amaotonovel Chapter 1044 Can you please stop dragging me into your bragging?
Chapter 1044 Can you please stop dragging me into your bragging?
Yang Shaofeng practically dragged the old man up.
Even after being pulled up, the old man still didn't dare to look at Yang Shaofeng. His slightly cloudy old eyes were fixed on the ground, and his withered hands gripped the hem of his clothes, completely unsure of where to put them.
Yang Shaofeng's eyes gradually turned cold, while Zhu Biao, who had followed, took a deep breath and turned to whisper a few instructions to Li Wenzhong and Xia Yu.
After Li Wenzhong and Xia Yu turned and left, Zhu Biao forced a smile and said to the old man, "Grandpa, don't be afraid. We're here to arrest that Master Xu, not to collect grain or taxes, and we certainly won't arrest the villagers."
As Zhu Biao finished speaking, the old man, who had been keeping his head down, raised his head, his eyes filled with a hint of expectation, but behind that expectation lay deep doubt.
Yang Shaofeng took the old man's hand, patted it gently, and said, "Don't be afraid, don't care about Xu Er or Xu San. His backer, Guo Huai, the magistrate of Xinghua County, has already been arrested and imprisoned."
The old man's lips moved, and after a long while, he whispered, "Second Master Xu, Second Master Xu knows some high-ranking officials in the manor, you..."
Yang Shaofeng's eyes lit up immediately, and he said, "Don't be afraid. Even if he knows a high-ranking official in the capital, it won't matter."
Zhu Biao added from the side, "Yes, it doesn't matter if he knows high-ranking officials in the capital."
"Sir, let me tell you, this is the Duke of Ying of our Great Ming Dynasty, the current imperial son-in-law, the emperor's own son-in-law, the crown prince's own brother-in-law, and the imperial inspector of nine provinces personally appointed by the emperor."
"What Xu Er and Xu San? Even if he knows the current prime minister, how could he be more powerful than the emperor's son-in-law?"
At this point, Zhu Biao took another sword from Chang Xiaojiu's hand and began to spout nonsense without batting an eye: "See this? This is the imperial sword bestowed by the emperor. It can execute those corrupt officials first and report later."
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but roll his eyes.
When you're bragging, can you please not include me in your stories?
I know my own limitations.
Although I am not necessarily afraid of Li Shanchang, I dare not say that I am more powerful than that old fox Li Shanchang.
He was a legitimate founding prime minister; how could someone like me, a mere novice in officialdom, possibly try to take advantage of him?
Yang Shaofeng was internally cursing, but on the surface he smiled and said, "Yes, I am the son-in-law of the current emperor. The men I brought today are all the emperor's personal guards, and they are here specifically to arrest Xu Er."
The old man glanced at Yang Shaofeng again, but inexplicably felt his knees go weak.
Yang Shaofeng held the old man tightly and said with a smile, "Don't kneel down. At your age, it's not right for a young person like me to kneel down."
After the old man regained his footing, Yang Shaofeng turned to the people nearby who had knelt down again and shouted, "Get up! The current emperor has already issued an imperial edict abolishing kneeling etiquette. Don't kneel down so easily in the future."
"The Emperor said that the knees of the people of our Great Ming are precious. They kneel to heaven, to earth, to their ancestors, and to their parents, but they don't need to kneel to those officials."
"The emperor also said that the people of the Ming Dynasty are all his subjects, and even if they are bullied, it can only be bullied by him. He cannot allow those officials to bully them, much less those local tyrants and bullies."
“Zhang Liuliu dared to go to the capital to appeal to the emperor, which pleased the emperor. So he sent me to arrest Xu Er and Guo Huai and to uphold justice for Zhang Liuliu.”
"If you have any grievances, just speak them out, and I will take care of them for you."
"..."
The old man made two "oh, oh" sounds, and his hands and feet, which had been trembling slightly, calmed down a bit. His body, which had long been hunched over by the burden of making a living, also straightened up slightly.
But when the old man raised his head again, his deep, cloudy old eyes were already filled with tears.
Yang Shaofeng patted the old man's hand again and said, "Don't worry, that Master Xu will never be able to bully the people of our village again."
"If any officials collude with local tyrants and bullies to harass you again, you should follow Zhang Liuliu's example and go to the capital to appeal to the emperor with the 'Hongwu Great Proclamation' on your head."
"The emperor said that anyone who dares to stop you on the road will have their entire family killed, and anyone who dares to kill someone who comes to the capital to file a complaint will have their entire family exterminated."
"The emperor's words are as good as gold, and his teeth are as precious as gold. His words are imperial edicts. If he says to exterminate their entire clan, then he will leave no one alive."
This time it was Zhu Biao's turn to roll his eyes—teeth can be used like gold? That's a novel idea.
The old man's lips moved, letting tears stream down his deeply lined face. After a long while, he choked out, "Your Honor! Heaven has opened its eyes!"
Yang Shaofeng forced a smile and pulled the old man aside, saying, "Why don't we sit down and talk it over? Look, I'm standing here, and everyone's being punished with me. It's exhausting."
After saying that, Yang Shaofeng half-pulled and half-dragged the old man to sit down on the ground and said, "Grandpa, just tell me what that Second Master Xu has done."
The old man's lips moved again, and he looked at the "imperial sword" in Zhu Biao's hand, tentatively asking, "Are you really here to arrest Master Xu?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded seriously, while Zhu Biao pointed to Li Wenzhong and the others who were rushing into the village and said, "Look, they're going to arrest people, and they're going to arrest Xu Er's entire family, not letting a single one go."
The old man finally let out a long sigh and said, "Second Master Xu, Second Master Xu, he, he..."
Seeing that the old man was so excited that he could hardly speak, Yang Shaofeng smiled and asked, "Grandpa, I'll ask, and you answer. That'll be faster, okay?"
The old man nodded repeatedly, and Yang Shaofeng continued to ask, "What is the real name of this Xu Er? How did his father, or rather his ancestors, become wealthy? Why are the people in the village so afraid of him?"
The old man sighed again and replied, "Master Xu's full name is Xu Dong. His father, Xu Youyin, was originally the magistrate of Xinghua County in the Yuan Dynasty, and his eldest uncle, Xu Youjin, was the prefect of Gaoyou in the Yuan Dynasty."
"His elder brother, Xu Fei, also took on taxes in the village and had a large number of guards under his command. Anyone who dared to provoke Master Xu and Master Xu would be beaten to death by those guards."
"When Master Xu was young, he was not a good person. He bullied men and women and did all kinds of evil. He even gave himself a Mongolian name, something like Bayan Temur, saying that he had the same name as a very powerful Mongolian prime minister."
Yang Shaofeng nodded and continued, "What about Zhang Liuliu? How did Zhang Liuliu offend Xu Er, and how did he offend Guo Huai? Why did he dare to go to the capital to appeal to the emperor?"