After several men knocked down by Meng Huaining got up, they all glared at the people from Zhao and Zhou families.
Their looks seemed to say - just you wait.
Seeing the looks on Cui family's faces, the villagers from the two families shivered out of habit, and the horrible images of Cui family bullying their own families even emerged in their minds.
In the dim light of several torches around, Meng Huaining immediately noticed Cui family's actions.
He ordered the officers behind him.
"Give each of these Cui men ten heavy strikes. If they refuse to obey, double the punishment."
Among these officers, there was no lack of people who had pressured Zhao and Zhou families under Cui Wen's order.
At this moment, they were extremely nervous, always thinking of finding a chance to show their stance to the new county magistrate, so as to avoid getting involved with Cui family.
Just when several officers were thinking about countermeasures in their minds, the county magistrate ordered to beat Cui family men with sticks.
Now, the opportunity for them to show themselves has finally come.
Several officers who used to act as accomplices for Cui Wen took the lead to rush out and hit Cui family men with clubs in their hands.
Cui family men were not unfamiliar with these officers. Seeing them coming, they thought the strikes on them would be lighter.
However, the result was just the opposite. These officers were implicated by Cui family, and now they hated Cui family so much. How could they go easy on them?
If ten strikes could beat one to death, they would spare no effort.
As soon as Cui family men felt the weight of the strikes at the first moment, they burst into scolding.
"Feng Laowu, you bastard, we used to drink together. How can you turn your face ruthlessly now?"
Feng Laowu: "Damn you, if you dare to babble more, I will beat you to death..."
Not only one pair had the same scene, there were also two other Cui men burst into scolding.
The result was just more brutal strikes falling on them, almost breaking their bones.
Soon ten heavy strikes were finished. Those beaten Cui men finally learned the lesson, daring not to say more. All of them begged Meng Huaining for mercy with their teeth gritting.
Meng Huaining completely ignored them and ordered the officers to keep a close eye on all Cui family members starting today. Before Cui Wen's case got closed, no Cui family member was allowed to leave Xi Ling Village.
Then Meng Huaining called the chieftains of Zhao and Zhou families over.
"Cui family has committed so many evil acts that even if I don't sleep all night, I'm afraid I still can't finish the trial. Do you have anyone in your families who can read and write?"
When it came to people who were literate, all eyes turned to Zhao Zechuan.
Due to Cui family's exploitation, they led such an impoverished life that having enough to eat was already beyond hope, let alone having spare money to send kids to school.
Zhao Zechuan was the only exception.
Having suffered oppression from Cui family for many years, in order to stand out, there must be someone from the family holding higher official post than Cui Wen.
For this reason, Zhao family secretly decided to send a smart boy to school, with tuition fees donated by all family members.
Zhao Zechuan's intelligence and wit had obtained unanimous approval from everyone.
Therefore, Zhao Zechuan was the only educated one among Zhao and Zhou families.
Before Meng Huaining had finished, Zhao Zechuan had already come to the front across the crowd.
"My lord, your student Zhao Zechuan is not talented. I'm willing to write this plaint."
Seeing Zhao Zechuan addressing himself as a student, Meng Huaining raised his brows. "Do you have an official title?"
Zhao Zechuan answered neither humble nor pushy: "I passed the county examination last year and became Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examination at the county level)."
Meng Huaining didn't expect that such an impoverished family was able to nurture a Xiucai.
Moreover, seeing his age, he must be only sixteen or seventeen.
He had become Xiucai last year at such young age. This could prove this man's excellence.
Thinking of this, Meng Huaining was in no hurry to talk about writing the plaint.
"Since this is the case, it's truly not easy for your families to nurture a Xiucai, considering the extreme poverty described by your chieftains."
If what Zhao Hua said was true, under Cui family's oppression, just getting enough food had already become a big issue for Zhao and Zhou families, let alone supporting someone to pursue education.
Meng Huaining was also a well-educated person. He understood clearly that cultivating a Xiucai cost a lot.
If Zhao Zechuan failed to give a reasonable explanation to this question, then what Zhao chieftain said might not be all true.
Zhao Zechuan sensed the magistrate's suspicion. He bowed and told the story of all Zhao family members donating money together to support his study.
Hearing this, Meng Huaining had to give Zhao family a big thumb up for their solidarity and wisdom.
