"So what if you know? Do you think Magistrate Wu would interrogate himself?"

"I advise you to pretend you don't know anything. Doing Magistrate Wu a favor would be good for you, your family, and your village!"

Some people, still unwilling to give up, continued to spread rumors.

Shui Qing retorted, "Is Magistrate Wu the only official? You must know that Prince Yan has only just rebelled, and the court has not yet been defeated. Even if it had been defeated, would Prince Yan tolerate an official like Magistrate Wu after taking the throne? And right now, the court certainly wouldn't tolerate him either!"

Encouraged by these words, the men of Shanshui Village immediately straightened their backs.

Yes, there are other officials as well. These people must not be sent to Magistrate Wu. Not only should they not be sent, but they should also bring down Magistrate Wu as well. They cannot allow the people of Guangning Prefecture to live in such dire straits!

And the confessions of these bandits are especially important!

No wonder Shui Qing insisted they confess.

The men who had figured out the key points looked at the bandits with eyes full of hatred, wishing they could chop them up. They gripped their long knives tightly and slowly stepped forward.

The bandits on the ground, their hands and feet bound, had no way to escape or hide. They swallowed hard and asked in terror, "W-what are you going to do?"

Shuiqing then stepped forward, pretending to be a good person and advising, "Don't kill it with one cut. Make two cuts and spray it with chili water. Anyway, we have plenty of chili water, so there's no need to be stingy."

Besides, it's okay if they don't say anything; there are several groups of people, and eventually someone will break down and speak up.

Old Wang weighed the broadsword in his hand and loudly replied, "Good!"

"Speak! I'll talk!"

This time, Shui Qing did not refuse. She gave Wang Laoba and the others a wink and then asked Li Wen to call Li Changlin over so that everything could be recorded clearly.

They moved tables, lit lamps, ground ink, and laid out paper. Soon after, the men in charge of interrogation from other areas also arrived, each with an extremely grave expression.

"They were hesitant at first, but seeing that bunch of people in front of you screaming and waving knives and spraying pepper spray, and then seeing you guys moving tables and grinding grains, they all confessed." These people won't shed a tear until they see a knife!

"It was a servant from Magistrate Wu's residence who told them that our village has a lot of rabbits, and we can sell several hundred at a time. The village has made a lot of money selling rabbits, and every household has savings. We also have plenty of grain, more than we can eat."

Li Wen and Li Wu's hearts sank. Who could resist such exaggerated claims?

This man wants their entire village dead.

"We have no grudge against him, why are you framing us like this!"

"Is it because that old lady gave Magistrate Wu's wife dozens of rabbits last time that he got jealous? But we've been raising rabbits so hard, has that bothered him? He's exaggerating this time to harm us!"

The one who came to answer was the fifth son of the Fan family. He gritted his teeth, shook his head, and his face was ashen.

He then revealed everything: "It has nothing to do with us selling rabbits to Magistrate Wu's wife. We know this person."

Upon hearing this, even Shui Qing couldn't help but be taken aback.

Who is it?

“We not only know each other, we’re very familiar with each other, and we used to be from our village.” Fan Laowu felt too ashamed to say it.

It's someone from the Fan family again!

The people who were supposed to be on duty tonight but deserted their posts were from the Fan family, and it was also the Fan family who almost wiped out the entire Shanshui Village!

Just how many scoundrels did the Fan family produce?

"Fan Damu!"

Everyone felt that the shocks of the night came one after another. Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, something even worse would come along and wait for them!

The fact that they learned it was Fan Damu who was involved made it even more unacceptable to them than that they knew Magistrate Wu was involved.

"We haven't done anything wrong to him!"

He was the one who started the trouble first, inciting everyone not to change the mushrooms. Later, Fan Jin and Shui Qing's refusal to cooperate with him was also his own fault, and he can't blame anyone else.

Later, a torrential rainstorm hit, and every household was digging ditches. He took advantage of the fact that his thatched house had collapsed and refused to contribute, so it was no one else's fault that no one was willing to lend a hand in rebuilding his house.