Hearing Wang Xiaoju utter the word "coffin" in a high-pitched voice, Jiang Zhi felt a chill run down her spine and wondered, "What's going on? What coffin?"

“Sigh, that place belongs to someone else. They say it’s their old house, and when an old person passes away, their body is sent back to the old house to be laid to rest,” Liu said, rubbing her arms beside her.

Her hair stood on end, and the thought of spending another night in such an old house filled her with dread.

Jiang Zhi didn't believe it: "Didn't you ask around?" She herself had found Xu Xiaolan by asking around.

Pi said, "Of course we asked, but everyone said that's their old house."

What was being sent back was not corpses, but the bones of people who had died outside during the refugee period, and now they were being sent back for burial.

We're also looking for that talkative woman, but we can't find her anywhere in the city; nobody knows where she went!

The plot has been changed?

Jiang Zhi fell into deep thought: Was this Master Du's work, or was it due to the serialized articles?

The author is like heaven; they can play with their own world however they want, as long as it's logical.

Or is it because it involves the male lead's background?

The power of a relative offering sacrifices to heaven is boundless; whoever helps him and gains even a little benefit from it will suffer misfortune.

All he did was beat up Xu Xiaogu and take fifty taels of silver to keep quiet, and this brought him trouble.

The world of the protagonist, a male protagonist with an overpowered personality, has its own set of rules. No one else can touch what belongs to him, including his enemies, otherwise it will affect his ability to show off!

If I clean myself up now, will the male lead not have any material to show his anger and slap me in the face when he comes back?

While Jiang Zhi was lost in thought, Pi Shi and Wang Xiaoju continued to talk about what had happened in the past few days.

The Pi family's first day in the city was not easy. They were turned away at the gate of the Du family's house and then frightened by the courtyard where the body was laid to rest.

I didn't dare to wander around after the curfew, so I ended up hiding in an alley corner and sitting there all night, feeding all the mosquitoes on that street.

Fortunately, it was only the Dragon Boat Festival, so there weren't many mosquitoes at night. However, it rained in the middle of the night, leaving us soaked and standing against the wall until dawn.

After daybreak, the exhausted group ate a simple breakfast and then went to the Du family's house in Qingliu Lane.

This time it was a success. The gatekeeper opened the door and invited them into the courtyard, where they also met the owner, Master Du.

At this point, Pi asked in confusion, "Auntie, things have changed inside. Not only has the gatekeeper changed, but the courtyard is also not the same as it used to be. The flower stand that I broke down is gone, replaced by a flower wall covered with flowers."

When she fought with the two laundry women, she had no weapons, so she tore down the bamboo flower stand. Wang Xiaoju also smashed a lot of flower pots. Now it's a wall of flowers, and she can't tear it down!

In the main hall of the front yard, Pi met the owner of the house, a man around forty years old, with a refined demeanor.

The man's surname was indeed Du, but he said he had lost his wife long ago and had no wife at home.

To be honest, no one in Xujia Village had ever seen who Xu Xiaogu had married, including Xu Changming.

At this moment, Master Du said that he did not know anything about Xu Family Village, did not know Xu Xiaolan, and was not Xu Family Son-in-Law.

They simply claimed they had mistaken someone for someone else or misremembered something, making a huge fuss over nothing. Pi and his associates had absolutely no evidence whatsoever.

However, this Master Du had a very good temper. Even when he was mistaken for someone else, he remained amicable. He not only had tea brought to him, but also asked who was missing, who they were looking for, and whether they needed help reporting to the authorities.

However, it is also said that after a period of chaos, government offices were searched by rebel soldiers and refugees, and many household registration records were damaged.

If you want to find someone or something, going to the government is not as good as dealing with people like them who have extensive connections. Master Du said he owns several merchant caravans.

These words made the people of Xujia Village uneasy, and they dared not doubt the other party.

So Xu Changming started by telling the story of a child that Xu Xiaogu had sent back eighteen years ago.

