Yang Ruqing said, “This reward is given to those who worked last night, those who didn't participate don't have it. This is the yamen's reward.”

Liu shi, smiling ingratiatingly, said, "We've all seen this, so at least give a little lucky money! What do you guys think?"

Although those around were envious, they couldn't openly admit it for fear of embarrassment and could only offer insincere agreement.

Yang Ruqing smiled, "What? Just picked up a life back, already so greedy?"

“Yesterday, my father and his men distributed the wild boar meat and rice, didn’t they? Every household received some, even your family, Aunt Four. As a person, don't be too greedy, greed will lead to your own demise, then see who comes to save you!”

In a few words, Liu was blushing, and the other people who had their eyes on her couldn't bring themselves to speak anymore.

"Qing'er, how do you think the county magistrate of Zou will punish Chen Butcher and his men?"

Here, Yang Huazhong changed the subject and asked about this matter.

>

This matter was also of concern to others, and one by one they immediately refocused their attention on Yang Ruqing.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like translated!

Yang Ruqing said, "Chen Tuchu and his son Chen Hu, being the masterminds, caused chaos during this special period and attempted to massacre the village. The Zou County Magistrate sentenced them to death!"

"At the beginning of next month, they will execute Chen Xiong at the county city's Wa Market on the first day. As for the others, they've all been sent to prison for about ten years each. Chen Xiong has been sentenced to twenty years - he'll be doing life."

>

Upon hearing this, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

But at the same time, they were also terrified. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

“Are they really going to chop off heads? Just hearing it is scary.” someone said.

“I heard that his head fell off, leaving a scar just as big as a bowl. They said it took a lot of blood to stop the bleeding...”

Perhaps no one from the Chen family will go to collect his body?

“Old Chen, will you go to collect the body when the time comes?”

Here is the translation: Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Someone asked Chen the butcher's cousin in the crowd.

The middle-aged man had just come over and received eight ounces of silver, tucking it into his pocket. He was in a good mood now, with a faint smile still on his face.

When he heard someone ask that, his face immediately fell.

"I'm stuffed, but I'll go collect his body anyway!" he said.

"People like them and their father, dare to be buried in the ancestral graves of Old Chen's family back in Changping Village? All eight generations of ancestors would be shamed by them. Let them die out there; that's what they deserve!" he said.

There was a collective sigh of regret.

<>

People in this era value belonging after death the most. Incidents like what happened to the Chen butcher and his family of four are truly... indescribable, and unacceptable.

This is really karma!

“July execution? That's not a good month at all.” Mrs. Liu spoke again.

“July is considered the Yin month, the ghost month,” Liu shi said after successfully drawing everyone’s attention to herself. She licked her dry lips and continued,

"People like the Chen butcher and his son, who are so cruel, would resort to murder for money and do all sorts of evil. They would surely become wicked ghosts after death."

“It just so happened to coincide with the month of July when executions took place. Heavens, wouldn't there be restless spirits lingering about then? Wouldn’t they come back for revenge?” asked Mrs. Liu.

When others heard this, their faces all changed.

Farmers' households believe in ghosts and spirits, and there are endless rumors about ghosts and monsters in the countryside.

"What are we going to do?" someone asked.

"I don't know either, I'm just worried!"

There's a saying that goes, "If there's grievance, there is a source; if there's debt, there's a creditor. When the Chen family's ghosts return to the village, they'll each go find those who took the government silver and seek revenge. It would really be trouble then."

"To tell you the truth, everyone, why don't we just pool all that reward money and split it up? That way, when Chen's father and son come back, they won't know who to seek revenge from because we've all received a share of the bounty. What do you think?"

Some people in the crowd actually showed a hint of hesitation on their faces.

When Yang Ruqing saw this, she stood up and said: "Fourth Aunt, so it turns out that after all this talk, you're trying to scare everyone with these alarming words just for the silver reward? I'm convinced by you, will there ever be an end to this?"

In the end, Yang Ruoqing almost shouted her last words.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

Liu was startled and smiled sheepishly.

Yang Ruqing then turned to the other villagers who had received money and said: "Everyone, please keep your money well. Go back and buy rice and grain, and don't be fooled by those with ulterior motives."

I just want to remind everyone here, if anyone comes crying later saying they were scammed out of money, don't say I didn't warn you! You got tricked, that's on you.

After finishing, Yang Ruqing also deliberately glanced at Liu's side.

>

Liu walked toward the door, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Then everyone else gradually dispersed as well.

"Qing'er, are you starving? Come to the backyard, the food is ready." Sun Shi came to Yang Ruqing's side and said softly and affectionately.

Yang Ruqing was actually already hungry. Hearing this, she quickly followed Mrs. Sun to the backyard.

On the stove, there were two bowls of dishes.

One bowl is stir-fried vegetables with tofu, and the other bowl is stir-fried green peppers with eggs. This is Yang Ruoqing's favorite.

She lifted up a bowl of white rice from the side. She had just taken a bite when she saw Sun Shi lift the lid of the pot and take out a black pottery bowl from the top of the rice.

"Here, eat this," she said, placing the bowl in front of Yang Ruoqing.

>

Yang Ruqing glanced at the bowl. It contained red-braised pork cooked with chili peppers, ginger, and garlic.

"Braised pork?" Yang Ruqing asked, picking up a chopstick and taking a taste.

"Isn't there anything different?" Sun smiled and asked.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Yang Ruqing nodded, "The braised pork is a bit more chewy than usual, Mother, what kind of meat is this?"

"This is wild boar meat," said Mrs. Sun with a smile.

“Wild boar? Where did you get a wild boar?” Yang Ruqing was even more astonished.

"...it was the Chen butcher's..."

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like translated! ?

Mrs. Sun told Yang Ruqing everything about how she divided the meat and rice yesterday.

As for distributing pork and the like to the villagers, Yang Ruqing had no opinion on it.

When Yang Huazhong actually went out of his way to buy thirty jin of rice to distribute among the villagers, Yang Ruqing's forehead began to wrinkle with displeasure.

"Thirty catties of rice, you and your father, and little An, Xiaohua, and Xiaoduo, all of you can eat for half a month!"

"That's just taking it out to give to the villagers. So many households, giving each household a pound of rice - what good is that? It won't last even two days."

“If you finish it in two days, you won’t miss me anymore. It’s better to keep it and wait until most families in the village can't afford to cook at home, then we'll set up a big communal kitchen for the whole village.”

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

“By mixing dozens of jin of rice with wild vegetables to cook porridge, and providing it daily to the villagers, this could last them about ten days. People would remember our kindness for those ten days, wouldn't they? Look here, we've already earned seven or eight days, hehe…”

Upon hearing Yang Ruqing's words, Sun smiled.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

"What you said is indeed true, but we have to make the porridge ourselves, right? It's tiring and there's no guarantee it will be pleasing. Maybe someone gets a bit more, and others get less, and then they'll complain!" Mrs. Sun said.

"Perhaps it's better to just send it out now, so at least everyone can have some peace of mind!" After hearing what Mrs. Sun said, Yang Ruqing realized that there was some truth to it. Any method could be a double-edged sword, with both advantages and disadvantages.

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