Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

The river bandits had long set their sights on Lu Hehua's two daughters, grabbing them and pulling them into their embrace, chuckling lewdly, "Little beauties, Master will take you ashore for some good food and drink, you must be obedient. Come, give us a kiss."

"Ah, let us go!" Lu Hehua's two daughters were terrified, struggling to free themselves but to no avail.

Chanzhi and another maid with a pretty appearance were also clutched in the arms of two river bandits, screaming in fright.

Concubine Lu looked at them and remained exceptionally calm, asking, "Are you guys sent by that old thing?"

That Master Wu laughed and said, "Oh, not so stupid after all, able to guess who we are."

"That old thing actually hired river bandits against me; it seems he truly hates me to the core," Concubine Lu sneered coldly, "That old thing has been harmed by me to the point of infertility, and he has lost so much face in the county. It's all worth it!"

Seeing Concubine Lu still talking to the bandits, Lu Hehua immediately shouted, "Meihua, Meihua, for the sake of our sisterhood, just go obediently with these masters, don't drag us into this."

Then to the group of river bandits, "Gentlemen, every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. She is the concubine of County Magistrate Zou, the one you're looking for is her, take her away, quickly take her away."

Please don't take her, she didn't want to die yet.

Concubine Lu looked towards Lu Hehua and scoffed, "Second Sister, you've relied on your younger sister and enjoyed many years of good fortune; now that your sister is in trouble, it's only right for your whole family to suffer with me."

Concubine Lu knew she was close to death; if she could drag someone down with her, she would, and she wouldn't care about any sisterly affection.

She looked toward Lu Hehua's two daughters and said, "My two nieces here are still maidens, from birth they were raised on Lu Family and my Silver, raised more delicately than rich families' daughters. Today is your lucky day, gentlemen."

Hearing this, Lu Hehua's two daughters paled with fear, looking at Concubine Lu they wept, "Third, Third Aunt, why do you want to harm us?"

"Huh, harm you? You grew up eating Silver that I provided, now you're merely repaying the favor," Concubine Lu sat there like a dead person, completely indifferent to her nieces' plight.

"Master Wu, we shouldn't stay here for long, let's take them away first," an elderly man hiding behind the river bandits said.

Concubine Lu paused upon hearing this, finding the voice somewhat familiar. She immediately looked at the old man, saw him wearing a bamboo hat, barefooted, and still dripping with water, and couldn't help frowning, "Who are you? Have we met?"

The old man let out a chuckle, looking up at Concubine Lu, "Concubine Lu, what good eyesight you have, having only met the old man twice, you've remembered the old man's voice."

Concubine Lu stared at the old man and exclaimed, "You, you're the water chestnut delivering Limp Six!"

County Magistrate Zou loved eating water chestnuts and during the season for water chestnuts every year, he would have someone deliver them to the government office, and Limp Six was one of the farmers who delivered water chestnuts for the Zou family.

However, Limp Six was not like other farmers who delivered water chestnuts; occasionally, County Magistrate Zou would meet him in person.

Concubine Lu had seen Limp Six twice when she was in favor. At that time, she was puzzled and asked County Magistrate Zou why he met only Limp Six among several who delivered water chestnuts?

County Magistrate Zou said that the water chestnuts from Limp Six's farm tasted good and were worth meeting for.

Now it seemed that delivering water chestnuts was just a front; this Limp Six was someone specifically sending messages to the river bandits on behalf of County Magistrate Zou.

"You, you weren't hired by that old thing... that old thing is in cahoots with you! He, he dares to collude with river bandits." Concubine Lu was terrified and pale, "If the government finds out about the old thing's doings, what will happen to my Brother Zhen'er and Sister Wan? This plague-stricken old thing, he wants to doom Brother Zhen'er and Sister Wan."

Limp Six said disdainfully, "It's been so many years, if the government had the ability, they would have discovered it a long time ago."

