The White-Bone Demon of the Farm is as rich as a country

Seeing that Ru Yue had decided to send these people to the authorities, Chu Ning'an did not try to stop her. Instead, he said to the crowd, "Uncles and aunts, does anyone have a rope to borrow? Let's bring these bad apples to justice so they can stop causing further harm to the village. Also, who has time to go to the government office and testify? This will give the county magistrate evidence to investigate and prevent these people from escaping."

"Young Master, I have some ropes here." An aunt handed a bundle of ropes to Chu Ning'an, "Take a look and see if it's enough. If not, I'll go get more for you. Tie these bastards up tightly and don't let them get away."

"Thank you, Auntie. Don't worry, we will tie them up tightly."

"Everyone, help us, don't let these worse-than-animals escape."

"Hurry, hurry, everyone lend a hand."

A group of people came together and tied up these scums.

"Come on, let's go and send them to the government office and let the judge decide for us."

Seeing that not only did the crowd not scatter, but they were enthusiastically escorting these people to the county government office, Chu Ning'an whispered a few words to Ru Yue and then quietly left.

Ru Yue led these people and followed the onlookers to the county government office. The distance was not far, but no one knew whether the case could be heard in court after beating the drum to appeal at such a late hour.

After less than a quarter of an hour's journey, they arrived at the county government office. What they didn't expect was that the gate of the county government office was opened. When the head constable saw them approaching, he hurried forward and took over the people who were tied up in a bunch. Ru Yue, as the person involved, naturally had to follow them into the hall.

"Fellow villagers, the county magistrate has received a report of a crime and has ordered us to await your arrival. The case will be heard tonight and justice will be served." Attorney Cheng stood in front of the hall and shouted to the assembled crowd, "Everyone, please stand still. The magistrate will summon you to testify shortly. Please refrain from making any loud noises."

County Magistrate Xu sat in the hall, looking at the group of scholars being brought in. He slammed the gavel and asked, "Where are you all from? Why don't you kneel before the official?"

It would have been fine if they hadn't asked. Once they did, they all lowered their heads. It turned out that they were all students of Hongyi Academy in the county school, and they all had the title of scholar.

This made County Magistrate Xu very angry, and he quickly sent someone to Hongyi Academy to invite the principal to come to the county government office to pick up the person.

"Are you aware of your guilt?"

Everyone knew that Magistrate Xu was honest and upright, and with so many common people coming to testify, he couldn't deny it. Rather than suffering physical pain before confessing, it would be better to directly admit his fault in exchange for the punishment of actively confessing his guilt.

"Sir, we drank two too many cups today and were instigated by Meng Wenfeng, so we did something improper in the street. Now that we are sober, we feel deeply ashamed of the sages and unworthy of being scholars. I hope you can give us a chance to reform. We will live up to your high expectations and will never dare to make mistakes again." Several people admitted their guilt with a good attitude, but they blamed the root of the mistake on Meng Wenfeng.

Meng Wenfeng suddenly raised his head. He knew that once the charges today were proven, he would be completely finished. He had already failed the autumn examination this year. If he had a criminal record in the government office, he would never be able to take the imperial examination again.

"Sir, I am innocent. I followed some classmates to the night market and never instigated them to molest decent women in the street. Please understand my words."

"Meng Wenfeng, weren't you the one who instigated us to molest your cousin? You even dared to lie in front of adults. Anyone on the street could attest to that." A dandy interrupted him. It wasn't Meng Wenfeng who instigated the molesting of the two girls, but so what? A friend's death is better than a poor one's, and what they said wasn't wrong.

"Chu Ning'an, as the person involved, what do you say?" County Magistrate Xu gave the responsibility of analysis to Chu Ning'an.

Chu Ning'an described everything he saw and did at the night market in detail. The people standing in the hall watching shouted that the young master was right, and it was these people who teased the two girls first, and later some of them wanted to tease the scholar's cousin.

Chu Ning'an then presented the letter of severance between Old Man Meng and Meng Ruyue to Master Cheng. After seeing it, County Magistrate Xu was extremely angry. He thought that there were such vicious and shameless people in the world. If he entered the officialdom in the future, he would definitely be a corrupt and vicious person. The look in his eyes when he looked at Meng Wenfeng became even more unfriendly, as if he was looking at a pile of garbage.

At this time, the principal of Hongyi Academy also arrived at the hall with two teachers. He happened to hear what everyone said and was extremely ashamed and angry. After reading the letter of severance handed to them by County Magistrate Xu, he was even more indignant and ashamed. How could his academy teach such a person who was worse than a beast?

The case was simple to begin with, with many witnesses speaking the same language, and the defendants all pleading guilty, except for Meng Wenfeng's differing statements, which no longer mattered.

County Magistrate Xu pronounced the verdict on the spot. He thought that all the parties involved were first-time offenders and had the title of scholar, so it was not appropriate to punish them corporally. He fined each of them five taels of silver and asked the principal of the academy to take them back for personal discipline.

Meng Wenfeng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then heard Magistrate Xu continue, "Meng Wenfeng's behavior is sinister and vicious, and he has wasted his time reading the sages' books. He will be temporarily imprisoned. The county will petition the court to strip him of his title of scholar, and we will make a final decision later."

Meng Wenfeng suddenly raised his head, glaring at Chu Ning'an and Ru Yue with red eyes. Chu Ning'an pulled Ru Yue behind him and said, "Those who do evil will eventually perish."