In the freezing cold, among those kneeling were not only young and middle-aged men and women, but also some elderly people and children; before long, they could no longer hold on.
But no one said they would get up, and no one said they would leave.
That was how common people were.
In order to survive, they could endure any hardship.
Unless they were truly forced into a dead end, only then would they rise up in resistance.
With a creak, the bronze gate opened, and everyone could not help but be startled.
The few men at the front had already begun to kowtow repeatedly with loud thuds: “Honored one, please show mercy! Please allow us to pay the rent later, honored one!”
Seeing this scene, Baizhi and Lian Qiao both felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Liu Zhong was a shrewd man, always skilled at dealing with all kinds of people.
At this moment he immediately ran over, while helping up the few men kneeling in front, and said loudly, “Oh my! What is going on, everyone? If there’s something to say, let’s talk properly. Our madam has only just taken over this estate and doesn’t know anything yet!”
As he spoke, he also gave Lian Qiao and Baizhi a look.
Lian Qiao and Baizhi understood and hurried forward to help the women holding children.
However, whether men or women, elderly or children, they still stubbornly remained kneeling; not a single one was willing to stand up.
They had seen too many scenes like this.
Some stewards, afraid of making trouble, would at first persuade gently, telling you to stand up, speaking nicely, telling you to hurry home, but then as soon as they turned around, they would send people to your house to push it down.
They had truly been tormented into fear.
Liu Zhong sighed and could not help raising his voice: “Fellow villagers, our master truly knows nothing yet, but she has also instructed that no matter what the previous accounts were, the unpaid rent will not be pursued! If you don’t believe it, you may follow us into the estate, let’s all sit down and talk slowly.”
The crowd fell somewhat silent.
Then suddenly someone shouted, “Who would believe your d*mn nonsense? You talk nicely, call us inside, remember our names one by one, and tomorrow our homes will be gone!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the way everyone looked at Liu Zhong changed.
Liu Zhong cursed inwardly, but hurriedly explained on the surface: “How could that be? Everyone, everyone, how about this: if you truly don’t believe us, then first warm yourselves in the gatehouse outside, and wait for our master to come out and ask clearly, how about that?”
Baizhi also quickly echoed: “Yes, everyone, you adults may endure it, but these children and elderly people cannot! Look, if our master truly had bad intentions, wouldn’t she have already reported to the authorities? Why would we persuade you like this?”
Lian Qiao gently helped another woman holding an infant: “Ah, this child’s lips are already frozen purple! Hurry inside to warm up first, we’ll pour you some hot water. Don’t let the child freeze into illness!”
The tenant farmers looked at each other. Seeing that Liu Zhong and the others had indeed instructed people to prepare hot water, they all hesitated for a moment.
In the end, several women holding children could not withstand Baizhi and Lian Qiao’s persuasion; they stood up with their children and were led toward the gatehouse.
Soon after, several elderly people also stood up and were supported inside by Liu Zhong’s subordinates.
Liu Zhong continued persuading without stopping.
At this time, however, several people in the crowd secretly stood up and moved closer and closer to Liu Zhong.
And just then, those people suddenly shouted, “You dare to injure someone with a hidden attack!”
Before the words had even finished, one of them seemed to stumble forward; yet the knife in his hand had already been aimed at the old man Liu Zhong was helping.
That old man was the oldest among the tenant farmers, and also their leader.
As long as this leader was killed, and in the chaos the blame was pushed onto Liu Zhong, the tenant farmers would completely lose trust in the estate’s owner.
More than half a year after the last death, another life lost would be enough to enrage all the tenant farmers.
After tonight, this estate would cease to exist.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. Unfortunately for him, although his knife was only a finger’s width away from the old man, a force suddenly yanked him back; he was violently dragged down to the ground, his hand twisted behind him, and he immediately let out a miserable scream.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden change.
The women who had been walking ahead also turned back one after another, their expressions changing as they began to retreat: “You’re liars! Liars!”
Baizhi and Lian Qiao were startled.
At this moment, the man who had been captured was already firmly pinned under Liujin’s foot. Liujin swept his gaze around, several others who had tried to rush forward had also been subdued by Han Ding, Lin Yu, and Babao. He immediately snorted coldly: “Look clearly, who exactly are the liars, and who is trying to kill!”
The old tenant farmer, supported by Liu Zhong, finally recovered from the shock. With a confused expression he pointed at the man pinned under Liujin’s foot: “Er Gouzi, what are you doing?”
His face was full of disbelief: “You, you actually wanted to kill me!?”
The women crowded over, also full of disbelief.
They had originally thought it was the estate’s people who were about to kill someone, but now it turned out to be someone from their own side.
Why?
They were completely confused.
Er Gouzi grimaced in pain, his expression already somewhat twisted.
The old tenant farmer trembled forward and slapped Er Gouzi on the head: “No wonder! You rascals who loaf around all day suddenly urged us to come here to beg for mercy today. I was wondering why the sun rose from the west, it turns out you b*stards had ill intentions!”
Liu Zhong clicked his tongue and could not help nodding.
Unexpectedly, the old man was quite sharp.
He cupped his hands toward Liujin: “I trouble you to take these people inside.”
Then he turned back to the old tenant farmers and called out: “Everyone has seen it with your own eyes, our master has done nothing at all. Instead, it’s these people stirring you up to cause trouble. They were planning to drive you into disaster!”
Without another word, Liujin joined Han Ding and the others to tie the men up and bring them before Qi Yuan.
Qi Yuan was also straightforward. She crouched down and glanced at Er Gouzi: “If the killing had succeeded, what were you planning to do next?”
Er Gouzi spat.
Qi Yuan expressionlessly avoided it. Then she suddenly grabbed a teapot and slammed it hard onto Er Gouzi’s head. Scalding hot water poured over his head, and Er Gouzi let out a heaven-shaking scream.
Qi Yuan remained expressionless. She stepped on the shattered fragments, grinding them into Er Gouzi’s flesh over and over.
Even Liujin felt his scalp go numb.
Er Gouzi, even more so, let out a howl that no longer sounded human.
Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to get early access to at least 20+ chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)
