Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

There was a family surnamed Lu. The male head of the household passed away, leaving behind a widow named Sun, whom we will call Widow Sun for now.

This family lives in Yutai County, not far from Chengwu County.

Widow Sun's family was quite prosperous, and the dowry she brought with her was as much as a thousand acres.

In addition, her husband's family owns 3,000 mu of land, so they can be considered small landlords.

The family had two sons and three daughters who were all filial, as well as two sons and two daughters born to the husband's concubine. The family worked hard but had no worries about food and drink, and even had some savings. They lived a very comfortable life.

The problem still lies with the fields.

The best land in Widow Sun's house was five hundred mu of paddy fields along the Hui River, which could be used to grow rice.

According to Shandong's grain prices, a dou (a unit of dry measure) of millet could sell for thirty wen (a unit of currency), while a dou of japonica rice could sell for seventy wen. The latter was twice as much as the former, so paddy fields were much more valuable than dry fields.

Such fertile land is bound to attract unwanted attention over time.

The other two landlords in the nearby village, one surnamed Hu and the other surnamed Zhao, would see the thriving rice in Widow Sun's fields every year, just like bachelors seeing their neighbor's beautiful wife. It would be a lie to say they weren't envious and eager.

After discussing it, the Hu and Zhao families came up with a wicked plan to seize 500 mu of paddy fields.

They also agreed that the 500 mu of paddy fields would be divided equally between the two families after they acquired them.

They first spent twenty strings of cash to buy a beautiful female slave from a slave trader. After training her, they instructed her to seduce the youngest son of Widow Sun.

This female slave's "identity" was packaged as the adopted daughter of the Hu family.

Widow Sun's youngest son, Lu Qing, was seventeen years old. As a young man, he was attracted to beauty. After seeing the woman, his penis took over his mind, and he quickly became involved with her.

The two were deeply in love and often met secretly.

As their relationship deepened, Lu Qing began to consider marrying this woman.

Following her master's instructions, the woman initially refused, but gradually relented, leaving Lu Qing with a very high level of anticipation. He spent his days lost in daydreams and immersed in happiness.

What followed became increasingly cruel.

One day, the woman and Lu Qing agreed to meet in a wooded area near the Hui River in the afternoon.

When men and women meet, hormones are released, they roll around together, and everything goes haywire.

During this process, the woman suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Lu Qing stopped and asked what was wrong. Before he could say more, the woman suddenly clutched her stomach, her face contorted in pain.

He then collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe.

Not long after, the woman died, her head tilted back and her body stiff, a sight that terrified the eye.

Upon seeing this, Lu Qing was terrified and panicked, and tried to escape.

He ran a few dozen steps, calmed down a bit, and realized he couldn't just keep running like that.

So he went back, weeping as he dug a hole in the ground to bury the woman's body.

Lu Qing was digging while crying because he truly loved this woman and couldn't bear to part with her.

Several pairs of eyes were watching the two of them closely.

It's time for them to show themselves.

"What are you doing, sneaking around like that?"

"Wait... a corpse... Oh no, murder! Murder!"

"Old Hu, what are you yelling about? Where did this murder happen?"

"Quick, grab that kid! He's definitely the killer!"

Lu Qing, who had been alerted and fled, was captured.

These servants of the Hu family had actually been waiting nearby for a long time, just waiting for Lu Qing to walk into the trap.

Needless to say, the drug that caused the woman's violent death was the work of the Hu family's servants.

"Oh no, it's Master Hu's daughter, she wasn't even dressed... and this bastard played her to death!"

"Damn it, you look so frail, how could you be so ruthless?"

More and more people gathered around.

Master Hu arrived, Master Zhao arrived, and Widow Sun, hearing the bad news, also rushed over.

Upon seeing the person in question appear, Master Hu immediately became agitated. His eyes widened in fury, and he grabbed Lu Qing, slapping him twice across the face: "You bastard, you owe me my daughter! You owe me my daughter!"

