Chapter 232

Player A: Why are they spreading rumors about Sister Mei?

Player B: There is no reason for bad guys to do bad things. This is definitely not the first time they have done bad things. It’s just that they ran into a tough guy this time, so they deserve it!

Player C: That's right, who cares whether they acted impulsively or planned it for a long time? I only care about how long they will be sentenced to.

Qiao Qiao: I am extremely honored to be one of the tough ones.

Players A, B, C, and D: I second the motion!

Player Ding: I'm not very familiar with this place. I wonder if the county magistrate will reduce the sentence at his discretion?

Player A: I don't know about other places, but it definitely won't happen here! Local residents over the past seven years can guarantee it!

Player B: That's right! This is Sijin County!

Player Ding: Is it the same as Qingtian City in the north?

Player A: The principles are different, but the results are similar.

Player D: ...metaphysics?

Player B: Shhh.

The objects that flew in from outside the courtroom made the rumormongers very embarrassed, and at one point they almost interrupted the county magistrate's judgment. Seeing this, the lawyer waiting nearby slowly took out a bamboo broom from behind and swept all the objects that had been thrown into the courtroom towards the rumormongers.

The people of the county were very virtuous. Although the things thrown in were all sorts of things, they didn't make the ground dirty, making it very easy to clean up. When the case was over, the children in the crowd would go over and pick up the things and take them away, so nothing was wasted.

If the distance wasn't so great, the players would have thrown something at them. The elderly woman in the crowd remained calm, simply hitting the rumormongers with small pebbles, leaving a few bumps that wouldn't have been visible unless they lifted their clothes.

The magistrate hadn't yet begun the execution. Although the rumormongers were being beaten badly by the crowd, they still held their necks high and remained stubborn. Worried that the two would be beaten to death by the crowd outside before they could explain themselves, the magistrate winked and slammed the gavel, signaling for silence.

Although they were very angry, the crowd still listened to the advice and most of them stopped immediately. Only a few people in the back row reacted a little slowly because they couldn't hear clearly. One person secretly threw a small hidden weapon to try to kill the father and son who spread rumors, but was discovered in time by the surrounding people and stopped on the spot.

The man who attempted to kill the rumormongers simply wanted to silence them, not to resort to a massacre. Furthermore, there were too many people present to kill them all. So, he leaped into the air amidst the crowd, intending to use his Qing Gong skills to escape, and while in the air, he attempted another sneak attack on the rumormongers. Just then, the county lieutenant returned from outside the crowd with several constables. Without a word, he also leaped into the air and kicked the man down from mid-air.

The yamen runners who received the order rushed out of the hall and rushed over, cooperating with the constable to apprehend the man. The remaining yamen runners did not move at the county magistrate's signal, but only stared and watched outside the hall, hoping that no one would take advantage of the chaos to kidnap or kill the rumormongering father and son.

After asking others to take the attacker away, the county lieutenant walked into the hall and dropped something in front of the rumormongering father and son.

"Oh my god! It's armor!" The onlookers exploded in excitement: "How dare they!" The weapons and protective gear of the dynasty were strictly regulated. Armor and firearms were not something that ordinary people could possess, especially the former. If ordinary people illegally possessed them, it would basically be considered as rebellion.

"Tsk tsk, it's almost autumn..." The autumn weather is clear and cool, which is suitable for viewing the scenery at Caishikou, but only for those who are brave enough.

"No, I... I don't know. This is not my thing!" As soon as the armor came out, the rumor-mongering father and son were scared on the spot. They used to be arguing with people outside the hall, but now they were scared and began to call themselves common people: "I really didn't do this!" Although they were called bastards all day long, who would really want to die!

"Silence!" The county magistrate raised his gavel and slammed it, instantly bringing silence to the hall. "You claim you're innocent, but how do you prove it?" The rumormongering father and son were the only ones who would go to the place they rented, and they were the ones who reported the armor. Since they claim innocence, where's the evidence? Show it to them!

"Proof, proof..." The rumormongering father and son exchanged glances. "Before, we were the ones who made up stories and let others prove their innocence. Now, this... this... this... we're not familiar with this job! Besides, this matter actually has something to do with us."

"If you can't say it, then..."

"Sir! We are really innocent! This thing is not ours..." When the rumormongering father and son saw that the county lieutenant was about to take them away, they struggled desperately and shouted loudly, insisting that this matter had nothing to do with them.

The old lady standing outside the hall looked at her granddaughter, Shopkeeper Mei, whose complexion was getting worse and worse. She put away the smile on her face, cleared her throat, and suddenly said loudly: "Oh, who knows if what you said is true?" To the surprise of others, the voice made by the old lady was not her own voice, but the voice of the son among the father and son who spread the rumor.

