Young Master Ye, who had been silent all along, spoke up at this moment, "Mr. Guo, please get up!"

Mr. Guo quickly got off the donkey and staggered to his feet.

He didn't want the villagers to forgive him any longer, so he bowed with a look of shame and prepared to leave in a dejected manner.

But Young Master Ye shouted, "Who told you to leave? Weren't you looking for the murderer who killed your family? Now that you know it wasn't one of us villagers, you're not going to pursue it anymore? So, is it because the old man is taking advantage of the fact that we villagers have no one to back us up, and he wants to steal the hot spring valley that we worked so hard to build?"

Mr. Guo was embarrassed and quickly shook his head, "No, no, Lord Marquis, I'm just getting senile, it's all a misunderstanding. I have no designs on the Hot Spring Valley."

"Then sit down!" Young Master Ye coldly rebuked, "Today I will help you find the real murderer."

For some reason, Old Master Guo suddenly felt that bad premonition again, and subconsciously refused, "No, there's no need to trouble you, Your Excellency..."

Unfortunately, Young Master Ye didn't listen to him at all and directly asked everyone, "When you attacked the bandits, what did they look like? Were they just refugees taking advantage of the chaos to commit violence?"

“No,” Li Laosi immediately replied, “Those bandits are all young and strong, and very skilled. They are definitely not refugees. Their dwellings were also temporarily found in the mountains. They don’t seem to have been entrenched there for a long time. They seem to have come from outside.”

Young Master Ye nodded and then asked, "Besides the Guo family and their luggage, did you find any other victims or valuables marked by others in the bandit's den?"

"No!" This time, almost half the village responded in unison.

They found this very strange too.

"Since Young Master Ye didn't say anything, we didn't think much of it. But now that we think about it carefully, the bandit's den is too clean. There aren't even any other corpses around the courtyard. It seems like only the Guo family was harmed."

"Yes, judging from the looks of it, the men of the Guo family were caught and hung up from trees, and the children were thrown into the cellar without any food or water. Except for the women, who were left behind... well, you know! The bandits showed no mercy or hesitation; they were determined to kill the entire Guo family!"

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, all finding the events of that day suspicious.

Mr. Guo's legs went weak, and he plopped back into his chair, his face as white as paper.

Guo Qing, however, darted around and hurriedly explained, "Perhaps the bandits were wandering around elsewhere, and my brother and his men were unlucky enough to run into them. The bandits didn't even have time to rob anyone else before you killed them!"

As he said this, he seemed to have found his confidence and continued, "We no longer suspect you of murder and robbery, yet you still want to find someone to smear us. Isn't that a bit unfair? Let me tell you, my uncle is in poor health. If you frighten him, you can't afford to compensate him."

Li Laosi sneered, "Now you know how to feel sorry for your uncle? Why didn't you stop him when he was urging you to falsely accuse us of murder?"

"That's right, stop pretending to be a big shot! Since we've already started arguing, let's settle this once and for all today!" Head镖 Liu shouted, making Guo Qing grit his teeth in anger.

Young Master Ye then asked, "Mr. Guo, your Guo family is a well-known scholarly family in the capital, with considerable wealth and many servants. Since you are moving south, you must be bringing many carriages and servants with you, right?"

"But why are there only your son, daughter-in-law, and children in the bandit's den, and not a single servant? Do bandits specifically choose their masters when they harm people? Aren't there any beautiful maids among the servants who wouldn't arouse the bandits' lust?"

Mr. Guo's face turned even paler, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Could it be that someone deliberately harmed his children and grandchildren?

Guo Qing's forehead was also covered in a thin layer of sweat, but he forced himself to shout, "Perhaps the bandits wanted to capture their master and demand a ransom, but they killed him out of disappointment after discovering that my uncle was in Jiangnan."

“That’s easy. The Guo family has so many servants, it’s impossible that none of them made it to Jiangnan alive. Just find one, ask them a few questions, and we’ll know the truth.” Li Lao Er suddenly replied, “Perhaps there are some left around Xindu. Let’s go out and inquire tomorrow. The Guo family is so famous, it shouldn’t be difficult to find out about them.”

Guo Qing was already sweating profusely, his mind racing with thoughts of how to stop this country bumpkin from asking questions, when Mr. Wen casually remarked...

“A few days ago I was looking to buy servants and happened to find an old servant of the Guo family. I was afraid that the old gentleman would be reminded of the past, so I didn’t plan to mention it, but I didn’t expect it to come in handy today.”

Everyone looked at Mr. Wen. The villagers were naturally pleasantly surprised, while Grandpa Liu and his son looked at him with newfound respect.

Mr. Guo was overthinking things. Mr. Wen had been prepared for this all along and even knew a lot of inside information, but he had been keeping it from him for his own sake.

He repaid kindness with enmity, taking the initiative to expose everything, which is simply humiliating!

Soon, a maid in her thirties was brought up. As soon as she saw Mr. Guo, she fell to the ground and burst into tears.

"Please forgive me, sob, it's not that I abandoned my master and ran away, it's that those bandits only tied up the masters. When we tried to go forward, the bandits started hacking at us with knives. Guo Da and Guo San were all killed. I was afraid of dying, I didn't dare to do it, I could only watch helplessly as they took the master, madam and young master away!"

The woman was still a person of conscience; perhaps this matter had tormented her for a long time, because she told her master everything when she saw him.

They were on their way, and although they left late and missed the main group, there were still many refugees, and the road was very lively.

The bandits seemed to know them; they suddenly rushed out and began killing, kidnapping, and robbing silver, food, and luggage before heading into the mountains.

They had no choice but to give chase, so they divided the remaining items among themselves and fled for their lives.

Even if Mr. Guo was slow-witted, he would realize by now that his children and grandchildren had been deliberately murdered.

"Who could it be? Our Guo family is dedicated to teaching and nurturing students; we have no enemies whatsoever!"

The old man stood up, looked around blankly, like a puppet who had lost his soul.

Mr. Wen sighed, took two steps forward, and said, "Sir, I have some more things here. Perhaps you will find the answer after you see them."

He glanced at Guo Qing and reached into his robes, but before he could take anything out, Guo Qing couldn't hold on any longer and suddenly darted away like a rabbit.

Unfortunately, both Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou were skilled fighters. They kicked him almost simultaneously, tripping him and sending him crashing to the ground in front of the threshold.

Guo Qing knocked out two of his front teeth, his lips and nose were cut, and his face was covered in blood.

The villagers realized what was happening and rushed forward.

One kicked him, another pulled his arm, and in the blink of an eye, Guo Qing was beaten half to death and tied up.

"Did this kid harm someone? Otherwise, why would he run away?"

"I'm pretty sure he's up to no good. Judging by how energetic he is, I can tell he's up to no good."

"Tie him up quickly, don't let him escape!"

Guo Qing was terrified and cried out for help, "Uncle, help me! I just feel sorry for my older brothers and want to go out and find our enemies. Yes, yes, I also want to go home and offer incense to their memorial tablets!"

Unfortunately, by then, no one believed him anymore.

Mr. Wen took out several forms and placed them in front of Mr. Guo.