Chapter 78: Explanation
Jingwu opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the person in front of him continued.
“Anhe County is the county with the most abundant grain in Ruihe Prefecture. If something happens to the granary, it is estimated that the people will go hungry in the second half of the year.”
Seeing his grave expression, Jingwu knew the gravity of the matter and nodded, "You go first. If things get complicated, I'll come find you after I've resolved the situation in Zhangjia Village."
Looking at her earnest expression, Yue Huai felt a warmth rise in his heart.
He smiled and nodded, replying, "Okay."
He didn't linger any longer and immediately turned and left.
Jingwu watched his retreating figure, pondering the matter in his heart.
It's impossible for a large number of insects to enter a granary overnight. This must have been done deliberately. As for the purpose, we'll find out when we catch the person behind it.
Jingwu walked around twice more, and after digesting his food, he returned to the main room. Looking at the three auspicious dates placed on the table, he slapped his forehead.
How could I forget about this?
She picked up three auspicious days and immediately went to the east wing.
"Uncle, Aunt," Jingwu called out tentatively from outside the door.
"Hey." Shao Che responded after hearing the sound and quickly came over to open the door: "Awu, what's wrong?"
When Jingwu saw that his uncle's hands were wet, he was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "I calculated three auspicious days yesterday. I was planning to let my aunt choose one during the day, but I forgot, so I quickly sent them over."
Shao Che nodded upon hearing this and let her into the house.
As soon as Jingwu entered the room, he saw his aunt wearing a nightgown, her hair loose, with a copper basin in front of her, preparing to soak her feet.
She blinked: "Aunt, I'm sorry to bother you so late."
"It's alright, we're family, no need for such formalities. Please sit down." Ruan Chongyue looked at her with a gentle smile, "There's no need to rush the opening date. You can tell me tomorrow."
"Tomorrow won't work, I might have to go out for a while."
"Going out again?" Ruan Chongyue exclaimed in surprise, then realized that she was not her mother after all, and that interfering too much would annoy her, so she added, "I mean, how many days will you be gone this time? When will you be back?"
Jingwu knew she had been going out quite often lately, so she pursed her lips and said softly, "At most three or four days."
Zhang Yang will definitely come tomorrow. The matter in Zhangjia Village can be resolved in two days at most. She said three or four days because she wanted to go to Anhe County to see what the situation was like there.
Seeing the atmosphere between the two, Shao Che immediately smiled and defused the situation.
As he knelt down to wash his wife's feet, he said with a smile, "That's perfect. I see the date you chose is five days from now. We'll open for business when you come back in three or four days."
Jingwu glanced at the three auspicious days written on the paper. Indeed, one of them was five days later. She thought for a moment and asked, "What do you think, Aunt? Is it enough time?"
"There's still time. We've prepared everything; we just need an auspicious day," Ruan Chongyue said with a smile.
“Alright, let’s set it for five days from now.” Jingwu readily agreed. Watching his uncle intently washing his aunt’s feet, his ears turned bright red. He coughed lightly and said, “Uncle and Aunt, you should get some rest. I’ll head back now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly returned to the main room.
Ruan Chongyue belatedly realized what was happening, her face flushed red, and she immediately pulled her foot back.
"Hey, you're not done washing yet." Shao Che grabbed her ankle and pulled her back into the basin, looking up at her flushed face, and chuckled: "Awu isn't an outsider, why are you embarrassed?"
"Ahem." Ruan Chongyue gave her a coquettish look, somewhat embarrassed: "I'm still a junior, after all."
Shao Che chuckled twice and picked up a dry cloth from the side to wipe her feet.
After returning to his room and washing up, Jingwu lay down to rest.
The following afternoon, Zhang Yang came to our door.
At this hour, Uncle went to the fields, and Aunt, Yao Chenbi, and Xue Wenhui all went to the shop to work, leaving Jingwu alone at home.
She led him into the main hall and poured him a glass of water.
"Have you thought it through?"
Looking at the beautiful house, a hint of envy flashed in Zhang Yang's eyes.
Upon hearing the master's question, they immediately came to their senses and nodded: "Yes, master, we know we were wrong. Please help our village resolve this matter."
Jingwu picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and the next second, he complained that it was just water and put the teacup down.
"Then tell the truth."
Zhang Yang nodded and took a deep breath: "That family's surname is Wei. They only moved to our village two years ago. At the end of last year, they got into a dispute with several other families in the village. Their head of the family hit the back of his head on the ground and died. The previous village chief was afraid that his eldest son would come for revenge, so he set a fire and burned the whole family to death. Unexpectedly, their youngest daughter, Wei Rou, was spared. When they really didn't know what to do, the little girl couldn't accept it and jumped in and committed suicide."
Jingwu scoffed at these words: "Was it a dispute, or did the previous village chief, Zhang Hong, accidentally kill someone in an attempt to force a marriage?"
Zhang Yang's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to open his mouth to make a pretext, he met those all-knowing eyes and shut his mouth guiltily.
After a long while, he dared to speak: "Zhang Hong did want to get involved with the Wei family through marriage to secure a future for his son. He was indeed wrong to bring several families to force a marriage, but he definitely didn't intend to cause any deaths."
Jingwu laughed speechlessly, a chill running through his eyes: "If he didn't want to cause any deaths, why did he set a huge fire after the people died, burning the entire Wei family alive?"
Zhang Yang's heart pounded wildly. He wanted to speak, but he didn't know where to begin explaining.
"Why did he send people from the village to capture Wei Rou after he learned that she hadn't died in the fire, forcing her to marry his son and driving her to commit suicide by jumping into a well?"
Zhang Yang opened his mouth: "Because..."
"If you continue to defend him, there's no need to say anything more. Go outside and turn right."
When Zhang Yang saw the master dismissing him, he immediately dared not argue for him anymore.
He also looked down on Zhang Hong. Knowing that he had caused trouble, he was afraid that Wei's promising eldest son would come back, so he immediately abandoned his wife and children and disappeared, leaving him with a mess.
But he was, after all, his own brother, and he couldn't just stand by and watch him go to jail.
Zhang Yang sighed deeply, feeling somewhat helpless: "Master, no matter what, it was the people in our village who made the mistake. What would it take for you to help us? Those children are so young, they don't know anything."
Jingwu picked up his teacup, drank it all in one gulp, and then said, "Go and report to the authorities yourself, and bring Zhang Hong to justice."
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