For ordinary people who make a living from farming, cattle are much more valuable than people! They usually treat them like ancestors, but now that they are needed, who would sell them? Only a fool would do that!
Ming Ruoxi glared at the ungrateful Li Dabi, "I just don't believe there's anything in this world that money can't buy!"
This sentence is really more offensive than any previous one. It seems that this young lady is relying on her wealth to deliberately bully others, right?
They are poor and have no money. A cow or tens or hundreds of taels of silver are nothing in your eyes, young lady, but they are our lifeblood!
Let’s not talk about Ruoxi. At this moment, the eyes of these villagers looking at Ling Jingxuan also changed.
At first they were afraid and in awe, then they waited for him to make the decision, and now they simply classified him as the same person as Ming Ruoxi.
There are a few rich people who don’t know their place. They live a noble and luxurious life and don’t care about the lives of ordinary people. Look, this is their prince!
Those disappointed and contemptuous looks made Ling Jingxuan feel colder than if she were scolded by the emperor in person.
"Lu Hui!"
"I'm here!"
"Capture Ming Ruoxi immediately!"
The people were suddenly silent, and Ming Ruoxi was also dumbfounded.
Lu Hui hesitated for a moment, and Ling Jingxuan roared, "Why don't you do it? What are you waiting for?"
"yes!"
Lu Hui was a rough man and he had no mercy on Ming Ruoxi. He simply put her hands behind her back, making her unable to move at all.
Ling Jingxuan spoke as everyone watched, "According to the laws of our dynasty, those who steal or slaughter cattle will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and two years in prison!"
Ming Ruoxi finally felt scared at this time. How come she didn't know that Lingguo had such a law?
Besides, "I didn't steal the cattle or kill them, why are you arresting me, Your Majesty?"
"You released someone else's cattle without permission. How is that any different from stealing them?"
Ming Ruoxi was still stubborn when she was scared and cried just now. She still firmly believed that she was not wrong, but had done a good deed.
But now he has been convicted by His Royal Highness Prince Duan?
Even if she could withstand thirty lashes of the cane and not be crippled or killed, two years in prison? What a joke! The Ming family couldn't afford to lose face like that, and she absolutely couldn't accept it!
She would rather die than go to jail!
Qin Qingyao was speechless watching from the side. Ming Ruoxi was a typical spoiled girl. She was too self-centered and took it for granted that she was right.
Originally, this matter was not that complicated. Not to mention that we are still looking for the cow. Even if we really can't find it, there are so many people here, including the male and female protagonists. How could they not be able to handle this matter?
If she had just quietly huddled aside and watched Lin Xiafeng perform, perhaps the crisis would have been perfectly resolved before Ling Jingxuan arrived.
Even if Lin Xiafeng can't solve the problem and needs Prince Duan to come to the rescue, it won't be a difficult task.
But she just didn't give Ling Jingxuan the chance to perform, and insisted on jumping around herself. As a result, she made things worse and worse, and almost dragged Prince Duan into the water with her.
Prince Duan would never allow these villagers to be disappointed in him, to have opinions about him, and to feel that he was biased towards the aristocratic families and ignored the lives of the people. If this matter were to spread, if it were to reach the emperor, he would not be able to afford the price!
So, Ming Ruoxi is actually killing herself!
The people who had been refusing to give in were frightened to the point of being speechless when they saw that His Royal Highness Prince Duan was really angry and wanted to convict the young lady.
Although they were unhappy about not treating Ming Ruoxi, if they really offended such a young lady for a cow, her family would find any reason to retaliate against their entire village. Wouldn't that be like playing a game?
Now everyone is in an awkward position. What should we do?
Prince Duan only told Lu Hui what to do according to the law, but he did not ask him to drag Ming Ruoxi away and beat her immediately. Obviously, he just wanted to scare the idiot Ming Ruoxi into shutting up and make the people believe that he was fair.
But now he was silent again, obviously waiting for someone to come out and find a way for all three parties to smoothly walk down and resolve the matter peacefully.
After all, would her father agree to ruin Ming Ruoxi for a cow?
Prince Duan did not want to destroy the reputation he had worked so hard to build among the people. He certainly did not want to ruin his relationship with Lord Ming for such a small matter and create another political enemy for himself.
Qin Qingyao looked at Lin Xiafeng several times and found that this person was actually in a daze with a thoughtful look on his face. Please, Miss, it's your turn to perform, go ahead!
Qin Qingyao was extremely anxious, but Lin Xiafeng was so absorbed in her thoughts that she apparently didn't notice that Qin Qingyao was looking at her.
If it were in the past, Qin Qingyao would have applauded when Prince Duan was caught in such a dilemma, but she couldn't do that now. She now hoped that His Highness Prince Duan would have smooth sailing and ascend the throne as soon as possible!
