"Then tell me, who instigated you?!" Li Laosan grabbed Huang San'er, giving him no chance to fabricate a lie.
Huang San hesitated for a moment, and then Li Laosan slapped him.
Huang San'er was screaming in pain. He wanted to find someone to take the blame, but he couldn't.
Once confronted, the lie will be easily exposed...
After all, when everyone chatted together, they all had a lot of complaints about Li Laosan and the academy's canteen, but it was his own idea to come and do bad things!
Li Laosi was also furious. It just so happened that Cat Brother got up in the middle of the night and happened to be here. With the help of Little Fox, they were able to catch this wicked fellow.
Otherwise, if the older brother and sister-in-law wake up early to find the yard full of dead cats and rotten dogs, no matter how disgusted or angry they are, they won't be able to catch the culprit. Moreover, this person might continue to take advantage of the Li family and continue to do such bad things behind their backs!
"Alright, Third Brother, tie him up. Report him to the authorities at dawn, and let him talk to the officers!" Li Laosi was impatient with Huang San'er's excuses and directly suggested sending him to the authorities.
Huang San'er was terrified and begged for mercy, stretching his neck.
Li Laosan was filled with intense hatred. He tore off the tattered clothes that were used to wrap the dead cats and rotten dogs and stuffed them into the man's mouth.
Huang San'er was filled with regret. He had just torn these clothes off someone else's property in their yard, and now they were soaked in the blood of cats and dogs, giving them a strong, pungent smell.
It was stuffed into his mouth, and he felt so disgusted that he wanted to vomit but couldn't. He was in so much pain and confusion.
Li Laosan rented an empty room, threw Huang San inside, and locked the door.
The things in the courtyard cannot be touched yet; the officials need to take a look at them tomorrow morning.
No one could sleep, tossing and turning until dawn, when Li Laosan left.
Li Laosi did not go with them, partly because he wanted to stay at home, and partly because he was worried about his nephew.
Cat was clearly frightened; he hadn't slept well, looked listless, and had dark circles under his eyes.
Jiaren felt sorry for the cat, so he carried the cat on his back and led the dog back to the academy.
Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru were worried that the canteen would be short-staffed, so they rushed over to help. As soon as they finished, they ran home.
By this time, the officials had arrived.
Luo'an is more than ten roads away from Xindu, so it's impossible to set up a government office there.
However, without a government office, and with so many people in the town and an academy, it didn't seem safe. So they rented a storefront, put two constables there, and had them sit inside drinking tea every day to deter troublemakers.
The whole town had always treated these two constables as mere decorations, but unexpectedly they came in handy today.
The two constables were surprised and even a little frightened by the sudden errand.
After all, Li Laosan was a prominent figure in Luoan Town, and the Li family was a newly rich family in the capital.
The two constables followed Li Laosan to the courtyard, attracting many onlookers along the way.
Seeing the disgusting things in the Li family's courtyard, everyone couldn't help but cover their noses and whisper among themselves.
"Who is this? They are so shameless."
"Yes, why can't we talk things out properly instead of resorting to such underhanded tactics? It's outrageous!"
"The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be."
"This is absolutely offensive!"
In front of the two constables, Li Laosi dragged Huang San'er out of the house and threw him into the yard.
Everyone was surprised, not expecting that the Li family had already caught the culprit.
The two constables exchanged a glance, then ripped the tattered shirt from Huang San'er's mouth, intending to ask him a few questions. However, after pondering for half the night, Huang San'er still felt he couldn't admit his mistake.
So, after gagging a few times, he began to distort the truth, "Sir, help! The Li family is trying to kill me! I was sleeping at home last night, and I don't know what happened, but they knocked me unconscious and brought me here! Sir, help me, help me!"
The two officers kicked him a few times, and no matter how they questioned him, he kept repeating the same few sentences.
The two officers were helpless. They did believe Li Laosan, after all, no one would slander their own family like this.
But now, without witnesses or physical evidence, it's difficult to convict them.
At this moment, Li Laosi took out his waist token.
Upon seeing that he was a fourth-rank general, the two officers quickly bowed and spoke to him with much greater politeness.
Li Laosi borrowed the little fox from his daughter, then took Huang Laosan and led everyone out.
Huang Laosan wasn't stupid; instead of cutting up the cats and dogs at his own home, he chose a small grove behind the town.
But he was greedy. He happened to catch a rabbit, so he skinned it, threw the entrails and the cat and dog into the Li family's yard, but the rabbit meat ended up in a ceramic pot in the Li family's kitchen...
Now, he had no room for argument.
The two officers gave him a lecture, and only then did he tell the truth.
It turns out he didn't have a sick mother in his hometown at all; he was addicted to gambling.
I've lost quite a bit of money lately, so I wanted to buy more vegetables from the Li family and bring them into the city, but Li Laosan disagreed.
After all, there are hundreds of people eating at the academy, and it's impossible to give all the vegetables to Huang San, especially since Huang San would have to pay on credit!
He'd been cooped up at home for days, and was wandering around aimlessly, so he came up with this idea to annoy the Li family.
Li Laosan's eyes turned red, and he pointed at Huang San'er, cursing, "Just because you lied and wanted to earn money for my mother's medicine, how much have I helped you?!"
"Even if there are no other vegetables, I'll always leave some for you. Just because you wanted to take all the vegetables from the garden and I disagreed, you repay kindness with enmity? You're worse than an animal!"
Huang San'er, having gone all out, shouted like a scoundrel, "How dare you say that? You only give us a hundred or so catties of vegetables a day, and we only earn a few hundred coins. What can that do?"
"Your Li family is so rich, your canteen makes a fortune every day, why would you be short of a few taels of silver?! If you just give me a few silver ingots, I'll definitely be grateful!"
That's incredibly shameless. Not only Li Laosan, but even the onlookers couldn't stand it anymore.
"What kind of talk is that? You're not surnamed Li, why should you get the money he earns?"
"Exactly, he's lost his mind, lost money gambling, and his eyes are red!"
"Hurry up and arrest them. This time they're just trying to annoy people; next time they might be trying to steal or rob."
The officials clearly thought the same thing, so they told Li Laosan and Li Laosi and took Huang San'er away.
Looking at the crowd, Li Laosan noticed that the people who usually took vegetables from him not only didn't come forward to help, but also didn't say a word of justice. Instead, they looked at Huang San'er with some sympathy.
He felt increasingly disheartened and said in front of everyone, "Since everyone is here today, I'd like to say a few words. From now on, the vegetables from our family's vegetable garden will no longer be sold to the public, but will only be supplied to the academy's canteen. If you want to buy vegetables, you'll have to find somewhere else."
Sure enough, the men's expressions immediately changed, and they all stepped forward.
"No, Uncle Li, we're counting on getting vegetables to make a living every day!"
"You've already taken most of the business, but now you can't be the one eating the meat and not even give us a few sips of soup."
Li Laosan, abandoning his usual amiable and easy-going demeanor, sneered, "When I invited you to the academy's dining hall, you refused and secretly cursed me for having ulterior motives. Now you regret it and are blaming me. What, are you the ones who raised me? You can't just say whatever you want."
"You said it yourself, that's your business, what does it have to do with me? It's my vegetable garden, the vegetables I grow, I won't sell them if I don't want to!"
"If you're not convinced, go and find out for yourselves whether the Li family is easy to bully! When the time comes, even if you lose your heads, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
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