Chapter 21
At the market, Grandma Sun suddenly felt a pang of anxiety. She clutched her chest, and Aunt Liu, who was beside her, asked, "What's wrong?"
Grandma Sun frowned, feeling short of breath: "I don't know, I suddenly feel a little panicked, afraid that something might happen to Aqing when he's home alone, and his foot isn't fully healed yet."
Aunt Liu didn't take it seriously: "He's such a grown man, what kind of accident could happen to him?"
Grandma Sun shook her head, losing all interest in shopping. The market was more than half an hour's walk from her home. Grandma Sun always thought her intuition was very accurate. She told Aunt Liu and hurried home.
Worried that she was too slow, Aunt Sun even called a car. She brought all the money she had with her when she went out today, wanting to buy some good meat to nourish Chen Qing, who was still too thin. She also wanted to see if there was any good fabric to make two new outfits for Chen Qing, as the last time she made new clothes for him was two years ago.
The closer she got to the village, the more anxious Grandma Sun became.
On the other side, Chen Qing was tied up by Sun Kang and his group and taken out of the village, but because almost everyone had gone to the market today, there was no one in the entire village who could see him struggling.
Sun Kang was truly determined to succeed this time. He spent a lot of money to park a horse-drawn carriage on the main road outside the village. They were about to reach the main road. Once they reached the main road, the business deal would be 100% a done deal.
Looking at the carriage parked to the side, Chen Qing felt truly desperate. He had struggled the whole way and tried to make a sound, but to no avail.
Just when Chen Qing was in complete despair, a tremendous force knocked several people over, but caught Chen Qing steadily.
As Chen Qing felt dizzy, he smelled a familiar scent. He opened his eyes, which were already blurred with tears, and could only see a faint outline of Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan put Chen Qing aside before looking at the group of people. He recognized the leader; he had been fed a mouthful of dirt by him last time.
Sun Kang naturally remembered his prowess, so he hid behind his husband, trying to hide: "It's our own family matter, when has it become the business of an outsider to interfere!"
Sun Kang became a bit more assertive. At this moment, there was only Zhou Yuan, while there were five or six of them. Were they afraid of five or six against one?
Zhou Yuan was not alone. He was also going to the market today, but as soon as he stepped out, Meng Qi from the village called him back. Meng Qi said that the matter he had inquired about in town a few days ago had made progress and asked him to go and take a look today.
Zhou Yuan drove his oxcart back home. Meng Qi went back to the village to call the other people who had returned from the battlefield with him. They all knew about Zhou Yuan's military exploits on the battlefield. After arriving in the village, Zhou Yuan had also dealt with the old scoundrels in the village. He didn't even respect the village chief. In their hearts, Zhou Yuan's image was even more impressive.
That day, Zhou Yuan only mentioned what kind of work he wanted to do, and all of them responded enthusiastically. In the village, they relied solely on the weather for their livelihood, but if they went out to try their luck, they might be able to reap greater rewards.
So two of them went to the market, while the rest stayed home waiting for news from Zhou Yuan.
When Zhou Yuan returned from the market, he saw the horse-drawn carriage parked on the main road at the entrance of the village. He asked Meng Qi next to him, "Does this carriage look familiar?"
Meng Qi shook his head: "I've never seen it before, and I don't know either, since we only came back this year."
Zhou Yuan nodded, but in the army, the commander had taught them that if they had any doubts, they must investigate them instead of keeping them to themselves. If they didn't get to the bottom of their doubts, it would be too late to regret it.
So Zhou Yuan had Meng Qi drive his oxcart into the village to find the remaining young men. He hid on a small hillside and waited for the cart's owner. If nothing happened, that would be best. If something did happen, his precautions would be worthwhile.
He never expected that the carriage belonged to the middle-aged man from last time. What infuriated him the most was that they had kidnapped Chen Qing. If he hadn't been so vigilant and kept watch here, what would have happened to Chen Qing!
Zhou Yuan first put Chen Qing aside on the road. He didn't even use a knife to cut the ropes binding Chen Qing; he just used brute force to break them. Chen Qing cried loudly, and Zhou Yuan then pulled the cloth out of his mouth.
Chen Qing gripped Zhou Yuan's arm tightly, like a drowning man grasping at the last glimmer of hope. He no longer cared about avoiding suspicion or proceeding step by step. Zhou Yuan wiped away his tears with his fingertips: "Sit down first, wait for me a while, don't be afraid."
Chen Qingcai released his hand, and Sun Kang, seeing their actions, cursed, "So that's why you're always picking on us, you've been hooking up with that slut all along..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yuan punched him and sent him flying far away. The remaining members of the Sun family rushed forward. Meng Qi, who was driving the oxcart back with his comrades, watched Zhou Yuan fight with a group of people, his heart pounding in his throat.
The people on the oxcart jumped off and joined the battle, believing that Brother Yuan was the right person. The Sun family consisted of three old men, while Zhou Yuan's side was made up of young and strong men. Soon, the Sun family members were all beaten to the ground, leaving only Sun Kang's husband lying on the ground, unsure whether to take care of his husband or his son.
After the fight, Meng Qi noticed Chen Qing sitting to the side, then glanced at Zhou Yuan and asked, "Brother Yuan, what happened? Who are these people?"
"The human traffickers, or rather thieves, stole money from Aunt Sun's house and wanted to kidnap Chen Qing."
