Chapter 2909 Arrest 2
There is only one road leading to the official road from Dajing Village to the county government office, so as long as they wait at the entrance of the official road, they will always meet Village Chief Jia and Village Chief Sun coming out.
When Bai Shan arrived at the entrance of the official road, he waited directly in the woods on both sides.
The three yamen runners who had gone ahead brought Feng Dashan out from the inner passage and reported, "Sir, both of them have been notified."
Bai Shan asked, "Has anyone come out?"
"Yes, we said that the adults were concerned about farming and urged them to start as soon as possible. When we left, they were already preparing to come."
Bai Shan nodded and waved them back.
The group waited in the woods for more than an hour before they saw Village Chief Jia and Village Chief Sun riding on an ox cart heading towards the official road.
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that they were so close that they actually traveled together.
In addition to Lizhang Jia and Lizhang Sun, each of them brought a young man with them, who was now sitting on one end of the ox cart listening to Lizhang Jia and Lizhang Sun bragging.
"The county magistrate is very satisfied with our village, but he saw that our two villages are poor, so he allocated an extra cow compared to yours..."
Village Chief Sun said unhappily, "I think you want to give a cow to the village you are in charge of?"
Bai Shan looked towards County Magistrate Dong. A yamen runner quietly came out of the woods and whispered, "There's no one behind us. There are only four of them on the entire road."
Bai Shan nodded, raised his hand and moved it forward, saying coldly, "Take them down and block their mouths. Don't let them scream."
When the yamen runners heard this, they immediately rushed out of the woods like wolves and tigers towards Jia Lichang and his four companions who had just driven to the entrance of their official road.
The four of them only managed to let out a scream and half a sentence, "What are you doing? Are you...?"
The four men were tied up, gagged, and dragged in front of Bai Shan.
Village Chief Sun had also seen Bai Shan, so when he saw Bai Shan, he struggled violently and had no idea why he was caught.
Jia Lichang didn't know either, so he saw Bai Shan struggling for a while, but when he saw Feng Dashan kneeling not far away and saw that he was no longer wearing the official uniform of a yamen runner, he immediately had a bad premonition.
Bai Shan met their gazes from a high position, taking in the expressions of both of them.
He raised his hand and had someone take Village Chief Sun aside, then walked up to Village Chief Jia and looked at him.
Jia Lichang's mouth was blocked, so he could only look at him with his neck tilted back, his eyes full of complicated emotions.
Bai Shan turned his gaze to the young man who was pinned down beside him and asked, "If I remember correctly, he is your second son?"
Jia Lichang could only nod.
Bai Shan said, "Jia Dalang said that your three sons were involved in the looting of Xiaoliu Village. When I was staying at your house, I didn't realize they had the guts to do that."
Jia Lichang's eyes widened instantly, and he started to cry out, struggling violently and shaking his head.
Jia Erlang, who was standing by, was also frightened. He shook his head repeatedly, crying and denying it.
Bai Shan waited until the father and son calmed down before saying, "This county doesn't like people shouting. If you have something to say, empty your mouth and speak slowly. If you don't want to say it, wait until this county arrests Jia Dalang and the others who confessed. I'll bring you all back to the county government office and then decide whether to speak or not."
Now Jia Lichang also started crying, and he nodded repeatedly at Bai Shan.
Bai Shan then signaled the bailiff to come forward and take the cloth out of his mouth.
As soon as it was taken out, Jia Lichang immediately said, "Sir, Jia Dalang's words cannot be believed. How could my three sons do such a heartless thing? They did not participate in the looting of Xiaoliu Village."
"They didn't participate, what about you?"
Jia Lichang's face turned pale and he said, "I, I don't have any either. I know nothing about this matter."
Bai Shan sneered, "Really? But I saw that when you were explaining it just now, you didn't seem to know anything."
He looked down at him and said, "Do you know why this county brought Feng Dashan here?"
"As the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must first catch the leader. Jia Dalang is right. Is there anyone in this village more powerful than you, the village chief? You were able to organize so many people to plunder Xiaoliu Village. You must be the bandit leader."
When Jia Lichang heard this, it meant that Jia Dalang blamed everything he had done on Jia Lichang.
Jia Lichang was horrified, as if the sky had fallen. He shook his head repeatedly at Bai Shan, "No, no, sir, you can't believe the words of that bully Jia Dalang. He is a disaster for the village and a notorious bully in the surrounding area. He was the leader of the looting of Xiaoliu Village. It has nothing to do with me..."
Bai Shan looked at him quietly.
Jia Lichang met his cold gaze, gritted his teeth, and kowtowed, saying, "Sir, I am guilty. I knew about this but didn't report it. This is my fault, but it has nothing to do with my sons. They really don't know anything."
Bai Shan smiled, sat down on a rock, leaned forward and looked at Jia Lichang, saying, "You are quick to react and know how to make choices."
Jia Lichang was trembling all over, obviously terrified.
Bai Shan said, "Alright, this county wants to hear your side of the story and see how it differs from Jia Dalang and the others' confession."
Jia Lichang raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It was good that he was willing to listen to what he said. At least it was not just Jia Dalang's one-sided statement.
"...That Jia Dalang is a villain known throughout the surrounding area. Years ago, he teamed up with a group of thugs, crossed the mountains at night, sneaked into Xiaoliu Village, and robbed the entire village."
Jia Lichang quietly looked up at Bai Shan and saw that he was listening with a calm expression, his eyes staring at him coldly.
Jia Lichang shuddered. Although it was a little difficult to speak, he still continued, "Because there were many people involved in the looting, many of them were from Dajing Village and Xiaojing Village, and also, there were children of my Jia family, so I, I also heard some rumors."
The following words were even more difficult to say, but Jia Lichang still said: "I, I asked someone and found out about this matter."
He immediately said, "I was going to report this to the county government, but Jia Dalang got the news and brought people to threaten me. My lord, the lives of my family are in his hands, so I had no choice but to obey him."
He said, "Although I was unable to report it at the time, I have always wanted to report this matter to you, my Lord, especially after you took office..."
Bai Shan sneered in his heart. After he took office, he had summoned the village heads of various villages more than once, and he had also been to the county government office more than once. He had not spoken a word in so many opportunities, nor did he reveal anything. Who would believe what he said?
However, this matter is not important at the moment. We have to wait until we return to the county government office to figure it out.
Bai Shan sneered and asked him, "Since he brought his men to threaten you, it seems that you also know about the people who participated in the looting of Xiaoliu Village? Report it to the county and see how much difference there is between it and Jia Dalang's confession. Since you said your son was not involved, was your son added to the list, or did he replace someone else?"
The village head, who was originally trying to make excuses that he had no memory, was shocked all over, swallowed his saliva, and immediately reported all the people he had found out, even those he suspected but had not confirmed.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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