After saying that, he laughed again and said to Concubine Lu, "Concubine Lu doesn't need to worry about Fifth Miss. Old Zou is convinced that she is a bastard child and has already promised her to the legitimate eldest son of the Lv Family, a landlord in Luchang County. This is a match specially chosen by Old Zou for Fifth Miss. Before long, Fifth Miss will be able to marry into the Lv Family and enjoy her fortune there."

"What did you say?!" Concubine Lu almost fainted: "That old bastard promised Sister Wan to the idiot of the Lv Family. Has he gone mad?"

Concubine Lu knew about the Lv Family. County Magistrate Zou had more than once told her about how despicable Landlord Lv was. At that time, she even mocked the Lv Family, saying that their idiot son would never be able to find a wife.

Yet, to her surprise, her Sister Wan was actually betrothed to that idiot by the old man.

Concubine Lu cried bitterly, but she didn't cry for long before she was knocked out by the river bandits. They carried her off the big ship, threw her into a small boat, and took her ashore to a mountain near the water.

There was a fortress in the mountain, which was the stronghold of the river bandits. Concubine Lu and the Lu Family's women were brought here, where they suffered all kinds of torture.

Concubine Lu suffered the most, having to serve all the bandits in the fortress and even being subjected to execution by dismemberment, which showed just how much County Magistrate Zou hated her.

...

People from Willow Leaf Lane didn't discover that the Lu Family's women were missing until the next day. When they boarded the ship to inquire, the captain said that Concubine Lu and the others didn't want to be slaves and had jumped into the water to escape.

After saying this, the captain went ashore with the government's men to report to the authorities.

Incidents of government slaves jumping into the water were common occurrences. The government merely sent people to search half-heartedly for half a day and then didn't bother anymore.

People from Willow Leaf Lane didn't believe that the Lu Family's women had jumped into the water to escape and searched the Huai River for five days. On the afternoon of the fifth day, they finally found several floating corpses on the Huai River, which looked exactly like the Lu Family's women.

They had not been dead for long, apparently having been thrown into the Huai River shortly after death and drifted along with the current.

One of the female corpses was particularly horrific, with large pieces of skin and flesh cut from her body, leaving only a skeleton with tattered flesh hanging from it. However, the people from Willow Leaf Lane all knew that this must be Concubine Lu.

Seeing the body of Concubine Lu, the people of Willow Leaf Lane nearly vomited and didn't dare to stay any longer. They set off back to Tianfu County overnight and told Zou Yuzhen about the incident.

Upon learning of Concubine Lu's tragic death, Zou Yuzhen breathed a sigh of relief... Concubine Lu was finally dead, and her death was so miserable, the old man's anger must have been quenched, and he was now safe.

Limp Six returned two days earlier than the people from Willow Leaf Lane and brought water chestnuts to the Zou Family as soon as he arrived, telling County Magistrate Zou about the incidents with Concubine Lu and the Lu Family's women.

After learning of Concubine Lu's fate, County Magistrate Zou felt a sense of total relief, and the sickness in his body seemed to have diminished quite a bit.

Zou Jiang saw the joyous expression on County Magistrate Zou and felt something was amiss: What's with the Old Master? Why has he become so delighted after seeing the old farmer who brought water chestnuts?

Zou Jiang's suspicion grew over three days, and then news of the tragic deaths of the Lu Family's women and Concubine Lu reached the county government. Zou Jiang was County Magistrate Zou's confidant with informants in the government office.

A clerk secretly copied the letter sent from the Magistrate Government Office and gave it to Zou Jiang.

When Zou Jiang saw the words 'river bandit', 'Gou He Blade', 'execution by dismemberment' on it and connected them with the old farmer who brought water chestnuts, he was shocked... The Old Master must have colluded with the river bandits to have Concubine Lu killed.

How could the Old Master take such a huge risk?

If discovered, it would surely result in the Old Master being charged with colluding with river bandits, and then the entire family could lose their heads.