After saying that, he even took out ten taels of silver as an apology, and the old man's son's expression softened considerably.

Lou Chong asked, "Do you know where the bodies of those people from Lujia Village are now?"

"Sigh, where else could it be?" the old man sighed. "There were too many corpses to handle, and we were afraid of spreading disease, so the soldiers transported the corpses to the mass grave and burned them all."

Lu Baichuan stood there, looking completely stunned, not even knowing when the family had left.

"master……"

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

No wonder they searched so many places but found nothing; it turns out their master's entire family is gone?

He didn't even dare to look at Lu Baichuan's face, afraid of seeing his desperate and painful expression.

Over the years, he has come to know the suffering of his master.

From the very beginning, I wanted to do something for the country so that those scoundrels from other nations wouldn't dare to easily harass the people of Beiyan.

The master is just like any other passionate man, wanting to do his part for the country, protect the overall situation, and ensure that the people can live and work in peace.

Those in their line of work are constantly targeted by countless people, and he understands his master's decision to remain anonymous. If he were in his shoes, he would have done the same.

They had hoped to one day achieve fame and fortune, and then proudly welcome their families to a better life. Who knew that a natural disaster would destroy so many families and cause so many deaths?

"Let's go to the bandit's den!"

Lu Baichuan was not as devastated as Lou Chong had imagined. His only hope now was the bandit camp, where there might still be survivors.

The government officials are too busy dealing with ordinary people, let alone suppressing bandits. This is something they can't do even in peacetime, let alone now that the world is in such chaos.

The two mounted their horses and stormed the bandit's den.

Finding a bandit's den might be difficult for an ordinary person, but it was no big deal for Lu Baichuan and Lou Chong, who quickly found several dilapidated thatched huts.

If it weren't for the surrounding rocks blocking the way for defense, Lu Baichuan would never have believed that this was actually a bandit's den.

The two walked inside, but they could not tell at all that this place had once been a den of bandits.

Behind the thatched hut, a large pit was found, containing many skeletons. Judging from the still-intact clothing, most of them were men, but there were also one or two women.

Lou rushed forward and used a branch to pry open the clothes of the two women, discovering that their clothes were baggy, suggesting they must have been quite plump in life.

Lu Baichuan glanced at them and said, "These are bandits."

During the famine years, how could an ordinary person get so fat?

They were either bandits or wealthy families.

But if they were truly wealthy, there would be no need for them to flee.

Lou Chong threw down the branch in his hand and said, "If what that family said is true, then these bandits must have been killed by the group of bandits behind them."

Lu Baichuan pondered for a moment and said, "The people who came later are not bandits; they must be people who came to rescue the prisoners."

Lou Chong looked at him, puzzled, wanting to know how these deductions were derived.

Lu Baichuan continued, "Would ordinary bandits be kind enough to dispose of the body after killing someone? Also, those houses we just looked at, although they are covered in dust now, you can tell that someone cleaned them carefully before. That means that after that group rescued the prisoners, they stayed here for one night and left the next day."

At this point, Lu Baichuan stopped talking, because he was no longer sure if the group of people who broke in still had any connection with his Lu family.

According to what that family just said, all the able-bodied men of the Lu family died on the road outside Liujia Town. His eldest and second eldest brothers were ordinary people, and even if they were alive, they would not have been able to fight their way back, let alone kill the bandits so swiftly.

Yes, neat and efficient.

Although Lou Chong only casually rummaged through the corpses, he still found that there were no major injuries to their bones, indicating that they had been killed with a single blow.

His heart was filled with confusion again. So, did he really have to accept the fact that his entire family was gone?

"Master, the three-month deadline is approaching, we should return to Jingzhou."

Although it's inappropriate to say these things at this time, it is indeed the truth.

The deceased are gone, but the living must go on with their lives.

Moreover, Lu Baichuan is a rare talent, so he definitely needs to live well.

Lu Baichuan remained silent. He was unwilling, but he couldn't break his promise to Prince Chen.

His hands were clenched into fists, and his back teeth were clenched tightly.

He watched all this with resentment, and after going through countless hardships to return, he found that his family was gone.

What's the point of him doing all this?

They set fire to the bandit's den, burning it to the ground.

Finally, they went to the mass grave, but there was nothing there except a few lonely graves.

That's true. Those officers and soldiers wanted to save trouble, so they just burned it down and that was it. How could they possibly erect a monument for it?

"I'm going to the county government office."

He turned and left, and on the surface there was nothing unusual, but Lou Chong knew that he had actually been suppressing his emotions.

The county town was sparsely populated. Having just experienced a natural disaster, everyone was penniless, and most people had fled, leaving the entire town deserted.

Upon arriving at the county government office, the two yamen runners at the entrance were both dozing off, which showed just how idle the county government office was.

Lou rushed forward and kicked them. The two men stomped their legs in annoyance, muttering, "Who is it? What are you doing?"

The man was still unconscious. Lou Chong, too lazy to say anything more to them, drew his long sword and pressed it against the throat of one of them.

The man was instantly wide awake from his drowsiness. He opened his eyes and saw the two people in front of him. Before he could speak, Lou Chong showed him his token, and the man hurriedly knelt down: "My lord, spare my life! I will take you to see our lord right away!"

Upon hearing this, the other person also woke up and knelt down to kowtow.

Lu Baichuan didn't say anything, and had already started walking inside.

The county government office was deserted. Two bailiffs ran ahead to lead the way, shouting loudly, "Sir, sir, a high-ranking official from the capital has arrived!"

If the yamen runners are this lazy, then the county magistrate is even worse. He didn't even wear his official robes; he came out wearing only a white undergarment, and he looked sleepy, clearly not fully awake.

"And who are you two, sirs?"

He was instinctively a little flustered. Changzhou was sparsely populated. Although some refugees had returned, everyone was exhausted and there was nothing to deal with for the time being. With nothing to do, they could only sleep. Who knew that these two people would suddenly appear.

Lou Chong showed him the token again and said, "We are from the Prince Chen's residence. His Highness had some matters to attend to during the disaster relief efforts in Changzhou. Please bring us your register of the deceased so we can check it."

It turned out that it was just a matter of checking the death toll, and no one blamed him for sleeping in the middle of the day. The magistrate was very happy and smiled as he sent someone to fetch the booklet for them to see.

Lu Baichuan went straight to the page about Lu Family Village. The first thing he saw was the village chief's family, and the families of several uncles and aunts with whom he had a good relationship. Then came his eldest and second uncles' families, and then his own family, from his parents, brothers and sisters-in-law to his wife He Jiuniang, none of them were spared.

He even saw his own name on it.

He forced himself to remain calm and asked, "What happened?"

The magistrate leaned over for a look and said, "Oh, you mean this person, sir? This man went out to escort goods four years ago and never returned, which means he is presumed dead."

He then saw that in the children's column after his own name, the words "eldest son Lu Ziyu" were written.