Xue Mingyu understood Master Tian’s meaning and directly said: "This old servant is getting on in years and my spirit has not been good lately. I can’t manage that much. As for the family fortune the Gao family is scheming for, if it can be recovered, I don’t want it; give it all to the county government office." Before County Magistrate Gao left office, he sold all his properties in Tianfu County. His Xue family’s ancestral home and business had long since been lost. Now that County Magistrate Xu had dealt with the Sun family so decisively, he too had to show some sincerity. He couldn’t take all the family fortune. Taking a little would be enough. Seeing that Xue Mingyu was on the same page, Master Tian laughed and said, "Old Man Xue is really noble. Rest assured, both the Sun family and the Gao family will not end well." With these words, Xue Mingyu felt at ease. After thanking Master Tian, he said he wanted to thank Squad Leader Yang and others, and was then allowed to enter the county government office. In fact, what Xue Mingyu wanted to express his gratitude for was not to Squad Leader Yang, but to Luo Wu, or rather, to the Jiang, Shang, and Gu families. It was the Gu Family who had noticed his presence, the Shang Family who found him, and the Jiang Family who helped him to overturn the old case, avenging his great vengeance. Squad Leader Yang and Luo Wu were still dealing with the Sun family affair and did not have much time to talk to Xue Mingyu. After giving his thanks, Xue Mingyu took his leave, but in his heart he planned that once a month had passed and the dust had settled, he would bring generous gifts to personally thank the Jiang, Shang, Gu, and Luo families. The news that the entire Sun family was arrested, and Sun Fuxiong was stripped of the village chief position, spread quickly throughout Tianfu County. Those who had been stripped of their positions and were unwilling had planned to cause trouble with the villagers; however, because of the Sun family’s affair, they all abandoned this thought. Those who had been village chiefs, who among them was clean? Seeing County Magistrate Xu’s determination, he was set on removing half the village chiefs in the county. If you objected, the outcome of Village Chief Sun was there for all to see, just wait to be dismissed. Because of the Sun family’s affair, the task of removing half the village chiefs in the county went very smoothly; what was originally anticipated to cause turmoil for half a month, was accomplished in less than three days, unimaginably smooth. County Magistrate Xu was so pleased that he hummed a tune. On the third day, he sent a document to the Magistrate Government Office, reporting the dismissal of sixteen village chiefs in the county, not one disagreeing, even co-signing a letter of agreement, along with the affairs of the Sun, Gao, and Xue families, all reported to the Magistrate Government Office. After reviewing the document, the Magistrate of He’an Prefecture was even more inspired, immediately summoning the county magistrates from the rest of He’an Prefecture, directing them to follow in Tianfu County’s footsteps and remove half of the village chiefs in each county, to cut costs for Great Chu. The other county magistrates cursed County Magistrate Xu in their hearts, this Xu Chongfeng, who had been soft for so many years, and was about to be reassigned, suddenly came up with this... to remove half the village chiefs of Great Chu, he dared to propose such a thing! However, these county magistrates only dared to complain privately, while publicly they had to send letters praising County Magistrate Xu and even offer early congratulations for his impending promotion. County Magistrate Xu was someone who understood how things worked. He wrote letters to apologize to each county magistrate and sent generous gifts, pacifying all the county magistrates of He’an Prefecture. County Magistrate Xu informed the Lord Magistrate of his pacifying actions, indirectly indicating that he did not engage in factionalism for personal gain. When the Lord Magistrate received County Magistrate Xu’s letter, he praised him with his staff beside him: "This Xu Chongfeng not only made a striking impression, but also knows how to be a decent person." From this point on, the Lord Magistrate remembered Xu Chongfeng. County Magistrate Xu’s subsequent promotion and advancement to Capital Official all began from this moment. The affairs of the Sun Family spread to Da Feng Village, causing