Southwest Tujia Village.

A middle-aged woman wearing traditional clothes and silver jewelry that is only worn on formal occasions looked at the man kneeling in front of her with cold eyes.

"Xiong'er, what do you mean?"

"Mom, we can't continue like this. We've suffered another disaster this year and it's almost unbearable. Think about it again. If it doesn't work, let's ask the court for help."

Zheng Xiong has a strong back and a strong body, but now he has a frown and a gloomy look on his face.

"What can we give to the court? Back then, I worked hard for the court in exchange for our Tujia people being able to decide our own territory. Is it possible to talk to the court now?" Zheng Erniang said coldly.

"We can't do anything else, but we can fight. Our vine-armored soldiers are unparalleled in the world!"

At this point, Zheng Xiong's originally gloomy expression turned into pride.

"Unparalleled in the world? One general can make thousands of bones wither. What do you know?"

Zheng Erniang roared angrily.

"Get out, get out!"

"mother!"

"You're not going out, are you? Your wings are stiff? You don't take your mother seriously anymore?"

"Mom, I'm going out right now."

"Bang……"

There was a sound, and the wooden door slammed shut from the inside.

Several strong men gathered around outside.

"Brother, what did the old patriarch say?"

"Brother, are the talks settled?"

"Why!"

Zheng Xiong sighed heavily, stretched out his big hand, and scratched his head so hard that his scalp was almost scratched.

"It's difficult. My mother became irritable when we talked about going to the court. I don't know why. Back then, she fought for the court and made great contributions. At that time, she didn't say she couldn't go to the court."

"Brother, maybe the old patriarch is hiding something from us." One of them said.

"I was thinking, what else can we hide from us? I can't think of it." Zheng Xiong's face almost turned into a bitter look.

"Is this something that happened to your father back then?"

"My dad, he has been missing for many years, who knows where he went?" Zheng Xiong sighed.

"Your father, there are rumors that he was murdered by the imperial court."

"What gossip? It's all nonsense. My father was a civil servant who was a civil servant. Is it necessary for the court to kill civil servants? It's not necessary." Zheng Xiong retorted.

"That's hard to say. Some people say that the imperial court is ruthless."

"It's all rumors. We still have to ask the court for help, otherwise we will eat and drink whatever we want. We will starve to death, and we don't care about what is available or not."

"Who's gossiping at my door?"

Just as everyone was talking, a voice came from inside the room.

Everyone looked at each other and quickly dispersed, no one dared to stay.

Zheng Xiong didn't dare to stay either.

You know, every time his mother got angry, she would take him over and beat him up.

He didn't want to go there and be a target.

Zheng Xiong returned to a stilted house with a frown on his face.

The wife brought a cup of boiled tea and placed it in front of Zheng Xiong.

This tea is camellia from the mountains. It tastes a bit bitter, but after all, it is a local tea, so you don't have to spend money to buy it. Zheng Xiong has been accustomed to drinking it since he was a child.

"Axiong, these days are becoming more and more difficult. Our crops have been almost destroyed this year. The mountains are poor and many people in the tribe are hungry. Even our family is having a hard time." The wife sighed.

"Our Zheng family is one of the four major surnames of the Tujia people. Now I am the patriarch of the Tujia people. Logically speaking, I shouldn't be poor. But you also know that mother, he doesn't let me collect taxes from the people.

We live in the fields, how can we make money?" Zheng Xiong sighed.

I have never seen a rich patriarch like him suffer from poverty. Over the years, he is the second one, and the first one is his mother Zheng Erniang.

I heard people say that you, the Tujia clan leader before Zheng Erniang, were rich, prosperous and very rich.

"I'm not complaining about my mother. I'm not interested in wealth, but at least we can't let our family starve. The eldest, second, and third of our three children, the oldest is only eight years old.

This half-grown man is living in poverty, how will he live in the future?"

Zheng Xiong continued to sigh.

"Xiong, don't think too much. I'll go to someone else's house tomorrow to borrow some food. I can't let the three children go hungry. We will collect the food next year and then return it," the wife said.

"Do you want to go to Wang Dafuer's house to borrow food?"

"Yes, among the eight villages nearby, his family is the only one with more food, and he is quite familiar with us."

"Don't go. Wang Dafu'er is not from our Tujia people. He is a businessman and a big landowner. He is so cruel. If we want to borrow food, we have fallen into his trap." Zheng Xiong hurriedly stopped him.

"Isn't it right? Wang Dafu'er was very polite when he came to our house last time." His wife asked doubtfully.

"He is polite for a reason. He wants to cover our Tujia people's mountains and dig our soil." Zheng Xiong picked up the tea cup and drank it all.

He was used to drinking it in the past and didn't feel anything bad. After drinking it today, for some reason, he felt an extra bitter taste on his lips and tongue.

"Wouldn't it be okay to just sell our soil to him? Once we take the money, our lives will be easier." The wife was a little puzzled.

"If he came to negotiate business properly, we would be willing to do it, but he is not a good person. He wants to deceive us. He wants to take away our land without giving us money."

Zheng Xiong couldn't help but think of the scene when Wang Dafuer came.

"Then I won't go."

She still understands her husband, and Zheng Xiong will not lie to her.

However, when she thought of her three children, she felt very worried.

The two were silent for a long time, and suddenly they heard someone shouting outside.

"Brother Xiong, someone from the court is here!"

A man rushed over to report the news.

"People from the court? Where are they?" Zheng Xiong opened the door and walked out.

"They are outside the valley. There are more than a dozen people here, all riding horses." The visitor said loudly, wiping the sweat on his face.

"Call someone to get my rattan armor and weapons. Let's go out for a while!"

Zheng Xiong shouted.

After a while, Zheng Xiong put on rattan armor, took a spear, and a short knife around his waist. He led dozens of men also wearing rattan armor and walked out of the valley entrance.

Their village is located in the valley, and the Tujia people have outposts in many hidden places outside.

Anyone who wants to get close to the village will be discovered by the Tujia people at the outpost in advance.

After Zheng Xiong and his party arrived at the valley, they saw a dozen riders standing in the open space in front of them.

The leader was a scribe, sitting on horseback with his back straight.

"Are you officials of the imperial court?"

I saw that the clothes they were wearing looked very much like the clothes only officials of the imperial court could wear.

Zheng Xiong raised his head and asked loudly forward.

"good."
Chapter completed!