"Well, since this is the case, I'll give you one day to write a good plaint against Cui family and submit it to the county government."
Zhao Zechuan bowed with his hands cupped again. "Please rest assured, my lord. I'll present the plaint early tomorrow morning."
Meng Huaining looked up to the darkening sky, and then asked the two chieftains of Zhao and Zhou.
"I'm dismissing Cui family's position as village head today. Do you have any good candidates for the new village head in mind?"
When it came to the position of village head of Xi Ling Village, the two chieftains had never thought about it. As long as Cui family was there, this position would never fall into their hands.
But now things were different. The county magistrate settled Cui Wen on his first day taking office. It was imaginable that Cui family would become helpless without Cui Wen's support in the future, even though they wanted to make troubles.
Thinking of these, there was a faint wish to give it a try in both chieftains' minds.
Let alone the monthly allowance of one or two silvers from the government, their families would also benefit a lot from it indirectly .
The reason why the two chieftains didn't promote themselves was that they didn't want to spoil the relationship because of competing for the position of village head.
Seeing neither of them speaking, Meng Huaining guessed what was on their minds.
However, fortunately, neither of them took the initiative to speak for the sake of that position. This showed that they were taking each other's feelings into consideration to some extent.
Undoubtedly, the future village head of Xi Ling Village must be one of these two chieftains.
He sized them up and saw clear minds in both of their eyes.
"Since this is the case, Zhao chieftain will be the village head of Xi Ling Village in the future!"
The reason was simple. Zhao chieftain was younger, and there was also an educated son in his family, which was convenient to record something.
Zhou chieftain just froze for an instant and then bowed with his hands cupped to Zhao chieftain. "Congratulations to village head Zhao."
The surprise came so suddenly. Zhao Hua was still reacting. Before he could respond, he had already received the congratulations from Zhou chieftain.
He hurried to return the courtesy and said some polite words. After all, with the county magistrate present, this was not his home ground. The two finished the small talk and stepped aside.
Meng Huaining's eyes fell on the two men again.
"I wonder if there are any vacant houses in your families?"
Hearing this, the eyes of the two chieftains fell on Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, who hadn't spoken a word at the same time.
They were very clear in their minds that the reason why the county magistrate asked this must be for the newcomers.
Someone had made inquiries about this today. Back then, hindered by Cui family, they didn't dare to agree.
Now the county magistrate asked them in person, and it was after he had started to punish Cui family. Of course they wouldn't refuse to rent houses to those newcomers anymore.
Zhao chieftain was the first to speak. "Our Zhao family has two vacant houses. They are quite spacious, absolutely no problem for a big family to live in."
Zhou chieftain also said, "Our Zhou family also has an empty house compound, with ten rooms in total if counting the main room and side rooms. We can rent them all to these newcomers."
He Zhiran felt their luck was really good.
Mo, Xie and Fang families, three families of people, happened to need three houses. And here were exactly three available houses.
While she was thinking about this, Meng Huaining had already turned around.
"Brother Mo Jiuye, sister-in-law, since the two chieftains can provide three house compounds, why not go take a look now. If suitable, move in tonight. Don't catch cold by sleeping outside."
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were also thinking the same way.
"That's perfect." As soon as Mo Jiuye spoke, he walked toward the two chieftains.
"Chieftains, may we go see those houses now?"
Both chieftains replied at the same time: "No problem. Just go take a look whenever Young Master Mo wants."
The most important thing Meng Huaining came here for was already settled. And it was getting late too. So he ordered to take away Cui Wen with those officers and leave Xi Ling Village.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran sent him and those officers to the village entrance before heading back to find the two chieftains.
Back to the original spot, except that Cui family men had been driven back home by officers, people from the other two families were still waiting there.
The attitudes of the two chieftains toward Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran were extremely polite.
Chief Zhao stepped forward first to ask: "May I ask how this gentleman is called?"
Mo Jiuye politely answered: "Chief Zhao, my surname is Mo, I'm the ninth child in my family, you can call me Old Nine Mo."
Then, he introduced He Zhiran to them to get acquainted, after all they would become neighbors in the future, so it was necessary to be familiar with each other.
The two chiefs were indeed simple and straightforward, calling Mo Jiuye "Old Nine Mo" directly, and calling He Zhiran "Old Nine's wife"!
