Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 233 Hidden Truths

Chapter 233: Chapter 233 Hidden Truths

Gu Dashan was taken aback, not expecting Li Daxi to ask him these questions.

Li Daxi added, "The Li father and son are cunning and vicious. They had already made a fool of us once at the government office; I do not wish to be deceived again."

After they were sent to the government office, they were locked up with a group of disaster victims they bought, yet there was a person who came to them claiming to be a relative from his mother’s side.

They had never been to their maternal grandfather’s home and had no knowledge of who was part of the family. His father and son believed the man, who was able to mention some details about his mother, so they trusted him.

After acknowledging the kinship, that person would ask them for food every day during the food distribution.

Thinking of that person as a relative from their maternal grandfather’s home, they, father and son, starved themselves and gave most of their rations to him.

It was only when they were taken away that they learned that this man was a prison guard, who took twenty taels of silver from the Li Family and deliberately played them for fools.

Although Li Daxi was a servant, he could read and was intelligent, which made him rather proud. Having fallen into such a state and being made a fool of, he cared a great deal. When he saw Gu Dashan, even though he felt this man looked similar to him, since it was their first meeting, he had to make sure to not be deceived again.

Moreover...

Li Daxi looked towards Master Qi beside him and sneered, "Elder Qi Er, what a pleasure."

He had no fondness for the Qi Family; without their protection, the Li Family would not have dared to be so arrogant.

And this uncle was with Elder Qi Er, even more so unknown whether true or false?

Hearing this, Master Qi glanced at Li Daxi and frowned, disliking this impolite young man.

"My name is Gu Dashan, from Gaoshui County of the Northwest Long’an Prefecture, Gu Family Village. Last year, I fled from the Northwest to He’an Prefecture and have now settled in Tianfu County of He’an Prefecture. Your mother is Gu Daya, and Ms. Pan is not our birth mother; she is our stepmother. Your mother and your sister are both doing well, now living in the Jiang Family’s residence, your father..."

Gu Dashan looked towards the man beside Li Daxi, who was stooped, with graying hair and a face full of scars, his body shaking, not looking younger than Daya, about fifty years old.

"Are you Qi Panzi?" Gu Dashan asked.

The man, hearing this name, was stunned for a moment before remembering that this was his former name.

He nodded and smiled at Gu Dashan, saying, "Yes, I am Qi Panzi, great, great uncle."

"Ptui!" Gu Dashan spat at Qi Panzi, cursing, "Don’t call me great uncle, you led my sister into slavery, you heartless man."

Qi Panzi was spat on the head and dared not retort. Indeed, Daya had not had a good life following him over the years.

When they first joined the Li Family, they were the lowest-ranking coarse servants, until Daya gave birth to dragon-phoenix twins, and Mrs. Li considered Daya to be lucky, which then made their lives slightly better.

Hearing Gu Dashan’s words, Li Daxi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this person really was his mother’s older brother, his own uncle.

But...

"I am not a thief; I did not steal from the Li Family. It’s Li Junping and his son who are utterly shameless; I just wanted to protect my sister."

Li Daxi only said that much and then stopped. Concerning Li Shuangxi’s reputation, he did not want too many people to know.

Gu Dashan did not press for details. Now, he just wanted to save them. After confirming their identity, Gu Dashan said to Ma Chief Commander, "Lord Chief Commander, I ask for your help, let me take these two back with me. My nephew is still young; he can’t work in the mines."

Ma Chief Commander accepted Master Qi’s one hundred taels silver note, which meant he was willing to let Li Duofu and his son go: "Alright, for the sake of Brother Jiang, you may take the father and son with you."

"Boatswain, bring me the register."

The boatswain took out a register and flipped it to the page where the names of Li Duofu and Li Daxi were written, crossed out their names, and wrote beside them a few words: Died of illness on the road.

Ma Chief Commander was not doing this for the first time; such things had been done many times before.

Besides, the Northwest Road is currently in chaos, and the death or injury of half the able-bodied men would not be questioned by anyone.

This time they were escorting over two hundred people, fearing that more might die on the unsafe roads than before, which is why they escorted so many.

Jiang Jiao saw Ma Chief Commander cross out the names of Li Duofu and his son and quickly thanked him: "Brother Ma, you are truly honorable. I thank you here. May you have smooth sailing on your way, and when you return, I’ll treat you to a drink."

Ma Chief Commander laughed and said, "Alright, it’s a deal then."

"You... you dare to release people privately; these are people registered at the government office!" Suddenly, someone from among the able-bodied men being escorted shouted out.

These able-bodied men were all famine refugees who came in search of refuge and were sold for silver because their families had no money to settle down. Suffering was already in their hearts, and seeing Li Duofu and his son being rescued halfway through filled them instantly with resentment.

As one person spoke up, others started standing up and shouting: "Yes, releasing people privately is against the king’s law!"

Ma Chief Commander was in a happy mood, but when he heard this, he got angry: "Damn it, boatswain, beat them for me!"

"Yes."

The soldiers immediately split into two groups, half of them drawing their waist knives with ’whoosh’ and surrounding the able-bodied men, the other half grabbing iron clubs and began beating wildly with ’bang bang bang’.

"Ah—"

Screams of agony erupted, and only when the men begged for mercy did the boatswain and his men stop.

"Damn it, still dare to be insolent with me? Not content, huh? If you’re not content, take it up with your own families; it was your family who sold you. If you cause trouble with me, I’ll beat you to death!" Ma Chief Commander kicked over the first able-bodied man who made noise and beat him half to death before finally stopping.

Seeing this, the group of able-bodied men became frightened, each of them trembling all over in horror.

What Ma Chief Commander wanted was their fear; if he didn’t scare them into submission, they might cause trouble on the road, and then it would be his own life at risk.

Master Qi was still quite sensible; he took out another silver note and handed it to Ma Chief Commander: "Ma Chief Commander, you’ve worked hard."

Ma Chief Commander received another silver note and said cheerfully, "Elder Qi Er really comes from a wealthy and prestigious family; I will accept this."

Master Qi didn’t mind spending money, as long as he could successfully rescue the people.

Ma Chief Commander and his men had delayed enough, and having received the money, they drove the able-bodied men to continue on the road.

Jiang Jiao and his group, having received the people, didn’t delay either and drove the carriage straight to He’an Prefecture.

On the way, they passed through a town and sought medical attention for Li Daxi’s hand injury. The doctor said, "This bone was forcibly broken by someone and wasn’t set properly. Hurry up, while the injury is still fresh, and find a highly skilled doctor in the Prefecture to reset the bone. There’s a chance the hand could heal; otherwise, he won’t be able to do heavy work in the future, not even hold chopsticks."

Gu Dashan, hearing this, dared not delay any further, paid for the medicine, bought some food and water, and two sets of clothes in the town, then hurriedly continued towards He’an Prefecture.

At the Jiang Residence, Gu Jinli had already learned from Gu Daya and her daughter about the hidden circumstances of their family’s misfortune.