Constable Sun turned around and glared at the Liu family members.

Seeing them immediately fall silent and put on flattering smiles, he then turned to Shen Qing and said forcefully:

“The Jiang and Liu families have already separated, and according to the law, they are not required to return. We are here today because of the damage you caused to the Liu family’s property and for injuring Old Madam Liu. If you are willing to compensate the Liu family, we can settle this matter peacefully. But if not, you will have to come with us today!”

Jiang Yu immediately understood that they were trying to extort money from her family, and her face turned pale as paper.

Jiang Xiangdong’s first reaction was, “But our family doesn’t have much silver!”

Constable Sun was prepared for this and quickly responded, “No silver? Then use your newly harvested grain as payment!”

Everyone except Jiang Xiangdong immediately grasped the implication behind his words.

No wonder they came at this precise moment—right after the wheat had dried and been stored away!

Clearly, they knew that farming families rarely had much silver on hand. If they had come earlier, the family wouldn’t have had any money to offer.

If they had come later, the grain would have already been sold, making it impossible to seize.

Jiang Xiangdong blinked in confusion and said, “But we don’t have any new grain either. We even have to buy food for ourselves.”

Although their meals had improved lately, that was because they had been using real silver to buy food. Most of the money they earned from making brushes had probably gone toward buying grain.

That said, eating mostly refined grains with only occasional coarse grains had been incredibly nourishing—especially for the little children, who now looked chubby and well-fed.

That money had been well spent!

Constable Sun and the Liu family were momentarily stunned. Then, Old Madam Liu shrieked,

“Impossible! Don’t think you can fool me—I know that your Jiang family originally had twenty-three acres of land. You sold five acres here and there to pay for your son’s education, but that still leaves seventeen acres! There’s no way you sold them all in less than a month. Don’t treat us like fools!”

Seventeen acres was a considerable amount of land, whether in Qili Village or Shili Village.

Although the younger Jiang brothers weren’t particularly capable, the eldest and second eldest were excellent farmers.

This year’s wheat harvest had been exceptionally good due to timely rainfall. In a year of abundance like this, every household was overjoyed.

Did Jiang Xiangdong really think he could deceive her about how much land they had?

This time, before the Jiang family could respond, the surrounding villagers began chattering:

“The land is still there, but the harvest isn’t!”

“Jiang Xiangdong’s wife traded all their newly harvested grain with the Zhao and Hong families for fish, eels, and crayfish—she even traded for small fish and wild shrimp! Of course, they have no extra grain left.”

“It was the Zhao and Hong families who harvested the Jiang family’s wheat, and they worked hard for it. That grain belongs to them now. If anyone dares to take it, they’ll fight to the death!”

“Besides, the grain was already used to pay off the debt to the Zhao and Hong families long ago. And even if it wasn’t, who can prove the new grain still belongs to the Jiangs? If they had come earlier, when the wheat was still in the fields, they might have had a case. But now? It’s too late!”

Constable Sun’s face turned an ugly shade, his bloated, alcohol-ridden complexion even more hideous.

Was the Jiang family crazy?

What kind of fool would trade away all their grain like that?

Gritting his teeth, he turned to Jiang Xiangdong and demanded, “If you exchanged your wheat for fish, then where is the silver from selling the fish?”

As the eldest son and a married man, Jiang Xiangdong was the primary provider for the family. If there was any money in the household, he would know where it went.

Jiang Xiangdong looked at Constable Sun as if he were an idiot. “Didn’t I just say? We have to buy food. Of course, the money was spent. And we eat really well, too—I don’t even know if the money from selling the fish was enough.”

If it wasn’t enough, they would have to make up for it with money from selling brushes, but there was no need to tell them that.

Constable Sun took a deep breath and growled, “If you needed to buy food anyway, why trade away your own grain in the first place? Why not just keep it and eat it yourselves?”

“Harvesting grain is exhausting,” Jiang Xiangdong replied. “You have to cut it, carry it back, dry it repeatedly, dehusk it, and grind it into flour before you can even eat it. Buying it directly from the shop is much easier.”

He was simply repeating what his mother had explained to them before.

Constable Sun opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.

He had met lazy people, foolish people, and clueless people—but never someone like this!

Frustrated, he snapped, “Enough of this nonsense! What are you going to do about this? Let me be clear—we officials don’t take charity. If you don’t compensate the Liu family, we’ll have to arrest someone!”

Jiang Xiangdong shrank back slightly and looked at Jiang Yu.

Shen Qing frowned. “Why are you looking at your little sister? She doesn’t have a single copper to her name—how could she have silver?”

Jiang Yu did own a silver hairpin and a bracelet, but she cherished them, carefully wrapping them in layers of cloth.

No one else even knew she had them.

Old Man Liu sneered and looked at Jiang Yu with contempt. “You left behind a good life with the Liu family just to come back here, and for what? You still have no money. A woman with a husband and one without are two different things. You really don’t know what’s good for you.”

Jiang Yu glared at him fiercely and snapped, “Who needs a man? I hope all of you drop dead!”

She could not have endured another day in the Liu household.

Turning to Constable Sun, she declared, “Our family has no money to compensate them. Just arrest me.”

Constable Sun hadn’t expected a young woman to be unafraid of prison.

Did she not care about her reputation?

Did she not plan to remarry?

Women who had been imprisoned were completely unmarriageable.

Finally, Shen Qing, who had been silent all this time, panicked.

She anxiously assured Constable Sun, “Sir, my sister-in-law is just talking nonsense! Please don’t take her seriously. She’s a young woman—she can’t go to jail! That would be worse than death. How much do you need to compensate the Liu family? I’ll sell everything I have to scrape together the money.”

Constable Sun’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction, but he kept a neutral expression as he named his price: “Three taels of silver. Not a copper less.”

Gasps erupted from the onlookers.

“Three taels of silver?!”

“That’s outrageous! Those broken items aren’t worth even half that!”

“It would hurt to hand over that much money all at once!”

“Does Shen Qing even have that kind of money? Even if she does, this is robbery!”

The Liu family members could barely contain their excitement.

Three taels of silver!

A dowry for a young maiden was only seven taels, and for a second marriage, just one.

That meant they’d have two extra taels left over!

Two taels of silver could buy so many things…

Shen Qing took a deep breath and declared, “I’ll pay. But I don’t have the silver right now. I’ll use land as payment instead!”