Being humiliated in front of the whole village, Xu Changshou was both angry and ashamed. He grabbed Xiaomanye's collar to retaliate, but Ma Guan held his arm so he couldn't move.
Xiaoman slapped him twice more: "Get out of here right now, don't even think about staying in Xujia Village. I don't want to see you for even a day."
Before the chaos of war, he cursed his own grandson to die; after fleeing the famine, he seized his own land; and now he wants to disrupt the village. Such a scourge deserves to be punished to vent our anger.
With both old and new grudges surfacing, Master Xiaoman showed no mercy: "Since you want to be the elder, then let your own elder brother from the same clan beat you up."
Xu Changshou came back to attend the funeral and also said a few words of apology.
Even though Xiaoman was furious inside, he had to put on a magnanimous act and not hold it against him.
It's only been half a month since things were fine, and Xu Changshou's shameless nature is already causing trouble.
Xu Changshou was held captive by Ma Guan and unable to move. He felt a burning pain as his face was slapped, and he shouted angrily, "Xu Changgeng, you dare to hit me? I'll fight you to the death today!"
His response was another two slaps!
Seeing Xu Changshou being beaten and screaming, Xu Yaozu, who was standing in the crowd, finally realized that it was his father and rushed forward to save him.
But as soon as he rushed into the crowd, he was held down by several hands, and Old Li was directing people to quickly bring ropes to tie him up.
Unable to struggle, Xu Yaozu turned to Xu Gensheng and shouted, "Gensheng, are you still Xu Maohua's son, or Xu Changqi's grandson?"
You must remember that we are family. Are you just going to stand by and watch your own family members be bullied?
Wang Xiaoju turned to Xu Gensheng and asked, "Gensheng, didn't your family feed him? How come he's so hungry that he's talking nonsense?"
After his third grandfather, Xu Changshou, made a scene, Xu Gengsheng, who was already unwilling to stand up for himself, had been holding back from the very beginning.
At this moment, she turned her face away, her fingers cracking as she clenched them, but Wang Xiaoju's words were like adding fuel to the fire, and she immediately exploded: "This family is just dog shit, they just stick to us and we can't get rid of them, they never seem to have enough to eat."
He... he actually made my mother drink pig's urine for my wife! Is he even human? If my father hadn't begged me not to, I would have beaten that bastard to death!"
His father didn't know how to get Xu Gensheng, that argumentative jerk, to shut up, but now he couldn't hold back any longer.
As soon as the words were spoken, the men and women under the drying shed were in an uproar.
A great-uncle made his granddaughter-in-law drink pig urine; this was a deliberate attempt to torment her!
Fathers-in-law are never good at interfering with their daughters-in-law's childbirth; a distant grandfather gave a terrible suggestion...
Wang Xiaoju's face turned red with anger. Pi Shi always talked about wanting a child, and if she heard this, she might really go for a drink. How could she sit with her and drink tea and eat melon seeds in the future?
She glared fiercely at Xu Changshou; this man had to be kicked out immediately!
…………
The rain stopped, and the crops, which had been half-dead, absorbed the moisture and began to sprout again, regaining their vitality.
Growing crops is truly a blessing from God; the hard work of the entire village for half a month of watering cannot compare to this one rain.
With the rain easing the drought, the pharmacy stopped brewing medicinal herbs, and Xu Genqing and his colleagues were finally able to take a two-day vacation.
Grandpa Xiaoman and his family started repairing the house again; the events of the previous day had all subsided.
According to the agreement made by the villagers when the mosquito coil workshop was established, anyone who leaked information would be expelled from the workshop.
However, this time the Wu family father and son sneaked in, and Xu Changming was only punished with a month's salary because he was implicated.
It was only because the Wu family father and son were discovered by Da Xiang as soon as they entered the workshop that the secret of the mosquito coils was not revealed, which allowed Xu Changming's family to escape disaster.
