Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11953

"Now that I need your help, you're making excuses and refusing to do anything. You old man, you have no conscience! You've given all the good stuff to the dogs!"

"You shrew, your mouth is full of filth, you... cough cough, cough cough cough..."

If Omura had previously used a fake cough to cover up his embarrassment, then now he was genuinely so angry with Tetsuya that he was coughing, and the cough was getting worse and worse.

"You old codger, you pretend to cough when I ask you to say something, why don't you just pretend to be dead?"

"Shrew, shrew... cough cough cough!" The old villager pointed a trembling finger at the woman in front of him, coughing so hard he could barely breathe.

The others deliberately avoided getting involved in their affairs, and just watched as the village elder was scolded by the Mai couple, secretly laughing to themselves.

However, seeing that the old villager was about to be angered to death on the spot by Tie Shi, the honest man Yang Huazhong couldn't sit still any longer. He quickly came over to scold Tie Shi and gave Wang Hongtao a look.

Wang Hongtao understood and stood up, saying, "Old Da Cun is getting on in years. He probably caught a chill last night and aggravated an old ailment. I'd better take him home first!"

The old villager was waiting for this very sentence, so he quickly got up and looked at Wang Hongtao as if he were his own son.

When Tie Shi and Mai Lao Er saw their only savior trying to escape, they immediately rushed to stop him.

"Uncle, you can't leave, you cough! What will I do if you leave? I won't be able to live!" Mai Lao Er cried out.

Tie stamped her feet, stuck out her buttocks, and tried to tug at the old man's clothes: "Old man, don't leave without giving me a word! My things aren't so easy to take!"

The old man waved his arms, trying to shoo the couple away like flies. But unfortunately, he was over seventy, while Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi were only in their early thirties. How could they possibly be a match for them?

After a brief tug-of-war, the old man's clothes were torn in several places, leaving him in a sorry state. Finally, with the help of Wang Hongtao and Yang Huazhong, he hurriedly left the ancestral hall.

Watching the village elder's panicked retreating figure, Yang Ruoqing tiptoed and whispered in Luo Fengtang's ear, "After this night, I'm afraid the village elder will never want to join in this kind of fun again, right?"

Luo Fengtang raised an eyebrow and whispered to Yang Ruoqing, also covering his mouth, "The things from the Mai family are too hot to handle."

Yang Ruoqing suppressed a laugh. This village elder probably wanted to show off a little more before retiring. After all, half a year ago, there was some conflict between the village elder's hometown and the Yang family. The village elder suffered a heavy loss and stayed at home sulking for a long time. He was probably taking a step back to avoid getting involved in village affairs.

Tonight, I guess he wants to show his face and make a name for himself, and he might also feel embarrassed not to show his face because he received a lot of gifts from the Mai family.

After all, over the years, the village elder has received far more tributes than just from Mai Lao Er's family. If Mai Lao Er gets into trouble and he doesn't even show his face, then probably no villagers will be willing to give him tributes next year.

However, what happened tonight was worse than if it hadn't happened at all... all the face he'd built up over decades has been completely lost.

Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to chase after the village elder to escape as well, but Yang Ruoqing saw through their little scheme.

She rushed up, grabbed them both by the shoulders from behind, pulled them back one in each hand, and threw them to the ground.

"Don't think that just because the village elder's matter has been diverted, your matter will be over."

"Now that the evidence is conclusive, confess honestly, why did you drug the two children?"

"That's right, hurry up and tell us! If you dare not tell us, we won't let you off the hook!"

Faced with questions from all sides, Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi were at a loss.

“The two children were frightened by the matchmaker incident, and I was worried they wouldn’t be able to sleep well, so I found some medicine to help them get a good night’s rest,” said Ms. Tie.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what we think,” Old Mai echoed from the side.

"Bullshit!" Yang Ruoqing cursed out.

"Tang Yazi, it's your turn again!"

"clear."

Luo Fengtang nodded, snapped his fingers, and the guards entered, each holding two people.

The two men had their mouths stuffed with something, their hands tied behind their backs, and when they were brought in by the guards, they saw so many people in the ancestral hall, especially Luo Fengtang and Yang Ruoqing. Their faces turned deathly pale.

Yang Ruoqing ordered her guards to remove the gags from the two men's mouths. "Matchmaker Liu Zhangshi, I'm asking you, when you left Mai Lao Er's house in a huff, didn't you say you would never interfere in his children's marriages again? Why were you lurking around behind Mai Lao Er's house?"