"Huh?" Meng Qi's eyes widened in anger. "Why did you kidnap Chen Qing?"
"Pah!" Old Sun said, clutching his back. "My sister bought it, so what's wrong with reselling it now!"
Zhou Yuan stepped on the hand that was supporting his waist: "Who do you think you are? You have the right to interfere in other people's family affairs! Even if they're going to sell, it'll be the aunt who does it, what's it to you!"
“My sister is a widow, so naturally our family should be in charge of everything concerning her!” Sun Kang shouted.
"Brother Yuan, should we report this to the authorities?" another man named Meng Shuanzi said. "We beat him up like this, will there be any problems?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "We caught a thief red-handed, and Meng Qi was even injured. If we take this to the authorities, we will be in the right."
Meng Qi looked at his hand, which had been scratched by Sun Kang's husband and left a bloody mark, and paused. "Then we need to hurry to the county government office." Otherwise, the wound on his hand would heal in no time.
"Let's wait here for a while and decide what to do when Auntie comes back."
Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi had already tied these people up with ropes, and now they were all strung together and squatting by the roadside.
I thought Aunt Sun wouldn't be back until very late, but to my surprise, she came back in an oxcart a short while later. She stared blankly at the messy road.
Then she saw Chen Qing sitting on a large rock, and the Sun family members who were tied up like dumplings.
Looking at Chen Qing, whose hair was disheveled and whose face was covered in tears, Aunt Sun squatted down in front of him and touched his hair to check if he was injured: "Qing, are you alright?"
Chen Qing had been holding back for a long time, but his emotions finally broke down when he saw Granny Sun: "Mother..."
Grandma Sun comforted him for a while before going to see the people they had tied up.
The Sun family consists of three brothers, two younger brothers, and a brother-in-law.
"Make them release us immediately!" Even at this point, Sun Kang still acted like a brother from her maternal family, not feeling that she had done anything wrong.
Looking at Chen Qing's purse that had fallen out of Sun Lao Er's arms during the fight, Aunt Sun lowered her head and pondered for a long time.
Then he looked at Zhou Yuan and asked, "Zhou Yuan, can you help me report this to the authorities? Burglary and trafficking of a husband should be severely punished, right?"
“Okay, Auntie, I’ll go with you.”
The Sun family below were making a racket, all cursing Sun Da Niang for being heartless and an ingrate. Zhou Yuan found it really annoying, so he had Meng Qi and a few others pull up some grass to gag them.
"I'll go with my aunt to report this to the authorities. Please go to my aunt's house and keep watch, and don't damage the house."
"good."
"Sun Cui! Don't forget your surname!" Sun Kang was still cursing before his mouth was gagged.
“My surname is Meng! Didn’t your family say that a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl? I haven’t been surnamed Sun for a long time.”
Chen Qing held Grandma Sun's hand tightly.
Taking six uncooperative people to the yamen was no easy task, but with Zhou Yuan there, it wasn't difficult at all. When they arrived at the yamen gate, Granny Sun was still a little dazed.
But when she saw Chen Qing sitting on the oxcart, with a large bump on his forehead and disheveled hair, she made up her mind again.
Each drumbeat was harder than the last, initially uncertain, then becoming more resolute, each beat seemingly telling the story of the hardships and difficulties of the past years.
The yamen gates were wide open, and the county magistrate, in a very serious tone, asked: "Who is here, and what is the matter you wish to accuse?"
Grandma Sun took a deep breath: "I, Sun Cui, hereby accuse Sun Kang and his entourage from the Sun family of Nanzhuang Village of breaking into my home and robbing my husband."
The magistrate looked at the large group of people kneeling below the court, and naturally noticed Zhou Yuan standing straight outside the crowd.
"You say they stole and robbed husbands, but do you have any witnesses?"
“Yes, we are witnesses.” Zhou Yuan bowed to the magistrate and pulled Meng Qi beside him. “We witnessed these people breaking into the house and it was we who saved this husband.”
The magistrate glanced at Chen Qing, who was cowering in the crowd, and then turned his gaze to Zhou Yuan. He knew this man; when the higher-ups came to process his household registration documents, they mentioned him briefly.
He knew that Zhou Yuan had distinguished himself on the battlefield, though others were unaware of it. He had once rescued his commander from being surrounded by more than twenty enemy soldiers.
After the battle, the commander wanted to recruit him into his own ranks and take him back to the capital, but Zhou Yuan said that he had been away from home for too long and wanted to go home.
After returning home, he found his family gone, so he brought his grandmother's memorial tablet and came here to settle down in Luohe Village.
The magistrate thought a great figure had arrived, but he didn't expect that the man had been quiet all along. Today, he came to the county office to testify.
The magistrate naturally trusted him.
"According to the laws of our dynasty, burglary is punishable by twenty strokes of the cane, robbery of a husband is punishable by thirty strokes of the cane, and multiple offenses shall be punished together, with each person receiving fifty strokes of the cane. The husband shall be given a lighter punishment of thirty strokes of the cane."
Sun Kang's eyes widened: "Sir, don't just listen to their side of the story! This Sun Cui is my sister, and this husband is someone he bought for my nephew. He is of low social status, so there's no way we're forcibly taking him!"
“He is no longer of low social status. From the moment I bought him, he has been a member of the Meng family and registered in the Meng family. How can he be considered of low social status!”
Sun Kang argued, "We have his indenture here, which proves that he is of low social status."
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