"Sir, please tell me, I will cooperate with you, I will," Lu Maodai said.
"What? You won't say anything. You just need to cooperate. You may feel uncomfortable after a while, so you have to hold it in," Li Li ordered.
"No problem, no problem, as long as we can get the mother and calf back, let the young ones do whatever they want," Lu Maodai said.
"Has your father-in-law always treated you badly?"
"Yes, because he is Xiao Xiao's father-in-law. Xiao Xiao did not dare to be stubborn and had to be obedient. Unexpectedly, he went too far. Not only did he not give Xiao Xiao the grain according to the agreed amount, but he also occupied Xiao Xiao's mother and cow.
The calf was born after the cow ate the feed and grass from his father-in-law's house. This cow had starved to death long ago, either because it ate the grass from his father-in-law's house. In short, he would find some absurd reasons to talk about things. He just didn't want to give birth to a calf.
." Lu Maodai said.
"It turns out he is a scoundrel! Isn't he even afraid?"
"Sir, he is most afraid of officials. When he sees an official, he is scared to death, because the official has the right to take away his things, and he is afraid. He does not want to lose anything. He protects everything he owns.
, even if it is trivial, he regards it as extremely precious." Lu Maodai said.
"It's easy to handle. This time it needs to be a grand one, so that he won't get used to it. The more grand it is, the better it can achieve its goal. Yes, let's do it! Come and get ready to go." Li Li ordered.
Li Li ordered Lu Maodai to be put on a hood and a black cloth bag with two round holes dug in the front, leaving only two eyes exposed. Lu Maodai was tied up like a giant rice dumpling. It looked like it was impossible to escape with wings, but also like
Serious criminals, here to kill chickens and show them to monkeys.
Seeing this, Li Li almost laughed, but he held back his laughter because he was about to meet someone.
Then, Li Li got on the official sedan, sounded the gong to clear the way, and the group arrived at Lu Maodai's father-in-law's house in a grand manner.
There were many people watching along the way. The children were running ahead. They had already sent messages everywhere, saying that the county grandpa was coming. They were running around telling each other. It was so lively!
When Lu Maodai's father-in-law heard that the county magistrate was coming, he was so excited that he also ran out to see what big things happened in this small place. Let's take a look, and he would have some bragging rights.
He was standing at the door with his family watching where the group of people were going. Unexpectedly, they were rushing straight towards his house. He was afraid of officials. It was okay to watch the fire from the other side, but not when the fire was approaching. He immediately asked: "Is this coming to our house?"
Are you here?"
"Yes, Master, he is coming to our house."
"Quick, quick, close the door, close the door." He ordered.
"Slow, slow, how dare you, you know the county magistrate is coming and you don't come out to greet him, but you dare to be so negligent, it's really abominable! Come and greet him quickly! Don't make any mistakes!" shouted the government officials.
"The county magistrate...the magistrate, please, please!" his father-in-law said repeatedly before he got off the sedan chair and started calling.
When Li Li heard this, he did not get off the sedan immediately and waited until his father-in-law saw clearly.
Sure enough, his father-in-law was fooled. When he saw that no one came out of the sedan after it landed, he looked to the side and saw that the police officer was holding a man in black clothes, a black hood, and tied up. This man was originally tall.
He was tall and burly, but he was tortured to the point of being skinny. It looked like he had been beaten a lot.
Such a miserable situation, the body looks familiar, but I'm not sure.
This masked man with two black eyes exposed made his father-in-law's hair stand on end. He looked like a thief, because robbers all wear black clothes and black hats or black turbans. They usually start committing crimes in the dark hours of night. The thief will not leave.
If you are empty, you always have to take something away with you.
When I think about how much property I have, I am afraid that thieves will come to my door. Once they come, something will definitely be lost. This is something I did not expect. No matter how good the precautions are, there will be times when we are careless.
After getting off the sedan, he saw the thief. He was startled and quickly ran to the sedan and stood respectfully.
After a while, the curtain of the sedan opened, and Li Li walked out. The first thing he said when they met was: "You are very lucky, because we just caught a cattle thief."
When his father-in-law heard this, he was shocked. How did he know there was a cow at home? He was also worried about the safety of the cow. So he quickly asked: "Where was it captured?"
"You don't have to ask this. It's a bit complicated." Li Li said, "You just want to ask if there is any damage to your home?"
"What loss?"
"This is the cattle thief who stole the cattle. They need to number them one by one to see if the cattle you lost are the same as the cattle they stole. If they are the same, they have to return them. If they are not the same, they have to find another owner. Understand.