The matchmaker avoided eye contact, not daring to look at the Iron Clan who was giving her meaningful glances, but then she thought of the methods used by the two guards earlier.

With a determined look, the matchmaker revealed everything: "It was the Tie family who told me not to come during the day, but to come at night and hide in their backyard to pick up the child."

"Pick up the child? Which child?" Yang Ruoqing asked knowingly.

The matchmaker said, "Wheat ears."

"Why do we need to catch the wheat ears? And if we do, where do we take them?"

"Deliver it to Lijia Village and give it to Widow Li."

Wow!
There was a commotion all around. The villagers present were all shocked by what had happened. So all that commotion during the day was just for everyone to see?

"If the engagement banquet were to be held openly and honestly, the idea of ​​secretly taking the child away at night sounds increasingly bizarre!"

"It's not a proper engagement, that's for sure."

"You're talking nonsense! Matchmaker, you're talking nonsense! I didn't call you... Waaah!"

Indeed, Tie Shi was only halfway through her sentence when her mouth was gagged by the guards, and coincidentally, the gag they used was the stinky rag that had just been pulled from the matchmaker's mouth.

The complex smells almost made Tie Shi choke on his breath, and his voice was naturally muffled as well.

Yang Ruoqing looked at Mai Lao Er, who had already hidden behind Tie Shi, and said, "If you don't want to be gagged, then scream!"

Mai Lao Er was so frightened that he covered his mouth.

Yang Ruoqing turned around and continued to interrogate the matchmaker: "Maisui'er is 10 years old. Aren't you afraid she'll cause trouble? Besides, Maisui'er and Maili'er are inseparable. How did you manage to take her away?"

The matchmaker lowered her head, feeling very guilty. "Tie said she would take care of it. She got some medicine for the two maids and made them sleep all day without waking up."

"Waaaah!" Tie Shi, being held captive by the guards, actually let out a howl like a trapped beast.

The guards stomped on her, pressing her face into the dirt. Of course, the guards were careful with their weight, ensuring that Tie Shi was teetering on the edge of life and death.

Meanwhile, because the noise pollution source, the Tie family, was blocked, and the other villagers who were watching were eager to be the first to taste the hot melon, everyone tacitly kept quiet. All eyes were on Yang Ruoqing, waiting for her to continue her interrogation!

Yang Ruoqing then asked the matchmaker, "What benefits did Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi promise you? It's probably far more than the 20 eggs and a new set of clothes you're supposed to get as a matchmaker, isn't it?"

Eggs, new clothes, two pounds of noodles, two pounds of pork, a big fish, and a jar of liquor—these are the gifts the woman's family gives the matchmaker when he travels back and forth between the two families to arrange the marriage. This standard of payment has been the same in the surrounding villages for the past two years. As for whether it will increase or decrease in the future, that will depend on the living standards of the villagers at that time.

Once the matter is settled, in addition to the aforementioned gifts, the groom's family must also give the matchmaker a red envelope.

The minimum amount for a red envelope is 188 RMB, with no upper limit. However, unfortunately, most men's families give around 188 RMB.

Okay, we've digressed. Now we're not going to discuss the going rate for matchmakers in the surrounding villages, but rather the compensation that Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi paid to the matchmakers.

The matchmaker lowered her head and said, "Mrs. Tie said that as long as I successfully deliver the wheat ears to Widow Li, she will make me two sets of clothes and give me a big red envelope of 366!"

hiss……

Another gasp rippled through the crowd; the villagers were all stunned by the conditions offered by the Tie family.

"This kind of behavior that disrupts the market price is abnormal; this is not a normal engagement at all!"

"What kind of time is this? Even a blind man could see that this isn't a normal engagement. Old Mai and his wife are obviously selling their daughter, and the matchmaker is an accomplice!"

"Exactly! The woman even gave a red envelope? It was 366 yuan! Good heavens, how are families like ours with many sons supposed to get married?"

Individuals and events that inflate wedding prices must be cracked down on.

Yang Ruoqing raised her hand to silence the murmurs.

"Where did you and Widow Li meet?" she asked again.

The matchmaker said, "By the river behind the village."

Yang Ruoqing nodded and gave the guard a look.

