Village Chief Cui thought that the county magistrate would leave soon, so he ordered his clansmen to continue kneeling. However, the county magistrate did not show up until it was dark.
If they kept kneeling like this, his old bones might not be able to take it. Therefore, he had to reluctantly allow the clansmen to return to their homes.
At this moment, the county magistrate ordered people to beat gongs and gather the crowds. Village Chief Cui started to worry.
Could it be that the county magistrate intended to publicly punish them for showing disrespect?
Supported by his two sons, Village Chief Cui stood at the front of his clansmen. He silently prayed that the county magistrate had not summoned them over that matter.
He even scolded that useless nephew of his in his heart for not sending someone to notify them ahead of time of the county magistrate's visit to Xi Ling Village, so that he could have been better prepared...
Meng Huaining did not even glance at Village Chief Cui and directly swept his eyes over the crowd. Seeing that most people had arrived, he finally spoke up.
"This official has just arrived in Yun City to take office today and has already received an outrageous case.
Our County Steward Cui, not satisfied with just exploiting the common people to fulfill his selfish desires, actually condones his own clansmen to do things even lower than beasts.
Today, this official has already dismissed County Steward Cui from his position to be investigated..."
As he spoke, his gaze finally fell upon Village Chief Cui.
When Village Chief Cui heard that his nephew has been dismissed from his position and would be investigated, he was so frightened that he almost fainted on the spot.
Not to mention other tribesmen, even he himself had done far too many harmful things to aid Cui Wen.
It was not difficult to hear from the county magistrate's words that he took this matter very seriously.
As the saying goes, a new official fires his first shot upon taking office. It is clear that this first shot is aimed at his Cui family.
It's over, they were finished.
Just as Village Chief Cui was panicking internally, Meng Huaining spoke again.
"Guards, arrest Village Chief Cui and temporarily detain him in the jail to await trial."
The guards acknowledged and ruthlessly tied up Village Chief Cui in public.
Seeing this, the Cui clansmen knelt down one after another, crying out injustice...
Meng Huaining signaled to the guards behind him. The guards immediately went up and kicked a few of the Cuis who were crying out the loudest.
"How dare you make loud noises in front of the county magistrate. Are you looking to die..."
After getting kicked a few times, the Cui family instantly fell silent. Everyone knelt in their original places, not even daring to breathe heavily, afraid that the incident would implicate themselves.
Seeing this scene, the Zhao Family and Zhou Family felt extremely delighted.
They could tell that the county magistrate was determined to punish the Cuis, so they would no longer have to live under Cui's oppression in the future.
The first to come to this realization was Zhao Zechuan. He loudly shouted:
"Brilliant county magistrate, please serve justice for the people of Xi Ling Village."
Right afterwards, several Zhao clansmen followed and agreed. All were criticisms of the Cuis.
Seeing this, the bolder people from Zhou Family also pleaded for the county magistrate to serve justice for them.
The sun had already set for the day and Meng Huaining originally planned to just make an example out of Village Chief Cui for now mainly to show the Cui family that the Mohists were not to be bullied by them.
He did not expect that as soon as he ordered Village Chief Cui to be arrested, so many people would immediately plead for him to serve justice for them.
As the parent official of this place, he had to serve justice for these villagers.
At the same time, Meng Huaining also wanted to understand what other law defying deeds the Cui clansmen besides Cui Wen had done.
"Meng An, this official is going to immediately put the Cui clan on trial. Tell the villagers to speak up if they have any grievances."
Carrying out the order, Meng An loudly conveyed Meng Huaining's intention to the Zhao and Zhou families.
Upon hearing this news, the Zhao and Zhou families were confused at first.
The reason why they dared to loudly criticize just now had largely stemmed from their immense hatred for the Cuis.
They did not expect that the county magistrate would decide to serve justice for them so swiftly.
The good news came so abruptly that the villagers of the two families could not fully comprehend it right away.
Zhao Zechuan reacted the fastest and pulled his father out to kneel before Meng Huaining.
"County magistrate, please serve justice for my Zhao family."
Zhao Zechuan's father was currently the Zhao family patriarch. When he initially heard that the county magistrate would serve justice for them, he originally planned to wait and see if the county magistrate truly would act like an honorable gentleman.
Who would have expected that he would be pulled out by his own devious son without realizing it.
Since he had already knelt before the county magistrate, he no longer had anything to worry about.
The Zhao patriarch kowtowed to Meng Huaining.
"County magistrate, your humble servant is named Zhao Hua and is the Zhao family patriarch. My ancestors have lived in Xi Ling Village for generations.
Initially, the three families got along. But ever since Cui Wen became county steward, that was when the nightmare began for my Zhao family and the Zhous.
Abusing Cui Wen's power, the Cuis forced the beautiful young ladies of our two families to marry into theirs. We would have conceded if the matches were age appropriate, but the men were always those who had not gotten wives because they were too poor and had lived long fruitless lives.
The daughters of the Cuis who were ugly or disabled were forcibly married off to fine young men from our families.
That would still be tolerable if those women could peacefully live their lives after marrying into our families. But each and every one of them was problematic and brazenly sent stuff back to their maternal homes without allowing our families to criticize.
If our families protested against such marriage arrangements, Cui Wen would send government officials to oppress us.
The Cuis also forcibly traded their barren lands for our fertile fields. Likewise, if we refused, the officials would come forward and crack down on us.
Come autumn harvest time, Cui Wen only needed to say a word and our two families would have to shoulder the entirety of the grain tax for the Cuis.
Over the past decade or two, life for my Zhao family and the Zhous could only be described as seriously miserable. Many people starved to death during bad crop harvest years.
Everything your humble servant has stated is true. I plead with you, esteemed sir, to serve justice for us..."
When he finished speaking, Zhao Hua kowtowed three times to Meng Huaining again.
Before Zhao Hua even got up, the Zhou family patriarch knelt before Meng Huaining as well.
"This lowly one is the Zhou family patriarch. My whole clan can bear witness that every sentence Patriarch Zhao has spoken is true. Esteemed sir, I beseech you on our behalf as well."
Likewise, three thuds from his kowtows landed heavily on the ground.
At the same time, the Zhao and Zhou clansmen all knelt down together and shouted in unison: "County magistrate, we plead with you to serve justice for us..."
After listening to the accounts of the two patriarchs and seeing so many kneeling villagers, Meng Huaining's rage boiled over.
For the first time, he did something ungraceful.
Meng Huaining then took big strides toward the Cui clansmen and fiercely kicked a few of the kneeling men in front.
Meng Huaining trained martial arts since he was young so each kick was very powerful.
The several men cried out in pain...
The Cui clansmen had lorded all over Xi Ling Village relying on Cui Wen's influence these past few years. When had they ever suffered such mistreatment?
Not daring to retaliate against the county magistrate, they still were unwilling to let the Zhao and Zhou families off.
