amaotonovel Chapter 1227 Lu Zilin gets beaten
Chapter 1227 Lu Zilin gets beaten
Chapter 1227 Lu Zilin gets beaten
The Jiao Nong uprising caused such a big fuss that even Xi'an sent officials to investigate. The original county magistrate was directly dismissed. In order to appease the villagers, the county sent people to each village to post notices that the county magistrate had been dismissed and that taxes would be cut.
The common people applauded and those who participated in the Jiaonong Uprising became heroes in their respective villages.
Ever since Shitou became famous in the Jiaonong Uprising, he has become a completely different person.
The taciturn farmer who only knew how to work is gone, replaced by a "hero" who spit and act arrogantly all day long.
His family's land was barren, with weeds growing thicker than crops, but Shitou didn't care. Every morning he would sit under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village with his pipe, waiting for the villagers to gather around him and listen to his "heart-stirring" stories.
"You don't know, that day at the gate of the county government, those yamen runners were holding water and fire sticks, looking ferocious." Shitou blew out a puff of smoke, squinted his eyes, and deliberately raised his voice a few notes, "But are we afraid? Which of the men in our Bailu Village is a coward? I will be the first one to rush up!"
Bai Xinger squatted on the side and added a few words from time to time: "That's right, Brother Shitou was so brave that he knocked down a yamen runner with one punch!"
Some of the villagers watching exclaimed, which made Shitou even more proud. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal a scar on his arm - it was actually a scratch he got from a sickle when he was harvesting wheat last year, but now it has become his "badge of honor".
"See? This is where the knife of the yamen runners cut me that day!" Shitou patted his chest, "If I hadn't led the charge, do you think the county magistrate would have been dismissed so quickly?"
Lu Zilin stood far away at the door of his own medicine shop, watching this scene with cold eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously. Since the Jiaonong incident, his prestige in the village has plummeted.
The surrounding villagers burst into laughter. Many of them had been honest all their lives. The highest official they had ever seen was the clan leader. In the Qing Dynasty, the county magistrate was a high and mighty lord, and they, the common people, had to kowtow to him when they saw him.
Lu Zilin stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the stone standing proudly on the millstone from afar. He pushed through the crowd and spat on the ground.
"Damn it, I'm so rich now, and I'm bragging about it."
The noisy crowd suddenly quieted down. Shitou slowly stood up, patted the dirt off his butt, and squinted at Lu Zilin: "Hey, isn't this our 'Lu Patriarch'? Why, you can't bear to see us poor people live a comfortable life for a few days?"
Lu Zilin's face turned pale: "A comfortable life? With you? The land is barren, and you can't pay the rent in autumn. Let's see how you die!"
"Hahaha!" Shitou laughed. "Speaking of paying rent, I remember something. Chief Lu, don't you love helping the government collect taxes and grain? Now that taxes don't need to be collected, do the government still need you?"
These words stabbed Lu Zilin's sore spot like a knife. Ever since the Jiaonong Uprising, Tian Fuxian had never appeared again, and the promised position of clan leader naturally fell through.
He rushed forward and pointed at Shitou's nose: "Who do you think you are? You are just a lowly peasant, and you dare to talk to me like that!"
Shitou slapped Lu Zilin's hand away and said, "What's wrong with being a peasant? A peasant is also a human being! Unlike some people, who only know how to curry favor with the government and oppress their fellow villagers all day long!"
"You!" Lu Zilin was so angry that he was shaking all over. He raised his hand and slapped Shi Tou.
Being suddenly attacked, Shitou was furious. He kicked Lu Zilin to the ground, then sat on him and slapped him back twice, beating and cursing him.
"I told you to curse and make your mouth stink!"
Lu Zilin still wanted to resist, but he was no match for the farmers who had been doing farm work all year round, and was suppressed.
In the end, it was Shitou's wife who pulled him away. Lu Zilin got up in a mess, his face bruised and his gown torn. He pointed at Shitou, his voice trembling with anger: "Okay, very good! You wait!"
After saying that, Lu Zilin stumbled towards home, and behind him came the loud laughter of Shitou and the whispers of the villagers.
As soon as he got home, Lu Zilin rummaged through the drawers and found the ancestral musket, loaded it with gunpowder and iron sand, and was ready to rush out.
"Are you crazy?" Lu Taiheng grabbed his son desperately, "Are you going to risk your life for a peasant?"
"Dad! I have never suffered such injustice in my life!" Lu Zilin's eyes were red: "If I don't kill him, how can I hold my head up high in Bailu Village in the future?"
Lu Taiheng was old and weak, so there was no way he could snatch his son away from Lu Zilin. It was only when Lu Zilin's wife and their son Lu Zhaopeng hugged him tightly that Lu Zilin calmed down again.
