Chapter 248: Guilty Conscience

As for the personal guards like Dan Shan Youjun, they also had meals in the kitchen.

The rock wolf got a whole live duck, and even the monkey got two pieces of fruit.

He He Lingchuan's behavior was the standard way of sponging off the wealthy; not only did he expect the village to provide for himself, but also for his subordinates—a common practice for local officials. When the harvest was good, the wealthy families in the village didn't mind, and even took it as an honor.

He sat down and laughed, "I can see Village Chief Liang is very good at hosting guests."

On the table sat a large basin of goose meat braised with potatoes, glistening with a golden-black sheen; the fat was half a finger thick, and the goose meat was piled high, overflowing the basin. Other plates held fish, stir-fried dried bitter greens, stir-fried bamboo shoots, and pickled beans—all farm-style dishes, unrefined but hearty.

Village Chief Liang personally picked up a chopstick of goose meat and placed it in He He Lingchuan's bowl: "This is a large goose raised at home for two years, weighing a full eight catties! Try it, it's delicious!"

He He Lingchuan followed local customs and didn't put on the airs of a young master. He ate the meat, drank the rice wine brewed by the village chief's family, and chatted and laughed with the two of them. When he heard interesting rural anecdotes, he couldn't help but slap the table and laugh, as if the previous conflict had never existed.

The village chief's family had originally been eavesdropping from the side, but seeing them in such a harmonious state, their wariness slowly faded.

After all, they were government officials with names and backgrounds; surely they wouldn't suddenly fly into a rage and hurt people at the table?

Or would they? After three rounds of drinks, the medicinal ape Lingguang, sitting on the windowsill, chirped twice.

To He He Lingchuan, this signal meant only one thing: there was no one else around.

The rock wolf came over after finishing the duck, lying in the courtyard outside the dining hall to lick its fur.

With such a large monster looming there, how could the villagers dare to approach? At most, they stood outside the courtyard, observing from afar.

Just as Village Chief Liang naively thought that the wealthy young master, having been wined and dined, no longer intended to stir up trouble, He He Lingchuan patted his shoulder once more: "A child's character is set by age three; your grandson has distinct features and will surely be successful when he grows up."

"I appreciate your kind words." Before Village Chief Liang could even finish his smile, he heard the next sentence: "He really looks just like you."

Village Chief Liang's smile froze: "What?"

"Your grandson, he looks like he was poured from the same mold as you—those brows, those eyes, that mouth."

"He is my grandson, of course he looks like me."

"That's not entirely true." He He Lingchuan chewed the goose meat, unhurriedly, "Your son is outside, isn't he? I think the grandson looks more like you than him."

Village Chief Liang's hand holding the wine cup trembled slightly, and he forced himself to stay calm: "Young Master He, that is very rude. What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Want to lay all our cards on the table?" He He Lingchuan moved his chair closer and leaned in to whisper, "What I want to say is, you only have two grandsons, but you have three sons."

Village Chief Liang slammed his wine cup down with a *clack*: "What do you mean by that?"

"Shh—" He He Lingchuan held a finger to his lips, "Keep it down, don't let your family hear."

He emphasized the word "family" heavily.

Police Inspector Zhou was also stunned, one hand behind his back, his fingers unable to keep count.

Didn't Village Chief Liang have two sons and three grandsons?

Could Young Master He's meaning be...? No way, surely not?

"Liang Su is the spawn of you and your third daughter-in-law." He He Lingchuan gave a flippant smile, "You old lecher, do you enjoy such great fortune at home, or do you do it out in the fields? Does your son know how high a green hat you've placed on his head?"

Village Chief Liang didn't know what a "green hat" meant, and had no time to think about it; the muscles on his face were twisting together: "Young Master He, you are making false accusations and ruining my reputation!"

He instinctively wanted to slap the table, but held back.

"Cut the crap, the way your third daughter-in-law looks at you is enough to make one's heart melt, tsk tsk, not at all like she looks at that wooden husband of hers." He He Lingchuan patted his shoulder again, "We're all men, who can't tell when there's an affair?"

Village Chief Liang tilted his shoulder to avoid his hand, turning angry: "Where is the evidence? Without evidence, you're just spouting nonsense!"

Although he appeared angry, he didn't shout, but instead lowered his voice.

He He Lingchuan beckoned, and the medicinal ape Lingguang produced a bowl from somewhere, placing it on the table; the bowl was filled with clear water.

He took two silver needles from his robe, each with a translucent soft sac attached to the base.

These were Lingguang's tools for moxibustion, temporarily requisitioned by He He Lingchuan.

He He Lingchuan squeezed one of the soft sacs, and the fresh blood inside dripped into the bowl; it didn't disperse, but sank to the bottom and curled into a ball.

He then squeezed the other sac to drip blood, and gently shook the bottom of the bowl.

All three saw the two drops of blood at the bottom of the bowl meet and quickly fuse together.

Village Chief Liang's complexion changed; he understood.

He had felt a slight, numbing pain on his arm earlier, but hadn't thought anything of it, assuming it was a mosquito bite. So this fellow had played a dirty trick! He He Lingchuan said: "This is the blood of your 'third grandson' Liang Su. Sorry, I stole a prick of blood from him."

Village Chief Liang and Police Inspector Zhou finally understood why the child had been wailing earlier.

"As for the other needle, that was your blood." He He Lingchuan said softly, "Liang Su's blood and yours have completely fused, which means you share the same bloodline. This is the evidence. What else do you have to say?"

Village Chief Liang was shocked and furious, lowering his voice to say urgently: "Who knows what kind of medicine you put in this water!"

