Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 59 Really Want to Reveal the Truth (1)
By the time Feng Xuxu arrived, the village chief had already caught Feng Eryu and Feng Santian red-handed, having just finished poisoning the crops, and secured both perpetrators.
The commotion of capturing the poisoners was not small and alerted the villagers. Everyone gathered at the entrance of the ancestral hall with torches in hand, watching Feng Eryu and Feng Santian tied to the pillars.
"Uncle Feng, open the door, hurry up, your two sons have been captured by the village chief," Feng Zhu muttered as he forcefully knocked on Feng Youcai’s front door.
Upon hearing this, Feng Youcai nearly fainted, and he staggered to the entrance of the ancestral hall. Seeing the throngs of people calling out for reporting to the officials and other similar remarks, his heart chilled—he realized that their deeds had been exposed.
"Village Chief, such people must not be tolerated," someone said.
"Indeed, daring to poison our village and harm the crops, such people do not deserve to stay in our village."
"They must be driven out—our village cannot harbor such individuals."
"Village Chief, you must stand up for us. Those two beasts have ruined our crops. How are we supposed to live now?" Feng Zhao shrieked, tears and snot streaming down her face, sobbing bitterly.
"No, we must report this to the Governor’s Office; they must compensate us for our losses," Feng Da’s wife Feng Luo demanded furiously, hands on her hips.
Listening to the calls for reporting to the Governor’s Office, Feng Youcai realized that if his sons were sent there, they would be utterly ruined. No, he had to save them. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Listen here, my dear niece-in-law, how can you accuse my sons of poisoning without any evidence?" Feng Youcai strongly stood up to defend his sons.
"Uncle, that’s not right. Everyone clearly saw your two sons poisoning. How can you say there’s no evidence?" Feng Luo eyed Feng Youcai with disdain.
"Hmph, what a joke. Just because of a bottle, you decide my sons are guilty of poisoning?" Feng Youcai saw Feng Eryu signaling vehemently to him, and he roughly understood the situation.
"When Feng Eryu and Feng Santian were caught, the bottle was in Feng Eryu’s hands, and moreover, what were they doing in the fields in the middle of the night instead of sleeping at home?" Zhang Hui glared angrily, questioning Feng Youcai.
"Did you see my sons poisoning with your own eyes?" Feng Youcai squinted his eyes, probing further into the truth.
"...No," Zhang Hui choked, his voice muffled and morose.
"Then, who did actually see my sons do the poisoning?" Feng Youcai raised his voice, asking the onlookers, scanning their faces. Then he turned to look at the village chief.
"Village Chief, just because of a bottle you want to convict my sons, I won’t accept that. Even if it costs me my old life, I will seek justice," Feng Youcai stared resolutely at Feng Tiemu.
Feng Tiemu nodded and looked towards the silent Feng Xi. His gaze then moved to Feng Xuxu, whose face was calm. After a moment of contemplation, he turned back to Feng Youcai: "Your sons are out and about in the middle of the night instead of sleeping at home—what were they doing in the fields, and what’s the deal with the bottle in Eryu’s hand?"
"I’m old now and tend to go to sleep early. You can ask my two sons," Feng Youcai said as his gaze shifted towards his two sons tied to the pillars.
With a wave of his hand, Feng Tiemu instructed the guards to remove the rags from Feng Eryu and Feng Santian’s mouths. Once free to speak, Feng Eryu cried injustice.
"Village Chief, Dad, we’ve been wronged. My brother and I were just thinking about your upcoming birthday, so we went to the mountain together to set a trap to catch some game, to celebrate your birthday. But when we passed by the fields, we kicked a bottle, picked it up without even getting a chance to look at it, and that’s when the village chief caught us," Feng Eryu pleaded his case, seemingly directing his words to his father as much as defending himself. Seeing his older brother eloquently stating their case, Feng Santian also started to shout their innocence.
