Everyone turned to look behind and saw the Fang mother and daughter standing there. They had returned at some point, accompanied by what seemed like a wealthy young man.

This man, pretending to be elegant, fanned himself as he leisurely walked from the back of the crowd to stand beside Zhao Zhu, raising an eyebrow as he appraised Gu Yundong. “You, a little girl, dare to deceive the neighbors in the name of the magistrate. You’ve got some nerve.”

Chen Yulan hurriedly followed and introduced him to everyone, “This is the young master of the Liu family in the county. Young Master Liu and the son of the magistrate are good friends from school. Yundong, you’ve got some nerve. How dare you use the magistrate’s name to deceive people? If the magistrate finds out, you’ll be beheaded.”

Gu Yundong didn’t know who this person was originally, but Chen Yulan introduced him.

Hmm, no problem then.

She looked at the young master Liu, “Young Master Liu is only acquainted with the son of the magistrate. How do you know who the magistrate knows? Moreover, even if Young Master Liu and the magistrate are friends, so what? Does the magistrate report to you on everyone he knows?”

“I…” Liu Wei was a bit at a loss for words.

Saying that seemed to make sense. He hadn’t actually seen the magistrate many times.

“Do you really know the magistrate?”

Gu Yundong smiled lightly, “If you don’t believe it, you can go ask for yourself.”

She didn’t know the magistrate; she knew the prefect.

Liu Wei became uncertain, looking at her unapologetic expression. Hesitating, he said, “I’ll ask another day.” In fact, he was just saying it; he wouldn’t dare to actually say these things to the magistrate.

Hu Qianlai and Jin Yuexiang were truly speechless now. What to do? This girl seemed completely fearless. They couldn’t really be taken away by the officials, could they?

Li Guang was their old acquaintance and was usually very kind to them, which had led to his reckless behavior.

Zhao Zhu was the most astute among them. He simply said, “Okay, five taels of silver then.”

The parents of Zhuangzi looked at each other, looking very distressed. They whispered, “We can’t come up with five taels of silver right now. Can we have more time? We can gather it…”

“Okay.”

Hu Qianlai was not happy. Rolling his eyes, he said, “Others are giving five taels of silver, but we’ll only give you one at most.”

Zhuangzi, who was the most severely beaten, felt somewhat aggrieved upon hearing this. “Mom, dad, I really didn’t say anything wrong. This vile girl had a wild man. Yesterday, we were beaten all day.”

Zhuangzi couldn’t hold back anymore. “Enough, Zhuangzi. There was no wild man. The one who caught us was this girl.”

“Nonsense.”

Gu Yundong lifted her shoe sole, and Zhuangzi screamed in horror, “Okay, okay, mom, give it to her.” His mouth was throbbing with pain, and he was starting to drool as he spoke.

Gu Yundong was satisfied. This person, if not beaten, wouldn’t behave.

Taking five taels of silver from each person, and with no one from Dalian’s family present, Gu Yundong had him write an IOU note and then untied them, letting them go.

Five taels of silver was not a small sum, and the other villagers watched with real concern. If they ever wanted to offend her family of orphans and widows again, they would have to think twice.

This was exactly what Gu Yundong wanted to achieve. She had to let them know that if they wanted to bully her family, they should be prepared to suffer losses.

Plus, by intentionally mentioning the magistrate, even if these people didn’t believe it, they would still have some misgivings.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and just as Gu Yundong was about to leave, she saw Chen Liang’s second daughter-in-law approaching. “Yundong, my father-in-law is back and wants you to come over.”

Gu Yundong knew that Chen Liang had left early in the morning today, so his return now must have something to do with what happened here.

She nodded and went straight to the village chief’s house.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered, she heard Fang’s voice, “I can’t let them stay in such a family.”