Yin Jin'an said with a gloomy face, "Who are you calling a monster? You surnamed Cui, yesterday, dare you say you didn't come to rob us?"
Cui Fude was astonished to hear the "idiot" speak so clearly for the first time.
The "fool's" eyes were now clear and sharp. His once innocent face was now filled with ruthlessness, and his once pure and harmless eyes were now cold and deep.
He stammered, "You, you're not stupid?"
"You're the fucking idiot, your ancestors for eighteen generations were all idiots."
Cui Fude was terrified: "You...you...you..."
"What do you mean, 'you'? You think you can bring your whole family to rob my family just because we earn a little food? He's only four and a half years old. You bring your whole family to our house to fight and kill. Even an animal is better than you!"
Jiutian quickly complained, "Village head, I am a Taoist priest, I can tell fortunes! I can tell that his nightmare yesterday was about being chased and killed—five years ago, he and Cui Dalang killed someone, and he dreamed that the person came to seek revenge!"
Xiao Jiu pointed at his eyes: "Look, you have such dark circles under your eyes!"
Cui Fude said in a panic, "You're talking nonsense. When have I ever killed anyone?"
Yin Jin'an immediately said to Zhu Lizheng, "Five households form a group, ten households form a team. If the Cui family commits murder, all ten households will be implicated. You, as the village head, cannot escape responsibility!"
The system of collective punishment includes the responsibility of neighbors to be held accountable. Zhu, the village head, was terrified. He stopped asking about the ancestral home and grabbed Cui Fude, angrily demanding, "Where did you kill that person? Tell me, who did you kill?"
“Village head, I didn’t kill anyone. You can’t listen to his nonsense. He just wants to seize my ancestral home and is slandering me.”
Cui Dalang took a hoe and intended to smash Jiutian and Yin Jin'an to death.
The village head also wanted to smooth things over. Regardless of whether Cui Fude and Cui Dalang had committed murder, since no one had found out over the years, they couldn't admit it voluntarily. Longmen Town couldn't afford to have a case of collective punishment.
As the hoe came crashing down on Jiutian, Yin Jin'an, unable to move his legs, frantically pushed Jiutian back with both hands, shouting, "Run! Run!"
"Stop!" a shout came from outside the door. "Who dares to kill someone in broad daylight? Arrest them!"
Before anyone could react, they saw two constables swing their scabbards and slap Cui Dalang on the back, making him stagger.
Cui Dalang swung the hoe in his hand, and it hit Wan San squarely on the head. Instantly, Wan San's face was covered in blood, and he cried like a pig being slaughtered.
"Stop! What? You want to kill me?"
When Zhu Lizheng saw the person who had come, he was taken aback and immediately put on a fawning smile: "Oh dear, what brings you here, Master Li?"
The man was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a beautiful beard on his chin; he was the magistrate of Yongle County.
Accompanying him were Landlord Wang and his son, Wang Can.
Good heavens, two county magistrates have arrived at once, who would dare to commit violence now?
Landlord Wang was in exceptionally good spirits. With Steward Sun supporting him, he rushed over before Magistrate Wang and Magistrate Li could say anything.
Squatting down in front of Jiutian, she said with heartache, "Oh dear, little Jiutian, who wants to hit little Jiutian?"
Jiutian pointed at Cui Dalang and exclaimed, "Him!"
Landlord Wang looked at Magistrate Wang, who in turn smiled and looked at Magistrate Li.
This is under the jurisdiction of Magistrate Li.
Magistrate Li said to the constables, "Give this man five lashes first."
The head constable who followed the county magistrate was a whistle-bearer.
The constable carried Cui Dalang into the courtyard, threw him to the ground, and gave him five whacks on the buttocks.
After being struck with the stick, Cui Dalang cried out "Ouch!" which made the yamen runners laugh in exasperation.
After being struck five times, Magistrate Li was about to ask Yin Jin'an a question when Jiu Tian interrupted him.
“I’m going to sue Cui Fude for stealing my second uncle’s money and clothes and breaking his leg.”
She pointed at Aunt Zhang and said, "If you don't believe me, ask Aunt Zhang. She knows everything."
Aunt Zhang really didn't want to testify. Jin Yi and Jiu Tian were both from out of town and would leave sooner or later, but she was a local. If she offended the Cui family, the Cui family would seek revenge on the Zhang family sooner or later.
Jiutian said, "Aunt Zhang, speak the truth boldly. Anyway, Cui Fude's whole family is going to die."
Aunt Zhang thought that Cui Fude wouldn't die for being greedy for that little bit of money.
However, since Landlord Wang owes Jiutian a debt of gratitude, perhaps we can ask Landlord Wang to help the Zhang family out in the future!
Let's take a gamble.
"Six months ago, someone delivered brocade clothes to Cui Fude's house..." Aunt Zhang said, pulling the people around her, "Everyone saw it, I would never lie."
Many people, seeing Magistrate Wang give "Jinyi" and Jiutian a promotion, all said that Cui Fude was utterly immoral.
Magistrate Li asked, "Young man in fine clothes, what is your name? How much silver has your family given Cui Fude in total?"
Jiutian immediately chimed in, "My second uncle is named Xiao Jin'an. He is sixteen years old this year and is not very bright. When his family brought him here, he was wearing a brocade robe and they gave Cui Fude a bag of silver."
Yin Jin'an, who is "not very bright": ...
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