Chapter 17: Who is More Noble (5) 1/2

  Cao Peng was still not satisfied, and scolded fiercely: "Look at you, doing official business... as an official, you've reached this point, it's simply embarrassing to death. My sister is gentle and doesn't say anything, but how can you bear it? That Deng Cai, he's just relying on some worthless connections to curry favor with the county magistrate, what are you afraid of him for? If this matter really gets out of hand, you'll lose face and your job, but that Deng Cai won't be any better off either.

  Sometimes you have to be tough.

  "Not for anything else, just so my sister won't be bullied by that evil woman, and not get beaten to her own doorstep... You should also toughen up a bit...... Brother-in-law, you're supposed to be a real man. This kind of thing, whoever it happens to, can't bear it, I just don't know how you managed to put up with it..."

  Deng Ji's face turned bright red, his hands clenched into fists, and his body trembled slightly.

  "That's enough!"

  He suddenly let out a loud roar and then hugged his head and curled up into a ball.

  Cao Peng glanced at Deng Jie, and didn't say anything else. It was clear that Deng Jie was deeply stimulated! Some words are better left unsaid, and it's likely that this Deng Jie will understand later on. Does suffering a loss mean enjoying happiness? That's just deceiving fools! Confucius also said that one should repay resentment with honesty, right?

  The horse-drawn carriage drove along the rugged dirt road and soon arrived at Deng Village.

  When Cao Peng and others stopped at the gate of their home, Qu Zheng's people had already taken control of the situation.

  However, Cao Ju and Wang Mai were both seriously injured, especially Cao Ju who had blood on his body. He sat at the door with half of his buttocks exposed while Zhang Shi bandaged his wound. According to Hong Niangzi, after Ma Yu and others arrived, they infuriated Cao Ju and Wang Mai. The two sides immediately clashed, and Cao Ju relied on his physical strength to barely gain the upper hand. But after all, it was his first time fighting with someone, and he accidentally got stabbed in the arm by a knife.

  A crowd of people gathered at Deng Ji's home entrance.

  The villagers of Deng Village pointed and whispered to each other, looking at the group of idle men squatting at the foot of the wall.

  "This time, Lao San Jia is really tough!"

  "Yes, look at that black fellow, one man taking on so many people, he's really a good fighter... I heard that person is Cao's daughter's father?"

  "Yes, I heard from Hong's wife that it seemed like someone came to seek refuge with Old Three, but didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing."

  "In my opinion, Lao San will definitely toughen up from now on. With his father's good martial arts skills, I reckon no one in this village would dare to provoke him."

  That's not necessarily true, don't forget that Old Deng hasn't come back yet.

  That guy is now gloating! When the time comes and he really makes things difficult, it will still be Old Three's family who suffers.

  "You silly fool, can't you see everyone has arrived?"

  I just heard Hong's wife say that Cao's brother-in-law is a capable person. At the entrance of the county government, he cleaned up Deng's mess thoroughly.

  I reckon it must be Cao's daughter's brother who stepped in, otherwise how could the yamen have sent someone over for such a small matter?

  "......That makes sense! That makes sense!"

  Kuai Zheng's steward walked up to Cao Peng and bowed his hands, saying: "Young Master Cao, the matter here has been settled. I will take these people away now and wait for the county magistrate's instructions. Please be at ease, my young master will definitely deal with them severely and not let them off lightly."

  Cao Peng smiled and said, "In that case, I'm troubling you, sir!"

  The housekeeper ordered the public servant to tie up Ma Yu and a group of idle men, when suddenly a robust woman rushed in from outside through the crowd.

  "What are you doing? What do you want to do?"

  "My husband is the head of the household, what right do you have to arrest people arbitrarily?"

  "Who is she?"

  "It must be Lao Ma Zi from Deng Zhu's family."

  Lǎo mā zi is a dialect in Nanyang County, referring to wife or daughter-in-law.

  Cao Peng has been reborn for more than 20 days and can also grasp some dialects.

  The face of Guan's family suddenly sank.

  He was just about to speak when Deng Ji rushed out of the courtyard and slapped Ma Ying in the face.

  "You wicked woman, relying on Deng Bosun, how dare you deceive me like this?"

  "You often humiliate my wife and me, but now you're so vicious and falsely accuse my beloved wife of stealing your hairpin? I'm telling you, even if we, the Deng family, die in poverty or starvation, we will never stoop to such despicable behavior. For what you've done today, I will definitely report it to our clan leader and seek justice."

  This slap was particularly loud.

  Ma Ying never thought that Deng Ji, who was usually soft and weak, would dare to hit her?

  She covered her face, looking at Deng Jie in horror. After a long time, she suddenly sat on the ground, slapping her thighs and crying out: "Uncle Deng, you despicable scoundrel, how dare you hit me? You have the ability to kill me! If you don't hit me, you're a useless thing."

  Deng Ji rushed up with a burst of energy, but when he saw Ma Ying's behavior, he was suddenly stunned.

  "Cao Peng suddenly said: 'Brother-in-law, since this aunt asked you to hit her, why be polite? Everyone here can testify that it was she who wanted you to hit her...'"

  "Yes, Uncle Sun, we all testify for you, it was she who asked you to hit her."

  Ma Ying was stunned!

  However, she was stunned, but Deng Jie was not stunned.

  As soon as Cao Peng opened his mouth, he didn't say another word and raised his hand again, slapping him in the face.

