Chapter 194 County Magistrate
The county magistrate, his official uniform rumpled, was helped to his feet by three yamen runners. He straightened his uniform and his black gauze hat, and with a pair of cunning eyes, he pointed at the people in the yard and shouted angrily, "You, you are so bold! You dare to kidnap me, don't you fear that I will chop off your heads? Why don't you kneel before me?"
When the county magistrate saw that the yard was full of ordinary people and there was no "big shot" there, he felt more confident.
"Are you the county magistrate?" Su Yue sneered and asked the county magistrate in a cold voice.
The county magistrate nodded subconsciously, raised his head, and looked at Su Yue with contempt. Seeing that she was actually sitting and talking to him, he immediately showed off his official authority.
Su Yue's coldness suddenly faded. "Were you the one who issued the notice, asking the villagers to go up the mountain to hunt wild animals?"
"Oh, yes, yes. Oh, no, no, it's for the hair."
The county magistrate was so chilled by Su Yue's cold air that he stepped back repeatedly and stepped on the foot of the yamen runner behind him. The yamen runner grimaced in pain but had to support the county magistrate.
The county magistrate instinctively defended himself and put the blame directly on the county governor.
I was thinking to myself, this young lady looks so weak, but why is the aura she exudes so terrifying?
There were also people who brought him here to interrogate him like a criminal, except that the situation was reversed and he was the one being interrogated.
The county magistrate was very unhappy. He thought that this group of people dared to kidnap him and were a group of unruly people with high martial arts skills. He was a brave man and would not suffer a loss in front of him, so he did not dare to confront Su Yue and others.
"I don't care who sent it, but don't you think about the defenseless civilians? If you let them go into the mountains to hunt wild animals, will they ever come back? Don't you even use your pig brain to think things through?"
The county magistrate's face changed when he heard this. He wanted to scold Su Yue for being bold, but when he saw Hongying and the other three looking at him covetously, his face turned bitter again. Could he be blamed for this? How could a small county like theirs disobey the county magistrate's order? Those who disobeyed would be punished for disobeying an imperial order. He had several heads chopped off.
He smiled bitterly and said, "Madam, do you think I haven't refused before? I'm just a lowly seventh-rank official, and this sentence has decided my future. Moreover, this is an imperial decree, an order from the Emperor. We cannot disobey."
"So how do you feel now? You should have heard it when you entered the village, right?"
The county magistrate nodded and sighed, "What a sin! It seems we haven't hunted any wild animals. What should we do now?"
The county magistrate was extremely anxious. How could he report to his superiors if he couldn't hunt any wild animals?
After hearing this, Su Yue was almost amused. At this time, she was still thinking about her own mission instead of feeling pity for the villagers.
Su Yue shouldn't have shown any mercy to him. Pointing at the old woman and her family, she said, "Since you are the parent official of this area, please make the decision for Sister Yue Gui. Just now, this old woman wanted to capture me to be the wife of her youngest son. You can do it yourself.
It's done. I'll help you deal with the beast issue."
There are many wild beasts in the space, so she gave the county magistrate a few of them. Those beasts have been raised in the space for a long time and are very smart. They will not attack people without her order.
It’s just right to give the dog emperor a big gift.
“That’s just wonderful.”
When the county magistrate heard that he could help solve the task, he was very happy. They were just a group of unruly people who took advantage of their power to bully others. He was the best at handling such things.
"Well, may I ask, Madam, what kind of result do you want?"
The county magistrate was smart for once and asked around. He found out that in the past, such cases would at most result in a few dozen beatings and collecting some money.
It seems that this method is not suitable for these people today. If it were suitable, why would the young lady let him deal with it?
The county magistrate did have some sense. In fact, small officials like them were the best at observing people's words and expressions.
"Lin Xi, you tell me." Su Yue waved to Lin Xi, and asked Hong Ying to bring a stool to the county magistrate.
Hongying nodded, went into the house and brought a bench for the county magistrate to sit on.
The county magistrate glanced at Su Yue before sitting down.
Lin Xi bravely walked up to the county magistrate and knelt down: "Your humble servant Lin Xi pays respects to the county magistrate."
As expected, the county magistrate waved his hand and said, "If you have any grievances, tell me the truth. I will make the decision for you."
The old woman sitting on the side was terrified when she heard what the county magistrate said. When she heard Su Yue say that the county magistrate had come, she didn't believe it. She thought it was impossible for these people in the martial arts world to call the county magistrate. When Hongying and the others threw the county magistrate and the three yamen runners in the yard, they really believed it.
The county magistrate didn't recognize him, but the official uniform he wore couldn't be fake. And the three yamen runners often came out to do business. Although the people in the entire county couldn't recognize all of them, they still knew a few of them.
The old woman grabbed Lin Xi and said, "Brother Xi, don't talk nonsense in front of the county magistrate. There is no reason for injustice in a child's family. Those are our family affairs. Tell the county magistrate that there is nothing wrong with them."
Lin Xi simply brushed away the old woman's hand indifferently, raised his head and looked at the county magistrate, saying, "I beg you to intervene and sever our relationship with the Lin Dagen family. Ever since my father passed away, my grandmother's family no longer considers us as family..."
Lin Xi told the story.
The county magistrate's face changed when he heard this. How could there be such a mother-in-law in the world? She must be an enemy.
"Ahem...Ms. Lin Wang, do you admit your guilt?"
The county magistrate was so angry that he almost choked, and pointed at the old woman Lin Wang who had lowered her head.
Lin Wangshi immediately knelt down and kowtowed tremblingly: "I don't know what crime I have committed. I was just teaching my daughter-in-law. What crime have I committed?"
The county magistrate habitually reached for the gavel, but found nothing. After a few moments of embarrassment, he slammed the stool. "Hmph, you're such a shrew! You're so foolish! You think you can get away with mistreating your daughter-in-law? Xifeng State has laws that say daughters-in-law must respect their parents-in-law, but parents-in-law are also prohibited from mistreating their daughters-in-law. The lightest punishment is thirty lashes of the cane, and the worst is imprisonment for one to ten years. I'm afraid you'll get five or six years for this."
After the county magistrate finished speaking, he glanced at Su Yue secretly. Su Yue found it funny. This county magistrate was quite interesting. The laws of Xifeng Country did have such a provision, but the sentence was not as serious as he said.
Lin Wangshi was so frightened that her body trembled. She immediately cried out, "Ah? I don't understand the law, sir. I saw the villagers treat their daughters-in-law like this and thought it was normal. Sir, I beg you, ignorance is not a crime!"
The county magistrate glanced at her and wondered why she didn't think about the consequences when she was abusing people. This old woman spoke in a variety of ways, not like an ordinary woman.
Even Su Yue was quite surprised. This Lin Wangshi must be literate, otherwise she wouldn't have said these words. She said that what she did was just like how the mothers-in-law in the village treated their daughters-in-law, which meant that she was guilty. There were many guilty people in the village.
(End of this chapter)
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