Grass and mustard reign supreme

Chapter 58 Turn Dark, My Lord
Zhang Yunyi's family only knows that they are no longer free.

But they didn't know that the fire was started by Zhang Xinran, the eldest son of the Zhang family lord.

They were even less aware of the true situation at the barn, because the So family had already sealed off the area.

The Zhang family members told Zhang Xiaomi their stories, each offering their own perspective.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaomi flew into a rage.

He slammed his cane on the ground and shouted sternly, "How innocent is my master?"
Even if the stewards of the manor are guilty, how many of them have committed a capital offense?
Your eldest son detained them, and now they have all perished in a fire.

Who will bear this responsibility?

Zhang Xiaomi intentionally included the managers as well.

Because he saw the people of Feng'an Village gathered around, and among them must be the families of those in charge.

If we can incite them to dress in mourning clothes and cry together on Phoenix Mountain, we can naturally put pressure on the clan leader.

"You owe me an explanation, an explanation to the Zhang family and the families of all the managers!"

As Zhang Xiaomi spoke, she shakily rushed toward one of the Suo family guards blocking her way.

"Uncle Xiaomi, all the managers and I are fine. What kind of explanation do you want?"

A voice suddenly rang out, and the Zhang family members were struck dumb, frozen in place.

This...this is Zhang Yunyi's voice!
Wasn't he burned to ashes? What the hell?
Zhang Yunyi walked out step by step from among the astonished crowd who had stepped aside.

Behind him were a group of managers from Feng'an Village.

Zhang Xiaomi was stunned and stammered, "Yun...Yun Yi!"

Zhang Yunyi said coldly, "Uncle, are you surprised or delighted to see your nephew still alive?"

Zhang Xiaomi made a "hoarse" sound in her throat and couldn't speak for a moment.

The Zhang family's wives were overjoyed, but Zhang's eldest son looked ashen-faced.

Zhang Yunyi looked at his son deeply, a deep pain flashing across his eyes before turning into a deathly relief.

It was his own flesh and blood who wanted to burn him to ashes.

He slowly turned around and looked at the people of Feng'an Village.

"Fellow villagers of Feng'an Village, my Zhang family is truly in deep trouble!"

Zhang Yunyi suddenly pointed at Zhang Xinran, his voice shrill.

“This son is unworthy. He has betrayed his master and committed many heinous acts behind my back.”

Now that the eldest son has sent Steward Yang to investigate, he knows he can't hide it any longer, so he's conspired with his great-uncle to kill both me and Steward Yang!

These words immediately caused an uproar among the people.

Patricide?

This is always a hot topic.

The women in the Zhang family were greatly surprised to hear this.

Madam Zhang hesitated and said, "My lord, such an important matter cannot be taken lightly..."

Zhang Yunyi gave her a cold look.

As his wife, Mrs. Zhang had never seen her husband's eyes so cold before, and she was speechless.

Zhang Yunyi suddenly smiled: "Madam, if it weren't true, do you think I would falsely accuse my own flesh and blood?"

Madam Zhang was speechless for a moment, and her face turned extremely ugly.

She doesn't want to give up either her husband or her son, but now they're fighting each other.

Zhang Yunyi waved his hand and shouted sternly, "Men, seize Zhang Xiaomi and Zhang Xinran!"

Kang Zhengyang and Leopard Head immediately attacked, grabbing at Zhang Xiaomi and Zhang Xinran.

"Hey!"

Kang Zhengyang spread his fingers wide, but only managed to grab Zhang Xiaomi's clothes.

The old man performed a "tyrant's armor removal" move on him, swinging his arms and leaping forward, leaving only his robe behind.

The old man usually looks frail and old, but at this moment he moves as fast as a rabbit.

Old Rabbit, carrying his cane, charged towards Yang Can.

The person with the highest status at the scene was Yang Can.

It seems that Yang Can is the least capable fighter.

Once we capture him, we can use him as a hostage.

Yang Can suddenly reached for his waist.

While studying the curved plow with Li the blacksmith, he asked Li the blacksmith's apprentice to forge a stack of iron plates for him.

A stack of thin sheets of cast iron, supposedly to be used to make leaf-shaped cards.

Making leaf cards out of iron is certainly an option, but it's just a toy, so very few people would actually use iron to make them.

But since Yang Can made that request, Li the blacksmith naturally agreed.

And these metal plates are now stuck in his leather waist brace.

Leather waist protectors were mostly used by soldiers and warriors, but they were also a tool for knights to reduce lower back strain.

When traveling in Longshang, people often ride horses, so Yang Can wears a relatively wide leather waist protector.

The metal plate was inserted into his leather waistband, leaving only a finger's width of space at the top.

Just as Yang Can's hand touched the iron plate, a figure darted past him, incredibly slippery.

The old rabbit hopped over and drew the sword from his crutch.

But the figure that flashed past Yang Can's side darted away like a fish.

He was so close to Zhang Xiaomi's sword that he was extremely dangerous, yet his skill was exquisite.

In the blink of an eye, he had already crashed into Zhang Xiaomi's arms, his palms crossed, and force burst forth.

Although Zhang Xiaomi wasn't as old as he appeared, he wasn't a martial arts expert either.

He was able to escape Kang Zhengyang's control entirely because his usual old and decrepit appearance was so deeply ingrained in people's minds.

At this moment, two palms were placed between his chest and abdomen. Zhang Xiaomi was old and frail, and his bones were fragile.

With a loud bang, his chest caved in, and he fell backward, coughing up blood.