  This slap landed and immediately swelled up half of Ma Ying's face...

  "I've never heard of such an outrageous request in my entire life. This woman must be a masochist, actually asking to be beaten."

  Cao Peng smiled and said to the old housekeeper.

  Although the old steward had never heard of the term 'masochist', he could also understand its meaning.

  He couldn't help but burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly: "Yes, this request is indeed a bit strange, I've never heard of it before, and there are people who ask others to hit... Hehe, this is your private matter, I won't intervene. However, young master should be careful, if someone gets killed, it's not good."

  I still have to go back and report, if you have leisure time, I hope you can move around more...

  "Definitely, definitely!"

  Cao Peng smiled and saw off the old housekeeper as he left.

  Ma Ying had a change of heart and tried to stop him, but Deng Ji was like a madman, blocking his way with punches and kicks.

  She was a fierce woman, but after all, she was just a woman. Deng Ji usually looked elegant and gentle, but once he got angry, he became like a mad dog. Ma Ying was beaten until her head was bleeding and she cried out for help in a shrill voice. Unfortunately, she had been too arrogant in the past, so at this moment, no one came forward to stop him. Her brother wanted to come and rescue her, but unfortunately, he had already been injured by Cao Jin and was weak. Now he was also tied up with ropes and could only sympathize with her but couldn't do anything.

  Cao Peng saw off the old housekeeper and thought things were almost done.

  "Uncle Wang, stop my brother-in-law."

  Wang Meng was examining the injuries on Wang's body when he heard Cao Peng's order and immediately went forward to hug Deng Ji tightly.

  At this time, Ma Ying had lost his previous ferocity. He was beaten by Deng Jie like a pig's head, with his hair scattered and his cotton robe torn to shreds.

  "Hey, get lost!"

  I'm telling you, the sky is going to change in Deng Village... That dog of yours has lost its luck! In this village, there are respected elders and General Deng. On the surface, County Magistrate Kuai is a proper parent official, no matter what time it is, it's never your family's dog's turn to act arrogant.

  If you make another sound, I'll kill you!

  At worst, County Magistrate Kuai can't sentence me to death, at most he'll just give me a few slaps on the face.

  "If you don't believe me, let's try it and see?"

  Saying so, Cao Peng stood up and shouted loudly: "Tiger Head Brother, bring over the murder weapon that injured my father."

  "Good!"

  Wang bought two without saying a word, picked up a short sword from the ground and ran over to hand it to Cao Peng.

  Cao Peng looked like he was smiling, but in Ma Ying's eyes, that pale and delicate face was now extremely ferocious.

  "You, you, you..."

  "Wait for it!" Ma Ying sprang up and took off running, "When my husband gets back home, I'll make sure you pay the price, just wait!"

  Cao Peng spat out a mouthful of saliva, "Alright, we'll wait!"

  After that, he returned the short sword to Wang Mai and looked at the people surrounding them watching the commotion. In a deep voice, he said: "Alright, you've had your fill of excitement, go home now, disperse."

  His voice was not loud, but in his words and deeds, there was a hint of majesty.

  The villagers who were watching dispersed in an instant.

  Cao Peng gently massaged his temples and then let out a long sigh.

  This matter is temporarily settled... but Cao Peng knew that the crisis had not been averted, and he still had to wait, waiting for Pang Ji's response.

  Hong Niangzi led the doctor into the house to treat Cao Nan.

  Wang Meng and his son swept the yard, while Cao Peng walked over and sat down beside Cao Jin.

  "Brother, how did you manage to do it?"

  Cao Peng didn't answer because there was no way to explain this kind of thing to Cao Jing, and telling him would be useless anyway...

  He took a glance at Cao Qu's wound and suddenly laughed: "Dad, are you okay?"

  "It's just a scratch, what's the big deal?"

  But today, after this fight, I feel much more at ease! In the past, your father was always timid and afraid of trouble, causing you and your mother a lot of suffering.

  Dad has figured it out, what's there to be afraid of?

  The more you're afraid, the more people will bully you.

  "Son, I promise you, from now on, no one will ever bully you again. Even if it means sacrificing my own life, I won't let anyone bully you."

  Cao Peng's smile grew even brighter, "Dad, I believe you!"

  "Congratulations! Congratulations!"

  Just as the father and son were talking, Hong's wife suddenly walked out of the house.

  Her round face beamed with a bright smile, and as soon as she saw Cao Jing, she congratulated him repeatedly: "Master Cao, congratulations to you, congratulations to you!"

  Cao Ju's face was filled with a bewildered expression, "Sister Hong, where is your joy coming from?"

  "Cao's daughter-in-law is pregnant, and you will soon have another little grandson. What do you think, should we congratulate?"

  "Am I going to be a grandfather?"

  Cao Ju stared blankly for a moment before reacting immediately.

  He rushed into the house and shouted loudly: "Anan, is it true? Is it really true?"

  Cao Peng felt a bit dizzy... Standing outside the door, it took him half a day to react and asked stupidly: "Auntie Hong, did you just say that my sister is pregnant?"

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  Today brothers are very powerful!

  Thank you to book friends: Tian Dao Wu Xin, Gui Wu Qing, Yue Huang Er, Tan Xi De Shi, Lei Yu Tian Zai Shu Xia, Xi Dou Lao Ren, Mo Yu Zong Heng, Zhuo Er Fa Shi, Lao Lan Tong Zhi, Yu Zi Yan Chen Kang Kai Jie Pao.