Chapter 225 Imperial Decree from the Capital
Granny Xu was kicked to her knees, and she was instantly enraged.
She was a top-ranking servant in the Cao family, and all the hundred or so servants in the Cao household had to live according to her wishes. When did it become the turn of these villagers to teach her a lesson?
She suddenly tried to stand up.
But Zhao Ergou held his shoulder firmly.
Zhao Sanniu and Wang Yongcheng were standing guard nearby, each holding a long knife.
"Are you all dead?!" Granny Xu roared at the eight guards standing on the perimeter. "If we don't bring the young lady back to the Cao residence today, we'll all be in deep trouble! Do I need to repeat myself what kind of person the madam is?!"
The eight guards exchanged glances, gripped their knives tightly, and walked over step by step.
They were guards in Madam Cao's courtyard. If they messed things up this time, they would be kicked out of the Cao family when they returned.
The Cao family is wealthy; their monthly allowance is four taels of silver, which is higher than the monthly allowance for those working in the county government. This is a job that you can't find anywhere else!
With that thought in mind, the eight guards felt even more confident.
Eight men and eight long knives made the villagers somewhat terrified.
He Xiao, who arrived late, kicked up a few small pebbles from the ground, caught them with his bare hands, and then flicked them away.
The long swords in the hands of the guards fell to the ground instantly... The villagers were greatly shocked, everyone was stunned. This young He was too amazing, he could make such a big difference with just a small pebble...
However, he was ultimately just a man and couldn't deflect all the knives in an instant.
The leading guard strode forward, lunged forward, and thrust his blade straight at Zhao Ergou, who was holding down Granny Xu.
Zhao Sanniu did not let his guard down. He had been watching the movements over there for a while and used his long sword to block the fatal blow.
However, his knife was seized from bandits in the village and was of very poor quality, while the knives of the Cao family guards were all well-made. When good and bad knives meet, the difference becomes apparent. The Cao family's knife only curled up slightly, while the knife in Zhao Sanniu's hand broke in two.
Wang Yongcheng quickly stepped forward to stop him.
But it was too late.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Cheng Wanwan was the closest. She narrowed her eyes, quickly stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Ergou's shoulder with one hand, and pulled her son aside.
The knife slashed across her right arm, tearing her sleeve and drawing a trickle of blood.
Zhao Ergou exclaimed in alarm, "Mother, are you alright?!"
Zhao Dashan grabbed a hoe and charged forward, shouting, "I'll fight you to the death!"
Zhao Sanniu picked up his axe: "None of you are leaving here today!"
Old Zhao roared, "How dare they hurt people in our Dahe Village! Is there no law anymore?!"
As he spoke, the old man raised his foot and kicked Xu Pozi hard, knocking her over.
Cao Yingying was so angry that she trembled all over, and raised her hand to slap him again.
Granny Xu covered her face and roared, "Go! Kill these scoundrels! The Cao family will cover for you, don't be afraid!"
Just then—
"The magistrate has arrived!"
A dignified voice rang out, and the noisy courtyard suddenly fell silent.
Everyone turned around and saw two carriages that had appeared at the gate of the courtyard at some point, along with two guards riding in on large horses, looking very imposing.
Magistrate Shen stood on the carriage, his imposing presence radiating authority: "Who is causing trouble here? Report back immediately!"
Everyone in Dahe Village knew the county magistrate, and they saw him as a lifeline.
"Your Honor, you must do us justice!" Old Mrs. Zhao cried out. "These people are impersonating government officials, claiming they're arresting criminals. We are just ordinary people in Dahe Village, there are no criminals among us! These guards even injured members of our Zhao family, they have no respect for the law! Your Honor, arrest them immediately!"
Shen Zheng shouted, "It's this old hag, and these eight guards with weapons!"
Granny Xu was startled. She never expected that the dignified county magistrate would come to a small village, and that they would bump into each other so coincidentally.
She knelt on the ground and said, "Your Excellency, this old servant is from the Cao family. It was Madam Cao who sent this old servant to bring Miss home. This is all a misunderstanding..."
"I will personally handle this matter later. There are more important matters at hand." Magistrate Shen gave the constables a look, and they immediately stepped forward, dragged Granny Xu aside without any mercy, and confiscated the long knives from the eight guards.
