an Why hasn't he arrived yet"Zongtaiwen timidly walked out from the corner."Father, the imperial physician has arrived. When you were speaking earlier, I had him wait in the courtyard."Zong Pingchuan...Hu Ailan is dead.

He died in a trap Li Gou had set to catch villagers, impaled by the wooden stakes inside and dying instantly.

When Zhao saw this scene, she fainted on the spot.

Everyone looked at the corpse in the pit, their expressions shocked.

Hu Ailan died from lust, died from betrayal. The villagers breathed a sigh of relief, some even cursed her death as deserved.

Yulian walked angrily to Fang Jinshi's side, "Sister-in-law, how do we dispose of her body"

Fang Jinxiu remained silent, but Mu Shi sighed instead and spoke.

"Had she been from the same village, she almost would have become our clan's daughter-in-law."

"Bury her remains with her parents."

After Hu Ailan had finished her business, it wasn't long before the mountains plunged into a deep winter.

These two cousins of Li Gou, although they aided the wicked, hadn't committed any major crimes. However, Fang Jinshi wouldn't dare use people with such character again.

After half a month, Wang the village head rushed to the gate of Zong Yu's manor, beating on it frantically.

During this period, Uncle Li, as expected, led over twenty craftsmen from Fangjia Village to almost complete the basic framework of Jinxiu Mountain Villa.

A wall, a gate, five gigantic warehouses, and six courtyards along with several outbuildings for servants' belongings.

Fang Jinshi's estate was planned on a grand scale, with over half of the area left vacant and untouched.

With winter approaching, they could only finish the most important parts first and leave the rest for next spring.

"Jinxiu, open the door please. The villagers truly have no ill intentions towards you anymore. Let them come back to work."

"The mountains are so vast, don't you intend to cultivate them yourselves"

Village head Wang, bundled in his cotton coat, shouted outside the door for a long time but there was no response from inside.

Tie Zhu stepped forward and tugged at his father's sleeve.

"Father, Sister-in-law Jinxiu is really angry this time."

"Those few families in the village have really gone too far this time. They know that Sister Jinxiu buying the wasteland is a great thing for the entire village, with benefits outweighing any downsides."

Let them continue to cause mischief on the mountains behind their house.

“Knowing that Li's son was going to harm his sister-in-law, he pretended not to know, secretly watched the show, and even pointed the way for others, making it easier for outsiders to destroy the crops in the field.”

"Can humans do this"

“I think they never really cared about the village’s interests, only their own personal grudges.”

"Stop shouting, you should know that Sister Jinxiu did the right thing this time. It's about time these villagers realized who they depend on for food."

"If my sister-in-law and the Zong family were to get into trouble, they would have nowhere to turn!"

The village chief hurriedly pulled his son and told him to be quiet.

"Okay, that's enough."

"Of course Father knew this was the fault of several elders."

"After all, we're from the same village. Could our father just stand by and watch the villagers starve and freeze to death this winter"

Tiezhu snorted, "Then have you thought about what Jinxiu's sister-in-law and the family clan would think"

"How could several elders commit such a thing and not face any punishment Are we just going to let this slide"

"It's likely that Jinxiu's sister-in-law has been staying indoors for so many days, refusing to see anyone, even you, because she is angry with you for being unfair."

Wang, the village head, was taken aback. In his haste, he had forgotten about this possibility.

"So you're saying that as long as I punish those elders, Jinxiu will make the villagers go back up the mountain to work"

Tie Zhu shrugged. "I don't know that."

But if you do nothing, just coming to the manor every day and shouting, it certainly won't be helpful.

Village Head Wang lowered his head and pondered for a while, feeling that what his son said made sense.

After all, this kid has been with Fang Jinshu for some time now, so he must understand her thoughts better than most.

"You're right."

Wang, the village head, immediately grew serious. "These elders in the village are becoming increasingly unruly."

"Come, call several elders to my house. I need to have a good talk with them!"

Tezhu immediately smiled and nodded, "Father, you should have dealt with those old codgers long ago. They always hide when trouble arises but are the first to jump in when there's something to be gained."

"Still a few old and smelly stirring sticks!"

Behind the manor gate, Zong Bai ran all the way back to the new courtyard of the Zong family after listening to the conversation between the village head and his son. He lifted the heavy curtain, and inside sat everyone from the Zong family.

"Sister-in-law is still the smartest, she had already informed Brother Tiezhu. Now Village Head Wang has gone back to discipline those elders."

Fāng Jǐnxiù was holding a plate of sour plum candy and couldn't stop herself from popping one into her mouth after another.

"He mumbled, “Actually, the villagers have been working in the mountains for some time now. They’ve received quite a bit of food supplies from here, and combined with the grain they've grown in their fields, there shouldn't be a problem getting through the winter.”

“There wouldn't be cases of starvation or freezing to death in the village.”

Even if we keep letting them come to work, it wouldn't make much sense.'t particularly hungry, Fang Jinxiu had Xiaoyue add some vinegar and some chopped fresh vegetables to the wontons.As Zongyu kept eating, his appetite grew. He ended up finishing every last drop of sou...