The people at the hot pot restaurant were unaware of this little incident.

To allow the mother and daughter to have a good chat, Lin Yan specially prepared a hot pot for them and let Xie Li try it, while she acted as the temporary manager.

After they finished eating, they told Xie Li to wander around as she pleased and that they would come to pick her up in the evening to return to the village. Then they rode their horses to the county town.

This time, Lin Yan spent forty taels of silver to buy a house in the county town that was about the same size as the one in the town.

However, the only advantage of this shop is that it has an attic that can be converted into private rooms for wealthy people.

After ordering everything needed for the hot pot restaurant and buying two medical books, Lin Yan closed the shop door.

It's early winter now, and the mountains are prone to ice and snow, so the plan to go up the mountain to collect herbs has been temporarily put on hold.

Fortunately, Xie Sheng had studied for a few years and could barely understand medical books. Ever since I bought her the first medical book, she has been obsessed with it and buried herself in it all day long.

The medical books she bought this time are quite thick, enough for her to study for several days.

Just as Lin Yan was about to leave on her mount, Zhu Yue, she was suddenly drawn to the conversation of a few passersby.

"Why has the Prefect come here?"

"I heard it's to track down the whereabouts of that so-called Pavilion Master."

"Ah! I remember now, isn't that Pavilion Master the murderer who brutally killed those two human traffickers a few days ago? If you ask me, the court shouldn't arrest someone like that who rids the people of a scourge. Since those two human traffickers died, things have been much more peaceful here!"

Shh! Keep your voice down, are you out of your mind?!

"Hehe, no one heard us, but speaking of which, the prefect from the city is really handsome! I only caught a glimpse of him from afar, and I can't forget him! If only I weren't married yet!"

"Dream on! Even if you're not married, the prefect wouldn't even look at you. The prefect is young, handsome, and of noble birth; sooner or later he'll have to return to the capital to marry and have children!"

"Hmph! I'm ignoring you. Can't I even have a moment to fantasize?"

The group chatted and laughed as they walked away, but Lin Yan stopped in her tracks because of their conversation.

However, she wasn't too worried, because unless the prefect had extraordinary abilities, he wouldn't be able to catch her.

After all, she disguised herself as a man in both crimes, and the tool she used was a knife she bought temporarily, which she discarded after the murders.

Now that there is no fingerprint detection, it is impossible to find out if the tool was used by her.

However, Lin Yan was secretly worried about something else. Ever since the incident at Baihua Tower, she didn't know how the girls and children in the tower were doing now.

Before leaving that night, she secretly distributed all the madam's jewelry to the girls, one by one, so that they could support themselves even after leaving the brothel.

I wonder how those children are doing now...

Because she had been left to dry for so long, Zhu Yue impatiently blew a breath at her, interrupting her thoughts.

After spending these days together, the two horses became more and more human-like. Lin Yan came to her senses and helplessly patted its head to comfort it.

"Zhu Yue, let's go back. Take your time, there's no rush."

On the way back, they ran into a group of people. The man on horseback was tall and slender.

His deep red official robes made his handsome and aloof face appear even colder, making him unapproachable.

Lin Yan guessed that this must be the prefect that the girls had been discussing earlier.

Out of curiosity, she couldn't help but take a few more glances, only to unexpectedly meet a pair of eyes as black as ink.

Those eyes were so deep they seemed to see right through people's hearts.

Fortunately, Lin Yan was also a seasoned veteran and remained calm enough. She casually looked away, pulled on the reins, and rode away.

Xu Yuze's gaze remained fixed on her retreating figure until she slowly disappeared into the distance, at which point he looked away.

Lin Yan could feel the intense gaze behind her, and her beautiful eyebrows furrowed as suspicion arose in her heart.

Could it be that the prefect suspects her?

That shouldn't be happening!

Even if he had seen her attire as the Pavilion Master that day, he wouldn't be able to recognize her now!

While she was lost in thought, Zhu Yue had already brought her to town.

After getting the carriage ready and purchasing all the necessary items, Lin Yan went back to the hot pot restaurant to pick up Xie Li.

Seeing her uncle's cheap and overly attentive manner, Lin Yan's gossipy heart was ignited.

Her gaze subtly shifted between the two of them...

All members of the Xie family, regardless of gender, are very good-looking.

Although Xie Li has given birth to a son and a daughter, she is only 22 years old, in the prime of her youth and beauty.

Even powerful and influential people in the prefectural city could take a liking to her, let alone her uncle who came from the countryside.

Although it is common practice nowadays for widows or divorced women to remarry, this is not a problem.

However, in the book's plot, Xie Li will have a connection with a man from the prefectural city. Her uncle has neither power nor martial arts skills, so how can he compete with such a person?

Although she felt sorry for the Xie family women's plight, people have different degrees of closeness and distance, and the safety of her relatives was more important than anything else.

Upon returning to the village, Lin Yan gathered all the women at the door and told them about her needs.

“As you all know, I run a hot pot restaurant and need to buy ingredients every day. Rather than letting others make this money, I’d rather let the people in our village make it. If you have any fresh vegetables that you can’t finish, you can bring them to me in the morning and I’ll buy them at the normal price.”

"Yan girl, do you want to buy my lots of radishes and cabbages?"

"Don't worry, Auntie. I'll buy anything that's fresh. Don't worry if you don't have any vegetables right now. I'll be buying them every day from now on."

"Oh, this is great! I won't have to get up early and work late anymore, carrying vegetables to town to sell!"

Upon receiving this wonderful news, everyone returned home with great excitement, their words filled with praise.

Seeing how happy they were, Lin Yan felt very happy too.

Of course, this is far from enough. If the hot pot restaurant in the county town does well, she can consider opening a workshop in the village.

They specifically hire people to cultivate enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, dried bean curd sticks, tofu, bean sprouts, and other hot pot ingredients on a large scale...

Nowadays, women don't have many opportunities to earn money, and if they don't have a skill, they can only farm.

Therefore, many women have a very low status at home and dare not leave even if they are beaten or scolded.

Once her workshop opens, it will give all the women in the village the opportunity to earn money.

This way, even if they leave the man, they don't have to worry about not being able to support themselves and their children.

Moreover, by doing this, she can save money on purchasing ingredients.

In the evening, after washing up, Lin Yan walked towards the bedroom while drying her wet hair.

As I passed through the courtyard, I suddenly heard the gate being pounded on!

She picked up a wooden stick from the side and went to open the door, but when the door opened, she couldn't help but frown.