Li Tieniu looked at the two dead people.
His face was deathly pale; this ti, he had truly caused a major disaster.
The villagers were dead silent.
All eyes were on Jiang Xiaoxiao.
The only one here with any insight was Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Besides Mr. Jiang, who else could co up with an idea for them?
Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyes darted around.
"Since we've already killed two, we might as well go all the way and kill them all. It's not too late to make it so that no one hears, no one sees, who would know they died in our village? It would prevent them from going back to report us."
The four governnt officials were petrified.
This was a plan to kill them to silence the witnesses.
They didn't want to die.
"No, no, we won't say anything, really, we won't say anything. Steward Wang and Official Gao, they were... they were..."
The officials were scrambling to save their lives, but even as their eyes darted around, they couldn't co up with a good excuse.
Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at them with a sinister smile.
The four of them were scared, their hearts pounding, thinking quickly.
"Steward Wang and Official Gao were accidentally injured by mountain bandits, and we barely managed to save our lives. It has nothing to do with Li Family Village."
The villagers were stunned. Could they really spout such nonsense?
"That's not right! The wound on Official Gao's chest doesn't look like a mountain bandit's knife wound! Since you've started, you might as well finish; each of you give him a stab to make it match!"
The four officials, with grim expressions, took their knives and gave Official Gao four more stabs, showing real ruthlessness.
This was essentially a blood pact; they did it themselves, so if they ever tried to go back to the governnt office to change their story,
these villagers could testify that it was they who killed Official Gao, with the knives as evidence.
Jiang Xiaoxiao pointed at Steward Wang, and the four could only continue to give him four more stabs without stopping halfway.
This ti, even if they tried to disentangle themselves, they couldn't; they were completely tied to the village and its people.
"Alright, alright, everyone disperse. These four governnt officers worked so hard, they ca to collect taxes, only to encounter vicious mountain bandits. Luckily, these four were valiant, able to drive off the bandits.
But Steward Wang and this Official sacrificed themselves heroically; they are models for us all. Since it's like this, we must send these four officers back to the governnt office with drums and gongs to show our gratitude."
The four officials forced smiles, feeling chilled. This Mr. Jiang and these villagers were so conniving.
Look how they handled things so thoroughly, almost binding the officials tightly to this village's big ship.
Even if they wanted to return and slander the villagers in front of the county magistrate, there was no opportunity.
And making such a big deal out of it, if they wanted to change their story, wouldn't they just be admitting they were lying?
The village elders imdiately understood what they needed to do from these words.
Soon, the village was bustling with activity.
Indeed, there were hundreds of villagers beating drums and gongs, carrying the bodies of Steward Wang and Official Gao, with the four officials wearing red flowers, beating drums and gongs, sending them directly back to the nearby governnt office at Yann Pass.
The county magistrate, hearing that the villagers returned the officials with drums and gongs, and upon hearing there was such a good thing, saw it as a political achievent for the county.
If this matter was reported to higher authorities, it would surely be seen as a substantial achievent.
Even with Steward Wang and Official Gao dead, it was seen as dying in the line of duty.
They died; so be it.
In places like this, a few people die each year, don't they?
Though he lost a capable assistant in Steward Wang, it was still an achievent.
Better the others die than myself; after all, the credit remains.
With Steward Wang gone, they could always replace him with another aide.
Reporting such matters surely also contributed to the county magistrate's achievents, so he welcod them warmly.
The county governnt office was all harmonious within, with the county magistrate being quite approachable and treating the villagers very kindly.
Historically, governnt offices were places people without money dared not enter, yet here was the county magistrate amiably chatting and laughing with a bunch of villagers.
The four officials wore forced smiles, having to act all serious and proper.
While on the way back, they each cut themselves twice, otherwise with Steward Wang dead and Official Gao dead,
if they were unhard, it wouldn't make sense; the acting needed to appear real.
Things reached a point where they had no control over them.
In order to protect their families, they had no choice but to play along with the people of Li Family Village, and now they had an achievent.
anwhile, the villagers of Li Family Village paid taxes for 180 people.
Not only that, it was taxed at only one tael and five qian of silver.
The county magistrate certainly wouldn't increase the village's taxes, for this was part of his achievents, and whenever the authorities ca to investigate, they would certainly go to Li Family Village.
He absolutely couldn't let the daylight shine on any illegal tax collection.
Naturally, Li Family Village followed the rules, and for a while, Li Family Village was in the spotlight.
Other villages envied Li Family Village.
The village elders of Li Family Village were also proud; this ti, they not only gained respect but also taught those troubleso officials a lesson. Surely, when those four officials returned, they'd keep their mouths shut.
Talking about it wouldn't benefit anyone.
Previously, the villagers revered the governnt officials as if they were deities.
To them, they were untouchable authorities.
But now they realized, these officials were just humans, just like any others.
With proper asures, those usually fierce and oppressive officials were actually paper tigers.
Li Tieniu didn't fully grasp how things had unfolded until he returned to the village.
He had killed Steward Wang in a mont of rage, unable to stomach those officials' shalessness in bullying his sister.
Sister killed the official, and dead was dead; he deserved it.
Since he had already killed one official, the situation had already escalated.
At that ti, he thought might as well go all the way, kill them all, bury them right there, no one would know they had done such a thing, already prepared to fight to the bitter end, ready to take his sister and the village people up the mountains to beco bandits.
After all, they didn't lack silver; even as bandits, they could live luxuriously.
But who would have thought things could develop this way?
Look at Mr. Jiang at work.
The officials even helped keep the matter tightly under wraps, appearing to the outside world as such, protecting not only the village but ensuring no one in the village got in trouble.
Everyone in the village returned with lingering fear, but the elders had a small eting with Li Tieniu.
They concluded in one sentence: from now on, they would listen to Mr. Jiang's directions.
Now was a chaotic ti; today, they had killed officials, and they lost all reverence for governnt officials, realizing these officials were just ordinary people who, when faced with life and death, were no stronger than ordinary people like them.
If they could kill bandits, then they could kill officials; what couldn't they do?
As long as they followed Mr. Jiang, they could survive, have enough to eat.
Mr. Jiang was wise, ticulous, and following such a person, they could only live better.
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