Are you ready?" Li Li said.
His father-in-law saw that Li Li was speaking seriously, not joking, because he spoke with a straight face and was very serious, as if he was handling a major case that shocked the whole country.
His father-in-law looked at Li Li as if he was joking, then looked at the cattle thief in black clothes and a black hood, and thought, Damn, is this going to involve us in the case? It seems like he is going to involve us.
The whole family will be involved! If you encounter a stupid official, the nine clans will be implicated, and the investigation will be endless. They will also have to take care of food and drink, and give gifts before leaving. Too many gifts? It's okay. People won't be surprised if there are less.
If you meet an upright official, it's not bad, but you're afraid of taking the opposite path. If you're going in the wrong direction, if you stop and don't go, that's progress.
The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, worrying about encountering a foolish official. However, regardless of whether he was confused or not, once he was involved in an economic dispute, it was very common for him to be blinded for personal gain.
Thinking of this, he quickly said: "My lord, my lord, our place is very good, very good. No cattle have been lost, not even a single hair of the cattle has been lost, and it is impossible for the thieves to succeed. No one can touch the cattle without my consent."
So relatively speaking, it is very safe and there is no need to worry.”
"Is it true?" Li Li asked.
When his father-in-law asked about it, he quickly said: "Of course it's true, it's true."
When his father-in-law saw Li Li, he still didn't believe it. He suddenly knelt down and swore to the sky: "Our cattle are definitely cattle raised by ourselves. They are definitely not from improper sources or stolen. If I tell a lie,
The sky will strike with five thunders, and you will die without a burial place."
Seeing that he was slowly being fooled, Li Li asked: "Since you said this, it means that you are very honest and I trust you. However, if you want others to believe you, you must use deadly weapons."
.So, do you have any evidence?”
"evidence?"
"Yes, evidence. Only with evidence can we prove that what you said is true." Li Li said.
"There are witnesses, and everyone is able and willing to testify for me."
"Prove what?"
"It proves that my cows are genuine cows, not stolen or snatched," said his father-in-law.
"Are you sure they will testify against you?"
"Is there anything doubtful about this?" his father-in-law asked.
"Of course, you have to say it accurately."
"To be precise, this cow belongs to my son-in-law's family. My son-in-law came to my house not long ago and brought a cow. This was not an ordinary cow, but a cow with a baby. Not long after arriving at my house,
She is pregnant with a calf again. These calves were all born in my house, but they are all the work of the cow brought by my son-in-law. Therefore, this cow and the calf belong to my son-in-law. This is true.
Whoever lies will be killed by a car when he goes out," said his father-in-law.
"Is this true?"
"Seriously, if one sentence is false, let your Excellency sentence the young man to death without waiting until autumn. I wonder if your Excellency will agree?" said his father-in-law.
As soon as his father-in-law finished speaking, the audience burst into applause, like rolling thunder rolling across the sky.
"Okay! Come here, untie the cattle thief, take off the mask, tear off the black turban, and let him see the light of day again." Li Li ordered.
After taking off the mask, everyone saw it and burst into laughter. When his father-in-law saw Lu Maodai, he was stunned with surprise!
Unexpectedly, after not seeing him for three days, his son-in-law turned out to be a cattle thief.
"You, you, why are you here?" His father-in-law was shocked and asked stammering.
"Don't ask him, I brought him here. Since you said that the cow belongs to your son-in-law, what else can you say now? Is this your son-in-law Lu Maodai? If so, you will return the cow to him. If not,
, you will hand over the mother and calf cow to my official, who will keep it temporarily until your son-in-law comes to the county government office to collect it." Li Li said.
"Yes, yes, yes, sir, this person is my son-in-law Lu Maodai. Yes, I will give him the mother and the cow. However, there was still a piece of cloth short of the betrothal gift agreed upon when we got married. How should we calculate this?"
said my father-in-law.
"Is this happening? So, we already have ten babies, and now we are still talking about betrothal gifts? Are you selling your daughter?" Li Li asked.
"No, sir, it is not easy to raise a daughter. The promised betrothal gift was actually discounted. How can this be calculated?" said his father-in-law.
"Father-in-law, you said you didn't want it. That piece of cloth has already been used to make clothes for ten children. Besides, father-in-law, you haven't bought any clothes for your daughter and grandson in these years. If I give you a piece of cloth, it will
It won't be returned to us, right?" Lu Maodai said.
When his father-in-law heard this, he lowered his head and was speechless.
Then, he ordered his servants to drive the mother and calf cows out of the cattle pen and hand them over to Lu Maodai. Li Li said: "That's right. Don't be too selfish in the future. You will even cheat your own people. Who will dare to deal with you in the future?"