After the Cao family was brought under control, Magistrate Shen continued, "These two men beside me are messengers from the Huzhou post station. They have an imperial decree from the capital. Everyone, kneel down and listen to the decree!"
Upon hearing that it was an imperial decree from the capital, everyone in Dahe Village was stunned and immediately knelt down.
The messenger, seated on a tall horse, unfurled the bright yellow imperial edict and loudly proclaimed: "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."
The moment those words were spoken, the entire village seemed to have been struck by lightning, and disbelief filled everyone's face.
They had never heard an imperial edict read aloud, but there were storytellers in the county teahouses who knew these eight words, which meant it was an imperial edict issued by the Emperor… Good heavens, the Emperor had actually issued an imperial edict to their Dahe Village! They had actually received an edict in their lifetime…
Although Old Lady Zhu had lived for so many years, she had never seen much of the world. Her breathing suddenly became rapid, and she fainted in Aunt Wang's arms.
Aunt Wang dared not cry out, and quickly pinched Old Lady Zhu's philtrum. Only then did the old woman slowly wake up and quickly straighten her back and kneel down.
"Since I ascended the throne, thanks to the blessings of my ancestors and Heaven, the weather has been favorable for decades. The only problem is the locust plague, which has been a constant threat to our crops. Every year, tens of thousands of grains are devoured by locusts. Now I have heard that someone in Dahe Village has developed a method to eliminate locusts. This is of great benefit to the nation and the people. This person is well-educated, intelligent, and exceptionally insightful. His name is Cheng Zhao. I hereby bestow upon him a jade locust!"
The messenger paused here.
The guards behind him came out carrying a lacquered tray, and unveiled the red silk cloth, revealing a locust with a body entirely of jade color.
Everyone secretly looked up and saw the jade locust, as big as an adult's fist, carved from jade. It was so lifelike that everyone gasped. This thing must be worth several hundred taels of silver!
The imperial edict arrived from afar, and it was to reward Cheng Zhao. This child was already an excellent student, and with the emperor's personal bestowal, he will surely become a high-ranking official in the future!
The crowd looked at Cheng Zhao with an even more fervent gaze.
Cheng Zhao prostrated himself: "This humble subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace! Long live the Emperor!"
This was the first time he had faced such a situation. His palms were sweaty, and he crawled over on his knees, respectfully accepting the lacquer tray with both hands.
The messenger continued reading the imperial edict: "...There is also Shi Gun, who is deeply appreciative of my heart, skillful in thinking, and extremely clever. These two, Shen Zheng and Qian Hui, shall each be rewarded with a set of writing implements!"
Shen Zheng's eyes lit up. Good heavens, he had also received a reward from the Emperor!
He quickly crawled over, took the reward given to him, and looked at his father standing not far away, grinning.
Magistrate Shen also revealed a proud smile. He, as the father, had never received any reward from the emperor, yet his son had received the emperor's praise first. His son had truly made something of himself.
Since Qian Hui is not here, the rewards will be kept by Magistrate Shen for now.
"...First came the drought, then the locust plague. The entire village of Dahe worked together in unity and cooperation, setting a national example and deeply gratifying the Emperor... Therefore, I hereby bestow upon Dahe Village three thousand mu of fertile land!"
The village head stared wide-eyed.
Previously, the county magistrate had bestowed upon them a thousand acres of land, and now the emperor has bestowed upon them three thousand acres. The territory of their Dahe Village is now comparable to that of a small town.
He crawled forward on his knees: "On behalf of the entire Dahe Village, this humble subject kowtows to thank Your Majesty for His grace! Long live Your Majesty ...!"
The entire village kowtowed, their voices trembling: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Everyone thought the announcement of the imperial decree was over. The village head was frantically trying to figure out how much to reward the two messengers. He didn't have any money on him, so he'd have to borrow some from Aunt Shan. Would a hundred copper coins be too little? Three thousand mu of land! If they sold it to some wealthy families in town as estates, the village could earn at least three thousand taels of silver... He should be generous and give each of the two messengers one tael of silver...
The village head was pondering this when he heard the messenger's voice ring out again.
"The claim that ratooning rice, with its stems and roots regenerating, is absurd. Yet, the fact that rice stubble sprouts ears in less than two months is a miraculous tale..."
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