Chapter 227 Ask Back
In the eyes of the people in the Bo family who judge others by themselves, Jiang Yuan was a powerful figure that this small mountain village might not produce once in three to five hundred years. As long as they weren't fools, wouldn't these villagers rush to flatter and fawn over such a powerful figure in order to pave the way for future exploitation?
They even prejudicially believed that Chen Lizheng's evasive answers were likely to prevent Jiang Yuan from letting them benefit from his family after he found them.
While everyone was cursing Chen Lizheng in their hearts for being so cunning, they also turned their attention to Wang Xiaozhi, who was being protected by Chen Zhao.
"This must be our young master's nominal older sister, right?" the leader asked Wang Xiaozhi loudly. "You're not going to say you don't know where our young master is right now, are you?"
Wang Xiaozhi has never had a good temper. In the past, when the children of Wang Dayou and Wang Eryou bullied Jiang Yuan, she was never afraid even if she couldn't beat them. She would rush over and attack them without saying a word, even if they were older than her.
Now that this group of people clearly has ill intentions, Wang Xiaozhi naturally wouldn't honestly reveal Jiang Yuan's whereabouts—even though she had a vague guess that this group probably already knew exactly where Jiang Yuan was.
Although Jiang Yuan was taciturn, that was mostly in front of outsiders. In front of close people like Hao Yu, Wang Xiaozhi, and Chen Zhao, although he spoke concisely, he always answered every question with a very proper attitude.
Before leaving Mingfu Village for Zijing Pass, Jiang Yuan briefly told Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao about his background and how his biological parents never wanted to acknowledge him.
Therefore, Wang Xiaozhi almost immediately concluded that this group of people must have ill intentions.
She thought to herself, if there's nothing fishy going on here, and if someone who used to ignore his own son and even hated him so much that he wished the other person would disappear forever suddenly changed his mind and sent a group of people to "find" his long-lost son, then if there's nothing fishy going on, then Wang Xiaozhi would just take her head off and give it to these snobbish guys to kick around like a football!
Taking a deep breath, Wang Xiaozhi put her hands on her hips and roared, "You say you were sent by my A Yuan's biological parents, so you're all here? What, just because you have power and influence, you can claim relatives randomly?"
Not to mention the other villagers, even Chen Lizheng and Chen Zhao were startled by Wang Xiaozhi's sudden outburst.
A moment of eerie silence followed, and after the group realized what had happened, their faces turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
One of them was so angry that he was about to draw his sword, but before he could actually pull it out, Wang Xiaozhi pointed at the gleaming blade and screamed, "Oh my god, so they're trying to kill me to silence me after I exposed them! Good heavens, is there no law anymore? Just because someone comes from the Earl's Mansion, does that mean they can kill people indiscriminately?"
She looked at Chen Lizheng, "Uncle Lizheng, quick, quickly send someone to the county government to report to the authorities!"
Chen Lizheng: ......
Other villagers: ......
Some timid villagers quietly stepped back to avoid the conflict, while others, bolder ones, watched with increasing interest.
Chen Lizheng cleared his throat and said, "Gentlemen, although my niece-in-law's reaction was a bit excessive, what she said does make some sense."
Before those people could rebuke or refute, the village head added, "After all, Jiang Yuan has lived in our Mingfu Village for not just one or two years, but almost twenty years. In all these years, he has never seen his biological parents, let alone seen a single copper coin from them."
The group of people looked increasingly grim because of Chen Lizheng's seemingly objective but actually sarcastic remarks, but they couldn't refute him.
After all, Chen Lizheng's words were not an exaggeration at all.
Chen Lizheng looked at them with a smile, "His biological parents, who haven't appeared for twenty years, suddenly show up and say they want him to be recognized as a member of the family... Whether he recognizes them or not can be discussed later. At least we need to find out if what you're saying is true."
The group of people looked at each other for a moment, feeling somewhat at a loss.
They never expected that the people of Mingfu Village would be so difficult to deal with.
Normally, shouldn't these villagers have bowed down and obeyed them when they saw their carriages, clothing, knives, and demeanor, which were clearly out of place in the village, so as to avoid angering them and getting into trouble?
What that group didn't know was that the reason Chen Lizheng and his men were so confident was because their benevolent county magistrate had powerful backing.
During the previous dynasty, Chen Lizheng's father, who was the previous village head of Mingfu Village, would handle all problems himself if he could. If he couldn't handle them himself, he would gather the strength of the whole village to solve them together. If he still couldn't solve them, then he could only leave it to fate and let things develop naturally.
At that time, the villagers had a great fear of the government office. Like the previous village head, they did everything they could to avoid it.
Needless to say, during times of war, the only function of the government was to use the guise of an "officialdom" to more easily, quickly, and unscrupulously exploit the people.
But now the situation is different; their new county magistrate is genuinely working for the well-being of the people.
They came from good families and were not short of money. They became officials only for political achievements, not for money. In addition, their county magistrate had an old mother who was devoted to Buddhism and had a special fondness for the poor and weak. Under her influence, the county magistrate did a lot of good things for Tang County.
Another important point is that the founding emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty exerted far greater oversight of the entire country than the previous dynasty at its end.
With his two lines of communication, both overt and covert, officials in various regions, even if they didn't intend to be honest and upright, had to try their best to restrain their greed and evil intentions for the sake of their own lives and the lives of their entire families.
As a result, the administration naturally became relatively transparent and efficient.
Over time, the people's fear of the government was gradually replaced by positive emotions such as trust, respect, and gratitude.
They were confident and, when facing the so-called people from the Earl's Mansion, they were naturally not as fearful as they had been in the previous dynasty or during times of war.
What Chen Lizheng and Wang Xiaozhi are thinking now is, so what if you come from a noble family? Do you think you can just run rampant and kill people in our Tang County territory?
They were right; the people from the Earl's Mansion indeed dared not do anything to the villagers of Mingfu Village.
They were all veterans who had followed Jiang Tong for many years. They knew a lot about the bottom line and taboos of the current emperor, and were loyal to Jiang Tong.
One of the most important rules is that his family, relatives, and subordinates must not use their status, power, or force to oppress or even kill ordinary people, so that he and the forces he represents will lose the support of the people.
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