"That was clearly a trap you set for me. I didn't want to gamble, but you dragged me into the gambling den and swindled all my money in no time. My poor mother and children are waiting for me to buy food to cook. Heavens, why don't you punish these scoundrels? I have no money and no land."
Hearing this, the man became excited and shouted loudly at the door. The people around did not dare to come over to watch directly, but could only listen quietly. They were used to such things.
"Get out of here, or I'll slap you! Now get out of here or I'll bring some people to beat you up." Seeing this, the man couldn't help but shove and push.
"You have no conscience! You cheated me out of my money! I'm going to sue you!"
"Hey hey hey, brothers, did you hear that? He's going to sue us! Tell me, where are you going to sue us? We're so scared!" The others laughed at this.
"I... I heard that a new magistrate has come to the county. I'm going to go and complain to him, so you won't be thrown into jail."
"Heh, complain to the county magistrate? I think you've got some nerve. Ask them if the county magistrate dares to try our Chief Long's case. Even the county magistrate has to bow down to Chief Long."
The two gatekeepers spoke arrogantly, arms crossed, looking at the passing constables without taking them seriously.
"How dare you speak like that? Not only do you disregard us, but you also dare to disregard the county magistrate!" Li Chang said angrily, dissatisfied with their attitude.
"Hey, Brother Li Chang, where did this pretty lady beside you come from? She's quite a looker. Tsk tsk, I never thought you brothers would have such good fortune with women."
The man saw Xi Chun standing nearby and couldn't help but tease her.
“Fu Bing, go teach him a lesson. This lady is not someone anyone can tease at will.” When Xi Chun heard him say this, she naturally retaliated without hesitation. If she didn’t fight back this time, they would really think that she and Fu Changfeng were pushovers.
"Yes, Madam." Fu Bing was a guard of the Fu family. Upon receiving his master's order, he rushed forward and punched the foul-mouthed man twice.
"You, oh, you dare to hit me? Do you know who I am?"
"Hmph, it's just a dog, how dare it bark in front of me? Doesn't it know it'll bite off more than it can chew?" Xi Chun mocked, then led her people away.
"Stop right there! Who are you? How dare you hit someone from the Long family? I'll teach you a lesson!" Another guard, seeing their arrogance, was about to step forward to stop them.
"Tell your master that this is the county magistrate's wife. You should think carefully about whether you dare to beat the county magistrate's wife in the street," Yang Jiang retorted when he saw that they still wanted to stop him.
"The county magistrate's wife?" Upon hearing this, the two gatekeepers dared not stop her; she was no ordinary person.
"Please, Madam, help me get justice!" The beggar rushed forward, knelt before Xichun, and begged for her help.
"If you have any grievances, you can go to the county government office to report the case to the county magistrate," Xi Chun could only say, seeing his attitude.
When Xichun first heard them say that, he thought the matter would be difficult to handle. However, judging from his appearance, he was obviously destitute. If he didn't help, he was afraid that the family would be ruined and people would die.
Xi Chun asked Fu Bing to go to the county government office ahead of time to tell Fu Changfeng about what was going on, so that he could be mentally prepared.
After Xichun and her group left, the people who had been quietly watching began to whisper among themselves.
"Is this the new county magistrate's wife? She looks so young and has such an imposing presence. She truly lives up to her status as an official's wife."
"Of course! This county magistrate is really lucky to be able to marry such a young wife. If we were ordinary people, who would want to marry you if we didn't have money? Only the Long Tusi family could do something like this."
"Do you really think the county magistrate will take care of this? There's more than one magistrate in the county. If he does, how many people will go to the county office to file complaints?"
"Tch, just you wait and see. He definitely won't dare to file a complaint. They say officials have two mouths, and those with reason but no money shouldn't come in. Tell me, which of us ordinary folks dares to report to the authorities? Aren't we afraid of retaliation?"
"That's true. I think he's just not quite there yet. He'll figure it out soon enough and just accept his bad luck. He messed up the Long family and still wanted money? He's too naive."
These people's words did not reach Xichun's ears. Today, she personally witnessed the Long family's monopolistic power and bullying of the people in the entire Shaoming County. If no measures were taken, they would probably be sidelined as soon as they arrived. It seems that this business should be started as soon as possible.
Once home, Xichun began preparing a plan on how to open up the Shaoming County market, determined to get it done as soon as possible.
Taozi's competitive spirit had also increased. He had originally wanted to take action himself and show those people what he was capable of, but Xichun stopped him. He thought about the Long family's influence in the local area, which was undoubtedly in business and land. He had no way to deal with land, but he was determined to make his business a success and suppress the Long family's businesses.
When Fu Changfeng learned of what Xichun had said, he couldn't help but pay attention. He and Zhao Yuping had been checking the population register and local annals of Shaoming County earlier that day, and after learning about this matter, they also took it seriously.
"It seems that the Long family has been committing crimes in Shaoming County for quite some time. According to the county annals we found, the Long family gradually became the largest family in Shaoming County more than a hundred years ago. Later, they gained the praise of local officials by building bridges and roads, which is why they became chieftains. They did a lot of good deeds back then."
However, the Long family is quite interesting. Originally, the eldest son was supposed to inherit the position of family head, but he suddenly passed away forty years ago. His son and wife also passed away soon after, which is why the current family head, Long Zhang, succeeded him.
It was around this time that the Long family reached their peak, using various means to buy up large amounts of land in Shaoming County and driving up grain prices. Other families, lacking their power, had no choice but to follow suit. Ultimately, it was the local people who suffered the most from these tactics.
After reading it, Fu Changfeng and Zhao Yuping couldn't help but sigh. It was clear that the Long family's style had changed significantly after the second son took over, which was why many people gradually had more and more opinions about them.
These days, they seize other people's land, claim they take the money, then force people to gamble, and then take all the money back. These kinds of things are too numerous to recount.
“Yes, if such a scourge is not eliminated, the people of Shaoming County will not live a good life. Go and inquire about the businesses and the character of the heads of the other families besides the Long family. We cannot shake his foundation in a short time, so we should support others to deal with him.”
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