William Bolton frowned and said, “I’ve heard that John is a famous beauty in the area. If it’s just ten mu of land, I believe many people around here would be willing, maybe even willing to offer more land.”

Thomas Walker said, “Brother Michael, you don’t know—those ten mu of land from my family just happen to split their family’s fields in two, and they’re right at the head of the irrigation canal. If their family could get these ten mu from us, they could open a new canal and irrigate all their fields.

So their family has wanted to buy our ten mu for a long time, but those ten mu have been passed down in our family for generations. My brothers and I never agreed, not until… not until they proposed this marriage. Only then did we agree, but who could have expected it would lead to such a disaster.”

“So that’s how it is.”

William Bolton seemed thoughtful, then asked, “Did their family say anything else? For example, whether John was willing to marry your eldest brother.”

Thomas Walker thought for a moment and said, “They didn’t say. Marriage is always decided by the parents, isn’t it? John’s parents have both passed away, so her uncle is in charge. What he says, of course, counts.”

William Bolton frowned again and said, “Did they ever describe John’s character, or what she thought about the marriage?”

Thomas Walker thought again and said, “Her uncle Fang Datian did say that their John is pretty, gentle, virtuous, and kind-hearted. As for what John herself thought about the marriage, they really didn’t say.”

William Bolton’s eyes lit up as he listened. “Really? Her uncle actually said those things?”

Thomas Walker nodded vigorously. “They really did say that. Actually, even if they hadn’t, we would have known anyway. Otherwise, my brothers and I wouldn’t have agreed.”

William Bolton smiled and asked, “Do you still think that now?”

Thomas Walker immediately shook his head.

She’s already committed murder—how could she be kind-hearted?

“That’s more like it!”

William Bolton smiled and nodded.

Thomas Walker saw that William Bolton kept asking these irrelevant questions, so he asked curiously, “Why are you asking all this? And, how do you plan to help us?”

William Bolton opened his mouth slightly, then suddenly said, “Can you call your eldest brother in here first? There’s something I need to confirm.”

“Alright!”

Thomas Walker finally managed to get Henry Walker into the room.

William Bolton looked Henry Walker over and said, “Your injuries seem to have healed?”

Thomas Walker said, “My brother’s lucky—except for his finger, the rest are just minor injuries.”

William Bolton said, “Really? Can I take a look?”

“Huh?”

Henry Walker clutched his clothes tightly.

William Bolton laughed and said, “We’re all men here, what are you afraid of?”

Thomas Walker said, “Brother, just take off your clothes and let Brother Michael have a look.”

That Henry Walker hesitated for a while, then slowly took off his clothes, his face as red as a monkey’s bottom.

William Bolton felt a headache coming on—what a scene.

After checking him over, William Bolton first let Henry Walker put his clothes back on, then said, “Can you take me to see those ten mu of land?”

……

Thomas Walker led William Bolton out of the village, heading west along a small path, while Henry Walker just silently followed behind them, head down the whole time, as if too ashamed to face anyone.

William Bolton saw this and was a little moved, thinking to himself, these two really are unfortunate people.

After walking for a while, William Bolton followed Thomas Walker up a small hill.

Thomas Walker pointed to the distant fields and said, “Look, that’s our family’s land. The ones on both sides belong to the Fang family from Fangjia Village.”

William Bolton followed his finger and looked. Even though he’d never farmed before, he could see at a glance that the fields on both sides relied entirely on the winding little river in the middle for irrigation. Coincidentally, this little river just passed through the Wei family’s land, perfectly avoiding the Fang family’s two plots.

If the Fang family got the Wei family’s land, not only could they connect their two plots into one, but they could also open a canal right through the middle, benefiting all their fields.

William Bolton suddenly asked, “How many mu of land does their family have?”

Thomas Walker said, “Do you mean the Fang family, or that wicked woman’s family?”

William Bolton was taken aback. “John’s family has land too?”

Thomas Walker immediately said, “Their family still has about twenty mu of land now.”

As he spoke, he pointed even farther away. “Look, the fields behind that willow tree all belong to that wicked woman’s family.”

William Bolton looked into the distance, and after a while, said, “I heard that John’s parents have both passed away. If she marries into your family, what happens to her land?”

Thomas Walker said, “Of course it goes to the Fang family. They’d never be so generous as to give those twenty mu to us as a dowry.”

So it was a plan to kill two birds with one stone. William Bolton asked again, “So how much land does the Fang family have in total?”

Thomas Walker thought for a moment and said, “The Fang family has three brothers, and they now own about five hundred mu of land around here.”

William Bolton said in surprise, “That’s quite a wealthy family!”