Chapter 176: Calling Black White

A gaunt man about forty years old, wearing an overcoat, shuffled out in his shoes.

A villager among the onlookers shouted, "Village chief!"

Village Chief Luo squinted, scanning the crowd of dark, bustling villagers outside the gate, and his brows instantly knit into knots.

He withdrew his gaze, fixing it on his bound son and the daughter‑in‑law wailing on the ground.

Then he looked up at Tuan Tuan's party, instantly put on a smile, clasped his hands and said, "Esteemed guests, at this early hour you've mustered a crowd to block my door—what drama are you performing?"

"But my useless son—what could he possibly have accidentally run into you for?"

Xiao Er stepped forward without any courtesy: "Village Chief Luo, your son, together with these two last night, carried narcotic incense, scaled the wall into a house, spied on women, and had illicit intentions."

"Now the culprit and the loot are both caught; as village chief, do you know what crime you should be charged with?"

Village Chief Luo's smile froze; his eyes flicked, and he glared ferociously at his own son: "You little brat! Speak up at once! Is what they say true?"

Luo Maicun, trembling from his father's stare, instantly grasped the meaning and shouted, "Father! They're framing me! What narcotic incense? I had no idea! I just took the wrong path during a night trip!"

"They're meting out private punishment on me! Father! You must stand up for your son! Look, they even kept a wolf that bit Zhao Liu's leg!"

The woman on the ground, hearing this, slapped her thigh and wailed even louder: "Did you hear that? Did you hear? My son did nothing!"

She raised her hand toward Xiao Er: "These people—without any distinction, they beat my son to death and frame him! Is there no law left? Just because you're rich, can you wrong ordinary folk?"

Mother and son echoed each other, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.

A low murmur of discussion rose among the onlookers.

"Here we go again!"

"Every time it's the same trick, needless meddling!"

"They can turn black into white; even reason can't be made clear to them!"

Hearing his son's words, Village Chief Luo straightened his back a bit, faced Xiao Ningxun, spread his hands with a helpless expression: "Esteemed guests, you heard as well."

"My boy may be mischievous, but the things you mention—using narcotic incense, trespassing into homes—are absolutely unforgivable."

"Perhaps it's a misunderstanding? Or maybe someone dislikes our family and set us up?"

Xiao Ningxun's brows knit tightly.

Tuan Tuan had never seen such a scene; Third Brother was clearly right, yet it couldn't be clarified. She glared at Village Chief Luo, then glanced at the still‑wailing woman on the ground.

This family of scoundrels surely commits plenty of misdeeds regularly!

A pair of big eyes began scanning the courtyard.

Suddenly, she released Xiao Ningxun's hand, walked to Xiao Er, and pointed at the firewood stack in the yard: "Uncle Xiao Er, lift this up."

Xiao Er strode forward, raised his hand toward the firewood pile.

The woman on the ground's complexion changed; she leapt up and lunged at Xiao Er: "Don't touch my belongings!"

Xiao Er didn't glance at her, swung his arm, and the woman slammed into an invisible wall with a "Ow!" and staggered back several steps.

In a couple of swift moves, Xiao Er pried open the dry wood, revealing a flower‑patterned cloth bundle.

Xiao Er lifted it, untied it publicly, and inside was a brand‑new iron axe.

"My axe!"

A black, burly man burst from the crowd, eyes bulging, and shouted excitedly while pointing at the axe: "That's the new axe I just forged at the town blacksmith's yesterday!"

"I left it in the yard after work last night, and in the blink of an eye it vanished! How did it end up under your firewood pile?"

Luo Maicun stuck his neck out and shouted back: "Stop spouting nonsense! I picked it up at the village entrance! How is it yours? Does it have your name carved on it?"

The woman, hearing this, hurriedly added: "Right! My son clearly picked it up! Who knows whose it is? Whoever finds it owns it!"

The black, burly man pointed at the mother‑son, so angry he could barely speak.

Tuan Tuan looked toward the house: "Uncle Xiao Er, inside that room, in the pillow!"

Xiao Er didn't hesitate, turned and headed into the house.

"Stop! What are you doing? Is there no law left? You're trespassing into a private home!" Village Chief Luo panicked, flinging his arms to block.

Xiao Er, uninterested in him, grabbed Luo and pulled him behind him, then stormed straight into the house.

The woman let out a pig‑like scream, trying to rush in to fight, but two craftsmen from the Ministry of Works who arrived with her were stopped at the door.

Moments later, Xiao Er returned, faced the villagers, and spread his palms.

Behold, a pair of exquisitely crafted, pristine plum‑branch silver bracelets!

"Ah! These are my mother's!"

In the crowd, a woman in white mourning garb let out a heart‑wrenching wail, rushed out like a madwoman, pointed at the bracelets, and tears instantly fell:

"These are my mother's dowry! They vanished before the funeral a few days ago, and you stole them!"

"Damn it! You won't even spare the dead's belongings?"

The villagers' long‑suppressed anger was fully ignited by these two incidents.

"Beast! Absolutely a beast!"

"Doing such a despicable act that cuts off descendants!"

Luo Maicun finally showed a hint of fear on his face, yet still clung to his defiance: "You think I took it? Maybe someone in your household with dirty hands slipped it into my house to frame me!"

The woman immediately shouted at the villagers: "Right! On what grounds do you blame my son? Those bracelets were surely slipped into my house by someone secretly!"

Village Chief Luo's complexion turned grim.

Tuan Tuan's small hand rose again, pointing at the rice jar by the doorway inside.

"Uncle Xiao Er, pour the rice out!"

Village Chief Luo trembled, his face changing dramatically, and lunged at the rice jar like a madman: "Don't touch it! That's my family's rice! What are you doing? Robbing in broad daylight?"

Xiao Er grabbed his collar, lifted him, and tossed him into the courtyard.

Another massive hand, like iron tongs, lifted the heavy rice jar with one hand into the courtyard and turned it upside down!

"Whoa—"

Snow-white rice grains poured down, covering the ground.

An oilcloth bundle slapped down onto the rice pile.

Xiao Er bent down, picked it up, tore open the oilcloth—it was a booklet.

He turned and handed it to Xiao Ningxun.

Xiao Ningxun flipped open the pages, his eyes scanning quickly.

The surroundings fell silent, not even a sparrow chirped.

The village head's rice bin actually concealed something!

The villagers all stared wide-eyed at him.

Xiao Ningxun read aloud:

"Lu Daniu, Yongye field eight mu, recorded as six mu."

"Zhao widow, allocated field three mu, recorded as two mu."

"Temple field twenty mu, last year's yield converted to 120 taels of silver, recorded as sixty taels."

With each sentence he read, someone among the villagers' faces drastically changed.

A tall man roared: "Conscience-less! You've blackened my family's land just like that!"

A woman wailed: "No wonder! No wonder my grain payments to the office never add up! Since the head of the household died, you've been bullying us widows and orphans like this!"

When the "temple field" and the sixty taels of silver that had vanished into thin air were read out, everyone's anger finally burst from their chests.

"Lu Lao wai! You drink our blood! Eat our flesh!"

"No wonder his family eats well every day—turns out he embezzled our temple field money!"

"Please call the village chief! Quickly go fetch the village chief!"

"We don't want this village head! Beat them to death!"

"Right! Beat them to death!"

Village head Lu sat on the ground, face ashen; the shrew and Lu Maihun shrank back.

Villagers scrambled over walls, grabbed weapons, and surged into the courtyard.