The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

Over here, Old Master Li, with a pig-like face, was kneeling on the ground, his hair disheveled, and he looked extremely disheveled.

Despite the physical torment he endured, Old Master Li was still resentful.

Especially in front of so many people, to be so humiliated by a county magistrate he usually looked down upon.

If he does nothing, where will he put his old face in the future?

Old Master Li took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear and humiliation in his heart, raised his head and stared intently at Wang Defa, shouting sternly:

"Wang Defa, how dare you treat me like this?"

"Are you planning to disregard the laws of the Ming Dynasty?"

"I have done nothing wrong, I have opened granaries to distribute grain and porridge to help the people, all of which are good deeds. On what grounds are you arresting me?"

"Let me tell you, if you don't give me an explanation today, I'll definitely report you to the authorities and make you regret it!"

Old Master Li became more and more agitated as he spoke, as if he wasn't the one who had just been beaten and begged for mercy.

Wang Defa was taken aback for a moment when he saw Old Master Li's aggrieved expression, and then...

"laugh--"

Wang Defa burst out laughing.

The laughter was full of mockery and disdain.

Distribute porridge?

Doing good deeds?

You old codger, you really have a thick skin!

Even at this point, are you still putting on an act with him?

Wang Defa shook his head, too lazy to waste words with him, and walked straight to the overturned pot. He squatted down, picked up a spoon, and stirred the pot.

You won't know until you stir it up...

Wang Defa's face immediately turned black.

Good guy!

Is this porridge?

The porridge in the pot was so thin it was like water, with only a few grains of rice floating on top, so few that you could count them.

One bowl of rice, and I wish I could cook a whole pot of porridge!

This is hardly the kind of charity that helps people.

This is clearly a blatant attempt to fool people with water!

Wang Defa suddenly stood up, walked up to Old Master Li, looked down at him with icy eyes.

"Li Fengxian".

Wang Defa's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling aura.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

"How dare they claim to be distributing porridge to help the people?"

"Is that even porridge you cooked? It looks like dishwater!"

"It's not even as lavish as the leftovers His Highness feeds to the dogs!"

Old Master Li: "..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but couldn't utter a single word.

Because everything Wang Defa said was true, his porridge was indeed cooked to be almost watery.

After all, his purpose in distributing porridge was not to save people.

Rather, it was to win over the hearts of the people from the Sixth Prince, to get the common people to speak on their behalf, and to force the Sixth Prince to release the prisoners.

So every little bit saved counts. Who would actually use precious rice to feed those lowly people?

Seeing Old Master Li speechless, Wang Defa snorted and continued, "If you're truly doing disaster relief and genuinely trying to save the people, it's actually harder for me to arrest you."

"After all, disaster relief is a good thing. No matter how much I, Wang Defa, hate you, I can't let the people's food supply suffer."

"But now..."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Wang Defa's mouth.

"Don't try to pull this fake act in front of me."

"Someone come here!"

"Take them all away!!!"

The voice just fell,

"Whoosh!"

The constables immediately stepped forward, grabbed Old Master Li from the ground, tied his arms behind his back, and escorted him back.

Old Master Li, being held captive, still struggled unwillingly, saying:

"Let me go!"

"You can't arrest me!"

"I am a good person! I am doing a good deed!"

"Wang Defa, you abused your power! You deserve to die a horrible death!"

However, his struggles were futile.

Annoyed by the noise, one of the constables shoved a large bag into his hand, cursing as he did so.

"What's all the noise about!"

"If you make another sound, I'll sew your mouth shut!"

Old Master Li immediately became obedient.

There was no way around it; these yamen runners really hurt when they beat people.

And on the other side,

Hua An was also dragged out like a dead dog by two yamen runners.

He was covered in footprints, his face was bruised and swollen, he was on the verge of death, and he couldn't even speak.

But those eyes were filled with disbelief and grievance.

Why?

Why is this happening?

We're all time travelers, shouldn't we be like fellow countrymen meeting again, tears welling up in our eyes?

Why did they start by giving me a good beating?

Hua An felt increasingly wronged as he thought about it, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Then, the group, escorting the Li family members, headed towards the Sixth Prince.

The people along the way were taken aback when they saw this spectacle.

"Hey, look, who's that?"

"It seems the county magistrate has brought some people here with his men."

"Who did you bet on? His hair is all disheveled, you can't even see his face."

The people gathered around, pointing and whispering with curiosity.

Just then, a sharp-eyed person in the crowd suddenly widened their eyes and exclaimed, "That...that's Old Master Li, isn't it?!"

Upon hearing this, the people around were taken aback at first, and then they all shook their heads.

"Impossible, right?"

"Old Master Li? You must have seen wrong."

"The Li family is a very famous family in our county. Who would dare to arrest him?"

"Exactly. Normally, when the Li family goes out, they're always surrounded by a large entourage. How could they possibly be being held captive?"

You must have seen it wrong.

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, all thinking that the man was seeing things.

After all, the Li family was like local emperors in this county.

Let alone going against Master Li, even saying a few harsh words to him would make you think twice about how many lives you have left.

however,

As the team drew closer

The people finally saw clearly who was being held down.

Although his face was swollen like a pig's head, his eyebrows, his features... really were Li Fengxian, the head of the Li family!

"hiss--"

A collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the crowd.

"Is it really Old Master Li?"

"My God, how is this possible?"

"Has the county magistrate lost his mind? How dare he arrest Master Li?"

The people were utterly shocked, their eyes wide open, their mouths agape, their faces filled with disbelief.

This is the Li family!

The Li family, who have been running rampant in this county town for decades!

How dare someone arrest the head of the Li family?

And they even got beaten up like this?

Is the sun rising in the west?

Just as everyone was in shock, someone in the crowd spoke up in confusion:

"Wait a minute, isn't the Li family distributing porridge right now?"

"Wasn't Old Master Li doing a good deed? How did he get arrested?"

As soon as this word comes out,

The surrounding residents also realized what was happening.

"Yes, I saw the Li family set up several large pots today. Aren't they distributing porridge at a soup kitchen?"

"How come they were arrested all of a sudden?"

"Has something happened?"

The crowd looked at each other, completely bewildered.

However, at that moment...

An old man in patched clothes suddenly spat in the crowd and said with a disdainful look:

"Distribute porridge?"

"You can call that stuff porridge?"

"I went to get a bowl this morning, took one sip, and almost died from the blandness!"

"One bowl of rice is so thin it's like boiling a whole pot of water, so watery you can see your reflection in it!"

"This is what you call distributing porridge? You're kidding me!"

The old man grew angrier as he spoke, spitting everywhere.

Upon hearing this, the surrounding people realized what was happening and their faces showed expressions of sudden understanding.

"Yes, I got some too. The porridge was indeed as thin as water."

"I thought I was just unlucky and got stuck at the bottom of the pot, but it turns out that's how it is?"

"So the Li family's disaster relief and porridge distribution is just for show?"

"Good heavens, they're using water to fool people and still managing to get a reputation for being kind. What a clever scheme!"

The people chattered amongst themselves, and their gazes toward Old Master Li changed from initial shock to disdain and contempt.

Hearing these comments, Old Master Li, who was being held captive, turned red and white in turns, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

How embarrassing! So incredibly embarrassing!