Zhang Xiaomi fell heavily to the ground, sliding backward for nearly ten feet.

"Grandma!"

His three grandsons cried out and were about to rush forward, but the steel knife at their necks immediately sank.

"You...you are..."

The eldest member of the Zhang family, on his deathbed, asked.

Three of his ribs were broken, and his sternum collapsed.

He coughed up mouthfuls of blood, staring intently at the figure before him. But the person didn't look at him; instead, she gracefully turned around, and he only saw a delicate, beautiful back.

Qingmei looked at Yang Can and smiled sweetly.

"Don't be afraid, sir. I promised to protect you, and I will keep my word!"

……

“Master Zhang, what do you think? Should we report what happened here to the clan leader and ask him to make a decision, or…”

After seeing everyone off, Yang Can politely asked Zhang Yunyi.

"No, they are Zhang's family members. This is Zhang's family matter, so..."

Zhang wanted to personally clean house one last time as the head of the Zhang family.

Zhang Yunyi took a step back, lifted his robe, and knelt down in front of Yang Can.

"Please grant my request, Deacon Yang!"

As he knelt, his robe became covered in black ash.

The place where Yang Can questioned him was this guesthouse area that had been burned to the ground.

"In that case, I'll leave everything to you."

Yang Can patted Zhang Yunyi on the shoulder: "You know, I'm a scholar, I can't stand to see people killed."

Yang Can shook his head, sighed, and turned to walk away.

Zhang Yunyi slowly stood up and calmly said to Leopard Head, "I trouble Guard Cheng to escort all of them to the threshing ground."

Cheng Dakuan nodded and strode away.

The drying ground was the place where Kang Zhengyang gathered his troops at night to dry grain.

This is an open space in the village, where the village head gathers the villagers to announce important matters.

Today, the bell at Feng'anzhuang rang.

This is a call to summon all the villagers.

Villagers, young and old, gathered from all directions at the threshing ground.

In the center of the square is an earthen platform more than two feet high.

This is where the village punishes villagers who violate village rules or outsiders who commit theft.

Six wooden pillars stood on the earthen platform, and Zhang Dashao, the dying Zhang Xiaomi, and Zhang Xiaomi's three grandsons were all tied to the pillars.

There was a group of people in the audience who had been tied up, including the stewards of the manor who had almost been burned to death.

Zhang Yunyi stood on the stage, her expression calm.

Everyone thought he was dead, but he was alive.

Everyone thought he had collapsed, but... he hadn't collapsed yet.

He is still the person in charge of Feng'an Village, and Yang Can hasn't even shown his face, because he is kind.

Only Mrs. Zhang, who had been married to Zhang Yunyi for many years, noticed the hint of madness in her husband's eyes.

She felt that her husband was not normal, very abnormal.

No wonder, just a day ago, he was the patriarch of the Zhang family, the head of the household.

Overnight, he suffered the most painful betrayal.

He had devoted everything to this family.
The reward he received was to be turned into a pile of charred remains.

Everything he protected and upheld became a joke.

Those who wanted to kill him were his relatives, but they failed.

Now that he's going to kill his own family, how could he possibly be mentally sound?

The people tied up on the stage had rags stuffed in their mouths.

Their faces were filled with terror, but they couldn't utter a single word.

Zhang Xiaomi, who was on the verge of death, was an elder, so she was given a dignified death by hanging.

This is a punishment decision issued by Zhang Yunyi, the clan head, in accordance with clan rules.

Even if the clan head himself came, he could not stop them from enforcing the family rules.

Soon, Zhang Xiaomi was hoisted onto a makeshift gallows by the Zhang family's guards.

When he finally finished struggling on the gallows, his incontinent urine dripped onto the ground from his shoes.

At this point, Zhang Yunyi began announcing the punishments for the other individuals.

Young Master Zhang and his three cousins ​​were tightly bound to the pillars, unable to move.

A group of soldiers carried more than a dozen large baskets to the front of the stage using long poles.

The basket contained stones the size of goose eggs.

In remote villages, it is common to resort to vigilante justice to solve problems.

Drowning, lighting sky lanterns, and being stoned to death were common punishments used by the Longshang Tianzhuang tribe.

The main idea is to create a sense of ritual while using readily available materials and avoiding wasting money.

Of these, the most painful and longest death process was undoubtedly "stoning".

This form of torture was not only painful to perform, but also required the collective mobilization of the entire village to carry it out.

Therefore, it only applies to heinous crimes that seriously violate universal values.

The most common crimes are incest and patricide.

Young Master Zhang and his three cousins ​​committed precisely this unforgivable crime.

Even though Zhang Yunyi had appeared very calm before, the flesh on his cheeks was trembling at this moment.

He stood on the stage and shouted sternly, "Everyone, get together and smash these heartless beasts to death!"

"Spare his life! Spare his life!" someone shouted from afar.

By the time he shouted the second sentence, he was much closer, clearly galloping towards them on horseback.

Zhang Yunyi ignored him and shouted sternly, "Why aren't you making a move!"

Zhang's steward, Wan Tai, glared at him and was the first to rush forward, grab a stone, and smash it hard onto the stage.

As he smashed things, he shouted hoarsely, "Everyone, get involved! The master is watching from the stage!"

Countless stones flew towards the stage like raindrops.

Seeing her son instantly turned into a bloody mess, Madam Zhang screamed and fainted.

But Zhang Yunyi stared wide-eyed, his face full of pleasure.

PS: Thank you to JJM for your support, and thank you to all the readers. The more monthly tickets and recommendation tickets you give, the better.

(End of this chapter)