"No matter what, get everyone ready right away," Village Chief Li said with a grim expression.
Upon hearing this, the others remembered the group from Xiahe Village who had come to rob them with the bandits, and they immediately dared not be careless, so they all ran back to grab their weapons.
Jiang Qinyu's small cloth bag contained a brand-new folding entrenching tool she had just received. She wasn't worried about not having a weapon, but the thought of those people in Xiahe Village left her speechless.
In the previous life, the original owner and his companions were killed by the people of Xiahe Village. At that time, Xiahe Village had a large population, with more than 300 able-bodied men.
But in this life, their people faced ruthless bandits head-on and were killed, leaving only a little over a hundred strong laborers to escape.
However, these people, for their own benefit, colluded with bandits to rob Dinghe Village. As a result, they were not only beaten up by the villagers, but were also detained by Lu Yanzheng's men at the county government office. It is unknown how they will be dealt with.
As Jiang Qinyu pondered, she saw a crowd gathering at the village entrance; the remaining people from Xiahe Village had arrived.
“You people from Dinghe Village, get out here right now! My husband came to your village a couple of days ago and hasn’t come back. Have you done something heinous?”
"Yes, my dad came too, and he didn't go back either. They must have been harmed by you!"
"If you don't hand over the person, we'll stay in your village and not leave!"
"Hand over the person immediately..."
When Village Chief Li and the others saw this group of elderly, weak, women and children arrive, acting so unreasonably and demanding that they hand over the people, everyone was stunned.
Liu Erleng looked at Li Dachui, whose leg was still not fully healed, and asked, "Dachui, did I hear that right? They actually want us to hand over the people?"
"I think they've gone mad. They're the ones who colluded with bandits to rob us, and now they want to cling to us? What a load of rubbish!" Li Dachui spat, glaring angrily at the group of Xiahe Village people at the village entrance.
Village Chief Li was also disgusted. He looked at the old woman leading the group with a blank expression. "Aunt Zhuang, I'm only telling you this out of kindness because you helped me give birth back then. The people in your village were caught red-handed by the General Protector of the Nation, who was visiting his hometown, for colluding with bandits to burn, kill, and plunder our village. Now they and the bandits have been taken to the county government. If you want to find someone, go to the county government!"
"What? They've all been arrested?" Granny Zhuang stared at him in disbelief. "And what about this 'Great General Protector of the Nation'? Who is that?"
This guy must be a high-ranking official! If he arrests them, won't all of them be doomed?
In fact, some people from Xiahe Village came to inquire about the situation yesterday and learned that their people had been arrested, but they didn't know what kind of general was behind it.
Besides asking for people, they also want to gain some benefits from Dingshui Village.
"In short, since you're not in our village, we have no obligation to help you with anything. From now on, your village is not allowed to come to the dam to draw water again, or don't blame us for being impolite!" Village Chief Li sternly swept his gaze over the villagers of Xiahe Village.
They initially felt sorry for the people of Xiahe Village and even let them fetch water from the dam. Whether they used the water for food and water or for irrigating their fields, it was considered helping them get through their difficulties.
But those people are not only ungrateful, they even robbed them with the bandits. If he continues to let those people take a share of their water, wouldn't he be seen as a fool?
"Why can't we fetch water? It's not like you bought the water!" Someone from Xiahe Village immediately became agitated upon hearing this.
Village Chief Li sneered, "We kindly gave you water, and how have you repaid us? How stupid would we be to continue supporting a bunch of ingrates like you? Besides, the water wasn't bought by anyone, but our villagers put in a lot of effort to get it. Even if you complain to the emperor, we're still in the right!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu couldn't help but give Village Chief Li a thumbs up in her heart.
Before New Year's Eve, people from Xiahe Village came and carried a lot of water back to prepare for the New Year. That's why they haven't come to carry water in the last two days. Otherwise, they would have found out that they could no longer get water from Dingshui Village.
"Village Chief Li, we didn't think before we spoke. We don't know what the men in the village are doing, but that's a completely different matter from carrying water. We can't control what they do, but if you cut off the lives of the people in our village, wouldn't that be taking the lives of the whole village?" Seeing that her attempt to renege on her promise was futile, Granny Zhuang immediately changed her tune.
Jiang Qinyu chuckled coldly, "Yes, all the able-bodied men in your village have come out to work, but you're all deaf and blind and don't know anything. The people in our village aren't your fathers or mothers, so what do your lives or deaths have to do with us?"
Trying to use moral blackmail? That tactic won't work on people without morals.
Of course, Village Chief Li and Jiang Qinyu are not without morality; it's just that their morality varies from person to person.
"Who are you? Do you have any right to speak here, you little brat?" someone next to Granny Zhuang shouted at Jiang Qinyu.
Her words stirred up a hornet's nest. Originally, when Village Chief Li and his men saw that all those who came were the elderly, weak, women and children, they had no intention of doing anything to them. But when they shouted at Jiang Qinyu, they could no longer tolerate it.
"She's my eldest niece!" Village Chief Li roared. "She's also the wife of the Great General Who Protects the Nation, and the one who led our village to a better life!"
Liu Erleng stepped forward, holding a carrying pole in one hand, blocking the way in front of him. He glared angrily at Granny Zhuang and the others, saying, "Get the hell out of here! How dare you talk about Asheng's wife like that?"
"Why waste so much breath on them? Get them all out of here!" Li Dachui said, leaning on his cane in one hand and carrying a kitchen knife in the other, as he charged forward.
Granny Zhuang and the others were so frightened that they hurriedly retreated, and the screams of the women and children were so loud that they hurt people's eardrums.
"Don't do anything reckless! Murder is a crime!"
"Yes, yes, we didn't do anything to you, so you're not allowed to lay a hand on us!"
"Oh dear, I can't live like this! My husband is dead, and they won't even let us fetch water anymore. How are we supposed to live like this..."
Jiang Qinyu was utterly speechless after hearing these words. Who was the victim here? She just didn't understand. Was there not a single sensible person in the whole village?
Li Dachui and Liu Erleng were just trying to scare the elderly, weak, women and children of Xiahe Village; they wouldn't actually do anything.
Once Granny Zhuang understood this, she ran to the front again and shouted at Village Chief Li, "Li Jinyuan, do you really want to completely break ties with our village?"
Village Chief Li was almost laughing in anger at these words. "Didn't you think about this when you sent people to rob us? Granny Zhuang, I advise you to go back right now. Don't think that just because you're a bunch of old people, women, and children, we won't dare to do anything..."
Before Village Chief Li could finish speaking, Granny Zhuang stepped forward with her hands on her hips and chest puffed out, saying, "Go ahead and do it! Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
"You, you... how can you be so inconsiderate, old woman?" Village Chief Li was forced to retreat step by step, and it looked like Granny Zhuang was about to enter the village.
At this moment, Meng and Aunt Qin rushed over.
Meng suddenly stepped in front of Village Chief Li and slapped Granny Zhuang across the face. "You shameless old hag! What are you trying to do, standing so close to my man? Get back here right now!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