He He Lingchuan squinted at him: "Do you admit it or not?"

"Admit my ass!" Village Chief Liang cursed, "I am innocent, and my third daughter-in-law is innocent too!"

He He Lingchuan laughed: "Right, you two are both innocent together."

Police Inspector Zhou listened from the side, dumbfounded, feeling that the trip had been well worth it.

"If you don't admit it, I will call all the old and young in the village over right now and do the experiment again." He He Lingchuan shrugged, "It doesn't matter if you don't agree; we can argue it out then."

Village Chief Liang's dark face, originally flushed from drinking, turned pale, and sweat poured from the tip of his nose.

If this wicked young master gathered the whole village to bring this up, he wouldn't even need to do the experiment; as village chief, father, and grandfather, he would already be utterly defeated! If the experiment succeeded, his reputation would be ruined; if it didn't, there would still be rumors and gossip that he could never wash away in this lifetime.

How would his son look at him? How would the villagers look at him?

Could he still sit securely in this position of village chief?

After finishing, He He Lingchuan picked up the wine jar and poured another cup for the three of them. Police Inspector Zhou didn't move, busy admiring Village Chief Liang's stunned expression.

This village chief usually thought too highly of himself and was not very polite to local officials; now, retribution had arrived.

After a while, seeing that Village Chief Liang still didn't make a sound, Police Inspector Zhou couldn't help but say: "Village Chief, it's just a few land deeds; just stamp them with the village seal and be done with it. Why make everyone unhappy?"

Village Chief Liang's eyes finally moved, looking at He He Lingchuan: "As long as I agree to stamp them, you won't make a scene or spread this around?"

"Of course." He He Lingchuan laughed, "In a place like Shuangyu Village, I wouldn't come here at all if I didn't have a mission. We have no past grudges or grievances, so there's no need for me to specifically make things difficult for you, Village Chief, right?"

Village Chief Liang turned to Police Inspector Zhou, who, before he could even ask, patted his chest in assurance: "I will definitely keep it a secret. I won't let out a single word for the rest of my life, don't worry, Village Chief!"

Village Chief Liang was silent for a long while, then got up to fetch a cloth bundle from the inner room and walked back: "Where are the land deeds? Take them out."

Inside the cloth bundle was a seal; he blew on it and stamped the land deeds.

According to local custom, with this seal, the buyers of the land in Shuangyu Village could find the tenant farmers to collect rent.

Police Inspector Zhou checked the land deeds one by one, and seeing the seal was correct, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodded at He He Lingchuan, and carefully put them away.

As for how Village Chief Liang would explain it to the village elders and villagers, He He Lingchuan didn't care. People have two sides to their mouths; if he didn't have some ability, how could he have become village chief at such a young age?

He asked again: "Liang Zhanglao from the Piercing Cloud Pavilion, has he returned?"

Village Chief Liang's expression stiffened: "He returned yesterday."

"He went to the prefectural government today." He He Lingchuan laughed, "Was it to plead for you?"

Village Chief Liang remained silent.

He He Lingchuan wiped his mouth: "Mission accomplished, I won't disturb you any further."

Shuangyu Village refused to follow the rules, choosing to follow their own private ones. Then, he couldn't be blamed for not following the straight path either.

Using crooked means to stop crooked ways, fighting negativity with negativity, can yield the right result.

Just as he was about to stand up, Village Chief Liang suddenly said: "Where, where did you hear about this?"

He He Lingchuan stared at him for a long time, until the village chief felt a chill, and then the wealthy young master said: "It's better if you don't know."

"Please explain clearly!" Village Chief Liang said, "Otherwise, after Liang Zhanglao returns, I will say you got me drunk and took the opportunity to coerce me into stamping the deeds."

He He Lingchuan smiled and beckoned, and the medicinal ape Lingguang jumped onto his shoulder and sat down.

He stroked the monkey's head and said to Village Chief Liang: "My monkey is born with a pair of yin-yang eyes and can see things others cannot. Just now, when we were discussing business in the village house, there was a well under the eaves in front of the house, and a seven or eight-year-old boy was sitting by the well. He cried to my monkey, saying you drowned him with your own hands by the river."

Village Chief Liang froze, opening his mouth but making no sound, like a fish.

This Young Master He seemed to have indeed stood at the door for a while when he first approached the village house.

It took a long time for him to find his voice, which was frighteningly gravelly: "What did you say?"

"I said, that child cried to my monkey..."

Just as He He Lingchuan was about to repeat it, Village Chief Liang interrupted him: "What kind of child?"

"Thin and small, with sparse hair, wearing yellow clothes, saying his mother bought them for him before the New Year." He He Lingchuan whispered, "Oh, and he kicked off one of his shoes when you drowned him. He wants you to return the shoe to him."

Village Chief Liang gasped, letting out a broken "Er—" sound, as if someone were strangling his neck. The wine he had just consumed now came out as sweat.

Perhaps it turned into something else, too.

"Is it still by the well now?" The village chief didn't dare look at the door at all, only asking the medicinal ape, his voice trembling.

Lingguang shook its head.

"At high noon, how could these things be wandering outside?" He He Lingchuan said idly, "Likely hiding in the well; there's water in there, right?"

Village Chief Liang nodded blankly.

He He Lingchuan stood up, patted his shoulder again, and said earnestly: "Take care!"

Village Chief Liang grabbed his arm, like a drowning man clutching a straw: "What, what should I do?"

This article was first published on Qidian Chinese Network, updated daily at 12:00 PM.

(End of chapter)