However, no one among the crowd answered Yang Chuxia, and the Land Officers of the two villages had been hiding in the back without showing themselves.
Ye Er and the others also didnāt know which two were the Land Officers.
"Madam, those two chubby fellows in the back are the Land Officers. The one with the beard is from Yangxi Village, and the one without a beard is from Yangdong Village. The two are brothers, and Yangxi and Yangdong used to be one village more than ten years ago." The speaker was still that elder sister from among the women, a villager from Shoutao Village, which was closer to here, so naturally she knew who was who.
Upon hearing her words, Yang Chuxia looked back and saw that indeed the two men were hiding behind others; when they saw her looking at them, they even shrank back a bit.
"Iāll ask once again, will you pay the taxes or not?"
After asking, the villagers didnāt even hesitate to exchange glances, but instead shouted in unison that they would not pay. This made Yang Chuxia marvel at the villageās impressive solidarity.
"Very good!"
At this moment, Li Wen, whom she had sent away, arrived with a hundred or so robust men, who seemed to have been gathered from the nearby villages as well.
Clapping her hands, she said, "Not paying, very good! Now that youāre not paying, itāll be too late when you later change your minds. You donāt want to pay taxes, then off you go to the medical clinic. Li Wen, Ye Er, get our men to go up there, shave these ignorant fools for me. Still dare to be defiant? Iāll show them what true defiance is! Beat them up first, then after that, break a leg off each one of them, as long as they donāt die."
"Yes!"
By this point, Ye Erās heart was already brimming with tears.
Why did he feel that dealing with thugs was something the lady managed so effortlessly? Well, he hadnāt spent much time following Ye Ziāan and hadnāt personally witnessed the methods Yang Chuxia employed against Old Lady Hua and her group back in the day.
In Yang Chuxiaās eyes, these people were no different from the likes of Yang Xiaoāan, people with whom you couldnāt reason, needed no reasoning.
Whoever saw someone trying to reason with a madman? When dealing with a madman, isnāt it just a tranquilizer shot and down they go?
The villagers of Yangxi and Yangdong saw that Yang Chuxia and Li Wen had suddenly brought so many people, but they werenāt scared at all; their villages had plenty of people too.
When they saw people charging at them, they also charged forward.
"Ye Er, Ye Wu, keep an eye out, donāt let this stubborn lot hurt our people," she ordered.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
So a new brawl began, with the village women not stepping forward because they knew if they dared to move, the people behind Yang Chuxia would charge at them.
Ye Er, Ye Wu, and the others, facing these people who only had some brute force, it wasnāt an exaggeration to say one could fight a hundred. With these guards and the robust men from other villages, victory was overwhelming.
"So, is it time for the Land Officers to come out yet?" Yang Chuxia pretended she hadnāt heard the elder sisterās words before, planning to let those two come out on their own.
By that time, the villagers had all but collapsed, forcing the two Land Officers to come out.
"This is too much, just too much! Is this how the officials of Great Zhou treat people, by bullying the commoners? Old man here is going to the prefecture to sue you, Iām going to the prefecture to sue you!" The two Land Officers still knew to strike first, immediately claiming that the officialdom was to blame.
Yang Chuxia snorted coldly and said to the people behind her, "You tell them, who are you?"
The Godsend elder sister spoke up again, "Iāll tell you Old He, stop spouting that official jargon. Who even considers a pitiful Land Officer like you in our village matters? Iām from Shoutao Village, and definitely not one of those official folks."