Upon hearing this, Chen Jinheng turned to look at Gu Qianluo. Seeing her solemn expression and silent gaze, he spoke in a deep voice.
"Your Excellency, the tenant farmers' residence is quite far from Chaolu Manor. I hope you can grant us another hour. I will send someone to invite them over immediately."
"Very well, since General Chen is so willing, then I will wait a little longer!"
After speaking, Chen Jinheng waved to the guards below and ordered, "Quickly go and fetch them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Before the groom could bring the horse over, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the main hall.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass on Chaolu Manor? If you don't leave, don't blame us for bullying the old man."
"How can you talk like that? It was clearly a young master from your Chaolu Manor who invited us here!"
"Young master? We don't have any young masters here! You need to have some basis for your stories!"
"Guards! Expel them from Chaolu Manor!"
Suddenly, the guards of Chaolu Manor raised their black sticks and swung them at the woman. She tried to run away, but tripped and fell to the ground. Seeing the flying stick about to fall, the old man quickly returned and shielded the woman.
"Ah!" the woman cried out in fear.
In a moment of danger, a tall, slender figure spun down and swiftly channeled his inner energy, striking the wooden stick in mid-air. Instantly, the stick was shattered by the powerful internal force, breaking into hundreds of pieces.
"Outrageous! Who ordered you to attack them?"
A voice as loud as thunder fell, and the guards all turned to look.
They saw Chen Jinheng, his face ashen and his eyes cold, striding angrily toward them, and they all knelt on the spot like headless turtles.
"General, spare our lives! They sneaked into Chaolu Manor without permission and even hid outside the main hall to stop the generals from having a meeting."
Therefore, our subordinates used force to drive them away!
"They are guests invited by me! They must not be rude! All of you, please step aside!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the kneeling guard hurriedly obeyed and left.
With all the servants having left, Chen Jinheng's gaze softened from its coldness as he stepped forward and bowed to help Yang Da'an up.
Grandpa Yang raised his head slightly, rubbed his eyes for a while, and then realized that the general they were talking about was the same person he had chatted with yesterday. A look of surprise appeared in his eyes, and he knelt down on the ground again with a thud to pay his respects.
"General Chen! General Chen! Please, please help our family!"
"Don't worry, old man. You have done my family a favor, and I will definitely stand up for you."
The magistrate and the clerk are already waiting inside. Just tell them the truth!
"Good! Good! Thank you, General Chen!"
Suddenly, joy spread across Yang Da'an's wrinkled face as he stepped forward to help his frightened wife up.
"My lady, get up quickly! Look! This is General Chen from the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion; he's here to stand up for us!"
Upon hearing this, the old woman's anxious gaze gradually eased, and she slowly rose, supporting herself on Yang Da'an's arm.
"General Chen, are you really willing to stand up for us?"
"Yes, ma'am! Sir! Please come with me!"
A moment later, Chen Jinheng led Yang Da'an and his wife into the main hall.
Ling Xi and Ling Fan, whose hands were bound by the guards, glanced at each other when they saw the two elderly people behind Chen Jinheng, and silently lowered their heads.
"Your Excellency, the clerk, Mr. and Mrs. Yang Da'an have arrived."
Magistrate Li's eyes flashed, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly as he spoke in a gentle voice.
"Yang Da'an, tell me in detail everything that Ling Xi and Ling Fan have said and done to you!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Da'an and his wife looked embarrassed and turned to Chen Jinheng.
Chen Jinheng's eyebrows twitched slightly as he addressed Yang Da'an and his wife.
"Uncle Yang, you don't need to hold back, just tell the truth."
With Chen Jinheng's protection, Yang Da'an and his wife looked much more relaxed.
After a long while, Yang Da'an recounted in detail how Ling Xi and Ling Fan had tricked them.
Seeing that Yang Da'an had exposed their misdeeds, Ling Xi panicked and began to make incoherent rebuttals.
"Your Honor! What these two scoundrels are saying is all lies! They've made it all up!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Da'an's face flushed red with anxiety, and he shouted sternly, his hands trembling with excitement.
"Your Honor, everything the old farmer said is true. Please investigate thoroughly!"
"Yang Da'an! You're talking nonsense! My brother and I only helped you apply for an extension of your land rent because we felt sorry for your Yang family!"
I never imagined you would be so ungrateful, biting the hand that feeds you!
"Your Honor, please investigate thoroughly! I, Yang Da'an, am absolutely not lying!"
We really did pay the rent last year; these two young masters cheated us out of it.
I remember that last year I was able to pay the land rent with top-quality rice.
But they said our rice was inferior and couldn't be used as land rent, and they even withheld our so-called "inferior rice".
They said that if they couldn't pay the rent with top-quality rice, they would rent the land to someone else!
Our family has ten members; without land, we would have no livelihood.
Finally, our whole family pitched in, going to the market to buy rice, begging for food in the river, and patching things up from one problem to another, until we finally managed to scrape together enough money to pay the rent.
However......"
Yang Da'an, panting heavily, recounted his tragic ordeal in detail.
Everyone listening was deeply moved.
Magistrate Li was also moved by what he heard, and the clerk beside him also had tears in his eyes.
However, no matter how moving Yang Da'an's words are, without evidence, they are just empty words.
Magistrate Li composed himself and said gently, "Yang Da'an, I have noted everything you have said. But do you have any evidence?"
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