Lin Jun also compensated the other party with twenty taels of silver for the land.

Xiao Minghui immediately began pronouncing the verdict.

With a slam of the gavel, the matter was settled.

All of this happened so fast that Lin Jun and his daughter were stunned.

Everyone was stunned; they never expected to hear those words.

They all thought the adults would protect Lin Jun in front of them.

"Sir, what did you say? Could you repeat it? We didn't quite catch it."

The old man couldn't believe it and had to ask again.

Xiao Minghui could understand their feelings, and when he saw them, he explained it to them again.

"I said I would arrest him, imprison him for ten years, give him fifty strokes of the cane, and make him compensate your family. Rest assured, I am a man of my word. I will go to his house later to return your land to you and make him give me the money. You can go home in peace."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! You are truly a just and upright official! Thank you, sir!"

The little girl kept kowtowing, thanking the adult. "Thank you so much, sir. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't be able to survive. Our whole family would have starved to death."

For them, it was truly a desperate situation, with no one they knew and no way to seek help. Although everyone knew they could come and beat the drum to appeal for justice, everyone felt it was just a formality, and that actually doing so might not only fail to bring them justice but could also lead to trouble.

This is also why not many people have filed complaints here for so long; they're helpless and don't know if this official will actually stand up for them, or if he's just doing it out of politeness.

The officials who used to govern this place claimed to be acting in the people's best interests, but in reality, they were acting in the best interests of the wealthy.