Chapter 113

Several dozen meters away at the mountain ditch, Jiang Cheng angrily rushed forward to seize someone.

Du Ruo hurriedly grabbed him, whispering, "What's the rush? It's not time yet."

"But sis-in-law, to catch a thief you need the stolen goods; if we wait any longer they'll run off!" The youth scratched his ear and cheek, unable to bear the delay.

"Whether they can run or not, look at it another way—treat them as free labor; right now they're helping us dig up medicinal herbs."

Jiang Cheng was about to say more when the dog beside him pressed a paw down on his head.

Du Ruo smiled, "You see, even Tie Dan understands this principle, yet you don't."

She could indeed go up and seize them now, but she might not be able to beat Doctor Gu to death with a single stick.

Doctor Gu could easily explain, saying he was hired by the Second Branch of the Jiang Family—who could prove otherwise? Ghost Supervisor is a precious medicinal herb; finding the only person in the village who knows herbs, Doctor Gu, to help is perfectly reasonable.

Furthermore, human testimony lacks enough persuasive power; since she and Jiang Cheng are the victims, their words cannot serve as evidence.

Doctor Gu could even countercharge them with framing; what then?

So, to successfully capture the prey, one must first be a patient hunter.

After waiting another half an hour, they finally finished digging everything over there.

The father and son each shouldered a sack of Ghost Supervisor and sneaked toward the village head; from their swaying figures, their inner nervousness and excitement were clearly palpable.

Du Ruo nodded at Jiang Cheng, and the two of them plus the dog followed.

By now it was deep night, the village dogs were mostly asleep, the chickens hadn't yet begun to crow, and only the rustling of various insects came from the fields.

Doctor Gu and Gu Fusheng left the village quite smoothly.

Dragon Spring Village is seven or eight li from Elegant Mountain Town—not far, but because the route is all mountain paths and it's late at night, they had to walk much slower.

The father and son spent a full two hours before entering the town.

Doctor Gu knocked on several medicine shops in turn; unfortunately, though they wanted it, they simply couldn't handle that much Ghost Supervisor.

Doctor Gu urgently wanted to exchange it for money, but didn't want to sell it piecemeal, so he had to withdraw.

"Father, isn't the biggest medicine shop in town Herbal Hall? Why not go there directly?" Gu Fusheng asked doubtfully.

"What do you know?" Doctor Gu snapped, "As if I didn't know Herbal Hall is the biggest!"

The crucial point is he can't go; supposedly that white-bearded old man from yesterday is the doctor at Herbal Hall, and they know him—if word got out, it would be disastrous.

Letting his son go alone won't work either; Fusheng doesn't understand market prices and can't speak well—if he got swindled, what then?

After thinking it over, Doctor Gu made his decision.

Go sell it in the county!

The county has many medicine shops, the shops are larger, the offers will surely be higher, and besides, they're all strangers—no fear of being recognized.

The more he thought, the more right it seemed; Doctor Gu immediately changed direction, hired a carriage, and headed straight for Wutou County.

Behind them, Du Ruo and Jiang Cheng likewise hired a carriage and pursued closely.

They raced all the way, finally entering the city gate at dawn.

Seeing the father and son carrying two sacks of Ghost Supervisor into a shop called Preserve Harmony Hall, Du Ruo pulled Jiang Cheng to the side of a wall.

"Xiao San'er, stay here and keep watch; remember, under no circumstances let them spot you. If they come out, keep following—don't startle the snake. I'll go to the county office to fetch your older brother to make the arrest."

Jiang Cheng nodded, then asked, "And if they wander off, how will you find me?"

"Isn't that easy?" Du Ruo laughed, patting the dog's head, "Finding people is Tie Dan's forte."

Having the dog is like carrying a personal GPS; as long as the person remains within range, they absolutely cannot escape.

Only then did Jiang Cheng relax.

Du Ruo took off running toward the county office, with Tie Dan close behind.

The gatekeeper bailiff saw her and jumped in shock, "Oh my goodness, sister-in-law, what happened to your face?"

Before she was ugly, but never this bad; he couldn't bear to look a second time, fearing nightmares.

Du Ruo had no time to explain, hurriedly saying, "Please go in and call my husband for me—tell him I have urgent business."

No sooner had she spoken than Tie Dan swooped in.

