"Guard Lin, it's time for us to set off!"

Early in the morning, Constable Zhang knocked on Lin Xue's door.

"Okay, I'm all packed and ready to go!"

After much deliberation, Lin Xue finally decided to bring Zhou Xiaocang along, since the houses and land belonged to the Zhou family.

"Guard Lin, we can provide horses. Do you know how to ride?"

Two junior constables followed behind Constable Zhang, each leading a horse, but Constable Zhang led two, clearly intended for Lin Xue.

"Yes, I will. My son and I will ride one horse!"

"It's a long journey, shall we set off now?"

Lin Xue didn't say anything polite. After asking Zhou Xiaocang to put her specially made covered basket on his back, she rode her tall horse first.

Lin Xue flipped over and went up, but things got a little awkward when it came to Zhou Xiaocang.

Zhou Xiaocang had never ridden a horse before, let alone a horse, he had never even been in contact with a cow.

Now that he's suddenly being asked to ride a horse, he's still a bit unaccustomed to it, and even mounting the horse is a little difficult.

"Pfft!"

I don't know which constable couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Lin Xue also found it quite funny, but instead of laughing, she dismounted again and helped Zhou Xiaocang back onto his horse.

"Everyone experiences this the first time they ride a horse; you'll get used to it after a few tries!"

Lin Xue remained calm and gave a serious explanation, easing Zhou Xiaocang's embarrassment.

"Yeah, who isn't like this when they first start learning to ride a horse!"

"Right, Li?"

Xiao Li was the young constable who had just burst out laughing. Seeing that everyone's attention had turned to him, he had no choice but to suppress his smile and nod seriously.

"Of course, that's normal!"

The farce quickly passed. Lin Xue instructed the children at home to close the doors and windows tightly and not to go out, and to wait for her at home. Then, she followed Zhang the constable and the others on horseback towards the small mountain village.

This road is passable for horses, but carriages simply cannot get through.

This shows just how remote Lin Xue's village was.

"Gentlemen, my village is just ahead. Please come in and have a seat at my home while I take care of some matters!"

"You only need to show your faces; I'll handle the rest!"

Upon arriving at the village entrance, Lin Xue pointed to the small village ahead and addressed Zhang the constable and the others.

"Alright, Guard Lin, please let me know if you need any help!"

Officer Zhang glanced at the small village hidden deep in the mountains. If it weren't for Lin Xue and Zhou Xiaocang leading the way, they would never have found such a remote village.

The road leading in was so difficult that in some places one had to dismount and be led across; horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts simply couldn't pass.

I don't know if this village has paid taxes over the years; I'll have to ask the tax official later.

"The young widow of the Zhou family and the second son of the Zhou family are back!"

As soon as Lin Xue and her group entered the village, some people who had been watching from the village entrance turned around and ran back as if they had seen a plague god.

Lin Xue and the other four heard what he said, but they didn't pay any attention to it.

"It seems that Guard Lin has a good reputation in the village..."

Officer Zhang covered his mouth and chuckled; he was the only one here who dared to laugh at Lin Xue's misfortune.

"Please excuse my poor behavior, sir. My husband drowned a while ago, and the villagers thought we women and children were weak and easy to bully. They came to my door trying to take advantage of me!"

"I've only been married into this family for a little over six months. They don't understand my temperament, and they couldn't hold back for a moment, so they beat up the people who came to cause trouble!"

"Sir, don't be fooled by their current tendency to run away from me; they used to bully me quite a bit before!"

Because Lin Xue was walking in front, the villager didn't seem to see the constables behind him.

When Lin Xue led everyone to the gate of his house, they saw that the gate had been demolished and the main door of the house had also collapsed.

Zhou Xiaocang immediately slid off his horse and ran into the house to check it out.

"Sister-in-law, all our things are gone!"

"them……"

"They... they've gone too far! They actually emptied our house while we were away!"

As Zhou Xiaocang spoke, tears streamed down his face.

He truly never imagined that the people in the village could be so wicked.

"Hey, in broad daylight, under the clear sky, someone actually robbed someone else's property. This is my responsibility!"

Upon hearing Zhou Xiaocang's words, Constable Zhang knew he had been given a mission.

"Officer Zhang, this woman wants to sue the villagers for trespassing, robbing property, and seizing my family's property!"

As soon as Lin Xue saw Constable Zhang step forward, she immediately understood, dismounted, and bowed to Constable Zhang.

The villagers dared not confront Lin Xue directly, but instead hid not far away and watched what was happening at Lin Xue's house.

The voices were quite loud, and many villagers heard them.

"Oh no! This woman actually brought the government officials back with her. Could this be a trap she set to lure us into robbing her?"

Remembering Lin Xue's fierceness and seeing the uniformed officials, the villagers involved in the matter felt their legs go weak.

"Where is the village chief? This constable has come to the village, and this is how you treat your guests?"

When Zhang Butou was with Lin Xue and the others, he was quite amiable.

At this moment, when he put on his official airs, those who were watching the commotion from afar were immediately so frightened that they didn't dare to breathe.

However, some clever people had already run to the village chief's house and told him about the situation.

"Those damned brats! I told you this young widow from the Zhou family was not to be trifled with, but they wouldn't believe me. They just wanted to take advantage of her absence and steal her things!"

"They even said that since there's no way to prove it since they're dead, they might as well just rob it!"

"Now look what's happened! Not only have they come back, but they've also brought officials with them. What are we going to do now?"

The old village chief only dared to act arrogantly within the village; he was equally helpless against the Shangguan family.

"Village chief, no matter what, the officials are looking for you now. You'd better go there as soon as possible!"

"If all else fails, we'll just return the things to that Lin woman. If we had known she had connections with the government, we would never have tried to rob her!"

A middle-aged man standing nearby was sweating profusely with anxiety. He had truly believed those bastards' lies to dare to provoke the Zhou family.

I'm not sure if returning the items is a good idea.

The old village chief had no choice but to be helped by the crowd and shakily made his way to Lin Xue's house.

"My lord, we were unaware that you have come from afar. May we ask what brings you here?"

"We were not informed in advance and were unable to go to greet you. This old man is filled with fear!"

When the old village chief arrived at Lin Xue's house, he saw the officials in uniform. He immediately told the person supporting him to let go, and then knelt tremblingly before the officials.

Although he was the village chief, his knowledge and understanding were not much better than those of the villagers. The moment he saw the officials, the old village chief's legs went weak!