They talked about how hard the child worked in the countryside, how the villagers took care of him as he grew up, and how Xiao Tian fled with the villagers two years ago, unwilling to return home. He had joined the new army in Yuzhou Prefecture and his fate was still unknown.

When Master Du heard the words "enlistment means certain death," his expression remained unchanged, but a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Xu Changming continued, saying that Jiang Zhi came to see her sister-in-law and received fifty taels of silver, and later someone impersonated a relative and caused trouble in the village...

Master Du frowned slightly and said, "Could it be that you've encountered a fox spirit?"

My house is only inhabited by a few servants. There is no Madam Xu here, and I don't even know about Xu Family Village.

If I were your son-in-law, do you have any witnesses or physical evidence, or any formal betrothal ceremony?

Now that the officials in Pingchuan County are honest and the people are at peace, you can't just randomly ask people to claim kinship!

And what about that courtyard where the body was laid to rest? That place has nothing to do with me!

So, after only drinking one cup of tea in the courtyard, the Xu family was politely invited out.

Standing outside the tightly closed gate, everyone in the Xu family's search team was at a loss.

Xu Changming stared at Pi Shi: "Gensheng's wife, you are the only one who has been here. You have to say something about whether it is true or not."

Mr. Pi was also anxious. The layout of the house hadn't changed, but the furnishings inside had changed, and none of the people were familiar: "Grandpa, I don't know either!"

"You don't know? You've been eating for free all day! You didn't even see a living person like that. Do the same thing you did last time!"

Xu Changming was so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard. If Pi Shi wasn't his grand-nephew's wife, he would have hit her with his cane.

Pi was really at a loss. At that time, Aunt Jiang brought a few of them to the door, and somehow, after making a scene outside, they found Xu Xiaolan without any trouble.

They were only focused on fighting and didn't put any thought or effort into it, so it's really difficult to find someone to talk to now.

Pi was not a clever person. In her anxiety, she said directly, "Grandpa, let's learn from Aunt Jiang's method... go to her door. Aunt Jiang found the person in the backyard."

beat……

Xu Changming looked at the tightly closed gate and the several long-legged guards standing at the entrance, and his heart skipped a beat: If he, with his old bones, went to fight someone, he would probably be thrown out before he even got inside!

He looked at his son and clansmen beside him, but still couldn't bring himself to say anything about fighting: "We'll just wait here... Xu Xiaolan will eventually come out."

Xu Changming actually chose to cheat!

Wang Xiaoju and Pi Shi, after you finished speaking, finally reached this point. Jiang Zhi was also surprised: "You've been waiting in Qingliu Lane for the past few days without asking anywhere else?"

Ms. Pi touched her swollen face, tears welling up in her eyes again: "Auntie, you can't even describe how pathetic we were. I went to see Officer Xiang that very day and asked him to help me find out what happened."

The constable also inquired and said that the man's surname was indeed Du, and he was a merchant!

"However, that house was rented, and the lease has just been terminated."

Perfect!

Jiang Zhi almost applauded that "son-in-law," for he was so meticulous in his work, leaving no room for error.

It's no wonder that Nie Shi was completely unprepared for such a clever and talented person, and lost her life because of him.

However, now is not the time for lamentation, as Xiang Dejin knows about Xiao Tian's background.

Now that something has happened in Xujia Village, even though he's not the head constable, he won't remain completely uninformed.

Sure enough, Pi continued, "Tell the constable that this matter has been filed with the government and will be investigated further. That Master Du has already returned to Jincheng today."

Jiang Zhi understood. Magistrate Zhang would investigate, but it would take time, and Master Du had also left.

The thugs at Qingquan Bay are all dead, leaving no evidence, and Xu Xiaogu's identity remains unclear. Investigating from the death of Nie Shi eighteen years ago would be even more troublesome, requiring the cooperation of the Jincheng government...