Three days later, Tan Laosan and Granny Tan were executed at the vegetable market in the west of the city.
On the day of the beheading, Jiang Family and Tan Family all went there. The Tan Family had brought a thin wooden coffin on a donkey cart to collect Tan Laosan's body.
As for Granny Tan's family, there was not even a single person who showed up, let alone collect the body.
After being taken down from the gallows, the body was just rolled up in a tattered straw mat and thrown to the chaotic graves outside the city.
Even after his death, Tan Laosan's body was dismembered. He deserved his punishment. Old Lady Hu personally saw her young son being dismembered and went mad at that time.
In fact, if Tan Laosan ended up like this today, Old Lady Hu should be held half responsible.
If only she hadn't spoiled her young son so much, or given him a slap the first time he did something wrong, instead of thinking about how to help him get away with it, the ending wouldn't have been like this.
After Tan Laosan's death and Old Lady Hu went mad, the Tan Family divided up the family property as quickly as possible.
Old Lady Hu had already displeased her other two sons because of her previous favoritism towards her young son. And now, because of Tan Laosan, not only did they lose most of their family property,
the reputation of the Tan Family in the villages nearby also plummeted.
Her two daughters-in-law hated her even more, and did not care about her at all. Not long after, she accidentally fell into a pond and drowned.
The matter was settled. The old couple of Jiang Family discussed with their sons and daughters-in-law, prepared generous gifts, and went door-to-door to express their thanks.
They thanked those who helped find people back then, like Jiang Mansion, Qu Mansion, Lin Family where the daughter-in-law was from, and Lu Family where the daughter-in-law was from.
They also specially commissioned a horizontal inscribed board with the four big characters "Fairness for the People".
Old Man Jiang personally led the whole family to present it to the county government office with gongs and drums. This deeply moved Qin Jue.
Although the Qin Family had powerful background, which official on the career path would dislike a better reputation?
At least Qin Jue was very flattered, and felt that the Jiang Family really knew how to handle matters properly.
Jiang Family also bought glutinous rice to make pastries, and purchased pork, sugar, wine, grains, fabrics and other items.
They gave every single person who helped find people that day a pastry, a five-jin jar of wine, three jin of meat, five jin of white rice, two jin of brown sugar, and five chi of cloth.
Even those few people from Lotus Flower Village who helped spread the news and find people got a share.
Jiang Family's intention was very clear that the Tan Family was the Tan Family, and had nothing to do with other people from Lotus Flower Village. They would not make indiscriminate accusations.
When the word spread, people from ten li and eight villages quite approved of Jiang Family's magnanimity.
Especially other villagers of Lotus Flower Village, they all heaved a sigh of relief, at least they didn't need to worry about retaliation from people of the Xijin ferry.
Ever since losing her granddaughter that day, Old Lady Hu felt very guilty. If it wasn't for her own negligence, her little granddaughter wouldn't have suffered so much.
Fortunately, after the fever subsided, her granddaughter's condition improved day by day.
After changing the medicine several times, the wounds on her hands also scabbed and did not leave any scars. She was still cheerful and smiling.
Additionally, her daughters-in-law often consoled her, so she gradually put her mind at ease.
But she became even more protective of her granddaughter.
For Jiang Yuqing, this was truly a heavy yet sweet love.
In fact, she really didn't expect to have such a severe fever that day, it was just some inferior sweat-inducing medicine and a cold.
The reason was that her current body was too small and couldn't withstand the ordeal.
Fortunately, she often drank the spiritual spring water, so the foundation of her body was much better than that of ordinary infants. If it was a normal baby, they might have died directly.
The spiritual spring water was really good. When she could walk independently, she would fill the family's water vat with spiritual spring water every day. It would not only prolong the life and improve the health of the family drinking it, but at least also strengthen their bodies.
No, do it now!
"Milk, water water!" Her little tongue hadn't yet learned to say the word "vat". She just kept pointing her little hand towards the kitchen.
Old Lady Hu thought she wanted to drink water, and smiled: "Good baby, do you want to drink water?"
Speaking, she poured half a cup of warm water into Jiang Yuqing's carved little bamboo cup.
The little milk dumpling avoided it. Her little body leaned forward, her little hand kept pointing to the kitchen: "Water water!" Old Lady Hu didn't understand why, wasn't there water already, why must she go to the kitchen.
But to indulge her granddaughter, Old Lady Hu still carried her to the kitchen.
At that time, several daughters-in-law were preparing lunch in the kitchen.
Seeing the two of them come in, they thought the little one smelled the fragrance and got greedy, so Lu laughed and tweaked her daughter's little nose: "Lunch is not ready yet, you have to wait a while before you can eat."
Jiang Yuqing avoided her mother's hand, and pointed at the big water vat in the house: "Water water!"
Old Lady Hu explained: "Just now in the hall, she kept pointing here and saying water water. I thought she wanted to drink water. But when I poured it, she didn't drink it either, she just wanted to come to the kitchen."
Old Lady Hu carried Jiang Yuqing to the edge of the water vat, and pretended to be angry: "There, we're at the vat now. What on earth do you want to do?"
The little milk dumpling grinned, exposing two little rice teeth, and with a thought, a trickle of clear stream flowed into the almost empty vat.
The water flow was large, clear and fast. In a short while, it filled more than half of the vat. This operation really stunned the women in the kitchen.
Everyone was speechless! For a moment, the kitchen was so quiet that only the sound of water flowing into the vat "gulu gulu" and the cracking sound of firewood in the stove "papa" could be heard.
Until a rich burnt smell rose in the big kitchen.
Zhu, who was cooking, suddenly cried out and jumped up: "Oh my, my dishes!"
After a flurry, the women finally cleaned up. Then they continued staring blankly at the now full vat.
