Li Laosi ignored him, jumped out of the car, and called to an old soldier guarding the village entrance, instructing him: "Go and ring the bell to get everyone to gather around."
The veteran quickly ran to ring the bell, ringing it three times in a row. In addition to those in necessary positions, men, women, and children from the new and second villages, and even many people from Xiaowangzhuang not far away, came over.
The last bell-ringing incident was so serious that even though the sound of the bell wasn't urgent, no one dared to let their guard down, for fear that their own people might suffer a loss.
Soon, several hundred people gathered under the archway.
Although it was already the end of the first lunar month, the sun was still high in the sky, and the snow on some of the sunny slopes had melted.
But the north wind was still blowing and it was very cold, so everyone was wrapped in cotton-padded coats and wearing hats.
Now it's easy to see the difference in living conditions between the different villages.
The villagers of Xincun were originally refugees, but now they are living the best life they've ever had.
Villagers receive work points for each day they work, their food rations are distributed by the village, and they also receive dividends at the end of the year.
Men, women, and children all wore thick, fine cloth jackets. Their faces and heads were washed clean and neatly arranged. Everyone stood up straight, looking very energetic and confident.
The women even wore silver hairpins in their hair, and some even wore silver bracelets on their wrists.
Secondly, there were the villagers of the second village; the wounded soldiers received wages and dividends from the workshop.
The women did their own work, while the men in their homes served as the Marquis's personal guards, receiving military pay and rewards.
Even Lao Hei and his crew made a fortune before the Lunar New Year and are about to set off again.
Therefore, they were all well-dressed; almost every man wore a wolfskin coat, or at the very least, a sheepskin coat.
The women's jackets and skirts were also half-new, having been worn out all winter, resulting in plump figures and rosy complexions.
Finally, there are the people from other villages like Xiaowangzhuang. Although they also received money from growing melons last year, they are not as wealthy as those from Xincun and Ercun.
Many of them wore patched-up jackets and trousers.
This is also why they are determined to follow in the footsteps of the Li family.
The support of ordinary people is actually very easy to gain; whoever ensures they have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear in winter is the one they will follow...
Li Lao Er, along with the village chief and several other old men, arrived together in a horse-drawn carriage.
After they jumped off the carriage, only Old Lady Li, Jiayin, and Tao Hongying remained inside.
Jiayin stuffed a handful of melon seeds into the hands of her mother and grandmother, and then occupied a window herself, looking every bit the part of a gossipmonger.
At this moment, several more carriages sped along the official road; they were members of the Chen family who had received the news.
Sure enough, when they got closer, the three ladies of the Chen family, along with many people from their maternal families, numbered more than a dozen.
Almost as soon as she got out of the car, Mrs. Chen started crying and ran straight to Chen Chuan's side.
She felt sorry for her husband's dirty clothes, and even more sorry for his thin face and calloused hands...
Madam Chen also looked unwell. Standing beside Master Chen, she frantically counted the prayer beads in her hand, muttering, "What a sin! What a sin!"
After suffering for so long, when Mr. Chen suddenly saw his wife, he thought she would bring some food. But all she did was chant Buddhist prayers, which made him so angry that he didn't want to say a word.
Madam Chen, on the other hand, craned her neck to search for her husband in the crowd, but couldn't find him after a long while. Then she turned around and whispered to her brother from her maternal family, saying something that was unclear...
Li Laosi was born with superhuman strength, and now he has joined the Northern Expeditionary Army. His style of doing things is: if you can take action, don't make a fuss.
Therefore, he decisively handed over the matter of clarifying things with the Chen family to his second brother.
After asking a few questions carefully and examining the witnesses and evidence brought back from the Marquis's place, Li Lao Er turned to the crowd.
He glanced at the Chen family members and said loudly, "That day, your Chen family carried a coffin to Suijintan, claiming that Chen He was killed by my fourth son and that you wanted to bury Chen He in Suijintan."
“Our Li family, out of consideration for your loss of children and mother, has spared you from the death penalty of being buried alive, and instead allowed you to remain outside the village to do hard labor.”
“Everyone in Suijintan is hardworking and honest. We don’t really need people like you to dig ditches. We’re just keeping you around so that the truth will come out one day.”
"Previously, in the court, the emperor and the civil and military officials all spoke about the dangers of hibiscus ointment. Chen He died from excessive consumption of hibiscus ointment, which drained his essence and blood."
"It was precisely because of Chen He's death that the court and the emperor took notice and secretly investigated the matter of the hibiscus ointment."
"I presume your Chen family is aware of this matter as well?"
The Chen family members did not nod, but their expressions showed a hint of guilt.
They claimed that Chen He died at the hands of Li Laosi, which is why they wanted to bury him at Suijintan.
Now that the true cause of Chen He's death has been found, everything they've done, and the current forced labor, seems all the more ridiculous and foolish...
Ignoring them, Li Lao Er continued, "You might say that our Li family tampered with things, attributing Chen He's death to the hibiscus ointment to evade responsibility."
"Then let's examine this carefully today and see how Chen He really died, who gave him the hibiscus ointment, and even who killed your old lady!"
The old lady?!
Both Master Chen and Chen Chuan were taken aback. They looked up abruptly, wondering what other strange things were going on with their mother's death!
Li Lao Er signaled to two villagers to open the carriage that Li Lao Si had brought back, and they pulled out an old woman and a servant.
Both of them had been imprisoned for a long time. Their clothes were filthy, their heads were covered with rotten straw, their faces were pale, their lips were cracked, and they looked very disheveled.
Li Lao Er pointed at them and asked the Chen family, "You should know these two, right?"
Chen Chuan tried his best to suppress his shock and doubt, and replied, "The old woman serves my mother, and the servant is my second brother's errand boy!"
Li Lao Er laughed and said, "That makes things much easier!"
He took out two statements and threw them at Chen Chuan. Chen Chuan quickly glanced at them, his face turning ashen. He simply refused to believe them.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"
Mr. Chen was anxious, so he snatched the confession and read it through. He was speechless and didn't know what to say.
Li Lao Er continued to explain to everyone, "Chen He had already used Furong Ointment before joining the Northern Expeditionary Army, but his addiction wasn't too strong. Logically speaking, he should be able to quit and become a pillar of the country."
"But his second uncle, who is also the second master of your Chen family, tried every means to send the hibiscus ointment into the military camp, so that Chen He took more and more of it and could no longer leave."
"Finally, with martial law imposed on the military camp, Chen He ran out of the hibiscus ointment and died suddenly on the training ground."
"And this attendant was responsible for helping Chen Lao Er deliver the hibiscus ointment to Chen He."
After saying that, he tore the straw ball out of the servant's mouth.
The servant had been imprisoned for almost two months without seeing the light of day. Now that he had finally seen outsiders, he was extremely excited and even more determined to seek justice for himself.
He practically cried out as he collapsed at Chen Chuan's feet.
"Third Master, sob sob, it wasn't that I wanted to harm the young master! I didn't know what was in that jade box. The Second Master told me to give it to the young master, so I did."
"Waaah, the military camp is very strict. I had to go to great lengths and bribe many people to get the things in. I even lost my monthly salary."
"Fortunately, the military camp later instructed families to send things by mail at the end of the month, so I put the jade box directly into the package."
"But later, the Second Master suddenly stopped seeing us off. This servant didn't know what happened, let alone that it would kill the young master!"
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