The people outside the hall looked at the old lady, and the rumor-mongering father and son also looked at the old lady. The old lady didn't care about these looks at all, but continued with a voice that didn't belong to her own: "That's right, if you are lying, who can prove it for you?" This time, she used the voice of the father among the rumor-mongering father and son.

"That's right! Let me tell you in advance, I'm not targeting you two, I'm just raising a reasonable question." The player standing next to the old lady quickly realized that she was imitating the rumormongering father and son's usual way of distorting right and wrong, and immediately followed suit. Unfortunately, she didn't have the ventriloquist skills like the old lady, so she could only speak in a rough voice, and the effect was not as good as the old lady's.

"Yes! It's just a question. If you turn against me, it means you are guilty!" In the past, many people were disgusted by the father and son who spread rumors. Stimulated by the old lady's lifelike ventriloquism performance, many people who had been slandered by the father and son began their performances.

"Oh my, he's anxious, he's anxious, no way, he's getting impatient already?"

"Could it be that we were right?"

"You're right, aren't you? Oh, are you planning to hit someone?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, that definitely hit the mark. My face is red with anger."

"You hit me? Hitting people is against the law, I tell you!"

The father and son who spread rumors: "...you, you guys!" These used to be our words, our words!

The county magistrate sat upright in the hall. When the rumormongering father and son were about to leap up and hit each other, he picked up the gavel and slammed it gently: "Silence, regarding the rumormongering and slander..."

"I……"

"We don't admit it! The armor is not ours. Maybe, someone buried it there to frame us on purpose! Yes! That's it!" The old man slapped his son on the back of the head when he was about to tell the truth, and slapped back his impulsive confession: "Don't be silly!" This is a cliché, don't be fooled!

County Magistrate: “…” There is no need to discuss the confession in front of me, that would be taking me for a fool.

After a long interrogation, the rumormongers kept repeating the same few words, and the county magistrate was almost laughing. Putting aside the armor issue, even he, a fatherly official, had heard of the rumormongering. Pretending to know nothing at this moment was simply treating everyone as fools!

There was a chorus of boos outside the hall, and the players in the private room were so angry that they howled in the room: "Can't they just use torture? These two idiots deserve to be slapped!"

"Don't be angry, don't be angry. They can't deny the armor thing." While other charges might offer a chance of presumption of innocence, hiding armor wasn't something you could just deny. If the rumormongering father and son continued to stubbornly defend themselves, the interrogation would likely be bloody.

As expected, the rumormongers' denials didn't buy them much time. The lieutenant brought back not only the armor buried under the tree, but also some personal belongings that the rumormonger's son had left there at some point. Their friends identified them as belongings, treasured by him and unlikely to give to anyone else.

"No, Dad, it's not..." The rumormonger wanted to deny it a bit, but seeing his father's expression seemed to have given up on escaping on his own, he was so angry that he started to tell the truth on the spot. The old man couldn't stop him no matter how hard he tried: "Those things are really not ours! We are just helping him keep them! He even promised us that when he conquers the world, he will make us founding generals!"

"Nonsense! Shut up!" The old man was so angry that he slapped his son on the spot: Who did you take this stupidity from?

The county magistrate: “…Oh.” Since taking office for so many years, he has seen many illiterate people committing crimes out of ignorance, but this is the first time he has seen someone so stupid. Alas.

"He was talking about the general just now, right?" The people outside the hall looked at each other in confusion.

"It seems so?" It's no wonder they doubted their ears, they just couldn't believe that someone could be so stupid: a general, and a founding general at that, could he become one just by helping someone hide something?

"How foolish! They're still calling themselves generals... Can they lead troops in battle, or even charge into battle?" What do they think a general is? There are several levels between becoming a soldier and becoming a general! Thinking of climbing the ladder by hiding armor? What kind of dream are they?

"You overestimate them. You're still fighting a war. You might not even win against a dog!"

"Exactly. They're still leading troops into battle. They're so illiterate that they can't even recite the titles of all the military manuals, right?"

"Wait a minute, what they were talking about was, the founding general? The founding of the country?"

"Ah, this title sounds quite... shit? Founding a country?!" The person who spoke realized belatedly that the title of founding general meant the rise of a dynasty, as well as the fall of the previous dynasty.

"You actually want to start a war!" An old man who moved from the border waved his cane angrily. "You actually want to start a war!"

The rise and fall of dynasties brings suffering to the people. When a war breaks out, there is widespread grief. Who would want war to happen? Small wars already bring a lot of suffering to the people. If you want to become a founding general, you have to overthrow the current dynasty. By then, how many families will be torn apart and killed? In such a peaceful and prosperous era, why should we have to fight wars just because of their selfish desires?