Chapter 216
Yan Shujin didn't say much. She directly ordered the guards to tie everyone up. She also sent someone to notify Li Shangjin to come with the yamen runners and coroner, and to rent a few more carriages. After all, there were still so many young ladies, and it wouldn't be good to let them walk back.
Some guards were then dispatched to take the beaten woman and several obviously weak girls back to the city by carriage to find a doctor to treat them.
Yan Shujin stayed in the village. The guards had guessed what was going on in the village and could see that Princess Yongfu disliked them. So the guards found ropes and hung all the men on the books. The women who had committed the same evil deeds had their hands tied behind their backs and their legs tied as well, which was a very uncomfortable position.
To prevent anyone from wailing, they found rags and stuffed them into everyone's mouths. When there weren't enough rags, they tore off their clothes and stuffed them into their mouths.
However, there were still many children in the village, and they kept crying. Yan Shujin was afraid that they would run around, so she had all the children locked in the house and asked Yuzhu and Yurun to watch over them, along with two guards, so that Yuzhu and Yurun wouldn't be unable to handle the children if they started making a fuss.
Yan Shujin whispered, "Go to the carriage and get some pastries to appease them, see if they know where there are still people hiding."
Yu Zhu and Yu Run agreed, both of them looking rather unwell. Even though they hadn't seen the hill with their own eyes, just looking at the women who had been brought out made them feel heavy-hearted and uneasy.
Yan Shujin instructed, "Take some more men and search carefully, dig three feet into the ground, just in case anyone is still locked up. It doesn't matter if the house is demolished."
"yes."
Since Princess Yongfu had spoken, someone immediately went to find the tools.
Yan Shujin said, "I'll go take a look at the hill."
The guards protecting Yan Shujin said, "Princess, it's better not to go."
Yan Shujin shook her head: "If I don't take a look, I'm afraid I won't be able to make the decision."
The guards seemed to understand but not quite. Seeing Princess Yongfu's expression, they did not stop her and led her towards the hill behind.
Yan Shujin turned her head and glanced at the villagers who were tied up. In fact, these villagers all looked very honest. Some of them were not very old, but their faces were already wrinkled, and even their hands were very rough. They did not look like they had done so many evil things.
Let alone ordinary passersby, even Yan Shujin herself wouldn't have expected this if she hadn't seen the evidence. In fact, at the very beginning, she didn't think that this village would do such a thing. She just thought that they might have bought women as wives. It was only when Yan Shujin noticed that they were tempted by the money but restrained themselves, as if they were hiding something, that she realized something was wrong.
The hill was right next to the village, and there was even a house not far away. The village kept dogs, and Yan Shujin gradually calmed down as she listened to the dogs barking.
Because of the short time available, the guards only dug in the areas they found suspicious, and it wasn't very deep, but they discovered the body buried there.
Moreover, the smell here is awful. I don't know if it's always been like this, or if it's because the guards dug up the corpse.
The guard whispered, "Princess, why don't you go back first?"
Yan Shujin lowered her eyes slightly, stood for a while, and then said, "Okay."
The guards quickly led Yan Shujin away.
Before Li Shangjin arrived, Yan Shujin remained silent, simply standing quietly and gazing towards the hill.
The guards searched again and found a lot of money and some girls' jewelry, none of which were very valuable. The most expensive item was a gold-plated bracelet. Someone laid a cloth on the ground and placed all these items on it.
After seeing this, Yan Shujin realized that the girls captured in this village were from ordinary families, and some were even relatives of the local women. She had initially thought they were just visiting relatives, but she never expected to walk straight into a pit of fire.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. If there really were girls from good families, they might have the desire but not the courage to steal from them.
But are girls from ordinary or even poor families not human?
Yan Shujin still remembers the girl who cried out. Her father and brother were escorting the bride, but they only stopped briefly before they were separated by death. What did they do wrong?
Li Shangjin arrived quickly with his men. It was quite a coincidence, as he had been traveling around the area recently. Princess Yongfu had asked him what he wanted to do after taking office, but he felt vague about it and didn't have a definite answer. So he wanted to see more of the people's needs before making a decision.
Seeing that Li Shangjin hadn't brought a coroner and only a few constables with him, Yan Shujin asked, "You happen to be nearby?"
"Yes," Li Shangjin said, "But has a murder occurred?"
After all, Yan Shujin had sent someone with a coroner, and Li Shangjin was puzzled by the situation of the people in the village. Moreover, he had just been to this village yesterday, and although the villagers were poor, he had not noticed anything wrong with them.
Yan Shujin asked, "Aren't you afraid of dead people?"
Li Shangjin said, "I have never done anything wrong in my life, so I have nothing to fear."
Yan Shujin nodded and said, "Then let the guards take you to the hill to take a look, and I'll tell you about the situation along the way."
Li Shangjin agreed.
Immediately, a guard led Li Shangjin and the yamen runners toward the hill, but did not tell them what had happened. When Li Shangjin and the others saw the situation on the hill, one of the younger yamen runners couldn't hold it in and his face changed drastically as he went to the side and vomited. Li Shangjin clenched his fists and his face became even more ugly.
The guard said, "According to preliminary estimates, there are still quite a few hills here."
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