Once she could no longer hear any sound from inside, Sun Miao'er felt relieved and glanced inside.

Good heavens, a whole lot of the yard has collapsed.

The villagers watched in horror as the bandits who had kidnapped them fell one by one, unsure whether to be happy or afraid.

Sun Miao'er pulled down her mask and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone, it's me."

The first to recognize her was Aunt Ge, "Miao'er, she's the girl from the Sun family!"

"Manager Ji, please help me."

Sun Miao'er found a hemp rope and looked around at the people lying in the yard; it seemed they were all here.

No, the second-in-command is missing!

We can't worry about that now. Let's deal with them first. Judging by the time, the officials from the yamen should be here soon.

Upon hearing that it was a girl from the Sun family, everyone seemed to see a glimmer of hope and began shouting all at once, "Sun family girl, untie me!"

"Miao'er, save me!"

Sun Miao'er threw the hemp rope to Ji Changru and stepped forward to untie the young villagers. "Manager Ji, please tie up these bandits first."

“You should also go and help him.”

Because the effects of the drug were unclear and it was uncertain when these people would wake up, Sun Miao'er, just to be on the safe side, asked a few villagers to go and help Ji Changru.

She first untied Grandma Sun's clothes, saying, "Grandma, you've suffered."

Looking at the red marks left on Grandma Sun's legs by the hemp rope, Sun Miao'er couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "Grandma, why haven't I seen Uncle Liang and the others?"

Grandma Sun paused for a moment, then replied, "Your Uncle Liang and Aunt have gone back to your parents' home. I heard it's because your aunt's father is dying!"

Sun Miao'er recalled that she had seen Old Master Wei at the Wei family's house the last time and had eaten at the same table, but now he was on his deathbed. It was truly a reminder of the unpredictability of life.

Those who had previously been at odds with Sun Miao'er now disregarded their old grudges and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Sun family girl, please save me!"

Just because they don't care about saving face doesn't mean Sun Miao'er doesn't hold grudges!

She's incredibly vindictive!

Only after she had released the villagers around her did Sun Miao'er walk coldly to the group of people. Jin Shi and Hua Gu were huddled together, and Hua Gu's clothes were torn to shreds, so she could only hide behind Jin Shi.

"Auntie, how have you been?"

Although she had previously made the Jin family suffer, it was all her own doing.

Knowing that Sun Miao'er would take this opportunity to humiliate her, Jin kept her head down and dared not utter a sound.

"Aunt Hua? Your clothes are torn. Put them back on properly, or you might attract the attention of bandits!"

Sun Miao'er suddenly bent down, pulled up Hua Gu's torn clothes, and said to Jin Shi, "If you can repent and treat Grandma well, I can forgive you for what happened before. But if I find out again that you have done something bad to Grandma, don't blame me for being impolite."

This was her last warning to Jin, because Old Lady Sun was stubborn and refused to move to the city with her. She stayed in the village and could only rely on Jin's help and attention.

Before Jin could speak, Sun Miao'er untied the ropes binding Jin's feet.

Ji Changru was almost done with his work. The bandits, drugged and knocked out, were tied up and piled up in the courtyard, unconscious.

Sun Miao'er knew that this was not all the bandits. According to the description of the myna bird, there should still be some people left in the stronghold. If no one went back to report for a long time, the remaining bandits might come to the village.

After all, there was still a second-in-command who hadn't been captured.

Before she could figure out her next move, the villagers in the courtyard were already in chaos.

As expected, old habits die hard; having just escaped from danger, they started fighting amongst themselves again.

"Village Chief Li, you're really getting senile! How can you live up to everyone's trust?!"

When someone questioned Old Man Li, it was clear that they were very dissatisfied with Old Man Li's actions that had gotten him into trouble.

Old Li stretched his neck, his face flushed red, "If I had known, I wouldn't have let them come!"

"He's clearly blinded by greed, Village Chief Li. You've been in this position for so many years, it's time for you to step down!"

Old Li continued to argue, "Do you think it's easy for me? I've already given my wife's life away, what more do you want from me!"

It turned out that Xiao Zhangshi had been raped to death by Tu Zhenshan's brothers, but Old Man Li was not sad at all and only wanted to use his dead wife as an excuse to absolve himself.

Seeing this, Sun Miao'er knew she couldn't let things continue, so she stood on higher ground and shouted, "Stop making noise, it's not safe yet!"

Upon hearing that it wasn't safe yet, everyone immediately fell silent, thinking of grabbing the hoes and shovels nearby.

"As far as I know, the bandits still have a second-in-command who hasn't been caught. We should all hide for now and wait for the government officials to arrive before we're safe!"

Sun Miao'er pointed to the house on the right, "There's a secret passage in our village inside. Let's go in and hide for a bit. It leads to the cave at the back. I'll keep watch outside for everyone!"

Old Li's eyes flickered, and he whispered, "The secret passage has been neglected for years; who knows what snakes, insects, and rodents might be inside..."

Sun Miao'er noticed his unusual behavior and simply said, "Don't worry, I've already gone in to scout the way for everyone. Come with me!"

At this point, Old Man Li had lost all his prestige, and the villagers no longer wanted to believe him. They all followed Sun Miao'er down into the secret passage.

At the end of the secret passage, there was indeed a spacious cave that could accommodate several hundred people.

Shuanzi was waiting inside early on. When he saw his parents, the whole family hugged each other tightly.

However, the scene inside the cave left the villagers dumbfounded.

The cave contained rice, flour, and even several boxes of loose silver.

Sun Miao'er immediately understood, her sharp eyes locking onto Old Man Li, who was trying to run towards the dark passage. "Village Chief Li, what's going on here?"

"If I remember correctly, this is the Li family ancestral hall. You wouldn't be unaware of this secret passage, would you?"

Old Li slumped to the ground in a panic, looking at the villagers' stares, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's not what you all think! I just wanted to save some food for everyone, that's not it..."

"Saving up grain?" Sun Miao'er sneered. "Now that the famine has arrived, shouldn't we return all the grain to everyone?"

Old Man Li had nowhere else to go, so he could only nod and say, "Yes, yes, when the soldiers come, we'll distribute all the grain here to everyone!"

When Shan Qiu arrived with his troops, he only saw that all the bandits in the Li family ancestral hall were tied up.

Sun Miao'er stood guard outside the secret passage. Upon seeing the soldiers, she finally felt relieved. "Officer Shan, I'm here!"

"Miss Sun, what is this? Did you do this?"

Danqiu stared in disbelief at the bandits who had been subdued. The coachman who had gone back to report had said that Fushui Village had been completely looted and the situation was critical, but it didn't look urgent at all!

Sun Miao'er crossed her arms and nodded. "Don't worry, the villagers are all safe. Officer Shan, you should deal with these bandits first."