Zhiwen and Zhiwang, who were anxiously looking outside, were both bewildered: "???"

General Qi and Lu Fang were dumbfounded. Zhang Zhixing and his two companions hadn't killed anyone, nor had they committed any arson, murder, or looting. They couldn't be killed.

The reason he was sentenced to beheading was simply to lure the bandits to rescue him, saving the advance team from having to sneak into the mountains one by one.

General Qi originally planned to capture the bandits who came to rescue the people and then send Zhang Zhixing and the other two to perform corvée labor.

As the county magistrate, Lu Fang was naturally aware of this matter, which is why he dared to speak well of Zhang Zhiwen and the other man, and was also willing to help General Qi lead the bandits away.

After all, this General Qi was a good official; he wasn't the kind of person who would brutally kill the innocent and falsely accuse others.

The man who captured General Qi refused to return the silver or surrender, and even ordered the execution of Zhang Zhixing and two others. Isn't this ridiculous?

Lu Fang frowned slightly: "Miss, what do you mean by this? The five thousand taels of silver has already been carefully counted by my men, and the property of some people who died at the hands of bandits has not been included."

Five thousand taels of silver for a hundred lives—that's a very good deal.

Ye Wenxue, holding the rope binding General Qi, sat down nearby, picked up the paper, quickly glanced at it, and said as she read:

"Sir, I don't want to save all the bandits. As long as Zhang Zhixing and the other four survive, I don't care what happens to the rest."

Last year, the silver that the bandits made from their risk-free business all went to the mountain stronghold. Even though Baldy and the other bandits didn't kill anyone or rob anyone afterward, they still used the stolen silver and ate the stolen food.

Being punished with caning and forced labor was justified.

Even if Ye Wenxue cooperated with them to make money, she couldn't say anything like that the bandits were completely innocent.

Therefore, when Baldy disbanded the stronghold, Ye Wenxue did not offer him any advice. At most, she fulfilled her duty and protected Baldy and his mother's lives for the sake of the money.

Besides, Ye Wenxue had never even seen those five thousand taels of silver.

Want her to pay for your ransom? No way.

General Qi was speechless.

Lu Fang hesitated for a moment. He couldn't beat them in a fight, and he couldn't kill the people he had them in his hands. His general was still in their hands. What should he do?

But he could also tell that the woman had no intention of making things difficult for General Qi.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked him how to stop pursuing the bandit background of Zhang Zhixing and the others.

If we directly exchange General Qi's life for the chance to take Zhang Zhixing and the other four away, would they dare to stop us?

Lu Fang's thoughts raced as he pondered a way to achieve the best of both worlds.

General Qi had already made it clear that they would only stop pursuing the matter after they returned five thousand taels of silver. As a lowly ninth-rank official, Lu Fang couldn't very well undermine his superior's authority.

Just as Lu Fang was about to make up his mind, noticing General Qi's calm expression, he heard the woman wearing a veil laugh out loud.

She unabashedly tossed the paper onto the table:

"The He family of Shanqing Village was robbed of 370 taels? Tsk tsk, I wonder if they could even scrape together 10 taels of silver if they sold the entire He family, young and old."

General Qi's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Ye Wenxue with a probing gaze: "Are you Widow Cheng?"

Zhiwen and Zhiwang, who kept looking outside, looked puzzled.

Boss Ye is indeed a widow, but how did General Qi know that?

Ye Wenxue understood: "The He family told you about me? No wonder they're so fixated on Zhixing, they probably still have their eyes on the three taels of silver I snatched back."

Zhiwen didn't understand why Boss Ye had admitted it, and why he would say something that could identify him, so he couldn't help but speak up to remind him:

"What are you saying, Master Ye? We don't know any He family members."

The few smarter people in the room glanced at Zhiwen and secretly shook their heads.

General Qi ignored Zhiwen's nonsense and looked at Ye Wenxue with great interest: "No wonder you were so eager to run away as soon as you heard that you were stopped at the mountain pass."

According to the He family, Widow Cheng has several children, and they are all black-hearted.

Widow Cheng not only caused her husband's death, but also insulted and killed He Laoda, who had helped her. She also ignored the village head's advice to flee the famine together, causing the villagers of Shanqing Village to be beaten by the refugees.

General Qi did not believe the He family's words, and he also knew how difficult things had been for Widow Cheng before she fled the famine after her husband's death.

He looked at the composed Widow Cheng from head to toe, and couldn't imagine how she had been bullied in the past.

—How could someone so audacious as to ambush and kidnap a high-ranking official of the imperial court be oppressed?

Ye Wenxue didn't even remove her veil, and tapped the paper again: "It seems the young general's men aren't very capable. There must be a lot of exaggeration in the five thousand taels."

General Qi's face darkened as he couldn't help but think of the disaster relief funds and grains that the imperial court had distributed early on but hadn't yet reached the people.

He received the paper, but before he could examine it closely, he couldn't immediately discern its meaning.

He understood that such things were inevitable, but...

General Qi had dealt with the He family before. Although he felt a little pity for their youngest child, it didn't stop him from seeing through everything.

If the He family had fled to the prefectural city after the famine, they might have been able to earn three hundred taels of silver by selling charcoal at a high price. But before the famine, three hundred taels was absolutely impossible.

Seeing General Qi's face growing darker and darker, Ye Wenxue raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that the He family, who were holding onto Zhixing, were probably going to suffer.

Just then, several footsteps came from outside the door.

People with different thoughts looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Zhixing, Zhiwu, and Wang Jin had been brought over, all of them looking bewildered.

When Zhixing saw Zhiwen, Zhiwang, and Ye Wenxue, his eyes flickered, and he instinctively wanted to tell them to leave immediately.

Unexpectedly, the guards holding him behind him coldly said to Ye Wenxue, "The person has been brought here. Release General Qi at once!"

Zhi Xing: "???"

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