novelden Chapter 185 'I have powerful backers, do you?'
Chapter 185 'I have powerful backers, do you?'
Uncle Niu and his group didn't know the way to Hanhua Village. They were misled onto a wrong road and wandered around all night before finally arriving at Hanhua Village.
Seeing the dilapidated state of the surroundings, they felt a little better. Repairing the houses and clearing the land would be too much trouble, so spending a hundred taels to save time and effort felt like a good deal.
The rest of the people dared not enter the village, and each family sent one person to the village to discuss the matter.
They happened to run into Qi Liang and his group, and a quarrel broke out between them.
"Is clearing land some kind of easy task? There's land readily available in other villages, why bother with that? ...We weren't told we had to stay together during the escape, were we?"
Niu Er scratched his head, "Second Uncle, you can just settle down in another village, we're not stopping you from going..."
Uncle Niu stared wide-eyed, "Then why do you still want a hundred taels of silver as a settlement fee?"
"Miss Yan resolved the troubles here, and Manager Qiao, out of respect for my boss, allowed us to settle here for free. What's the problem..."
Qi Liang stepped forward, yanked Niu Er aside who was arguing with Uncle Niu Er, and slammed the log he was carrying on his shoulder to the ground. "The officials took your money, what do you want with us?!"
Uncle Niu Er was so intimidated by his posture of wanting to fight at the slightest provocation that he took several steps back, swallowed hard, and when he spoke to Niu Er again, his elder-like demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
He said in a polite tone, "Everyone in our family contributed to the robbery. We agreed on this beforehand, so we can't go back on our word, can we?"
"Didn't you eat the grain from the public treasury?" Qi Liang asked.
In his opinion, these people were only robbing because they wanted to pull a cart. He had already done more than enough by following the group, protecting them, and providing them with food so they wouldn't go hungry. And they still wanted to share the spoils? What a pipe dream!
Uncle Niu felt a chill run through him. He stepped forward to protest, "Miss Meng didn't say that before—Miss Meng! Miss Meng! Don't stop me, I need to find Meng Fuqing..."
"Young Master Qi Liang, we used to be from Black Tiger Stronghold, serving our leader for so long. Now that we've reformed, our leader can't just leave us with nothing, can he?"
……
Amidst the commotion, Meng Fuqing, Du Zhong, and Meng Bochang appeared in everyone's sight.
After hearing Huang Daji's explanation, Meng Fuqing and Meng Bochang exchanged a glance. The only things they had to divide were the items they had stolen from Changping Prefecture.
Meng Bochang had discussed this matter with Meng Fuqing and Xie Jin beforehand. The villagers had eaten a lot of the grain along the way, and there wasn't much left. They decided to divide it among the families to get through the days when they had no food. They would leave the rest to the two of them.
Meng Fuqing only wanted to share some of the goods with the villagers because of Meng Bochang and Doctor Zheng. Since Meng Bochang said so, she did not refuse.
Xie Jin didn't care much about these things.
Meng Bochang had planned to tell the villagers today, and now was the perfect opportunity. He asked his two sons to call everyone except those from Black Tiger Village and explain the situation clearly.
Finally, he said, "We were able to snatch those things because Qing'er and Young Master Xie are capable. Aren't we satisfied with eating public rations all the way? Think about it carefully!"
Before anyone else could say anything, Uncle Niu and the others, who were focused on getting their share of the silver and settling down, started making a ruckus.
"Village Chief Meng, there's quite a lot of stuff. Are you giving it all to Meng Fuqing and Young Master Xie? You didn't say that before!"
"Aren't you afraid that if we're pushed too far, we'll expose this?"
"That's right! If we're not having an easy time, you shouldn't expect to either!"
……
"Go to the government office and tell them."
A clear, cool voice rang out from the crowd, and the noise stopped abruptly.
Meng Fuqing stared at the person who wanted to expose the matter and slowly said, "How many good people can survive on the road of fleeing famine? Why don't you just let the government arrest all the refugees?"
Besides, you're all in cahoots with me, but I have powerful backers. Do you?
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Because of Meng Fuqing's last words, Uncle Niu clutched his chest, almost unable to catch his breath.
Du Zhong broke the stalemate with his loud voice, which was filled with murderous intent: "I finally reformed myself. Anyone who dares to expose my past will be punished. I wouldn't mind slitting the throats of a few more vagrants with this knife!"
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the bandits watching immediately turned fierce.
Seeing this, Niu Er sternly retorted to his men, "See what kind of men they have? We need to make our boss proud from now on, you know?"
He completely forgot that his second uncle was among those he was targeting.
In the end, Niu Erbo and the others only received some grain, while Du Zhong gave some grain and silver to the Black Tiger Village as severance pay.
Some people regretted their decision and wanted to settle down in Hanhua Village, but Meng Bochang thought that he had already troubled Lord Qiao enough and couldn't be fickle, so he turned them away.
Uncle Niu Er kept pestering Uncle Niu Da to borrow money. They were all relatives, and Uncle Niu Da knew roughly about Uncle Er's family situation, if not completely.
"Second Uncle, we didn't need any money on the way we fled the famine. Surely your family can't not come up with a hundred taels?"
Uncle Niu was so anxious that he was practically running around in circles. There would be many places where he would need money in the future, and he was delayed in getting anything done.
“Nephews, you can’t just watch my family become refugees! Your father and I are brothers from the same mother. How about you use your livestock as payment?”
The Niu brothers and their family didn't get along well with their second uncle's family. They only brought the whole family along because they didn't want anyone to die under the Hu people's swords.
Knowing that Uncle Niu Er had money but didn't want to take it out, he immediately got up and chased him away.
It wasn't just the Niu family who were being disturbed and unable to work; several other families were in the same situation, all wanting to borrow money.
After sending the people away, Meng Fuqing immediately ordered his men to guard the village entrance.
After the commotion subsided, everyone finally had time to properly observe their village—but there wasn't much to see, so they ate and got back to work!
After a simple meal, everyone divided up the houses.
Originally, Du Zhong and Meng Bochang wanted to give the only intact tile-roofed house to Meng Fuqing's family, but Meng Fuqing and Shan Qiyu refused after discussing it.
She set her sights on the spot where the meteorite had been found. Apart from the large crater created by the meteorite, the terrain was relatively flat, and the area was at a higher elevation, closer to the mountains, making it suitable for both her and White Wolf.
"We'll find a place to stay for now, and then we'll ask a craftsman to build a house behind the village."
Du Zhong: "Building a house takes time, so you'll need to find a decent place to stay temporarily. If you like a particular room, I'll have my men prepare it for you."
The head of the Du family, who had previously claimed to have reformed, still behaved the same way as before. He acted ruthlessly, leaving even the villagers of Mengjia Village unable to get a word in edgewise.
The mother and daughter discussed and chose a room at the northernmost part of the village. As soon as they decided, women and men came into the yard to help.
Weeding, leveling the yard, repairing leaks in the roof, cleaning the house...
The group chatted and laughed as they quickly cleaned the previously dilapidated house, making it clean, spacious, and tidy.
The tables, chairs, and benches that had been looted in Changping Prefecture but had nowhere to be sold came in handy. These pieces of furniture, which looked to be worth a lot of money, seemed somewhat out of place in the drab room.
After the yard was tidied up, Qi Liang and the others carried in boxes of things.
"Should we send someone to keep watch at night?" Qi Liang asked.
"No need, there are wolves guarding it."