Zhou Wan was as cold as ice. She threw the money bag on the table in front of the two of them with one hand, and pulled Jiang Qianqian away with the other. Xu Yuehuai picked up his own copy of the receipt and stuffed it into his sleeve. Then he looked at the two of them again and said, "Now we are penniless, but you have money. We're afraid we'll have to rely on you tomorrow, otherwise we'll go hungry."

Xu Yuehuai knew that Zhou Qionghua was a petty and narrow-minded person. She could eat someone's food for a lifetime, but she couldn't stand someone eating a single grain of rice from her. Therefore, she said this on purpose.

Zhou Qionghua was much more virtuous today. "We'll take care of your food and drink tomorrow. You're too tired tonight, so let's all rest."

"Alright."

They went their separate ways.

They went to sleep separately.

The next day, Ah Qi was the first to get up.

Seeing Xu Yuehuai wake up, Aqi smiled, "Just as I expected, they left in the middle of the night."

“I knew that all along,” Xu Yuehuai sneered. “My sister-in-law would never let anyone eat a meal of her own, especially since there are four of us to feed.”

"Get up and tidy up, Grandpa Zhou will be here soon."

Hearing this, Zhou Wan felt a chill run down her spine. "What is this lecherous bastard doing here?"

Xu Yuehuai smiled knowingly, “I had Jiang Shichen draft a petition, saying it was to be sent to Pei Xuan. Lord Pei is impartial and will definitely handle the matter fairly. He is worried about losing his head, so he also wants to give us one hundred taels of silver.”

"How is this any different from extortion?"

“Yes,” Xu Yuehuai said seriously, “the other party was forced to give us money when they were being extorted, but now, he is doing it willingly. You’ll see in a moment.”

In fact, Zhou Qing not only apologized to Zhou Wan, but also gave her an extra twenty taels of silver.

Through his connections, Zhou Qing had already learned that Xu Yuehuai was the woman investigating cases in Wuming County, the one who loved to cause such a stir in Wuming County, and that she also had a relationship with Pei Xuan.

Zhou Qing is a ruthless rich man with a lot of murder cases on his hands. If he makes a mistake, it will implicate his entire family. Xu Yuehuai handed the silver to Zhou Wan and said, "Thank you, Uncle Zhou. Let's set off now."

"Miss Xu, Miss Xu."

Zhou Qing was naturally terrified. Seeing Xu Yuehuai turn to leave, he hurriedly followed.

"Miss Xu, please wait a moment. When we get to Lord Pei, you must put in a good word for him."

"Don't worry, I will never tell anyone that you killed someone and dumped the body in the dry well in the backyard, nor will I tell Pei Xuan that you tortured and killed one of your concubines."

"oops!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing's heart raced, his blood pressure rose, and he immediately fainted.

Xu Yuehuai didn't care about the consequences. In fact, she understood that after this incident, Zhou Qing should change his ways and start anew.

They bought a horse-drawn carriage.

In this way, the journey becomes less strenuous.

As the carriage was about to enter a pine forest, Xu Yuehuai and the others saw a group of yamen runners dressed in black. The runners were gathered in a circle, seemingly looking at something. A coroner with long eyebrows slowly picked something up.

Inside the carriage, everyone looked around curiously.

When Jiang Qianqian saw that the coroner had picked up a shinbone, she screamed and hid in Xu Yuehuai's arms in fear.

Xu Yuehuai was remarkably Buddhist in her approach, patiently explaining, "Actually, human death is no different from that of a cat or dog; it's all corruption, so don't worry."

Passersby gathered around, which piqued Aqi's curiosity, and Xu Yuehuai also decided to go and find out what was going on.

Zhou Wan stayed in the carriage to take care of Jiang Qianqian.

As for Jiang Shichen, he also gritted his teeth and walked over. In the weeds, there were bloodstains, and you could see the white bones and other disturbing things. What followed was something only a forensic doctor could accept. Ah Qi's expression changed.

Jiang Shichen subconsciously turned around and choked.

The coroner placed the shinbone back on its spot, picked up some other bones, and turned around, his voice flat and emotionless, "The deceased was a woman in her forties, the fatal wound was on the back of her head, most likely attacked by a tiger here, the deceased..."

They analyzed it meticulously over there.

Seeing that the two of them were quite uncomfortable, Xu Yuehuai led them into the carriage.

Finally, Ah Qi revealed his discovery: "I saw a money pouch, and it seems to belong to Zhou Niang."

“I also saw Mother’s purse, and I also observed…” Jiang Shichen seemed hesitant to continue, but Xu Yuehuai’s eyes clearly encouraged him, so he continued, “I also saw that the deceased’s clothes were almost identical to Liu Cuiming’s. Doesn’t that mean…”

In fact, the exceptionally intelligent Xu Yuehuai knew what had happened the moment she saw the scene, but she remained silent.

"There's no need for further explanation. We just know what's going on. Let's get going."

It was dusk when they arrived in Wannian County. Zhou Wan got out of the car and opened a house for everyone. After everyone had bathed, they gathered together to eat. Xu Yuehuai looked at everyone and said, "You can't make money by cheating, swindling, or being cunning. So, we still need to work hard to earn money. Now, to get to Chang'an, we still need to pass through Hangu Pass, Chuanyun Pass, and Furong Pass. It's like passing five passes and defeating six generals. Therefore, we need to work hard to earn money."

Everyone was in high spirits.

Xu Yuehuai also devised a series of money-making plans and began implementing them the next day.

Ah Qi has a good understanding of traditional Chinese medicine and knows all kinds of strange herbs, which has generated a lot of income for everyone along the way.

As for Jiang Shichen and Jiang Qianqian, they worked hard without complaint.

Zhou Wan manages the accounts.

Since Jiang Mingfu and his wife parted ways with them, and the despicable Liu Cuiming died a violent death, their team has become stronger and more powerful than before.

Zhou Wan spent every penny wisely.

He was also diligent and thrifty, and lived within his means.

He quickly saved up twenty taels of silver.

After leaving Wannian County, Zhou Wan continued walking forward.

Looking out into the distance, the crowd could vaguely see a magnificent, golden building in the hazy distance at the edge of the sky.

No!

Rather, it is a group of buildings.

The buildings rose from the ground one after another, and were exceptionally large.

Even the well-informed Xu Yuehuai was taken aback by all this, pointing and saying, "Zhou Wan, look, look, isn't that Chang'an City?"

“Who knows?” Zhou Wan smiled wistfully. “It seems to be a major metropolis.”

"Where's the geomantic map?" Xu Yuehuai turned around.

Ah Qi took out the map and showed it to her.

Upon closer inspection, Xu Yuehuai suddenly smiled, "It really is Chang'an."

"But looking at a mountain can make a horse run itself to death; what seems close at hand may actually be a world away."

"That's exactly right."

But everyone cheered and jumped for joy, and a harmonious atmosphere flowed among them. Yes, after going through all the hardships, they were finally about to reach their destination.