After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 427 Pretending to be sick
Tang understood immediately, and after much deliberation, she said, "Logically speaking, daughters are all taught and raised by their mothers. I grew up by my mother's side and was influenced by what I saw and heard. My deepest feeling is that my mother's knowledge has had a profound impact on me."

My family was originally just an ordinary farming and scholarly family. I only learned from my mother-in-law and the women of my husband's colleagues after I married into the Lu family. How much I learned depended entirely on my own abilities. I heard that your family has a merchant caravan. If you could get in touch with some governesses in the capital, wouldn't it be perfect to hire them for a little money?"

Su Tai sighed, "I understand what you're saying, sister. But as soon as people hear that it's Lizhou, half the number of people willing to come will be gone. In addition, good governesses are hard to find. We're not a noble family, so we can't compete with them. If we go through all the trouble to find one who doesn't suit our taste, it'll be like inviting a patriarch back to worship. We have to be careful!"

Mrs. Tang nodded in agreement, "That's why I say my sister is so clever and resourceful! It's already remarkable that you can think of so many things. I, on the other hand, took a detour and ran into some setbacks before I understood these principles. Now I'm figuring it out myself to teach my daughter, afraid of holding my husband back."

If you don't mind, you can bring your children to my house to play from time to time. The children can learn a lot by themselves, talking to each other."

"That's a good idea! I'll talk to my daughter about it when I get back tomorrow," Su Tai readily agreed.

The two chatted amiably, and before they knew it, Lu Tong and Shen Yi had returned.

The cook had almost finished preparing the dishes, so it was time to have a meal together.

After dinner, Shen Yi took Su Tai back to the guest courtyard, where Su Tai learned that he had been staying at the Lu family's residence for some time.

He couldn't help but frown again, "In the end, we still needed to buy a small house. We've been living in someone else's house all this time, and we owe them a huge favor."

Shen Yi smiled and said, "If Lu Tong heard you say that, he would definitely come over immediately and explain to you from the bottom of his heart to persuade us to stay."

"Why?" Su Tai asked, bewildered.

Shen Yi laughed and said, "As you just heard, those who are staying in the city now are all people with ulterior motives. Half of the government officials have gone to the new district to settle the people. The people who are left here are to keep an eye on the coal mines, including the stationed troops."

Their responsibility is to mine; they won't get involved in anything unrelated to coal mining. Those unruly people steal chickens and dogs in the city, and they can steal from anywhere except wealthy families with many servants.

The Lu family only has four guards who take turns guarding various parts of the courtyard. It's inevitable that they will be negligent sometimes. Sure enough, a while ago, two thieves broke in. It just so happened that Lu Tong and I came back for dinner that day and I discovered them.

The other party was also a desperate criminal. When they were discovered, they drew their knives and attacked. Madam Lu was terrified, but fortunately I intervened in time and beat both thieves half to death and threw them into jail.

After that, Lu Tong always found various excuses to have me stay overnight at the Lu residence, claiming that he felt safer living with me.

"Cough cough cough," Su Tai choked on her saliva and her face turned red. She didn't know how to comment.

After understanding the Lu couple's intentions, Su Tai felt relieved and then inquired about Shen Yi and his group's plan.

Shen Yi didn't hide anything and said in detail: "Your method is very good. Lord Lu will issue an order tomorrow to sell the shops, houses and fields in the new city first, so that those big families will get anxious, fight among themselves, split up their families and move over to buy shops, and people's hearts will be scattered."

You say the family is in chaos internally, how can you possibly care about external matters? The next step is to advise the garrison to immediately start digging up the abandoned houses and shops. Of course, this will inevitably provoke protests from the people, but at that point it will be a matter between the people and the garrison.

Starting tomorrow, Lu Tong and I will pretend to be sick, using the excuse that we were beaten.

Su Tai became more and more excited as she listened. "That's a great idea! By the way, have you made any moves regarding the planned residential and commercial buildings in the new urban area?"

“Absolutely! At first, no one wanted to move there. It was perfectly reasonable for Lord Lu and me to take the lead in settling down and buying property there. And these are the best locations. If we were to sell now, we definitely wouldn’t be able to buy those prime shops.” Shen Yi seemed to have everything under control.

Su Tai was instantly delighted.

When I saw the injuries on his body while I was undressing him, I got angry and started cursing. My mood fluctuated wildly.

The next morning, Su Tai got up early and left the city under the escort of Constable Li.

Before noon, the decree for purchasing shops, houses, and farmland in the new urban area was issued.

The people in the new district were overjoyed, as if a pie had fallen from the sky. Brothers with some money chipped in to buy a shop, considering it a joint venture and sharing the profits.

The wealthy families in the city couldn't sit still any longer.

Master Zhu suffered a great calamity yesterday, and upon hearing the new decree today, he angrily pounded the bed, shouting, "That brat Lu Tong actually dared to issue such a decree! It seems he really doesn't respect us merchants! How hateful!"

The clansmen who came to visit Master Zhu looked at each other in bewilderment, and a rather respected old man was pushed forward.

The old man had no choice but to speak up, “Nephew, I know you’re unhappy because the county government’s compensation is too little. Everyone is going along with you and challenging the magistrate. But now that the new policy has been issued, if we don’t move out soon, we won’t be able to buy those shops and houses even if we have the money in a couple of days!”

Although we're all from the same clan, not every family is as well-off as yours. Everyone needs to make a living and support their extended family!

Master Zhu turned his head angrily, pulling on his injured bone and wincing in pain. "I know what you mean! But you should think carefully. If you move out today, don't come to me with any problems in the future. I'm just a nobody and can't help you!"

"Oh dear! Nephew, I didn't want this either, but I'm just an old man and I can't manage so many clansmen. Now it's not just one or two families that's causing trouble. Lu Tong is trying to make us fight amongst ourselves!" The old man was both angry and anxious.

Everyone understands the principle, but no one has the ability to resist it.

Master Zhu looked coldly at the steward and asked, "What did the Zhang, Zhao, Li, Huang, and Gao families say?"

The steward replied tremblingly, "Those families are in a more serious situation. After all, they are not as wealthy as our Zhu family. The Huang family has already visited five or six households this morning, and I estimate there will be more this afternoon."

"Outrageous!" Master Zhu gritted his teeth, a chilling glint in his eyes. "Go! Tell the eldest young master to return immediately! If he's late, the Zhu family is finished!"

He can't care about the Cen family anymore. If the current problem isn't solved, the Zhu family's losses won't be made up even if they marry ten Cen Mingzhus.

Seeing that Master Zhu was determined not to budge, the old man could only sigh and leave.

In just two days, apart from the Zhu family, all the other large families had moved away. Their original plan was to move to the new city area first, buy shops, houses and land, and then return to the city. However, as soon as they left, their houses were immediately demolished.

Those who rushed back were all dumbfounded and went to the county government office to make a scene.