The villagers exchanged glances.
They didn’t fully understand what Su Shi was saying,
but it sounded intimidating…
…like some high-ranking magistrate was speaking.
In reality, it was just Su Manman processing the original body’s memories.
The author had set Daxing in a fictional era—
from the look of it, an agrarian, pre-modern, cold-weapon society.
Yet many elements resembled modern life.
Overall, the story thrived on casual, offbeat logic.
For example, soldiers held a relatively high status in this time,
and the families of martyrs were well cared for.
Apparently, the founding emperor of the current dynasty rose from a lowly soldier, fighting his way up to establish the kingdom.
At the time Gu Tianye—the male lead—was a junior officer.
The death benefit for him was thirty taels of silver,
with an additional five taels per year from the court until the children reached adulthood.
This was all official support for a martyr’s family.
But the old Gu family had claimed all the money.
The original body neither received the benefit nor even knew about it.
She didn’t know, but Su Manman had read the book—she knew perfectly well.
Thus, when she demanded fifty taels, it wasn’t random—it was the thirty taels of the death benefit plus twenty taels accumulated over four years.
Sure enough, Zhao’s expression immediately changed.
If this went to the authorities, the fact that they had been collecting this money every year couldn’t stay hidden.
But having to hand over fifty taels now was worse than death for her.
“You little prostitute! Don’t think I’m afraid of reporting this to the authorities.”
“You hit your mother-in-law as a daughter-in-law—go ahead and try to take this all the way to the capital! I still won’t fear you.”
Su Manman looked at Zhao’s bluster hiding cowardice and felt irritated.
She had no time to waste on Zhao’s nonsense—she was tired and hungry.
Hunger made her internal beast roar.
“Are you going to pay or not? If not, I’m going straight to the magistrate.”
“And while I’m at it, I’ll check on your eldest grandson’s school.”
“How can a scholar take his uncle’s death benefit for his own studies,
while ignoring the abuse of his uncle’s widow and children?”
“Is he reading the sages’ classics or a handbook for thieves?”
Hearing that Su Manman intended to storm her eldest grandson’s school, Zhao—the entire hope of the old Gu family—was furious.
Her eyes turned bloodshot with rage.
“You little wretch, how dare you!”
Su Manman shot back, “You old wretch, you’ve forced me and my children to the edge of death!”
“Let’s see if I’m afraid or not.”
“Since you don’t want to live, then none of us should!”
“If we die, we die together!”
The last sentence she shouted with all her strength.
She truly wished everyone would just die together.
Damn this lousy book—she had no attachment to it at all.
If she could, she wouldn’t mind being a world-destroying god.
Zhao shivered under her gaze.
This little wretch was terrifying.
“Village chief, look at Su Manman! She’s threatening me!”
“All this time, her cowardice was just an act!”
Gu Baoshan could see that Su Manman had transformed today.
She wouldn’t rest until the old Gu family paid for every wrong.
He had long disliked the old Gu family for their evil ways.
Now that Su Manman had risen, he was happy to give her a helping hand.
It would also do a little justice for Tianye.
“You deal with your family matters yourselves.”
“I said, if you don’t want to apologize or compensate, we’ll report this to the authorities.”
Zhao was taken aback. Report to the authorities? Impossible.
“Mom, don’t report it,” Jin Bao—the son of Zhou—urged. She didn’t want this to affect her own son’s future.
Hearing “report to the authorities” made her nervous.
Zhao shot her a glare. Was it her idea to report this?
“Fine, Village Chief, please arrange someone to go report it,” Su Manman said firmly.
“Tianye was a martyr—his children shouldn’t be bullied for nothing.”
Gu Baoshan thought it over. Although reporting to the authorities might cause trouble,
Gu Tianye had indeed died in battle.
The current court officially cared for martyrs’ families.
If this got out, Gu Baoshan would not come out unscathed as village chief.
Besides, Zhao and her clan needed to be taught a lesson.
“Alright, Da Yong, go make the trip.”
Seeing that they were really going to report it, Zhao panicked.
“Village Chief, this is such a small matter! Reporting it is unnecessary!”
Gu Baoshan: “If you don’t want to report, compensate with silver. Otherwise, don’t waste everyone’s time.”
Zhao was speechless—fifty taels!
She turned to Su Manman, intending to negotiate, but Su Manman cut her off:
“Fifty taels. Not a single tael less. Or let the magistrate decide.”
Veins bulging, Zhao gasped:
“Fifty taels… where would I even get that much?”
Su Manman: “If you don’t have enough, use your house and land as collateral.”
Zhao: “Su Shi, you’re too cruel! If we lose our house, where will we live? If we lose our land, what will we eat?”
Su Manman: “None of my business.”
“Now you dare bargain with me?”
“When the magistrate delivers judgment, you can ask him where you’ll live and what you’ll eat.”
“Brother Da Yong, please go make the trip,” Su Manman told Gu Da Yong.
Gu Da Yong turned to leave. Zhou and Gu’s second son panicked—this could affect their own son’s future.
“Mom, just give it,” one woman muttered. It was just money—they could deal with her later.
Gu’s second son even gave Zhao a meaningful glance.
Zhao understood, gritted her teeth, and finally agreed.
“Fine, I’ll give it.”
Gu Baoshan seized the moment: “Good. While I’m here, go get the silver.”
“Consider this matter settled today.”
Zhao stomped off angrily, but not long after, she really did bring fifty taels of silver.
Thirty taels were silver notes, the other twenty were loose silver.
The villagers hadn’t expected her to produce so much silver.
It seemed the Gu family still had some wealth.
When Zhao handed it to Su Manman, her glare could have bored a hole through her.
But Su Manman didn’t care—the money rightfully belonged to the original body.
Even before Gu Tianye’s death, he had sent substantial silver home every year.
Most of the money Zhao held had been earned by Gu Tianye.
And yet, after Gu Tianye died, she still abused his wife and children.