"Your criticism is correct, and I will definitely change it in the future!" his father-in-law said.
After this lesson, his father-in-law finally understood that Li Li was not confused and knew exactly what he was doing.
This is like stealing chicken but losing rice. I have raised cows and cows in vain. These days, I almost went to jail and embarrassed my family.
Lu Maodai happily brought his cow home. His wife was very happy to see it and said: "Finally we got our cow back. It seems that Magistrate Li is really our parent official and speaks for us. If
There is no need for a stratagem. My father will never give us cows. We can only suffer the loss because there is no evidence. This is a good time. Let my father speak out on his own and there is no way to take it back. There is no point in regretting it. This is not the case.
Really high, made a brilliant move."
"Yes! If it weren't for County Magistrate Li, there would be no way to get the cow back," Lu Maodai said.
"This is really the case. There is a woman in our village who wants to sue her son. I don't know if she has."
"What's going on?" Lu Maodai asked.
"That's what this woman said under the big locust tree. At the entrance of the village, she said her son was unfilial."
"Why are you so unfilial? What's your name?"
"Lu Zishun."
"Oh, I understand. I know Lu Zishun, he is very filial," Lu Maodai said.
"Someone gave his mother an idea and asked her to file a complaint. She has no brains, so she will file a complaint."
"I'm not afraid to sue. Lu Zishun is a very good person. Even if she encounters an upright official like Magistrate Li, even if the case falls into his hands, she won't win. This is because the evil does not prevail over the good. Lu Zishun is a very good person and will not suffer any loss." Lu Maodai said.
"I know Lu Zishun is very good, but some people in the village wish that he was not good. Because he is too good, it will make people jealous, so they encouraged his mother to go to the county government to sue him. I guess she will be preparing to sue him in the next two days. You just left Li County
Didn't you hear about your return?"
"I'm only worried about our mother and son. I don't care about it. It's not our turn to care about it. We're not from the yamen. However, through these several lawsuits, I understand the truth. To get into the yamen, you need to be reasonable.
If there is no reason, you can give money to a foolish official and you will win the case. If you meet an upright official, money will not work. If you are reasonable, you will win the case. If you are not reasonable, you will lose." Lu Maodai said.
While the couple was talking, a group of children outside ran over and shouted: "
Zishun Zishun,
Always filial,
His mother is confused,
Report it to the Yamen."
Lu Maodai went out to take a look, grabbed a child and asked: "Little fat man, tell me, who is suing whom?"
"I don't know, they all yelled like that, and I yelled too."
Lu Maodai didn't ask anything, so he let him run away. He ran and shouted all the way, very happy.
Lu Maodai thought to himself, there must be no smoke without fire, there must be news, otherwise, the children would not shout like this, and their parents must know behind it. Lu Maodai made arrangements at home and said: "I will go and ask, and I will come back to tell you the news."
"
"Okay, go ahead, go ahead."
Lu Maodai arrived at the county government office and saw that there were indeed some people gathered outside the court to watch Li Li try the case. He was not tall among the crowd. Li Li was concentrating on the case and did not notice Lu Maodai coming to hear the case.
It turned out that it was Lu Zishun’s mother who sued Lu Zishun.
Lu Zishun's mother's original surname was Shui. When she got married, she added the surname Lu and became the Lu Shui family.
Lu Shuishi accused her son of abuse.
This is not bad! This is a serious crime and an atrocity that needs to be severely condemned! Li Li saw that Lv Shui was beautiful and charming. Although she was an old lady, she was enough to attract men's attention. She was middle-aged, beautiful and well-maintained.
It's good, looks no less than a twenty-eight-year-old girl, just like its name, it's watery, and water will drop when you pinch it.
"Who is kneeling?"
"My little daughter Lu Shui."
"You are a folk girl, you are not young anymore."
"Yes, Xiao, Xiao, oh, no, the daughter of the people, Lu Shui, is here to sue."
"Sue who?"
"Sue Lu Zishun, the son of a common woman." Lu Shuishi said.
"Have you finished writing your petition?"
"It's written."
"Send it up."
"Yes." Lu Shuishi agreed and handed the lieutenant Zhuangzi to the yamen servant. The yamen servant took it and handed it to Li Li.
Li Li opened the petition and saw that the writing on it was very miserable. The main idea was that Lu Shui was originally a widow, but her husband died when she was young and she did not remarry. In order to help Lu Zishun grow up smoothly, she gave up many opportunities to propose marriage.