"Enough," the headman of Hongliu Village said amicably. "Everyone is busy. Let's not waste time with pleasantries. This household, we are all neighbors, and looking up, we have decades, even centuries, of neighborly ties. Surely, you cannot bear to watch so many people die of thirst? Sharing this well amongst a few villages will not cost you anything, and it is a good deed, a virtuous act."
"Well said, headman of Hongliu Village," Bai Sheng called out loudly. "You speak of neighbors. Many people in our village have no silver, they are dirt poor. Would you like to take out your family's silver and distribute it amongst everyone? That would also be a virtuous act! We have made our position clear before. The reason you are not qualified to use our well today is that you did not believe we could dig it, and you were unwilling to contribute even a little. You only wanted to take advantage of us for free. Now, you are using the banners of benevolence and morality to fool us. Do you think we are still three-year-old children?"
The headman of Hongliu Village's face turned from pale to ashen. He sighed and lowered his head, falling silent.
Zhang Jiawang gave a look to the headman of Caomiao Village. The latter cleared his throat and said, "This household, we have advised you kindly, and you do not listen. Then do not blame us for turning ruthless! If our three villages unite and apply to the prefecture to have Hongshu Slope designated as the territory of the three villages, your well will be occupying our village's resources. Regardless, you must allow us to share the well!"
Bai Sheng sneered. She took out the "Private Well Certificate" from her sleeve (space) and displayed it to everyone. "Feel free to go to the prefecture if you wish. Before we dug the well, we foresaw that 'shameless individuals' like you would come to take advantage for free. Therefore, we went to the town yamen in advance and obtained a private well certificate. Look closely at the paper, it is clearly written in black and white. From now on, regardless of the circumstances, this well belongs to our family. The right to use it, and who we allow to use it, is decided by our family!"
The people on the opposite side exchanged glances. The headmen of Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village both looked towards Clan Leader Zhang and Zhang Jiawang. They were the ones who had instigated this matter, and it was up to them to deal with it next.
Lu Ye stepped forward and said sternly, "We dug this well with our own money, and it has nothing to do with you! But you shameless individuals are always thinking of taking advantage for free and have repeatedly caused trouble, severely disrupting our family's peaceful life. Today, I, Lu Ye, will make things clear once and for all. Today and in the future, no matter what method you use, we will not let you use the well. You can go to the government officials if you wish; we will wait. If you want to fight, bring it on! Don't think you have the advantage just because you have more people. All twenty-plus of us in Hongshu Slope practice martial arts, and with our Lightning and Storm, you have no chance of winning! You can try it now if you don't believe me!" Lu Ye crossed his arms, flexing his knuckles with a cracking sound.
Lightning and Storm bared their teeth ferociously at the crowd, ready to engage at any moment. Due to the spiritual spring water, Storm had grown significantly. It was now the size of a normal wolf, but Bai Sheng estimated it would continue to grow, as it was only two months old and still had several months of growth ahead.
The people on the opposite side began to stir. Zhang clansmen said they should fight them head-on, as they had more people and could crush a few of them even by stepping on them. Lu clansmen said Lu Ye could fight a thousand soldiers alone, and fighting him would be suicide. The villagers from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village said they shouldn't fight; they might not get the water and could lose their lives.
The crowd murmured. Zhang Jiawang walked grimly towards Clan Leader Zhang and whispered, covering his mouth, "Father, what should we do next?"
Just as Clan Leader Zhang was about to speak, he looked up and saw many more people approaching from a distance, led by people from Hongshu Slope. Li Qiang had brought all the people from Huangsha Village who were not involved in the disturbance. Yang Ming had brought all the people from Hongliu Village who were not involved, and Ma San had brought those from Caomiao Village. In total, there were one to two hundred people. These one to two hundred people stood on the side of Hongshu Slope.
Zhang Jiawang, Clan Leader Zhang, and the headmen of the other two villages were all very surprised by this scene. Zhang Jiawang pointed at the headman of Huangsha Village, his face contorted, and cursed viciously, "Li Shunye, you are the headman of Huangsha Village, the leader of the Li clan, you... you traitor!"
Clan Leader Li looked at Zhang Jiawang with disgust and said, "In the past, your Zhang family used the well to coerce the villagers. I, Li Shunye, was suppressed for a long time to protect my clansmen. Today, I have specifically come to kowtow and apologize to nephew Lu, seeking forgiveness. From now on, my Li clan will no longer be subservient to your Zhang family." As he spoke, Clan Leader Li knelt towards Lu Ye and Bai Sheng, his voice trembling, "Nephew, nephew's wife, it was I, Li, who was too cowardly in the past, weak and incompetent as a headman, causing your family to suffer a lot. Today, I apologize to both of you. I hope you can forgive this old man for the sake of our ancestors."
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye exchanged a glance. Lu Ye's expression was complex. He stepped forward and helped Clan Leader Li up. "Uncle Li, please rise. I am younger, I cannot accept such a great courtesy from you." Clan Leader Li's eyes were filled with tears. "Nephew, Uncle Li begs for your forgiveness!" Lu Ye paused, then said gravely, "Let's... not mention the past."
The headmen of Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village also cursed their own villagers as traitors, but the villagers completely ignored them. They were not going to act like bandits, trying to snatch others' water for free. Did they have any shame?
Bai Sheng surveyed everyone and raised her voice. "Our family will soon be building roads and planting trees, and we need to hire workers. Anyone who comes to work for our family will receive half a jin of grain and half a bucket of water per day!" Except for the Zhang family, all the villagers present showed excited expressions.
Bai Sheng continued, "But I most despise those with poor conduct. Therefore, this time, anyone who did not follow the Zhang family to cause trouble at my house can come and work for us! Of course, this excludes Granny Chen's family from Huangsha Village!" Although Granny Chen's family stood among the over 200 people who did not cause trouble, Bai Sheng never intended to reconcile with them. As family, they had stabbed Lu Ye's family in the back time and again, colluding with outsiders to bully them. Such people were heinous in her eyes!
Granny Chen's heart sank upon hearing this, and she immediately stepped forward to curry favor. "Granddaughter-in-law, we are family. You... you cannot just use others and leave us out." Bai Sheng simply rolled her eyes at her, too lazy to bother with her. Granny Chen was angry but suppressed it fiercely, thinking she would settle this with the lowly servant later. After all, she was Lu Ye's grandmother, their family.
The troublemakers on the opposite side looked extremely disappointed upon hearing Bai Sheng's words. Many began to blame the Zhang family and the headmen of the Hongliu and Caomiao villages. If it weren't for them stirring things up, they too could have worked for this family and would not have to worry about food and drink in the future. Bai Sheng felt incredibly satisfied seeing their disappointment and anger; she wanted to infuriate them.
Zhang Jiawang and Clan Leader Zhang had not expected Bai Sheng to use this tactic. They were somewhat at a loss and were contemplating their next move when they suddenly heard someone shouting from afar, "Miss Bai, the Prince Yu has arrived!"