Chapter 278: Chapter 278: He Won’t Last Much Longer
Village Chief Sun and others had not been gone long when Gu Jin’an returned from school.
Upon learning about Village Chief Sun and Wenhao’s situation, he sneered inwardly and told the angry Third Grandpa and Luo Family People, "Don’t worry, County Captain Jiang has sent a message from the teacher, saying that the Lord County Magistrate has already gone to the Prefecture. Village Chief Sun won’t be able to jump around much longer."
Gu Jin’an shared with them his proposal to Scholar Shang, about removing the unnecessary village chiefs in Great Chu.
After hearing this, Third Grandpa laughed, saying, "Good, good, good, those redundant village chiefs should indeed be removed!"
They do nothing all day but trouble these poor folks when collecting grain taxes, especially since there are indeed too many village chiefs in Great Chu; just in their hometown alone, there are four village chiefs.
And back in Northwest where they constantly deal with wars, things are strictly regulated. They need the village chief’s approval, followed by the village chief, and then clearance from the county government before they can accomplish anything. It is utterly bothersome.
Gu Jinli said, "We better remove Village Chief Sun soon, or else I can’t resist the urge to take action."
Luo Huiniang also clenched her fists, saying, "My fists are itching too, I want to beat someone up!"
She angrily continued, "That Wenhao looks so honest and always seems sad and aggrieved, I didn’t expect him to be such a shameless person. He, he, he... he’s sick!"
Luo Huiniang felt that she was still too young and had never thought about marriage, but then Wenhao popped up unexpectedly. Her mother had told her all about Wenhao’s bad intentions, which shocked her so much that she wanted to chop Wenhao into pieces.
"He’s not sick, just too presumptuous. He didn’t expect that we wouldn’t trust him," Father Luo looked at Gu Jin’an and inquired about the progress of removing the excess village chiefs, "How long will this take? If it drags on for too long, I’m worried Village Chief Sun will pull another dirty trick, and we won’t be able to guard against it."
Gu Jin’an smiled and said, "Uncle Luo, don’t worry. County Captain Jiang’s letter mentioned that the Lord County Magistrate will propose to the Lord Magistrate to first remove half of the village chiefs in our county, then report the achievements to the court. If the court sees the real accomplishments, then the entire Great Chu will follow what Tianfu County has done."
"Once the Lord Magistrate agrees, it will take no more than five days for our county to start removing the excess village chiefs."
And this idea was proposed by the teacher along with County Captain Jiang.
"That’s great. If every report has to go up layer by layer, it could drag on for months," Father Luo and Ms. Chu were reassured and quietly waited for news from the county.
That same midnight, Gu Jinli was awakened by a burst of hoofbeats. She got dressed and upon going to the courtyard, saw that both the Luo Family and the Qin family’s houses had lights on, then she knew that Qin San Lang and others had returned from their leave.
But why were there horses?
While she was puzzled, suddenly someone leaped over the wall on the right side of her house—it was Qin San Lang.
"Xiao Yu, don’t be afraid, it’s us who have returned," Qin San Lang whispered, "How is everything? Nothing bad happened at home, right?"
Seeing him, Gu Jinli was very happy and ran over to him, saying, "Everything at home is fine. Why have you come back at this time?"
"Leave only lasts for one day. If we came back tomorrow, we could only stay at home for two to three hours. We were just competing in the Military Office and won the top three prizes of the month. The Military Office gave us two horses, so we went to the county government office to pick up Brother Luo Wu, and rode back together."
"That’s impressive. Are those two horses yours now?" Gu Jinli looked enviously at the two horses inside his courtyard. "Two horses, the Military Office is really extravagant?"
Qin San Lang laughed, "No, they’re just rewarding us to ride for one day. We have to return them tomorrow when we go back to the Military Office."
Horses are military assets, and there’s no way they’d be given to these soldiers.
Gu Jinli: "It was supposed to be lent for you to ride, really stingy."
Seeing her somewhat disappointed, Qin San Lang hurriedly said, "I brought something back for you, wait a moment, I’ll go get it for you."
Saying so, he agilely vaulted over the courtyard wall of her house, entered the main building, and after a while, came out with a package and vaulted back over the wall.
Gu Jinli looked at the wall of her house... should she spend some silver coins to raise her family’s courtyard wall?
"Knowing you love meat, I bought two lotus leaf roasted chickens for you from the Futai Building in the county, they are very famous." Qin San Lang handed Gu Jinli two lotus leaf-wrapped, still warm roasted chickens.
Gu Jinli immediately took them, smelling the fragrance of the lotus leaf roasted chickens, and said, "You even bought two, smart."
Qin San Lang nodded with a smile, "Yes, one for you, and one for Uncle Dashan and the others."
May you eat your fill in one go.
"San Lang, it’s the middle of the night, where do you run off to? Hurry back." Qin Er Lang looked at Gu Jinli with disdain in his eyes, not understanding what’s so good about this country bumpkin girl? San Lang treats her so well, specifically queuing up at the Futai Building to buy her roasted chicken, just because she loves meat.
Gu Jinli, hearing Qin Er Lang’s voice, disdainfully snorted and asked Qin San Lang: "Did he bully you? If he bullies you, don’t be polite, beat him up."
Putting on a deadpan face every day, who is he showing it for?
Qin San Lang laughed and said, "Don’t worry, Er Brother’s tone is just bad, he won’t bully me."
He added, "It’s too late, you should go back to sleep, I’m going home first."
"Okay, you head back first." Gu Jinli waved at him and took the two lotus leaf roasted chickens back into the house.
Qin San Lang saw her enter the house, then finally vaulted back over the wall to his own home.
Before his feet even touched the ground, Qin Er Lang’s hand swiftly reached out, but Qin San Lang spun his body, dodging his arm.
Seeing him dodge, Qin Er Lang grew even angrier and asked in a low voice, "What are you trying to do?"
Qin San Lang stepped into the house: "I should ask you, Er Brother, what are you trying to do?"
"What am I trying to do? I’m trying to help you." Qin Er Lang, afraid that others would hear, lowered his voice: "She’s just a country girl, she can’t help you, why are you so nice to her?"
"So many girls from noble families, any one you pick is better than her, you don’t need to go out of your way to please her."
Qin San Lang, his eyebrows twisted, looked at Qin Er Lang, feeling he was mad: "Er Brother, what are you thinking? Xiao Yu is just eleven, and you’re already thinking in that direction."
Xiao Yu had just turned eleven and hadn’t grown up yet.
Qin Er Lang sneered, "Then why are you blushing? Why do you listen to her so much? You’re not her servant, why do you diligently help her every time she asks you?"
Qin San Lang’s expression darkened, staring at Qin Er Lang, he said: "Illogical."
After speaking, he entered the house, took out a quilt, and went to Elder Qin’s room, clearly angry and unwilling to sleep in the same room as Qin Er Lang.
"I’m illogical? I’m just fulfilling a brother’s responsibility, I don’t want to watch you make mistakes." Qin Er Lang watched Qin San Lang’s retreating figure and warned: "Don’t be fooled by her young age, that girl is the most scheming, how many people has she tricked along the way? Don’t fall for her schemes, getting involved with her will make you lose the support of your wife’s family!"