Chapter 116
116 Chaotic Battle
Li Yu invited Chen Yaohui into the house. Chen Yaohui smiled and asked Li Yu, “Xiaoyu, how did Mr. Zhou do?”
Li Yu smiled. “We won’t know until the fifth of next month. Uncle Yaohui, how’s your family’s harvest this year?”
Chen Yaohui shook his head. “No matter how good the harvest is, we can’t catch up to your family. Had I known earlier, I would have listened to your aunt and come to learn from you. I heard that you set up a breeding field and got some wild rice to breed. At that time, I even thought that you were ruining the field. I went to take a look before the harvest and realized that those rice grains were fuller than ours. The rice grains were also a little longer.” Chen Yaohui rubbed his hands and looked at Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, can you get me some of your rice seeds next year?”
Li Yu shook her head. “Uncle, not next year. I don’t know if the modification was successful. I can only give it to you a year after I try it next year.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Uncle, you came to me about the cattle thieves, didn’t you?”
“That’s right! Your uncle came to look for me early in the morning and said that you caught a few ox thieves from Hu Village. In my opinion, they were the ones who came to steal from the village a few days ago. I want to ask what you plan to do with them?”
“Uncle, how did the people in the village deal with the attempted theft in the past?”
“The petty thieves will be released after being caught and beaten up. If we report this kind of cattle thief to the authorities, they’ll be sentenced to caning for attempted theft. Moreover, stealing cattle is the most important. It seems that they’ll have to be whipped at least a hundred times. However, there’s another thing. They haven’t stolen it yet. If they refuse to admit it and find someone to smooth things over, the higher-ups will still be in charge of the judgment. Also, our two villages aren’t far away. I don’t think we need to report it to the officials. Let the two villages form a grudge and give them a taste of our strength. Let them know that our Phoenix Village isn’t to be trifled with. What do you think?”
When Li Yu heard this, she recalled that the thief last night had lied and refused to admit it. The two villages were not far apart. She was not afraid of the revenge of the people from Hu Village, but she wanted to deter them. She should go and teach them a lesson so that they would not dare to provoke her again.
“Alright, we’ll do as you say. As long as they’re willing to admit their mistakes, we’ll teach them a lesson. If they’re still ruthless and unreasonable, we’ll send them to the government office.”
“Alright, Uncle will call for more people.”
Just as the two of them were about to go out, Ah Gou ran in and shouted at Li Yu in panic, “Miss, go and take a look. Many people from Hu Village have come. They’re surrounding the cowshed and want us to let them go to compensate for the medicine.”
Chen Yaohui said angrily, “Xiaoyu, go quickly. I’ll call all the men in the village.”
Li Yu nodded and ran towards the cowshed with Ah Gou.
When they arrived at the cowshed, they saw that the thieves were still hanging from it. There were 20 to 30 men from Hu Village, as well as some women and elders. Ruyi, Uncle Zhao, and the servants were all blocking them, not letting them go through.
Ah Gou crawled in and said to Ruyi, “Brother Ruyi, Miss is here.”
Li Yu separated the crowd and looked at Er Ya, Ah Gou, and the children. “Go and watch the drying field. The laborers are going to pull the grains back.”
“Oh! We’re off.” Er Ya left with the children.
When the people from Hu Village saw the others bowing to Li Yu, they knew that the main family had arrived. The white-haired old man saw that Li Yu was just a girl and was not old. He glanced at a wife in the crowd.
The wife of a thief walked out of the crowd in Hu Village and pounced in front of Li Yu. She cried pitifully, “Miss, I beg you. Please let me go! We really can’t live anymore.”
Li Yu saw that she was wearing a green thin cloth dress and there were two flowers embroidered on the shoes under her feet. She looked down at her. “I don’t think you’re dressed like a poor family. You’re wearing clothes made of 10 to 20 copper coins a foot of thin cloth and embroidered shoes. If you’re so poor, can you still wear thin cloth that costs more than 10 copper coins a foot?”
The thief’s wife looked up at Li Yu and could not reply. She could only lower her head and beg for mercy.
Li Yu looked at them and said coldly, “You even dare to steal cows. We have to report it to the authorities.”
A white-haired old man walked out and looked at Li Yu with a dark expression. “Miss, I’m the head of the Hu family. Listen to my advice. Spare people when you can. They were already injured by you, but you still hung them there. You’re a girl at such a young age. You should leave some leeway.”
Li Yu took a step forward and looked at him coldly. “According to you, if they come to steal something, I should let them steal it. If they steal it, I should entertain them with good wine and food. I should beg them to return it to me and stop stealing in the future. Do you think I’m a fool? Don’t you think we fled from the wilderness and want to step on us because we’re easy to bully?!”
The old man choked. He pointed at Li Yu. “Since you’re stubborn, I’ll tell you that they told me last night that they wanted to go up the mountain to hunt. The government office gave you this land. They didn’t give you Phoenix Mountain, right? However, when I passed by, you shot them and hung them up. I’m going to the government office to sue you for being domineering.”
A man came out of the crowd and shouted, “Second Great Uncle, don’t waste your breath on her. Wretched girl, let them go quickly. You’ve been guarding there for a long time, waiting for them to catch them when they pass. This is all your trap.”
Li Yu looked at him. “In the middle of the night, you were holding incense and putting smoke under the window of my night watchman. All of you were holding sharp knives in your hands. There was also a large bunch of keys and ropes. Were you just passing by my cowshed? Are you kidding me?! Also, it takes at least four hours to walk from Hu Village to here. It’s only dawn. Do you have clairvoyance and clairaudient ears to know that we’ve caught them before dawn?”
“When we found out it has nothing to do with you!” A tall man walked up to Li Yu and pointed at her as he shouted, “Damn girl, are you going to let them go? If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”
“Kill me? That depends on whether you have the ability.” Before Li Yu finished speaking, she had already taken a step forward. Her hand reached out like lightning and grabbed his pulse. She slapped his chest and grabbed his belt. She raised him up. The people in Hu Village widened their mouths and looked at Li Yu blankly.
Li Yu’s servants gasped and immediately cheered. “Miss, you have divine power! Miss, you’re mighty!”
The people from Hu Village watched helplessly as Li Yu threw the man in front of the few fierce men from Hu Village. They were all dumbfounded.
Li Yu looked at them and clapped her hands. “Whoever still wants to kill me, come up.”
The men in Hu Village collectively stopped. A few women started to go to the front again and pounced at Li Yu’s feet.