Chapter 63: Seize the Time

Shen Zhiyi and Zhao Daya searched along the bushes on the other side of the back mountain. She tapped the spot with a long wooden stick and shook the bushes.

"Zhiyi, how can people be so mean!" Zhao Daya said angrily, slapping the nearest tree trunk. "If I had seen who it was last night, I would have pounced on them and given them a good fight! So they wouldn't think we're easy to bully!"

“If there are good people in the world, then there must be bad people.” Shen Zhiyi said calmly, “We can’t be disappointed in this world just because we see bad people.”

“That’s true, but they’ve really gone too far! What good does it do them to flood our village? This is what Brother Xuan meant when he said it’s harmful to others and doesn’t benefit themselves!” Zhao Daya was still indignant.

"Zhiyi! Come and take a look, is this it!" Tang Huaya's voice came from the other side.

After lunch, Tang Huaya, Sun Sanni, Ge Niu, Tie Tou, and others came to help. They split into pairs to search, and at that moment, they heard the news from Tang Huaya's team.

"Coming!" Shen Zhiyi shouted, leading Zhao Daya over.

From the spot where Tang Huaya and Ge Niu were standing near the halfway point of the back mountain, they could see Shen Zhiyi's courtyard clearly. This obvious view made Shen Zhiyi fall silent.

And then there's the matter of the reservoir belonging to Master Lin's family. Connecting these dots, it's not hard to guess who it is.

But why is that?

Whether it's revenge to redeem someone or the restaurant, isn't this timeframe far too long?

“This strip of cloth must have been hung down,” Tang Huaya said in a deep voice, handing over the half-piece of cloth. Although most of the color was covered by mud, it was still clear that it was completely different from their coarse linen clothes.

Shen Zhiyi frowned, a rare sight, as she looked at the collapsed back wall of her yard. The sound she had vaguely heard seemed to confirm it. She slowly said, "I suspect that my yard wall was smashed."

"Huh?" Zhao Daya was shocked. Thinking of Shen Zhiyi's small arms and legs, and how she discovered someone was banging on the wall at night, she felt it was safer to stay indoors. "It's too unsafe for you to live here! Why don't you stay at my place!"

The usually quiet Ge Niu spoke up at this moment: "Your house is not big enough for everyone, so you should stay at my house instead."

“I can protect Zhiyi, but you can’t,” Zhao Daya said hurriedly.

“I can accompany Zhiyi…” Ge Niu said, but then ran out of words, wavering between continuing to pretend and speaking to Shen Zhiyi privately.

Shen Zhiyi, used to the noise around her, was eager to verify something, so she walked down the mountain without turning her head, wanting to see what was behind the wall.

"Stop arguing, Zhiyi has already gone back." Tang Huaya spoke up to stop the sudden argument and quickly followed them down the mountain.

"Hmph, who wants to argue with her?" Zhao Daya muttered, quickening her pace down the mountain, completely unaware that Ge Niu had changed somewhat.

Shen Zhiyi went straight to the back wall of her house as she descended the mountain. At first, she thought it had been washed away by the water, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it must have taken a lot of water power to do that!

Apart from that, only the possibility of "human intervention" remains.

She carefully examined the remaining fragments of the fence. Although it had been soaked in water, the solidified fence was not easily softened, so any traces on it would definitely remain.

"Zhiyi, what are you looking for?" Tang Huaya asked.

"Look for any dents or marks on the fence that look like someone has vandalized it. If you find any, they can serve as evidence," Shen Zhiyi said, continuing her search.

Zhao Daya and Ge Niu arrived a few steps late, and before they could ask anything, Tang Huaya asked, "Is that so?"

Shen Zhiyi took the wall piece handed to her by Tang Huaya. It had obvious jagged edges. Upon seeing this, Zhao Daya immediately said, "I've seen this before! My father used to leave marks like this when he helped others tear down walls with a hoe."

"Doesn't that mean..." Zhao Daya looked surprised, her words overlapping with Ge Niu's. The two exchanged a glance and then looked away in tacit agreement.

They haven't forgotten what happened on the mountain, so they can't reconcile for the time being.

"So that's what I heard back then—the sound of smashing against the wall," Shen Zhiyi said solemnly, wondering if it was related to the incident where someone secretly broke into her house during that time.

“This one is also there,” Zhao Daya added, her eyes quickly scanning the scattered pieces of wall. “And this one too.”

“We have this too,” Ge Niu retorted, not to be outdone.

With Zhao Daya and Ge Niu around, they found the stones extremely quickly.

Shen Zhiyi hurriedly ran towards the village chief's house with the evidence, fearing that the village chief would be well-prepared and render the evidence useless. Therefore, this matter absolutely could not be delayed!

After she explained her purpose, the village chief understood the implication and quickly took Li Shitou with him. The three of them hurriedly headed out of the village, only then realizing how inconvenient it was that there was no car in the village.

By the time I caught the last oxcart to the county town, it was already late afternoon. I hurried towards the county government office in the afterglow of the setting sun, afraid that if I walked too slowly, I would arrive at the county government office just as it was closing time.

"Halt!" the constable at the yamen gate shouted coldly.

Shen Zhiyi stopped in her tracks and said anxiously, "Officer, we want to file a complaint!"

The constable glanced sideways at Shen Zhiyi, rubbing his fingers together in a gesture of sympathy. Of all times, he had to choose this crucial moment; these little devils were truly troublesome.

