Three mule carts splashed through the mud and charged into the county town, heading straight for the yamen.
Before the carts had even come to a full stop, several ragged villagers tumbled down in a heap, dropped to their knees outside the yamen, and burst into loud sobs.
Close behind them came representatives from several other villages. Their faces were sallow, their bodies bore the marks of fighting, and their cries rose and fell one after another. Before long, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.
"Honorable Lord Blue Sky! You must uphold justice for us!" An elderly white-haired man knelt at the very front. He was the Village Chief of Huilong Village. Though the wound on his head had been bandaged, blood still seeped through.
"This morning, the bandits from Qingyun Mountain stormed into our village! They stole our grain and money, and even carried off all the young wives in the village!"
The crowd parted, revealing a plump middle-aged man dressed in silk, his face bruised and purple. Several equally bedraggled servants followed behind him. He was Rich Landlord Li of Li Family Village.
Usually pampered and well provided for, he now had disheveled hair and a torn robe. The moment he entered the yamen, he dropped to his knees with a thud. "County Magistrate! The bandit scourge has flooded the heavens! My Li Family storehouses have been stripped bare. Countless gold, silver, and jewels have been lost, and my daughter was carried off by the bandits. Whether she lives or dies is unknown!
"I beg you to swiftly send imperial soldiers to crush the bandits, rescue my daughter, and recover my property!"
Inside the yamen, County Magistrate Zhou Zhengyi sat upright in the hall. As he listened to the cries below, his expression darkened further and further.
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