Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 291 Some Disappointing Words
"Don't worry." Meng Changqing said, "Hong Deyu has been detained, and the Hong family members have also been put under surveillance. No one will retaliate against you."

Qi Renli was shocked, "Really?"

"It couldn't be more true." Bafang said, "If you are worried, you can go to Hong's house and see what's going on inside.

My master arrived at Dazhou Prefecture last night and forced the prefect to lock up Hong Deyu."

Qi Renli was even more shocked, "Did the prefect of Dazhou lock up the master of the Hong family?"

When the victims heard this, they immediately ran towards the Hong family.

Qi Renli, who was standing dumbfounded in front of Meng Changqing, quickly reacted, "Master Meng, you must not trust the prefect of Dazhou. He is in collusion with the Hong family. He arrested the person while you were here, and he will release the person as soon as you leave."

"That's impossible." Meng Changqing pointed in the direction of the Hong family, "You can go and have a look too."

Qi Renli was confused and didn't care about anything else. He lifted up his clothes and ran towards Hong's house.

When he reached the door, he realized why it was impossible.

Seeing the yamen runners with smiles on their faces taking out package after package, I could see from the untied parts of the packages that they were filled with gold, silver and valuables. There were also cries and sounds of beating and scolding coming from within the courtyard wall.

This is a copy of the Hong family.

Things have gotten to this point, and it is indeed impossible to release Hong Deyu.

Qi Renli leaned against the Hong family's gate and watched for a long time. Then Meng Changqing came over and asked him, "Master Qi, do you believe it?"

Qi Renli turned to Meng Changqing in astonishment. "Why is this happening?" He was very puzzled. "Yesterday, when Captain Yang and I went to see the prefect, the prefect openly confiscated the complaint. How come his attitude changed so drastically after you went there?"

"Yeah." Yang Zheng was even more confused than Qi Renli. He had seen official power like Wen before.

Bafang said: "The young master spent an entire night with him before he changed his attitude. The process was not easy."

Ba Fang wanted to elaborate on Meng Changqing's prestige last night, but before he could continue, Meng Changqing raised his hand to stop him, "There are still many things to do right now, so don't talk too much nonsense."

"Master Qi, where are those victims?"

Qi Renli pointed to the door and said, "They have all gone in, and they are cursing inside."

"Call them out. I have something to take care of."

"Oh!" Qi Renli entered the Hong family without telling anyone else. Thinking back to when he entered this house before, there were layers of notifications, the servants and maids each performed their duties, and the beautiful scenery in the garden was arranged in an orderly manner.

Looking at it now, all those servants were gathered in one yard and guarded by knife-wielding yamen runners. The valuable flowers and plants in the yard were also trampled and destroyed by people who did not know their value.

Qi Renli felt really refreshed by this change! Yang Zheng had been paying attention to Meng Changqing's expression, and he felt something was wrong when he saw her.

So he stepped forward and asked, "Sir, what are you worried about?"

Meng Changqing sighed, "Many things."

Soon Qi Renli brought the victims out. Several people who had been suspicious of Meng Changqing just now knelt down in front of Meng Changqing as soon as they went out.

Meng Changqing immediately moved away and raised his hand to support them, saying, "Fellow villagers, please stand up quickly. I have something to say to you. Please find a place to sit down."

Xu Qingshan suggested, "Then let's go to my house."

"Please lead the way, old man."

Xu Qingshan walked a few steps ahead, then suddenly turned around and looked at Sister Qing who had not caught up with him at the end of the crowd and said, "Little Sister Qing, come too."

Everyone came to Xu Qingshan's house, which was still in the same mess as before. The people who came in put various things back in place and cleaned up briefly.

Meng Changqing stopped the old man who was about to boil water and said, "Please wait. What I am going to say next is more important. Everyone please sit down."

"Everyone, I have seen the petition you have signed with your fingerprints. Your life has not been easy these years and you have indeed suffered a lot of oppression from the Hong family. Now that his family has fallen on hard times, what do you think?"

"What do you think? Of course I'm happy!"

"Yeah, it feels great! I didn't expect to see this day before I close my eyes."

"If you think this way, then what I'm going to say next might be a bit disappointing." Meng Changqing said, "The reason why the Hong family fell was not because you succeeded in appealing for injustice, but because the governor had a grudge against the Hong family, so he dealt with him.

There was a Red Family before, but there is no guarantee that there won’t be a Yellow Family or a Black Family in the future.

You are weak, and if you don’t know how to protect yourself, someone will surely come and exploit you.”

"This..." Several elderly people asked Meng Changqing, "We have no money and no power. If they want to bully us, we can only let them slaughter us. How can they say they are protecting themselves?"

"You can't rely on yourselves, but you can rely on the government." Meng Changqing had just finished speaking when the old man opposite him became emotional. Meng Changqing waved his hands, "I know, I know you don't trust the Dazhou government, but if the Dazhou governor hadn't intervened this time, how could the Hong family have fallen so quickly?

Although his original intention was not for you, you benefited from it after all. You will not be exploited by the Red Mansion in the future, and your life will be better. You should thank the prefect."

Xu Qingshan couldn't hold back what was in his heart anymore, and said excitedly: "He colluded with the Hong family. If it weren't for the connivance of the higher-ups, would the Hong family dare to harm us like this over the years? And we are still thanking him? If I could see him, I would want to beat him to death with a shovel!"

"That's right! If there weren't corrupt officials above, the Hong family wouldn't dare to do this."

Meng Changqing let them vent their emotions and wanted to wait until they calmed down a little before reasoning with them.