Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 132 Complaining

Before long, Widow Qiu arrived at the Lu Mansion located at the eastern end of the front village and knocked on a corner gate in the back courtyard of the Lu Family.

With a creak, a servant opened the gate for Widow Qiu. Seeing her, he did not ask any questions but stepped aside to let her into the Lu Mansion.

The affair between Widow Qiu and the Lu Family Brothers was known to all the Lu Family People, so the servants did not stop her.

Widow Qiu was thoroughly familiar with the Lu Mansion, and soon she arrived at Old San’s study.

Though called a study, it was actually a place where Old San sought pleasure.

Upon seeing Old San, Widow Qiu immediately burst into tears and with a crying, delicate voice said, "Third Master, you must stand up for me, the He Family has bullied me because I’m a widow, and they beat me severely." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Widow Qiu was over thirty, but she was attractive and seductive with a fair complexion uncommon among peasant women, instead of the rough, dark skin. Accustomed to posing and acting, her weeping had a charm of its own.

Old San, who was lounging on a soft couch covered with thick quilts eating roast mutton, felt a tickle of excitement seeing Widow Qiu acting this way. He pulled her over and said, "The He Family People bullied you? How did they bully you? Tell me properly, and if I’m satisfied, I’ll take care of them for you."

These were not words a normal person would say, but Widow Qiu was not afraid; over the years, she had experienced all kinds of things, both proper and improper.

"Master, the men from the He Family, both young and old, accused me of being disrespectful to my ancestors and not maintaining moral integrity as a woman. They surrounded me and pinned me down..." Widow Qiu recounted how the He Family People had beaten her severely, but her choice of words was overly suggestive, and her tone was theatrical, occasionally punctuated with moans, which inflamed Old San to the point where he almost wanted to execute her on the spot.

After Widow Qiu finished telling about how the He Family had beaten her, she cursed the Gu Family: "The Gu Family did it on purpose, they have a grudge against your family, they want to use tofu business to win over the He Family and isolate your family, Third Master, you must not let the Gu Family off."

Old San was the one who had been captured and sentenced when he went to the Gu Family to steal a recipe. The Lu Family also fell out of favor with County Magistrate Zou because of this, and their standing had greatly declined. Widow Qiu thought that Old San must absolutely despise the Gu Family, and her instigation would definitely prompt him to act against the Gu Family.

Widow Qiu was only half right; Old San did indeed despise the Gu Family deeply and wanted to deal with them, but since the last time he led people to steal the recipe from the Gu Family and instead got caught and sentenced by County Captain Jiang, Old San had been scolded in turn by his father, elder brothers, including his younger sister, calling him foolish for acting against the Gu Family without proper timing, bringing disaster upon them.

After scolding him, they warned him not to trouble the Gu Family for a while and to wait until they regained the trust of County Magistrate Zou and until County Magistrate Zou was willing to personally act against the Gu Family before they annihilated those beggars who fled from the disaster.

So Old San said: "We will definitely not let the Gu Family off, but dealing with them is not urgent, let it be for now."

"Why?" Widow Qiu was very dissatisfied with Old San’s refusal and urged, "Third Master, the Gu Family has become wealthy from their tofu and has connections with Scholar Shang and County Captain Jiang. Who knows what other powerful connections they might make soon? We must not wait any longer; we need to deal with them before they rise further."

Her words made sense. But why did the Lu Family suffer losses initially? Was it not because they wanted to strike at family businesses like Qin, Gu, and those from Luotian that had not yet stabilized, to utterly frighten them into submission to the Lu Family.

What was the outcome? The Lu Family nearly faced ruin.

Old San, remembering the huge loss he suffered at the Gu Family, felt uncomfortable and his tone became harsh: "I have said, let this matter be for now, we will talk about it later."

Hearing that Old San still was unwilling to trouble the Gu Family, Widow Qiu blurted out in desperation: "Third Master, your family has the County Governor as a son-in-law, are you still afraid of the Gu Family?"

Before the words were finished, Lu Laosan’s face turned extremely ugly, and with a slap, he smacked Widow Qiu across the face, then with a kick he knocked her off the couch.

Widow Qiu fell to the ground, landing directly on her wounded spot, screaming in pain. But her scream tugged at the wound on her cheek, twisting her face in agony.

Lu Laosan didn’t care whether she was in pain or not, and pointing at her, he cursed, "Stinking old lady, what are you to dare speak of the Lu Family’s affairs with the County Governor? If you wish for death, I’ll grant it!"

Lu Laosan’s sudden anger was provoked by Widow Qiu’s words, "Your family is the in-laws of the County Governor."

Previously, Lu Laosan considered these words flattering, but after the incident involving the recipe and being sentenced, hearing it again made him feel that Widow Qiu was deliberately humiliating his family.

In the county, the wealthy families who knew about this incident often mocked the Lu Family, claiming they were mere toads in a mud pit who saw themselves as golden toads—just a concubine’s family daring to claim they were the County Governor’s in-laws.

The anger of County Magistrate Zou had subsided somewhat, but because of this, he called his elder brother over for a harsh scolding, using very harsh language and warning them that if he was implicated by the Lu Family again, they would be in deep trouble.

The elder brother didn’t dare retort and could only endure the scolding. Though they appeared prominent in Qingfu Town, in front of County Magistrate Zou, they were merely servants.

Thus, hearing Widow Qiu’s words, Lu Laosan was reminded of County Magistrate Zou’s warning and the ridicule from those families in the county, which drove him to hit Widow Qiu.

Widow Qiu was stunned for a moment, but being battle-hardened, she immediately crawled over, clinging to Lu Laosan’s thigh, tears streaming down as she sobbed, "My lord, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn."

With a slight lift of the corner of her eyes, casting a hook-like, flirtatious glance at Lu Laosan, she said in a tender, soft voice, "My lord, I came to serve you today; it has been some time since you last visited."

Looking at Widow Qiu kneeling at his feet, Lu Laosan said, "Just got beaten and still seeking more, can you handle it?"

Widow Qiu giggled and said, "Can I handle it or not, why don’t you test it out, my lord?"

Saying so, she pounced towards Lu Laosan.

Though she was a slightly older woman, Lu Laosan didn’t refuse; he enjoyed Widow Qiu’s flavor—so spirited!

...

Upon hearing that Village Chief He had summoned the He Family People to the ancestral hall and had disciplined and beaten some He Family People, families like the Gu Family, Yue Family, and Luotian relaxed a bit.

Third Grandpa said, "It seems, the He Family People dare not come to make trouble at our house."

Had Village Chief He not disciplined the He Family People, their house would definitely be surrounded by them tomorrow.

Gu Jinli said, "It’s good that Village Chief He acted swiftly; if the He Family dared to cause trouble, we wouldn’t sell tofu to Village Chief He."

As per the contract, how much tofu to supply and whether to supply or not was entirely up to his family’s discretion.