"Ah, this dog…" the Ya Men runner looked completely bewildered.

Du Ruo gave an embarrassed smile, "It's fine, no need to shout anymore; I think Jiang Li will come out soon."

Sure enough, it was quick.

In the time it takes to burn an incense stick, footsteps sounded from far to near; first, the dog darted out from inside.

Immediately after, Jiang Li's tall and stalwart figure appeared.

Jiang Li instantly spotted his little wife, froze at once, and said, "My lady, your face…"

Du Ruo waved her hand, "It's fine, it'll be better in a few days."

She pulled Jiang Li aside and whispered, "The plan succeeded; Third Brother is guarding over there waiting for you—hurry and bring people over."

Jiang Li's expression grew solemn, "All right, my lady, wait outside a moment; I'll go in now to summon people."

Having said that, he turned and quickly entered the Ya Men.

Not long after, a constable came flying out of the Ya Men, with Wang Bujiu leading the way.

Seeing Du Ruo, Wang Bujiu's bull eyes widened in an instant and he exclaimed, "Ah, sister-in-law, were you struck by lightning? How did you end up like this? You're even uglier than before!"

Du Ruo chuckled, "Elder Brother Wang, you've become even more eloquent; since that's the case, you won't need to eat anything I make from now on with that sharp tongue of yours."

Wang Bujiu: "……"

Pfft-pfft-pfft, the other constables couldn't hold back and burst out laughing in schadenfreude.

"Sister-in-law, don't mind him; Old Wang hasn't rinsed his mouth this morning."

"Yeah, sister-in-law, from now on don't give him any good food, give it to me!"

"Me too! Me too! I, Chen Er, am tongue-tied and only speak the truth; sister-in-law is beautiful and kind-hearted, her cooking is delicious, we're a match made in heaven, a pair created by earth!"

As soon as he said that, several others turned their scornful gazes on him in unison.

Wang Bujiu clicked his tongue: "For the sake of something to eat, you little brat, you don't even care about face anymore."

It's so against his conscience, yet he can actually say it.

Du Ruo chuckled; she had noticed last time that this young man named Chen Er was extremely slick-talking, but listening to him wasn't annoying.

As they were chatting lively, Jiang Li came out, holding an arrest warrant personally approved by the county magistrate.

"Let's go, set off!"

Over at Baohetang, Gu Dafu finally settled the price with the shopkeeper.

The usual price for a ghost supervisor is a few taels of silver, but these two bags are of top quality, can be called supreme, finally set at eight taels per catty, totaling 162 catties.

Calculating it, they actually sold 1,296 taels!

Carrying so many silver notes in his pocket, Gu Dafu walked as if floating, his mind also a bit dazed.

Not to mention Gu Fusheng, he was so nervous he couldn't bear it; as soon as he stepped out of Baohetang's gate, he began looking around anxiously, afraid of being noticed by thieves.

"Dad, with so much money, how are we supposed to spend it?"

"How to spend it?" Gu Dafu raised his hand and gave his son a flick on the forehead, "Of course, first go repay the hundred taels you owe the gambling house; otherwise you still want to take the money to spend in your coffin?"

Gu Fusheng rubbed the back of his head, feeling wronged, and muttered, "I was just asking casually..."

He suddenly thought of something and became happy again: "Dad, Zhu Niang has been pregnant for two months now; she likes sour things, so the baby is definitely a boy. Let's go buy some plums to bring home later."

"Hmph, you're really doting on that foolish wife of yours."

Gu Dafu walked toward the city gate, nodding as he went: "All right, since Zhu Niang likes sour things, we'll buy more—just plums won't be enough; let's also get some sour plum cake and braised pig's trotters, so we don't let Zhu Niang go hungry."

"Thanks, Dad." Gu Fusheng hehe-laughed, "Dad treats Zhu Niang really well."

"Zhu Niang is carrying your grandson in her belly; if you don't treat her well, who will you treat well?"

He not only needs to treat Zhu Niang well, but also feed her until she's full.

Only then can we, without the knowledge of gods or ghosts, let Zhu Niang bring her little fool down to hell together!

Our Gu family absolutely cannot let a fool cut off the lineage!

Just as he was lost in thought, a sudden shout rang in his ears: "Constables, seize the person! Idlers, scatter!"