"Let me speak! He was the one who led off my family's ox, damn it, and I still haven't gotten it back!"
"Me too! My son argued with him over some little thing, and he didn't even say anything nasty. But that man brought a gang of thugs to our door, tore down our gate, smashed everything in the house, and broke my son's leg!"
"He beat me too..."
Once Liu Sanzi got things started, the villagers began listing the wrongdoings of Old Geng's nephew.
Old Geng had nothing to say. He squatted on the ground, smoking his pipe.
Those who had been preparing to go to Baling City with Old Geng began to hesitate.
Liu Sanzi chuckled and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, did you hear that? Think carefully. Old Geng's nephew is a local thug who has been terrorizing his neighbors. How did he suddenly become a good man, leading our villagers to oppose the Paper-making Workshop? Now that I mention it, something just occurred to me. He used to scrape by, never knowing where his next meal would come from. How can he suddenly afford silk robes and meals at restaurants these past two days? Tsk, tsk... I heard the constables say the authorities are definitely going to arrest anyone who took money to stir up trouble. Maybe... Heh, anyway, I, Liu Sanzi, stand straight and walk upright. I haven't taken a single copper, so I've got nothing to fear from what people say!"
Someone beside him chimed in, "Since when did our Dawa Village become a village of fools? Take a good look, all of you. Look carefully. Apart from Old Geng's nephew, who else from Dawa Village was arrested? Besides, his nephew hardly ever stays in Dawa Village. He lives in Baling City. The governor-general is