Shuiqing didn't intend to make the relationship too strained.
Ling Ran said she would try to get from Shanshui Village to Sihui within three days. She estimated it would take five days. If there were no bandits to keep them from getting back, it would take another three days, which would be eight days. At least within eight days, it would be best not to break ties with the government.
The longer it drags on, the safer Shanshui Village will be.
She watched the bailiffs approach, a smile playing on her lips, her expression indifferent.
"The Hu family."
The water was clear but there was no response.
The head constable, Sun, quickly reached out and tugged at the sleeve of his companion who had spoken, frowning as he gestured.
They really can't see the situation clearly. This village is obviously different from the villages we've been to before! How can we treat it with the same attitude as before?
Putting everything else aside, which village would allow a woman to be in charge? Even if the woman is in charge at home in private, if the officials come to report, it's the men in the family who will step forward to handle the situation!
The old village chief was right there, and there were more than a dozen men, none of them saying a word. The old and the young all looked at Hu Shuiqing, a mere woman. When had they ever met someone so tacit?
With a broad smile on his face, he bowed and clasped his hands in a polite manner, asking, "Sister Hu, we received someone at the government office this morning to file a complaint about what happened last night. You should understand why we have come here."
The saying goes, "You can't hit someone who's smiling at you." He spoke to her politely, but if she still didn't know what was good for her, then he wouldn't be so polite!
Shui Qing returned the greeting with a smile and asked gently, "You're too kind, sir. I do know about what happened last night, but I wonder what brings you here?"
Another constable grew anxious and stepped forward to question, "How could you not know! There were over a hundred people last night, and you arrested at least eighty or ninety of them. What about the others? Hand them over, dead or alive!"
Constable Sun's brow twitched; he felt he shouldn't have brought this pig-like companion along!
The next moment, they heard the woman opposite them say in a pitiful voice, "Gentlemen, you have indeed come to stand up for us!"
But how can you, sir, ask us for people? Look at our village, dozens of villagers were injured and five died. We barely managed to drive away those bandits, how could we possibly capture them?
We implore you officials to uphold justice for us!
“We were living peacefully and honestly in our own village when those bandits rushed in, shouting and killing, causing heavy casualties in our village. We were just about to send someone to the government to ask the magistrate to make a decision, but we never expected that they would dare to file a false complaint first!”
"Perfect! Officers, you should quickly arrest these bandits and throw them in jail. As for their accomplices, we surely know their hiding place; arrest them too, and they'll prevent them from causing further trouble for the villagers!"
The bailiff who was asking the question choked and forgot to respond for a long time.
In fact, they had already considered countermeasures on their way here.
Eighty or ninety people cannot be hidden. Even if they are all killed, it will not be possible to cover it up completely in just a few hours. They are prepared to come in and see the people. In fact, the villagers will beg them to take the people away. They will then secretly release the group on the way.
But when they came in, they didn't see anyone or any large amount of blood, so they could only hide, thinking that if they could trick someone and take them away, they would have successfully completed their mission!
However, after being told this by the woman in front of him, he had no legitimate reason to act.
He looked pleadingly at Constable Sun, but was met with a fierce glare from his superior, leaving him no choice but to lower his head and remain silent.
While Sun, the constable, cursed his companion inwardly, he remained calm and collected, saying, "We received a complaint from disaster victims early this morning. They said they were so hungry that they had come to your village to beg for food."
I never expected that you would not only refuse to give them up, but also use lime, poison, and even knives to forcibly detain dozens of them. You think the disaster victims are pitiful and have a hard life, aren't they? Why don't you just hand them over to us to take away?
"Don't worry, Magistrate Wu will definitely punish them severely! He will give you an explanation."
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