Zhu said in a daze: "Can someone pinch me to see if I'm dreaming?"
Eldest sister-in-law Lin was stunned for a moment, then reached out and twisted her. Zhu immediately grimaced in pain.
It was true! Although they already knew Jiang Yuqing had some magic, it was still shocking to see it so directly and explicitly. Jiang Family's women were still a little spaced out.
The daughter being able to get things out of thin air, Lu had seen many times, so compared to her mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law, she was much calmer.
She took a ladle without a word, scooped a ladle of water and drank it.
The spring water that entered her mouth was clear and sweet, and it tasted much better than the well water carried home. It must not be ordinary water.
Lu drank most of the ladle in one breath, then put down the ladle vigorously and smiled: "You should try it too!" The women each took a drink, and it was indeed much tastier than the water fetched from outside.
Lu gently stroked her daughter's little face: "Baby, this water is different from usual. Does it have any effect?"
The little milk dumpling nodded and smiled: "Spirit, water. Drink, no sick!"
Lu said: "You mean this is spiritual water, and drinking it will prevent sickness, right? Is it only for today, or every day in the future too?"
"Have, lots!" The big eyes of the little dumpling smiled into crescents, extremely cute.
Old Lady Hu said solemnly: "The old rule. Only the adults in the family need to know about this, no need to tell the children.
Also, don't randomly pour the water used for washing vegetables anymore, take it all to the backyard to water the ground."
She thought for a while and added: "Or rather not, such good water would be too wasteful to use for washing things. From now on it can only be used for drinking, use the water fetched from outside to wash vegetables and dishes and such."
The women all expressed agreement.
At noon, when the family members came back to eat, Old Lady Hu told them about it.
After a moment of silence, the adults all laughed. The two uncles even joked: "Good, with little darling at home from now on, we can fetch less water."
"Right, less." The little dumpling's expression was serious, full of confidence.
The room was filled with laughter in an instant.
From then on, there was another smaller vat in Jiang Family's kitchen. The small vat held drinking spiritual spring water, and the big vat held water fetched from outside.
Every morning Jiang Yuqing would have a family member carry her into the kitchen to fill up the small water vat.
To make watering the ground more convenient, Old Man Jiang even specially hired someone to dig a well in the backyard.
This provided better cover later for Jiang Yuqing with the spiritual spring water.
When the flame-red mountain camellias bloomed all over the hillsides, Jiang Yuqing's birthday on the twentieth day of the third month arrived.
Although Daddy was not at home, the birthday banquet for darling Qingbao, the family's cherished one, was still held very grandly.
All the close relatives and friends who were available came. In addition, an unexpected personage showed up, namely the son of the county magistrate, Jing Yan.
When Lu saw him, she was quite surprised. Through her elder brother's connections, she knew some of the inside story about this young master.
She knew he was the nephew of the county magistrate Qin, the son of the county magistrate's older sister, and was from the capital.
At his young age, he was not given to smiling, and was full of an air of nobility. She didn't know how her little daughter had fallen for him, but he seemed to be extremely fond of her well-behaved treasure.
No matter how complicated Lu's feelings were, since he was a guest, and an honored guest at that, this was a matter of face for the Jiang family, so naturally Lu had to treat him respectfully.
Today she was dressed up by her mother-in-law and two aunts-in-law very festively. She wore a red crossover-collared top matched with a skirt of the same color embroidered with a hundred butterflies and a pair of similarly embroidered shoes.
The little hair she had was parted into two sections. Using two thin red hair ribbons, they were twisted and wrapped upward, tied into two straight little pigtails standing upright on her head, just like the two little antennae on a snail's head.
With every move, her skirt swayed, her antennae shook, simply adorably cute.
At this time, in the Jiang family's great hall, two eight-immortal tables had been put together to form one big table, covered with a thick red velvet cloth. The adults were holding all kinds of things and placing them on it one by one.
For example, her eldest aunt put down a little comb and cosmetics case, apparently hoping she would grow up to be a beautiful young lady.
Hmm, she had secretly looked in the mirror, and found she was quite good-looking in this life.
Her second aunt put down a little wooden spatula and sewing kit, hoping she would be able to sew and cook when she grew up, and become a young lady skilled with her hands and mind.
When it was her mother's turn, she put down a book, hoping she would gain knowledge and propriety.
Grandma Old Lady Hu put down a silver ingot. The old madam hoped her precious granddaughter would be rich and noble and never lack for money to spend all her life.
Hmm, this was definitely necessary.
Eldest brother Jiang Yujiang put down a writing brush, hoping his younger sister would have learning and be able to write good calligraphy.
Second brother Jiang Yuhe put down his most beloved little wooden sword. This meant he hoped she would become a female general or heroine in the future.
That was also possible. Which girl hadn't once dreamed of being a chivalrous swordswoman!
Third brother Jiang Yuhu, who was good at math and aspired to become the manager of a big restaurant, put down a little abacus.
Fourth brother Jiang Yuhai put down a little catapult, and fifth and sixth brothers Jiang Yuming and Jiang Yushan put down snacks and pastries. Did this mean they hoped she would become a foodie?
Being a foodie wouldn't be bad either! Besides, she had originally been a foodie!
Seventh brother, her own elder brother Jiang Yuchuan, put down a little pen holder which Daddy had carved for him before leaving for the capital. He treasured it greatly, yet today he also put it down.
When it was young master Jing Yan's turn, he took out a carved jade seal from his bosom and placed it on the table. After him, the other people put down some odds and ends like dried fruits, rattles, and other little knickknacks.
"Come, good baby, choose one thing! Choose what you like best yourself!" The several brothers were itching to prompt her, giving all kinds of hints for her to choose what each had put down.
Even young master Jing Yan looked at her with hopeful eyes, just short of saying outright to choose the seal.
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