Chapter 402
With the help of Old Master Chen's household guards and retainers, two elderly women, both with white hair, who had intended to end their lives were stopped.
"Miss, these ruffians came prepared," Old Master Chen said obsequiously to Zhan Feiyu, glancing at a group of people hurrying over on the dirt road. "No one even notified them to come; it's all been planned."
A strong scent of blood wafted over. Zhan Feiyu remained silent. Seventy was a rare age, and the old woman who had crashed into the carriage shaft looked at least sixty. She likely knew she didn't have many years left.
Furthermore, if Old Master Chen truly bought the land, with an eight-tenths rent burden, even a large family would struggle to eat. Now that someone had died, not only was there one less mouth to feed, but with the five taels of silver she had given Da Niu earlier, a death would necessitate compensation of at least several dozen taels.
Listening to the wailing of a group of women, Zhan Feiyu felt no anger at being plotted against, nor could she sympathize with the deceased old woman. She had used her life to scheme, forcing her to buy this piece of land. But did they not worry that she, like Old Master Chen, would also demand eight-tenths of the rent?
"This?" The village chief and his entourage stopped in their tracks. Seeing the old woman lying on the ground, the men's eyes reddened. Even though they had been mentally prepared, the thought of a life that was just moments ago vibrant, now lying as a corpse in a pool of blood, was unbearable for anyone.
"Mother!" a middle-aged man choked out, his voice hoarse, and knelt on the ground with a thud.
The four children also knelt, the eldest no older than seventeen or eighteen, the youngest only three or four, pressed to kneel by their mother.
"Enough, enough, you don't need to put on a show," Old Master Chen sneered, waddling over with his round belly. He glanced dismissively at Village Chief Ma. "Village Chief Ma, your Niujiao Village's calculation is truly astute. You had a dying old woman crash into a noble's carriage to coerce this young lady into buying the land, and then rent it to you at a low price. Bah, this old woman sought her own death, and so many eyes are watching."
Village Chief Ma's face flushed red from the scolding. He dared not look at the corpse of the old woman on the ground, nor at Zhan Feiyu. If not for being driven to desperation, who would seek death? It was because they were driven to a dead end.
"That's enough. I have already sent people to notify the yamen. We'll discuss it when the officials arrive," Old Master Chen declared with arrogant disdain. These peasants were good at scheming, but unfortunately, too foolish!
With the Niujiao Village people scheming like this, even a clay figurine would show some anger. Even if the young lady was kind-hearted and soft-hearted enough to grant their wish, her elders would not agree. To bear a human life for no reason would be a stain, how could she marry into a suitable aristocratic family in the future?
Two quarters of an hour later, Captain Hu, along with his constables, arrived in a hurry. It was likely that the bailiff who reported the incident had mentioned dozens of Niujiao Village villagers arriving. Captain Hu was also worried that the villagers' emotions might run high and cause another death, so he brought thirty constables and yamen runners with him.
"Master Hu, you've come in person today," Old Master Chen greeted him with a smile, intending to curry favor with Captain Hu.
His brow suddenly furrowed, Captain Hu glanced at Old Master Chen, who was approaching, and then at the villagers gathered not far away. He sternly asked, "Did you force someone to their death?"
It was not surprising that Captain Hu would make such a guess. Old Master Chen was rich but unrighteous and extremely harsh to his tenant farmers. Fortunately, he had money for bribes, and those he oppressed were ordinary people, so disturbances usually did not escalate too severely. However, a murder case was different.
"Master Hu, this matter has nothing to do with this humble one. This humble one is purely suffering undeserved misfortune," Old Master Chen quickly distanced himself. Captain Hu was different from ordinary constables who took money and did their jobs. If he truly committed a crime, Captain Hu would absolutely not bend the law.
Ignoring Old Master Chen, Captain Hu strode forward and then saw Zhan Feiyu and the other three behind the crowd. He was taken aback in surprise, "Miss Zhan?"