quite a stir among the villagers. "People are saying the Sun village chief’s family has fallen? It just goes to show that one should not commit wrongdoings. The sins of Old Master Sun have to be paid back by his descendants." "Paid back? As if that Sun village chief is any good himself. Over the years, using his title, he has done no small number of evil deeds. Each year during the grain tax collection, which household doesn’t have to give him an extra ten pounds or so of grain? He’s in charge of six villages; just imagine how many households there are. Just by skimming off our food, he has enough to feed his own family, and I’ve heard they can’t even finish it all and end up selling the excess." "And don’t even get me started on the poll tax. That’s actual silver coins. Charging an extra ten cents per head, and with all the able-bodied men in six villages, he turns a profit every year. And then there’s labor service, where he makes yet another sum." "The most despicable part is that in collecting money, he also causes harm. In Huangshan Village, Huang Hezi’s family suffered when, two years ago, Huang Hezi broke his leg just around the time of labor service. Unable to go himself, and afraid that his only son might also not return if he went, he gave Sun Fuxiong two taels of silver to erase his son’s name from the list." "After accepting the two taels of silver, Sun Fuxiong said it was not enough and demanded one more tael. The Huang Family could only scrape together more money, but before they had enough, the departure day arrived. Sun Fuxiong took the sole progeny from Huang Hezi’s family away, and those two taels of silver were never returned to Huang Hezi’s family." "Fortunately, the young man from the Huang Family only fell ill from exhaustion and managed to keep his life. Otherwise, Huang Hezi’s line would have ended right there." The people of Da Feng Village were all discussing the Sun Family’s situation, and Third Grandma was also talking about it with Mrs. Cui and Gu Daya. Gu Jinli was on the side, preparing the braising sauce for the marinated dishes and overheard quite a lot. Upon hearing the rumors in the county about Sun Youqian’s romantic affairs with Widow Zhou, her heart ached. She went out to spread the story of Sun Youqian stealing the widow, which had cost her a total of six taels of silver. Nonetheless, she felt elated about the severe judgment on the Sun Family, thinking the six taels of silver were well spent. "That Sun Youqian is really worthless. I’ve lived so many years; never have I seen such a beast!" Third Grandma, upon knowing Sun Youqian’s affairs with Widow Zhou and Xu Lianzi, was furious, feeling both disgusted and unlucky. "Third Grandma, don’t be angry. The Sun Family has already suffered their doom. It’s not worth it to get worked up for them." Gu Jinli had finished preparing the braising sauce and called to Gu Daya mother and daughter, "Auntie, Cousin Le, let’s go to the kitchen and prepare the braising liquid to make the marinated foods." She then said to Third Grandma, "Third Grandma, we’ll have marinated food tonight; you’ll love it, guaranteed." Third Grandma replied, "Love it, I will! With both meat and eggs, how could I not?" Thinking of the meat stored in the kitchen, Third Grandma’s heart ached terribly. Yet knowing that this was Gu Daya’s family’s livelihood, her heartache lessened somewhat. She only instructed Gu Daya and her daughter, "Daya, Girl Le, make sure you learn this properly." Preparing marinated food was expensive, after all. "Don’t worry, Third Aunt/Grandma. We’ll definitely learn carefully, and we won’t waste any meat," Gu Daya and Qi Kangle replied as they picked up the spice bag and followed Gu Jinli into the kitchen to learn how to prepare marinated dishes. "The most important part of making marinated food is the braising sauce; only with a good braising sauce will the marinated meats and vegetables taste good." "But it’s not easy to prepare a good braising sauce. Here is the braising sauce mixture I’ve prepared, six different recipes for braising sauce, each with at least fifteen kinds of spices. You girls need to memorize these spice types and quantities." These six braising sauce recipes were for vegetables, chicken, duck, pork, pig’s feet, freshwater fish, lamb, and beef. A single braising sauce can’t marinate everything; to prepare delicious marinated foods, you need to use different recipes and separate them for marinating. Otherwise, the flavors will mix and spoil.