Just as she was about to take out some money from her sleeve, her eyes lit up when she saw a figure walking past behind the door. She quickly called out, "Officer Lu!"

The figure paused slightly, turned around uncertainly, and when he saw that it was Shen Zhiyi, he tentatively asked, "Miss Shen, is there something you need to do at the yamen?"

“Yes, my house and my chili field were flooded. I suspect that someone deliberately released the water and intended to flood our village!” Shen Zhiyi said seriously.

Upon hearing that this was such a serious matter, Constable Lu's expression immediately became serious, and he said even more urgently than Shen Zhiyi, the person involved, "Let's go, Miss Shen, come with me to see Lord Lu!"

Shen Zhiyi was surprised by the efficiency of the county government office. She quickly went in with the village chief, while Li Shitou, who seemed to panic when entering the government office, stayed outside to wait for them to come out.

Shen Zhiyi had memorized the scenery along the way from the county government office to Lord Lu's office. After passing through the gate, she first saw Xuan Yan guarding outside the room. He called out softly, "Officer Lu and Miss Shen have arrived."

Upon hearing his name mentioned, Constable Lu's lips curled into a slight smile. He had known that as long as he cultivated a good relationship with this Miss Shen, he would eventually be remembered by Lord Lu!

"Hmm." Lu Jingbai's extremely faint voice made it impossible to discern his current mood, so those who entered were somewhat cautious.

Only Shen Zhiyi, adhering to a matter-of-fact approach, presented the evidence she had gathered and stated succinctly: "Last night, around the beginning of the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), I was sleeping in my room when I heard a series of loud banging sounds against the wall..."

She spoke calmly, but Lu Jingbai's eyes darkened slightly as he listened. When he heard what Village Chief Li said about the reservoir, his hand quietly clenched into a fist.

"This is the evidence." Shen Zhiyi handed over the tattered bundle in her arms, and Xuan Yan quickly took it and placed it on the table.

Lu Jingbai was surprised that the person who came to report to the authorities had brought evidence with him. He looked down for a while and could tell from the pattern on the brocade strips which cloth shop in the county town sold the material. However, he lacked the necessary testimony.

"Xuan Yan, go to Hua Jin Cloth Shop and ask Manager Liang..." Lu Jingbai instructed softly.

After Xuan Yan left to receive his orders, Shen Zhiyi was wondering whether she should go back and wait for news when she heard Lu Jingbai say again, "Miss Shen and Village Chief Li, please wait a moment. We can start the court session as soon as Xuan Yan returns."

The village chief was clearly taken aback, then pulled Shen Zhiyi to kneel down, but was immediately stopped by Constable Lu, who said, "The magistrate does not like you kneeling like this."

“Officer Lu is absolutely right,” Lu Jingbai said gently.

At this moment, Constable Lu's heart seemed to soar to the sky. This was the first time he had been praised by an official. Since it is said that "everything is difficult at the beginning", he had already made a start. Did this mean that he would be appreciated by the official, become a constable, have his wages doubled, and marry the pancake beauty?

No one else noticed what Officer Lu was thinking.

"Thank you for your consideration, Lord Lu!" the village chief said, moved.

"Village Chief Li, you're too kind," Lu Jingbai replied gently, then turned to Shen Zhiyi, "How much damage did your family suffer in the disaster?"

Shen Zhiyi emphasized that the other party attempted to flood the village with water from the reservoir, but fortunately the whole village worked together to save them and brought the floodwaters under control near her home.

The language used was straightforward and did not deliberately try to elicit sympathy.

Hearing Lu Jingbai's concerned inquiry, she felt a surge of emotion, as if she had been through a long and arduous journey and the first person she encountered had brought her water and food...

Stop!

She quickly stopped such thoughts. Even a peacock displaying its feathers has its limits. Right now, Lord Lu is only concerned about the development of the case.

"The yard and the chili field were flooded. Although we managed to repair it in time, the walls were still a bit soft from the water, so it might not be very safe to live there," Shen Zhiyi said calmly.

"It's not just a little, it's clearly very unsafe. The foundation was soaked overnight..." The village chief immediately retorted, then suddenly realized that Lord Lu was in front of them, so he quickly swallowed the rest of his words. This girl was making it sound so easy; money would be needed everywhere later!

Lu Jingbai understood those words, and had already listed out the relevant laws and regulations in his mind.

Silence fell over the room for a moment.

It wasn't until Xuan Yan returned from outside that he reported to Lu Jingbai.

Then Lu Jingbai gave a very soft hum and looked up at Constable Lu, who was still standing there for some reason, and said, "Constable Lu, go to the Lin family and tell Lin Youcai and Lin Fusheng to come to the yamen for trial."

"Yes!" Constable Lu replied with his head held high, but after taking a few steps outside, he couldn't help but ask, "Sir, shall we proceed with the investigation?"

Lu Jingbai frowned upon hearing this, then, thinking of the intricate details within Pixian County, he said in a deep voice, "Bring him to court! Let all the people of the county see for themselves what evil deeds that 'Good Samaritan Lin' has committed!"

Xuan Yan knew that his young master's anger could no longer be suppressed. He thought of the people whose families were destroyed because of the Lin family, who ultimately had to let the matter drop due to lack of evidence, while the other party even touted himself as a great philanthropist to everyone. How ironic!

Officer Lu's heart trembled upon hearing this. He had originally planned to use this opportunity to collect some "service fee" from the Lin family, but now it seemed he should abandon that idea!