Yang Ruxin nodded without saying anything further.
"This is..." Yang Mancang looked towards Yang Ruxin.
Since someone had previously spoken about Yang Ruxin adopting an illegitimate child, Gu Qingheng had Feng Family come forward to clarify matters, explaining that Dabao and Xiaobao were distant relatives and their frequent play with Yang Family’s children was purely coincidental.
Fang Tianze, due to his frail health, had stayed in Yang Family’s courtyard for several days, but rarely appeared before strangers. At most, he would stroll by the riverbank with Sanni and the others, choosing times when no outsiders were around. Consequently, not many villagers knew of him and even if someone had seen him, they assumed he was a relative of Gu Family, given that the members of Gu Family were all striking in appearance. Moreover, since the day before yesterday, Dao Xuzi had started adding medicine baths to his routine. His weak constitution made him sleepy after the baths, leaving him no time to step outside the house.
Therefore, Yang Mancang had only seen Zhou Xiao and her siblings but had never met Fang Tianze.
"Village Chief, he is the eldest son of our County Magistrate Fang Tianze, Young Master Fang," Yang Ruxin introduced, "If we report to the authorities, just sending a message to his father will ensure that the great Magistrate Fang will be here today, saving us a trip to the County Governor’s Office to beat the drum..."
The moment Yang Mancang heard this, he immediately showed a respectful demeanor and even bowed slightly, "Young Master Fang..."
"No need for such courtesy, Village Chief, I am merely Ruxin’s... friend..." Fang Tianze smiled, "I am the younger one here, you flatter me too much with your gesture..."
Yang Mancang immediately smiled and relaxed, knowing that the County Magistrate was like a parent official in his jurisdiction, the chief of Baihua County. Who would dare to provoke him? But since he addressed him as uncle following Ruxin, that indicated he wasn’t putting on airs.
"No need for..." Yang Peili was stunned for a moment, then hastily waved his hands, "Family matters... there’s no need to report to the officials..." He hadn’t expected his granddaughter’s home to be harboring a son of the County Magistrate. Just how capable was his granddaughter?
In the village, being a village chief or a Lizheng was already considered a significant authority. The idea of meeting the County Magistrate was utterly unthinkable.
The villagers generally harbored a sense of fear towards the Governor’s Office.
Upon hearing he was the County Magistrate’s son, even Yang Anshi, with her tailbone and cheeks hurting, immediately went back into her house and it became quiet again.
"You don’t want to report this, so you wish to settle it privately?" Yang Ruxin slightly raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, we are all members of the Yang Family, so..." Yang Peili nodded.
"Erya is a living, breathing life," Yang Ruxin sneered coldly, "It’s her misfortune to be born into Yang Family, but luckily, she encountered my compassion. So, either you continue with your murdering and I report it, or I take in Erya..."
"I agree..." Dong Family hastily nodded in agreement.
"I haven’t finished speaking," Yang Ruxin glared at Dong Family, "Draft a Selling Covenant for Erya. From then on, whether she lives or dies will have nothing to do with you..." In truth, she found the era’s Selling Covenant repulsive, as it treated people as less than human. However, she had to admit that at this point in time, if Erya were to completely escape from these bloodsucking relatives, severing ties or splitting the family would be ineffective. Only a Selling Covenant would have the desired effect. Otherwise, once she reached marriageable age, they could claim traditional engagement rights and she wouldn’t be able to decide for herself. But if sold, Erya would become a servant, whose life and death, let alone marriage, would be at the discretion of her master, without family interference.
"What? You want me to sell my daughter?" Dong Family cried out in shock, "How can you be so cruel?"