The guards then escorted the matchmaker out of the ancestral hall. As she left, the matchmaker pleaded with Yang Ruoqing, "Madam General, I've told you everything I need to tell you. Please keep your promise and spare me this time..."

The sounds that followed abruptly stopped.

Either the guards will gag the matchmaker again, or they will knock her unconscious with a single palm strike. In any case, no more sounds will be heard into the ancestral hall.

Inside the ancestral hall, Yang Ruoqing turned her gaze to Li the widower: "It's your turn. Tell me, what was the agreement with Mai Lao Er's family?"

"Madam General, I'm truly innocent! I simply paid a matchmaker to help my son find a wife. I really have no idea what Mai Lao Er and the others are up to..."

After the gag was removed from Li the widower's mouth, his lips were cracked, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth when he spoke. If you got even a little closer, you could smell the bad breath coming from his mouth.

Yang Ruoqing covered her nose and frowned. Luo Fengtang understood and scolded Li the widower: "Turn around and answer!"

Li the widower was so afraid of Luo Fengtang that he didn't dare to make eye contact with him and quickly turned away.

Yang Ruoqing continued, "With so many families in the surrounding villages getting married, why haven't I ever gotten involved before?"

"Why should I interfere when it comes to you, Widow Li? Don't you have any self-awareness?"

Widow Li forced a smile, but it was a smile that looked worse than a grimace; he remained stubborn and refused to give in.

But it doesn't matter, Yang Ruoqing has plenty of ways to get him to agree.

"If you don't confess honestly, don't even think about going back. I'll take you and Mai Lao Er and the others to the authorities and sue you in the name of the whole village for abusing a young girl and disregarding human life! In this freezing weather, you can expect to rot in jail!"

"Spare me, General's wife! I'm innocent!" Widow Li's legs went weak with fear, and he almost knelt down.

"I'm so wronged! Six taels of silver—I really wanted to use that money to marry off my son... Who knew I'd run into a heartless man like Mai Lao Er who sells his daughter? I got swindled too! I'm the victim..."

"Kind-hearted villagers of Changping Village, please judge this for me. If I didn't contribute a single penny, it would be my fault. But I really did contribute money. I wanted to find a wife for my mentally challenged son so that he could have a son or daughter in the future. Even after I've passed away, my son won't be left without anyone to support him, right?"

Although the onlookers had already condemned and humiliated Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi, some villagers who lacked independent thought were unsurprisingly swayed by Li Guanfu's actions.

“What Widow Li said makes sense. Six taels of silver is considered a very generous amount for a wedding in our surrounding villages.”

"Yes, besides, the family has a mentally challenged son. To spend so much money on his wedding shows that they really want to have an heir..."

"I think this is most likely the work of Mai Lao Er and Tie Shi. The matchmaker is lying in there making money without any conscience. Li the widower should be considered a victim?"

These comments kept pouring into Yang Ruoqing and Luo Fengtang's ears, but Yang Ruoqing was completely unaffected by them.

Someone remarkable person is right: in this world, truly intelligent people only make up 5%, and the vast majority of the rest are not intelligent and are most easily swayed by public opinion.

Luo Fengtang shared the same thoughts as Yang Ruoqing, and his understanding of these thoughts was even more profound, because he had spent many years on military campaigns and dealing with all sorts of people, including enemies, friends, and forces operating in the middle.

Therefore, Luo Fengtang simply glanced at the whispering villagers, signaling them to be quiet and not disturb the scene.

Yang Huazhong and the other village elders didn't rush to express their opinions. They sat there, especially the remaining village elders, who, having seen the example of the previous village elder, were now willing to act as mascots...

“Li the widower, you keep saying you’ll find a wife for your son and have grandchildren for him. Hmm, you do sound like a pretty good father.”

"Tang Yazi, it's your turn again. Give Widow Li a surprise!"

"it is good."

Luo Fengtang snapped his fingers again, and this time, the guards brought Li Mao, the widower's mentally challenged son, into the ancestral hall.

Everyone in the ancestral hall, including Yang Ruoqing, knew without being told that Li Mao was an idiot the moment they saw him.

Because his stupidity was written all over his face, he was a grotesque, cross-eyed man, and wore clothes that were too small and tight, filthy, smelly and pungent. He wasn't afraid at all when he walked in. When he saw so many people, Li Mao even grinned and drooled as he laughed.

(End of this chapter)