The villagers all worked together to default on their debts. The debt collectors had no way to deal with it; not only was the road into the village blocked by stones, but even if they were a dozen strong, they wouldn’t dare confront thousands of villagers. With no other option, they could only return to report the situation.

As things developed this way, the money shop manager couldn’t keep it under wraps any longer and had to grit his teeth and tell his superiors the truth. When the two money ladies heard the bad news, they nearly fainted. A whole 200,000 taels of silver? They certainly wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“Those ungrateful peasants! This bunch of scoundrels! The common people don’t fight against the officials; I don’t believe these peasants can hide in the village for a lifetime. Gather more people and find a way to get into the village and catch them!”

“If we can’t catch the people in the village, then go after those working outside. They’re just a bunch of mud-legged folks; how can they possibly rebel?”

“Get rid of these peasants for me! How dare they borrow our money and not pay it back? How dare they play tricks? I want these lowly people to die…”

The two money ladies were so furious they felt dizzy, angrily giving orders. To the powerful, the common folk were just ants that could be killed at will; they had always used their power to oppress others. They couldn’t believe that a few lowly peasants could truly stand against their authority. They wanted to show those peasants a lesson, hmph!

But this step was exactly what Xie Wenyuan had been waiting for. He wasn’t afraid of the Qian family using their power to oppress; he was afraid they wouldn’t use their power at all. The people from the village who were working outside had all long since hidden back in the village, except for him. So, in the end, the Qian family could only find him, hoping to capture him and force the villagers to repay their debts.

However, Xie Wenyuan was a scholar with a degree; he wasn’t someone who could be easily intimidated by a few harsh words. Naturally, he wouldn’t go with them without a fight, and the two sides immediately got into a commotion.

“The ones who borrowed money from the money shop weren’t even me! What reason do you have to make me repay the debt? Besides, the imperial law clearly prohibits usury; how dare your master openly violate it and forcefully demand repayment!”

“I am a scholar with a degree; how dare you humiliate me like this… pfft!”

Xie Wenyuan argued loudly, attracting a large crowd of onlookers. Then, he immediately pretended to be unable to bear the humiliation, spitting out a mouthful of blood dramatically.

A scholar with a degree being forced to spit blood in front of everyone? This was bound to escalate the situation completely. The surrounding scholars stood up one after another, saying, “This is too much! Let’s report this to the authorities! We’ll all go together to report this case and let the officials handle it publicly, so these lowly people can’t bully us!”

When it came to matters involving the collective dignity of scholars, they were more united than anyone else. If they allowed these people to easily bully Xie Wenyuan, wouldn’t that clearly tell others that scholarly achievements and degrees were worthless?

Thus, the matter was escalated to the authorities and quickly caught the attention of other officials, even the emperor in the palace. With everyone watching, the governor didn’t dare to make any small moves and could only handle the case fairly and honestly.

The good thing about the common folk living at the foot of the capital was that once things got big, it was hard for officials to use their power for personal gain under the emperor’s watchful eye—at least not on the surface.

Once they entered the yamen, Xie Wenyuan didn’t get entangled in the issue of borrowing money from the Xinglong Money Shop; instead, he focused on the usury and how it had involved innocent people and humiliated a scholar like him.

“Sir, I’ve been studying in a private school and have no idea whether our village borrowed money. Anyway, I didn’t go to their money shop to borrow money, so they shouldn’t come looking for me to repay debts.”

“Besides, who borrows money and has the entire village go to borrow it? Either they’re lying, or they’re deliberately scheming to seize our good farmland…”

“Moreover, isn’t usury prohibited by imperial law? How dare the Xinglong Money Shop lend money and demand repayment so brazenly? Is the law just empty talk, or do the powerful behind the Xinglong Money Shop think they can ignore the law?”

Once these words were spoken, the governor broke out in a cold sweat. This matter was no longer just about borrowing money and not repaying; it involved the powerful and the stability of the nation. If the law lost its credibility, it would shake the very foundation of the country.

He couldn’t handle this! So, the governor could only hurry to report the matter directly to the emperor. After all, a mere fifth-rank official from the Qian family dared to meddle in usury; who knew how many powerful figures were involved behind the scenes…

The old emperor was furious when he received the news. “These scoundrels! I know that clear waters have no fish; I’ve turned a blind eye to their small actions, but I didn’t expect them to be so greedy and oppress the common people.”

“A mere fifth-rank official can actually come up with 200,000 taels of silver to lend out as usury? I really don’t know how they usually extort the people’s hard-earned money.”

“Come here! Convey my decree: all officials involved in this case will be severely punished according to the law!”

“Whoever dares to act unjustly and pervert the law, I will exterminate their entire clan!”

The old emperor decided to use the fifth-rank official from the Qian family as an example to warn others. As for the villagers’ little schemes, first, there were too many involved; the law doesn’t punish the masses. Second, the villagers managing to take advantage of the situation was their own ability; they hadn’t actually broken the law, so what was there to pursue?

