CHAPTER 391: CHAPTER 391: GOD OPENS HIS EYES

A group of government officials immediately rushed up, twisted Old Master Lu’s hands and tied them up with rope.

Old Master Lu was stunned and after a moment, he reacted and shouted, "Who are you people? How dare you trespass into a private residence, I will report you to the authorities to have you arrested!"

The government officials laughed, "Hahaha, report us? Old Master Lu, you must be still dreaming. The ones arresting you are the government officers. Who exactly are you going to ask to arrest us? Should we tie ourselves up?"

Old Master Lu was mocked by the government officials, trembling with anger, he looked towards the person standing at the courtyard gate under the firelight and shouted at him, "Are you the squad leader of these officers? Are you surnamed Yang, Zhu, or Jiang?"

Luo Wu sneered and said, "Surname Luo."

"Luo?" Old Master Lu’s eyebrows furrowed tightly. There was no squad leader surnamed Luo in the county government. No matter what his surname was, they shouldn’t be arresting him. "Elder Luo, do you know who I am? Who is my daughter? And who is my son-in-law?"

Here it comes again.

Luo Wu despised the Lu Family for abusing their power, and seeing Old Master Lu trying to bring up County Magistrate Zou, he said unkindly, "I don’t care whose father you are or whose father-in-law you are. Today, no, your entire Lu Family today, none of you will escape!"

Hearing this, Old Master Lu’s heart skipped a beat. This was not only about arresting him but also about arresting all the Lu Family members.

Old Master Lu panicked, wanting to shout again, but Luo Wu quickly stepped forward, grabbed Old Master Lu’s jaw, and stuffed a wad of coarse hemp cloth into his mouth, preventing him from making any more sounds.

At this moment, being so close, Old Master Lu finally got a clear look at Luo Wu’s face and recognized him.

"Mmm mmm mmm!"

You, you are that Luo Family boy who escaped the famine?

Seeing the shocked expression on Old Master Lu’s face and knowing he had been recognized, Luo Wu smiled and said, "Old Master Lu, since we’re from the same village, we won’t tie your feet. Let this old fellow walk to the county by himself and suffer a bit first."

"Mmm mmm mmm!" Old Master Lu, seeing Luo Wu’s smile, felt a chill down his spine, trying to shout at the surrounding government officials, wanting to accuse Luo Wu of abusing his power to arrest people at the Lu Mansion, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

The government officials dragged him out of his residence and brought him to the front courtyard of the Lu Mansion.

Squad Leader Yang was sitting on a chair in the front courtyard, glanced at Old Master Lu being escorted, waved his hand and had Luo Wu take Old Master Lu to one side.

Old Master Lu kept making muffled noises, wanting Squad Leader Yang to remove the coarse hemp cloth from his mouth so he could speak and cry out his grievances, accusing Luo Wu.

Alas, Squad Leader Yang couldn’t be bothered to look at Old Master Lu again.

Shortly after, another group of government officials carried out Old San from the Lu Family.

Old San was paralyzed in bed and was frightened when the government officials burst into the room and grabbed him, crying all the way, "By... what... right... you arrest... it’s unjust..."

"You’re unjust my ass, how many bad deeds has your Lu Family committed? It’s about time you were all arrested, and yet you still cry injustice. Have some shame!"

The speaker was Village Chief He.

When the government officials came to the village to arrest people, he, as the village chief, should be present. Squad Leader Yang had sent a junior officer to call him.

Village Chief He was sleeping soundly when he was abruptly awakened by the sound of pounding on the door. He Dacang opened the door, and seeing it was the Government Officials, he jumped in shock and hurried to inform Village Chief He.

Village Chief He, hearing that Government Officials had come to the village again to arrest someone, felt like dying. The village had seen the arrival of Government Officials three times this year already, and one more time would utterly ruin their reputation.

However, upon coming out and learning that they were here to arrest someone from the Lu Family tonight, he immediately sprang up and asked the Government Official, "Lord Officer, what did you say? You, you came to arrest someone from the Lu Family? Even Old Master Lu? Oh Lord, Heaven has finally opened its eyes, allowing that scoundrel Lu Zhudan to fall on hard times!"

He then asked the Government Official, "Lord Officer, what did the Lu Family commit? Is it serious?"

If it wasn’t serious, he would end up celebrating in vain.

This young Government Official was none other than Squad Leader Yang’s nephew, a young man honest in character, who told Village Chief He, "Someone accused Old Master Lu of harboring a runaway slave, Lord County Magistrate is taking it very seriously, and he instructed us to arrest him immediately."

"What? A runaway slave!" Village Chief He was shocked, and after the shock, he burst out laughing, "Even Lu Zhudan has his day, now it would be harder than reaching heaven for the Lu Family to turn this around."

A runaway slave, once convicted, would affect not only Old Master Lu but every child born to him—everyone would be implicated.

Seeing Village Chief He so excited, the young officer specifically advised him, "Village Chief He, this matter still needs to go to trial, and only after Lord County Magistrate has reviewed it then a conviction can be made. Don’t go spreading the word yet to avoid any unforeseen complications."

"I won’t spread the word, the old man knows the rules, won’t be shouting about it." The village chief was ecstatic, he didn’t even need He Dacang’s support; he grabbed the young officer and rushed over in high spirits.

Before leaving, he also told He Dacang, "Quick, grab the copper gong, strike it up, let the villagers know about this good news so they can hurry over to the Lu Mansion to watch the drama. If they’re late, they might miss seeing Lu Zhudan being caught!"

The officer who came to call him was dumbfounded, wasn’t Village Chief He supposed to be most afraid of the Lu Family? Why was he so excited and even daring to summon the entire village to watch the excitement at the Lu Mansion? What if Old Master Lu turned out to be fine in the end?

Helplessly, the young officer said from the side, "Don’t spread the word."

While pulling him along, Village Chief He argued, "We’re not spreading the word, just letting the villagers come see the excitement, let everyone have their fun for now."

Seeing Village Chief He was old enough to be his grandfather, the young officer didn’t dare disrespect him and could only let himself be dragged along to the Lu Mansion.

Meanwhile, He Dacang had already dressed and told his wife, Mrs. He Liu, about the affairs of the Lu Family, then took down the copper gong hanging in the main hall, striking it loudly and shouting, "Everyone get up, head over to the Lu Mansion, the Lu Family has received their retribution!"

The villagers were all woken up by the noise of the gong, cursing under their breath, when suddenly they heard He Dacang’s words, everyone was shocked, "What, the Lu Family received their retribution?"

"Hurry, get up and let’s go see!"

Not only people from the He family, but Lu Family People heard the commotion and also got out of bed, hurriedly putting on clothes, too rushed to even wear shoes properly, hurriedly running towards the Lu Mansion.

People from the back of the village were also awakened by the sound of the gong, all of them got out of bed in their clothes, and Wang Yongfu, who was running towards the end of the village road, heard He Dacang’s shouting and immediately went to Gu Jinli’s house to inform Third Grandpa.

Third Grandpa had not dared to sleep tonight, lying in bed with his eyes open, and as soon as he heard the gong, he got up.

Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui, worried about Gu Jinli and Gu Jin’an not returning, hadn’t slept either; hearing the commotion, they also got up.

Finally, Gu Dashan couldn’t help but ask Third Grandpa, "Third Uncle, where exactly did Good Brother An and Xiao Yu go tonight?"

Was it really to return the mule cart?

Why did he feel so uneasy?