Ren Yinghao watched Wang Dazhu wailing and lamenting with cold eyes, thinking to himself that this Zhuang Pupu must have had his heart blinded by pig oil, to dare to do such a thing in front of his masters.
Wasn't it like lighting a lamp in a latrine – seeking death?
Thinking of these two, let alone them, even the chief constable would have to bow and scrape.
This Wang Dazhu, merely a village servant whose deed of sale was held by his masters, actually dared to be so arrogant. He truly borrowed courage from heaven.
Soon, the person was taken away, and Shen Yun personally escorted them out.
Su Xiaoqi remained in the courtyard to arrange for the family members left behind by Wang Dazhu.
One principal wife, two concubines, and no children.
Su Xiaoqi recalled Wang Dazhu, who was as thin as a dried bamboo stick, and wondered if he had some problems in that regard.
That's why, despite having so many women, he couldn't leave behind any heirs.
But it was good this way, making it easier for her to arrange things.
Otherwise, with her soft heart, she probably wouldn't have been able to bring herself to be ruthless for the sake of the children.
Now, it was straightforward.
She directly stated to the three women: "Wang Dazhu, as a village servant, disrespected the masters, openly challenged them, and embezzled the masters' silver.
At best, he would be beaten and sold, and at worst, exiled to the northwest mining camps. Once gone, he would definitely not return.
If you have deep feelings for him, hurry and follow him.
If you have no feelings, you can stay here, but this house cannot be yours anymore."
As soon as Su Xiaoqi finished speaking, the youngest concubine knelt down and cried,
"Master, servant, servant will not… servant is willing to move to those thatched huts behind and live with my parents."
Su Xiaoqi looked at her, feeling suspicious. Her expression seemed to indicate she had been forced by Wang Dazhu.
Aunt Li saw this and whispered an explanation.
Su Xiaoqi's thoughts were correct.
This young woman was named Ping'er, the daughter of the village servant Qin Tietou.
She originally had a childhood sweetheart fiancé who was not a village servant but a tenant farmer from nearby. He was skilled in carpentry and was known to everyone as Carpenter Wang.
The two families were already discussing marriage.
But one day, Wang Dazhu, drunk, took advantage of his courage and forced himself on the girl in the rice paddy.
Enraged, Carpenter Wang rushed forward to fight him.
However, this fight sent Carpenter Wang to prison.
In the end, it was only when the girl agreed to become Wang Dazhu's concubine that she was released.
But her hand was broken in prison, rendering her unable to do carpentry work anymore.
Coupled with the loss of her beloved, she lost all will to live and lay at home waiting to die.
Su Xiaoqi listened; the story was quite tragic and further highlighted Wang Dazhu's abominable nature.
Fortunately, Shen Yun, with his intelligence, invited the constables to apprehend him and decisively sealed his fate.
Otherwise, with her disposition, dealing with this matter would have been prolonged and messy, not so perfectly resolved.
As for Wang Dazhu's principal wife, Madam Wang, she was no good person. She usually followed Wang Dazhu in oppressing the village servants.
Once she moved out, she would have nowhere to go.
Furthermore, she was not clean, could not withstand scrutiny, and might even have a human life on her hands.
For Wang Dazhu had wreaked havoc in this village for over ten years, taking in no less than seven or eight concubines, but only two remained now.
The others, it was rumored, had been sold by her, or she had secretly killed them. In any case, she was not a good person.
Su Xiaoqi waved her hand, directly instructing Uncle Li to take some sturdy village servants to escort her to prison as well, to accompany Wang Dazhu.
As for the other concubine, her name was Taohua, the daughter of a tenant family from nearby.
Su Xiaoqi asked Aunt Li, why would a good daughter from a tenant family not do that, but instead debase herself to become a concubine?
Aunt Li said that Taohua's family, coveting the power Wang Dazhu held, had sold their daughter for labor.
Aunt Li glanced at Su Xiaoqi's expression and tentatively advised, "Taohua, if your family has that kind of idea, I would like to advise you to not go back, but to stay here and work."
If she returned, who knew when she would be sold again.
Su Xiaoqi did not speak, but tacitly agreed with Aunt Li's suggestion.
"Yes, Sister Taohua, just work with us. As long as you are diligent, the master can always give us a meal." The maid who had previously said she could write persuaded her.
Taohua thought about it. In fact, she was happy to stay in the village.
Her family only had a few acres of poor land, not even enough to marry off her brother.
If she went back, she would definitely be sold again. It was better to stay here.
She then looked up and saw Shen Yun entering from the door, and was instantly struck by his beauty.
This… this young master of the house was too handsome. A blush rose on her face, and she nodded, shyly agreeing.
Su Xiaoqi was entirely focused on dealing with the affairs left by Wang Dazhu and didn't notice Taohua's situation. She simply waved for Aunt Li to make arrangements.
However, Shen Yun saw it clearly. His handsome brows furrowed, and a coldness appeared on his face.
His wife was smart, yes, but ultimately too kind.
She didn't know that some people, having made a choice from the beginning, would continue to make that same choice without any exception.
But if he knew that Su Xiaoqi, even knowing Taohua harbored different feelings for him, might not react, who knew what he would think.
Su Xiaoqi cleared the items piled in the courtyard and found them all to be superficial and of little use.
So she directly had them taken away to be sold.
She didn't hoard them either, saying to everyone, "Once this batch is sold and the money is collected, I will build you a blue brick tiled house, just like this one."
Su Xiaoqi had just inspected the living quarters of the other village servants.
They were simply uninhabitable.
Worse than the thatched hut the Shen family had lived in before.
At least they had a structure built with mud bricks.
And their houses were practically frames built with branches.
It felt like a strong wind and rain could blow them over entirely.
Su Xiaoqi felt unbearable seeing this.
She had originally planned to use money from her own purse to build them houses.
Autumn had passed, and winter was fast approaching.
Living in such houses, she didn't know how they would endure the winter.
"Master, this, building, building houses, we, we have ten households." One household would cost at least seven or eight strings of cash, and building for everyone would cost nearly a hundred strings.
Selling them all wouldn't fetch that amount.
"Let's build five rooms. I think this house is quite large, it can be divided into five portions, and you can discuss how to live in them."
Su Xiaoqi made a plan for them.
Wang Dazhu's house had been built, so there was no reason to leave it vacant.
The crowd cheered.
Led by Old Man Li, they all knelt down and thanked Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun.
Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun exchanged a glance, smiling as brightly as flowers.
This was thanks for solving the problem of troublemakers like Wang Dazhu for her.
"Later, I will list out a plan, and you will plant according to what I write." Su Xiaoqi did not immediately promote a foreman.
Instead, she resolved to supervise it herself for now.
These people now seemed very obedient.
But she knew they were merely scared out of their wits by Wang Dazhu's incident.
Who knew if, after she promoted him to be the foreman, he wouldn't turn around and stab her in the back?
So she had to be cautious, observe slowly, and choose slowly, until she found the most suitable person.