Chapter 87 Contract
When Xiao Huzi saw Xiao Yanci, his fierce expression froze, and there was a hint of panic and timidity in his eyes as if he had done something wrong.
"Xiao Huzi, why is it you?"
"Your Highness Prince Jin, you, you remember me?"
Xiao Yanci squatted down and looked him in the eye. "Of course I remember. You get up every morning to help sweep the snow. You sweep the snow in front of my tent more than ten times a day. I'm thinking of finding an opportunity to reward you."
Xiao Huzi's eyes turned red instantly.
"Who bullied you? Tell me, and I will avenge you."
Hearing this, Little Tiger burst into tears, pointing at Lu Guanxuan and complaining, "He, he seized our fertile land, killed my parents, and forced many villagers to death. He is a big bad guy!"
Xiao Yanci's expression darkened.
At this time, a thin middle-aged man limped over, followed by several young men, each of whom was skin and bones.
The lame man in the lead pulled Little Tiger over and said, "Little Tiger, why are you here making trouble?"
"Uncle Li, I'm not messing around, I'm here to seek justice!"
Uncle Li lowered his voice to a whisper, "Silly boy, it's useless. Officials protect each other and work in cahoots. The lives of ordinary people like us don't even count. Have you forgotten how the village chief died? How did your father die? And how did they break Uncle Li's legs?"
At the end of his words, his eyes were filled with sorrow.
Little Tiger raised his voice, "His Royal Highness Prince Jin is different. He will uphold justice for us!"
Uncle Li looked at Xiao Yanci, his eyes still filled with suspicion and distrust.
During this period, Xiao Yanci did a lot for them and was a good man who was dedicated to the people, but he still couldn't completely trust him.
Looking at these people, Fang's palms became wet with nervousness, and Lu Guanxuan's face turned red with anxiety.
"Jin, Your Highness Prince Jin, this, this is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I am innocent and have never done anything to exploit the people!"
"Lord Lu is absolutely right. This prince will naturally not listen to this child's one-sided words."
Lu Guanxuan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Xiao Yanci then changed the subject, "Similarly, Lord Lu's one-sided statement is also irrelevant."
Lu Guanxuan: ...
"It would be fine if I didn't know about this matter, but now that I've encountered it, I naturally have to investigate it thoroughly, so as to clear Lord Lu's name."
Xiao Yanci's eyes turned and he looked at Uncle Li and others.
"Today, the king is here, along with Minister of Personnel Xing, Minister of Rites Qi, and all the other court officials, as well as so many ordinary people. With so many eyes and ears, no one has the opportunity to show partiality or cover up. As long as the facts are true, the king will report them to the emperor and uphold justice for you."
Uncle Li and the others felt a surge of emotion in their hearts, and hope rose in their eyes again.
Fang quickly beckoned over her confidant and whispered something in his ear. The confidant then hurried away.
Lu Zhiran saw all of this. She gave Cui Fu a look, and Cui Fu understood and turned away.
Everyone knelt down, and Uncle Li spoke with a sob.
"That year, the harvest in the village was poor, and after paying the grain tax, there was little left, so everyone was living in poverty. Then, a bank came to the village to lend money, saying they would borrow 1,000 coins and repay 2 taels of silver the following year. We calculated that the amount was not large and we could afford to pay it back the following year, so we took the loan."
"Unexpectedly, the following year, the deed they produced turned into twenty taels! We couldn't come up with the silver, so they demanded we use the land deed as collateral, or they would turn us over to the authorities!"
"We didn't want to, so the village chief went to the county to file a complaint, but he was beaten to death by the county magistrate. I went to the capital, hoping to seek justice from the officials, but I didn't even see them. I was even beaten with a stick and had to stay in bed for half a year before I barely managed to stay alive, but my leg was also crippled."
"To survive, we had no choice but to sell our land. Without our land, we couldn't even get enough to eat, and many people starved to death. If the government hadn't built a shelter during this snowstorm, our entire village would have frozen to death!"
As he spoke, the surroundings became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and everyone's faces were filled with shock and anger.
There was frost in Xiao Yanci's eyes, and the aura around him was terrifyingly low.
"Do you have any evidence?"
Uncle Li fumbled in his arms for a long time before he tremblingly took out an oil-paper bag, which was wrapped in layer upon layer of oil-paper, and contained a few wrinkled deeds.
"They schemed to steal the original contract we signed. I was careful and kept it secretly. It was clearly written in black and white: two taels of silver! But on the later contract, it was changed to twenty taels of silver! They are so cunning and deceitful, taking advantage of us country folk who are illiterate and deceiving us!"
"We have been digging for food in the soil all our lives. The land is the foundation of our survival, but they want to steal even our land. This is clearly an attempt to kill us!"
By the end of his speech, Uncle Li's eyes were red with excitement and he was choking with sobs.
Little Tiger stared at Lu Guanxuan with his eyes, like a ferocious wolf cub.
Xiao Yanci slowly opened the wrinkled IOU.
"I'm borrowing one thousand copper coins from Huitong Money House. I need to pay you back two taels of silver in February of next year. Li Dazhu from Xinlin Village."
Looking at the next one, the content is exactly the same, except that "two taels of silver" has become "twenty taels of silver".
Continue scrolling down.
"I owe Huitong Money House twenty taels of silver and am unable to repay, so I'm using five acres of good farmland as collateral. Li Dazhu of Xinlin Village."
The three deeds were wrinkled, the paper had long turned yellow, and the edges were worn and torn, just like their broken and precarious fate.
Xiao Yanci's knuckles turned white, and his whole body was filled with terrifying anger.
"Huitong Bank?"
Uncle Li wiped his eyes and nodded heavily, "Yes! It's Huitong Money House! Their owner is Hu Yong. He was the one who came to our village to lend money and tricked us into signing the contract."
Xiao Yanci gestured towards He Yun, "Go, bring the person here."
He Yun took the order and left.
Fang's heart suddenly rose to her throat.
She immediately sent someone to the bank to inform them, and also told her brother to destroy all the evidence as soon as possible.
Hope it’s not too late!
"You all, please take a look too."
The three deeds were passed around among the onlookers and finally reached Lu Guanxuan.
Lu Guanxuan held the deed in his hand and said anxiously, "I have nothing to do with this Huitong Bank! I don't even know Hu Yong!"
"Don't worry, Lord Lu. What's true won't be false, and what's false won't be true either. I will give you justice."
Lu Guanxuan inexplicably had a bad feeling in his heart.
He could only comfort himself that he had not done such a thing, so the dirty water would definitely not be thrown on him.
In just two sticks of incense, He Yun came back.
"Your Highness, when I arrived, the bank owner, Hu Yong, was about to destroy the contract. I brought him back with the contract."
A fat man with a mustache was brought up. His face was pale and his huge body was shaking like a sieve.
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