Lin Da and Lin Er were somewhat bewildered by Zhao Lianshang's question.

Why are you asking how they were sold?

But this doesn't make things difficult, because they were sold.

“We were originally ordinary farmers in Qiongan Prefecture. Two years ago, due to a poor harvest, we were unable to make a living. We had already sold all our land, but we still couldn’t survive.”

"Later, the Western Qiang Hu tribe frequently harassed us. At first, they only stole our food and belongings, but later they started killing us. My whole family was killed by them."

Hao Dasheng, who had already returned, felt a pang of sympathy. If the leader hadn't offered him a way out, he probably would have sold himself out too.

Hao Dasheng's entire family was killed by bandits, but he was the only one who escaped.

He had originally planned to sell himself into a wealthy family to make a living, but then Chenxi came along and gave him a way out.

Lin Dazui, being quick-witted, continued, "Of all the people, only my cousin and I escaped. With no other way to survive, we followed others who also had no other options and begged our way south."

"But in the end, we were caught by human traffickers who sold us to Jianming Prefecture, and we ended up in the hands of my young master."

Two years ago, Qiong'an Prefecture was only slightly chaotic, unlike the current situation where there is much more chaos and the place is riddled with problems.

Even begging can provide a way to survive.

After hearing what he said, there seems to be no problem.

Indeed, their accents were somewhat different from those of the people from Bian'ai County.

Company Commander Zhao seemed to have deep sympathy for the two men's plight. He had someone help them up and said, "Don't think we're doing well now. A few months ago, we were begging and fleeing famine. You know how hard it was."

"Sit down, let's chat for a while. Anyway, we don't have much to do right now. I can really empathize with what you're all talking about."

The two were even more confused; this official's attitude was quite good.

Unable to resist Company Commander Zhao's hospitality, he sat down when offered a seat.

“I once went to Guojiatun Township. I don’t know how it has changed now. Back then, I begged there and met a kind person who gave me a bowl of rice, which is how I survived.”

As she spoke, it seemed as if she were reminiscing, yet tinged with sadness: "It's a pity that when I finally settled down and wanted to repay that kindness, I could no longer find that person; the courtyard was already occupied by someone else."

Lin Da and Lin Er could only listen with a headache, just thinking that the official liked having someone to listen.

"The stone bridge north of Guojiatun Township, called Guojia Bridge, has it been repaired yet?"

Company Commander Zhao looked at the two men with great sincerity.

Lin Da and Lin Er had no idea about Guojiaqiao, but since the official asked, they assumed it existed.

"It's been fixed, and it's been fixed very well."

Company Commander Zhao's heart sank. He had never been to Guojiatun Township, but some of his soldiers were from Guojiatun Township.

He pointed directly at one of the soldiers: "Little Sun, didn't you say yesterday that Guojia Bridge hadn't been repaired yet?"

Xiao Sun was even more surprised, because there was no Guojia Bridge in Guojiatun Township.

"Company Commander, are you sure you're not mistaken? I meant that the ancient temple hasn't been repaired. Besides, where is there a Guojia Bridge in Guojiatun Township?"

Zhao Lianshang looked at Lin Da and Lin Er with a smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, Lin Da and Lin Er knelt down with a thud.

"Sir, spare my life!"

There's no way I can keep up the pretense any longer.

Zhao Lianshang's face darkened again, and he slammed his hand on the table: "Speak, tell the truth."

Seeing that they could no longer hide it, the two spilled the beans and told everything.

This includes allegations that Lin Tai is the mayor of Xunwang Township, and that their household registration and travel permits are fake, among other things.

Company Commander Zhao asked the questions many times, but when he saw that there was nothing new to say, he angrily shouted, "It's one thing to deceive ordinary people, but you can't deceive us!"

"Someone, have the two of them sign and put their fingerprints on the document, then take them away."

Hao Dasheng's admiration for Company Commander Zhao was like a never-ending, surging river.

Company Commander Zhao is truly, truly clever.

Hao Dasheng only knows this word to describe it.

Old Zou's face turned ashen. Oh no, the person he had taken in really had a problem. He was doomed.

Li Cuihua is good at nothing else, and she'll regret it. Why did she have to talk so much?

Ordinary people rarely have any grand sense of justice; they only think about daily necessities and avoiding trouble. Old Man Zou and Li Cuihua are no exception. Now they regret taking in these people and talking too much with them.

Director Song was too frightened to speak. Something had happened in the area he was in charge of, and his term as director was over. He might even face a lawsuit. Even in this cold weather, he was sweating profusely.

Squad Leader Lin gave a thumbs up: "Company Commander, you're really capable."

Hao Dasheng was proud: "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be a company commander!"

Company Commander Zhao was already used to it; Hao Dasheng was always like a little shadow, quite tall, always following him around like a shadow.

Company Commander Zhao had someone bring in Afei, who was using the alias Wang Xun.

Ah Fei, Lin Tai, and Lin Cheng had already been placed under separate supervision, so Ah Fei did not receive any further instructions from Lin Tai.

Besides, Afei was unaware of Lin Tai's plan. Lin Tai sent him here mainly to be his bodyguard.

It means telling him that if anyone asks him his name in the future, he should say it's Wang Xun.

However, after being provoked by Company Commander Zhao, Afei confessed everything before he could even say a few words.

Company Commander Zhao looked at A Fei with some admiration. Although the man was a bit slow-witted, his physique suggested he was a strong and powerful man. Hearing that A Fei had always practiced martial arts, Zhao became even more interested.

He said, "Ah Fei, you say your kung fu is pretty good, how about you have a match with my men?"

When Afei heard that there was a martial arts competition, he immediately perked up.

"good."

Company Commander Zhao called Hao Dasheng over: "Dasheng, didn't you say you've improved a lot in the past few months? Come on, have a match with him."

Hao Dasheng was also a martial arts fanatic; no one in his army could beat him.

Now that a martial arts practitioner has arrived, they are naturally eager to try their skills.

Company Commander Zhao wasn't in a hurry to interrogate Lin Tai and Lin Cheng. He had already figured out their identities and positions, and he didn't want to know all the details of what they had done.

So he said, "I can only fight for a little while; I still need to hand them over to my superiors."

Afei and Hao Dasheng started exchanging moves in the open space, and surprisingly, they were evenly matched and neither could gain the upper hand.

Company Commander Zhao admired him even more.

"Alright, Fei, you'll be taken away again soon, but you won't know anything about your affairs until we get to the bottom of this. We'll meet again if there's a chance later."

Ah Fei had a great time and was reluctant to leave.

Hao Dasheng said, "You'd better hurry up and explain things to our superiors before you can compete with me for a long time."

"real?"

"Of course it's true."

"Okay, then I'll go and explain first. You must wait for me."

"Definitely." Hao Dasheng was also thoroughly satisfied and looking forward to another fight.

Squad Leader Lin wiped his sweat: If it were ten of them pressing down on them, and a few of them tried to resist, even ten of them wouldn't be a match for just Ah Fei!