"At least they still have some conscience!" Old Xu sighed.
Wu Laosi continued, "But it's no use having a conscience now. Five lives have been lost in our village. None of them will escape! They'll all be handed over to the authorities and await execution in the autumn."
"Yes, hand them over to the authorities! Make them pay for their murders with their lives!" The other men who were drinking millet porridge put down their bowls, their eyes slightly red with anger and shouted.
The King of Yan has rebelled, but both the King of Yan and the imperial court are too far from Shanshui Village. In particular, the King of Yan's rebellion is a recent event. The officials are still the same officials, and the yamen runners are still around. These bandits have killed people and should pay with their lives.
Everyone present waited for the trial to be over, and after the charges were written down, these people would be sent to the government office at dawn to await the authorities' decision.
They could not kill these bandits privately, especially since there were nearly a hundred of them, but with the officials around, these bandits were bound to die anyway.
Shui Qing wasn't a native of the village after all. He had read a lot of novels about power struggles, palace intrigues, domestic dramas, and disasters in China. He had seen it all, even if he hadn't eaten pork. Seeing that the villagers were naive, he didn't say anything but silently followed them.
The villagers were honest and simple, unaware that these bandits were no longer human. Having survived the floods until now, they were all fat and strong with bloodshot eyes, perhaps more terrifying than evil spirits, and had no conscience or morality left!
Xu Laosan was in charge of interrogating a group of bandits led by Zhu Laoda. When he saw his elder brother and Shuiqing arrive with a large group of people, he wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped forward to explain to Shuiqing first: "Sister-in-law Shuiqing, this man is very stubborn!"
They wouldn't reveal anything, insisting on seeing an official and demanding that we take them to the government office.
That's really strange. What kind of bandit would voluntarily ask to see an official? Isn't that just courting death?
Xu Laoda, Li Wen, Li Wu, Wang Laoba, and the others were also completely confused. They lowered their voices and asked, "Didn't you say anything like cutting off their ears or noses to scare them?"
“I did tell them! How could I not have told them? But they weren’t afraid at all. You know, I’m good at killing chickens, ducks, and rabbits, but I really don’t dare to cut off people’s ears or noses.”
"The moment I hesitated, Boss Zhu saw through me. Not only did he keep quiet himself, he also instigated those around him to remain silent." Xu Laosan, anxious but not forgetting to lower his voice, explained the current situation.
He thought that since he had gone out to deliver goods with Master Bai several times, he was a worldly person who had never missed a trip to the prefectural city and had even wounded several bandits on two separate occasions. He thought that interrogating these ten or so people would be a piece of cake. But when he actually started, he realized where he was lacking!
He was indeed good at swarming and hacking at bandits, because he didn't care about other people's lives, but these people wanted his. However, once they were tied up, he couldn't bring himself to cut them properly.
They were suppressed at every turn afterward.
He complained pitifully, "No matter what I say, Boss Zhu just keeps yelling for us to send them to the authorities, saying that we have no right to interrogate them, only the officials can!"
Shui Qing: .....I didn't realize that Boss Zhu was knowledgeable about the law?
Then he suddenly laughed. The laws of China do not apply to the Ming Dynasty. Here, let alone bandits, even if villagers catch thieves and kidnappers, they can just kill them. What right do they have?
The fact that Old Master Zhu would say such a thing only proves that he is not afraid of seeing officials, and may even hope to see them!
Why would a bandit want to see an official?
There's only one reason: he knows this official will protect him!
Zhu Laoda raised his swollen eyelids and swollen head, and saw that the man interrogating him was actually talking to a woman. He couldn't help but laugh.
A smile tugged at the corner of his chapped mouth, and he hissed, "It hurts!"
These men in the village may not be the brightest, but they're incredibly strong. And what they're talking about isn't poison at all, it's chili peppers! I don't know who came up with the idea, but chili peppers can be made into a spray, and the effect is much stronger than eating chili peppers!
However, "Ha, what use is a woman who shouldn't stay home and take care of the kids? What's the point of her coming here?"
Boss Zhu spoke up from the front, and his underlings burst into laughter from behind: "Women should stay at home and warm the bed!"
"What, you want a woman to lift a knife you can't lift? I'm telling you, if you dare to use a knife, you'll be in big trouble when you see the officials!"
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