Chapter 9: High-Quality Wool

"I will give you one more chance. Tell me everything you have done over these years, word for word!"

"My Lord, this humble woman has truly never wronged Master Gu. I beg you to investigate clearly!"

"Good, very good!" He stood up from his seat, walked quietly to her side, and looked down at her from above.

At this moment, there was not a shred of pity in Shen Yu's eyes, only a trace of disgust. To still dare to quibble at this point—if you won't speak yourself, then don't blame me for using my methods!

"Women are inherently weak, but mothers are strong! You racked your brains hoping your children would have a better life; all of this I can understand!"

"But to use such means to bully an honest man like Licentiate Gu is far too base. The Gu family once saved the lives of you and your two children!"

"This humble woman knows, but this humble woman has also never wronged the Gu family!"

"Obstinate and unyielding!" After waiting a moment, the woman still did not change her story. Shen Yu let out a cold snort: "Raise your head and look into my eyes!"

Hearing Shen Yu's words, the woman tried her best to remain calm and slowly raised her head to look into his eyes.

But the moment she met that pair of eyes, she felt her vision begin to blur, and soon her mind became groggy.

She was merely a woman who had just entered the Innate Realm; controlling her was as easy as turning over one's hand. There was no need at all to even use an Illusion Technique like Mirror Flower Water Moon.

"Tell me, how did you step by step take the Gu family into your hands back then? You were but a mere woman; did no one in the Gu family object?"

"Of course there were people in the Gu family who objected, especially that old steward from back then!"

Seeming to think of something, the woman's face, besides the confusion, also took on a look of resentment. "Back then, I wanted to meddle in the affairs of the manor, but that old thing refused to let me, and he even scolded me severely!"

"That old, undying thing, relying on his long tenure in the Gu family, not only suppressed me greatly but also told me to stay away from their young master, or else he would drive me away!"

"When I was driven out of my home back then, I told myself: no one is allowed to bully us three, no one!"

In her daze, a sinister look appeared on the woman's face, and she said coldly, "So I secretly put some poison in that old thing's food and poisoned him to death!"

"This, you!" Hearing the woman's words, Licentiate Gu pointed at her, unable to speak for a long time.

Their Gu family steward had watched him grow up from childhood; he could be said to have treated him like his own son.

Back then, when the old steward died suddenly, he had thought it was from illness brought on by indignation. He never imagined that he had actually died at the hands of this person whom he had always considered as pure as a lotus flower.

"Once that old steward was dead, the young master of the Gu family not only stopped managing things but almost obeyed my every word. The rest of the people were easy to handle."

"In these two years, I also won over a few people. I promoted my own people to be stewards. Those in the manor who didn't submit were beaten to death, while my own people were heavily courted with both favors and threats. Very quickly, I had the entire Gu family under my control!"

"Mother, what are you spouting? Stop talking nonsense!" Hearing the woman's words, the two Peng brothers' faces changed drastically; there were some things that could not be said recklessly.

Occupying someone's property and seizing their family business—although it didn't sound good to say it out loud, these were all things Licentiate Gu gave voluntarily.

In doing these things, they didn't steal, didn't rob, and didn't force him; everyone could bear witness to this point.

Although the way they did things wasn't honorable, at least there were no problems legally. Even if others pointed fingers, they wouldn't lose a piece of flesh, so what else could they do to them?

But if it involved murder, that was a different story. A life for a life has been the rule since ancient times; this was a capital crime!

"Shut up!" Giving them a cold glance, Shen Yu said indifferently, "Continue!"

"Mother, you can't say any more!"

"I told you to shut up!" With a cold snort, a terrifying aura flashed and vanished. The two brothers were thrown away by a great force and fell a long distance away.

Instantly, a sharp pain surged through their entire bodies. The two brothers felt as if their internal organs were shattered, and their whole bodies ached beyond description.

For a moment, they could only groan in pain and had no energy to care about anything else.

"Continue!"

"I originally wanted to secretly transfer all the Gu family's assets away at that time, but that old thing from the Gu family had just gone missing without a trace. If he were to return, our lives would definitely be at risk!"

"So I could only do all this secretly, using the money and resources left by the Gu family to do my utmost to cultivate my two sons!"

"Now my two sons are grown, and more than twenty years have passed. That old fellow from the Gu family definitely won't be coming back, so I finally dared to make my move!"