So, when Prince Duan was about to have Lu Hui drag Ming Ruoxi away and beat her, she finally spoke up, "Oh, Your Highness, Prince Duan, you're too serious. Haven't the villagers already gone to look for the cow? Maybe they've found it."
"Miss Ming is young and kind-hearted. Even though she did something wrong, she actually feels sorry for the buffalo just like the other villagers!"
"Besides, she had never been to the village before and didn't understand the importance of the buffalo to everyone, so she acted impulsively. She definitely didn't mean it. If she knew how precious the buffalo was, she definitely wouldn't let it go without permission, right, Miss Ming?"
Ming Ruoxi's face turned pale with fright at this time. When someone spoke for her, she just nodded vigorously no matter what was said.
Seeing her finally admit her mistake, the people finally felt better.
So, if she had corrected her attitude and apologized sincerely from the beginning, things wouldn't have been so complicated!
"Although it's the busy farming season and buffaloes are hard to come by, don't worry, Miss Ming will do her best to make up for it. If we can't find the buffalo and buy a new one, she will find a way to ensure everyone can plant the seedlings on time."
"If it really doesn't work, don't we still have His Royal Highness Prince Duan? Even if we bring the guards of the palace here, it won't delay our business, right, Your Highness?"
Ling Jingxuan nodded, this little thing was no problem at all!
"If that's the case, there should be calves available on the market in a month or two. Then, ask Miss Ming to buy a few more for you."
"Then you won't have to share one cow among eight families. Maybe one cow will be enough for four families. Wouldn't that save you a lot of trouble in the future?"
After Qin Qingyao finished speaking, the villagers, instead of being angry, began to half-believe and half-doubtfully look forward to a better future. If four families had one cow, that would mean there were eight cows in the whole village, which doubled the number.
I have never heard of a village with ten or eight cows in the surrounding villages.
Ming Ruoxi saw the villagers start to chatter and look happy, and she felt like she was going crazy. Didn't she just say compensation? Didn't she say she would buy them cows?
Why did these people almost jump up when she said that? They were so happy just because Qin Qingyao said that. This is too bullying!
Prince Duan heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the matter was almost resolved. He then threw out the most difficult question, "What about Miss Ming..."
After all, he had just said clearly that stealing and slaughtering cattle were serious crimes and the punishment was imprisonment. At this time, the villagers had not yet said they would let her go, so someone had to take the lead.
Qin Qingyao also knew that this matter was difficult to handle. It was impossible to sentence them to jail, but if they were released like this, the people would still feel uncomfortable and still think that they were bullying others by taking advantage of their power. What's so great about being rich?
"Miss Ming is young and didn't commit this crime intentionally, but the deed has already been done, and it has harmed the interests of the villagers and violated our country's criminal law. If there is no punishment, it seems unreasonable."
"How about this? Since Miss Ming doesn't know much about the lives of ordinary people, why not punish her by making her work for Tugen'er's family? This will not only help her make up for her mistakes, but also give her a taste of ordinary people's lives. It will teach her a lesson, and she won't dare mess around again!"
Not to mention Prince Duan, the villagers were extremely satisfied with Qin Qingyao's idea.
They actually don't care whether Ming Ruoxi goes to jail or not. They just want to vent their anger. Ming Ruoxi is a rich girl and has never been involved in housework.
For her, doing farm work is more painful than taking her life. She just wanted to throw money at people, but now she should go to the fields and feel it herself!
Seeing that the people had no objections, Prince Duan readily made the decision, "Since everyone agrees with this method, then let's do it."
"Tugen'er's mother, just take her to work in the fields and teach her a lesson so she will remember this!"
"If she dares to be lazy, or loses her temper and refuses to obey you, you can report to me. There are plenty of empty rooms in the government prisons!"
"Yes! Then this cow..."
"Don't worry, I will send people to help continue the search. If we really can't find them, I will do as Princess Wu Ling just said and return the six calves to you within two months."
As Ling Jingxuan finished speaking, the villagers suddenly turned to look at Qin Qingyao with their eyes shining, which scared Qin Qingyao. "Oh, you are the princess, may your majesty be blessed!"
Qin Qingyao: "..."
"Yesterday, someone went door to door and delivered pork to us all, saying it was sent by the princess. We didn't know who the princess was, and we didn't dare to ask. We didn't even have time to thank her. Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The people surrounded Qin Qingyao and thanked her happily, and treated her very kindly. Only then did she realize that the people in this village really couldn't afford to eat pork, and were reluctant to buy such a big piece of real meat to take home during the New Year.
I heard that the princess ate the pig's offal herself, and gave the thighs, ribs, and pork belly to others. This is a good princess of the people and a good role model for all officials!
Some people even misunderstood her as Ling Jingxuan's princess. Ling Jingxuan just smiled with her eyes narrowed and did not explain, which made Dugu Yu very angry.
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