Lu Taiheng snatched the musket and handed it to his grandson, then said to Lu Zilin: "Don't think those two guys are so glorious now, there will be a day when they will cry."
Lu Zilin's eyes lit up: "Da, do you have a way to deal with them?"
"Do we still need to deal with them? What do you do as an official? To put it bluntly, the Jiao Nong Rebellion is a rebellion. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was destroyed, let alone a few peasants."
……
Just as Lu Taiheng expected, five days later, a group of soldiers came to Bailu Village, tied up Shitou and Bai Xinger without saying a word, and took them away. They did it so quickly that before the other villagers could react, they disappeared on horseback.
Lu Zilin was stunned at first when he heard the news, then a look of ecstasy appeared on his face: "Hahaha! Retribution! This is what happens when you hit me!"
Half an hour later, Shitou's wife and Bai Xinger's mother appeared at the door of Lu's house crying.
When Lu Zilin heard this, he immediately yelled at his wife in annoyance, "Tell them to get out. Aren't these men capable and heroes? Let them save themselves."
"Da, after all, we are all from the same village..." Before Lu Zhaopeng could finish his words, he was hit on the head.
"Whoever speaks for them again will be kicked out of the Lu family."
Lu Taiheng shook his head. Although this was a good opportunity to win people's hearts, based on his understanding of his son, it was undoubtedly a pipe dream to expect him to be broad-minded and save people.
He is old now and it is difficult for him to say much, after all, he still relies on his son to support him in his old age.
Shitou's wife and Bai Xing'er's mother cried for half an hour at the door of Lu's house. The surrounding villagers gathered in a circle, but seeing that the door of Lu's house was closed and completely ignored them, the two of them stumbled towards Bai's house in despair.
"Jiaxuan, you have to save Shitou!" Shitou's wife fell to her knees, her face covered with tears and snot: "He was captured by the soldiers, and they said he would be beheaded!"
Bai Jiaxuan's heart was shaken, and the pipe in his hand almost fell to the ground. He subconsciously glanced at his son, and couldn't help but feel a little scared. If his son hadn't stopped him, he would have been arrested right now, right?
"Tell me slowly, what's going on?"
Bai Xinger's mother trembled and said, "At noon, a group of soldiers came and kidnapped the people without saying a word, saying that they were going to punish them for rebellion."
Bai Jiaxuan stood up suddenly: "Lu San, prepare the car! We are going to the county town now!"
When the villagers rushed over after hearing the news, the Bai family's carriage had already raised a cloud of dust.
The villagers looked at the carriage moving further and further away from the village entrance, then looked at the Lu family's door which remained tightly closed, and could not help but whisper to each other.
"Look, this is what a patriarch should look like."
"Lu Zilin is a jerk who usually shows off his power, but at the critical moment..."
"Hush, keep your voice down. He's very petty and will make things difficult for you later. Maybe he was the one who reported Shitou and Bai Xing'er."
As the night deepened, the Bai family's carriage creaked back. Bai Jiaxuan jumped off the carriage with a sullen face, followed by Lu San who also looked grim. Shitou's wife, who was waiting in the yard, saw this and collapsed to the ground with her legs weakened. A bad premonition came to her mind.
"I used a lot of connections in the county to find out that Shitou and Bai Xing'er were put in death row. The new county magistrate said that they wanted to kill them as a warning to others..."
Bai Xinger's mother's eyes went black and she fainted, and Shitou's wife also burst into tears. The villagers who were watching could not help but feel sad when they saw this.
"Don't worry, I will do my best to rescue him even if it means losing everything I have."
Shitou's wife's voice was hoarse from crying, and she could only kowtow continuously. Bai Xing'er's mother was awakened by someone pinching her Ren Zhong. When she heard others talk about Bai Jiaxuan's promise, it was like she had grabbed the last straw.
"Jiaxuan, Renyi, I'm leaving my baby in your care."
After sending away the crying woman and the villagers who were filled with emotion, Bai Zhao immediately dragged her son into the inner room and said, "Are you crazy? Are you going to spend all your wealth just for two peasants?"
"Mom, these are two lives..."
Before he could finish his words, Bai Zhao interrupted him: "Just pretend! Who knows if you have tried your best? Besides, if you don't think about yourself, you should think about Hao'er and the baby in Xiancao's belly. There will be many places in the family where you will need money in the future."
Qin Hao, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up: "Grandma, everyone can see whether you have tried your best or not. They won't believe you just because you say so."
Ordinary people are never stupid, it’s just that most of the time they dare not speak out when they are angry.
