Chapter 297: Mind your own Business.

Chapter 297

That person struggled desperately, mumbling some unclear words to argue.

"You're talking nonsense. You took advantage of my drunkenness to force me to press my handprint on the contract to sell myself. I'm going to report this to the magistrate to arbitrate fairly for me."

If that person didn't have disheveled hair, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye wouldn't have recognized him. But when he started talking, his voice was quite familiar.

The two looked at each other.

"Is it Hu Cong?" He Zhiran wanted to confirm his guess.

Mo Jiuye nodded, "It's him."

According to reason, Mo Jiuye was not the kind of person who liked to meddle in other people's business. But he quite approved of Hu Cong's character, especially since he and the Mo Family were fellow sufferers.

Meeting this kind of thing on the street, he would intervene no matter what.

Mo Jiuye sent his wife to a place a little further away from the crowd, then stepped in front of the two thugs.

"Stop it."

At his shout, the two thugs who were still swaggering there were stunned on the spot.

However, they quickly reacted. After carefully looking over the person blocking their way, he was just a handsome farmer. The two didn't take him seriously at all.

The thug with slightly darker skin impatiently whipped at Mo Jiuye.

"Get lost. Don't meddle in other people's business here."

He thought a whip would be enough to frighten away the blocker. But when he swung his whip, it was grabbed by the opponent.

What's more, Mo Jiuye used a little force and sent the thug flying to the side of the road along with the whip.

This action caused the onlookers to exclaim involuntarily.

Ordinary people had seen people being beaten at most like what those two thugs did to Hu Cong. Where had they seen someone able to swing another person away just by grabbing his whip?

Stunned for a moment, the crowd was completely agitated.

Some even cheered in a low voice, "Well played!" It showed how unpopular those thugs were.

Mo Jiuye paid no attention to the spectators' discussion and strode towards Hu Cong.

He had been secretly sending people to investigate evidence of the shipping firm's illegal activities. Today, he finally got some clues. He was about to take action to arrest the bosses of the shipping firm in one fell swoop.

At this moment, an officer came to report that someone was staging a protest at the entrance by beating drums and shouting grievances.

Meng Huaining was a diligent and caring official. Even if he was busy with things at hand, he would not delay justice for the common people.

Thanks to his integrity and diligence, the lives of Yuncheng commoners were getting better day by day. Obviously, those kinds of bullying men and women had almost disappeared.

His yamen had also become peaceful for a period of time.

Earlier, during the New Year, he had received a letter from his family strongly approving his intention to marry the young lady from the Mo Family. If it wasn't for the tricky matter of the shipping firm, he would have wanted to hang out at the Mo Family long ago to become familiar with Mo Hanying.

Meng Huaining brought several officers to the lobby. Unexpectedly, the one staging the protest turned out to be the Mo Jiuye couple. As for the one accompanying them, he didn't know him.

Seeing his future brother-in-law, Meng Huaining couldn't stay still.

He didn't care too much about the rules, and hurried out from behind his desk.

"Brother Mo the Ninth, Sister-in-Law, what happened?"

Looking at this scene, Hu Cong kept cursing inwardly.

In his many years as an official in the imperial capital, he had watched and participated in hearings in court halls. This was the first time he saw an official take the initiative to come out and ask questions. Even if they were acquaintances, it shouldn't be so exciting...

The Mo Jiuye couple were familiar with Meng Huaining so they didn't think too much about it.

Mo Jiuye pointed to Hu Cong beside him, "This is Hu Cong, the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Public Works who, like the Mo Family, was exiled here. He has a grievance to complain."

Only then did Meng Huaining carefully look over Hu Cong.

Hu Cong's wretched state at the moment couldn't be described in words. It would be fair to say that he looked like a beggar standing here.

Meng Huaining was not the kind of person who only looked at the surface. Although he hadn't seen Hu Cong before, he had heard his elders mention that this person was ingenious and skilled with his hands.

As for why Hu Cong was exiled to the northwest, he didn't probe too much into it. After all, it was indisputable that Emperor Shunwu was muddle-headed, and losing talents like Hu Cong was a loss for the court.

"Elder Hu, please tell this official what happened."

Although Hu Cong looked disheveled, he still retained the grace of a scholar.

He respectfully saluted Meng Huaining neither humbly nor arrogantly, "This commoner has already been dismissed and exiled. County magistrate, it would be better to address me by my name."