In Chapter 6, the old man

"My dad?"

Ma Liu was stunned.

Her father, Liu San, died ten years ago, and what right does Zhong Xuan, an old pedantic scholar, have to lecture her?

Over the years, relying on the power and influence of the Ma brothers, Ma Liu has acted arrogantly and domineeringly, never once being slapped in the face.

But I don't know why.

Seeing Zhong Xuan today, I felt a little intimidated.

Otherwise, given his usual temperament, he wouldn't care about age and would have already gone on a rampage.

The commotion quickly alerted the neighbors on both sides.

A short while later.

There were quite a few people gathered in front of Zhong Xuan's house.

The villagers who had come to watch the spectacle whispered among themselves and discussed the matter.

"What happened?"

"Is that woman from Ma Laosan's family acting foolish again?"

"I heard that Ma Laosan's son, Erdan, was beaten by Old Man Zhong and broke his leg. This woman has come to demand an explanation."

A crowd gathered, but not a single person had the intention to step forward and offer help.

They knew the Ma family's ways.

The neighbors had previously witnessed Ma Liushi repeatedly causing trouble for Zhong Xuan.

However, since Ma Laosan had four brothers in Xiahe Village, and they all wanted to avoid trouble, they did not want to take the lead, which would have provoked the Ma brothers to retaliate.

He saw his wife being beaten.

Standing in the bushes not far away, Ma Laosan immediately became agitated. He quickly pushed his way through the crowd to his wife's side, glaring fiercely at Zhong Xuan: "Old man Zhong, what do you mean by this? You hit my son, and now you hit my wife. Do you think I, Ma Laosan, am dead?"

Seeing that the head of the household had shown himself, Zhong Xuan finally spoke:

"Sanheizi, what do you want?"

Ma San was displeased.

"How dare you call me 'San Heizi'?"

Sanheizi is his nickname.

But since he came of age, no one has called him "father" or "mother" anymore, except for his parents.

Ma San glared at Zhong Xuan: "Easy, just give me your house and the half-acre of land at the village entrance as compensation for the medicine."

Upon hearing this...

Zhong Xuan chuckled softly.

The abacus beads were practically bouncing onto his face.

They eat the blood of the childless.

Actually, people have some misunderstandings. They think that "eating the widow's children" means bullying orphans and widows, but in reality, it originally referred to old widowers like him who had no wife or children.

Although Zhong Xuan was down on his luck, he was by no means poor in Xiahe Village because of his ability to read and write.

Over the years, countless people in Xiahe Village have been eyeing his house and the half-acre of land at the village entrance, secretly waiting for him to die so they could take it for themselves.

Ma San had long coveted Zhong Xuan's house and planned to use it as a dowry for his son's marriage. So he came up with the insidious plan of having his son cause trouble first.

In the past, Zhong Xuan would have had no choice but to swallow his anger at an old man with no fighting ability.

But things are different now.

Zhong Xuan coldly said, "Since that's the case, then let Elder Li be the judge."

Upon hearing this, Ma San's expression immediately changed.

"When did Old Man Zhong become so assertive?"

But when the name of Old Man Li was mentioned, Ma San couldn't help but feel uneasy.

The Qing Kingdom has a vast territory, and it would be cumbersome to set up an official office in a single county. Therefore, the village system was implemented for the numerous villages scattered throughout the country.

One hundred and ten households form a li, and a li chief is appointed.

Ten households form a "jia" (甲), and a "jia head" (甲首) is appointed for each "jia".

In addition, respected elders over fifty years of age in the village were elected as village elders.

These are the people who truly hold power in the village.

Let's just say that.

Sometimes, the village head, village chief, and village elder could even act on behalf of the county government in judging cases and issuing rewards and punishments.

Ma San naturally knew that his own son had caused trouble first, and that he had instigated his son to stir up trouble in order to seize Zhong Xuan's family property. However, if he went to Elder Li's place, he might not get a good outcome.

My mind was in complete turmoil.

But while he was still hesitating...

Zhong Xuan's hand was already on his shoulder.

"Come with me!"

Ma San was a scoundrel, and he immediately lost his temper, cursing, "Old man, why should I listen to you?"

But just as he was about to lash out, he was surprised to find that no matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of Zhong Xuan's big hand.

"grass!"

Ma San no longer cared about being labeled as someone who bullies the elderly.

Because he discovered that he couldn't even handle Zhong Xuan, a 60-year-old Confucian scholar.

You might even be subdued by the other side.

If Zhong Xuan were to take him to Elder Li, he would be in an even more passive position.

In a fit of anger

In a moment of impulsiveness, Ma San pulled out a palm-sized dagger from his waist and stabbed it towards Zhong Xuan's abdomen.

Zhong Xuan's eyes grew even colder.

With the form of a crane, it is naturally agile.

So he easily sidestepped the knife and dodged it. At the same time, he raised his knee and rammed it into Ma San's hand holding the knife.

As Ma San felt a sharp pain in his finger, he was horrified to discover that his dagger was already in Zhong Xuan's hand.

A flower in front of you.

Zhong Xuan easily pinned Ma San's right hand down, and Ma San immediately felt a sharp pain, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and he cried out in pain.

"Ouch... Ouch..."

There was no time to ponder why Old Man Zhong had become so powerful.

Ma San knelt down on the ground almost without hesitation and kowtowed several times.

"Fourth Uncle, Sanheizi has been misbehaving, please forgive me this time."

Should I call him uncle?

Zhong Xuan sneered.

According to seniority, he was of the same generation as Ma San's deceased father, which is why Ma San called him Fourth Uncle.

Ma San is shrewd, but not stupid.

If Ma San can subdue Zhong Xuan today, at most he will only have a bad reputation for bullying the elderly. But if he is subdued by Zhong Xuan and sent to the village chief and elders, given his behavior of injuring people with a dagger, I'm afraid his whole family will not be able to stay in Xiahe Village.

At this point, saving face is no longer important.

Not only Ma San, but even the usually shrewish Ma Liu was deathly pale.

In Xiahe Village.

It is not uncommon for people to eat the children of the deceased.

But if you don't get to eat and are instead caught and sent to the village elder, the nature of the matter is completely different, not to mention the possibility of someone using a knife against a fellow villager.

I saw that Ma Sanba's head was bleeding from kowtowing.

A villager stepped forward and advised, "Old Zhong, Ma San has already kowtowed, and you haven't suffered any loss. Just have Ma San clean your gate, and let's just let it go."

A man's knees are worth gold.

In the eyes of the people of Xiahe Village, kneeling and kowtowing is a punishment that will be condemned for a lifetime, and is worse than death.

Ma San knelt down; the punishment was sufficient.

There's no need to invite Elder Li again.

"never mind?"

Zhong Xuan glanced at the person who spoke.

If it weren't for his physical transformation and the cultivation of the Eight Pieces of Brocade.

Today, at the very least, Ma San will rob most of his family's wealth, and he might even be killed.

We can't just let this go!

With both hands exerting force like eagle claws, Ma San let out another series of cries of pain.

"Come with me to Shenming Pavilion."

......

......

Shenming Pavilion, meaning to proclaim education and moral guidance, is a place for teaching and judging within a mile.

at this time.

The two elders who had heard the news were already waiting under the pavilion. Although they had received the news, they were still moved when they saw Zhong Xuan easily subdue Ma San, a strong man.

One of the elders was slightly startled.

"Zhong Xuan has started practicing martial arts?"