"But the night Licentiate Gu transferred all the family business to my two sons, he got dead drunk and only told the truth after he was drunk!"

"It turns out their family had always been keeping something for someone else. Licentiate Gu even said that even if the entire Gu family business was gone, this thing had to be kept!"

"I told him to hand the thing over for us to keep, but he refused to the death. By what right does he refuse to give it!"

Speaking to this point, the woman's face became ferocious, no longer having a shred of her previous gentleness. She was like a beast choosing people to devour, making one's heart tremble and making Licentiate Gu feel incomparably like a stranger!

"Everything in the entire Gu family is ours. No, there is no Gu family, there is only the Peng family!"

"Everything belongs to my two sons. By what right does he not give it! If he doesn't give it, beat him until he does. A dog-like thing, daring to bargain with us!"

"Thump!" Upon hearing the woman's words, Licentiate Gu sat down on the ground, as if he still could not believe all of this.

He could not imagine how the person who used to care for him and look after him so meticulously could have such a face.

It turns out that in front of her, he was just like a dog, and perhaps not even as good as a dog!

With a bitter laugh, Licentiate Gu's heart died completely at this moment. The rest of his life had been entirely controlled by this woman.

All this time, he had thought the other party was a good person who truly had his best interests at heart. Ridiculous, truly ridiculous!

"County Magistrate Bei!"

"Y-yes, My Lord!"

"Tell me, what is the penalty for murder?"

"This... answering My Lord, a life for a life; death is the only fitting punishment!"

"Very good. Then what are you still standing there for? Take them!"

"You can't take us, you can't!" Struggling to stand up, the Peng brothers endured the sharp pain and hurriedly tried to stop him.

"My Lord, my mother is seriously ill; she is confused. Everything she said is not true. She is the kindest person; how could she kill anyone? Licentiate Gu, no, Father, Father!"

"Say something! Do you really want to watch my mother be executed? Tell the Lord that my mother is just talking nonsense because of her serious illness!"

"Heh, what a display of motherly kindness and filial piety—what a touching scene!" With a cold snort, Shen Yu shouted directly, "County Magistrate Bei!"

"My Lord!"

"Tell me, have the Peng family members been corrupt or oppressive toward the good over these years?"

Shen Yu was just asking this; with the character of the Peng family, how could there be anything good? Every single one of them in that family was no good.

It was clear that the Peng family was definitely a case of the upper beam being crooked and the lower ones following suit; this family upbringing was quite something!

The two brothers, one an official and the other having formed a gang, are clearly planning to play both sides of the law, racking their brains to squeeze the common people.

"This, this..." With his head bowed, the Luhe County County Magistrate Bei Shi was covered in cold sweat, and could only bite the bullet and say, "I suppose not!"

"If it is, it is; if it isn't, it isn't. What is this 'I suppose not'?"

"As a dignified County Magistrate of a region, can it be that you don't even know the slightest bit about your own affairs?"

"My lord, please forgive me. Your subordinate, your subordinate's eyes are dim and my energy is truly failing, which is why I chose to retire and return to my hometown!"

Trembling as he knelt down, the Luhe County County Magistrate Bei Shi said in a low voice, "Most of the county's affairs were handed over to County Assistant Peng to handle; there is much that I am not clear about."

"Are you not clear about it, or are you afraid to speak? Is it because you are afraid of being implicated yourself?"

Shen Yu watched the Luhe County County Magistrate's performance; if this man wasn't a partner in crime, he would write his own name backward!

"I will give you one last chance. Tell the truth! Otherwise, if I find out anything, the outcome will be different than if you tell me yourself, and by then..."

"This, this... your subordinate, your subordinate!" Kneeling to the side, the County Magistrate's body was almost completely pressed against the ground, cold sweat dripping down drop by drop.

One knows one's own business; his petty affairs could not withstand an investigation at all. It was over. After a lifetime of lining his pockets, how could he run into such a disaster at the very end?

Why did he want to retire and return to his hometown? Wouldn't it have been better to keep being the County Magistrate? It was only because this Patrol Censor, Shen Yu, was on a killing spree in the Southern Border, and he was too afraid to stay.

It was all greed that caused this trouble. He had just been thinking that every extra day he could stay was one more day, and every bit more he could rake in was one more bit. If he had known, he would have run away two days earlier!