Usury was against the law, and others didn’t have to follow the rules of repaying debts. Moreover, this could also serve as a warning to those officials and powerful figures who engaged in usury privately; if they pushed the common people too hard, this would be their fate.

After all, the gray areas couldn’t be completely eradicated; they could only be suppressed like this.

With the emperor’s attitude like this, the Qian family was doomed. None of the powerful figures they relied on stepped forward to help. After all, it was just a fifth-rank official; the losses weren’t theirs, so why risk helping? It would be more trouble than it was worth!

To account for the onlookers, the government handled this case with remarkable speed. Within three days, Uncle Qian was dismissed from his position, and his entire family was exiled three thousand miles away.

Although Qian Botu’s family wasn’t captured, they were severely implicated. After losing their protective backing, all the enemies the Qian family had made in the past came knocking to settle scores.

Plus, most of their cash had been invested in usury, so they couldn’t come up with money to settle things for a while. Thus, the Qian family quickly fell apart.

Qian Botu was even retaliated against; he was directly beaten to death with a sack over his head in the middle of the night.

This was, of course, done by Xie Wenyuan.

It wasn’t out of anger; he just didn’t want to give anyone a chance to turn things around or to bite back at him. In his past life, he had managed to turn things around even in dire circumstances. Who knew if others wouldn’t have their opportunities?

No one knew better than him that as long as one was alive, there was a chance to rise again.

In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that killing all the Qian family members would be too conspicuous, he would have liked to wipe out the entire clan to completely eliminate any future threats.

Xie Wenyuan didn’t want to be ruthless, but showing mercy to enemies was being cruel to oneself.

Survival of the fittest is an unchanging reality.

Unfortunately, his ruthless thoughts were too villainous; the world wouldn’t allow it, so he had to give up.

So, killing Qian Botu and dismantling the Qian family’s power was about enough.

What he needed to do next was to climb up, work hard to rise!

Only by reaching a sufficiently high position would no one dare to touch him or the Xie family.

……

With the Qian family’s assets confiscated and exiled, the Xinglong Money Shop collapsed. Naturally, the villagers didn’t have to repay the usury they had borrowed, and no one came to collect debts from them anymore.

Hearing the good news, the several villages involved were all ecstatic.

You have to know, they had managed to fleece a whole 200,000 taels!

This amount of silver was nothing to the powerful, but to ordinary folk, it was an astronomical figure.

The three villages split it, with each village getting 66,000 taels. How they divided it among themselves was their internal affair.

On the side of Tongshu Village, the clan leader decided to keep 16,000 taels to purchase ritual fields, repair the ancestral hall, and establish a clan school.

The remaining 50,000 taels were divided equally among the households, with each family receiving over 100 taels as promised, making everyone smile so wide their teeth showed.

They were all immensely grateful to the clan elders who had “thought of a way” and to Xie Wenyuan, who had helped plan and execute it.

“Our Xie clan elders are truly impressive; they actually thought of such a good idea!”

“Thanks to Wulang, otherwise, even if we knew those officials were wrong for lending usury, we wouldn’t have dared to provoke them. It was all Wulang who spoke for us in court.”

“Scholars are different; once we have a clan school, our children will have to study!”

“Old Xie, Old Xie, you’ve raised a good grandson…”

“The clan leader is impressive, and Wulang is smart…”

The villagers all praised and flattered.

They were counting on the clan leader and this scholar, Xie Wenyuan, to come up with more good ideas for wealth and prosperity in the future, continuing to lead everyone together!

“Of course! The fortune-teller said our Wulang is the reincarnation of the God of Literature; he’s so clever!”

Grandpa Xie and Grandma Xie stood in the crowd, straightening their backs and enjoying the compliments, feeling absolutely glorious.

The rest of the Xie family was also overjoyed, feeling honored by association.

Only Xie Wenqi, the cousin who had crossed over, sat in a corner with a dazed expression.

He looked as if he was thinking, “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?”

Just yesterday, he had been thinking proudly in his heart that once he healed from his injuries, he would take his family to set up a food stall and start making a fortune.

With his memories of the future and the spirit spring space, he would surely carve out a piece of heaven for himself!

But today, he woke up to find that not only the Xie family but the entire Tongshu Village had already become prosperous?

Xie Wenqi: …

Wasn’t it said that all traversers are the protagonists? He was still someone with a golden finger!

In the end, his cousin was the chosen one, right?

The author has something to say:
Xie Wenqi: I am the protagonist, with the protagonist’s halo!
Xie Wenyuan: I have a cousin, and his halo shines on me~
Xie Wenqi: I am the chosen one, and I have a golden finger!
Xie Wenyuan: I’m good friends with my cousin, so his treasures are also mine~