Li Lao Er had already changed into his official robes in Mr. Wen's courtyard. Now he was wearing a long, padded robe in a duck-egg blue color, with a jade pendant hanging from his waist. He couldn't be described as ostentatiously wealthy, but he certainly wasn't shabby.
Even the beggars and thugs on the street who want to be bullied wouldn't dare to mess with someone like him.
So, when he was suddenly knocked down and sat on the ground with a thud, Li Lao Er was still a little dazed. His tailbone was both painful and numb, and he couldn't get up for a long time.
He looked up angrily, about to yell at them, when he met a pair of panicked eyes.
The owner of the eyes was a woman of about eighteen or nineteen years old, with disheveled hair, a dirty face, and an extremely panicked expression.
She was also holding a boy of about eight or nine years old, who was pale and thin. He seemed to be stunned by the fall and looked like he was about to cry, which was very pitiful.
"You guys?" Li Lao Er didn't know what to say. He forced himself to stand up, enduring the pain, and asked, "Who are you? The street is so crowded, how can you run around like that?"
The woman struggled to her feet, glancing back as she hurriedly apologized, "I'm so sorry, sir, it was our mistake!"
As she spoke, she helped the boy up again, but he was unsteady and almost fell over again.
Only then did Li Lao Er notice that the boy's leg was hanging down strangely, unable to support his weight, and the part of his lower leg exposed from the missing half of his trouser leg was swollen beyond recognition, clearly... broken.
He hadn't intended to pursue the matter, but seeing that the two seemed anxious, he stepped aside.
"You should go now, but be careful."
The woman quickly thanked them, but before they could take a step, four or five farm men suddenly darted out from the street corner not far away, each carrying hemp ropes and bricks. As soon as they saw the woman and the boy, they rushed over like fierce demons.
The woman was terrified and tried to run away with the boy on her back, but she was quickly pulled back.
The man in the lead ignored Li Lao Er and raised the brick in his hand to smash it at the woman.
"You little brat, you think you can run away? I'll beat you to death!"
The boy who was clinging to the woman's back screamed and straightened up, shielding the woman beneath him.
The blue brick smashed directly onto his head, and bright red blood immediately flowed down!
"Brother!" The woman disregarded everything else, pulled the unconscious boy away, and burst into tears, "Brother, brother!"
Instead of stopping, the men rushed forward and continued to punch and kick the woman.
The leader, clutching the blood-stained brick, continued cursing, "Kick it to death, you ungrateful bastards!"
"You've arranged a good way out for me, yet you act as if I've wronged you. I've raised you for three years for nothing. You beasts should just be killed!"
The woman bent over, trying her best to protect her younger brother, enduring the rain of punches and kicks raining down on her without flinching.
The passersby were stunned by this sudden turn of events. In broad daylight, even a servant wouldn't beat someone so casually and violently!
Some people wanted to help, but these men looked too fierce, so they hesitated for a moment.
Li Lao Er was also so shocked that he couldn't react for a long time. After all, when people fled famine and resorted to cannibalism, it wasn't this bloody.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.
Xindu is such a big city, yet this happened right before his eyes...
He wanted to wait and see, but unfortunately, the woman was beaten so badly that she couldn't protect her brother and fell to the ground, leaving the boy's head and one arm exposed.
A man sneered and stomped on the boy's hand, chasing him across the ground.
The boy woke up in pain, opening his blood-stained eyes, his gaze filled with despair and agony.
This is just an ignorant child, about the same age as Cat Brother.
With Cat Brother around, he has his older brothers to protect him and his uncles and aunts to dote on him.
And this child was so humiliated and beaten!
Li Lao Er slammed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, he shouted, "Stop!"
The men who had been hitting him were startled and turned to look at Li Lao Er. Perhaps seeing that he was well-dressed, they didn't dare to curse him, but instead asked coldly, "Who are you? Mind your own business!"
"I am nobody!" Li Lao Er strode forward, pushed aside several men, shielded the woman and child behind him, and shouted, "I am just an ordinary passerby. In broad daylight, how can you be so violent and beat up a woman and child? Don't you have any respect for the law?"
Seeing someone step forward, the other passersby chimed in, "That's right! Why can't we talk things out instead of resorting to violence? This child is so young, with so much blood on his head, how can he survive?"
The burly men looked grim, and the leader among them shouted, "What does it matter to you whether they live or die! I'm their uncle. Their parents are dead, I'm their god. What can they do if I kill them?"
uncle?
Everyone frowned.
Emperor Tianwu ruled the country with filial piety. Even in the palace, not to mention ordinary people, the Empress Dowager was not the Emperor's biological mother, yet the Emperor still had to show her three degrees of respect.
Over the years, the Empress Dowager has interfered in court affairs quite a bit. It can be said that the Empress Dowager bears at least half the responsibility for Tianwu's retreat to Jiangnan, but the Emperor still can't do anything about her.
If the siblings' parents were dead, they should indeed listen to their uncle, and even if they were beaten or scolded, they shouldn't resist...
The woman struggled to sit up, still extending her arms to protect her younger brother, and retorted with a bitter smile, "You're talking nonsense! You're just my cousin! My parents are dead, my grandmother is dead, but I still have my younger brother! You beat us to death just to take over my family's yard and land."
"Today you're going to send us to a brothel, making me a prostitute and my brother a pimp! You'll sell us for money to pay off your debts! You're worse than a pig or a dog! You're the real beast!"
After saying this, she was so angry that she spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, clearly indicating that she had been severely beaten and that her internal organs had been injured.
Hearing this, everyone felt sorry for the brother and sister and began to groan.
"This is outrageous! They're making a fortune off someone's entire family!"
"What do you mean by 'no offspring'? They have a son! This is clearly a murder-for-money scheme!"
"This is outrageous! They can't treat people like this!"
The men, feeling somewhat guilty, gritted their teeth and stepped forward to pull the siblings apart.
"Alright, Uncle was wrong just now. I was angry and hit too hard. Come on, let's go home and talk about it."
But the siblings, surprisingly in perfect unison, simultaneously tugged at Li Lao Er's trouser leg, shouting, "No! If you sell us, we'd rather die than go back with you!"
The leader got impatient and was about to smash the brick in his hand again, but Li Lao Er pushed him away.
"If you dare lay a hand on me again, I'll report you to the authorities! I'll accuse you of murder for money! According to the laws of Tianwu, even servants cannot be subjected to private torture unless they have a death contract! Let alone a mere relative!"
Having said that, he took out a coin from his purse and asked the crowd, "Which brother is willing to help me run a errand to the government office and quickly call the officials over?"
"I!"
"Wow!"
"I know the way!"
Immediately, three or four people raised their hands and stepped forward to take on the task.
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