bookrandom Chapter 296 The People Who Came to Cause Trouble
Chapter 296 The People Who Came to Cause Trouble
Hu Erqiao, who was always arrogant and domineering in Xingcheng, could no longer tolerate these words. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and waved to the people behind him, saying:
"Brothers, go in and smash everything! Smash everything you can!"
"Let me see which of you dares."
Wei Jianning looked sharply at Hu Erqiao and sternly reminded him:
"If any of you dare to touch a single blade of grass in my shop today, I will make you pay with your life. You'll see."
"Hahaha……"
In Xingcheng, Hu Erqiao had never encountered anyone who dared to confront him head-on. These outsiders today were truly courting death, daring to disregard him. It seemed he would have to teach them a lesson.
After a burst of wild laughter, he waved to the officers behind him.
"Brothers, let's do it."
Upon hearing this, the officials rushed forward, eager to fight. Wei Jianning and Lan Zhi simply stood there watching quietly, confident that Yuan Tianxiong could handle these petty thieves.
He looked at the officers rushing towards him, clenched his fists slightly and then slowly relaxed them. He took a step forward and quickly knocked the officers to the ground.
Seeing his brother instantly beaten black and blue, Hu Erqiao became furious. He pointed at Yuan Tianxiong and angrily shouted:
"You...you've really gone too far! You even dare to hit the people from the government office! You just wait, you just wait..."
After leaving those words behind, he led the officials who had scrambled to their feet and ran away in a panic.
"it is good……"
The onlookers, who had been standing by watching the commotion, suddenly burst into applause, and some even exclaimed:
"The people of Xingcheng have been oppressed by the government for so many years, and no one has dared to resist. It's really satisfying to see this today. From now on, I will come to this pharmacy to buy medicine. Even if I am not sick, I will still go in to buy some medicine."
"Yes, they helped us get revenge today, so we should support their business."
"I'll go and fetch my mother; she's been having headaches lately. I'll have the local doctor examine her pulse."
"I'm buying medicine too..."
"..."
The once quiet shops suddenly became bustling, which surprised Wei Jianning and Lan Zhi. They hadn't expected that this small Xingcheng government office would cause such suffering to the people of the city.
During a casual chat with the locals, Lan Zhi learned that the government officials, led by Hu Erqiao, collected protection money from the shops in the city every month. The amount they collected was up to them; if they didn't like you, they could charge you tens of taels of silver a month.
Not only that, the villages and hamlets under Xingcheng's jurisdiction were not spared either. The taxes that the people had to pay for farming were higher than in other places, which directly led to the poverty of the people here. They often went hungry, but they dared not fail to pay their taxes on time because the people in the government office were even more vicious than bandits and tyrants.
When Lan Zhi heard this, she could hardly believe her ears.
She never imagined that in this remote place far from the emperor's reach, the government office, which should have been protecting the peace of the region, would be seen as a local bandit and tyrant by the people.
Throughout the morning, Zhi Ning Medical Clinic was bustling with people, many of whom came specifically to witness the prowess of these out-of-towners who dared to defy the government.
At noon, Xiangxiu brought lunch, and Aunt Feng also brought Zhuangzhuang along. The milk that Lanzhi had left in the morning had been almost completely consumed by Zhuangzhuang. Aunt Feng was afraid that the child would go hungry, so she quickly came to find Lanzhi to breastfeed the child.
As Lan Zhi saw off the last patient and was about to hug the child, a noisy commotion came from outside.
Wei Jianning and Yuan Tianxiong came out from behind the counter and walked quickly towards the door. Lan Zhi handed the child she had just received to Aunt Feng and reminded her:
"Aunt Feng, don't bring the child out. Wait for me inside."
"I know."
After Aunt Feng took Zhuangzhuang, she quickly walked to the back, while Lan Zhi led A Qi and Xiang Xiu out the door.
It turned out that Hu Erqiao had brought people from the government office again, and there was a person in official robes standing next to him, who looked like the head of the government office.
Upon seeing Wei Jianning and his group, they immediately roared angrily:
"Lord Sun, these are the very people who disregarded the rules of Xingcheng and even assaulted us. You must avenge our brothers today!"
It turned out that the Lord Sun in front of him was none other than Sun Zichen, the magistrate of Xingcheng. He always sent Hu Erqiao to handle the big and small matters of the magistrate's office. Only when Hu Erqiao could not handle the matter would Hu Erqiao personally step in. However, over the years, there was no matter in Xingcheng that Hu Erqiao could not handle.
Today, upon hearing that someone dared to provoke the government officials, he flew into a rage and personally came to demand an explanation.
But when he saw the people standing in front of him, he was at a loss, because their aura was completely different from what he had imagined.
They were neither bandits nor country bumpkins, but rather noble figures who were unapproachable to others.
He looked at Wei Jianning, secretly swallowed, and questioned him.
"If you want to survive in Xingcheng, you should be reminded to learn about the rules of Xingcheng. Anyone who dares to break them will not be tolerated by this official."
Seeing that this Lord Sun was even more arrogant than Hu Erqiao, Wei Jianning's temper was instantly ignited.
He took two steps forward and questioned sharply.
“You are the grandson of the magistrate of Xingcheng, Chen? How could the Northern Wei Kingdom have such a scoundrel as you? If you continue like this, you may lose your official hat.”
"Hahaha!"
When everyone heard the word "grandson," they couldn't help but burst out laughing, which made Sun Zichen's face turn ashen in an instant.
He gritted his teeth and said angrily:
"If you want to remove my official hat, unless you're the emperor, the crown prince, or a prince, you won't succeed even if you work yourself to death."
Upon hearing this, Wei Jianning realized that this person must have a close relationship with a certain official in the imperial court.
He immediately asked:
"You've got quite the big mouth. Let me ask you, are you some kind of royalty?"
Lord Sun immediately waved his hand.
"No, what are royal relatives?"
"Do you have a powerful backer in the imperial court?"
"This is not something you should be asking about. Listen carefully, I'm giving you two choices: either come up with one hundred taels of silver and Master Hu will register your case, or pack your things and get out of here. Xingcheng doesn't welcome outsiders like you who don't know the rules."
Lord Sun's tone was ruthless, causing the onlookers who were watching the commotion nearby to break out in a cold sweat.
Wei Jianning raised his head and snorted without fear.
"I have the money, but I won't give it to you. If your people dare to step into my shop, I'll make sure you walk in and leave lying down."
Lord Sun had just been waiting for Wei Jianning to come with money to plead for him, but now, seeing that he was stubborn and even disrespectful to him as a prefect, he immediately turned red in the face and shouted angrily.
"They're really stubborn. Men, arrest all of them!"