intervene.
However, the Gu family’s reputation could not afford to be tarnished. If they truly acted completely heartless and unfeeling, it would give others ammunition to criticize Gu Wenheng and his sons in the political arena later on.
When that time came, people would only remember Gu Yuanfeng’s tragic end. Who would mention the wicked things she did while she was alive?
“We can’t just leave her like that.” After all, they were siblings born of the same mother. No matter how many mistakes Gu Yuanfeng had made, Gu Yuanjin couldn’t bring himself to just ignore her.
“The Shi family is despicable, but we can’t let our sister end up like this,” Gu Yuanmu said. “I think we should drag Shi Laiyun out first and force him to wear mourning clothes for his mother, and then toss him back into prison.”
“Yuanmu’s idea isn’t bad,” Gu Yuanshui said with a cold, dark expression. “Yuanfeng always favored that son of hers the most, so it’s only right that he’s the one to see her off.
“We’ll have to trouble Qianqian with this. Get that boy out for half a day, and I’ll personally escort him back to the county government afterward.”
Seeing that the brothers were willing to step in, Jin Qianqian was saved from having to waste her breath.
“I’ll have Hu Dong make a trip later. Even the strictest laws must accommodate human compassion. The Holy Emperor governs the world with filial piety; he surely wouldn’t prevent Shi Laiyun from returning home to fulfill his duties as a son.”
Jin Qianqian’s words were also a hint to Hu Dong. If County Magistrate Gao dared to make things difficult, this reasoning alone would be enough to counter any objections.
Since they were preparing for a funeral, they needed to get moving.
The brothers wouldn’t allow Gu Yuanfeng’s departure to be too desolate, so they immediately began instructing people to arrange the necessary rituals.
Just as they finished discussing and were about to leave, Jin Qianqian called out to them. “How should we handle Mother? We need to be prepared. We won’t be able to hide this from her for long.”