The stinging incense stick was rewarded when Xu Changming's family gave fifty coins and fifty eggs to the two girls to buy cloth to improve their meals.
When Mrs. Tan learned that her daughter had hurt someone, she was both angry and scared. She secretly warned her repeatedly not to argue with people and to be more tolerant and forgiving. When she got impatient, she wanted to pinch her.
In the past, Da Xiang could only listen without being able to refute, but this time she retorted, "Mother, I got the money and the eggs, I didn't do anything wrong. If you pinch me again and the other aunties see it, you'll get scolded!"
Tan dared not pinch anymore.
Da Xiangxiang and Xiao Xiangxiang eat, drink, and bathe with the village women; if they get injured again, it will be discovered immediately.
Jiang Zhi had told Tan Shi that if she pinched the child again for no reason, she, as the head of the household, would have to use family discipline.
This time, Xu Changming not only lost his income, but was also fined money, which made him furious and heartbroken. He also gave the Wu family father and son a cold shoulder.
Having learned a lesson from the Wu family, the village has adopted a new rule: to manage one's own relatives well.
Say what needs to be said, go where you can go, and be punished on both sides if you make a mistake. Don't drag the host family down and ruin the relationship with them.
Soon, the two families who were visiting relatives in the village left that same day.
Furthermore, the Wu family father and son were beaten with sticks by Ma Guan and then sent to Zhang Juntou's patrol battalion to be escorted to the county government, but were quickly returned by the county government.
Magistrate Zhang's original words were: "Making a mountain out of a molehill is a waste of time!"
Song Tingzhang finally saw the joke on Xujia Village and even happily escorted Wu's father and son back.
Jiang Zhi didn't understand these official matters, and others were even less knowledgeable than her. They didn't understand why it was acceptable to send her to the county government before, but now it was being returned.
There's no way around it, Errui and Xiaoman are both too inexperienced and still need to learn.
"Chief Song, please enlighten me!" Jiang Zhi obediently returned the money she had collected from Old Song for the medicine a few days ago during the drought relief efforts.
Old Song didn't accept it. These five hundred coins couldn't compare to the kindness of Xu Family Village towards him. He just hoped that if there were any good things to do in the future, they would remember him as Old Song.
He pointed at Errui and Xiaoman and said, "Your family has two officials. You can punish these petty thieves as you see fit, but you should still inform this village head if anything happens in the future."
Jiang Zhi suddenly realized that each social class has its own rules for survival, and that she still didn't understand this era well enough.
In a modern customary legal system, the rule of law is independent, but here the imperial power does not extend to the county level, and the administrators of each town are famous scholars and gentry.
To put it bluntly, he, Errui, and Xiaoman were an independent management body. If Xia Xiucai was smart, he could also have a place in the ruling system.
The people are the people, and the officials are the officials; the two are worlds apart. As a local tyrant, as long as no one dies, no one can report him.
No wonder that once local officials bully men and women and wield absolute power, the people don't even have a chance to cry out for justice.
Sigh, even picking up dog poop requires a mentor, otherwise you'll just make a wasted trip.
Soon, Xiaoman, along with Ma Guan and two villagers, escorted the Wu family father and son, who had been beaten bloody, back to their hometown and negotiated with the local village head.
First, the Wu family father and son are not allowed to leave their hometown again.
Secondly, Xiaoman revealed her identity as a member of the patrol battalion and reminded the village chief of the Wu family that Wu Tianli and his son had committed theft, and that if any skills were found to have been leaked to Xujia Village, they would be held accountable.
The matter was considered closed only after the village chief of Wu's family promised not to leak the secret.
The Wu family father and son were dealt with, but the Xu Changshou family refused to leave no matter what.
Xu Changshou went to every household in the village, saying that he was a native of Xujia Village and insisted on returning to live there.
He went to the Xu family ancestral graves again and wept bitterly, saying that if Jiang didn't agree, his whole family would die in the village!
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