Bai Jiaxuan was curious: "Hao'er, do you agree that I can save Shitou and Bai Xing'er?"
"Da, I stopped you from leading the farmers in the uprising because I didn't want to see you taking risks. I'm not a cold-blooded animal. My uncle often said: A house is a signboard, land is a burden, and saving money is a life-threatening ghost. A little money can save two lives, so just give it up." Qin Hao said seriously.
Bai Jiaxuan was touched, but also felt guilty. He had always thought his son was good in every way, except that he was a little cold-blooded...
"Da, when you are trying to smooth things over in the county, you can talk about the relationship between your uncle and Governor Zhang. It might work wonders."
The next morning, Bai Jiaxuan went to the county town with a generous gift...
Three days later, two disheveled figures appeared at the entrance of the village.
The sharp-eyed child shouted: "Uncle Shitou is back!"
The whole village rushed to the entrance of the village. Shitou limped, with bruises on his face; Bai Xinger was even worse, needing someone to help him walk. But when they saw Bai Jiaxuan, they all knelt down at the same time.
"Brother Jiaxuan, you are our second parent." Shitou's voice choked.
Bai Jiaxuan quickly helped the two of them up: "We are all from the same village..."
Before he could finish his words, he was drowned out by the constant stream of praise.
"The Bai tribe leader is so kind and righteous!"
"Look at others, then look at some people..."
"From now on, we will recognize the Bai family!"
At the back of the crowd, Lu Zilin turned and left with a grim face.
In the dead of night, Bai Jiaxuan was counting the beads on the abacus under the oil lamp. This trip cost 320 taels of silver, and Bai Zhaoshi was so distressed that she kept wiping away tears, and even the way she looked at Qin Hao was not right.
"You are the only one who can come up with ideas!" The old lady muttered, "Now our whole family is starving!"
Qin Hao and Bai Jiaxuan smiled at each other.
……
The hot summer passed quietly, and it was the busy farming season. Looking around, the whole Bailuyuan was filled with the scene of busy wheat harvesting.
A horse-drawn carriage slowly came to the entrance of the village and was about to pass through the archway when it was stopped by someone.
When Bai Jiaxuan saw the people who stopped the car, his face suddenly turned stern: "Shi Tou, Bai Xing'er, why can't I talk to you? You don't have to pay back the money."
Shitou's wife handed a bag of hot steamed buns to Qin Hao and said to Bai Jiaxuan, "Jiaxuan, we can't pay back that much money. These steamed buns are a token of our appreciation. If you don't accept them, we won't be able to stay in the village anymore. We'll just find a place to fend for ourselves."
Bai Xinger's mother also agreed: "Yes, this is the steamed buns that my family just made. They are not worth much. It's just a little token of my appreciation. Let the child take it with him on the road."
He had to admit that Qin Hao was touched. Steamed buns and wowotou, seemingly insignificant foods, were delicacies that they only enjoyed during festivals in their family.
"I'll take three of these steamed buns from Auntie, and three of these steamed buns from Grandma. They'll be enough for us on the road. It's hot now, and if they're left out for too long they'll go bad and easily upset our stomachs."
Bai Jiaxuan nodded repeatedly when he saw this: "You're right, kid. We can't eat so much on the way. You can take the rest back."
"If you continue like this, don't associate with the Bai family anymore."
Bai Jiaxuan used both coaxing and intimidation to get the two families to give way.
Smoke and dust were rising as Lu San was driving a horse-drawn carriage on the dirt road of Bailuyuan. When he reached a fork in the road, a horse-drawn carriage rushed up from behind and caught up with him.
"Brother Hao, I'm also going to Xi'an to go to school. Maybe we can become classmates." Lu Zhaopeng excitedly shouted to Qin Hao while holding onto the carriage railing.
Lu Zilin's face darkened as he said impatiently, "I let you go to school to learn skills, not to let you play."
"What's up, Zilin, who has offended you again?"
Bai Jiaxuan's joke completely aroused Lu Zilin's anger. He pointed at Bai Jiaxuan and yelled, "Who else could it be besides you? It just makes you look like your Bai family is rich, right? You spent so much money to save two peasants. What are you trying to show off?"
"Do you think those peasants are truly convinced by your praise? Pah, they are just trying to fool a fool like you..."
"Zilinda, the wound on your face has healed."
Qin Hao's light words poured into Lu Zilin's ears, but made him furious instantly.
After Bai Jiaxuan and Qin Hao exchanged a glance, he took the whip from Lu San's hand and whipped the horse's butt.
Just as Lu Zilin was about to start cursing, the carriage Qin Hao was riding in had already sped away.
"Bah, bah, you bastard, you are just like me... I, Lu Zilin, will fight you till the end of my life!"