Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 373. The County Magistrate
Gu Kaiyuan really didn't want to hear about these private matters, but since the conversation had already reached this point, Gu Kaiyuan felt it was necessary to help clarify things, after all, Xu Zitian was a good person and a good official who served the people.

“We came from the capital. We also know this Lord Xu. He was already married in the capital, and his wife has given birth to three sons for him. However, because the children are still young, he did not come to his post with us.”

"Really?" Wu Wei was a little skeptical.

"That's true, of course. Logically speaking, although there aren't many people coming and going here every year, there should still be some. It's impossible that we wouldn't know anything about it."

Wu Wei, “…” Yes, everyone knows that Lord Xu is an upright official, but they don’t seem to know much about his background.

"This is interesting. How were these messages kept so well hidden?"

"Does everyone know what happened to Lord Xu a while ago?"

“Of course I know,” Wu Wei’s voice immediately rose, and after quickly looking around, he said in a low voice, “It’s all over town, and we had to close our shop for several days during those days.”

At first, everyone thought that Lord Xu was really sick, but later they heard rumors that he had been imprisoned by the Third Prince.

In order to rescue Lord Xu, everyone gathered together a lot during those days to come up with a solution.

However, since everyone was of low status and dared not confront the Third Prince, they all closed their doors, claiming it was to seek refuge, but in reality, it was a silent protest.

Later, they discovered that several groups of people were helping Lord Xu, and they secretly joined in as well.

Although it wasn't of much help, it still made the Third Prince leave in a rather humiliating manner.

"However, in just that short period of time, many households were also ravaged."

Some of the more timid ones, fearing further turmoil, sold their assets and moved.

At this point, Wu Wei looked at Gu Kaiyuan, whose business had been acquired by him back then.

He almost sold the shop and went back to the countryside to live, persuaded by his wife.

However, the bidder pushed the price too low, and he was reluctant to sell his assets at a bargain price. He almost approached Gu Kaiyuan, but his reluctance made him hesitate, which is how he managed to save his assets.

"But you are a very righteous person. You could have lowered the price, but you didn't." He gave Gu Kaiyuan a thumbs up, so that even if everyone regretted it later, the loss wouldn't be too great.

Some people laughed at Gu Kaiyuan behind his back, saying he was foolish and had too much money, and he often muttered about it back then.

"There's no other way. Everyone has their own difficulties, and I can't let everyone suffer too much." Gu Kaiyuan said righteously, "Fortunately, we bought it at the normal market price at the time, otherwise I don't know how many disputes would have arisen."

Although buying and selling is free and others can't do anything about it, he ruined his reputation from the very beginning. How can he live in Zhang County in the future?

That's why they were able to open shops and buy land so smoothly.

"Speaking of which, I just remembered that when I came here before, I think I saw Lord Xu leaving in a hurry. I wonder what happened."

"You've really hit the nail on the head. I heard that things have gotten out of hand in several nearby counties." Wu Wei said, somewhat relieved that they had almost been dragged into it as well.

"How did things get out of hand?"

“It’s that same guy from before,” Wu Wei said, still somewhat reluctant to name names. “In the surrounding counties, the county magistrates are all spineless. They surrender as soon as the other man opens his mouth, practically handing over the entire county.”

And those shops in their county town—they were all bought up at incredibly low prices through coercion. Generations of accumulated wealth were taken away so easily; who could swallow such an insult?
But the third one... that one directly sent troops to help, and after making an example of him, no one dared to act rashly.

Sure enough, once the news of that person's departure spread, and with the soldiers and officers of the local county government having already withdrawn, everyone was no longer willing to tolerate it.

Just today, I heard from someone else that the magistrate's house in the neighboring county of Shao was completely engulfed in flames last night, and I heard that no one has come out yet this morning. I guess Lord Xu might have gone to the neighboring county because of this."

Gu Kaiyuan: "How long will it take to get to the next county?"

Even traveling by official road at full speed would take nearly a day.

I must commend Xu Zitian for his bravery in traveling through the night at this time.

"If you ask me, that magistrate deserved it. He drove people to the brink of despair, and then forbade them to resist?" Wu Wei's voice was lowered, and he looked around. After all, people have never fought with officials since ancient times, so it was somewhat rebellious for him to say such things.

“It’s probably just a fire that happened in his own residence by accident, and has nothing to do with anyone else.” Gu Kaiyuan looked at Wu Wei with a half-smile. “Maybe he’s just lucky and will escape this disaster.”

“Yes, yes,” Wu Wei also felt that his previous words were somewhat inappropriate, looking at his mouth.

"Hopefully, that person will be blessed by heaven and escape from the fire."

The weather is dry, so please be careful with fire. Take extra precautions when using fire at home.

The two chatted for a while longer before Gu Kaiyuan took his leave.

Wu Wei watched the people leave, then looked back at the flowing customer flow and sighed, "How can there be such a big difference in doing business?"

Could it really be as they say, that Madam Gu possesses her father's talent and can turn lead into gold?

"What do you mean by turning lead into gold? You've been idling here for so long, why don't you come in and help?" Madam Wu waited for a long time until the people chatting left before she came out.

After all, we have to give our own men some face.

"Do you know who I was just talking to?"

"Who else could it be? You have too many bad friends. I've told you before, don't waste your time on unnecessary interactions."

"You're so idle all day long, just help me organize the goods, see what's missing, and replenish them quickly." Madam Wu, seeing that no one outside was paying attention, grabbed his ear and dragged him into the shop. "You're just too idle every day."

"The person I was just chatting with is Mr. Gu from next door. We have such good business thanks to him, so of course I have to say hello."

Mrs. Wu then released her grip. "Is it really Mr. Gu from next door?"

Gu Kaiyuan had come by when the storefront was being renovated, but he was always in a hurry and they didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

After the business opened, people came and went, and they couldn't tell who was the owner and who was the customer. In addition, business was good, and they didn't have time to pay attention to these things.

In truth, Gu Kaiyuan was a benefactor to them; look at how they benefited from his shop opening just a few days ago.

"Would I lie to you? We had a really good chat just now," Wu Chen said, rubbing his reddened ears. "It's just that the shop has been busy, so I haven't had a chance to invite him in."

(End of this chapter)