The black-bellied peasant girl is reborn, and her weird relatives are mad

"Mr. Li, you are the head of the village, but you dare not take responsibility for what you have done. You are such a mean person, it's shameful." Xun Qing pointed at him with a fierce expression and cursed him happily, "You are a troublemaker, you beat up the officials, you will get retribution sooner or later."

They hoped that Li Tong would argue with them hysterically, so that they could find evidence in his words and accuse him of allowing the villagers to commit violence against the officials.

Once the charges are determined, he has the final say on how to treat these villagers. When it comes to collecting taxes, he can cut the Gordian knot and they have no say in that.

Li Tong said calmly: "I don't know what Xun Shuli said. Why don't we dare to admit it?"

Xun Qing rolled his eyes and shouted, "You are really shameless. Can't you see that the three of us were beaten like this? Why don't you admit that it was you who did it?"

"Why would you admit to something you didn't do? You keep saying that it was us villagers who did it. They are not idiots, why would they beat you for no reason? Even if Xun Shuli wrongly accused people, he had to find a reasonable excuse. I will not agree to wrongly accuse the villagers of Li Village."

Li Tong bowed to Tang Zhongbai, his face solemn, his eyes as firm as steel, and said: "Please ask Tang Jue Cao to make a decision for us common people and redeem the innocent crime of assault that Xun Shuli has accused us of."

Xun Qing and the other two looked at each other, never expecting that Li Tong would actually turn the tables and they would become the victims.

Could it be that the beating they received was in vain? They were very angry and struggled to get up, ready to argue with Li Tong.

Tang Zhongbai waved his hand to stop them and gave them a look to calm down. He began to speak for them and challenge Li Tong.

"Village Chief Li, whether you admit it or not, the person was beaten in your village. Am I right?"

Li Tong frowned, not knowing what he was up to, but he believed in Tang Zhongbai's character and firmly believed that he would not be partial. So he nodded and agreed with his statement.

"Okay. Since he was beaten in your village, it is naturally related to the people in your village. Let me ask you again, are there a large number of people from other villages passing by or visiting your village?" Tang Zhongbai stared at Li Tong coldly, not missing any of his reactions.

"No." Li Tong answered simply. His brows were furrowed more and more, and he felt something was increasingly wrong.

"Well, since there are no people from other villages, then the three of them were beaten up by the villagers of your Li Village." Tang Zhongbai's eyes were cold, and he shouted at Li Tong, "Li Tong, you are so bold. As the head of the village, you can't help but help the officials persuade the villagers. The villagers were making trouble and beating people, and you dared to cover up and lie with them. Do you know your crime?"

Li Tong couldn't believe Tang Zhongbai's groundless rebuke. Was he still the Tang Juecao who was fair and selfless and always cared about the people?

Or, officials protecting each other?

The villagers who were watching from a distance heard something was wrong and started to get ready, waiting for Li Tong to call them so that they could confront the officials.

Li Dagang was displeased when he saw his father being reprimanded. This Tang Juecao convicted his father without asking any questions. This kind of behavior is not worthy of a gentleman.

He is not worthy of Miss Jiang, who is upright and dares to fight against evildoers.

When Ge Qing and the other two heard that Tang Zhongbai had firmly stood on their side, they showed smug looks on their faces. They arrogantly praised Tang Zhongbai while stepping on Li Tong, and their expressions became ferocious and ugly as they added fuel to the fire.

"Tang Jue and Cao are both wise and brave, and they are worthy of the iron-faced and impartial people in our government. The lies of these scoundrels were exposed in your few words. You must punish them severely and clear the name of our officials. Let them pay the price for beating the officials, otherwise who will dare to go to the village to perform official duties in the future?"

Li Tong snorted coldly, feeling chilled in his heart. If Tang Zhongbai couldn't handle things fairly and impartially, why would he bother arguing with them?

He said in a cold voice: "Tang Zhongbai did not ask the whole story, but he convicted the villagers of Li Village. How is he different from those who came to extort money? As ordinary people, we should let you officials trample on us at will and not refute us. To refute us is unreasonable and ungrateful. It is contempt for the court? It is like being a pariah who doesn't know how to live or die. It is like opposing the emperor and not worthy of being his subjects."

"What does Village Chief Li mean by this? Which official dares to say such treasonous words?" Hu Daxin asked loudly in a hoarse voice.

He used to hang around in the streets and had seen too many police officers being able to do whatever they wanted. If they disagreed with someone, they would go up and beat them until they were unable to take care of themselves, and then they would have to apologize to the police officers.

Based on his understanding of Xun Qing, he would definitely not speak to the villagers in a friendly manner. He wanted to punch him when he saw his condescending look.

Xun Qing and his ilk must have said something that made the villagers furious. Stimulated by their words, the villagers could not suppress their anger and acted impulsively and beat the man.

The fact that Village Chief Li was able to stand up for the villagers and settle the dispute proves that he is a good village chief who is willing to work for the people and protect the villagers.

What Hu Daxin admired most in his life was his loyalty and the fact that he would not betray others just to exonerate himself.

Although he didn't understand why Tang Zhongbai's attitude changed so drastically today and he actually spoke up for Xun Qing, with whom he was usually at odds, he firmly believed that Tang Juecao, whom he had followed for so long, was not a person who would jump to conclusions and suppress the people.

So he asked this question in time, just to let Li Tong tell the outrageous words that Xun Qing and his ilk had said in the village, so that Tang Jue Cao could make the decision for them.

"Of course it's them." Li Dagang pointed at Xun Qing and the other two angrily. "When the three of them arrived in the village, they knocked on every door and made a lot of noise. The emperor ordered them to collect taxes. If there is not enough food, they will make up for it with silver. If there is no silver, they will make us sell our children to make up the money. Otherwise, they will not take the emperor seriously and have the intention of rebellion."

His voice became increasingly cold and angry. "Let me ask all the officials, this year there was a severe drought and the food harvested by each family was very little. They couldn't even fill their own stomachs, so where did they get the food and money to pay the taxes? During the disaster, the county government didn't care about the lives of the people. Now they are violently demanding the payment of taxes from us. Do they treat us as human beings? Do they have to force us to death before they will stop?"

Li Tong stood beside his son and did not stop him. What his son said was exactly what he was thinking.

After his son finished speaking, he continued, "Xun Shuli has been speaking ill of us, saying that we are low-class people and rebels. I would like to ask, you eat our offerings and drink our blood, but you don't treat us as human beings. Are you worthy of being an official?"

He glanced around and saw Xun Qing and the other two looking gloomy. Xun Qing wanted to retort, but Hu Daxin put a knife to his neck and scolded him, "Scum, are they telling the truth? You deserve to be beaten."

Xun Qing hurriedly defended himself, "Tang Juecao, don't believe these unruly people. Although my words were a bit harsh, they are not as serious as they say!"

He held out a glimmer of hope that as long as Tang Juecao was still on his side, no matter how these untouchables argued, they would not be able to do anything to him and he would still be able to get away with it.

Tang Zhongbai didn't say anything for a long time. At this time, a cold gaze was turned to him, and a flash of danger in the eyes made him feel cold in his heart.

It’s bad. If Tang Zhongbai believed the words of the untouchables, he would be in trouble.