Master Zhao sighed beside him, "This girl was supposed to be my daughter-in-law, but how could she... Alas, what a tragedy!"

Seeing this, Widow Sun knew something was wrong, but she still rushed forward and pulled Master Hu and his son apart.

"Brother Hu, what... what exactly happened?"

"What else could it be? This beast you gave birth to has humiliated my daughter to death. There are witnesses and physical evidence; what do you have to say for yourself?!"

Widow Sun immediately flew into a rage, kicking Lu Qing several times: "You unfilial son, kneel down!"

Lu Qing was in a state of utter confusion and could only obey his mother's command, quickly kneeling down.

Widow Sun squatted down in front of her youngest son, secretly winking at him, then loudly proclaimed, "You're greedy and lustful, fine, but you wouldn't even dare kill a chicken. Where did you learn to kill? You unfilial son, how did you kill this girl? Tell me now, or I'll beat you to death!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Qing suddenly realized what had happened: "I...I didn't kill her! She...she has a hidden ailment! She had a stomachache and couldn't breathe! Look, are there any wounds on her body? Are there any ligature marks on her neck? Where is the murder weapon? Where is the blood? Mother, your son didn't kill anyone, didn't kill anyone!"

Upon inspection, the corpse's posture was indeed unusual: it was arched backward (a condition scientifically termed opisthotonus).

"You bastard, you still dare to talk back! I'll beat you to death right now!" Master Hu and his servants were unwilling to give Lu Qing a chance to refute, so they rushed forward, ready to fight Lu Qing to the death.

Widow Sun and her children and servants quickly protected Lu Qing.

The two sides started fighting, and the scene descended into chaos.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Master Zhao pulled out his dagger and stabbed the woman's corpse several times.

"Stop hitting him! Who said there wasn't a murder weapon? Look, there it is!"

The noisy crowd immediately fell silent.

Lu Qing was completely dumbfounded. Where did the knife come from?

"I didn't kill anyone, that knife...that knife isn't mine!"

Master Zhao scoffed, "What a joke! If the knife isn't yours, does that mean it's mine?"

With the murder weapon in hand, the matter seems to be confirmed.

Master Hu waved his hand dismissively: "Let's go, report this to the authorities, and make you pay for this in blood!"

Widow Sun felt that something was wrong.

However, given the circumstances, they were in the wrong, and if the matter was reported to the authorities, their son would most likely lose his life.

"Brother Hu, we're all from the same village, it's not good to break ties. So, you tell me what to do, and I'll follow your instructions."

Master Hu was secretly delighted, but he still pretended to be furious.

"My daughter's life is priceless! Unless... you give me those five hundred acres of paddy fields, I will not rest in peace."

"you……"

Widow Sun was furious and really wanted to point her finger at Master Hu and curse him, but she didn't dare.

Those five hundred acres of paddy fields, along with her own children, were the lifeblood of Widow Sun.

"Brother Hu, how about I compensate you with a thousand acres of dry land?"

"No, I want paddy fields, not a single acre less!"

The crowd that had gathered nearby listened to the exchange between the two men with envy in their hearts.

Look, those landlords are buying 500 or 1,000 mu at a time.

His meager plot of land, numbering only a dozen acres, was less than a fraction of what others earned.

Undeterred, Widow Sun raised her price to 1,300 mu of dry land.

The man surnamed Hu refused to budge, and the man surnamed Zhao chimed in, leaving Widow Sun with no choice but to reluctantly hand over her five hundred mu of paddy fields, which were as precious as her heart and soul.

When Master Hu received the land deed, a barely perceptible hint of joy appeared on his face.

Those twenty strings of cash were well spent!

The body of the woman who had died tragically was carried away by Zhao Yuanwai's servants and was soon burned to ashes.

The men, women, and children in the village naturally wouldn't care about a slave girl who was only worth twenty strings of cash.

Everyone is having a heated discussion about the change of ownership of those 500 acres of paddy fields.