Wu grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed at Zhou Lang, but the skinny monkey immediately stepped in front of his master and snatched the knife from Wu's hand.
"You bunch of peasants dare to mess with me? I can crush you as easily as crushing an ant. You still want to draw your knives with me? Then I'll send you to meet the King of Hell."
After Zhou Lang finished speaking, he took the knife from the skinny monkey's hand and stabbed Wu Shi.
Liu Sifu and Li Caiping moved closer to Wu Shi, trying to protect their mother.
The weather was nice today, and business was booming lately. Liu Sisi returned from outside, humming a little tune, having just delivered two bowls of rice noodles.
As soon as I entered, I saw that the shop was smashed and in a mess, and there was a fat pig holding a knife trying to kill his own mother.
Without a second thought, she grabbed a bowl and flew over, knocking the knife out of Zhou Lang's hand.
When Zhou Lang's attempt to commit the crime failed, he turned around and saw that it was a young girl, who was quite pretty.
A lewd grin immediately spread across his face: "Skinny monkey, catch this girl and bring her back to my manor. She'll serve me from now on."
The fat on Zhou Lang's face jiggled in disgust as he made facial expressions.
"Damn it, this beast even preys on young girls, it's utterly disgusting," Liu Sisi thought to herself.
The skinny monkey tried to catch Liu Sisi but failed. Liu Sisi dodged away in a flash and reached her elder brother in a few steps. "Brother, quickly take Mother and Sister-in-law to the back house and hide there. Close the door and don't come out."
"Sister, what are you going to do?" Li Caiping asked worriedly as she saw her sister-in-law having to deal with the two thugs outside all by herself.
"Go quickly, brother. You know that if you stay, you'll only be a burden to me." Liu Sisi pushed the group toward the back courtyard.
“Daughter, let’s hide together.” Mrs. Wu was reluctant to leave her daughter alone here.
"No need, Mother, I'll handle this. You all hide."
After saying that, he pushed the group into the back courtyard and closed the door.
“Little beauty, you’ve locked up your family members, do you want to go back with your brother?” Zhou Lang made another nauseating sound.
“Yeah! Come here, I’ll play something fun with you, and you can tell him not to follow us.”
Liu Sisi smiled and replied to Zhou Lang, then strode outside. When she turned around, her eyes instantly turned cold.
"Hehe, you're such a good little beauty, much better than that stinky woman from before. I'll definitely take you back to my manor to be my concubine."
"Don't follow me," Zhou Lang instructed the skinny monkey.
Zhou Lang rubbed his chubby hands together and followed Liu Sisi.
“Master,” the skinny monkey said, fearing that if anything happened to his master again, he would be the one to suffer beatings and humiliation.
"Shut up, wait here for me, little beauty, I'm coming."
Liu Sisi led Zhou Lang through many alleys, turning left and right, until they finally reached a place where no one could be seen. Zhou Lang was getting impatient from exhaustion.
"You brat, I'm exhausted! I'm not leaving, I'll stay here!" With that, she lunged at Liu Sisi.
He didn't even touch the hem of Liu Sisi's clothes before Liu Sisi kicked him away.
The obese body crashed heavily to the ground.
Zhou Lang never expected that Liu Sisi, who looked so delicate, could kick him away with one foot.
"You little bitch, how dare you..." Before she could finish speaking, her head lolled to the side and she collapsed.
"So easily beaten, all that fat for nothing, he's so weak." Liu Sisi muttered, then went forward and kicked him a few more times. Once his face was completely swollen like a pig's head, she ignored him and went back to her shop.
He told the skinny monkey standing in front of the shop where his master was, and told him to go find him and go back.
Upon hearing this, the skinny monkey dashed off to find his master. Seeing his master's miserable state, he was terrified. He tried to drag his master back, but Zhou Lang was too heavy for him to move.
They had no choice but to go back and call the driver to come and take it away.
As he left, he uttered a harsh threat to Liu Sisi: "If I report this to the magistrate, your whole family will die."
"Really? You'd better go check on your magistrate! He probably won't even be able to save his own life."
Liu Sisi still exchanges letters with Gu Lingchen recently. In his letters, Gu Lingchen said that he has found evidence of all the evil deeds committed by Magistrate Zhou and presented it to the emperor.
Although she couldn't understand what Gu Lingchen had written, fortunately, Gu Lingchen had left someone here to read and write for her.
The imperial edict has been issued; judging by the time, it should arrive soon.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" The skinny monkey walked away with a look of disbelief.
At this time, the imperial edict had already been received in the county magistrate's residence.
By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
An investigation revealed that Zhou Guangsheng, during his tenure, engaged in rampant corruption, abused his power, and oppressed the people; his crimes were heinous and unforgivable. His crimes included...
1. Embezzlement and bribery: Taking advantage of one's position to plunder the people's wealth, enriching oneself, causing the people to live in poverty and resentment.
2. Abuse of power and collusion with bandits to buy and sell fish and prey on the people.
3. They oppressed the people, forcibly took women from the populace, and made them concubines for their sons.
The evidence for the above crimes is conclusive and irrefutable. In order to uphold the dignity of the nation's laws and protect the lives and property of the people, I have decided to severely punish Zhou Guangsheng and his entire family as a warning to others.
By imperial decree, Zhou Guangsheng and his entire family shall be executed, and all their property confiscated. All those involved in the case shall be severely punished without exception.
I hope that this severe punishment will serve as a warning to all officials, so that they will take Zhou Guangsheng as a cautionary tale, be honest and upright, diligent in their duties and love the people, and refrain from any further illegal or disorderly conduct.
So be it!
Upon receiving the imperial edict, Zhou Guangsheng collapsed to the ground, weeping, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Your Majesty!" The soldiers ignored him and dragged him away to prison.
When Zhou Lang and the skinny monkey arrived home, they were caught in the middle of an arrest. He was completely bewildered and was taken away without even realizing what was happening.
After Zhou Guangsheng and his family were arrested, the government posted a notice saying that Zhou Guangsheng and his family had committed heinous crimes and had been sentenced to be executed along with their entire family. The new county magistrate would take office in a few days.
The people who saw it all applauded and cheered.
"This notorious magistrate has finally gotten his comeuppance."
"Yes! That's really satisfying. I heard that the county magistrate actually colluded with bandits to sell out the villagers. Is this something a human being would do? I hope the new county magistrate is a good official."
"I heard that Magistrate Zhou's son went to 'Chensi Food Shop' to cause trouble that day, and was beaten badly when he returned home. His entire family was executed."
"I saw that on the day he caused trouble, a servant from a wealthy family came and delivered a carriage to the shopkeeper! It seems this shop has quite a background; no one will dare to mess with it anymore."
But the Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles were really delicious, fragrant and spicy. I'm craving some now. I'm going to go get a bowl of rice noodles.
When Liu Sisi returned to the shop, she had already told her parents and older brother to clean up the things that had been smashed.
When Liu Dashi returned from delivering rice noodles and saw the state of the house, he thought the shop had also been attacked by bandits. Fortunately, only a few pickle jars and a table were broken, so it wasn't a big problem. He could clean it up and open for business again.
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